Supergirl has been using the third season to dive more into the mythology of Krypton and the non-human creatures on the show. The show originally revealed that the main antagonist of this season would be Reign, another Kryptonian, and while that develops Supergirl has explored Mars and the cultures of these different planets. It incorporates an interesting and undiscovered aspect of the heroes because while they are featured solely as heroes, it becomes easy to forget that they aren’t gods. Last night’s episode, “The Faithful,” took a look at this side of Supergirl’s influence on culture and where the line of being inspired crosses over into worship.
Through three seasons, Supergirl has shown Kara saving a lot of people up to this point. She has been a great hero and an even better person because of how hard she pushes herself to be the best protector she possibly can. “The Faithful” finally acknowledges the idea that people do more than just look up to Supergirl though, they begin to worship her. The episode really focuses on the idea that this isn’t something Kara wants because she is just doing her job; however, it is also something she can’t fully stop this from happening either.
The problem with these people’s worship is it starts to become violent. Part of the problem is that in order to become a full member of the religious society, you have to be saved by Supergirl. This causes the members to begin harming others and committing crimes because of how crazily obsessed they become with the idea of being saved by Supergirl. This isn’t the way Kara wants to inspire people though because it begins to create more problems that are unnecessary compared to other things happening in the city.
It’s sad that people will go to this length just to be noticed but is a nice aspect for Supergirl to dive into. This becomes a reality when people cross the line between inspired and obsessed. Kara begins to question how she can handle the situation or do a better job to make sure this type of an event doesn’t happen again. Yet, at the episode’s end Alex points out that her sister still represents good in the proper way to a lot of people. Which is the key point that Kara cannot lose sight of; there will always be people who go too far with their love and belief in Supergirl, but her being a hero also impacts plenty of people in the right way.
At the end of the day, “The Faithful,” hits Kara with the tough reality that certain people are going to go above and beyond with their admiration of her. It will be something that she encounters but also something that she can control or at least keep in control by showing everyone that she’s more like the people than they think. Doing something like cutting herself during the kryptonite exposure is an insightful reminder that everyone is at least a little bit human, and while Supergirl should be an inspiring figure that people want to be like, they don’t need powers to do so.
Other Thoughts:
– It is pretty rough to see Alex try to bury being okay with not having kids… Girl needs to stand up for herself!
– I’m curious how everything with Samantha/Reign will play out. So far it’s been a fun plot to follow along with but I’m interested to see the full story behind how it happens.
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