Next up for this month is something I wasn’t expecting.
While I was looking on Netflix for something to watch, I
suddenly noticed this in the “New” section. Since it is September and Supergirl
is related to the subject of the month, I decided to watch the first season of
the show. I had watched a couple of episodes during the season’s run and I did
keep up with it online. I just didn’t watch it all until now, so I finally have
something to say on this show. For those who may not know, Supergirl first
aired on CBS on the 2015-2016 schedule. It’s now on the CW which is a better
fit for the show since it had “the attractive yet non-threatening,
racially diverse cast of a CW show.” It was also a nice fit since most of the
creative force for the show is also behind Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of
Tomorrow.
As the title suggests, the show is about Kara Zor-El aka
Kara Danvers, Superman’s cousin. She was launched along with Kal-El as a teenager
and was ordered to take care of him. Unfortunately, her ship fell into the Phantom
Zone where it remained for 24 years. When she made to Earth, she was still
young and Kal-El had grown up to be Superman. Since she had to acclimate to
Earth, Clark let her be adopted by the Danvers. 12 years pass and we find Kara
living a normal life in National City as Cat Grant’s assistant. When a plane
almost crashes, she comes out as a super-powered person. After the people in
her life give her some help, she comes onto the scene as Supergirl and works
for the DEO.
PROS
While it did start out shaky to me, I thought it was good
for the most part. A lot of it has to do with the cast itself. Melissa Benoist
plays a good Kara/Supergirl. She essentially had to play two people and I
thought she did that well. She also looked good in that suit which looked
pretty cool. Let’s be thankful they didn’t throw her in her current suit with
the red shield in a… weird place. Alex, Kara’s adopted sister, was also
pretty cool and I think I liked her more than Supergirl at times.
The rest of the cast was pretty nice overall. There was more
to them than what we first saw of them. Winn and Jimmy/James were fine. Yes,
they made Jimmy cool as well as black and it wasn’t a bad change. I will say
that Winn would have been a more traditional Jimmy if the show wanted that. I
know some may not like Cat Grant all that much, but she cracked me up
throughout the whole season. Hank Henshaw was also a surprise. If you don’t
know who he really is on the show, I won’t spoil it here. Just scroll on down and be pretty
surprised. I know I was.
The stories ranged from decent to pretty cool. They mostly
revolved around Supergirl doing stuff with the DEO and learning to be a hero.
The show also didn’t stray away from being too comic-booky. It took the world
from the comics and did a decent job of recreating it here. We got Superman
villains from the comic books like Livewire, Silver Banshee, Reactron, and
Phantom Zone villains. Instead of a General Zod, Non (speaking and non-bearded)
took the spot of being the big bad. We got a Lex Luthor-ized version of Maxwell
Lord and that was… interesting.
The show also boasted a ton of guest stars who have been
involved with Superman over the years. Helen Slater and Dean Cain played Kara’s
adopted parents. Laura Vandervoot from Smallville played Indigo aka Brainiac-8.
We also got some guy named Grant Gustin to play the Flash in one crossover
episode… oh yes. I wouldn’t be lying by saying that their team-up was a little
better than the other team-up we got in Batman V. Superman. As for the Man of
Steel, Superman didn’t exactly show up on the show for… reasons, but the
creators did what they could there. Finally, the fight scenes were pretty nice
for the most part and the effects were good for TV.
CONS
“Hey, Marion! Can you come in here and fix up Mystique’s – I
mean, Indigo’s hair?”
While there are things to like about the show, I did have
some issues with it. One thing that irked me was the melodrama. Everything was
so ramped up in the season. It seemed like Kara was always getting a pep talk
or a talking to from someone on the show. I also ran into this on The Flash, so
it’s really something that’s a part of these shows. A lot of folk also learn
Supergirl’s identity and that was something that also annoyed me. I’d get that
some like the DEO, Kara’s family, Jimmy, and Winn should know, but why should
the others that learn know? I didn’t get that. Strangely enough, I run into this on The Flash too.
It also had a lot of romance and some of it didn’t click for
me. Now, this is probably because I’m not the only target demographic for the
show. While it has a lot of super heroics in it, it also has things that young
women and girls would cling on to. Romance is definitely one of those things.
Some of the cheesiness didn’t click for me either. I do like that it doesn’t
take itself too seriously at times like other properties and I’m not talking
the movies either. Just look some of Arrow and some of The Flash for that.
I also thought that some of the action scenes weren’t that
good. This was mostly during the show’s beginning because they do get better as
they go on. I also thought some of the looks for the villains didn’t work. The
biggest one for me was Indigo. It was like Mystique ran out money to get her
hair done at the salon or something. I also wasn’t that much a fan of Maxwell
Lord here. It’s like they wanted a Lex Luthor type on the show and I don’t know
if he fit that. It may been the actor too who reminded me a lot of Tom Cruise
or James Franco. Lastly, I know Superman’s coming in the second season, but I’m
not a fan of the suit. It’s definitely the cape on this one.
Eh... I have to see how it looks in action. Cape still sucks though.
FAVORITE EPISODES
Yes, it’s him and no, he isn’t lame, David Goyer! I still
remember him saying that!
Finally, here are my six favorite episodes from the season.
1. World’s Finest – While Supergirl is trying to rebuild her
reputation, a couple of villains team up to wreck havoc. Luckily she has a new
ally from another universe in the form of The Flash.
2. The Falling – Supergirl gets infected by synthetic
Kryptonite and goes evil.
3. Strange Visitor from Another Planet – Hank/J’onn has to
relive his past when a White Martian shows up on Earth.
4. Myriad/Better Angels – The season finale 2-parter.
Supergirl has to risk it all when Non and Indigo unleash a world-ending scheme.
5. Red Faced – Supergirl has some anger issues to deal with
and has to face a rogue android called Red Tornado.
6. Solitude – Supergirl and the DEO has to put aside their
differences when Indigo becomes a threat.
Ha!
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