Supergirl S02E09 Review: Slave Moon

Supergirl, Season 2, Episode 9: Supergirl Lives

Like its cousin show Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl kicked off its post-midseason break episode with a relatively... filler-y episode that still builds up the main myth plotlines. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Supergirl and Mon-El adventures in space as much as anyone else, but there's little doubt in anyone's mind that this episode is meant to be filler.

Oh, sure, the concept is cool and solid enough, that's for sure. Supergirl and Mon-El discover that a series of kidnappings are actually a nefarious Silver Age esque plot of sending humans into Maaldoria, an alien slaver hub, and them going to the Slaver's Moon causes them to get stranded in a world with a red sun, thereby losing their powers. J'onn can't help because the air is conveniently toxic to martians, and Guardian doesn't help because everyone secretly knows Guardian sucks. Roulette makes a barely notable return (seriously, I totally forgot she was in the episode), there was a plot about Mon-El learning not to be a coward and to eventually embrace being a hero, and some fun alien hijinks... but ultimately that's it. 

There are two B-plots with Winn and Alex, neither of which is especially engaging. The Alex one was absolutely boring, with her flipping out over the fact that Kara got kidnapped and stranded on an alien planet because she was happy in a relationship... her outburst at her new grilfriend and immediate reconciliation was poorly written and unnecessary. Winn's story is a lot better to swallow, where the non-action geek's first bout of action, trying to help Guardian stop a robber, causes him to nearly get himself shot in the head... and eventually overcoming it when he goes to space with Alex, beating up a crocodile alien dude. Nothing too spectacular on either of these ends. There's a CatCo plot but that barely registered on my radar so screw that. 

I suppose the only real thing to note is the appearance of the Dominator, and the brief appearance of the two hooded dudes looking for Mon-El. With Mon-El especially looking guilty for the mention of the slave-trade in Daxam, as well as him apologizing for being weak and not deserving to live... yeah, I guess Mon-El is actually the prince in that story instead of the guard, and like M'gann before him he uses a 'yeah this happened to me and I'm not the prince/white martian, by the way' type of story to deflect suspicion. That would explain why the random Dominator stopped the guards from shooting Mon-El and bowed down to him a little, and why the other aliesn are chasing him. Or maybe it's a clever deflection and they're just not shooting Mon-El because of him being a Daxamite, and the Dominators are actually just really friendly to the Daxamites? I dunno. 

Some random alien hermit dude helped our heroes out as they escape through the portal, called Jogunraf or something? I dunno. He's funny, at least, but I hope he's just a one-and-done deal. What else? The yellow sun grenade is cool. Supergirl pulling a you shall not pass scene is decent, but not especially special.

It's a relatively weak story, all things considered. The appeal of fighting aliens in another planet (even if 80% of the scenes happen inside a building) is cool, but all the character growths are either merely functional, or in Alex's case, a random self-resolving plotline. 

DC Easter Eggs Wiki:

• A reference to Thanagarian Snare-Beasts are made, Thanagar being the homeworld of the alien versions of Hawkman and Hawkgirl.
• Kevin Smith directs this episode... and Kevin Smith is the man that would have directed the movie 'Superman Lives', a cancelled movie that was supposed to happen before Superman Returns. There are a couple of shout-outs to that failed project, including the 'Thanagarian Snare-Beasts' thing which was in the script, as well as Kevin Smith's daughter (who's named Harley Quinn, no joke) playing the damsel in distress Izzy Williams.