Supergirl S02E1 “The Adventures of Supergirl” REVIEW

Airing in the UK on Sky 1, new episodes every Monday
Writers: Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg
Director: Glen Winter

Essential Plot Points:

• Starting off where things left off last season, Kara and J’onn J’onzz are trying to stop an alien ship from causing any damage as it crash lands in National City, only to find it’s a Kryptonite pod and a comatose man is inside.
• The spaceship Venture is heading into space when a sudden explosion sends it hurtling back to Earth. As the news is reported in both National City and Metropolis, both Supergirl and Superman decide to save it.
• Following the event, Kara and Clark decide to find out what exactly is happening, and who’s behind the attack.
• Clark suspects its Lena Luthor, Lex Luthor’s sister who missed the voyage and just moved into the city.
• After a swift investigation Kara and Clark soon learn that someone is actually targeting Lena’s life, and they decide to stop the man behind it.

Review:

Supergirl is back, and this time she’s got some friends to help her out along the way. Kicking off directly where the last season left off, a mysterious pod is hurtling towards earth and Kara and J’onn must stop it from doing any damage. They manage to do this, and the unknown occupant of the craft is taken to the DEO’s new headquarters in a comatose state… and that’s about it for Mon-El’s introduction this episode. To be honest it’s probably better if things are this way, because there’s a much bigger and more beloved character making his entrance this episode: Superman.

The small-screen team-up between Superman and Supergirl has been a long time coming, there’s only so much texting and brief glimpses of the Man of Steel that can be teased before it becomes a necessity to bring him onscreen. The good thing is that this was a brilliant introduction for the character, both the superheroic Kryptonian and his “human” alter-ego. Teen Wolf’s Tyler Hoechlin does a great job bringing out the best in both versions of his character; he’s able to carry off Clark’s awkwardness and then also be confidant and charismatic as Superman. It brings Kara’s own characterisation to mind, and this is probably why the pair work so well together.

Melissa Benoist and Hoechlin have great chemistry together, making up for the lack of interactions between their characters and then some. Not only are they lovable by themselves, they are great fun as a team and it’s wonderful to see their warm family bonding throughout the episode.

While Hoechlin has a brilliant introduction as Clark this doesn’t mean that Kara is put on the back burner; in fact she’s just as strong a character as ever. Struggling to figure out what to do with her life, Kara is teetering on the edge of her next big step and is too scare to “take the plunge” as Cat aptly describes it. She needs to figure out how to balance her life as Kara and Supergirl, and it’s an internal conflict that makes her all the more appealing as the lead character.

The main concern with the new season of Supergirl was whether or not its new home at CW would affect the feel of the show. Luckily it doesn’t seem like much has actually changed. Even the new sets in Vancouver and the visual effects aren’t that different on this first outing. It’s good to see that the quality of the first season can be maintained even with the difference in budget, and for all intents and purposes it means that its business as usual for the show. Given this strong opening episode, the new season is bound to be enjoyable.

The Good:

• Kara and Clark have brilliant chemistry together, and their interactions and clear family bond makes this episode even more wonderful.
• Tyler Hoechlin is great at Superman, and is able to present the many nuances to his character’s two sides very well. Definitely looking forward to seeing more of him as the season goes on (even if he’s only confirmed for the first two episodes).
• Kara’s internal struggle with what to do with her life is interesting to see, and makes her an even more relatable character as a result. It’ll be good to see where she goes next now that she knows that she wants to be a reporter.
• Cat had some great moments during this episode, do it’ll be a shame that she’s not in the series as much but at least it’s clear that the producers will make the most out of her time onscreen.
• Lena Luthor and Metallo seem like they’ll be interesting matches for Kara, and possibly also Clark; let’s hope they’re strong villains.

The Bad:

• Mon-el is brought in and then dropped quite quickly this episode – just left in a coma. His lack of time onscreen in the episode, though, is likely so that he didn’t get in the way of Superman’s introduction.
• That’s it for James and Kara? It was built up so much but now it seems to be over. A very short-lived relationship but at least Kara is being honest with herself.

And the Random:

• Kara refers to Mon-el as the “man who fell to Earth” which brings to mind the novel and the sci-fi film starring David Bowie. The former has been seen in Superman’s apartment in the comics before.

Written by Roxy Simons

• Read our other Supergirl reviews