REVIEW -- Supergirl: Season 2 Episodes 1-2 - "The Adventures of Supergirl" and "Children of Krypton"

Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) was sent to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton as a 13-year-old by her parents Zor-El (Robert Gant) and Alura (Laura Benanti). Alura gave her instructions to protect her infant cousin Kal-El, and informed her that she, like her cousin, would have extraordinary powers under Earth's yellow sun.

En route to Earth, Kara's spacecraft was diverted by a shock wave from Krypton's explosion and forced into the Phantom Zone, where it stayed for 24 years. During this period, time stopped for Kara so, when the spacecraft eventually escaped the Phantom Zone, she still appeared to be a 13-year-old girl. By the time the spacecraft crash landed on Earth, Kal-El had grown up and become Superman. After helping her out of the craft, Superman took Kara to be adopted by his friends, the Danvers family. The main series begins eleven years later when the now 24-year-old Kara is learning to embrace her powers after previously hiding them.

Kara hid her powers for more than a decade, believing that Earth didn't need another hero. However, she has to reveal her powers to thwart an unexpected disaster, setting her on her own journey of heroism as National City's protector. Kara discovers that hundreds of the criminals her mother prosecuted as a judge on Krypton are hiding on Earth, including her mother's twin sister Astra (also played by Benanti) and Astra's husband Non (Chris Vance), who seek to rule the world. After briefly becoming suspicious of the true agenda of her boss, Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), she and her adoptive sister, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh), secretly discover that Henshaw is actually a benevolent alien refugee, J'onn J'onzz, who has resided on Earth for over fifty years after escaping a holocaust on his homeworld of Mars. J'onn infiltrated the DEO to reform the organization as well as to watch over both Alex and Kara in addition to guiding the latter in the use of her powers due to his experience with his own abilities. Kara is also being targeted by Earth's criminals as the result of her being related to Superman, and later on encounters an emerging community ofmetahumans and individuals from parallel universes. In the process, Kara accumulates her own rogues gallery who seeks to defeat and destroy her. She is aided by a few close friends and family who guard her secrets—most notably her cousin's longtime friend,James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks)—which also serves as a major plot in high tech mogul Maxwell Lord's (Peter Facinelli) scheme to expose Kara's identity.

Plot (FULL Spoilers)

"The Adventures of Supergirl"

Kara finds an unknown young man lying unconscious in the pod and takes him to DEO. She prepares for a date with James just as the commercial spacecraft, the Venture, is launched into space. It suffers engine failure and descends to Earth, but Kara saves the craft with help from Superman. They find the main target to have been Lena Luthor, the new CEO of Luthor Corp after her brother, Lex, was convicted. In a ceremony where she renames the company L Corp, she is attacked again by John Corben, the assassin. Alex engages him while Kara and Clark stop a building from collapsing. Corben reveals he is working for Lex before he is shot by Lena. Kara chooses to be a reporter for CatCo, a decision supported by Cat. Kara and James decide to keep their relationship friendly. Winn is formally hired to work with the DEO. Meanwhile, J'onn reveals to Alex that he was the one who found the Kryptonite and decided to keep it against the wishes of Clark, who wanted to destroy it. At Project Cadmus, an unnamed woman revives Corben and begins turning him into a metahuman called Metallo.

"Children of Krypton"

Kara and Clark continue operating together in National City before he decides to return toMetropolis. However, they encounter Corben, who challenges them by the kryptonite he possesses. The DEO deduces that there is a mole who smuggled the kryptonite out. In another encounter with Corben, another Metallo goes on rampage in Metropolis without opposition. Alex finds the mole, who is killed by the Cadmus leader, who intends to destroy aliens. Winn manages to build an anti-kryptonite suit for Kara and Clark, who manage to defeat the Metallos by the help of Alex and Hank, respectively. Kara promises the Cadmus leader to find her. Hank entrusts the remaining kryptonite to Clark, who returns to Metropolis. Meanwhile, Cat introduces Kara to the latter's new boss,Snapper, who does not like her and refuses to give her an assignment. Cat advises her to solve the problem herself, deciding to leave CatCo for other adventures, giving her place to James. Cat manages to prove her value to Snapper, who agrees to teach her. In the DEO, the alien man regains consciousness and attacks Kara.

The Verdict:

Originally, I was just going to cover the premiere of this season but I went ahead and added my thoughts on the second episode for this season as well.

"The Adventures of Supergirl"

This episode served as killing two birds with one stone - it served as the premiere of the show on the CW Network while simultaneously kicking off the new season. Right off the bat they addressed the biggest criticism concerning the show in the first season and its lack of Superman despite the several name drops and references. Now we finally get to see the Man of Steel in the flesh so to speak. Even though I read the casting news for the months leading up to this, I have to admit that I was still ultimately underwhelmed by how Superman looks in this show. Then again, we weren't given much in terms of physique when it came to Supergirl so I can't be too surprised. Compare to Henry Cavill, I guess we're all a bit spoiled to how Superman is "supposed" to look like so I wouldn't be too surprised if fans don't cut Tyler Hoechlin any slack about his lack of a Superman-worthy physique.

I will admit that they did manage to capture Superman's presence to the public. They made it a big deal for him to be apart of this show's universe and rightfully so - it IS a big deal, especially after an entire season of teases and minor mentions. Everyone was starstruck and in such awe of him and his reputation while Clark Kent was getting the opposite reaction - save from Cat Grant, who was surprisingly caught up in a schoolgirl-like crush over him. I'm guessing her fixation over Clark is the polar opposite of what drew Lois Lane to him. Cat fell in love with Clark Kent while Lois fell in love with Superman. I guess we'll find out over the course of the next few episodes since Clark is expected to stick around for a bit this season. 

Cat's still my favorite character on this show if I'm perfectly honest...

As usual, the true star of this episode - much like the bulk of Season One - was Cat Grant in all of her brutally honest glory. She puts Kara on blast throughout this episode, pointing how she's become complacent with her position in CatCo and life in general. In a said truth of reality, that's the problem with a lot of these comicbook-based shows. They get stuck in their own repetitive nature of a fairy tale-like narrative but are often afraid to "take the dive" to try something new and different. Sure, the path may be difficult along the way but even if it's a flop or a bust at least the teams behind these shows like this can look back confidently and say that they weren't afraid to take the plunge and do something outside of the box instead of sticking with what is easy or is the safer option for drawing in ratings. 

In terms of action sequences in this premiere, I have to admit that they look a lot better compared to the low quality stuff that we saw last season, but they have a long way to go to blow me away with the action with anything in these shows based in the Arrowverse in general.

I have to ask, what is up with this show's obsession with almost every new female minor character that is introduced is in a position of power? Lana Lang was made the interim head of the DEO last season after J'onn was demoted, the new mystery lady appointed as the figurehead of Cadmus, that woman who ended up being a White Martian in Manhunter's focused episode, and now Lena Luthor too. I'm all for equal rights and building/establishing powerful women in narratives but it seems a bit excessive in this show as the writers are going a bit out of their way to keep doing that.

Project Cadmus finally making their presence known was a pleasant surprise after staying in the shadows for the bulk of Season One, but I fear the weak narrative writing for this show will drag it down in the long run. Not even the mysterious Kryptonian has my interest perked enough to care about what he brings to the table. The rift between Superman and Martian Manhunter made me roll my eyes more than actually care about it from a narrative standpoint when most fans should know that if Superman really wanted to be petty he could just keep a book of matches laying around when the subject of Manhunter's weakness comes up.

Seriously... Just ask Batman.

"Children of Krypton" 

This episode continued the Project Cadmus plot that was teased at the end of the season premiere but we are treated to the first fruit of their labors as Corben is transformed into Metallo. This version of Metallo wasn't really memorable but it wasn't bad for this show's first attempt at the character. Seriously, it could be a lot worse as I think we can look no farther than Smallville and The Lois and Clark: New Adventures of Superman versions of the character. Yeah, I went there...

They didn't butcher Metallo like they did Livewire in the first season, so I can't complain. Let me get into what I'm really upset about on this episode...

Cat Grant is fucking leaving. Reportedly, this has to do with the show not filming locally where Calista Flockhart lives so travel is an issue but she's set to still make sporadic appearances throughout the season. She's just not listed as a series regular from here on out. From a storyline perspective, they are writing her off as being "burnt out" and taking a leave of absence while James takes over her position at CatCo while Kara takes on her new reporter job. Boy, seeing the arguably the "best" character on this show being written off doesn't give me much high hopes for this season. The Project Cadmus plot is intriguing enough as it makes me wish that Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice went that route in terms of being opposed to powered-people like Kryptonians, especially with their propaganda video.

No one gives a pep talk like Cat Grant. #Supergirl pic.twitter.com/jpXcRJKciO

— SupergirlWritersRoom (@SupergirlStaff) October 18, 2016

Snapper Carr seems like a piss poor replacement from this first appearance and comes off as a poor man's J. Jonah Jameson to add onto Kara's moping around like The Flash's Barry Allen, if these CW shows don't have enough of that with their young adolescent protagonists. At least Cat went out with a bang with her sassy attitude and brutally honest life lessons for Kara/Supergirl. We'll definitely miss you, Cat.

This episode has more awkward looking action sequences, somehow managing to top how poor the premiere's sequences looked. Can someone explain to me how Alex was punching Metallo in that exo-frame armor when it wasn't covering her hands? She should have shattered her fist to dust if she was hitting him as hard as Supergirl was. (Sighs) At least we got a Superman and Martian Manhunter team-up in this episode along with another look at the Fortress of Solitude, so I won't complain too much in that department.

I will complain about how stupid they made the whole "shipment/supply" of kryptonite issue in this episode. How the fuck does Superman know that's all of the world's supply of kryptonite? Like LexCorp or Cadmus might have their own supply somewhere. Jesus H. Christ, Superman is stupid when it comes to this whole kryptonite thing in this universe. There's absolutely nothing wrong with having an insurance policy if his ass gets brainwashed or something. The last thing the world needs is some rampaging rogue alien going around doing what he pleases - we had enough of that last season in this show.

How the writing on this show makes me feel at times...

I should look up the side effects and see if long-term exposure to kryptonite makes Superman stupid - kinda like the Orb of Confusion from Spongebob...

Watch it or Don't Bother?

From the ratings numbers, it seems like that a LOT of people tuned in - old and new viewers - just to see Superman in this premiere. If that's all you want to see then go nuts. But if you're looking for anything more than that, you might not be getting what you were looking for, especially when there's a lot of MUCH better shows to be watching than this. As the season continues on, I see those rating numbers going further and further down the hole unless this show really pulls something out of left field. With both Cat and Superman not sticking around for the duration of the season, I think those new viewers who turned in for Superman will quickly give up the ghost to watch something else in this time slot on Monday Nights. 

REVIEW -- Supergirl (Season One)

Supergirl is an American superhero action-adventure drama television series developed by Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg (the latter two having previously created Arrow and The Flash) that originally aired on CBS and premiered on October 26, 2015. It is based on the DC Comics character Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, and stars Melissa Benoist in the title role. Supergirl is a costumed superheroine who is the biological cousin to Superman and one of the last surviving Kryptonians.

Recurring Cast

Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El / Kara Danvers / Supergirl
Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen
Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers
Jeremy Jordan as Winslow "Winn" Schott, Jr.
David Harewood as Hank Henshaw and J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter
Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant
Floriana Lima as Maggie Sawyer
Chris Wood as Mon-El

Premise

Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) was sent to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton as a 12-year-old by her parents Zor-El (Robert Gant) and Alura (Laura Benanti). Alura gave her instructions to protect her infant cousin Kal-El, and informed her that she, like her cousin, would have extraordinary powers under Earth's yellow sun.

En route to Earth, Kara's spacecraft was diverted by a shock wave from Krypton's explosion and forced into the Phantom Zone, where it stayed for 24 years. During this period, time stopped for Kara so, when the spacecraft eventually escaped the Phantom Zone, she still appeared to be a 13-year-old girl. By the time the spacecraft crash landed on Earth, Kal-El had grown up and becomeSuperman. After helping her out of the craft, Superman took Kara to be adopted by his friends, the Danvers family. The main series begins more than a decade later when the now 24-year-old Kara is learning to embrace her powers after previously hiding them.[2]

Kara hid her powers for more than a decade, believing that Earth didn't need another hero. However, she has to reveal her powers to thwart an unexpected disaster, setting her on her own journey of heroism as National City's protector.[3] Kara discovers that hundreds of the criminals her mother prosecuted as a judge on Krypton are hiding on Earth, including her mother's twin sister Astra (also played by Benanti) and Astra's husband Non (Chris Vance), who seek to rule the world. After briefly becoming suspicious of the true agenda of her boss, Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), she and her adoptive sister, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh), secretly discover that Henshaw is actually a benevolent alien refugee, J'onn J'onzz, who has resided on Earth for over fifty years after escaping a holocaust on his homeworld of Mars. J'onn infiltrated the DEO to reform the organization as well as to watch over both Alex and Kara in addition to guiding the latter in the use of her powers due to his experience with his own abilities. Kara is also being targeted by Earth's criminals as the result of her being related to Superman, and later on encounters an emerging community ofmetahumans and individuals from parallel universes. In the process, Kara accumulates her own rogues gallery who seeks to defeat and destroy her. She is aided by a few close friends and family who guard her secrets—most notably her cousin's longtime friend,James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks)—which also serves as a major plot in high tech mogul Maxwell Lord's (Peter Facinelli) scheme to expose Kara's identity.

Episode List

Episode 1 - "Pilot"

A young girl named Kara Zor-El is sent to Earth by her mother Alura to protect her cousin, Kal-El, as their planet, Krypton, destructs. The planet's explosion forces her ship off course and into the Phantom Zone for 24 years, before landing on Earth. Kal-El, now an adult and going by the name Superman, puts Kara in the care of the Danvers. Twelve years later, Kara reveals herself to the world when her adoptive sister's plane is sabotaged. Her sister, Alex, works at the Department of Extra-Normal Operations, under the leadership of Hank Henshaw, investigating alien activity. Kara learns that there are hundreds of aliens on the planet in hiding, most whom came from a prison that crashed on Earth, and that her mother was the one responsible for imprisoning them. Her actions attract the attention of Vartox (Owain Yeoman), and she is able to defeat him. New art director James Olsen reveals he was sent to look after her and presents Kara with a new cape. Vartox's superior is revealed to be Astra In-Ze, Alura's identical twin sister, who wants to conquer Earth.

Episode 2 - "Stronger Together"

In an effort to put a positive image on Supergirl in the wake of a serious mishap, Kara asks Winn and James to help her perfect her skills, while Hank and Alex put Kara through extensive physical training. Kara learns that an alien (Justice Leak) of the Hellgrammite species who escaped from Fort Rozz is on Earth searching for chlorine-based food. The DEO prepares an ambush for the Hellgrammite, but it escapes, kidnaps Alex, and takes her to Astra. Astra uses Alex as a trap for Kara. As Kara and Astra fight, Hank injures Astra with a Kryptonite knife and Alex kills the Hellgrammite. Learning that Kara has become more powerful than she had imagined and that humanity has a means of weakening Kryptonians, Astra muses that her "plans" may need to be postponed. Cat pressures James to get her an interview with Supergirl. James has reservations about being used as a go-between to his superpowered friends, while Kara is worried about being recognized. In the end, Kara agrees to the interview and prevents James from getting fired. It is also revealed that Hank might have a secret of his own when his eyes begin to glow red.

Episode 3 - "Fight or Flight"

During the interview with Cat, Supergirl accidentally reveals that she is Superman's cousin. Supergirl is later attacked by Reactron (Chris Browning), who seeks to kill her in order to get his revenge on Superman, but she manages to send him fleeing. He later goes to LORD Technology labs and kidnaps Maxwell Lord to get him to fix his suit. Kara later learns that a reactor meltdown Superman stopped in the past killed Reactron's wife, thus explaining the vendetta. She goes to Reactron's hideout and manages to save Maxwell Lord, only to get badly injured by Reactron afterwards, but Superman comes to save her. She gets mad at James, who called Superman for help, as she didn't want to rely on the Man of Steel. During a party Cat organized, Reactron breaks in to find Supergirl. While James distracts Reactron, Supergirl covers her hand in lead so that she can use it to safely remove the power core in Reactron's suit and defeat him. It is later revealed that James has an ex-fiancée, Lucy Lane (the younger sister of Lois Lane), who came to National City to patch up their relationship.

Episode 4 - "How Does She Do It?"

Cat Grant is out of town and Kara, James, and Winn struggle to take care of CatCo, Cat's son Carter, and a bomber targeting Maxwell Lord's company. The DEO, claiming to be the FBI, goes to Lord and attempts to convince him to postpone the bullet train's opening, but to no avail. On the opening night of Lord's new bullet train, Supergirl and the DEO must deal with two bomb threats simultaneously, one at the airport and one on the train. James and the DEO go to the airport, where Hank Henshaw secretly uses his hidden strength to deactivate the bomb. Supergirl goes to the train, on which Carter and the bomber are both riding. As Supergirl confronts the bomber, he claims that he is doing it for his daughter. The bomber requests Supergirl save the people on the train after he starts the timer. At DEO headquarters, Alex finds a fail-safe in the "dud" bomb, causing Supergirl to realize that Lord was the one behind the bomber's actions. Lord concedes that the threats could have been used to test Supergirl's skills.

Episode 5 - "Livewire"

After fighting an alien escapee, Kara meets Alex at the apartment to greet their mother, Eliza Danvers, for Thanksgiving, inviting Winn due to his lack of plans. CatCo's shock jock, Leslie Willis (Brit Morgan) is demoted by Cat to traffic reporting after a controversial bashing of Supergirl. During a severe thunderstorm, Supergirl tries to save Leslie, but lightning strikes them both, imbuing Leslie with electromagnetic powers. Leslie takes the name "Livewire" and tries to take revenge on Cat, but eventually Supergirl stops her and she is imprisoned at DEO. After Alex tells Eliza in a fit of rage at the dinner table that she's actually DEO, Eliza reveals to her daughters that, years ago, their father, Dr. Jeremiah Danvers, offered himself up to work for Hank Henshaw in exchange for Kara's safety and then died mysteriously, leading the girls to become suspicious of Henshaw.

Episode 6 - "Red Faced"

Anger issues surface for multiple characters, including Kara. Cat's mother, Katherine Grant, arrives. Lucy's father, Sam Lane (Glenn Morshower), arrives. The military's rogue combat android Red Tornado (Iddo Goldberg) challenges Kara. She and Alex eventually defeat both the robot and its creator T.O. Morrow (also portrayed by Goldberg), but the fight leaves the former weakened. It is discovered that Hank Henshaw was the last to see Jeremiah Danvers alive. At the end of the episode, Kara drops some glass and, when she picks it up, she starts bleeding.

Episode 7 - "Human for a Day"

The fight with Red Tornado leaves Kara helpless without her powers. During an earthquake, she attempts to help James and Winn, while the events allow the alien prisonerJemm (Charles Halford) to break out of his DEO cell and face off against Alex and Hank, who is later revealed to be a benevolent alien refugee, J'onn J'onzz. Hank explains to Alex that her father saved him from the real Henshaw, who tried to kill him and that he made him a promise to watch over his daughter. Kara is later attacked by Astra and her assistants.

Episode 8 - "Hostile Takeover"

Kara's battle against Astra is muddied when Astra explains how Alura captured her, but Kara refuses to believe her story until she discovers the truth that her mother was trying to keep from her. It is also revealed that Astra used her fight against Supergirl as part of a plan to take over Lord Technologies, led by her husband Non (Chris Vance) and his army of Kryptonians, prompting Alex and Hank to stop them. The Kryptonians are employing kryptonite-shielding armor to protect themselves from the substance, but Hank still manages to take out one after he revealed to him his true identity. Meanwhile Kara, James, Winn, and Lucy help Cat track down a hacker responsible for releasing Cat's e-mails, leading them to a CatCo executive who wants to oust Cat from the company. Cat reveals to Kara that she has a son that she has not seen in 24 years and later tells Kara that she knows that she is Supergirl. Kara then races over to Lord Technologies to face off against Non.

Episode 9 - "Blood Bonds"

Non defeats Supergirl and leaves with Hank/J'onn. Lord sends the DEO away from his facility, vowing to defend it himself, and returns to a secret experiment he is conducting. Non offers to trade Hank for Astra, but General Lane (placed in charge of the DEO during the emergency though Hank left Alex as acting director) refuses, tortures Astra for Non's location, and walks into a trap placed by Non. Kara is distraught over both this defeat and the fact that Cat will fire her unless she is convinced that Kara is not Supergirl. Kara goes to the DEO and talks with Astra who tells her that Alura believed her (correct) claim that Krypton was doomed, but sentenced her for her illegal methods while promising to work for her cause. Alex and Supergirl make the trade over Lane's objections and Astra orders Non to withdraw despite his numerical advantage. Later, J'onn uses his shape-shifting power to present Cat with Kara and Supergirl simultaneously, casting doubt on her initial deduction of their identities.

Episode 10 - "Childish Things"

When Winn learns that his father the Toyman (Henry Czerny) has escaped, Kara wants to help him find his father, but he's concerned it is his cross to bear. Alex convinces a reluctant Hank to use his powers to infiltrate Lord Technologies and find out what Maxwell is hiding. Cat hires Lucy as her general counsel, but James is unenthusiastic. Maxwell uses a hidden camera to spy on Kara and Alex, discovering that the two are sisters and learning Kara's secret identity. Also, Kara learns Winn is in love with her after he kisses her and runs off. Kara feels guilty for possibly ruining their friendship and tells Alex, who already knew how he felt.

Episode 11 - "Strange Visitor From Another Planet"

Kara saves an anti-alien senator named Miranda Crane (Tawny Cypress) after a mysterious creature attacks only to discover that Hank knows of the creature and wants vengeance against it for killing his family and race back on Mars. The deception takes on a new twist when the alien poses as Senator Crane in order to bait Hank into revealing the DEO's Green Martian and Kara has to intervene before Hank goes through with his vengeance. Meanwhile, Kara helps Cat meet with her son Adam who later asks Kara out for a date. An identical Supergirl suddenly shows up in National City and is already the lead story on television after she tosses a dangling car off a bridge.

Episode 12 - "Bizarro"

Kara comes face-to-face with a doppelgänger of herself (Hope Lauren) who was brought to life by Maxwell through a combination of genetics from her DNA and a comatose victim. The double is mentally programmed to destroy Supergirl. Kara, on the other hand, believes that Maxwell is the one the DEO should go after when he reveals he knows her secret by sending Bizarro out to kill her while she is Kara. Alex and Hank come up with a plan to keep Maxwell from exposing Kara while countering Bizarro with a synthetic blue kryptonite. Meanwhile, Kara starts to get to know Adam, but is not sure whether to take the next step. A mysterious plant attacks Kara.

Episode 13 - "For the Girl Who Has Everything"

A mysterious plant known as the Black Mercy places Kara in a dreamlike state that has her imagining she is back on Krypton. The plant is part of a plot by Non, who is using Earth's technology to launch Myriad, which he and Astra are planning to use to wipe out humanity. Alex, Hank, Winn, Maxwell, and James race against time to save Kara, with Alex entering Kara's mind to pull Kara out and bring her back to reality. When Kara comes back, she seeks revenge on Non and stops him, but Astra, who wanted Kara unharmed and is upset with Non, is killed by Alex before she could kill Hank, who fought her off as the Martian Manhunter. Hank tells Kara that he killed Astra instead of Alex, who starts to feel guilty over whether she should tell Kara the truth. Non vows revenge on Kara in the wake of Astra's death.

Episode 14 - "Truth, Justice, and the American Way"

Kara, Alex, and J'onn track down an armored alien known as the Master Jailer (Jeff Branson), whom they discover was a prison guard at Fort Rozz. He has become a vigilante who kills the alien fugitives, including those convicted of non-violent crimes such as a professor sentenced for drug smuggling. Kara confronts the Master Jailer, but he takes her prisoner and plans to execute her for not joining him. Alex pinpoints his location and Kara is able to save the professor and defeat the Jailer. Cat assigns James and Lucy to investigate Maxwell Lord's disappearance. Tensions between James and Lucy develop after he reveals his knowledge of the DEO, prompting James to urge Kara to release Maxwell. Kara finds competition in Cat's new "first assistant" Siobhan Smythe (Italia Ricci), who vows to become the next Cat Grant. As Kara and Non pay their final respects to Astra, Non warns her that she will be next. Kara attempts to seek out the truth about Myriad and realizes she cannot forgive J'onn for killing her aunt.

Episode 15 - "Solitude"

A hacker steals information from a cheating website and asks Cat to release it. When Cat refuses, the hacker disrupts the city's infrastructure by interfering with its computer system. The hacker is revealed to be Indigo (Laura Vandervoort), who was in Fort Rozz and enabled Kara to escape the Phantom Zone. Her true plan is to destroy National City with a nuclear missile, but her attempt is foiled by Supergirl. Meanwhile, Kara is still mad at Hank and refuses to return to the DEO. Upon realizing they are stronger together, she eventually does, only to be told by Alex that it was she who killed her aunt.

Episode 16 - "Falling"

Supergirl inadvertently comes into contact with Red Kryptonite which destroys her inhibitions. It turns out that Maxwell created it in the hopes of stopping Non's next attack. Instead, it gradually turns Supergirl evil. The DEO is able to subdue her, but at the price of Hank revealing himself as the Martian Manhunter.

Episode 17 - "Manhunter"

While Kara is trying to win back National City's trust, Marine Colonel James Harper (Eddie McClintock) begins an investigation into the J'onn affair with Lucy, having re-enlisted into the Army at her previous rank of Major, as his legal assistant. After learning that Hank and Alex are on their way to Project Cadmus, Kara tells Lucy that she is Supergirl and convinces her to help rescue Hank and Alex. Hank learns that Jeremiah is still alive, so he and Alex go on the run to find him, but not before manipulating Harper into resigning from the Marines and appointing Lucy as the acting director of the DEO. Meanwhile, Siobhan tries to get revenge on Kara for getting her fired, but gets caught and discovers that she has the power to sonic scream.

Episode 18 - "Worlds Finest"

Siobhan discovers that the women in her family are cursed with the spirit of a banshee, which can only be quieted by killing whomever wronged them. Deciding to kill Kara, Siobhan frees Livewire from captivity at the DEO and suggests they team up. Siobhan—now calling herself Silver Banshee—and Livewire kidnap Cat and wreak havoc on National City Park. With the help of The Flash (Grant Gustin), a superhero from an alternate universe (see Arrowverse), Kara is able to subdue them and win back National City's trust. Later on, Kara discovers that everyone in National City has fallen under some kind of spell, revealed by Non to be the result of Myriad.

Episode 19 - "Myriad"

The Myriad effect has taken over National City and even Superman is under control, leaving Kara, Cat, and Maxwell as the only ones immune. Now, Kara must find a way to stop Non, but Maxwell is looking at destroying the Kryptonians with a bomb at the risk of killing humans. Cat objects and prompts Kara to find an alternative. The effect brings fugitives Alex and J'onn back before Alex can tell Eliza the truth about Jeremiah and Henshaw. When Indigo senses the two returning, she defeats J'onn, but takes Alex and places her under mind control as Non's payback for Astra's death.

Episode 20 - "Better Angels"

Kara fights with Alex, who is controlled by Non. When Alex is about to kill Kara with the same sword used to kill Astra, their mother pleads with her to stop, breaking Non's control over Alex. The team learns that hope is the key to stopping Myriad. Supergirl inspires the citizens of National City, waking them from the Myriad trance. However, Non is convinced by Indigo to kill all the humans on Earth by increasing Myriad's frequency. Back at the DEO, Max warns Kara that she might not survive a solo fight with Non and Indigo; J'onn later insists on helping her. Kara and J'onn confront Non and Indigo at Fort Rozz, which is powering Myriad. Kara defeats Non in a heat vision battle and J'onn rips Indigo's body apart. As Indigo dies, she gloats that Myriad cannot be shut down. Kara flies Fort Rozz into space, rendering Myriad harmless; Alex rescues her using Kara's pod. Afterward, J'onn is reinstated as the Director of the DEO and Cat gives Kara a promotion. While Kara celebrates at her house, another pod similar to the one in which Kara came to Earth crashes near National City. Kara opens the pod and is shocked by what is inside it.

The Verdict

Boy, did this show go through some ups and downs over the course of it’s premiere season.  At it’s core, it’s just like the other shows from the CW based in the “Arrowverse”, even though ironically it doesn’t take place in that same universe. I’m sure that is going to change after the change from CBS to the CW for Season 2, but geez that made things awkward for this first season.

Most episodes followed a copy and paste dry routine with the villain of the week format that The Flash seems comfortable in. The similarities to The Flash doesn’t stop there as there’s the clichéd support group to help Kara/Supergirl out (initially the DEO, then her ragtag crew of close friends and co-workers, before finally a combination of both by the end of the season), the overly happy yet optimistic protagonist (Kara/Supergirl),  and the motivational speeches and occasional moments to hit viewers right in their feelings.

That being said, if there’s anything this show does right despite anything negative I will bring up in this review it’s that this show embodies and symbolizes what it means to be a figure of hope like Supergirl better than Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman have done to date. There are many moments throughout the course of this season where it wasn’t Kara’s awesome array of powers didn’t save the day, but it was her compassion, heart, and courageousness that won the day. The show focuses on the importance of her as a symbolic figure more than that focusing on just the powers or just the fact that she’s Superman’s cousin. In that aspect, Supergirl truly shines on her own in this show.

Speaking of negatives, can we talk about how bad the villains in this show looked in costume and how they were mishandled in the narrative?

One of my all-time favorite Superman: The Animated Series villains, Livewire was made into a random shock jock who was obsessed with Cat Grant while Silver Banshee was just disgruntled former Catco employee with issues. They completely wasted Red Tornado, then made Reactron and even Maxima (played by former WWE Diva Eve Torres) throwaway villains, despite their significance to Superman's lore. If I could slap the writers of this show, I would give them several backhands. The obsession with this seasons' main antagonist(s) being from Krypton screamed Superman II so much that it seemed like a minor inconvenience...

As much as I have frowned upon this show throughout this first season on social media yet continue to watch it just to see where it goes, I have to admit there are a few noteworthy episodes that made me glad I stuck around watching it.

Episode 7 - "Human for a Day" - One could point out of the importance that this show went out of its way to establish that Supergirl shares the same "new power" that was revealed in the comics continuity as what New 52 Superman has dubbed as the after-effects of using the Super Flare, but the biggest takeaway from this episode is the importance of Supergirl as a symbol - with or without her powers. What Kara is willing to do to drive that point home, even without her powers, is one of the best moments of this entire season.

Episode 11 - "Strange Visitor from Another Planet" - This entire episode was dedicated to exploring Manhunter's backstory and making the villain of the week feature one of his adversaries, notably a White Martian.

Kara and Barry were awesome together on this episode.

Episode 18 - "Worlds Finest" - This was the best episode all season, not because of the villains featured (Livewire again and the debuting Silver Banshee) - both villains they fucked up on a colossal scale in terms of origins and costume designs, but because of The Flash guest-starring on this episode. This episode was shown on the CBS network completely out of order as it was supposed to take place during Barry's disappearance from his own continuity alongside the airing of Season Two of his own series' parallel dimensions plot. I could've cared less about the actual superhero team-up of this episode but I couldn't get enough of how well Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) and Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) play off each other. It got to the point of me asking myself why they didn't do this team-up sooner? It's definitely one of the best moments all season and I hope we get more team-ups like this now that Supergirl has officially moved to the CW Network.

The Absence of Superman

For those expecting to see Superman in this show, this is the best you get. I'm not even kidding.

Right off the bat, this is the biggest critique that weighs this show down and holds it back in a sense. For a show that references and mentions Superman so much, it's mind-boggling that he would be absent from the bulk of the show and limited to communicating to Kara via instant messaging, text messages, or through Jimmy Olsen. The first few "cameos" I let them slide on but as it became an ongoing thing where Superman wasn't going to ever show up for real, I shook my head at why would they omit something so important to Kara's growth as a hero. I'm sure the feminists will argue that Superman would have brought this show down if she could call on her cousin for help in every situation, but he's her family and that was needed as she struggled to cope with this new duality of being a super-powered heroine and attempting to fit in her "normal" life.

The lack of Superman ends up being the ultimate cop out as it's painfully obvious that CBS were too cheap to pay for the Superman license to go along with having a Supergirl narrative. Given how the DC Extended Universe is going right now, I'm pretty sure that that's a pretty pricey license to try to get a hold of anyway. They probably ran into the same situation as Gotham on the Fox Network, where you have a Batman-themed TV show without having Batman in it.

Fortunately, Superman will make his official debut in Season Two on the CW Network, played by Tyler Hoechlin. That is, if fans will be willing to give this show another go after it's move to the new network.

Not really crazy about this ordinary looking dude playing Supes after we've been all
spoiled by Henry Cavill looking like he stepped off a comic book panel...

The Importance of Martian Manhunter

Spoiler Alert: Hank Henshaw is Martian Manhunter in this series.

Since they couldn't get Superman as a series regular, the writers went and did the next best thing - Martian Manhunter. J'onn isn't revealed until roughly a few episodes into the series, but his inclusion was huge for this show. He marks one of the few key pivotal members of the Justice League as part of this universe, but it's more important that Kara has someone to lean onto as support as another orphaned alien on this planet that isn't her home. Manhunter acts as the one person that Kara can identify with in terms of being a "gifted" individual in world that is strange to them, yet under their unique circumstances, has become their home that they must protect.

For those wondering... Kara's going to have even more people to identify with in the next season as Mon-El was the one in the pod that she found at the end of the Season One finale, which was confirmed a few months ago at Comic-Con.

My only complaint about Manhunter was that he looked like CGI-model ripped right out of Injustice: Gods Among Us and just conveniently placed into this show.

WTF is this shit?

Seriously... LOOK AT THIS SHIT.

I'm not even going to sugar-coat it... the action sequences in this show were fucking awful. You're going to hear me say it again in my review of Legends of Tomorrow Season 1, but Jesus Christ, don't make these superhero TV dramas when your fight sequences look worse and more campy than Batman '66 and the original seasons of Power Rangers combined. Plus, you can tell they were trying too hard to sprinkle a little of Snyder's Man of Steel action sequences into this show subtly between the lines.

I'm begging for DC to find someone better to do the fight choreography for these TV shows. Even Power Rangers has better fight scenes than this in their newer seasons, so I know there has to be a way to get something better visually here.

Cat Grant Steals the Show... Literally

When this show first aired... or rather when the pilot leaked online on various outlets, I thought Cat Grant's character was going to be a mock J. Jonah Jameson as a lot of these DC Comics-based superhero TV dramas tend to borrow a lot of themes from Spider-Man to hit home with the teen viewing audience that they are made for, but over the course of this season, she really grew on me as the best character in this show. The fanboys and fangirls will say that Melissa Benoist makes the show, but it's more Calista Flockhart's performance as Cat Grant on how she's turned into a firm believer of Supergirl after being one of her hardest critics when she first made her debut.

Throughout the season, Cat Grant ironically plays the part of the audience watching this show. She starts off as Supergirl's biggest critic in terms of who she is and what she stands for, but by the end of the season, she is Supergirl's biggest supporter, even when she doesn't have faith in herself. It's hard to support this show, even for the most hardcore of fans when it has so many negatives going for it than positives, such as it's primetime television slot during the height of Monday nights' sports - football, basketball, and WWE, how it clearly has a lower budget than most of the other CW-produced DC Comics-based shows, and some mediocre writing that fails to hook in new viewers.

If it wasn't for Cat Grant's character growth throughout this season, I seriously doubt I would have gone out of my way to bother watching this show for the complete season.

Watch It or Don't Bother

If you're not crazy about the other CW-based DC Comics superhero TV dramas, then don't bother with this. You're not missing out on anything groundbreaking. If you're willing to endure through the entire season, there's some minor rewards in terms of the reveal of Martian Manhunter and the crossover team-up with Grant Gustin as Barry Allen/The Flash from his own series, but even those standout points are asking a lot from the casual viewer to invest into watching this season in its entirety.

Supergirl tries it's best to put it's best foot forward to pay homage to this iconic heroine being the first female DC Comics character to star in her own solo superhero TV drama, but ultimately ends up falling short a few steps from truly making a lasting impact. Hopefully, fans will be willing to come back for the next season to give it another chance after the creators have time to digest what they did well and how to improve for the better.

REVIEW -- Supergirl (2015 TV series) - Pilot

Supergirl is an upcoming American television series developed by writer/producers Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler, Sarah Shechter, and Andrew Kreisberg, set to air on CBS. It is based on the DC Comics character Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino. Supergirl is a costumed superhero who is the biological cousin to Superman and one of the last surviving Kryptonians. The series will take place in the same television DC Comics Universe currently shared by Arrow and The Flash.

The series was officially picked up on May 6, 2015 after receiving a series commitment in September 2014, and will debut on October 26, 2015...

But if you're like me, you happened to stumble onto the leak of the Supergirl pilot episode earlier this year.

Cast:

Main

Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El / Kara Danvers / Supergirl
Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen
Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant
David Harewood as Hank Henshaw
Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers

Recurring

Laura Benanti as Alura Zor-El

Guest

Jeremy Jordan as Winslow "Winn" Schott
Helen Slater as Eliza Danvers. Slater portrayed Supergirl in the 1984 film.
Dean Cain as Jeremiah Danvers. Cain portrayed Superman in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Faran Tahir as The Commander
Owain Yeoman as Vartox
Peter Facinelli as Maxwell Lord

The characters Reactron, Livewire and Lucy Lane will also appear on the series.

Premise:

SUPERGIRL is an action-adventure drama based on the DC Comics character Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist), Superman’s (Kal-El) cousin who, after 12 years of keeping her powers a secret on Earth, decides to finally embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be. Twelve-year-old Kara escaped the doomed planet Krypton with her parents’ help at the same time as the infant Kal-El. Protected and raised on Earth by her foster family, the Danvers, Kara grew up in the shadow of her foster sister, Alex (Chyler Leigh), and learned to conceal the phenomenal powers she shares with her famous cousin in order to keep her identity a secret. Years later at 24, Kara lives in National City assisting media mogul and fierce taskmaster Cat Grant (Golden Globe Award winner Calista Flockhart), who just hired the Daily Planet’s former photographer, James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), as her new art director. However, Kara’s days of keeping her talents a secret are over when Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), head of a super-secret agency where her sister also works, enlists her to help them protect the citizens of National City from sinister threats. Though Kara will need to find a way to manage her newfound empowerment with her very human relationships, her heart soars as she takes to the skies as Supergirl to fight crime.

The Verdict:

I remember after the reveal trailers got out I didn't have high hopes for this show and after seeing this pilot episode, that opinion hasn't changed. The series isn't set to debut on CBS until the end of October, but after a pretty big leak on their part, you won't have too much trouble finding this full episode online.

A good friend of mine who is a loyal reader of this blog supplied me with the episode to watch but I didn't get a chance to watch until I had a chance to do so with my older sister, who I regularly weigh in on the female prospective on viewing the superhero genre as of late since we both grew up discussing this stuff for years and finally having the chance to see it in fruition in our adolescent years.

Here's the thing this is tough to watch for BOTH of us - first for my sister who was literally embarrassed at how bad the writing for this pilot just to appeal and cater to a female audience and for me as a comic book fan who's throwing my hands up every few minutes at how absurd all of this is. I was skeptical at The Flash at first and I grew to enjoy that for the most part - up until the season finale but that's a discussion for another day, I suppose.

Speaking of The Flash, let's go ahead and talk about my #1 issue with how Supergirl's pilot is laid out. It's set up essentially JUST like the pilot for The Flash. The adolescent gets (or in this case, is born with them) superpowers and wants to help people with them. Some random bullshit happens that conveniently creates supervillains all over the city that the said hero wants to protect. In The Flash's case it was the Particle Accelerator blowing up and creating metahumans all over Central City, in Supergirl it's her arrival to Earth 23 years later after Superman's arrival that unleashes all of this crazy criminals from Krypton's top security prison in the Phantom Zone (Fort Ross) that she has to locate and recapture in National City. (Sighs) It sounds like the writers were watching episodes of The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo when they were brainstorming the plots for this episode. For those who don't know, the plot for that short-lived cartoon series had Scooby Doo, Scrappy Doo, Shaggy, Daphne and their new found allies scrambling to recapture the 13 ghosts that they accidentally released from the Chest of Demons. Why does all of these DC Comics related superhero dramas on television have to have that same "Gotta Catch 'Em All" Pokémon style plot? To be quite honest, they have been recycling and rehashing this formula since Smallville on the CW.

The narrative sets an already adolescent Kara up to be Kal-El's protector as he is an infant sent from the dying Krypton to follow him to Earth. Shit happens and she finds herself frozen in time as she's trapped in the Phantom Zone for 23 years. Superman (the grown up Kal-El) finds her after she somehow escapes the Phantom Zone and has her taken in by the Danvers family. This flashback occurs in a span of the first 2-3 minutes of this episode before returning to present day. Due to licensing and cheap storytelling, it's obvious that CBS can't say nor mention Superman by name. Kara happens to work for a news conglomerate, ran by the prima donna Cat Grant.

I can't help but see Cat Grant as a female version of Spider-Man's own J. Jonah Jameson as The Flash was littered with Spider-Man comparisons from top to bottom throughout that first season. It's that teen angst stuff that keeps the CW's DC Comics' fans happens so that's who they are catering to. Whatever floats your boat in my book.

The narrative follows Kara as she struggles with keeping her powers a secret and enduring the challenges of being "normal" when she knows that she could offer the world something more much like her cousin Kal-El/Superman has done for the world (well in that licensed world of Metropolis that they obviously don't have access towards mentioning). Fast forward to after one bad day at work and even worse blind date, where Kara opts to use her powers to save her surrogate sister Alex Danvers from a plane crash. Ironically, Supergirl took this EXACT same concept from the Superman: The Animated Series pilot (which took that concept from the Superman comics) along with the same one that Dean Cain (who just happens to be playing Kara's foster father in this series) starred in. I'm all for tributes or homages to past iterations but this shows a complete lack of originality.

After exposing the world to another super-powered alien, the world is aware that there's a Supergirl in their midst. Kara is excited to jump into this double life and ability to show-off the abilities and powers that she's had to kept hidden for so long. I will give them some bit of credit here - Kara wants to be a hero. She wasn't forced into it unwillingly by some strange chance of dumb luck or fate. Instead, she chooses this destiny for herself as she finds "normal" life is the thing being forced on her. It's an interesting reverse psychology twist on the common superhero trope. Every other superhero out there is forced into this profession. Kara willingly goes into business for herself as it's her opportunity to be her "true" self instead of hiding underneath a mask in her "normal" day to day life. This layer of depth is comparable to Batman's Bruce Wayne where he is truly himself when he's wearing the mask and costume of Batman. The entire persona of Bruce Wayne is an illusion and clever mask to deter people from knowing who he really is deep down.

I have to say that the special effects and fight scenes are almost comical to an extent. I've seen better choreographed fights on Power Rangers than in this crap. This looks worse than most of the misc. live-action fantasy TV shows during the boom period of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess in the late '90s and early 2000s. CBS must either have a pretty low budget with this show are really cutting some corners in terms of production costs. I mean, c'mon, the first few episodes of Agents of SHIELD didn't look this bad in terms of effects.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

If you're giddy with joy with just about everything else in the Arrowverse, then this will definitely be your cup of tea since you're used to this type of teen angst drama storytelling. Everyone else might not be as accepting to this new take on the Man of Steel's cousin... This looks as bad as that upcoming live-action adaptation of Jem and the Holograms...

Who knows, this could end up getting better over the course of the first season, but I wouldn't waste my precious time watching and hoping for that. It didn't bother me to miss out on Gotham and I can pass from watching this.