‘Supergirl’s’ refugee crisis feels far too familiar

It’s hardly a surprise that a show about a refugee alien would be pro-immigration, but “Supergirl” went above and beyond with the issue in Monday’s (Oct. 24) episode.

As President Olivia Marsdin (Lynda Carter) prepares to sign the Alien Amnesty Act, giving equal rights to all aliens in the United States, a mysterious alien attacker puts National City on guard.

Luckily, this attacker has nothing to do with Mon-El (Chris Wood), who will be sticking around for quite awhile now that he’s learned the fate of his home planet, Daxam.

RELATED: Who is Mon-El, and why is he strangling ‘Supergirl’?

Meanwhile, we have to give props to “Supergirl” for its powerful message about accepting immigrants, especially considering the recent political climate. Lena Luthor’s (Katie McGrath) plan to sell an alien detecting device that would allow humans to publicly out aliens trying to hide amongst them reminds us of more than a few real-life politicians and their rhetoric about registering and rounding up various races and religions.

“Supergirl” doesn’t just deserve praise for creating much-needed parallels between its alien heroes and refugees, however. The show takes it a step further, by giving Kara (Melissa Benoist) a well-rounded experience on both sides of the issue.

While she might start out as a naive idealist, railing against Lena Luthor for her anti-alien ways, she is very quickly — and rightly — informed of her bias. By taking another look at Lena’s argument and recognizing some harsh truths about aliens on earth, Kara eventually understands that the issue isn’t black and white, and it’s not always a smooth course to overcoming discrimination.

RELATED: Forget the Phantom Zone, the ‘Supergirl’ friend zone is lethal

We’re happy to see that Kara’s able to overcome her own prejudice where Mon-El and Daxam are concerned. By taking a harsh look at her own misconceptions about Krypton’s sister planet, she is able to understand the human perspective better and overcome her doubts about Mon-El.

We’re not sure where exactly that relationship is headed, but the chemistry — as enemies, allies and everything in between — is certainly there.

“Supergirl” airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

Source link