SuperGirl Season 4 Episode 12 Review “Menagerie” 

Written by: Robert Rovner 

Directed by: Stefan Pleszczynski

Starring: Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Katie Mcgrath, Sam Witwer, David Harewood 

Official synopsis “J’onn welcomes clients to his new office; Kara teams up with J’onn on an assignment, which unfortunately ends up tying directly into Alex’s current investigation involving the villain Menagerie; Nia invites Brainy to her Valentine’s Day party” 

Supergirl has been missing from our screens for the last few weeks and was a welcome return. Menagerie is a valentine’s day centric episode which develops some ongoing stories, brings the return of some familiar faces and gives us a few new twists and turns. 

We start of following a mystery duo who appear to have just robbed some wealthy people. On their escape they are confronted by a new alien which crash lands in the middle of the road with devastating consequences for the pair. 

menagerie

J’onn has Kara and Alex over to his new office and they catch up discussing J’onn’s successful jobs as a Private investigator. We get a little reminder of Alex’s mind wipe as she doesn’t remember being in J’onn’s new office (where the mind wipe took place) and that she still thinks something is missing from her life. 

Brainy attempts to enlist Nia into his and Supergirls “super hero team” only to be rejected as Nia is still grieving the loss of her mother. Nia does how ever take the opportunity to invite Brainy to a valentine’s party and seals it with “Its a date” much to Brainy’s bemusement. 

RETURN OF LIBERTY 

Ben Lockwood finally gets his much-wanted return to National City as we see a brief glimpse of him behind bars having a visit from his wife and son. They both offer full support to Ben and openly discuss the movement agent liberty started. Ben has a final word in the ear of his son, away from his wife and our ears. Time will tell what he has asked his son to do. 

The alien from the start of the episode is on a killing spree around National city, feeding on human hearts. While investigating this J’onn manages to bring Kara and Alex together and work as a team, without the need for Supergirl. As this makes the news, we soon learn what Ben Lockwood asked his son to do. He is in the family steel works and puts on the agent liberty mask to address the internet. He asks the children of liberty to hunt down this rampaging alien and prove the world needs them. 

BRINGING THE FUNNY 

Brainy has been proving the humorous relief to the show after Wyn’s departure and once again demonstrates that this week. Attending the Valentines party takes Brainy from dancing to Miley Cyrus to hiding in a closet from Nia’s roommate. 

Using Brainy’s ability to scan DNA the team manages to track down Pamela Farerr, the mystery crook from the start of the episode. This is where the episode plays a straight up homage to Venom. The alien is described as a Symbiote and when they confront Pamela, she announces herself as “We are Menagerie”. Not quite the same impact as Tom Hardy but none the less a very nice tip of the hat from DC to Marvel. 

Using Brainy’s ability to scan DNA the team manages to track down Pamela Farerr, the mystery crook from the start of the episode. This is where the episode plays a straight up homage to Venom. The alien is described as a Symbiote and when they confront Pamela, she announces herself as “We are Menagerie”. Not quite the same impact as Tom Hardy but none the less a very nice tip of the hat from DC to Marvel. 

ITS ON, ITS OFF, ITS ON, ITS OFF 

Col. Haley visit’s Lena Luthor to offer her a government contract to improve the military. Haley is aware of Lena’s research into giving humans super powers and wants this to help the military level the playing field against aliens. Lena is never one to hide her emotions and its clear to tell she is not keen on this idea, but doesn’t directly say no. 

James and Lena discuss this on their way to the airport for a romantic trip to Paris. James completely disagrees to working with the government. Lena feels she is being judged by trying to help better humanity. A shot discussing and once again we see the infamous couple part ways…again. Having only got back together a couple of episodes back I fear we will see this merry-go-round all season. 

SUPERGIRL RETURNS

We don’t see Supergirl until the final few minutes of the episode. She arrives just when needed to help defeat Venom Menagerie, with a little help from the children of liberty and an in-costume Nia/Dreamer. Due to their assistance we see the president agree to release Ben Lockwood from prison. Giving a speech to the media, Ben lets the world know that the children of liberty are here to stay and protect human life. 

The final scene missed a real opportunity to give the audience a jaw dropping moment in my opinion. Pamela is in a prison cell and has a letter delivered to her. When she asks the guard who it’s from, she is told Manchester Black. We then see a wax seal on the envelope with a Union Jack print. This scene could have been much more powerful if the guard said “I don’t know” then we get to see the seal. The audience is clever enough to know a Union Jack seal could be no one but Manchester Black. Manchester has been a fantastic addition to the cast this season and someone whose presence has been missed. 

A good episode this week which was worth the 3 weeks gap we had to wait. There was a lot less action and Supergirl in what was a very well written character driven episode. Melissa Benoist and Chyler Leigh in particular stood out with powerful and emotional performances proving they are not just there to kick butt. Unfortunately, episode 13 won’t be hitting our screens until the 3rd of March. See you in a couple of weeks or let me know your thoughts on twitter