‘Supergirl’ 2.13 Recap: “Let the Wooing Begin”

As I expected after seeing the previews, this week’s episode of ‘Supergirl’ is a Valentine’s Day entry that would have been far more appropriate to air last week (you know, when it was actually Valentine’s Day). That said, is the episode as fun as I hoped? Well, not really… but it isn’t horrible either.

Things start exactly where they ended last week, with Mr. Mxyzptlk showing up in Kara’s apartment and proclaiming his love for her. Mon-El tries to step in, but Mxyzptlk snaps his fingers and teleports him over to the DEO in nothing but his underwear and undershirt. Mxyzptlk then tells Kara that he plans to marry her. Obviously, she declines. He then announces that he’ll make her fall in love with him by proving himself to her.

Back at the DEO, J’onn informs Kara that Mxyzptlk is a 5th dimensional being. The DEO may have some alien artifacts lying around that will affect him, so he sends Winn to the storage area to find a few. Mon-El wants to kill Mxyzptlk, but Kara refuses – causing a small rift in their relationship. During a short action sequence, the alien Parasite (from the sixth episode of Season 2) returns to the streets to fight Supergirl and Mon-El, but turns out to be just a creation of Mxyzptlk, who swoops in wearing a Superman costume in order to impress Kara.

While Mxyzptlk continues trying to seduce Kara, other relationships evolve. J’onn sends a message to Mars for M’gann, Alex and Maggie are having issues because Maggie says she doesn’t like to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and Winn finds himself falling for an alien named Lyra (Tamzin Merchant) who saves his ass from getting pummeled in the alien bar that everyone on this show frequents. Mon-El also passes along the info that the only way to get rid of Mxyzptlk is to make him say his name backwards.

Mon-El then steals one of the alien artifacts to use against Mxyzptlk. This leads to a mid-episode showdown between the two that involves – I kid you not – both of them dressing up like actors from the Broadway hit ‘Hamilton’. Supergirl shows up to stop the fight (how she found out where they were, I’m not sure) and announces that she will marry Mxyzptlk, but she insists on doing it at the Fortress of Solitude because she wants to get married on “Kryptonian ground.”

Mxyzptlk meets her there at the appointed time, but Supergirl comes in her regular costume rather than a wedding dress. She tells him that she’s not going to marry him after all. Instead – after a battle with an ice statue of her uncle Jor-El that Mxyzptlk brings to life – Supergirl seals off the Fortress and starts its self-destruct sequence, telling him that she’d rather kill herself than marry him. (Oh, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that from a woman!) Mxyzptlk begs her not to do it, and she eventually shows him the code to enter on the console to stop the destruct sequence. However, it’s just a trick to get him to spell his name backwards: KLTPZYXM. Supergirl points out that on Krypton (like many other planets), writing something is just as good as saying it. This appears to work (although the episode is kind of vague as to why it would) and Mxyzptlk vanishes.

Things wrap up with Winn meeting Lyra at a restaurant for a date. He says that he’d like to take things slowly, but she wants to go back to his apartment already (my kind of alien!). After rejecting Alex’s romantic Valentine’s Day offering earlier in the episode, Maggie makes it up to her by creating a belated Valentine’s Day “prom” for the two of them. Finally, Kara confesses her feelings for Mon-El, just as she did at the conclusion of last week’s episode – except this time around, there’s no interruptions and the two kiss, moving things over to Kara’s couch as the scene (and episode) closes.

Episode Verdict

This episode is just OK for me and not nearly as funny or humorous as the previews promised. I really wasn’t crazy about the actor playing Mxyzptlk (Peter Gadiot from ‘Once Upon a Time in Wonderland’), but then again, that may have more to do with the villain himself, who has always seemed kind of wimpy compared to others that Superman has squared off against.

Also, no Jimmy again this week. I wonder if that’s because the character isn’t currently involved in a relationship, and instead of showing a lonely Olsen on Valentine’s Day (which could have provided for some additional comedy), the producers decided not to have him in the episode at all.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *