Supergirl & Mon-El’s Reunion Isn’t What You Expect

The reunion of Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl and Chris Wood’s Mon-El will not be what you expect, as the show attempts to eschew predictability. Of course, the pair of aliens’ star-crossed romance was one of the recurrent narrative threads of Supergirl season 2, until a change in the Earth’s atmosphere forced Mon-El to leave the planet on fear of death.

Mon-El’s absence since then has been one component of Kara’s unhappiness in Supergirl season 3. As well as struggling to maintain an interest in her human life, Benoist’s protagonist has found it hard to come to terms with the fact that she chose to defeat the invading Daxamites – in the season 2 finale – in a way that meant severing ties with Mon-El. With that in mind, you might expect that a reunion between Kara and Mon-El would be a cheerful affair. A cause for celebration, even. But you’d be wrong.

Speaking to CBR on the set of Supergirl, Benoist revealed a few little teases about the big Mon-El/Kara reunion that is taking place in next week’s episode, “Wake Up.” She was keen to stress the fact that this won’t be the merry reunification that fans might have expected:

“In Episode 7, it’s pretty mysterious. I think this season, we’ve really delved into a different tone, a different atmosphere for Kara. She’s really figuring out how to own her alien-ness, if you will, and in turn I think she’s finding her womanhood at the same time through grief and that grief is apparent even in the coloring of the show, so I think it’s a long — it won’t be the reunion you expect.”

This chimes nicely with what fans saw in the trailer for Supergirl season 3 episode 7, which showed Mon-El being found on the sunken ship of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Kara – perhaps because there are so many shape-shifting aliens around these days – clearly isn’t convinced that this is the real Mon-El. It seems obvious from Benoist’s quote and the trailer that Mon-El’s reappearance on the scene will not immediately solve all of her personal problems.

However, it’s interesting that Benoist cut herself off after saying “I think it’s a long –”. What was the end of that sentence going to be, before Benoist decided to throw in a teasing statement instead of finishing her train of thought? Perhaps she was going to say that there is a long road ahead before Mon-El and Kara can properly get back together. As ever, to see how this reunion plays out and to find out whether or not Chris Wood is still playing the real Mon-El, fans will just have to keep watching.

Supergirl airs Mondays on The CW.