Supergirl 2×07 Review: The Darkest Place

“The Darkest Place” really ramped up the drama on Supergirl, with Cadmus going after Kara, an evil twin trying to frame Guardian, and a surprise family reunion.

It shouldn’t really be unexpected that Cadmus grabbed Mon-El to get to Kara, but I’m a little shocked that it was that simple. I thought for sure that they would try something with him – experiment on him, or something – but no; they stuck him in a cell and used him to lure Kara to their headquarters so that they could steal her blood. I’m not going to lie, I love Kara and Mon-El together, so I really enjoyed their scenes in this episode. I’m pleased to see their relationship progressing and that Kara seems to be moving past her prejudices about Daxamites. I even enjoyed the moment at the end with Mon-El asking James and Winn if Kara was “mated to anyone”, because after this episode, with both of them being willing to sacrifice themselves for the other, it’s clear that their connection is deepening. I mean, I could totally see this coming as soon as Mon-El was introduced, but it’s nice to see a show actually attempt to establish a connection before having the characters develop romantic feelings. (This doesn’t happen so much with heterosexual couples on television.)

When it seemed like all was lost, Jeremiah showed up to rescue the two of them. He removed the bullet from Mon-El’s knee (because Daxamites are “allergic to lead”, and no one seemed to be concerned about blood loss or the viability of the joint) and stayed behind so that Mon-El and Kara could escape. After so long without a mention, it was great to see Jeremiah; it’s nice to know that he’s alive, and hopefully we’ll see him again this season.

In other surprise returns, the real Hank Henshaw is still alive and has now been “enhanced” by Cadmus…into Cyborg Superman. (On a related note, Cadmus tricking Mon-El by using Hank helped show Mon-El’s character growth, so that worked really well for me.) He used Kara’s blood to gain entrance to the Fortress of Solitude, where he asked about “Project Medusa” (“Medusa” being the title of the next episode).

Speaking of Hank, it turns out that M’gann’s blood has infected J’onn; his hands are starting to shake, and he’s been hallucinating – seeing his family, even pulling a gun on an agent that he thought was a White Martian. Though there was a very sweet scene between J’onn and M’gann at the beginning of “The Darkest Place” when she brought him a Martian remedy, once he learned that she lied about her identity they ended up fighting. Or, rather, J’onn fights M’gann, but she refuses to fight back; the story she told when they met is partially true – it’s just that she was the White Martian who had a change of heart and was barely able to escape with her life. Sadly, J’onn can’t seem to accept this and throws M’gann in a cell at the DEO.

One of the best things about Supergirl is the lessons it poses in each episode. Sometimes they can be heavy-handed, but there are a lot of smaller lessons as well that I think get overlooked in favor of the larger one. In “The Darkest Place”, Kara gives J’onn a small speech about moving on and letting yourself be loved that was very poignant in the way that only Supergirl seems to manage. Also, the way she keeps supporting Alex as she deals with her sexuality is wonderful and hopefully will be both a reminder and an inspiration to anyone going through the same thing.

I was a little upset with Alex in this episode. She is going through a lot, and I’m really pleased with how they’re writing her story line, but I felt that she was very unfair to Maggie in “The Darkest Place”. Alex is hurting, and that’s allowed; her feelings are valid, but her speech to Maggie very much made it seem like she was punishing her for not feeling the same way that Alex does. It’s not as though Maggie was intentionally leading Alex on, and she certainly can’t help the way that she feels. In fact, I was a little annoyed that it was Maggie who came to smooth things over with Alex rather than the other way around. That said, I am glad that they reconciled and that Maggie is apparently sticking around.

Last but not least, James faced his first real trial as a vigilante: bad press. Someone with a similar outfit went around killing criminals, and Guardian was getting blamed for it. This led to a lot of great scenes. For example, James and Winn are terrible at keeping secrets, so it’s a wonder that Alex is the only person who knows that James is Guardian. (I can’t believe they only made it one episode before Winn cracked and told someone.) On the other hand, James and Winn are a great team and seeing them together is a hoot. Plus, I appreciate that Kara was skeptical about Guardian’s motives even after having been impressed by him in the previous episode.

What did you guys think of “The Darkest Place”? Do we think that Lena knows what her mother is up to? Speaking of Lillian, is she nuts or what? Is there any way to cure J’onn? What did Mon-El want to tell Kara about Daxam? How did people think that Phillip was Guardian when the armor is different?

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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