Supergirl season 3 episode 13 recap + review: Both Sides Now

As they try to get answers from Purity, Kara and Alex encounter philosophical differences. Here is what happened on Supergirl this week.

Well, it was an improvement. Supergirl stumbled last week with a muddled episode that brought season 3’s steadily building momentum to a halt. Just when we were starting to get interested in Reign, the show shifted its focus to Lena and Edge — a flagrant stalling tactic. At least that meant big things were on the horizon, right?

In truth, “Both Sides Now” is surprisingly uneventful. However, in an awkward way, the episode brings welcome clarity to the characters and themes, leaving the show in a better state than it was before. And with an extended hiatus upon us, maybe that’s all we can really ask for.

Picking up right where “For Good” left off, it opens with Kara, Mon-El, and the DEO searching for Julia Freeman, whom they have identified as Purity. In a rather startling sight, men with guns invade a peaceful-looking suburban neighborhood and break into one of the houses. At first, it appears to be empty, but they find Julia in the living room with headphones on. She is singing to herself, oblivious to their presence — until, suddenly, she isn’t.

Understandably, she freaks out. Realizing Julia’s panic is real, Kara tries to keep the situation under control, telling the men to lower their weapons. But not everyone shares her composure or compassion. Alex impulsively raises her gun again, prompting Julia to morph into Purity and bombard the intruders with sonic waves. Only when Supergirl creates a wall of ice separating the two parties does J’onn manage to take Purity into custody.

That opening is perhaps the most engaging sequence of “Both Sides Now.” It also previews the episode’s main conflict.

Back at the DEO, the Danvers sisters argue about how to deal with Purity. While Kara believes she can reason with the Worldkiller, Alex would rather use force, insisting that Julia’s apparent confusion was just a ruse. Eventually, the latter relents. “We can try it your way,” she says. “And when your way fails, we can try mine.”

Right away, alarm bells went off in my head. That doesn’t sound like Alex. It isn’t hard to buy her reluctance to trust Purity; after all, she is a law enforcement agent, trained to examine and question evidence. What stretches credibility is her hostility toward Kara. Sure, the sisters are no strangers to quarrels. Yet, they never openly express doubt in each other’s abilities.

Later, Supergirl attempts to explain Alex’s behavior as a result of lingering grief over Maggie. It feels halfhearted, though. For starters, the writers’ insistence on attributing everything Alex does these days to Maggie is exasperating, as if the breakup erased the rest of her personality. More to the point, they failed to set this up at all. If the disagreement involved, say, buying dinner, maybe it wouldn’t matter. But it hinges on a fundamental discrepancy in worldviews; it shouldn’t come out of nowhere.

To be clear, I don’t mind seeing tension between Kara and Alex. Their relationship constitutes the core of the show; if anything, they should experience tension more often. And, again, the individual characterization rings true. Kara’s optimism has always been somewhat at odds with Alex’s guarded demeanor, and “Fort Rozz” hinted at her newly empathetic attitude toward the Worldkillers. On paper, conflict should push the characters in intriguing directions. In practice, though, it just feels contrived.

It doesn’t help that “Both Sides Now” relies so much on telling instead of showing. The drama between Kara, Alex, and Purity plays out entirely through dialogue, as the latter two take turns trying to intimidate each other. Only when Purity unleashes her powers does the episode briefly come alive. The image of Supergirl falling through shattered glass in slow-motion is strangely arresting — yet another example of director Jesse Warn’s visual panache.

Then, there’s the Mon-El storyline. At long last, the show gives us a glimpse at his marriage, and it’s … unconvincing. While helping repair the Daxamite ship, J’onn observes friction between Mon-El and Imra and offers advice. Besides being even more poorly established than the friction between Kara and Alex, the plot requires Chris Wood to say lines like, “I was this completely self-absorbed misogynist. Not anymore.”

Mostly, it suggests a lack of confidence on the writers’ part. If they ever bothered to properly depict Mon-El’s maturation, they wouldn’t need to spell it out for us.

As grumpy as this recap probably sounds, I want to emphasize that “Both Sides Now” isn’t bad, especially in comparison to last week’s installment. It introduces a promising arc for Julia/Purity and has a smattering of snappy lines to compensate for the clunkers. It’s just frustrating to watch Supergirl continually squander interesting ideas with subpar execution.

Bullet points:

The song Julia is singing when the DEO agents find her is “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb.
In the C-plot, Samantha inadvertently abandons Ruby at an ice-skating rink (metaphor alert!), and Lena might have figured out what’s going on with her.
Finally, someone has the right reaction to the Worldkillers’ bombastic dialogue. When Purity announces herself with a Daenerys Targaryen-like string of titles, Alex quips, “Would you mind condensing that a little bit?”
Best unexpectedly touching moment: Winn hugging Alex to comfort her.
According to J’onn, Martian spouses psychically share their thoughts and feelings every night. It sounds convenient but also like the basis for a Black Mirror episode.
Imra’s reference to fighting with Mon-El over a missing instruction manual suggests at least one cut scene, which might explain the plot’s haphazard quality.
Winn, sans context: “I will have an unnecessary amount of chicken wings as befits a man of my stature.”
Alex to Kara, summing up the lesson of season 3: “I’m glad that you are the way that you are.”

Supergirl returns to The CW on Monday, April 16.

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