The CW’s Containment: Review of Entire Series

 

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Containment, the story of a viral plague which erupts in Atlanta and the quarantine zone that’s set up to control its spread, was a limited series which ran for 13 episodes on The CW in the spring and summer of 2016. Like all CW shows, it now lives on Netflix. Because it aired during that odd time of the year that isn’t a traditional TV “season”, Containment didn’t get much attention at the time, and had mixed critical reviews. (Metawitches wasn’t around yet.) Metamaiden and I both thought it was a fun show, for the subject matter, and brought some things to the table that we rarely see when a plague is the main subject.

Containment, based on the Belgian series Cordon, was developed for The CW by prolific showrunner Julie Plec, of The Vampire Diaries fame. She and David Nutter both served as executive producers. It starred David Gyasi as Major Alex “Lex” Carnahan, Christina Moses as Jana Mayfield, Chris Wood as Officer Jake Riley, Kristen Gutoskie as Katie Frank, Claudia Black as Dr. Sabine Lommers, George Young as Dr. Victor Cannerts,
Hanna Mangan-Lawrence as Teresa Keaton, and Trevor St. John as Leonard “Leo” Greene.

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Supergirl Season 2 Episode 17: Distant Sun Recap

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Last week, I asked for more Queen Rhea and King Lar Gand. This week, we got that, but it was definitely a case of “Be careful what you wish for.” On the bright side, Kara and Mon El are back to being a sweet, flirty couple, after their musical trip to The Flash. It’s Maggie and Alex’s turn to bring the angst. And we’re apparently going to pick up a dropped thread from the beginning of the season, since Secret Alien US President Lynda Carter is back to reveal her plans.

Kara wakes up to find Mon El making her breakfast in bed. He’s discovered cookbooks, and is applying them to his quest to romance her. His parents remain in orbit around Earth. In other words, they’re helicopter parents, TM Mon El.

The news reports show an attack in progress in National City. Kara makes a quick change and is off to the fight. Mon El will be a super partner and do laundry while she’s gone. Homemakers do important work too, okay? Kara easily beats the alien.

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Supergirl Season 2 Episode 16: Star-Crossed Recap

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Sooo, it was an interesting night on Supergirl. We had three high profile guest stars. Winn was unlucky in love, AGAIN, but refused to accept it. Maggie and Alex officially deserve more screen time. Alex can get you Hamilton tickets if you need them.

Oh yeah. We also confirmed that Mon El is the Crown Prince of Daxam. And that he lied about this to Kara. Which she finds unforgivable. There were some threads woven through the episode pointing out Kara’s lingering prejudices towards Daxamites in general, and Mon El in particular. Teri Hatcher, as Mon El’s mom Queen Rhea, took good care of her little boy in this regard. Winn’s storyline with Lyra was also used to highlight Kara’s arrogance and inflexibility. Given how long I’ve been calling out Kara for those traits, it was a very satisfying episode in that way.

Kara and Mon El start the episode enjoying Kara’s funemployment with a Netflix and junk food binge. Mon El suggests that they watch one of those movies where people just break out into song out of nowhere. Kara asks if he means a musical, and suggests Funny Face, gushing about the whole idea for a few minutes. Chris Wood is visibly holding back laughter while she gushes. Then they confess how happy they are with each other to each other and are generally perfect and cute and adorable and in love.

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Supergirl Season 2 Episode 15: Exodus Recap

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This week, Alex is continues to be hung up on her father’s betrayal, and takes matters into her own hands. The episode’s parallels with our current political situation are obvious, but the show is confused in its own sense of right and wrong.

A seemingly average family is traveling through the rural countryside, with the parents embarrassingly singing along to Bruno Mars, when they are pulled over by a police officer. He doesn’t ask to see the driver’s license or registration, which should be their first clue that something is off. Instead, he tells them they have a broken taillight, which he’ll help them fix with special reflective tape. The dad gets out of the car and a scary black van suddenly pulls up. The whole family is cuffed and dragged into the van. They’ve all revealed themselves as aliens while they were being captured. Beware police officers who don’t follow procedure.

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Supergirl Season 2 Episode 14: Homecoming Recap

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Supergirl and Mon El spent the night together, leaving us with no doubt that Kara has been devirginized by the show. This doesn’t seem to have been her first time in-universe, because you’d think a romantic like Kara would make a bigger deal of it, but possibly it’s the first time she didn’t have to hold very, very still.

Mon El wakes up alone in Kara’s bed and wonders for a moment if he did something wrong, but then his natural cocky optimism returns, and he wonders if it was that good? As he gets up and moves around the apartment, we learn from the TV news that it must’ve been that good, maybe even better. Kara’s already prevented 5 armed robberies, taken over for a tugboat working in the harbor and delivered puppies! Mon El turned her world up to 11! Mon El is a hero! All of Kara’s early morning heroing happened because of him! You don’t deliver puppies for anything less than spectacular.

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Supergirl Season 2 Episode 13: Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk Recap

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We pick up right where we left off last week, with Mr Mxyzptlk proposing marriage to Kara, professing his undying love, and then throwing out one liners at the speed of light. He sings a snippet of A Whole New World, from Disney’s Aladdin, which is hilarious because the actor, Peter Gadiot, played the genie on Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.

Mon El interrupts Mxy’s monologue, but is quickly dispensed with. After a few well-placed insults, he’s sent off to the DEO in his underwear. I don’t think being without his clothes bothers Mon El in general as much as Mxyzptlk thinks it should.

With Mon El taken care of, Mxyzptlk continues his campaign to get Kara to accept his proposal, while also answering her questions as she tries to figure out what the heck is going on. Somewhere in the midst of wedding dresses, violin serenades, flowers, and candles, he lists the rules of engagement: He’s all-seeing and all-powerful, but he can’t make her marry him, fall in love with him, stop her from killing herself, or make her drink orange juice. Mxy vows to woo her until she falls in love with him, since he’s chosen her to be his mate. With that, he snaps his fingers and disappears again.

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Supergirl Season 2 Episode 12: Luthors Recap

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This week is all about the rivalries, on camera and off, between friends, lovers, and family. Lillian Luthor, mommy from hell, set up a rivalry between Lex and Lena from the moment they met that reflected her rivalries with both her own husband and Lena’s mother, and she’s still all about competition. The Supergirl crowd’s rivalries are much more accidental or unconscious, but they are still there. James, in particular, needs to take a good look at his motivations. Lex was his rival for Clarke’s affections, and now Lena is his rival for Kara’s. That’s enough to make James dismissive of the idea that Lena could be any different from the rest of her family.

We open on Lillian teaching Lex Luthor the finer points of chess. Lionel Luthor brings 4 year old Lena into the room, having just adopted her. Llillian makes noises about not having been completely on board with the adoption, but comes around when she sees Lex and Lena interact. Nothing like a little sibling rivalry to sharpen the competitive instinct.

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Supergirl Season 2 Episode 11: The Martian Chronicles Recap

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Okay, has everyone who watches Jane the Virgin had enough time to process this week’s events? Are we ready to talk about Supergirl? The Metawitches household needed a few minutes to get back on track.

It’s another tough episode for Kara, emotionally. She’s still on a bit of an ego trip, which she’s using to avoid her real feelings, and the people who make her feel them. The show is finally starting to dig a little deeper into her issues and past. Childhood trauma is something the Berlantiverse loves to explore. They do it fairly well, addressing it in bits and pieces over time. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with Kara’s past, and how they relate it to her personality, if they take it further than they did tonight. The Flash has brought up some fascinating aspects of Barry Allen’s character, especially in Season 1.

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Supergirl Season 2 Episode 10: We Can Be Heroes Recap

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Kara does a lot of emoting this week. She has lots of opinions and feelings about how the people around her and the world in general should behave, and no one will listen to her, gosh darn it all to heck. You’d think that everyone would bow down to her superior wisdom and strength, what with her being an alien superhero who’s so strong that she’s nearly a goddess on earth, but the fools all insist on making their own decisions. And they aren’t even sorry about it. Except for Mon El, who does wish that he was better at following orders, but, let’s face it, he’s one of those people who’s never going to stop making sure she’s okay and only protect the civvies. Pretty sure he can learn to multitask though, if Kara can learn to lighten up.

Kara needs another trip to Earth-1 to reacquaint herself with Oliver Queen, Sara Lance, and Mick Rory. The whole idea that humans can’t be dangerous and are unable to protect themselves was ludicrous. Look at Alex. Kara just didn’t want to admit that she was worried about friends and being overprotective.

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Supergirl Season 2 Episode 8 “Medusa” Recap: Be Your Own Hero

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Three TV Series Later, Chris Wood Finally Gets a Reasonably Happy Kiss (And So Do Both Danvers Girls!!)

It’s a jolly Thanksgiving in National City this week. All of Kara’s friends and loved ones gather at her apartment to celebrate. Even Barry and Cisco try to show up in the middle of dinner, but, oops, guys, your crosssover event doesn’t start until the end of the episode!

Alex, Winn, and James argue over who gets to come out first over dinner. No, Winn and James aren’t announcing that they’re dating, like I keep hoping, just telling Kara that James is The Guardian and Winn is his handler (why don’t handlers get cool names too?). Alex wants to tell her Mom that she’s interested in dating women. Unfortunately, dinner and the confessions are interrupted by the premature crossover event Vibe bubble. James and Winn will have to wait until another episode, but Alex and Eliza get to have their heart to heart later at the DEO. Eliza is as warm and accepting as ever, immediately figuring out what Alex has been trying to tell her and boosting Alex’s confidence the way only a mom can.

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