[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Director: Stefan Pleszczynski
Writers: Jessica Queller & Sterling Gates
Stars: Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks & Chyler Leigh
Summary
Mr. Mxyzptlk arrives on Earth with the intention of marrying Kara.
Positives
Melissa Benoist is wonderful in this episode. She’s always great but this episode gives her some good comedic material to play with. She has strong comedic timing and is clearly having a lot of fun with the script. In addition, Kara is really great in this episode. She’s really clever in how she defeats Mxypztlk which I love. Also, that defeat features a payoff to a line earlier in the episode which is cool. Normally, that kind of thing is super obvious and the audience is told too early what is going to happen but this line is completely natural and I was surprised when it became relevant to the plot.
I like how the episode deals with “no means no.” There’s this notion in society that if a woman turns a man down, he should simply be more extravagant in order to impress her. It’s seen in a lot of movies such as The Notebook and it’s kind of ridiculous. I love that Jessica Queller and Sterling Gates take that and frame it in a negative light as it should be. It’s not romantic; it’s creepy.
There’s a great action scene in the Fortress of Solitude. It is creative and looks cool in terms of special effects. Clark is going to be pissed, though.
Winn gets a really sweet subplot that I enjoyed a lot. It’s nice to see Wynn in a story without the other characters. I’m a sap so the romantic moments of the episode appealed to me. I loved Maggie and Alex’s dance, Wynn’s date and the final scene between Kara and Mon-El.
Negatives
While I enjoyed the romantic scenes, the romantic conflicts are a little cringe-worthy. However, the more I thought about them, I liked them more. But I had a hard time watching or caring during the episode when these scenes happened such as Kara and Mon-El fighting the entire episode or Maggie walking out on Alex.
Verdict
This is a weird episode. While I was watching it, I was not thrilled. I found some of the material to be tedious and awkward. But, by the time I was finished watching, I ended up really liking this episode. I love what Queller and Gates bring to the table in terms of gender politics both in terms of relationships and how men sometimes treat women. There’s plenty of sweet moments for romantics and great comedy from Benoist. I enjoyed this episode immensely.
