Supergirl 2×13 Review: “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk”

This week’s episode of Supergirl, “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk”, features a great example of a Nice Guy — in case you ever need an example handy.

Mxyzptlk is a fifth dimensional being who has admired Kara from afar and decided that they’re meant to be together, so he pops in and completely disrupts her life and doesn’t take no for an answer. On the surface, he seems like a dream; he’s handsome, and magic, and has a sexy accent. But he also interrupted Kara and Mon-El’s first kiss so clearly she’s not looking for anyone at the moment. She tells him she’s not interested and he assumes that she’s just playing hard to get — after all, he gave her a Vera Wang wedding dress! So he begins his attempts to “woo” her by creating situations where he can swoop in and save the day, proving to Kara that they’re perfect for each other. When she repeatedly rejects him, he becomes violent and threatens her.

I’ll be honest, for all Supergirl is a show about girl power, I haven’t really felt that this season was doing a good job of showcasing that. “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk”, however, is a great episode that gives Kara back her spine. Perhaps that’s a little harsh, but for all the first couple episodes were about Kara focusing on herself, much of the season she’s been embroiled in a lackluster romantic subplot with “tall, dark, and blandsome” Mon-El. Kara really stood up for herself this episode against something that most, if not all, women have to deal with at some point — a condescending man who doesn’t listen.

She confronts Mon-El about his jealousy, even though she’s made it clear she has no romantic interest in Mxyzptlk, and the fact that he patronizes her by constantly coming to her aid. The ensuing argument reveals that they both still have some preconceptions about each other, and later Kara tells him that they’re just too different and they’re not a good match. I briefly thought, “Oh, good, they’re letting Kara actually focus on herself,” but it turns out I celebrated too early. Because of course she was just lying to Mon-El so that he would let her go after Mxyzptlk and take him out her own way. I really felt that we were making headway.

It’s not that I don’t like Mon-El; I just wish that the show would focus on Kara first and foremost and equally develop all of her other relationships. Despite all the headway they made last week, James wasn’t even in this episode. Not to mention, all of the stuff that Kara was upset about in their first (legitimate) argument is still there. Mon-El’s speech at the end shows that he understood what she was saying, but that may not be enough. After all, she broke up with James because she was concerned about balancing a relationship with her new career and that whole world-saving thing, and I’m not quite sure what it is about Mon-El that convinces her that it will work this time.

Meanwhile, Alex and Maggie are having their first Valentine’s Day, something that Alex is excited about but Maggie is not. Rather than having a discussion about it, like a couple would in real life, they have a series of soap opera misunderstandings that very nearly result in a fight. You see, Maggie has awful memories associated with Valentine’s Day because when she was a teenager, she gave a Valentine to the girl that she liked, and the girl outed her to her parents, which resulted in Maggie getting kicked out of her house. As someone who has a reason to hate virtually every holiday, I sympathize. But Maggie gets angry at Alex for not listening to her when she herself wasn’t honest about her feelings. Thankfully, they have an honest conversation and make up.

It’s frustrating that so many of their issues are caused by miscommunication, but when Maggie explains that she kept the truth from Alex because she didn’t want to scare her when she was still new to being gay, I was a little less upset. Still, Maggie should learn from what Kara did this episode and know that Alex is a big girl and can take care of herself. She doesn’t need to be sheltered from the world.

One more thing to talk about, and that’s Winn. I’m glad they’re having him move on after pining for Kara for so long, and his relationship with Lyra is a great metaphor for so many things. She heard him rhapsodize about her home planet and assumed that he was interested in her solely as an experiment, or something to tick off a list. Of course we know Winn isn’t like that, and he had a lovely little moment where he told her that he was just scared about getting his heart broken. I really hope Lyra sticks around.

“Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk” had some really great moments, and overall I did enjoy it, but I’m disappointed that they stuck Kara in a relationship so soon after abruptly breaking her and James up for what were, apparently, silly reasons.

What did you all think of “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk”?

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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