Thoughts on the Legion episode of Supergirl

The first thing is this: the title of the show is Supergirl, and, properly, that's who this episode was about. It's not a Legion show; it's a Supergirl show.

(Is it any good? Enh; it's fine. These Arrowverse shows aren't that great in general. They're serviceable, and we're fond of the characters, and that's been good enough so far.)

That said, it is a Legiony kind of spot for them to be in: they're being compelled by the logic of time travel to act in some antisuperheroic way, but they do the right thing in the end. Like in the Infinitus story in Justice League Whatchamathing. So that's fine. And there are some details mentioned that prove that the writers have read at least one Legion comic in their lives.

The problem is that the Legionnaires don't really do anything. Brainy makes some small talk in Supergirl's mind and pilots a Legion cruiser. Saturn Girl throws some weights around telekinetically. Mon-El gets encased in ice. That's about it. Really, what are they there for? Maybe the story's going somewhere that can get some use out of them, but it isn't there now.

As far as the individual portrayals of the Legionnaires... I haven't been a fan of this Mon-El depiction, but maybe they're building him into something more like the character we know rather than making him like that right off the bat. That would be okay. Saturn Girl... they don't seem to be getting anything out of her. If all they want is a love interest for Mon-El, why not use Shadow Lass? Or really anybody? This character doesn't seem to be telepathic, doesn't look like Saturn Girl, doesn't wear a pink costume, isn't a hardass... in what sense is she Saturn Girl? This is not a knock on the actress, by the way, who seems fine. It's just that she doesn't have a part to play.

Brainiac 5, on the other hand, I kind of like. I didn't have high hopes when I saw what he was going to look like, but he won me over. Resembles the animated Brainy more than any of the other versions. In particular he doesn't have the arrogance of the reboot, threeboot, and retroboot Brainys, which I think is a good choice. Those who were hoping that his appearance on this show would lead to a Kara-Brainy romance are bound to be disappointed, though, because a) I don't see this show making a guy who looks like this Brainy a romantic lead, and b) Silver-Age-comics Kara might have gone for the nonthreatening dreamers like Brainy or Jerro the merboy, but contemporary-TV Kara prefers buff men of action like James Olsen or Mon-El. Notice how far Winn got with her in Season 1? (It's to Kara's credit that she wasn't interested in him, actually; he was acting like quite the creeper for a couple of episodes there.)

I'm watching the show anyway, so if there's anything else for me to comment on with regards to the Legion, I will. But I hold to my opinion that what the Legion needs is either a regular comic book of their own, or an animated series of their own. Random guest appearances do not allow the team to appear to their full potential as superhero characters, especially when they're appearing in something where someone else is clearly the main character. It needs to be an ongoing series to highlight the large cast, and it needs to be a comic book or cartoon so that you don't have to skimp on special effects, fake your way through the no-win situation of trying to portray superhero costumes in real life, or have a small regular cast that must appear in X number of episodes. Things like this Supergirl episode are all very well if you just like seeing the Legion anywhere at all and don't mind that it's not actually a good Legion story, but I'd like to watch or read a good Legion story.