Kyle’s Thoughts

Supergirl continues to outshine the other CW superhero shows. It eliminated the “love interest” angle and the characters are allowed to evolve. What you know? So far, Supergirl does an adequate job of setting up their characters; it does a great job when compared to Arrow and Flash.

With a title like “The Last Children of Krypton,” we had to get another Superman episode. Tyler Hoechlin makes for a great Rebirth Era Superman. He delivers a good performance, while not stealing focus from Supergirl (Benoist). Like Arrow last week, “The Last Children of Krypton” had teamwork and trust as chief elements of the side story. I can see Jim’s eye roll through cyber space right now. But Supergirl adds family to the mix and it brought out those elements more than the new Team Arrow. Supergirl pals around with her cousin and in the process, ignores her adoptive sister. All hard feelings subside by the end of the episode—this is a CW superhero show after all—but a quick resolution to these squabbles is a little easier to stomach when it’s family—and it’s been established (in the first season) that the two sisters are close.

I did like the internal struggle Kara goes through when she tries to balance her two families. It’s nice to see that and there might be fertile ground with this story. Superman may take a break from Supergirl, but this won’t be the last time we see him. I’m also giddy whenever I see a Superman who doesn’t look like he’s mad at the world.

The main villain was another Superman oldie but goodie: Metallo. He came off as a villain of the week—cue another Jim eye roll—but this is one villain who should see more than one appearance. One Metallo wasn’t enough, so Supergirl threw in another one. This played out like a ploy to get Superman—and to a lesser extent Supergirl—out of Capital City and into Metropolis. The two Metallos also sewed mistrust among Supergirl’s team and Superman and fueled the teamwork and trust side story. Again, the Metallo part of the story wrapped up too soon for my liking, but to be fair, Project Cadmus was the real brains.

I like the idea of Project Cadmus in Supergirl; I’d love the idea if we knew how Supergirl relates to the rest of the CW’s shows. Cadmus serves as a great through-line villain for Supergirl’s second season, but they’ve had their hands in a lot of other pies in the DC Universe. Cadmus could easily affect Flash and Arrow as much as Flashpoint should and hasn’t (so far). Man-Bat, Doomsday, and Task Force X (a squad that takes on suicide missions: Suicide Squad) have all had ties to Cadmus. I can suffer through the occasional villain of the week if it means that we get a great payoff. We’ll have to see.

Speaking of payoff, we didn’t get much of one with Superman and Martian Manhunter. J’onn J’onzz and Kal-El’s conflict was dropped too soon. Superman didn’t like that Martian Manhunter kept Kryptonite around—understandably—so one episode later, J’onzz decided to get rid of all the known Kryptonite on Earth. I’m not sure how wise a decision this is. Supergirl has had an inordinate amount of ill-tempered Kryptonians on its set, and It’s one thing for Arrow to get rid of Lazarus Pits (they were overpowered and led to the writing crutch of resurrections and do-overs), but Kryptonite is one of Supergirl’s few weaknesses. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Kryptonite.

We also said goodbye to Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart). Grant’s story had played itself out and we needed to get a boss for Kara that would challenge her. Enter Snapper Carr. Snapper has a rich history in the DC Universe and I love that Supergirl addressed how Kara didn’t earn her position as a reporter. Snapper—who undoubtedly has to keep Kara as a reporter because Grant still owns the media center—will make Kara’s life hell as she tries to live up to her role as a reporter. Supergirl’s soft reboot this season may have had some hiccups but the show’s had good developments on the whole—so far. I’d even be up for a romantic thread, so long as the show earns it. If the other facets of her life are any indication, I trust she will. Thanks for reading.