Supergirl Season 4 Episode 12 Review: Menagerie
Lizzy Buczak
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She's a maneater. Alright, Menagerie ate women's hearts too, but you get my point.
There's nothing more poetic than a heart-eating alien making her debut on a Valentine's Day-themed episode of Supergirl.
And how ironic that the final face-off happened during the Heart Association Masquerade Ball?
The characters took advantage of every moment to remind us that it was Valentine's Day.
Pssst ... did you know? It's Valentine's Day in National City.
Related: Supergirl Season 4 Episode 11 Review: Blood Memory
Sadly, I didn't have much love for Supergirl Season 4 Episode 12, an episode that just felt disjointed despite trying so hard to weave in storylines from what I like to call Supergirl Season 4a.
There was an attempt to reconnect us with the political agenda, but all it did was remind me just how much I hated the Children of Liberty storyline.
When Dreamer said, "I thought we were done with Children of Liberty," I felt that at my core.
Worst of all, it reminded me of how much I despised Ben Lockwood.
Am I happy that he's a free man? Absolutely not.
Lockwood's supporters are rallying behind him; he's hailed as a hero, not a terrorist, and his son has adopted his ideologies of killing anyone that isn't human.
It's disgusting.
Brainy: Have you ever thought about putting your grief into tiny little boxes?
Nia: That doesn't sound very healthy.
They even questioned Supergirl's heroic abilities by criticizing her inability to kill or take down another alien!
But on the bright side, I'm happy Sam Witwer and his good looking mug are getting some more screentime.
To add to my fury, the episode was trying to achieve too much by packing in storylines they seemingly forgot about for a while.
Alex's desire to adopt resurfaced, but it felt like it came out of left field after not being mentioned for a while.
She's expressed interest in wanting to become a mother previously but apparently tabled it to take care of other people.
Now that it's back on her radar, it seems like the stars are aligning to convince her that it's a good idea. How convenient?
Brainy: It never occurred to me that someone as amazing as Nia Nal would ever be interested in me.
Alex: Well, I guess the question is, what do you want?
Brainy: I want her to be my Valentine.
Colonel Haley mentioned she returned from her trip early to hang out with her daughter thus proving to Alex that even someone high ranking has managed to have a life.
J'onn has moved on from his work at the DEO and opened up a detective agency making her feel like she hasn't accomplished much.
And even Brainy has the capacity in his life to multi-task as he switched gears from planning to impress Nia at her Valentine's Day party to discover the alien of the week.
It seems like everyone has something else going on other than Alex.
Her excuse that she's been too preoccupied worrying about everyone but herself was a snoozefest, as was Kara's decision to keep Alex in the dark about Supergirl's identity so she could live a normal life.
Alex and Supergirl were very successful at their jobs because they meshed their personal and professional lives.
Honestly, Alex should be more worried about Kara as a human than Kara who doubles as Supergirl.
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Having Alex out of the loop isn't safer for anyone! I'd even say that it's more dangerous and making her a little less focused.
At one point, Alex took a break from a case to go flirt with a potential love interest named Becca.
What is going on?
The highlight came when another interesting way to have the core four work together again got revealed.
We protected the humans of this city by killing a monster. Not even Supergirl could do that.
George
The series is always strong when the team works together.
And even Nia joined in on the fun, eventually.
Kara's slip-ups were hilarious and definitely should have made Alex think twice about why her sister knew so much about tracing radioactivity and why she didn't get injured following a snake bite.
But the winner of this episode and Supergirl Season 4 as a whole is Brainy.
Brainy is a joy to watch as he tries to navigate the "real world." From trying to figure out what Nia meant by "it's a date" to hiding in the bathroom during a party, he's 100% relatable.
I feel you, dude.
I'm excited to see Nia and Brainy's friendship blossom into something more substantial as her training to become National City's next superhero begins.
Actually, Alex doesn't know I'm Supergirl anymore. She had her mind wiped to protect her. But I can't let that stop me from helping the people that need my help. And doing the good that I can do. And you could do a lot of good too. You're part of my family now. And all heroes are welcome.
Kara (to Nia)
Her debut as Dreamer wasn't as epic as I imagined but taking down snakes is a good start. (Snake phobia, anyone?)
Especially since Pamela/Menagerie is about to align herself with Manchester Black.
The "Elite Squad" is going to be a super team with deadly intent, but how will they fare against Supergirl's epic #Family?
The battles between the humans and aliens, Ben Lockwood and Manchester Black, Ben Lockwood and the DEO, and Supergirl and the DEO are just getting started.
I find it very irritating the DEO has waged such a war against Supergirl, but there has been absolutely no follow through on Haley trying to figure out Supergirl's identity.
The moment Alex's memory got wiped, Haley seemed to abort mission thus making Alex's memory loss almost avoidable.
And what the heck was up with Lena on Supergirl Season 4 Episode 12?
Why was she so eager to jet off to Paris? Aside from being a billionaire who can, it seemed like she was running away from something.
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Lex Luthor's arrival is imminent, and I fully assumed she was trying to avoid her brother's release from prison.
Whatever her reasoning, the romantic trip fell through when she told James about the government's interest in her research.
I'm going to have to side with James on this one -- giving the government the ability to militarize her research and create a superhuman soldier is probably a bad idea.
And when I say probably, I mean "it is a bad idea."
I'm all for a fair fight and the citizens of America feeling protected, but at what cost?
This relationship has been hyped up by the writers of the series. However, I never thought it had much potential only because of their opposing beliefs.
Lena's reaction to James' opinion made it very clear that she thinks she's the dominant one in the relationship. I'm so glad James put his foot down.
James: But I also know you, and I know you're better than this.
Lena: I will not allow you to judge me and my use of science for the betterment of humanity.
At no point was he trying to judge her or her visions. However, she took it so negatively that I actually clapped when James climbed out of her car.
It's clear that nothing he says is going to stop her from making a terrible decision -- a decision she's undoubtedly going to regret.
What's to say her "research" isn't going to get into the wrong hands?
If the President is releasing Ben Lockwood, he must have something significant up his sleeve. He wasn't a fan of Lockwood, but with this contract with Luthor Corp, I could see him mobilizing Lockwood's men to prove a point.
James tried to warn her that the government is using her; he really did.
Other Kryptonian Thoughts
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I thought George was going to die. And truthfully, I'm kind of upset he was successful in rallying the Children.
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The way Brainy looks at Nia makes me melt every time.
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I don't remember Alex actively dating after Maggie, but apparently, some girl she went on two dates knew all about her desire to adopt, so there's that.
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Is Becca going to be Alex's new love interest?
- Brainy roundhousing Pamela upon meeting her was hands down the best part of my day,
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Lizzy Buczak was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in June 2021..
