Returning from the break, Supergirl delivers an episode that puts a heavy focus on Kara and Lena. In it’s recent episodes before the hiatus, Supergirl was giving viewers a lot of Kara and Mon-El a bunch of back and forth in their relationship and the involvement of his parents. “Ace Reporter,” steps into a different direction and sees the return of Lena. Kara and Lena is a really great friendship dynamic that Supergirl has been building nicely throughout the season. Lena has become the one character who only knows Kara as Kara, which allows Supergirl to just be a normal person for at least a little bit of her life.
“Ace Rerporter” has Kara really focused on herself and the things she can accomplish without her powers as opposed to with them. Lena’s ex, Jack Spheer (played by iZombie’s Rahul Kohli), arrives in town when his company is ready to announce that they have finally mastered nano technology that will benefit the entire world. Yet again, Supergirl really humanizes Lena and separates her personality and history from what is traditionally expected from the Luthor family. Lena has essentially been left with nobody in this show; Lex has never entered the picture, her mother is evil and only shows up when she needs something, and Lena is really only left with Kara. The episode finally gives Lena another outlet and familiar face in Spheer, which unfortunately ends in tragedy and has her feeling more alone than ever.
Supergirl has a lot of great focus on all of the new and unlikely relationships that have come out of season two so far. Not only does this episode pair Kara with Lena, but Snapper as well. Kara’s former boss keeps popping up at these big journalistic events and while they don’t realize it at first, the two characters are pursuing the same thing. Snapper has been a really fun character to introduce to the show but the writers have developed his relationship with Kara to become something solid and important in her life. It’s clear she has learned a lot from him, which this show reflects upon, and the grumpy old journalist has taken notice of that. While Snapper is always going to be seemingly unhappy, that doesn’t mean he won’t respect people, which is clear after “Ace Reporter,” and him giving Kara her job back.
The show always handles it’s character growth nicely, and did not fail to ignore a third part of the show that needed to be addressed with James and Winn. The odd couple has been one of the better events for James’ character in Supergirl, but being the team of Guardian is a lot to ask out of someone. Being in a relationship with Lyra, Winn is trying to make sure he can do everything; aid in fighting crime, keep up all of his friendships as well as give his girlfriend the attention she deserves. James gets a little selfish in “Ace Reporter,” because he feels like a third wheel when he’s out as Guardian, which is something he asked Winn to join him for. The sub-plot for these characters is a very minor speed bump, and doesn’t add much to the show, but at least gets a little conflict between Winn and James out of the way now instead of when something major begins to happen.
Supergirl has had some rocky episodes before it’s hiatus that had the show feeling like it was really stretching to fill in the games before it’s final push to the finale. Although a lot of great things have occurred, the plot began to feel like a lot of the same back and forth with a large focus on Kara and Mon-El. “Ace Reporter,” brings the show back in a strong way by focusing on the amazing non-romantic relationships that Supergirl has developed and why they are so important for the main character. While there’s no telling what Rhea has planned (after her surprise at the end), it’s nice for Kara to be reminded of all the great people she has around her, who make her a better hero and person.
Other Thoughts:
– The Winn James and Lyra plot was pretty boring. It had some nice moments between Winn and James but felt like complete filler.
– Despite being one little moment, Mon-El’s hug to Jack and quick line about their bro-connection was fantastic.
– Really interesting to see Rhea show up at Lena’s office at the end. It will be interesting to see if Lena learns about Kara’s secret by the end of the season. I really love having her character be out of the know, but it depends on how far Rhea wants to go with her evil plan.
Follow Us
