Last week, we found out that National City had an underground bar scene where aliens hung out. This week, we get more alien extracurriculars, as we are introduced to an alien fight club run by the big bad of the episode, Roulette.
Last season, Supergirl’s mission with the Department of Extranormal Operations was to hunt down aliens that escaped from the Phantom Zone prison. But those apparently weren’t the only aliens running around National City. Not only do we have a few dozen hanging out in a bar, but they’re also being controlled by a woman named Roulette, who operated the alien fight club for the enjoyment of the elite.
Roulette is the target of National City Police Department detective Maggie Sawyer, who is investigating some “alien-on-alien” violence with Alex. The pair go off to the club and Supergirl gets beat down by an alien named Draaga. Everyone runs off to lick their wounds and figure out a new method of attack. Alex also sees the Martian we met last week, M’gann, is part of the fight club, leading to an upset response from J’onn/Hank/Martian Manhunter.
Meanwhile, Mon-El the Daxamite convinces Winn to let him out from the DEO’s protective custody for a night of drinking. It doesn’t end well for Winn.
The fourth episode of the second season is predicated on building relationships and setting possibilities for the future. Alex and Maggie have a clear connection and seem to enjoy working together to take down the baddies. Winn and Mon-El are also given some time to develop a bit of a bro-mance in the short amount of screen time they have together.
With the discussions of a leading character on the show coming out this season, the show-runners are giving us a couple of possibilities here for a same-sex relationship. This is similar to the teases of Xander or Willow coming out on Buffy the Vampire Slayer before having Willow come out in the fourth season. Alex is the stronger possibility, based on her final scene of the episode, where she went down to the police station to ask Maggie if she wanted a drink, foiled when Maggie’s girlfriend showed up.
The third relationship being explored this episode was between J’onn and M’gann. Of course, M’gann is a lot less willing to be a part of this, as she is trying to keep a number of secrets from J’onn, and his ideas of a Martian mind meld probably wouldn’t end well. Considering M’gann is actually a White Martian and not a Green Martian, things could get explosive between the two before things end.
My favorite parts of the episode, once again, were between Kara and Snapper Carr, who once again is portrayed as a news editor who actually knows what he’s doing! That really is exciting for an old newshound like myself. Snapper begins to warm up to Kara and Kara begins to hone some journalistic skills. I wonder if she ever bothered to call her cousin Clark and ask for some pointers. She obviously hasn’t, as she goes to Lena Luthor to ask for a favor – the location of Roulette’s underground fight club. Trusting a Luthor and owing one a favor never ends well…
DC Comics History Lesson
Let’s take a look at some of the DC Comics references brought up this week:
Roulette – Veronica Sinclair was introduced in the pages of JSA back in 2001, created by writer Geoff Johns. She managed to capture the members of the JSA and pitted them against each other in battles of wits and physical dominance. She’s also been on Justice League Unlimited and on Smallville, despite not making many appearances as a villain in the comics.
Miss Martian – M’gann M’orzz was created by Geoff Johns (I’m sensing a theme here) and Tony S. Daniel in 2006 for the Teen Titans comic book. She was named for the wife of Marvel Comics editor Ben Morse’s wife. Both in the comics and in the Young Justice cartoon series, M’gann was revealed to be a White Martian, although she doesn’t subscribe to the White Martian belief that all Green Martians should be destroyed. Like Roulette, Miss Martian hasn’t been used very much in the comics recently.
Draaga – Finally, a character not created by Geoff Johns… No, Draaga was created by Jerry Ordway, Roger Stern and George Perez in 1989. Draaga was a gladiator on Warworld, a battle planet controlled by the despot Mongul, who was defeated in battle by Superman, who refused to kill Draaga. He later encountered the Matrix Supergirl, who was in the form of Superman (long story) and hoped to avenge his defeat and eventually falls in the “Panic in the Sky” story, working with the heroes to defeat Brainiac, who had taken over Warworld.