'Supergirl' Recap: 'Survivors'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

I've always found it fascinating when a television show takes a moment to point out its own flaws. After all, it's rare to see that kind of self awareness from a television show and it's not a bad thing since it means that a series is willing to acknowledge its glaring mistakes, and all we can hope for is that they are planning on improving upon them, and oddly enough, Supergirl went through a moment of storytelling self enlightenment this week.

That moment arrived when Supergirl was able to confront our big bad of the evening, Roulette, when the Girl of Steel was taunted and called out for consistently locking up aliens rather than doing anything to help them and well...Roulette's not wrong. Season one of this show was all about bringing down an alien of the week and dealing with Kryptonians along the way and well...it was for all intents and purposes a flaw in the series because we've never really had the opportunity to understand the alien plight on earth, why they're here and why they're on the run. It's something the show has clearly been trying to course correct all season long with the discussion of alien rights but last night, the alien struggle storyline advanced leaps and bounds and quite frankly, the show made up for its mistakes with a stunningly smart episode in 'Survivors'. 

This is a story that took us into the alien side of life on earth, showing us that not every being that crash landed here has been blessed like the last children of Krypton. Many of them are trying desperately to make a living and survive like the humans they live alongside and well, their abilities and/or strength must always be kept a secret since unless you're wearing an S on your chest, you're branded as something to be reviled. It's a stunning picture to paint for a show this hopeful and lighthearted, but while this idea was jarring to say the least, it was necessary because there is an underground group, led by the mysterious Roulette who take advantage of the despair and fear by allowing for aliens to duke it out in their own fight club. Giving them the opportunity to deal with their own internal rage for being an outcast and make some money by entertaining National City's elite in the ring.

This led to a fascinating storyline between J'onn and M'gann where we learned that while J'onn tries hard on a daily basis to honor those he lost on Mars so many centuries ago, M'gann is someone who will do anything and everything to forget, and is suffering severely from survivor's remorse. Her pain for what happened on Mars has turned to pure anger and she deals with it by dishing out violence. Granted there was quite the twist to her character when all was said and done, since we learned she is actually a White Martian, the species responsible for all the genocide on Mars, but it's clear she is the one that rose up and refused to kill. All of that aside however, this storyline was indicative of one grander theme, the fact that aliens and humans alike are all in this together on our tiny little planet and it was wonderful to watch Kara and everyone at the DEO learn and realize that not all aliens are criminal monsters and that perhaps demonstrating a little understanding to one another's plight...might go a long way in making life on a planet far from home a little easier. 

If anything, it's quite amazing to see that this series is continuing to delve into real world topics, such as immigration in this case, week after week all of a sudden, because it's usually something comic book shows tend to shy away from. But not Supergirl. This is a series that fully realizes it has the opportunity to do something incredibly special with a strong female lead and it's a welcome change to see a show about a superhero challenge all of us on a fundamental level and I'm curious to see what else they plan on tackling in the weeks to come. Especially considering now that a White Martian has befriended a Green one unexpectedly and one also has to wonder what will come of the discovery of these ugly fight clubs and whether or not Kara's request from Lena Luthor, will come back to haunt her. Time will tell, but one way or another I'll be in my seat and ready to watch since Supergirl is quickly assembling one intelligent season filled to the brim with thoughtful stories. Until next time. 

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