Review: Supergirl 5×18 – “The Missing Link“
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers]
Director: Avi Youabian
Writers: Dana Horgan & J. Holtham
Starring: Melissa Benoist, Chyler Leigh, Katie McGrath, Jesse Rath, Nicole Maines, Azie Tesfai, Andrea Brooks, Julie Gonzalo, Staz Nair & David Harewood
Reviewed by: Sean Blumenshine
Summary
Supergirl and the team go head-to-head against Rama Khan and Leviathan; Lena and Lex must join forces when Project Non Nocere fails, leaving the two siblings in serious danger.
Positives
I’m glad Mitch Pileggi got to come back as Rama Khan. He brings a nice villainous presence. I wish the season had fleshed this character out and he got to be more than just the muscle. The action is great as a result. There’s an intensity to it that’s nice. Rama Khan feels like a threat to our heroes.
The D.E.O. has finally been destroyed! I’ve been excited about this for a long time. And it’s well done; I love this stuff. It makes everything feel bigger. And the season needed something like this.
The last scene between Kara and Lena is great. Katie McGrath is an amazing actress and it’s always a good choice to give her big monologues. But I like that there’s some restraint. Some writers might have had them hug or had Kara break down in tears as well. That’s certainly what I was expecting and to an extent, what I wanted. That’s the natural emotional catharsis. But Kara remains somewhat cold; her show of kindness is just asking Lena to sit down. This suggests that their relationship can’t be fixed overnight. They both said and did some pretty bad things to each other especially Lena. I like that the show will deal with them rebuilding that trust.
Negatives
I’m glad that we finally got an apology from Lena and the scene itself is great thanks to McGrath’s always terrific performance. But it does feel like it only happens because it’s the end of the season. I guess there wasn’t a way to more organically end this story line because nothing about this story has been organic. Lena has felt bizarrely out of character all season so the episode has to contrive a redemption. It happens way too easily.
Verdict
This is a solid episode. The plots are all nicely intense and set the stage or an exciting finale. I think the ending of Lena’s story is contrived but I’m mostly glad it’s finally over because it has been a drag.
