It took way too long, but Supergirl has finally revealed Mon-El’s big secret. Mon-El is not just some guy from Daxam; he’s the prince of the entire planet. In this episode, titled “Star-Crossed,” Mon-El’s parents, Queen Rhea (Teri Hatcher) and King Lar Gand (Kevin Sorbo), arrive on Earth looking for their son and, in the process, completely blow up Kara and Mon-El’s romance. As threatening as Rhea is, Lar is just kind of there. The better story of the episode might be the implosion of another interplanetary relationship, the one between Winn and Lyra.
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Meet the Royal Parents
Picking up roughly where “Homecoming” left off, the gigantic Daxamite ship descends on National City. Mon-El, after a very lengthy pause and Kara almost being murdered, surrenders himself to the ship. Though Mon-El tries to go alone, Kara joins him. Once on board, Kara quickly learns that her new boyfriend has been lying to her. As mentioned, Mon-El is the Prince of Daxam, and the whole family is the very image of white alien privilege. There’s some bad and uninspired jokes of Rhea wanting to make “Daxam great again,” but otherwise the King and Queen make a great and creepy first impression. They aren’t instantly better villains than Lena Luthor, but they are at least on the level.
Mon-El’s parents being totally evil (or one bad day away from turning into power-hungry freaks) isn’t what hurts Kara. Though she doesn’t approve of the Daxam royal family, as they aggressively oppressed their people, Kara is more upset that Mon-El lied to her about his identity. Mon-El has no good justification for this deceit, but it is obvious that he is deeply afraid of his parents. This alone makes the new characters more terrifying than any icy performance from Teri Hatcher could — and she’s pretty icy.
Kara, though, doesn’t care much for Mon-El’s terror. She is too hurt and betrayed by his lies, and the two are in a depressing holding pattern for much of the episode. In the final moments of “Star-Crossed,” Mon-El does try to apologize. Chris Wood does an excellent job of portraying the hurt and desperation of Mon-El, but it doesn’t work. This is one apology too many for Kara, and she breaks up with Mon-El. Luckily, he doesn’t go running back to his parents afterwards and instead stays on Earth, rejecting his old life.
Rhea and Lar are probably just as gone as Kara and Mon-El’s romantic future, though, so not at all. It is a sad end for Mon-El and Kara, but a little time apart can probably only benefit them. Hopefully, it make the all-but-eventual reunion between the two an even stronger relationship as well.
Super Friends 2.0
The real bulk of “Star-Crossed” is about the “B-Squad” taking center stage. Winn breaks into a museum with his new ridge-faced girlfriend, Lyra, in the middle of the night for some sexy time. The next morning, it is discovered that van Gogh’s famous painting “The Starry Night” has been stolen. Since Lyra’s species doesn’t turn up on film, it looks like Winn stole a priceless work of art. Joining together with Alex and James — it turns out the best way to make James enjoyable and legitimate as a hero is to partner him with Alex — the trio tries to track down Lyra and exonerate Winn.
The plot, which could be a complete bore, instead turns out to be a ton of fun. There are some standard twists, so it doesn’t make it feel fresh but is goofy and disposable. Lyra turns out to not be an evil con-artist but rather a woman who he is being blackmailed and someone who does (deep down) care for Winn. Ultimately,, though the trio of Alex, James and Winn is one that works really, really well. It elevates the staleness of the plot.
This trio is probably better than the original “Super Friends” group of Kara, Winn and James from season 1. If Supergirl is going to insist on James being Guardian and not ship him off to one of the other CW superhero shows, this is the team that the show should use for his adventures. James is the perfect middle man between Winn and Alex.
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Introducing the Music Meister
The break-up of Kara and Mon-El is the real emotional end of the episode. There is something that amounts to a teaser for the big Flash and musical crossover that literally closes things out, however. The morning after the break-up, everyone is in DEO HQ when a new prisoner is brought into the main room. Upon seeing Kara, villain Music Meister (Darren Criss) is delighted and immediately puts her under a trance. Kara falls to the ground unconscious and is caught by Mon-El. As everyone is distracted, the Meister grabs a device from Winn and, with a dramatic bow, hops into another dimension to find Barry Allen.
Darren Criss is wonderful in his quick appearance, and he leaves you wanting much more. As far as crossover teasers go, it is way better than the one that launched the “Heroes vs. Aliens” event. Though, I am far more excited for this musical than I was for the gigantic spectacle of superheroics earlier in the season. So there’s nothing Supergirl could do that’s not going to make me less pumped for the next episode of The Flash.
What did you think of Mon-El and Kara’s break-up? Were you more interested in Lyra and Winn’s troubles? What did you think of the first glimpse of the Music Meister? Are you ready for the crossover? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
The crossover ends on The Flash on Tuesday, March 21 at 8/7c on The CW. Supergirl season 2 airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
