Supergirl Hits the Small Screen

This week marked the arrival of Supergirl on CBS. After sitting through this much anticipated premiere, I've got to say...it wasn't that bad. Aside from the usual pilot episode illness, Supergirl proved to have the potential to match those of her other DC Comic counterparts.





Now, I'm biased in that I'm just happy to live in a time where female-driven shows are getting pushed more and more, in the hopes of watering down the misogyny that plagues our media, and, in effect, society. So when I saw headlines of a Supergirl show arriving on television, I was most pleased. The initial trailer threw me off, in that it was pretty much Devil Wears Prada meets low-tier superhero show attempt. The end result was, in fact, a hint of Devil Wears Prada meets mid-tier superhero show attempt. It must be noted that this was the pilot episode, and pilots are notorious for being the least accurate in representing a show's worth; a general hit-or-miss scenario. I always give 3 or 4 episodes before making a true quality judgement.

Supergirl definitely started off great. I loved the excitement of the character. Upon completion of the opening scene, Kara was already long overdue for action. She felt the calling to battle. The power flowing through her filled her with purpose; an eagerness to help those who cannot help themselves. Much like her cousin, she felt her abilities should be used for good. This was an incredible driving point for the first half of the pilot. Then, a potentially tragic incident had her leaping into action and, despite discouragement courtesy of her ungrateful sister (Kara saved her life!), she downright refused to stop. It was the beginning of something special and important to her, and she enthusiastically displayed the heart reminiscent of many heroes who rose before her.

Unfortunately, that was all lost after her first battle. After taking on another alien powerhouse, Kara suffered a rather minor injury (most damage was done to her pride). Rather than rally her courage in order to find a way to defeat this new menace, Kara was discouraged and declared herself unworthy and unnecessary as a hero in this world. This is where the show lost me. I understand the typical hero dilemma of whether or not to continue the fight, but the reasoning here was too far-fetched. This near-indestructible alien powerhouse decides she shouldn't be a hero because she got a boo-boo? I don't think so. The fight was completely isolated as well, so the humiliation of defeat was rather downplayed. Instead, it would have been interesting to see her fumbling and perhaps causing collateral damage that would have taken its toll on her, mentally. That way, her concerns would have been more rational. Having her sulk over a destroyed building and/or injured citizens immensely outweighs a cut on her arm (that healed instantly during the following scene) and battered pride. Again, this is just the pilot. And yet, writers should be far more advanced than this. I can't help but think of shows like Flash (which was so to-the-point and well written from the start), that weren't afraid to shy away from all the typical story-telling dramatics and pacing. Supergirl let me down halfway through.

Kara struggling with an opponent, before encouragement from her new affiliates.

Because of that previously mentioned plot point, the remainder of the episode was left to the supporting characters. It was then up to them to motivate Supergirl to stand up and be who she was meant to be, nearly erasing that excitement and passion Kara had displayed in the beginning. It was a cheap ploy used to highlight the series' supporting cast, and felt all-too-cliche with the whole "You can do this. I know you can." type of dialogue. Kara was well aware of these powers and abilities from the get-go. Why, then, would she so quickly be in need of moral support and reassurance? This ploy only served to weaken her as a character, bringing her down to a level not much higher than her human counterparts. Was that the goal? Probably. Could it have been done in a much more logical and original manner? Absolutely.

Another thing I must admit is that casting has me a bit aloof. Aside from Kara and, to a lesser degree, Jimmy Olsen, much of the cast feels like pure filler. The colonel of the alien defense team just irks me for some odd reason. Kara's boss is just a copy and paste caricature of every role of that type before her, albeit slightly more overacted. I can't help but constantly imagine better choices for these roles. Newer, fresher faces that would bring more life to the series, just as the main character does (Damn, Flash is just golden, isn't it?).

All in all, though, Supergirl has the potential to be something great. Melissa Benoist does a great job conveying the energetic naivete of Kara Jor-el, with a very commanding presence that lights up every scene. She's no Xena (no one ever will be), but she's got the chops to establish a following akin to the great Wonder Woman of the 70s.

We're reaching a time wherein the concept of strong female characters is no longer a rarity. Projects are frequently being pushed to accurately represent the strength of our female race long suppressed by society and its misogynistic media. Here's to a quick decision on season 2 of Supergirl.

I'll be watching closely.