Tonight’s SUPERGIRL has a wealth of familiar faces returning to the canvas as well as some insight into the foreshadowed “Myriad.”
There are some interesting possibilities as to who or what Myriad actually is. A frequent discussion between Kara’s Uncle Non (guest star Chris Vance) and her late Aunt Astra (Laura Benanti), one must assume that the project is an alien method of controlling the residents of Earth.
At the end of the previous episode, Kara (Melissa Benoist) bared her soul to James (Mehcad Brooks) about her feelings. As she dared to kiss him, Kara’s self-respect took a nosedive as he backed away.
As he exited her apartment, robot-style, SUPERGIRL was flabbergasted to see the man she loves join a throng of marching people who moved in the precision of a group under mind control.
Non spun a blue orb that may be the source of the control. Is it anticipated Myriad?
Does this Myriad have anything to do with the villain of same name from DC Comics? Although there is no “Sasha Green” character listed in the guest cast for tonight, Sasha aka “Myriad” is a dead martial arts instructor who is bitten by an alien and comes back to life with special powers.
A kind of parasite, Myriad has mind-control power, and she can become anyone she touches in her parasitic state. She assumes the identity of her host and uses that ability to blend in to a crowd. The ability makes her the perfect assassin because she cannot be differentiated from her host.
Unfortunately for the host, it dies once Myriad leaves the body, and Sasha has no memory of what she has done.
A similar foray into the possibilities of mind control seems to have been a project at Lord Technologies and was stolen by Non during the Kryptonian break-in at the facility.
Whether or not it is related to the parasite, Myriad, the effects seem to be the same and Non has partnered with Indigo (guest star SMALLVILLE’S Supergirl, Laura Vandervoort) and unleashed it on National City. With Myriad controlling a large percentage of the citizens of her city, SUPERGIRL finds only a few people who remain immune.
Maxwell Lord (guest star Peter Facinelli) has been prepared for this circumstance and designed a device to keep the mind-control signals away from his brain. Likewise, he designed some signal-rejecting diamond earrings for Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart), his on-again-off-again potential crush, so her thoughts remain intact (for good or bad).
Also not under mind control are Alex and J’onn. On the run after SUPERGIRL and Lucy (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) helped them escape the transport that was sending them to Project Cadmus, Alex (Chyler Leigh), in a blonde wig, seeks shelter at her mother’s house, with a child in tow.
When Eliza (Helen Slater) opens her house to them, the child morphs back into J’onn J’onzz, (David Harewood) and Alex tells Eliza the truth about Jeremiah’s supposed death. (Perhaps Jeremiah will be freed from Cadmus before the end of this season.)
While the source of the Myriad project may not be revealed totally tonight, there will be a new “big bad” in National City, and her name is Maxima.
Portrayed by former WWE superstar diva turned model and actress, Eve Torres Gracie certainly has the physical attributes of intense strength and hand-to-hand combat skills to portray Maxima, the eldest child of the Royal family of the planet Almerac. (In one version of the JUSTICE LEAGUE canon, Maxima was the only fighter besides Superman who was able to battle Doomsday, the supervillain most recently seen in BATMAN V SUPERMAN.)
Unhappy with her betrothed on her home planet, the hot-tempered Maxima comes to Earth in search of a suitable mate to sire the next royal heir, her eyes originally set on Kara’s cousin, Superman.
In a recent interview referenced on MSN, Torres stated, “Anyone who reads the comics knows Maxima comes to Earth in search of a mate among the superhero population — specifically Superman. She’s denied by him and she becomes very angry and bitter. We’ll see how that history plays out in the show — every adaptation is a little bit different, but SUPERGIRL does a great job with the source material.”
How and if Maxima ties into the Myriad storyline remains to be seen, but tonight’s episode has a wealth of recurring guest stars that propels the series into next week, the final show of the season.
According to the official CBS SUPERGIRL Twitter feed, might there be some upcoming news about SMALLVILLE’s Tom Welling making a cameo as Superman?
Most reports insist that Welling says that he never has been asked to make an appearance, but an April 9 tweet from @supergirlcbs reads “Can Kal-El help Kara stop Myriad?”. The Maxima character did make an appearance on Season 4 of SMALLVILLE.
Besides Facinelli, Vandervoort, Dewan-Tatum, Vance and Slater, the producers are trotting out a wealth of recurring guest stars tonight for the episode, “Myriad.” Look for Laura Benanti doubling again as Alura and Astra, Briana Venskus as Agent Vasquez and Glenn Morshower as General Sam Lane, most of whom return for next week’s season finale. It will be interesting to see if General Lane will ally with Team SUPERGIRL in light of this worldwide threat.
“Myriad” was written by producer, Yahlin Chang and executive story editor, Caitlin Parrish, and directed by Adam Kane.
Many news outlets are predicting a second season pickup for SUPERGIRL, but as of the March 25 CBS press release, the Girl of Steel had not yet been given the go-ahead order. CBS has done a great job incorporating the DC Multiverse, and the fanbase appreciates the effort. Please take Cat Grant’s advice and “let SUPERGIRL be SUPERGIRL.” Make that renewal announcement soon!
SUPERGIRL airs tonight (April 11) at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS in the U.S. and on Global TV in Canada.
