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Supergirl: Season 2 Episode 8 'Medusa' review - SciFiNow

Supergirl: Season 2 Episode 8 ‘Medusa’ review

Supergirl kicks off the four-part crossover with another strong episode

Advertised as the first of the Arrowverse crossover episodes, this week’s episode of Supergirl actually stands alone (with a very fleeting appearance of Barry (Grant Gustin) and Cisco (Carlos Valdes) at the end. So we’ll ignore the fact that it is supposed to be the start of the crossover, and discuss it as its own entity.

It’s Thanksgiving, and the family (which at this point also includes most of the main cast and Mon-El (Chris Wood) gather at Kara’s for dinner. Mon-El, in his still learning of Earth brings stuffing from his mattress rather than of the sage and onion variety, and the Danvers’ mother, Eliza (original Supergirl Helen Slater), clocks instantly that he has a crush on her daughter.

In the aftermath of having come out to Kara (and subsequently the arc being ignored the following week), Alex wants to tell her mother about the latest development in her life, of course, she keeps getting interrupted by James (Mehcad Brooks) wanting to tell the group about his being the Guardian and Winn (Jeremy Jordan) being Winn.

As the episode moves forwards, and dinner gets interrupted before Alex can make her announcement by a portal opening above the table and the action kicking in.

Mon-El (Chris Wood) is in The Bronze, uh, the alien dive bar that is apparently surreptitiously called ‘Alien Bar’, when an alien lady hits on him but (after his asking Winn and James if Kara has a ‘mate’ last week) he tells her he is waiting for somebody. He then notices the not-at-all-suspicious-looking Cyborg Superman (David Harewood) is leaving and follows him out, gets the shit kicked out of him while the aliens inside the bar are killed by a poison toxin.

Just in case the toxin has also infected Mon-El, he is put into quarantine at the DEO. He spends some time playing monopoly (because what is Thanksgiving with board games) and generally bonding. Cue a bit of despair as it looks as if he might actually cop it. But Alex and Kara bring in their mum, the bioengineer, to com and save the day. But there’s a problem, she can’t make a cure until she has a sample of the poison. At some point during his (supposedly) delirious state he and Kara kiss. (Honestly, he’s the much better suitor than the others at this point).

Alex finally finds her moment when Eliza asks her what it was she wanted to say at dinner and there is another heart-warming moment of her telling Alex that it would never change her opinion of her. She was never going to have a ‘normal’ life – though we’re not under the impression that because she’s gay she isn’t normal. Still, when Maggie (Floriana Lima) has a brush with death she makes the decision that she wants to be with Alex and our fists hit the air in celebration.

Figuring out that Cadmus are the ones behind it, Kara heads to L Corp to try and get some intel from Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) on the matter and fails miserably at it. So she returns later as Supergirl, informed her that her mother, Lillian (Brenda Strong), is Cadmus. She doesn’t take it too well, and tells her to leave. Then when Lillian comes to visit her daughter, you think that maybe Lena has turned against her alien friend.

But it’s the best twist of the episode when Lena actually isn’t on her mother’s side at all. Instead of allowing Cadmus to release the toxin across the city, she gives her a dud isotope, and it’s probably the most surprising thing we’ve witnessed from Supergirl so far. We were moderately worried that they were going to have let that lame excuse fly for Lena turning Lex on Kara. Four for you Lena.

Obviously this means that Mon-El is going to survive to tell the tale of another day, but when Kara confronts him about what happened while he was ‘delirious’, he denies any knowledge. But you can see it in his face. He knows. We can tell that we’re going to be ever-so-slightly hooked on the will-they-won’t-they in the background of all the ladies kicking ass for some time to come.

Finally, of course, is the appearance of Grant Gustin and Carlos Valdes at the end of the episode as Barry Allen and Cisco Ramone to kick-off the crossover. Honestly, if you don’t watch Supergirl (though we don’t understand why you wouldn’t, it being the strongest of the Arrowverse at current) and you’ve especially watched this episode for the crossover, you have wasted your time slightly. But to see the two adorable puppies reunited again nearly makes it worth it.

It’s another strong outing regardless, we’re really enjoying this season of Supergirl, long may it continue.