This week, we lose out on two of our CW shows due to Valentine’s Day, but we do get 2 amazing episodes still. In Supergirl, Lillian Luthor is broken out of jail by Metallo, and Lena Luthor is blamed. On Arrow, an attack on City Hall prompts flashbacks that show how Rene became Wild Dog.

Important Things to Know This Week:

Supergirl set up a lot of potential relationship drama, which is great for an episode the day before Valentine’s Day. There should definitely be a lot of relationship stories this week. At the same time, though, there has been a lot of buildup with the Guardian story. With the main villains coming back this week, James and Winn might actually end up being out of their league.

The Flash took the week off for Valentines Day, so we’ll have to wait until next week to see the team in Gorilla City.

Legends of Tomorrow took the week off as well. We’ll have to wait until next week to see the next step in the fight for the Spear of Destiny.

Last week’s subplot was about Rene helping Quentin prepare for an interview. We learned a little bit about his backstory as a part of that story, and I’m excited to see more this week. Also, expect to get more information about the new Canary on Team Arrow. We can’t forget the reveal that Susan Williams might know Oliver’s secret.

The Biggest Moments This Week (Spoilers!):

Supergirl: (S2 E12: Luthors)

I love the sheer awkwardness of the exchange at the bar early on, with Alex and Maggie revealing their relationship. Winn and James being surprised by it, J’onn revealing that he’s always known, and Mon-El being confused that it’s a big deal. It is all hilarious. It is also strange to see. The viewer has known about that for a long time, and Kara has known for a while as well. I had assumed that it was just common knowledge, which made the scene even funnier. In Kara’s love-life, she seems to slip up in this episode. It is painfully obvious that she likes Mon-El, but she wants to avoid it.

The side plot in this episode really is a highlight. It’s Kara against the world in defense of Lena. Everything and everybody believes that Lena is guilty, even the evidence. Except Kara. She doesn’t want to believe it, no matter what, and I don’t blame her. Even though James’ speech about Lex and Clark being good friends in the past was moving, and he had a point when he pointed out that it doesn’t make sense for Kara to trust Lena but not him. But that is Kara. She wants to believe in her friends, but she also wants them to be safe. It really is what makes her who she is. She ends up being right too, even if it doesn’t mean much, it should help the team to trust her instincts more, in the future.

The main story about the present day Luthors is actually really interesting. During movies and shows, especially in the Superhero genre, the best stories are the ones where the villains can be understood. The story is set up with Kara and her friends as the protagonists, so you want them to be right. But, the world has shown us that people can easily get behind someone who is claiming to help them, even if they are a terrible, evil person. That’s what this story showed, that’s what Lillian Luthor is.

Arrow:

Thea’s reaction to Oliver dating Susan Williams is hilarious! I also completely agree with her. Oliver has made some terrible dating choices, but this has to be the worst one so far. The fact that he can’t see how she is trying to dig up his secrets only makes it worse. Having Thea and Quentin now back full time, and having Rene working with them will make this aspect of his life a bigger part of the story, and I really like that. I also like that Oliver charged toward solving the issues at full-speed, even if people didn’t agree with him.

The City Hall shooting was intense. This show gets violent at times, but it is generally trained fighters against trained fighters. When people die, they are either villains or they die for a cause or reason. The absolutely senseless attack on innocent people in this episode is hard to watch. The debate it sparks among the characters over gun control and gun violence is interesting to see, in my opinion. We all have differing political views, especially on a topic as controversial as the second amendment. I like that the show did what it could to show that you can still have good relationships with others, even if you disagree on such a charged issue.

The backstory on Rene is also really heartbreaking. It shows how hard it can be for some people to escape the life of a low income neighborhood. Even though Rene got his family out of the hood, his wife still did drugs, and it started to tear the family apart. Before that, though, she is killed in a tragic confrontation with a drug dealer. Rene uses this experience as justification for his belief in gun rights. Unfortunately, he also lost his rights to see his daughter because of the fight.

Overall:

Mayor Oliver is going to be a highly important aspect to the story moving forward. This episode does a lot to further his political profile and show how he is willing to help the city as publicly as he can. Oliver may very well have to choose between his position as the mayor and his position as the green arrow, at some point. Based on what I’ve seen, I’m not entirely sure I know what he will choose.

Ryan’s Speculation of the week:

The Luthor story in Supergirl was an interesting approach. It has always been interesting that Kara is actually close friends with Lex Luthor’s sister, but really we didn’t know much about Lena, or even Lillian. We knew that Lena was adopted, Lillian hates aliens, like Lex. We knew that Lillian was in charge of Cadmus, and that Lena had taken over the family company and re-branded it after Superman beat Lex. Being able to learn more about their story is awesome. The fact that Lillian is the main villain of the season makes that especially true.

The Lena and Kara scene toward the end created questions. Is Lena going to help Supergirl fight Cadmus, or is she going to help Lillian fight Supergirl. She is definitely going to have to pick a side, and I’m wondering if she might side with her family when all is said and done.

Supergirl airs on Mondays, The Flash & Legends of Tomorrow air on Tuesdays, and Arrow airs on Wednesdays on the CW. Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about this week’s slate of episodes.