Homecoming – When the DEO intercepts a Cadmus convoy and frees Jeremiah Danvers it seems like a dream come true for Kara and Alex but Mon-El finds it too much of a coincidence which puts strain on his new relationship with Kara.
This week Supergirl gives us a well trodden and often quite predictable story told rather well. It’s something that we’ve seen many times before on all manner of shows; a long lost character/loved one returns but turns out to be very different. From the moment Jeremiah arrives on screen things feel too predictable but having Mon-El voice such a viewpoint acknowledges and embraces such a weakness and turns it into a strength. Similarly from the moment we see Jeremiah favouring his hand like a certain inauguration Secret Service member it’s quite obvious something’s going on there but the results are still satisfying. The Winter Scientist anyone? Finally the (curse your) certain but inevitable betrayal carries weight because of the good emotional significance placed on Jeremiah’s return, even calling back to J’onn’s Earthly origins. Finally the eventual play out successfully left Jeremiah’s character in a good state of ambiguity. We know he was acting of his own free will but has a benevolent agenda and still cares for his family. That said the story was a big disservice to the intelligence of many characters by the speed and ease Jeremiah is given free run of the DEO. This episode we see J’onn make Kara & Mon-El jump through all the HR hoops after learning of their workplace romance but happily and immediately hand security clearances to a man he hasn’t seen it 14 years.
The most effective story elements were the character relationships between Kara and Mon-El along with Kara and Alex. Even though it takes a predictable turn into immediate conflict Kara and Mon-El’s honeymoon period is quite entertaining. From Kara’s giggling confession over breaking guys noses during eager kissing to Mon-El’s Ron Burgundy like announcement they make for a very fun couple. What’s more even though a rocky honeymoon is TV romance 101 it feels much more grounded and less manufactured when being caused by Mon-El’s suspicions of Jeremiah. Although his choice of words carries the perception of rudeness the script still makes him feel like a voice of reason while everyone else’s judgement is clouded by emotion. This is also echoed well between Kara and Alex when such accusations also drive a wedge between sisters and here the show is making use of the adopted Vs blood relative daughters divide rather than throwing it in haphazardly like the first half of season one. We see that having Jeremiah accept Maggie and Alex’s recent life choices means so much to Alex (really it was last hurdle in coming out) which gives her reasons to hold tighter than Kara round Jeremiah’s protests of innocence. There were other little relationship gems too. Rather than going for the easy win of a loving husband/wife reunion, Eliza’s cautious, “we don’t know each other” moment was surprisingly touching. Then were the concluding moments of support and solace in a loved one. Both showed typically string characters in Kara and Alex willingly taking comfort and exposing their weakness to their respective partner in a way that felt real and justified considering everything they’ve been through.
The weakest element of the episode by far was Cadmus. Although it had less screen time, that embarrassingly bad Halloween mask of a Cyborg Superman costume was back on David Harewood’s face. I just can’t take his character seriously until they fix that. Mostly though, they didn’t feel like they had enough presence in the episode; a lot of which involved the good guys talking about them rather than seeing them have any involvement or impact. You can understand that they’d want to keep the focus on Jeremiah but even brief mid-episode action encounter would have wonders. Their concluding scene does slightly make up for this and shed some light on their intentions.
It’s certainly not the joyous affair of last week but Homecoming is a good episode of strong performances that not only makes Cadmus into a significant threat again but positions Dean Cain to be a recurring character again at long last. Surely it can only be a matter of time before we see him on screen with Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman and the Mon-El royal reveal is inching ever closer.