Supergirl Review

When Supergirl started, I watched each episode week by week. I was completely taken in by Supergirl’s quirkiness and heartfelt efforts to make her new home a better place. I sighed over James with her and laughed at Winn. I enjoyed the sister moments, whether they were tackling each other or sharing ice cream. And of course, I marveled at her super powers and adventures.

But as the second season rolled around, I fell behind and had to start in the middle. I somehow managed to watch the only couple episodes that had neither Lena Luther nor Mon El in them, and I was not impressed. So it wasn’t until the entire second season was released on Netflix that I finally watched it all.

In this season, Kara faces more intellectual challenges. In the first season, it was pretty much all brawn. And Supergirl is strong, for sure, but season two introduced smarter villains. It was an interesting way to keep things fresh.

Kara gets to meet the president, deal with alien rights, and date another alien. She also starts working as a reporter, which is really fun to see.

Also, Superman makes an appearance. I loved Winn’s fangirling over him, it was hilarious. Clark and Kara are family, but it’s clear that Alex is the one who truly knows her. Clark is like the cool older brother that you didn’t see enough growing up to get annoyed with, and Alex is the sister who has to take care of you the 90 percent of the time he’s gone.

They layered the family relationships/drama so well.

In fact, all the relationships are wonderfully deep and realistically complicated. One relationship in particular that I really loved this season was Alex and Maggie. Their whole meeting, becoming friends, and then much more is so beautifully done. They are clearly not a check on a list of things necessary for a show, like a gay couple.

Alex is so genuine in her rediscovery of herself. It never feels forced, never seems overdone or over-glamorized. She and Maggie have a real connection, and they become the strongest couple on the show.

I was really sad when Cat Grant left at the beginning of the season. Her no nonsense pep talks with Kara are both terrifying and wonderful.

She comes back at the end of the season and I truly adore Rhea’s reaction to her. Rhea looks so unnerved when Cat rattles off her media credentials, it made me laugh.

But it kind of seems like Lena replaces Cat as Kara’s confidant. Since Lena and Kara are more on the same level and not coworkers, they connect in a closer way. Their friendship is different than Kara’s relationship with Cat, but Lena and Cat are both powerful, confident, intelligent businesswomen. 

So it’s okay if Cat is gone for a little while, as long as Lena is there.

I love Katie McGrath. I first saw her as the stunning and elusive Morgana in Merlin, and I am a fan. She is perfect as Lena Luther. She wears the expensive genius corporate look well. Lena and Kara’s friendship is adorable. They are both so strong, in such different ways, but they lift each other up.

They have difficult lives and make hard choices, and they need that person that will just eat donuts and laugh with them at the end of the day.

With Lena, Kara isn’t an alien hero. She is just a reporter with a sweet tooth. And Lena knows Kara does not care she is a Luther. People judge and avoid Lena because of her family, but Kara looks past the Luther name and just sees her best friend. It kind of seems like Lena is sort of Supergirl’s Lex, but I honestly think she’s more like the Lois Lane of this story.

Katie McGrath, please keep thriving onscreen so I can keep staring at your beautiful face.

One of the best parts of the second season is the arrival of Mon El, the Daxamite. His arrival plays into the alien rights movement, and gives us a glimpse into the culture of Kara’s planet versus other planets she’s familiar with.

Mon El comes from Daxam, the nearby enemy moon of Krypton. They are opposites in every way and after they decide to give each other a second chance, Kara and Mon El are able to get along and even care for each other.

It’s funny to see how everyone reacts to Mon El, especially James and Winn. He and Winn become buddies but when Mon El expresses interest in Kara, James and Winn kind of look him over again with that in mind.

As Kara teaches Mon El about Earth and being a superhero, he changes. He realizes he has this amazing chance to reinvent himself and become a better person. And while Kara is all moralistic pep talks, Mon El is more of the lighthearted sarcasm variety. His witty banter helps Kara stop and laugh, which I think is really good for her.

Mon El just kind of looks at Kara and sees how amazing she is, and decides he’s going to follow her around and fit himself into her life. He snuggles with her on the couch and brings her potstickers. He helps her train and fight, and when he can’t follow her into battle he makes sure she can come home to a meal.

After all, Kara’s love language is food.

He just understands her in this really unique way and I love their dynamic.  I love how he learns to cook so he can at least feed her, even if he can’t always fight for her.

Because Supergirl fights her own battles.

Oftentimes with superhero shows, the action becomes unrealistic and the characters are overdramatized. But Supergirl is always believable… As believable as an alien superhero that is. She’s genuine and heartfelt and quirky. The whole cast is amazing. Each character is developed and supports the story.

The action never makes me roll my eyes. Many of the issues Supergirl faces reflect real pro blems we are currently dealing with. She shows us how to face life with super strength and a cape, but also with a positive attitude and unyielding belief in people.

There are just wonderful characters, beautiful relationships, and insightful moments in this show. There are also, of course, quite a lot of action scenes, fighting, impressive CGI, and alien backstories.

It was really interesting to get a deeper sense of that Kryptonian culture and how it compares to other planets. Kara may live on Earth now, but her people still mean a lot to her. She carries them with her. She couldn’t save them, but she can save Earth and she will work tirelessly every day to do just that.

It’s great to see Kara establish herself as Supergirl in season one, but I really enjoy how the second season can get further into the characters. The first season kind of explores her abilities and physical struggles in the other aliens and villains she faces, but the second season shows her struggling with her alien boyfriend’s parents and best friend’s parents. And of course then her adoptive father comes back and betrays them. Really struggling with all the parents this season…

But whether she’s punching her way out of a situation or working to understand whoever she’s dealing with, Supergirl always does her job well.