Mon-El might be back, but our Karamel ship is still very much in question… Check out our thoughts, on last week’s Supergirl “Wake Up”along with our friends Fangirlish!
Mon-El is back! But just as I was getting ready to pack up my bags and move onto my Karamel ship, the wind was taken out of the sails. Whhhhhyyyyyyyyy? Well, as you can imagine, I have a lot of feelings about this angst and thank goodness for our friends Fangirlish inviting me to join their roundtable!
Team Fangirlish came up with the awesome questions, which I’ve included below along with my responses and Alyssa’s (Fangirlish) and Lizzie’s (Fangirlish) contributions. The full roundtable post includes a total of seven contributors, so definitely check it out HERE for more about “Wake Up.”
1. Describe your thoughts about “Wake Up” using just six words.
Funmbi: Why can’t we have nice things?
Alyssa: Bring on that good ol’ angst!
Lizzie: I have so many questions now.
2. Describe your feelings about “Wake Up” using a gif.
Funmbi:
Alyssa:
Lizzie:
3. After months of mourning we saw Kara reunite with Mon-El, the thing she wanted most. What do you think was going through her mind? Why did she automatically assume they would be together? What will his return mean for her journey and the time she spent mourning him?
Funmbi: I think back to the first episode of this season, where Kara has essentially numbed herself so she wouldn’t have to deal with the grief of losing Mon-El. That is the depth of the love that she has for him. And even in the following episodes, we see that Kara isn’t necessarily back to her happy go-lucky self. She’s willing to be there for Alex and her friends when they need her and continue to save National City from villains great and small. But the hole in her heart from losing Mon-El is still there. So when Kara arrives on that ship and sees Mon-El standing there… goodness, it seems like it’s the first time we’ve seen her take a full breath in so long. She has to be shocked, but so relieved too. And given the depth of their love, I don’t think Kara doubted that she and Mon-El would be together again. This is certainly where my mind goes to. But because we can’t have nice things, Supergirl’s writers have thrown a crazy-ridiculous monkey wrench into all my Karamel plans. *SIGH* I truly don’t know where Kara goes from here. Are we sure Mon-El is sticking around? Because it would break my heart all over again to watch Kara have Mon-El around, but not able to truly have him in her life. I don’t even know…
Alyssa: I feel like Kara felt like everything would be right in her world again. That she’d feel whole again. That the emotional struggles were behind her. But more than that I feel like she was happy. Last season, Kara felt like she could have it all: be Supergirl and Kara Danvers, boyfriend included. It was as if she felt like she could have it all again. But obviously that’s not how it played out.
Kara assumed that things would pick up where they left off because she had no way to know that it hadn’t been 7 months for both of them. Kara’s belief in their love and their connection — combined with the assumption that it was the same length absence for both of them — made it easy for her to believe things would just fall back into place. Kind of like she wanted that classic happily ever after.
There’s no doubt that Mon-El’s return — and the way he returned after 7 years — will affect Kara moving forward this season. In no way does Mon-El’s return or the fact that he’s married to Imra diminish the time Kara spent mourning him. I feel like his return will force Kara to examine herself as an individual — an individual that’s not defined by the superhero persona or another person. But that doesn’t mean that Kara won’t eventually find her way back to Mon-El or that being with Mon-El diminishes her strength as an individual. I feel like this is certainly adversity that Kara is going to confront and grow as a result.
Lizzie: Grief can sometimes blind us to reality. Kara thought Mon-El’s return meant they’d be together, because during all those months of grief, that’s what Kara wanted. Mon-El wasn’t dead, but effectively, for Kara, he was. He was never coming back. And when he miraculously returned, for Kara, that fixed everything. She never stopped to think about what he went through or how he might have changed, because grief is very personal and sometimes it blinds us to what other people are going through.
Of course, his return means that now Kara has to face not just the fact that the life she thought she was supposed to live and the love she thought she had might be gone, but the notion that the sadness she felt was for nothing. Hopefully, Kara can realize that her journey is about her, and the lessons she learned are important, with or without Mon-El. This is about Kara Danvers, and her growth.
4. Should Mon-El have been upfront about everything that happened to him as soon as he woke up? Do you think he cheated on Kara? What would you do in his shoes?
Funmbi: When Kara walks onto that ship, I imagine that Mon-El is pretty shocked too. Of course Team Supergirl’s/DEO’s first priority is to make sure Mon-El is physically OK, but even as they’re running all those tests, you can tell that he wants to say something to. But he agrees rest up and remains quiet. It’s only later that it becomes clear to Kara that Mon-El isn’t himself (as she knew him), then little by little, it all comes out. I mean, I hate that Kara is hurt by learning Mon-El is married, but I don’t know that he should have been totally upfront. When would have been a good time? Should he have blurted it when Kara initially hugged him? Or when Kara was pouring her heart out about not being able to sleep for the last seven months? I don’t know… but what I am sure of is that Mon-El didn’t cheat. He’s been in the 31st century for the last seven years and didn’t think he’d ever see Kara again. So Mon-El honors his love for her and remembers it, but he also tries to move on and live a meaningful life. I don’t think Kara would ever begrudge him that.
Alyssa: To be honest, I don’t think Mon-El was given the space to be upfront about everything that happened. Everything just transpired so quickly. But I also feel like Mon-El was trying to protect Kara, first and foremost. He knows she doesn’t necessarily need protection, but that doesn’t change his desire to want to keep her from pain — especially when he knows he’s the source of that pain, however unintentional it was given the circumstances.
Did Mon-El cheat on Kara? Um, no. Though a lot of haters will lunge on that as their first line of defense. Mon-El was gone for 7 years. SEVEN YEARS. That’s 84 MONTHS. And he was in a different time where he believed he’d never see Kara again. What was Mon-El supposed to do? Shut himself off forever? That’s not what Kara would’ve wanted. Just like he wouldn’t want that for Kara either. Mon-El moving on does not take away from the love that these two characters still clearly share. Mon-El moving on does not make him a bad person. Mon-El moving on does not mean he doesn’t still care about Kara. The fact that he still wears her necklace around his neck after SEVEN YEARS is proof of that.
The thing is, there’s still so much we do not know. There are so many questions surrounding the 7 years Mon-El was away and the Legion, which are sure to be revealed in time. Seven years is a long time. How long did it take Mon-El to finally decide to move on because he knew it’s what Kara would’ve wanted? We’ve seen Kara take a good 6 months before she made the first step to move on with this acceptance that Mon-El was gone. There’s so much we don’t know about what happened to Mon-El or what he saw that it’s unfair to judge — even if it wasn’t right, which it is. He’s allowed to move on. There’s strength in moving on and not holding on to false hope for eternity.
Lizzie: Yes. No. And who the hell knows? He should have been upfront, everyone should probably always be upfront, but this is TV and writers aren’t really original so deceit is how they advance storylines. Stupid, I know, but here we go. Mon-El was never gonna be upfront cause drama! And also probably cause he’s trying to protect Kara, because, again, TV, and people making decisions for other people.
As for the cheating on Kara, no. Just – no. It’s been 7 years. He had no way that he knew of to get back to her. He moved on, and that’s good. If I died I wouldn’t want my boyfriend to be alone for the rest of his life. That’s selfish.
What would I have done? I really don’t know, probably be honest, because in real life people don’t do the shit they do on TV. Now, if someone could tell the CW writers all of this!
5. After being banished from Earth, falling into a wormhole, and 6 episodes of mourning for Kara and us, Mon-El is finally back. Use a gif to describe your feelings.
Funmbi:
Alyssa:
Lizzie:
6. Mon-El’s married! *pretends to be shocked* Speculate on what happens next for Kara, Mon-El, Saturn Girl, and the future of Karamel.
Funmbi: Mon-El is married and this is no marriage of convenience. He’s desperate to get back to that ship to save Imra and the other passengers. I mentioned this earlier, but are we 100% sure that Mon-El is sticking around? Are all those people from Titan? How did they end up on that ship under water? I have so many questions… but Mon-El is in love with his wife and Imra seems like she’s keen to join Team Supergirl. *SIGH* Kara is a classy girl, so I don’t anticipate seeing her try to drive a wedge between Mon-El and Imra. But this is going to be all sorts of awkward. Is Imra really as kind as the initial meeting leads us to believe? Has Mon-El told Imra about his romantic relationship with Kara? Are “yes” responses to these question better or worse than “no”? I don’t know how Karamel survives this. I agree with the other contributors who have said they don’t Imra to be killed off. But Karamel is also my endgame and I need the Supergirl writers to do right by them!
Alyssa: The one thing that was made abundantly clear after this episode is that this is going to be a season-long journey. This isn’t a storyline that’s going to be neatly tied with a pretty bow. This is going to a storyline that will last throughout the season as we see obstacles thrown in the way of Kara and Mon-El’s relationship. And while, yes, it’s going to be hard and it’s going to hurt, it’s going to be worth it. This is the stuff of endgame, folks. No one wants to watch a happy couple with no obstacles. Scratch that, no writers room wants to write a happy couple with no obstacles. This is the good kind of angst. The angst that keeps a fanbase invested and speculating throughout the entire season. This is the kind of stuff you see from your endgame couples. And that’s good news. Well, good news for Karamel fans.
The writers have done their jobs with the setup. They introduced a seemingly insurmountable obstacle in the form of Mon-El being married to Imra, and yet they have left room for this storyline to unwind as you clearly see that Kara and Mon-El both still love each other. I don’t know how this will inevitably play out — whether it’s Mon-El and Imra’s marriage is a Legion thing or what not — but I do have faith that things will play out. But I hope that this will also serve as growing experiences for both Kara and Mon-El.
I’m a firm believer that you should trust the journey. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how hopeless it seems. Trust the journey.
Lizzie: What Lyra said. No, really, what Lyra said. I really don’t want Saturn Girl to die and I REALLY don’t want a stupid love triangle with anyone cheating on anyone. That we had to get a semi love triangle to begin with is stupid, but I sorta hope they deal with it the adult way. And that they don’t rush anything.
7. Amy Jackson is a British actress that made it big in Bollywood despite not being Indian. Do you find her casting problematic? What does it say about the Supergirl writers room, especially after having Floriana Lima, an Italian actress, play a Latina?
Funmbi: I’m not sure what to think about Amy Jackson’s casting. I 100% agree with the other contributors that building a career around impersonating women of color is never a good look. It is quite interesting to see that Bollywood is dealing with these same issues that are deeply problematic in Hollywood. However, I do want to reserve my judgement about Amy Jackson in this role of Imra/Saturn Girl. Time will tell if Imra is supposed to be a woman of color and I will have more to say then.
Alyssa: Considering everything that happened with Floriana Lima’s casting, I do find Amy Jackson’s casting problematic. While the situation is a bit different from Lima’s — in that, for Supergirl, she was an Italian cast to play a Latina — it’s still the situation that leaves me feeling uneasy. I don’t know what Saturn Girl is supposed to look like, but representation in both race and moral stature is important. Supergirl has to know better than this.
Lizzie: Dude, Supergirl, hire some diverse people to your writers room so someone can actually say BAD IDEA NO, WHY YOU HIRING THIS PROBLEMATIC ACTRESS or HEY DON’T HIRE A NON-LATINX ACTRESS TO PLAY A LATINA. Diversity is good. I promise. In fact, I’m sure a more diverse writers room would have also helped with the whole HEY, LET’S TELL A STORY ABOUT NAZIS shit.
So, I have no problem with Saturn Girl. I do have problems with Amy Jackson, and I believe that it’s more than fair to criticize her.
8. The episode ended with the end of Sam and the beginning of Reign. What do you think will bring back Sam? What’s Reign’s endgame? Was her finding that random place in the desert believable?
Funmbi: First, Sam’s adopted Mom is not a nice lady. Second, the guide in Sam’s/Reign’s fortress isn’t very nice either. They both essentially call Ruby a mistake that has driven Sam/Reign away from her destiny. I reject that out of hand! I’m shocked to learn that Sam/Reign is Kryptonian, but what does it mean that she’s a Worldkiller? Now that she’s “activated” will she unleash that world-killing on National City? I’m sorry friends, I have way more questions than answers on this one. Perhaps Kara and Alex (maybe Lena, too) will be in a place to help Sam reclaim her humanity. Ruby will certainly be a part of that.
Alyssa: I have to admit that I’ve been really impressed with how Supergirl has handled Reign’s introduction because it wasn’t in the way that I expected. We knew from the get-go that Sam/Reign was going to become the big bad. But I love how we’re getting to see Sam grow into the villain. It’s a great example of how evil isn’t born, it’s created. Then there’s the whole aspect of making redemption possible. I want to believe that Reign can be redeemed — and that rests with Sam’s daughter, Ruby. I’m hoping that Supergirl isn’t content with simply making Reign the villain but instead also making it clear that she can be redeemed. After all, Reign was turned into a World Killer. It wasn’t something she chose. Just like Sam didn’t choose to become Reign. But if you believe in something so deeply — like Sam believes in her love for her daughter — then you can be pulled back from the edge.
Lizzie: This is the CW, so of course finding that random place was not believable, and Sam’s whole journey so far has been predictable AF, but the fact that she has Ruby makes me think – hope – that there’s maybe a possibility of redemption? I find myself wanting that more than I expected.
As for her endgame, that’s obvious – dead Kara. If that isn’t what the Legion is here for, then …no, yeah, that’s obviously what they’re here for.
Supergirl airs Mondays at 8p/7c on The CW.
