In hindsight, it’s strange that we went this long before seeing Kevin Sorbo inducted into the Arrow-verse. He already played a TV superhero in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and Sorbo barely seems to have aged a day since then. Supergirl finally made up for that omission by welcoming both Sorbo and Superman veteran Teri Hatcher into the fold this week. Both were welcome additions to the cast, even if this episode seemed strangely disinterested in exploring the Daxam Royal Family. Both actors seem well-suited for the roles in the brief time they were featured this week. It’s especially great seeing Hatcher join former Lois & Clark co-star Dean Cain in playing a recurring role on the series, even one as clearly different as this. Here’s hoping the writers find some excuse to pair Jeremiah and Queen Rhea together down the road.
But again, it was a little bizarre how small a role Queen Rhea and King Lar Gand wound up playing this week. One would think the arrival of a massive UFO bearing an army of superhuman aliens would be cause for more excitement in National City, especially with how much this season has focused on anti-alien hysteria. But following the initial clash between Kara and the Daxamite ship, Rhea and Lar Gand settled into being small players more interested in reclaiming their son than actually making trouble for anyone on Earth.
The good news in all of this is that at least the duo aren’t currently shaping up to be a rehash of Alura and Non from Season 1. That was my big fear when the two characters were first teased a couple weeks back. The last thing this season needs is to be derailed by another conflict involving Superman-like villains trying to take over the planet. Rather than overt villains, Rhea and Lar Gand appear to be more neutral players who have yet to learn the lessons their son has about nobility and selflessness. But we’ll see if that dynamic changes as we get closer to the endgame. The focus was less on Mon-El’s parents than the impact their return had on Mon-El’s relationship with Kara. And at least there was plenty of god drama to be had on that front. This season has done a great job of propelling Mon-El along this arc of redemption and self-growth while still frequently reminding us how far the character has yet to go. His secrecy came back to bite him in a big way as the true story of his escape from Daxam came to light. It doesn’t undo all that growth, but it’s hard not to blame Kara for feeling betrayed by his lies. The strong chemistry between Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood didn’t let up this week, making their emotional break-up towards the end all the more heart-wrenching. Mon-El’s speech was earnest, despite sounding like it was ripped straight from a bad ‘90s rom-com (and that was probably the point).
With the Daxamites taking a relative back-seat this week, this episode wound up focusing a surprising amount of attention on Winn’s relationship with Lyra instead. On the plus side, it was nice to see the show actually do something with said relationship, as the abrupt introduction of Lyra into the mix always seemed a bit strange. It was pretty much inevitable that there was another shoe waiting to drop where Lyra was concerned, and that’s exactly what happened here.
There were some entertaining moments out of this Winn subplot, particularly Winn’s showdown with Maggie in the interrogation room. And it wrapped on a solid note, with Winn’s willingness to keep faith in Lyra contrasting Kara’s rash decision to cut ties with Mon-El. But this storyline also put a bit too much emphasis on James’ Guardian exploits, which never works out to the show’s benefit. Not only is James an implausibly skilled martial artist now, he also happens to have the worst one-liners in the entire Arrow multiverse. It didn’t really help that Mandrax (Deadpool’s Paul Lazenby) came across as a little too goofy for a supposedly terrifying crime lord involved in alien trafficking.
“Star-Crossed” also ended on a weird note, as it abruptly shifted course to set up tomorrow night’s Flash musical crossover. As jarring as the transition to Music Meister’s debut was, I almost wish the crossover had been confined solely to The Flash. Still, it looks like this crossover will be just the sort of fun, wacky change of pace both shows could use right about now.
