Podcast: Play in new window | Download (48.2MB) | Embed
Welcome back to Maid of Steel! In this episode we discuss Supergirl Season 2 Episode 17 “Distant Sun” which originally aired on March 27, 2017 and featured the return of Teri Hatcher (as Rhea) and Kevin Sorbo (as Lar Gand). Though this is the last we’ve seen of Lar Gand, we fully anticipate seeing more of Teri Hatcher! Also back this week, as far as guest stars go, was Lynda Carter as la presidenta Olivia Marsden.
Helicopter Parenting
Mon-El is rather selective about where his pop-culture knowledge shines (Rom-ayo and Juliet, anyone?), but the weighted double meaning of his use of this phrase, helicopter parenting, was not lost on us! 
Both literally, and emotionally, Mon-El’s parents remain high above National City and making their best attempts at puppeteering their son. Before we learn it is Rhea bankrolling the bounty, we get a healthy dose of foreshadowing when Hannibal, one of the bounty hunters, literally has the power of mind control. Mon-El first confronts his parents about the bounty, which they deny, and returns to Kara’s apartment and tells her frankly what he was up to, only then to have his body taken over by Hannibal.
Let’s recap the accomplishments which lead us to grant Rhea the grand prize amongst all helicopter parents: she first takes out a bounty on her son’s girlfriend (begging the question, did she ever really think it would work?); she manipulates Mon-El into giving up his life on Earth and return with his parents; when he spouts off crazy, American idealisms, Rhea locks him up in a cell for the duration of their return to Daxam; finally, when Team Supergirl breaks him out of his cell and whisks him away with a somewhat tongue-in-cheek blessing from his father, Rhea literally stabs her husband in the back.
As Karen would say: “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.” (That’s from Macbeth…)
There was little in this episode to drown out the sappy backwash of relationship drama, whether it was good or bad, but the pacing of the episode overall felt tighter and more intentional. Plus there was laser eye-patch alien guy! 
As I am still in the midst of my comic book education, I do not see the bright comic book spotlights as easily as Karen does and find myself getting hung up on the mechanics of relationships being portrayed. In spite of that, I enjoy walking a way from discussions with Karen seeing a slightly bigger picture than the one I had going in and appreciate the conversation we were able to have!
We hope you enjoy the discussion and, don’t forget, Supergirl is taking a couple weeks off for spring sweeps and will return April 24. In the meantime, check out iZombie’s third season premiere AND the return of Prison Break!
Cougar’s Comic Corner
Green Lantern Vol. 5: Test of Wills
Hal Jordan, the greatest Green Lantern in the history of the Corps, has lost everything. Friends have died, Oa has been destroyed, and now he must say goodbye to Earth! As war threatens to dismantle the Green Lantern Corps, Hal does the unthinkable: He asks for help. Can he and a team of handpicked Lanterns remove a deadly weapon from the enemy’s arsenal, or will they be dealt their first defeat?
This story features a race called the Durlans, and it’s been confirmed that Lynda Carter is playing a Durlan character. So if you want to know more about them, I offer this storyline as a primer.
BONUS CCC!
Superman Vol. 1: Before Truth
A new era for the Man of Steel begins here. Superman is going through some changes. First, there’s his new “solar flare” power, which releases tremendous amounts of energy but leaves him functionally human—fragile, vulnerable, prone to hangovers—for 24 hours.
But an even bigger change is coming. A new company called Hordr has sprung up, and its business is secrets. If you have one that you want to keep hidden, Hordr can control you—and no one has a bigger secret than Clark Kent.
Now, Hordr is threatening to expose Clark’s alter ego unless he does everything they command. Will Superman play into the hands of blackmailers to keep his loved ones out of danger? And if the truth that Superman has been hiding is exposed, will it set him free—or ruin his life?
Collects issues #40-44 and the 8-page Superman story from DIVERGENCE: FCBD SPECIAL EDITION #1.
The trailer for the next episode (Ace Reporter) shows Kara with part of her suit showing through her “civilian” clothes, which seems to be an homage to this story written by National Book Award nominee Gene Luen Yang, and Illustrated by the Eisner Award Winning John Romita Jr. (The Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man, Kick-Ass, Superman, Uncanny X-Men)
“and rocks a mini skirt” – also doing that J’onn J’onzz!
Points to Emilee for adding the “Ouh” in the song portion for the Springsteen song!
Terri Hatcher definitely felt like the MVP for the episode. I like Chris’s acting, but I don’t like the way Mon has been handled for most of the season so I’m fine taking a break from him (meaning he not be in S3); it just feels like there’s been a lot of telling without showing he’s grown, he’s certainly progressed from where he started but I personally can’t buy he’s made these giant leaps some fans feel he has so I don’t feel he’s progressed as much as others. His screen time also feels like filler at times and like some of his stuff could be cut in order to give others time, for example J’onn and M’gann’s plot which was there and done in a few episodes. Also I’m not crazy about him being mainly tied to Kara; I will fully admit this has been an issue for every guest character this season as Lena has been mainly a Kara related character and Maggie has been mainly an Alex character but still I’d like to them mixing it up to see what different characters bring out. And again it feels to me Mon wants to be a hero to get with Kara more than he wants to be a hero because that’s what he wants; again he’s slowly becoming a hero for the right reasons it seems but it’s still too slow in my opinion and because we haven’t seen him do anything heroic that wasn’t about impressing Kara it’s just hard to get excited about him at times. His one bright feature has been his comedy, that’s always been fun to see but outside of that Mon has been a pass to me more than a plus; I can see his potential in spots but the way he’s been used just doesn’t get me excited about his plots. Again I feel anti-hero might have been a better role for him, he could still try to woo Kara but at least his motives wouldn’t have been as questionable; but this is just me.
I don’t think Rhea knows about the “lead allergy” yet so I can see the group using that to their advantage with Mon taking her out in a sacrifice play and that’s how he goes into space to end up in the future, but if they do want him to return they could have him off her and return to Daxam to lead for awhile – either way I see him taking out Rhea after what happened in this episode.
You could also watch “Power Rangers” in the break as it was really good!
Mon got stuck in The Well Of Stars which affected his aging but I don’t think they really said how he got out to land on Earth. If you go by Clark and say he’s in his 30s on Earth than even though Kara looks in her 20s she’d actually be in her 40s because she’s 13 years older than Clark thus if you say Mon was the same age when he left and like Kara hit reduced aging because he got trapped where time moves slower than on Earth then he would be in his mid 20s when he left so had he arrived when Clark did he would be in his 50s at least. He’s at least 10 years older than Kara either way if you say he didn’t age much since leaving because she was 13 when she left and he was again at least in his 20s. Earth aged up Clark but Kara is still his big cousin and Mon is older than them both even though physically they look younger than him.
“Premise of “Arrival”.” – lol! What was Maggie’s third lie? I know she withheld the truth about her coming out from Alex but that’s because she wanted better for Alex which to me is understandable, it’s not like James or Mon lying to cover for themselves; this lying to make herself look better though was totally something the boys would do and I expected better of her because she’d been so mature up to that point. I’m fine with Maggie not being perfect but the handling of this reveal was definitely surprising based on how her character has handled things so far. Sanvers overall has been a very well handled plot this season!
I definitely get the point of they could have used something more personal than flowers for Kara with Mon especially if you think back to how Alex got Maggie a bonsai tree and tiramisu to say “I love you” in the Valentine’s Day episode. I definitely love when “Supergirl” has moments that show a specific thing isn’t male or female, such as Winn creating Kara’s suit in S1, but I’ll admit Kara could have gotten something more personal than flowers in that scene to show they know each other more – that might have actually helped some fans believe in their relationship more than just generic flowers being given. Maggie is more of the “casual drinks and cigars” type I feel where as Alex’s drinking is definitely a deeper rooted comfort device more times than not. Does Big Belly Burger exist there because Kara would love that! Karen I have to tell you, I think that gym gear is his outfit sadly; again they’ve had plenty of time for Winn to create him a new suit but haven’t so I think that’s it which again is not Winn’s best with. Maybe we’ll see the suit most are hoping for before his exit but I’m not longer holding my breath with it. I think Maggie is helping Alex curb her bad drinking habits because she’s really helping her see that doesn’t have to bs the first place she goes…she’s helping her grow emotionally and it’s been great to see.
I will agree with UPSMan in that Alex going to Emily did feel “cross the line” in this was a relationship that didn’t involve her but on the other I like she wanted to stand up for Maggie so it’s 90% “too far” with 10% cuteness. I fully believe the DEO staff knows Kara is Supergirl because of all the times she and Alex have called each other sisters and Kara’s shown up in civilian clothes; that would make for an interesting plot if a DEO agent turned against them. Ha, nice Han Solo reference!
I have to disagree about Floriana being bad as Maggie. I have to agree with Blackhawkfan in Winn does a lot at the DEO, it really makes me miss scientist Alex because in S1 she would have done at least half that stuff; I love action Alex but I would like to see scientist Alex popping up more in future seasons because she can do some cool things as well biologically. Totally fair about James as once he lost the fight we don’t even see him again and no one asked about him; I liked James in S1 but Guardian hasn’t been to him honestly…again I feel he would have been more interesting just running CatCo and using the media to call out characters and how does that affect relationships rather than him being another combat person in a show half full of them. I hope they never train Winn to fight well because it makes him unique and organic not being a black belt; he can do enough to help and arguably hold out until help arrived but he shouldn’t be Mon or Jimmy even in skill, his brain power over brawn makes him unique just as Alex in S1 was unique being a mix of brain and brawn.
Some blog post comments…
“don’t forget Supergirl is taking a couple weeks off for spring sweep” – I was definitely wondering why the long break this close to the end of the season.
Two comic corners in one – score!