Supergirl Season 4 Episode 16, ‘The House of L’
Simply fantastic performances and absolutely brilliant writing all around for this week’s Supergirl!
Jon Cryer absolutely delivers as the infamous Lex Luthor, as he has just about everyone wrapped around his finger including his very own Supergirl Doppelganger. The opening sequence of the episode setting Luthor’s trial against Sinatra’s “My Way” is nothing short of phenomenal. As the music plays out we see Luthor somehow poison his own judge and jury during his sentencing, while having everyone who works inside the prison in his back pocket. It’s unreal to see how the Warden treats Luthor like his superior.
The way he gaslights a confused Kara duplicate throughout the episode with books, scenarios, and compassion is incredibly believable. Luthor even wins a battle against the real Supergirl with his tech. Much like the Ben Lockwood origin episode earlier this season, the storytelling was perfect. Unlike a lot of the Superhero movies these days, they are getting the villains absolutely right.
Benoist absolutely kills it as the Kara Doppelganger, speaking in different languages and absolutely nailing that Russian accent! I love that the character doesn’t easily go along with Lex, and continues to question his mentorship throughout. The point at which she associates “Alex” with “Lex” is amazing writing. Benoist shows so much range from compassion, to rage, to unrelenting agony this episode. I couldn’t be more impressed. I was scared that we would just got another mindless evil doppelganger character here, but this character is smart and interesting.
I can’t say enough good things about this particular episode. Even minor details like the Kaznian boy being spared after we thought he was killed was absolutely on point. The details were everything this episode. Even the suit which “Evil” Supergirl wore at the end which was a bit silly, actually come off as super comic book esque. No doubt in my mind next week will be the classic mix up, which Supergirl is which scenario. (Hopefully with some fresh plot twists) If anything this show has consistently delivered fresh ideas, and I’m excited to see how it all culminates.
-Rob Crowther IV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxYyYNjSWC0
Arrow Season 7 Episode 17, ‘Inheritance
Oh how I have been dreading this moment. The second half of the season has been spinning around like a greased pig on roller skates, but it was able to maintain a sense of plausible deniability of any major wrongdoing by keeping its big bad away from the core group of characters. This week, that changed.
We are granted the knowledge that Dante is a member of a secret society called the Ninth Gate, responsible for regime changes for thousands of years the world over. The Ninth Gate has its own iconography and unique combat styles. Cool. After an obvious setup and several important warnings about being careful working with Emiko, Oliver heeds their words and does none of that. Surprise! Emiko is a willing member of the Ninth Gate. Then we discover that she is actually its leader.
Admittedly, this is a good call. Dante is such a bland piece of beige sort of villain that I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup if he was on fire. Emiko makes the conflict more personal and more of a reflection on Oliver’s characteristic shortcomings as a hero and as a brother and will force him to grow. But the idea that she has been the leader of this League of Assassins Lite all along (and abruptly changed her super suit), whilst acting as a vigilante, is a sudden left turn. Their drives and motivation is more than a little unclear, and the show is in a mad race to the finish to build this new villain up. I don’t buy it, and I really don’t like the idea of dispatching her at the end of the season.
On the bright side, Emiko’s betrayal makes this another personal obstacle for Oliver, which means it was time for a pep talk from John Diggle. The brotherhood between the two original members of Team Arrow has always been the show’s strongest quality, largely in part to David Ramsey and Stephen Amell’s chemistry as actors. We got reminded of Diggle’s struggle with Andy back in season 4, and once again John’s words helped Oliver re-contextualize who Emiko is to him and how he processes her turn.
Finally, the Island plot of finally getting Emiko’s backstory featured a bit too much Dante for my liking, but her arc is admittedly fascinating. The memory of Robert Queen took another hit, as we see him walk out on Emiko and her mother’s life for good, and Emiko study business trying to win his approval back. Her arc is undeniably tragic. But the idea that the Ninth Gate had some really convenient evidence, courtesy of Malcolm Merlyn, of the Queen’s Gambit’s imminent disaster and she sat on it and let him die is sloppy even by this show’s standards. This is not a ploy to tie Arrow’s current position in with where it started in season one like much of the season has been. It is an attempt to give Emiko the appearance of gravity to her character, by shifting the ultimate blame of Robert’s murder from Malcolm to her. It does not add up, and it cheapens what little this new villain had going for her.
-Matt Gilbert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnkqUZSlX1A&t=37s
