In tonight’s episode of Supergirl, titled “Childish Things,” the Winn character finally stepped out of the shadows and into a more developed plotline of his own. A solid Winn story line is something many of us have been hoping for a while, but — despite a solid performance by Jeremy Jordan — the writers’ treatment of Winn’s episode pissed off viewers and let down fans.
Everything started off on the right foot, with Winn battling his own inner demons as his father, the villainous Toyman, escapes from prison and starts threatening public safety. Caught up in the overwhelming emotions he’s dealing with, Winn kisses Kara, which, of course, she brutally rebuffs.
Later in the episode, Winn professes his love to Kara and tells her he’s been in love with her since before she was Supergirl, which was super overdue. The confession was courageous, heartfelt and instantly won a ton of viewers over — because who hasn’t dealt with the sting of unrequited love?
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Kara politely rebuffs him again, using the age-old “I don’t want to ruin our friendship” excuse, and this is where things quickly go downhill for Winn and his story line. Winn doesn’t handle the rejection well and paves the way for turning into a villain himself.
Here’s what had fans up in arms.
Winn’s reaction to Kara turning him down is dangerous
Some fans felt what Winn had to say after Kara turned him down was a completely inappropriate response to the situation. The “I can’t keep bottling things up” speech seemed vaguely threatening and many have theorized that Winn will use the rejection as an excuse to turn evil. Can you image what kind of world we would live in if everyone used getting shot down as an excuse to get violent?
It was a male-oriented episode
Supergirl’s whole deal is that the show is supposed to be a girl power extravaganza, and this episode most definitely was not.
The writing reinforces guilty feelings women deal with every day
Again, coming from a feminist-themed show, the idea that Kara should even entertain the thought that Winn’s feelings and behavior are her fault is not cool. The writers didn’t even have Alex tell Kara it wasn’t her fault when she ran to her sister about the situation.
Love triangles are tired
Supergirl fans have made it loud and clear: They are into the show for action sequences and female empowerment, not soapy hook-up subplots.
General discontent
Quite a few Supergirl viewers are just over Winn, plain and simple.
While I do agree Winn’s reaction to Kara turning him down was completely unfair, I also personally believe making the character a villain is the only way to preserve his story line on the show. Otherwise, he’s just stale.
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