Supergirl “Mr. and Mrs. Mxyzptlk:” Not The Show We Used To Know
Supergirl 213, “Mr. and Mrs. Mxyzptlk,” aired this week and it left fans wondering what happened to the show we used to know.
This mid-week post between two Supergirl episodes is usually when I gush about a few scenes, or yell about how important something was, or explain what left my jaw dropped. It’s usually when I write about how critical this TV show is on our screen right now and how it’s spotlighting feminism and strong women in media.
But I just can’t do that this week.
I found myself watching “Mr. and Mrs. Mxyzptlk” on Monday and I began questioning why I even started watching this show to begin with. It’s become the same as every other show on every other network- egotistical boys fighting over the female lead who lives in a world that is dictated and controlled by men. By the end of the season, she falls for one of the boys and he reigns as the champion. Peppered throughout the plot, there are other story lines that the writers desperately try to intertwine with the main one. This is what I watched this week. But this isn’t the Supergirl I started watching.
I couldn’t figure out what was different this season, so I went back to season 1 and watched a few episodes. Keep in mind that during the first season, CBS was producing the show. This season, it’s The CW, and if we know anything about The CW, they like the whole “heroic man saves the hopeless girl” theory. But they seem to have forgotten that this is Supergirl and she doesn’t need anyone to save her.
Supergirl — “Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk” — SPG213b_0125.jpg –Pictured: Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW — © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved
I can confidently say that this show is not what it used to be, and here’s why:
This show was never based on romantic relationships, and I think that’s why I originally loved watching it. Too many shows are based around the promise of a season finale where the two leads finally get together, and while some enjoy that plot, it shouldn’t define the story of the entire season. And that’s just what Mon-El is doing for Kara. He’s simply plummeting her story into the ground.
It feels as though they gave Kara a love interest because they didn’t know what to do with her at night in her apartment when Alex was off with Maggie. It’s like they couldn’t risk having a main f|f relationship without have a main m|f one. The two are independent of one another. There can be a f|f relationship on a TV show without a m|f one. Heteronormativity is boring.
I’m not saying I could never like Mon-El as a character but I am saying that the story between him and Kara is overdone and it’s just not essence of the show. Supergirl was built on the relationship between Kara and Alex Danvers. It was built on them taking down aliens and saving National City together. It was never built on who they wanted to sleep with.
You’re probably thinking, then why are Alex and Maggie okay in the show still? Well, they’re not. It started off on a great arc. Alex Danvers’ coming out story was beautiful and well-written and I will forever love that part of this season, but Alex and Maggie aren’t off the hook either. It seems like in every episode, the writers need to get one single point across- the couple needs to get in this fight to end up in this place. They need to go from point A to point B so the people watching will be giddy with joy by the episode’s end. It’s almost robotic by now. Maybe I’m being over critical of this because the first part of season 2 led me to believe this story would be different than most. But that’s not what’s happening.
And don’t even get me started on the whole “sanvers-centric” aspect of this Valentine’s Day episode, where they specifically advertised the episode as such to get viewers. The only thing “centric” about “Mr. and Mrs. Mxyzptlk” was how much I hated seeing Mon-El.
Am I giving up on Supergirl? Absolutely not. But I’m definitely not as invested as I used to be. It’s The CW though, so what did I really expect here? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
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Supergirl airs on Monday’s at 8/7c on The CW.