Loved It? Hated It? What did you think of "Crossfire?"

[KSiteTV]

What did you think?

[vantheman77]

I'd say this was better than last week.

Nice to see Mon-El learning to live among humans.

This thing with Maggie and Alex is something that's been building.

We see the seeds of James becoming the Guardian.

The twist at the end was something we didn't see coming. I hope Lena's father is Lionel Luthor.

[Backward Galaxy]

I liked Mon-El a lot this episode. I know most of it played like a gag, but I found it more interesting than that as Kara tried to pigeonhole him. I also liked that his actions came across as genuine. He wasn't just doing it to mess with her. He was being who he is. It worked for me.

The James stuff did not work for me. At all. There are a lot of things a person can do between photographer and superhero that are worthwhile contributions to society. This felt contrived.

I don't know if Alex's speech came across as real or not. I don't have experience with any of the feelings she described, so I can't speak to that. I'll just say that I'm glad it turns out Alex wasn't knowingly hitting on a woman in a committed relationship last episode. Makes me feel better about that.

Did not think that was Lena's mother. Looks like they played that scene as if Lena doesn't know about her connection to Cadmus, but they left it open ended enough that there is wiggle room there. Lena seemed annoyed. Maybe she was annoyed because she and her mother aren't on good terms or maybe she was mad that her mother's lackeys had to be put in their place. Either way, the reveal itself was definitely a surprise.

[Aurora Moon]

I was honestly scared that this was going to be a melodramatic episode filled with love triangles everywhere. Thankfully.... we had none of that. Well, mostly. Wasn't a fan of Maggie's girlfriend breaking up with her so suddenly to give Alex an opening like that. At least Alex seemed unaware of her own feelings at this point.

And did I detect a subtle tease at Winn-Lena shipping there in that "under the table" scene?

But at least all of the characters had their own thing going on without anything romantic going on.

James Olsen wants to be a Superhero in his right, he's tired of always being the sidekick. it's not about Supergirl or Superman, it's all about him.
Mon-el doesn't seem to like being turned into a Male Kara Danvers Clone, which was what she was trying to do to him. Glad that Alex set Kara straight about that.
And of course it seems like they're setting up the Camdus Lady to be the Lionel Luthor archtype of Supergirl.

[protege]

i'm really not enjoying the political overtones this show is taking- i'm tired of the anti alien agenda storyline, and i'm particularly tired of the luthors spearheading it. I'm a little surprised that the show "went there" with mon el having sex with miss tessmocker(sp)? The comics made it a point to say that kryptonians and humans weren't sexually compatible, so i figured daxamites would have the same problem. Not sure how i feel about jimmy being the gaurdian.
The "chemistry" between kara and lena is obvious, but i didn't really start to notice her until her scene with winn. I'm wondering what would happen if he went to work for her.

[DigificWriter]

My review:
Supergirl continues to be the best of the Arrowverse series, although tonight's episode didn't quite live up to my own personal expectations of it that I'd formed based on previews and sneak peeks. I enjoyed the stuff with Kara trying to help Mon-El/Mike fit in and amalgamate, but wish they hadn't made him quite as much of a slacker as they did because it kind of diluted the joke. It was nice to see Eve Tessmacher again, though, and I did find it funny that she was completely fawning over him, and that they were able to get in the classic "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear/see that" gag with Kara hearing and then walking in on a sex act, which is the second time she's had that happen to her at CatCo (the first being Winn and Siobhan last year).

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm interested to see where James' venture into vigilantism goes, and am interested to see how far the producers push the Batman analogue with him, especially since producer Ali Adler deliberately and expressly referenced that character in an "Inside the Episode" featurette that came out earlier today.

I was expecting more from Lena and Kara's interactions in this episode, especially since we saw her interact with Kara in both her civilian and superhero personas, especially since both Melissa and Katie downplayed the undercurrents of romantic tension that had been present in all of their scenes in the previous four episodes. I do like that Lena considers Kara to be her only friend, though, and also like that she's starting to build a friendship, or at least a partnership, with Supergirl as well. It will also be interesting to see what ends up happening between her and her mother, Doctor Luthor, since they clearly have a very strained/antagonistic relationship and Lena is likely unaware of her mother's involvement with Cadmus.

I don't know why, but Alex's existential journey in this episode didn't quite have the impact on me that I think the writers and Chyler wanted it to. Maybe it was the way that Floriana didn't seem to react to Chyler's big confession as strongly as you might think her character would, particularly given their earlier conversation where Maggie made the assumption that Alex was hitting on her (which she kind of was, to be honest, even if Alex herself didn't realize it at the time).

I still enjoyed this episode a great deal, even if some of the things that I was anticipating didn't quite hit me with as much 'punch' as I thought they were going to based on the previews, and am really intrigued by where some of these new storylines are headed, especially James and Winn's new vigilantism partnership and the revelation of the Director of Cadmus/The Doctor being Lena and Lex's mother.

[Aurora Moon]

The comics made it a point to say that kryptonians and humans weren't sexually compatible, so i figured daxamites would have the same problem.

Okay. what part of the comics are you talking about? Because there are plenty of comic canon that would prove your statement wrong. For instance, in the current comics Lois and Clark Kent have a young son named Jonathan Kent who is named after Clark's late adoptive father. Their son is biologically theirs, and not adopted. That would go against the idea that Superman and Lois wasn't sexually compatible, wouldn't it?

Although, there have been past canon in the past that said that Superman couldn't reproduce with humans, like in the TV show "Adventures of Lois and Clark". Maybe that was what you were referring to? But as shown in the TV show, being incompatible when it came to producing offspring did not stop Clark from having sex with Lois.

And, even if Kryptonians were... erm, different down there biologically, I doubt that would stop them from having sex. After all, there's so many ways to get off beyond having genitals touch. Using your mouth, hands, etc.... should I go on? I don't think so.

[costas22]

Definitely better than last week although still, nowhere near an excellent episode.

The main storyline was basically a way to bring Cadmus back to the fold and involve Lena in the storyline as well. To be honest, as soon as Brenda Strong's character (should we call her Lilian Luthor ?) said that she had a son and daughter, I immediately realized who she meant. Wasn't just a random line. It's a cool twist though. It gives Lena more to do, which is a positive because she's probably been the most interesting newcomer on this show. It will also make her scenes with Kara more intriguing. Speaking of, maybe I missed something but how did Lena know that Kara could come into contact with Supergirl? I don't remember all their previous scenes, but that one seemed to come out of left field.

Mon-El's scenes were a mixed bag for me. Kara being a mentor to him is fun (although going from overly controlling to allowing him to exploit Tessmacher's credit card was ridiculous writing at its best), but that's all it should be, imo. With this show, you just know a romance will rear its ugly head in sooner than later and I just don't see any kind of chemistry for that to happen. Maybe if Mon-El actually matures in the coming episodes and becomes less of a jerk my opinion will change.

As far as James' arc goes, sorry, but I am not a fan. It just feels like more lazy writing from writers who only know how to portray love interests and heroes. His reasoning for wanting to become a hero didn't resonate with me either. It just feels like they wanted to have a Jimmy Olsen in name only, while deviating from the canon character more and more. On the positive side, I did like his scenes with Winn. Especially the first one where Winn pointed out that sometimes you can also be a hero with your knowledge. Pity the show didn't want to go with that narrative and chose the easy route. On a funny note, the scene where Winn and James (aka "Kara's Friend Zoners") are looking at Kara and Mon-El dancing was priceless. It's like that scene was intended for President Luthor and me.

The Alex/Maggie stuff was ok. It got to show Alex's more human side and that was long overdue. I'd lie if I said I've seen any sparks this entire time though. As far as hinting at a romantic attraction, the show has actually done a better of that with Kara and Lena than Alex and Maggie or Kara and Mon-El.

6/10.

[DigificWriter]

Just as an FYI, Andrew Kreisberg confirmed in an interview that Brenda Strong's character's name is Lillian Luthor.

[Backward Galaxy]

Mon-El's scenes were a mixed bag for me. Kara being a mentor to him is fun (although going from overly controlling to allowing him to exploit Tessmacher's credit card was ridiculous writing at its best), but that's all it should be, imo. With this show, you just know a romance will rear its ugly head in sooner than later and I just don't see any kind of chemistry for that to happen. Maybe if Mon-El actually matures in the coming episodes and becomes less of a jerk my opinion will change.

I'm not sure it's fair to criticize this episode for a romance that might happen in another episode down the line.

[President_Luthor]

This one was alright.

I'd be fine if Kara remains as a platonic mentor to Mon-El, and that they'll resist the urge to pair them up down the line. But -of course- we have them dancing together, and James and Winn (the emotional refuse left in the wake of Kara's previous S1 sunken ships) as live witnesses, shrugging it off as nothing -- while crying within their souls. No retconning this scene out of canon -- they chose to keep this scene, if you think about it. Altogether now fans: "Dudes, you cannot catch a break!" It's the under-reported story arc that keeps on giving in the Berlantiverse. Yes, it was funny. as. hell.

Aside from that, I did like the Mon-El scenes and Alex was right - what worked for Kara isn't going to work for him, esp. when he's from the party fratboy planet. He needs to find his own way, not have a path laid out before him with no say in it.

James is the character that I've been struggling to see win me over. He needed to get out of his dreadful primary love interest duties, which the show wisely did (for now) in the season premiere. He needed something beyond serving this melodramatic duty to sustain him as a character. Giving him the boss job at CatCo looked like it could be something to help him as a character. This ep. was probably the only moment I actually saw him demonstrate it during that editorial meeting, a very brief glimpse. What would be sad is if this is the best we'll get re: civilian James at Catco.

Apparently, upholding freedom of speech and democratic ideals as a member of the fourth estate is not enough for him -- a duty equally as heroic, one that Cat supposedly entrusted him to do by giving him that position. And as much as they tried to sell it to us that being a sidekick was unfulfilling and only by being a hero/vigilante could he find real value or purpose in his role, it just seems like that they didn't really know what to do with his character (S1 is evidence of this).

They decided to take a shot and make him choose to be a hero. Kudos to Winn for (initially) ripping him a new one on it and laying out the real risk that he could get himself killed. Of course they had Winn knuckle under because James must become a superhero. I'm still not sold on this subplot.

James needs more character growth, we get it. I'm just not sure making him a superhero will get the job done on this front. I'm not sold on it yet.

The Lena connection with the Cadmus doc/Mom was an unexpected but welcome twist. It bodes well for Lena being involved in more conspiracies. And Kara had an oh-so-brief taste of her own 'can't-catch-a-breakitis' medicine when Lena and Winn scurried out from under the stage. (And less seriously, when Lena arrived at Kara's loft with Alex still around, that room instantly became "The Loft of Hotness". Like those high occupancy lanes on highways, I think that loft may have exceeded its hotness occupancy quota. Melissa, Chyler and Katie in a room, at the same time? Time to hurry off to the gala, Lena. If you stay there any longer, your collective deliciousness will melt the loft's electrical wiring. )

Alex struggling with her identity crisis (What I got out of this ep re: Alex: "Have I been playing baseball under MLB National League rules my whole life ... when my heart was always with the DH rules of the American League? Am I a switch-hitter who can hit both sides of the plate?) was also a decent subplot or at least the promising continuation of one, it added another layer to her character. I think her roles as 'reliable sister to Kara' and 'DEO agent on task' could start to become repetitive, if they didn't make some effort on fleshing her out more. Her strongest suit is as the reliable sounding board for Kara, I hope this element remains strong in the series, but as a character in her own right Alex did need more development beyond her previous default roles above.

So we had two secondary characters attempting to ascend to another level of growth, and I'd say Alex so far has a slight edge over Jimmy here. Alex has had growth since S1, while Jimmy's was neither here nor there for much of S1 (see: primary love interest albatross), so in my books his journey is a bit steeper uphill in this regard. It's still possible for him, but I feel he's a season behind in growing as a character and will have to hustle to catch up to just about everyone else on the show.

The Cadmus goons were a joke, who hired these idiots -- unless the whole scheme was to knowingly use them as SG/alien cannon fodder to draw out Cadmus' (and Luthor's) enemies into the light. In which case, this would be a typically Luthor thing to do.

Still worried about Jimmy's long-term plans as a character, but it was overall a good episode.

7/10

[speople]

Now THAT is how to do an ending lol.

10/10 for the ending alone.

Mon's stuff was fun, however he's a long way from being the Legionairre I know.

Alex's arc was also handled very well, too.

Another great ep.