YMMV / Supergirl (2015) S2E8 "Medusa"

• Ass Pull: Eliza being able to cure J'onn of becoming a White Martian with the virus (which was engineered to destroy entire species with the exclusion of one, but is able to be customized to the degree of attacking only the cells of a specific species) as he only found out he was turning into one in the previous episode. It seems like he was cured so that the writers could wrap up the plot until the mid-season premiere and give Kara one less thing to worry about so that she can go to Barry's universe.
• Captain Obvious Reveal: Lena turning out to be a Fake Defector, after everything before has made her out to be the White Sheep of the Luthor family.
• Like You Would Really Do It: After all the hell this crew got over killing off Sara Lance, there's no way they'd fridge Maggie like this. (Especially given that, in 2016, the Bury Your Gays trope had become extremely controversial.)
• Moral Event Horizon: While Cadmus (Lillian and Hank, essentially) have done awful things this whole season, their Final Solution plot is a new moral low.
• Strawman Has a Point: Zor-El creating the Medusa bioweapon is supposed to be seen as a bad thing, considering that he becomes a Broken Pedestal for Kara, but his arguments that it's a perfect defensive weapon that can save Kryptonian lives hits the nail on the head. In case of an invasion they would have to defend themselves somehow anyway, most likely using lethal force, and Medusa could win the war quickly and without risking military or civilian casualties. Granted it could be used for genocide, or against them if it ever fell into the wrong hands, but that's the problem for any weapon, and certainly what Cadmus did was not how Zor-El intended Medusa to be used. Additionally, in the crossover, Kara reveals that the Dominators have attacked Krypton in the past, killing many people, so there's precedent for Zor-El's fears.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • J'onn getting cured at the end of the episode wastes a good plot that could have had him become a White Martian and learn from the experience that not all of them are naturally evil, or basically challenge his hatred of them.
  • Barry and Cisco only recruiting Kara to help them in the crossover event, as it would have been interesting to have J'onn go with them as well as his powers could benefit in the battle and just to see how characters like Diggle would react to not just Kara but him. It generally would also be cool for Alex, Winn, and James to meet Team Arrow and Team Flash.
    • Also Superman not being part of the crossover, as he is in Metropolis.
    • And Alex could have gotten to talk with Sara about her newly discovered sexuality.
    • Though overall their absence in the crossover event is justified by the fact that the DEO stills needs people to run it in Kara's temporary absence along with needing J'onn and his abilities. Then in regards to Alex she has just entered a relationship with Maggie at the end of this episode and generally Alex, J'onn, and the others have no obligation to risk their lives for another Earth while Kara is mostly going because of a favor she owns to Barry. Then given the urgency of the crossover invasion plot, there wouldn't be enough time for everyone to get to know each other.
  • Barry not being able to assist Supergirl with the Cadmus conflict as him coming out the breach and punching Henshaw would have been a better start to the crossover than just appearing at the end. Though him not being included could be justified as he would have been able to help resolve the conflict quicker because of him not being an alien and so he wouldn't have had to worry about Medusa killing him.

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