Supergirl season 5, episode 5 review: Dangerous Liaisons

Kara, Alex and William Dey are desperate to find out if the new CatCo boss is really a bad guy. But Supergirl and the Super-friends haven’t even scratched the surface of evil yet.

Kara’s (Melissa Benoist) investigation into her colleague William Day (Staz Nair) led her into a conspiracy involving CatCo’s new boss, Andrea Rojas (Julie Gonzalo).

In episode five of Supergirl Season 5, Kara and Alex (Chyler Leigh) dive deep into the allegations against Rojas, while Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) has to negotiate with her prisoner.

William’s Investigation

On the eve of Andrea’s Obsidian VR tech launch, William, Kara and Alex team up to unearth any dirt they can find about her. Along the way, they discover a new bad guy – Rip Roar – a man who William has a beef with. But Rip Roar’s bosses are much bigger than Andrea. It seems like the team aren’t able to see the bigger picture.

As hard as the writers are trying, something about the William Dey arc simply isn’t clicking. His characterization changes according to plot needs and there isn’t enough gravitas to his, and by extension, Kara’s investigation.

After introducing Leviathan at the end of Season 4, the showrunners haven’t allowed them to take hold of the new season, thus making this storyline not quite as gripping as its initial premise. Day’s motivations seem to personal, and Kara’s anger appears to be misplaced. The stakes aren’t high enough because there’s too much telling, not enough showing. In season four, the villains’ actions resonated because there was a palpably realistic bent to them. So far, this Rojas investigation has not met those expectations.

Lena and Mal’s Deal

Lena captured J’onn J’onzz’s (David Harewood) brother Ma’alefa’ak in the hopes of continuing her experiments with Q waves. She’s picked on the wrong Martian however; Mal’s ability to control minds makes him a formidable foe and impossible to keep down. So, Lena and Mal make for an uncomfortable alliance. He lets her experiment on him, in exchange Lena has to find a way to let Mal take vengeance against his brother.

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Lena’s storyline continues to be arresting – it’s eerie and horrifying, but it’s played with such earnestness by McGrath. Lena is so determined that she is correct and it makes her actions ever more frightening.

From this episode, it appears that Lena may have found the final piece in her puzzle to eliminate humanity’s darker actions. But when you can wield such a great power, wouldn’t you be tempted to push its boundaries? Will Lena? After all, she is a Luthor. Lena is unlikely to stop with her initial plan, not if she can truly control the minds of humanity.

Leviathan Finally Surfaces

It’s taken five episodes but Leviathan has resurfaced and they are tied into the plot. Yes, they’re devious and horrible people, but their endgame is unclear. The organization looks to be using the free press as their advertising ground – or at least Andrea is, and she seems to be connected with Leviathan in some way.

It’s obvious that the new Obsidian VR tech is on Leviathan’s radar, and we can only conjecture as to how they plan to use it. Turning humans into mindless zombies, perhaps? Keep humans wrapped up in their own fantasy world, while Leviathan actively takes over positions of power, and therefore the world? There are myriad options, but again, what’s most important is that the viewer feels a sense of anxiety on the main characters’ behalf and the tension of this mysterious organization lurking in the shadows. We lack that connection right now and the season is failing the characters and the show.

Super Sentiments

• It’s always amazing to see Nia Nal/Dreamer (Nicole Maines) fighting on the frontlines, but we could have done with a little more explanation as to how she manifested her power to stop the massive tsunami.
• Kelly (Azie Tesfai) is becoming too much of a girlfriend character – give her an arc that doesn’t necessarily involve Alex fussing over her. They are a cute couple though, so one hopes the showrunners let their relationship continue.
• Kara seemed disproportionately emotional in this episode. She lost her temper at several moments, but it didn’t feel earned. Her being so invested in the Andrea investigation just doesn’t work because William hasn’t earned the viewers’ trust yet.

It was bound to happen; there would eventually be a dip in episode quality and it’s almost surprising how well the first four episodes have been composed. Supergirl as a show leans on the strength of its characters, but we haven’t learnt enough about the new ones this season to become invested in them. We don’t even know if we can trust them, let alone fight in their corner.

The showrunners need to work really hard to increase interest in this season’s arc. We knew that besting the excellent work done in Season 4 would be hard, but there is no dearth of real life politics that can continue to inform a bold show like this. So, just run with it, Supergirl executives.