Kara’s path begins to get clearer.
What They Say:
Stronger Together – Kara must put doubts aside as she tries to apprehend an escapee from the Kryptonian prison; Cat pressures James for an interview with Supergirl.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The opening episode of Supergirl is one that definitely had its work cut out for like most pilots do. Though it may sound a bit odd, most of them are aimed more at selling it to the network than an audience to a degree in showing the viability, use of production costs and the end result itself. Supergirl packed a lot into it in order to set up the season with what it wants to do, establishing as much of the cast as possible and some of the locations and interactions. It worked well enough as I knew most of the basics, but I was also glad to see how it won over my household in general that had little to no real experience with the character before. It’s got plenty of room to grow and I’m hopeful that it just figures out how to breathe in each episode a bit more.
The cold open for this episode picks up a week after her coming out to National City and what we see is how the DEO is looking to handle her. It’s an interesting angle in that they’re looking at her as a field agent of sorts, more of a freelancer to be honest, and putting her through the paces to see what she’s capable of handling certainly isn’t a bad thing. There’s just a weird vibe in how Henshaw and the DEO are looking at it all and that Kara is fine with it all. Of course, she’s still trying to prove herself and her eagerness is causing a lot of problems because of it. That’s made clear when she deals with a problem at the port and ends up causing an ecological mini-disaster that’s certainly changing the perspective on her. Having Maxwell Lord leading the charge to paint her in an even worse picture just makes it all the more amusing to watch.
The episode works an expected and familiar structure here in giving us things tied to both Kara and her identity and role in the city as Supergirl as well as an alien of the week threat. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as there’s some basic foundations being laid out here for people to understand how this world works. For Kara and Supergirl, there’s the problem of her skill level and how she’s being perceived, which is playing into Cat Grant wanting to get an interview with her. She’s uncertain about that to be sure, but she’s also not sure why her cousin bothers with the Kent persona in the end instead of just being a hero all the time. It’s nice to see nods being made to this early on and being dealt with, as well as some competitive aspects with the Daily Planet. That might get old if overused, but I get the feeling it’ll be kept minimal overall as this subset of the world is expanded upon into its own thing.
With the alien of the week aspect, this one has a Hellgrammite that’s up to something and is now on the DEO’s radar. This has Kara getting involved in it and she wants to run with it in a big way like she did with Vartox. There’s a nice nod to the past with it that adds a little flashback of Kara as a child with her mother talking about a particular case that naturally involves the Hellgrammite, though again this is something that could be an easy crutch that could be problematic if it’s used too often. But with some decent avenues to work with to bring out relevant information, Supergirl isn’t quite as bound as it might be otherwise. The main problem is that what we’re mostly getting at the moment is a number of low level and somewhat uninteresting opponents to work with overall while slowly – very slowly – teasing out what’s going on with Astra.
While the show works through its familiar story elements I find myself looking at the “elder” figures and their place in the show. What I keep finding is that I’m disliking Henshaw with how he’s being played here as it’s just too much of a simple gruff military mindset that doesn’t have the flexibility that’s needed in order to really work this kind of situation. Most of his scenes just come across poorly and it’s that rare instance where I wouldn’t mind him being written out of the show in favor of someone else. Or him following the comic path from decades ago. On the flip side, I’m surprised by how much I’m enjoying Cat Grant. I was never a fan of the character over the years, but she’s proving to have some very good lines, an interesting assured strength that’s not off-putting at all but is neat to see how it impacts others in their jobs. There may be a few blunt areas with where she’s going with her dialogue at times, but it’s reaching the audience it needs to and hopefully nudging the conversation a bit. Getting a touch of her past mentioned here, even with the name-dropping, definitely helps to further her competitive side as well.
Thankfully, the show does give us the meeting that we were teased before with Kara and Astra sooner rather than later. While there’s some fun in having her working from behind the scenes to manipulate things, it should work better with her being out in the open with Kara, trying to show her the truth of her life and that the path that she’s on is the right one. Benanti plays it well here, not quite chewing the scenery but definitely nibbling on it here to make her point. It works well with Benoist as the two get into their fight all while Alex is trying to stay alive herself as the Hellgrammite is there as well. Astra’s story is one that’s given just a line or two here overall, but it hints at a lot more that could be explored to make her a compelling villain. As we’ve seen it happen from this team elsewhere with Deathstroke in Arrow and the Reverse-Flash in Flash, I’m definitely willing to give it time to find its way. Especially as we get a good Kryptonian slugfest.
In Summary:
Supergirl has a solid second episode that firms a few things up along the way. Kara’s making it clear that she’s very much looking for a team effort compared to her cousin’s solo approach. That has her drawing in James and Winn more but also looking to learn more from Alex as well with her different knowledge and skill set. Bringing Astra to the forefront early on is another welcome element that could make the season more compelling, as well as seeing the bit that we get with the flashback. The expansion of the mythology here is one that is still moving pretty fast overall, especially the “living memory” piece we get at the end, but it lets Benanti play both roles more regularly, which I suspect most people won’t have a problem with.
Grade: B+
