Review: Supergirl 5×07-“Tremors“
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers]
Directed by: Andi Armaganian
Written by: J. Holtham & Katie Rose Rogers
Starring: Melissa Benoist, Chyler Leigh, Katie McGrath, Jesse Rath, Azie Tesfai, Andrea Brooks & David Harewood
Reviewed by: Sean Blumenshine
Summary
Supergirl finally learns the truth about Lena while tangling with Leviathan; J’onn J’onnz makes a discovery about his brother’s whereabouts.
Positives
The most captivating aspect of the episode is J’onn’s story. He can sense that his brother is not in the phantom zone and has to decide what to do. Anytime Carl Lumbly returns as M’yrnn is a treat. He’s a terrific actor and has wonderful chemistry with David Harewood. The conclusion to this story is also great. J’onn’s attempt to reach his brother is touching.
Mitch Pileggi is a great addition to the cast. He appears to be Leviathan’s leader, an ancient alien with Earth bending powers. He’s an actor with a lot of power and threat. I hope he gets to be the season big bad because I would love to see a lot more of him.
Negatives
While Pileggi is great, his character’s motivation is a little typical. According to him, Leviathan exists to protect the world from perceived threats. Humanity is a plague to the Earth that must be extinguished. It’s fine but I’m getting a little tired of this villain ideology.
The episode feels a little anti climatic. J’onn’s search for his brother obviously leads him to L-Corp but that doesn’t seem to register with him. I’m guessing his priority is his brother but it’s strange that he has no reaction. I’m guessing that will be dealt with in the next episode but it’s still weird.
The conclusion to Braniy and Alex’s story is also disappointing. Brainy finds Leviathan’s headquarters and it is obviously their headquarters but Leviathan uses what I’m assuming is some kind of cloaking technology or some other trick they don’t explain. And the two heroes immediately give up and that’s the end of that story for the episode.
I appreciate the attempt to create a thematic link between Lena and Malefic but it doesn’t quite hold up. The idea is that they were both treated like villains which led to them to a breaking point. But their situations are different. Malefic’s backstory is tragic; J’onn and M’yrnn made real mistakes. Lena freaking out this badly over the Supergirl secret is just silly and over played.
Verdict
The episode has a lot of momentum that ultimately leads to disappointment. J’onn’s attempt to reach his brother is the most compelling part of the episode. I like Mitch Pileggi’s performance and there’s a lot of fun action. But it doesn’t quite lead to a payoff that’s satisfying; hopefully that will be next week’s episode.
