'Supergirl' Recap: 'City of Lost Children'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

What's interesting about superheroes as a whole, is that what they stand for and what they represent changes as the years go by to properly relate to their audience and to remain relevant with the times. But despite the changes that have come down the pipe as time marches on, there are a pair of superheroes who seemingly withstand whatever history throws their way to represent one thing, and one thing alone...hope; and those two heroes in question, just so happen be to the last children of the doomed planet of Krypton.

Because when you think of Supergirl and Superman, you instantly think of good, and their powers and how they always do the right thing and the hope they inspire and the joy they bring to millions of readers has always served as a building block to their stories. So much in fact that Supergirl the TV series spent most of season one exploring how Kara Danvers won over the hearts and minds of the people of National City and how she inspires people to be something more now that she is the established defender of this beautiful city. But let's be honest, that message has taken a bit of a back seat for season two of the show and with good reason. The writers have had a grand opportunity to adapt Supergirl to the times and tackle some of the burning issues facing our society. But last night's episode, 'City of Lost Children', brought hope and inspiration back to the forefront in the most unlikely of ways, by giving James Olsen some serious screen time and a chance to apply what Kara and Clark have taught him.

His opportunity to do good in a different way came about shortly after the realization that his alter ego, the Guardian was not seen as the beacon of hope that Kara or Clark represents, he instead stood for fear and that wasn't settling well with him. It made him rethink everything he was currently doing as the Guardian and an odd set of circumstances set James down a path of personal redemption. Because a random attack by a telekinetic alien brought James into contact with said alien's son, named Marcus, and the two discovered they shared a near instant bond, to the point where James offered to take the kid under his wing in the hopes of getting him to open up and reveal his mother's location so the DEO could figure out what caused her to attack since her species, the Phorians, are not known for being hostile and well, this made for some fantastic television.

James receiving some serious screen time was well overdue and it was quite magical to see him struggle with finding a true heroic purpose in life and open up to young Marcus about his past and his pain and it was equally as wonderful to see him go the extra mile to make sure that Marcus and his family, and extended family for that matter were safe, but alas...despite the wonder of James' tale this go round, it was indeed overshadowed by a far more powerful storyline, Queen Rhea making her move. Because it turns out she was responsible for the random attack since her work with Lena was generating particles in the atmosphere that prompted the Phorians to strike and to make matters worse, those particles were related to a grander plan, because the gateway she introduced to Lena was built to perfection, allowing for other Daxamites from across the galaxy to cross through the portal and arrive on earth, where Queen Rhea is planning to rebuild Daxam atop our world.

If anything, this was quite the surprising episode. Because not only was it a lovely character study of James Olsen, it was also quite the incredible setup for the season finale, and there's still an episode left before we get there, and one truly has to appreciate the calm that Queen Rhea operates with because she's not a traditional villain. She knows how to bide her time, how to win you over before unleashing hell and she's so good at deception, she managed to break down her only son and convince him to not put an end to all of this madness. Either way, what comes next should be downright amazing, because Supergirl is going to have her hands full trying to deal with hundreds of ships full of super-powered Daxamites and it is going to take every ounce of her strength and courage to save the earth from this ugly mess. Until next time.

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