Supergirl 3x14 "Schott Through the Heart" Episode Review
Wow! Supergirl is back and I didn't think about it at all. I was like, "Legends rules! Supergirl drools" the entire time the Girl of Steel was on break. So, when I started up the episode and waited for it to load on my computer, my expectations were incredibly low.
The first half of season three hasn't been the best but definitely exceeds the episodes shown during the first two seasons. The few problems I have issue with this season are the following: pacing, lack of character development for Winn and James, Samantha's forced integration into Kara's sisterhood status with Lena Luthor, and the Lena/James romance that came out of left field.
The newest episode addressed one, maybe two of these issues, and I surprisingly had a lot of fun with it. Spoilers ahead for my review:
The opening scene struck joy across my face seeing Kara put the "kara" in karaoke. She danced, she laughed, and she conquered. Melissa Benoist is having a blast, and you can see how much she enjoys playing the perky Kara Danvers.
Almost everyone sung and Kara supported them all the way. This is the dream for me: friends and family making fools of themselves on stage and singing their hearts out not caring who hears them. When Alex sung after her sister, it brought back the Grey's feels when she sung those solo numbers as Lexi Grey. Even Kara was moved... so beautiful.
The happy mood is killed when Winn spots his father's death on the TV screen: the Toyman died in prison. Once he spots this, Winn runs out and his best friend James follows him. HE DIDN'T SING AND I'M UPSET. Bring Music Meister back because this is an injustice crime I will not tolerate! So, the scene shifts after the James and Winn talk straight into the funeral.
Winn angrily throws dirt on his father's coffin and the pastor doesn't even have kind words for the Toyman. Then his mother arrives, the highlight of tonight's episode, and Winn is furious to see her again. She abandoned him when he was a kid to be raised by an awful villain and he holds a lot of resent. This is where Jeremy Jordan shines, revealing that the character is not a bad character, he's just stuck with a lot of bad writing.
She claimed she left because Toyman threatened to kill Winn, and he almost did when she tried to take him away to a domestic shelter. The performances on both actors shined through during these talks and the emotions put behind them was palpable. Winn's facial expressions schott through my own fragile emotional heart.
The mother-son chemistry between Jeremy Jordan and Laurie Metcalf is the best part of the episode. The emotional moments, the love she had for her son, and the humorous moments when they bonded over smarts played off extremely well. AGAIN WE WERE ROBBED WHEN WINN SIGNED THEM UP FOR A DUET AND WE MISSED THEM SINGING. NOT FAIR!
Instead we suffered through Mon-El singing and it triggered memories when Chris Wood played Kai on The Vampire Diaries and he also had to sing horribly on there. I have suffered through his bad singing twice now... why?
For the past 13 episodes, I've noticed Winn has not done much of anything besides the computer stuff to push the plot forward in most episodes this season. I hope he doesn't get pushed aside again because I've always enjoyed his arcs whenever the writers gave him anything sustainable to work with (season one love triangle, season two Guardian and love story with alien girl are the only major two that come to mind).
The plot gets rolling once his father's coffin explodes and almost kills everyone. Thank goodness Kara quickly changed into Supergirl and saved the day. I'm honestly surprised Winn's mother did not catch Kara disappear and then Supergirl appeared in literally five seconds... but secret identity is safe.
They regroup at the DEO, including Winn's mother because no one at a top government facility gets paid enough to care, and they all try to figure out who bombed the funeral. Winn confirms his father is really dead and can't think of anyone else who might be responsible. Then the Flying Monkeys come rolling through the windows and try to kidnap mother and son. The DEO doesn't seem so secret anymore.
Finally, Mary takes matters into her own hands and somehow manages to track down the antagonist of the episode: some random woman who apprenticed under Toyman. She is carrying on his legacy by eliminating his family for betraying him. Cool...
Supergirl, Mon-El, James as himself and not Guardian, and badass Winn go save her. Go Superfriends! Toyman's Apprentice - I'll be referring her as such - unleashed silly toys on them: car blasting fire, a giant T-Rex, and an exploding flying plane for examples. The villain even trapped Supergirl inside a life-size action figure box. I laughed at how silly it looked seeing her struggle in there. In the end, they beat Toyman's Apprentice and she's arrested for what she did.
Mon-El got to fight a T-Rex, which was pretty cool. This lead to them talking about their past relationship, his issues with Irma, and how those issues directly affect her. Mon-El got her undivided attention on the last part. The Legion lied to Mon-El about the mission and how it related to the World Killers... one of the World Killers becomes a threat in the future and they came to this time period to stop her now. That's a lot to take in.
J'onn, his father, and Alex had a solid B-plot in this episode. They bonded over being a small family, how My'rrin adjusted to being on Earth as a black man. I'm glad they brought this up because it was briefly touched on during an episode in season two but never explored. J'onn tells Alex being Hank Henshaw was a desperate choice at first because obviously in hiding, but now he likes the face he wears and does not want to change it to "fit in".
Which leads into another issue with My'rrinn, who is experiencing dementia. I cannot believe Martians can get this disease as well... they just call it something else on Mars. He wants to ignore it to spare J'onn pain, not knowing it would lead to more pain once he eventually figures it out. Alex leaves the house when she insists he tell J'onn, but he refuses.
This is sorted out by the episode's end when J'onn asks Alex about his father's behavior, but she tells him to talk to his father in a mature way, stating it is not her business to butt in. I thought this was wise of Alex, and J'onn respects her for it because he knows she's right.
This episode panned out better than expected. The World Killer plot took a backseat this episode... Lena showed up at the end running tests on Samantha because they figured out the truth about her being Reign.
I hope the writers learn from this: USE WINN AND JAMES MORE EFFECTIVELY! They're not bad characters, they're just dealing with bad storytelling.
Comment or message your thoughts on Supergirl's surprisingly strong return to the CW.