Superman on Television

Supergirl: Episode Reviews

Season 4 - Episode 10: "Suspicious Minds"

Originally Aired: January 20, 2019
WRITTEN BY: Maria Maggenti and Gabriel Llanas
DIRECTED BY: Rachel Talalay

REGULAR CAST:
Melissa Benoist (Kara/Supergirl)
Chyler Leigh (Alex Danvers)
David Harewood (J'onn Jones)
Mechad Brooks (Jimmy Olsen)
Jesse Rath (Brainiac 5)
Katie McGrath (Lena Luthor)

GUEST STARS:
April Parker Jones (Col. Lauren Haley)
Nicole Maines (Nia Nal)
Russell Wong (General Tan)

Rating - 3 (out of 5): This wasn't a bad episode. I wouldn't say it's the strongest of the season, but it was by no means poorly executed. The problem I had with it stems from my problem with the storyline regarding Kara's secret identity.

It's just weird.

Maybe it's because her secret identity has never been a big deal for the show. Most of the ongoing characters are in on the fact that Kara is Supergirl. Lena is pretty much the only one that doesn't know (outside of Nia, but she's new) and the drama that has come from that has been decent but nothing special. Lena likes Kara and doesn't like Supergirl. That's the drama. Because her identity has not been a huge deal for three seasons it feels strange to make a big thing out of it now. It's like the showrunners want us to forget the past few seasons and run with this idea because it's the idea of the moment and I'm having a hard time doing that.

Don't get me wrong; the drama of the episode was real and the final scene where Kara's friends and ultimately her sister having their memories of her identity stripped from them was powerful. I just don't like the overall idea.

Luckily there were other things to focus on. Nia's story is still percolating nicely and the dinner she had with Brainy made for good comedy relief. I think Jesse Rath needs to tone it down a bit when it comes to his line delivery as Brainy but the back and forth he and Nia have is very entertaining. James and Lena making up was likewise welcome. It will be interesting to see how far James is willing to go with Lena's plans but the fact that they had a mature conversation about their fight showed some depth to the writing. J'onn setting up a detective agency is amazing, and I just have to assume that he has saved the vast majority of his DEO pay for the past decade or so to afford the office and equipment he was setting up.

Oh, and the Russian Supergirl thing is still popping up, every once in a while, to remind us it's still there. At this point I am of the opinion that the resolution to that storyline better be amazing to be worth all of this build up.

So, this episode was enjoyable. Not the best but the show and this season still has my attention. I realized while prepping this review that it was directed by Rachel Talalay, who I know from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and Doctor Who, so the fact that she did something involving a character with an S on their chest makes me very happy. I'm glad that they are going to be dealing with Alex losing her memory of Kara's identity and hopefully this won't be a big deal for very long.

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