Superman on Television

Supergirl: Episode Reviews

Season 6 - Episode 17: "I Believe in a Thing Called Love"

Originally Aired: October 26, 2021
WRITTEN BY: Dana Horgan and Nicki Holcomb
DIRECTED BY: Jesse Warn

REGULAR CAST:
Melissa Benoist (Kara Danvers/Supergirl)
Chyler Leigh (Alex Danvers)
Jesse Rath (Brainiac 5)
Katie McGrath (Lena Luthor)
Nicole Maines (Nia Nal/Dreamer)
David Harewood (J'onn J'onnz)
Azie Tesfai (Kelly Olsen/Guardian)
Staz Nair (William Day)

GUEST STARS:
Julie Gonzalo (Andrea Rojas)
Peta Sergeant (Nxylgsptinz)
Jon Cryer (Lex Luthor)
Mila Jones (Esme)
Robert Baker (Otis)
Keith Dallas (Al)

Rating - 5 (out of 5): The writing on this show just keeps getting better as this story continues. All of the elements and characters are coming together in harmony rather than feeling like they are being shoe-horned into the episode.

And Lex is back, which is always welcome.

Back when the show came back from its break several months ago, it felt like the showrunners and writers made a break from the direction that things had originally been going in. I have no proof of this. It's just a feeling. I don't know if it was the fact that they were getting a break or that they were working under COVID restrictions and creative decisions were in flux, but it was a lot like season three when they had their mid-season break and returned with a fresh new direction. The plot threads they were dealing with at the beginning of the season seem to have been mostly forgotten and the current direction is where they decided to head in.

Lex is a good example of this. At the beginning of the season, it looked like they were going to use Lex as an allegory for a billionaire using the disenfranchisement the common man felt to his own ends and get out of any trouble, legal or otherwise, that he was in. I was curious as to how they would work that into the current storyline because that idea and the more straight-ahead storytelling they've settled into wouldn't mesh well together.

It turns out I will never know because they've gone in a completely different direction. And a better one at that.

This is what happens when you try to second guess a show. I could have been right about the writers deciding to change direction or this could have been the plan all along or some mixture of the two.

I mean, I'm just some guy on the Internet. What do I know about the complexities of network television production?

Anyway, Lex coming from the 31st Century and being in love with Nxly is a great direction to take the character in. I really bought that he loved her and that this isn't some trick that he's playing. The justification of why he hell for her and the hoops he jumped in to get her to accept him was great. It gives Nxly another character to bounce off of and it brings Lex back into the show.

A win-win for the viewers.

The engagement element of the episode worked for me as well and played into the quest for the Love Totem. Having Alex trying to propose at Al's just to have the place to be booked just to have Kelly being the person that prevented Alex from booking the place was adorable. Kara and Lena had some great moments in the episode as well and I liked that Lena has, for the moment, moved past her hatred of Lex. Brainy got to have a dramatic scene and J'onn facing his past all felt like we're ramping up towards the finale.

Three more to go. Technically two, but it's a two-parter on the night of the finale, so both of those options work for me.

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