We Can Be Heroes – Mon-El’s hero training begins to the disproval of James Olsen but when Livewire is back on the loose, they’ll need all the help they can get. When M’gann loses consciousness J’onn must mind meld to save her, forcing him to relive memories of the Martian war.
So following on from Mon-El’s decision to suit and cape up (screw you, Edgar Mole) among the hero ranks his, “hero kindergarten” turns an examination of just what makes a hero (and ultimately what makes a villain). This gives James Olsen his best story usage as since donning his “not-Batman” Guardian garbs as he becomes the foil for comparison in the argument of power vs. heart. Mon-El is strong enough to be a hero but is reckless, undisciplined and doing so out of obligation. James has the desire and determination to be a hero but his humanity makes him vulnerable nw matter how much tech he packs. There are good arguments made either way for both made men as Kara imposes her own judgment with the ultimate message-placing heroism as personal choice rather than an obligation. In particular, Guardian’s speech in defence to Supergirl ,really hits home. This also progresses the show into the beginning of bigger teams-ups as we see the trio uniting in a climactic fight and deliver a good action spectacle. However, the overall direction of this multi-hero affair still seems unclear, especially following the episodes final 5 minutes. My DC equivalent Spider Sense is telling me they’re heading towards Batman Vs Superman style Guardian Vs Supergirl showdown, which would be bad because they already did that last year with Supergirl Vs Alex in her kryptonite tech suit.
It’s the villain that takes the cake this week as Brit Morgan’s Livewire returning for the hat-trick is definitely the best thing on screen. Firstly, her opening prison therapy skit has a wonderful Arkham feel to it and Morgan is fantastic in giving miss sparky pants a more deranged and unhinged edge. Thankfully, she still gets some good sassy one liners in too; the best being ripping on the boys trying to do a women’s job and screwing it up. The Livewire character isn’t used as a token villain presence (like her last team up episode with Silver Banshee) with the story taking her character in a very interesting direction. In fact, the conclusion almost establishes a Flash/Captain Cold-like relationship between her and Supergirl, which makes for a very curious and promising future for the character. However, it’s not all full power in the villain ranks. Without getting spoilery, Livewire is not the episodes only villain.... but she’s the only one actually given a name. Just because they’re not a comics persona doesn’t mean they should remain nameless and in this case, the lack of identity practically wraps a red shirt around them like a straight jacket.
The Martian mind games were a mixed bag of results. On the one hand, the events give David Harewood some big emotional material to work with as his hatred towards White Martians conflict a desire to help M’gann. Sharon Leal does some decent emotion-selling too as we get some clunky fleshing out of her back-story. However, the mindmeld itself is let down as for all J’onn’s protests, the visuals do not represent anything that he was fearful of or even anything to be that bothered about. Also their whole story throughout the episode feels little more than a post-Christmas refresher of the Miss Martian character before bigger events in upcoming weeks.... which turns out to be true.
With Mon-El’s training, Livewire’s return, this Guardian and Miss Martian stories, there’s actually a lot going on this episode, which is one of the reasons the Kara/Mon-El, “Will they, won’t they?” romantic scenes feel so horribly awkward and forced in. It’s the biggest feature that really doesn’t need to be there. It advances nothing, still leaving things in an awkward statement and at no point is it engaging because they never feels a context for bringing up the subject. By contrast, the Alex and Maggie moments could not be more perfect. They stay a minor feature of the episode, just serving as little notes to show their relationshi,p continuing but at same time, being very funny as they place bets on Kara’s actions. I really disliked the forced conflict between the pair last episode. This is a vast improvement.
From its Bowie honouring name to the comedy of Mon-El’s training (with Jedi remotes) and the antics of Livewire, there is a lot to like about this episode. It’s driven by good strong themes but ultimately tries to cram too much into the trunk causing some to fall away. Last episode’s bold venture was always going to be a tough act to follow and, like some would be heroes, despite some good intentions, it can’t quite get the job done.