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One of ‘Supergirl’s’ best female relationships just took a serious hit
Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoits) was finally leaning into her feelings for Mon-El (Chris Wood), physically less than half an inch from sealing their star-crossed lovers story with a kiss, and then… what the!?!?
A guy so alien you can’t even pronounce his name, Mr. Mxyzptlk (Peter Gadiot), flies in to ruin the moment. Who is this alien? Where did he come from? And why is he professing his love and proposing to Supergirl — as she gives the distinct impression she’s never met this man in her life?
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This swerve came as a big surprise at the end of Monday’s (Feb. 13) episode, “Luthors.” Most of the hour’s focus lies on that famously evil family, and Supergirl’s faith that Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) isn’t like her mother and brother. However, we learn Lena’s actually more of a Luthor than her mom Lillian (Brenda Strong) — since Lillian’s husband Lionel is her biological father. By the time Lillian discovered Lionel was having an affair, his mistress was already pregnant, and Lena was four when her birth mother died, and Lionel convinced Lillian to adopt Lena.
“Whether you like it or not, I’ll always be your mother,” Lillian says, after her alien science project Metallo (Frederick Schmidt) helps her escape from prison — which only makes Lena look even guiltier from the outside. Instead of sounding like an overprotective mom who loves her daughter, it comes off like a reminder of an unbreakable curse.
But Supergirl insists Lena is innocent, flying off to save her after Winn (Jonathon Jordan) discovers that footage of Lena stealing Kryptonite was a fake, made by the cyborg version of the real Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), to discredit her.
While Supergirl saves Lena from her mother’s grasp, both Lillian and Metallo get away — and while everyone in National City believes Lena to the good Luther, that last lingering scene leaves viewers thinking otherwise. Juxtaposed with the flashback of little Lena playing chess with her brother Lex, and her being a quick natural to the game, it all makes us think the whole situation might be part of the Luthors’ grand plan.
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If Lena’s playing the long game, she just completed step one: Getting Supergirl and the DEO’s unequivocal trust. What will her next move be? We have no idea. We’re actually holding out hope that Lena remains a powerfully smart woman with good intentions: Let’s be honest, her high-powered BFF relationship with Kara is everything.
But back to the surprise premiere of fellow DC character Mxyzptlk, a magical imp with a long history of trying to impersonate Kara’s cousin, Superman. Next week’s previews show Kara trying to let him down easy, but Mr. Mxyzptlk sees Mon-El’s presence as a challenge — as he should! — and seems bent on taking out his frustration on National City.
Making matters worse, Mr. Worst Name Ever will drive a wedge between Kara and Mon-El, as they’ll argue on the right method to take him out. Traditionally, the way to send “Mxy” back to his home in the 5th Dimension is by tricking him into either saying or writing his name backwards — but who knows if The CW series will follow the same rules, or if there are new special exceptions. All we know is, we want this dude out of our dimension ASAP — and if Mon-El finally proves himself by helping save the day, all the better.
“Supergirl” airs on Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.