What I’m Watching: Supergirl

Supergirl: Season 3, Episode 6 “Midvale” (B)

Towards the start of this episode, when Kara drove off in Hank’s car with a heartbroken Alex in the passenger seat, I was thinking that this episode didn’t feel a lot like a regular installment. It turns out that was true since it was almost entirely a flashback hour, one that helped to shed some light on how Kara and Alex came to be close after an initially icy relationship. The most impressive thing about this episode was how those responsible for casting found two young actresses who looked just like Melissa Benoist and Chyler Leigh – Izabela Vidovic and Olivia Nikkanen. This teenage mystery saga presented some serious issues, like a student-teacher relationship and a local sheriff murdering a kid, but it was treated in more lighthearted terms dealing with bullying and Alex’s slowly-emerging nice side as she broke with the popular girls and started hanging out with her adopted sister. It was sweet to see them bonding and for a young Alex to ask her sister if she could use the bathroom first the next day rather than Kara using her powers to rush ahead of her and get in there first. I’m not sure how much a day really did, especially since neither sister opened up about what losing these relationships have done to them, but I think it’s fine if we get back to more important things like saving the planet from extraterrestrial threats and the likes of human threats like Morgan Edge and whatever Sam is becoming.