J'onn learned he is not the last Green Martian on Supergirl Season 3 Episode 3. In fact, his father is still alive! 

Maggie reached out to her father as well, inviting him to her wedding shower hoping to repair their relationship. Sadly, it didn't work, but it gave us a truly emotional confrontation between the two. 

Below, TV Fanatics Christine Orlando, Andy Behbakht, Jay Ruymann, and Kathleen Wiedel discuss the father reunions, what's next for J'onn, and a likely Sanvers breakup.

Join us!

Which father/child reunion did you find most compelling?

Christine: They were both heartfelt and heartbreaking. I loved that J’onn got his father back, despite so many years of horrible loss. But Maggie’s reunion with her father is the one that made me cry.

When her father said that, “the only thing they hate more than a Mexicano is a homosexual” it struck a chord because for some people in our society that is the truth, and it’s hard to combat such ignorance and hate.

Andy: Without doubt, the one between J'onn and his father. I'm more invested in Martian Manhunter, even though I love Maggie Sawyer too as a character. Without going into details, this episode was a bad trigger for me as someone who is a member of the LGBT community.

Jay: I think seeing Maggie’s father was more important than J’onn’s. J’onn isn’t alone anymore, so finding his father didn’t change him much, but like Maggie said, she was still that little girl left on the side of the road.

I found more growth from Maggie’s father coming to town because it helped her realize who she is and who she wants to be, whether she’s with Alex or not.

Kathleen: I'm with Christine in that I think both reunions were deeply emotional and compelling. J'onn's status as The Last of His Kind and the sole survivor of his family play a large role in his character, affecting his relationships with Kara, Alex, and M'gann (not to mention his position as head of the DEO).

I loved the memory scene J'onn shared with his father: pretty much an ordinary day to the rest of us, but the happiest memory he has. And then there were Maggie and her father, a man who makes an effort to understand and accept his daughter for who she is but can't make the final hurdle when confronted with it.

There's always the hope that he will take the leap someday and that there will be a reconciliation between the two, but until then it remains a tragic rift between father and daughter.

Did you expect a different ending for Maggie and her father after he decided to come to the shower?

Christine: I had hoped for better, but it did seem to all be going too smoothly. Story-wise, I found Maggie finally believing in and accepting herself to be the happy ending that was truly satisfying.

Andy: No, once Oscar stormed out of the shower and gave the speech he made, I knew that Maggie would do what she did at the end of the episode.

Jay: Not really. I hoped for a better ending, but as soon as I saw that her mother wasn’t on the bus, I knew it was doomed. I really just want to ask why they brought him back just for it to end that way?

Then again, I’m glad they didn’t patch things up. With LGBT stories on TV, all too often we see the family eventually comes around and accepts their child, but that’s not always the case. So I’m glad to see a story where the LGBT character realizes they don’t need their relatives to be their family.

Kathleen: While I think most of us long for (subconsciously or not) a happy ending, perhaps this way was more believable.

As Jay pointed out, not every family accepts their relative for who they are. It's a positive step that Maggie's father came as far as he did, but he's still got a long way to go. And, for Maggie, accepting that he might never make that leap is probably the healthiest choice for her personally.

What's next for J'onn and his father? Will he be sticking around for awhile?

Christine: Having J’onn’s father around could be a lot of fun because Earth is completely new to him. I also like the way he and J’onn interact, so I’m looking forward to seeing and learning more about his Dad.

Andy: They announced at Comic-Con that Carl Lumbly would be recurring for a few episodes so I'm sure we will see him soon again. I'm honestly incredibly excited to see more of their relationship.

Jay: I hope there’s more to see between these two. I think recalling life on Mars could be good for J’onn, but I also hope his father helps him move on and finally grieve for what happened at their home. J’onn has to let it go if he’s ever going to be happy.

Kathleen: I'm with everyone else in their excitement over having J'onn's father around for awhile. J'onn has always been a very commanding person, fitting for the Martian Manhunter and head of the DEO, so seeing him with his dad will throw a very different light on him.

Also, J'onn is no longer the only Green Martian anymore! That means there may be hope to find others out there somewhere. And that's not even getting into the subplot of introducing Dear Old Dad to Earth.

While Mon-El acclimated very quickly, J'onn's father might have more difficulty, especially since he was a prisoner for the past two hundred years.

Are you emotionally prepared for the inevitable Sanvers break up? Knowing that Floriana Lima is leaving, are you satisfied with the way they are writing her out?

Christine: I hate it because I really love Maggie and Alex; they are a fantastic couple. But if Maggie is certain she doesn’t want kids and Alex does, that is a realistic reason to go their separate ways.

Having children is amazing, but only if you want them, and I have no doubt that Alex and Maggie would end up resenting one another in the long run if they aren’t on the same page.

Andy: I'm not happy about it at all. This is one of the couples that I look up to in television/film, hence it sucks that the break-up is coming. But it is what it is and I know I'm going to miss Sanvers.

Jay: Nope. By having all these wedding-centric stories, they’re teasing fans and using that relationship with viewers. They should’ve ended this relationship during the off-season by having Maggie reject the proposal instead of using it for ratings.

Also, having kids shouldn’t be being discussed this late in a relationship, so it’s upsetting they couldn’t find another way to do so.

Kathleen: Did they ever actually confirm that Floriana Lima is leaving, or just having fewer episodes this season? Last I heard, she was merely downgraded from "regular" to "recurring."

I think it's still possible that Maggie and Alex might decide to take a breather, work out their different opinions on very important issues such as having children, and come back together later on this season having reconciled these differences.

What was your favorite quote or scene?

Christine: As difficult as it was to watch, my favorite scene was Maggie confronting her father when he left the shower and him explaining why he can’t accept she’s a lesbian.

It was horribly sad that he let the world’s bigotry color his love for his own daughter and, in the end, I was so proud of Maggie for rising above that and realizing that his feelings didn’t dictate her life.

Andy: Maggie's speech to her dad at the end literally had me standing up applauding her. So that was my favorite scene, even though the Maggie/Oscar plot in this episode was one of the most difficult thing for me to watch on any of these shows.

Jay: My favorite scene was also Maggie standing up to her father and standing up for herself. From personal experience, I know how hard that conversation is to have, and despite the racial issues with these two that are erupting in the fandom, it was nice to see a scene where it’s not the parent just tearing down their child. That’s not how family works.

Kathleen: Dodgy CG notwithstanding, I loved J'onn's favorite memory, when he got to relive something actually happy from his past, with his young daughters so excited at their grandfather coming home early. It felt so sweet and heartfelt, and J'onn so rarely gets to express true joy in relation to his family.

Stacy Glanzman was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in March, 2019.