Supergirl got off to a great start with its second season, introducing fans to delightful new characters like Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) and Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) while checking in on all the old favorites. The move from CBS was only obvious in Vancouver’s cleaner atmosphere and CW’s better-budgeted special effects. That’s not to say that everything this week went down smoothly, though, so let’s open the up that mystery pod and break down the events of last night’s premiere.
Clark and Kara question Lena Luthor
The episode picks up right where the premiere left off, revealing that the pod is carrying a man. Of course, Kara believes he must be Kryptonian because his pod is identical to hers, but not much other information is gleaned. For this week, the plot mostly just serves to explain the change in venue and give Winn a new night job at the DEO. Instead, Supergirl focuses on Kara and Clark’s familial relationship and Kara’s own career aspirations. She discovers her passion by tagging along on Clark’s investigation of Lena Luthor after her company’s Venture spaceship fails. Lena’s plans to re-brand her brother’s company into L Corp and use it as a force for good are understandably met with suspicion, but Kara manages to save the day as Supergirl and earn both Lena and Cat’s respect as a future journalist.
Cat Grant will be sorely missed as a regular on Supergirl this season, especially after such a strong story here. Never has her tough love approach to Kara been so touching or so successful. She proves how well she knows her protege – chiding her for trying to Google search her future career instead of following her heart – but also proves how much faith she has in her. Kara’s eventual choice of becoming a journalist was pretty obvious considering that Clark, James, and even Cat herself are already journalists of some kind.
Cat guides Kara to a new career
But the journey towards the inevitable conclusion was a great ride. When Cat advises her to “keep diving,” it feels earned. Kara is afraid to to grow and change because she’s accustomed to this version of herself, which is something everyone can relate to. But as she shadows Clark’s footsteps, her passion for the truth is on full display and points her heart in the right direction. The fact that she believed Lena’s story despite evidence to the contrary, when even Clark wouldn’t, spoke well of both her optimism and her journalistic instinct.
Speaking of Clark, Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman is a perfect compliment to Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl. The lighthearted, earnest, and at times clumsy man with a heart of gold is exactly the kind of guy Kara would be related to and admire so much. His interactions with Kara were pitch-perfect without overshadowing the star of the show, and even Cat’s brief flirtation with him emphasized his naive Midwestern charm. And, even though she never appeared onscreen, Lois checking up on him made for a great contrast with Kara’s own personal life. She is jealous of her cousin having his life and love together, but he wisely reminds her that he’s had 12 more years than she has to figure out his life on Earth.
Clark knows more about James & Kara than she thinks.
One big flaw in Supergirl‘s premiere was the dissolution of the romantic relationship between James and Kara. Granted, it was never a particularly popular pairing, with fans and journalists alike often twisting James’ clearly innocent actions into those of a predator.
Regardless, as a romance that was built up throughout the first season, the break up deserved a little more respect. At the very least, Kara and James could have gone on an actual date and realized that they really weren’t in the place for a relationship. Instead Kara decided that she wasn’t interested in the romance she’d been pining for all of last season after one small comment from her sister Alex, which felt abrupt even as it fit into the theme of learning to be herself. I look forward to her being independent and figuring herself out, I just hope this isn’t an excuse to throw some other love interest at her that they expect fans will find more palatable.
“The Adventures of Supergirl” was a fun and solid opening for the show, moving the show steadily forward and settling easily into its new home on the CW. Hints of future plots were sprinkled throughout, such as the comatose man in the pod and the Kryptonite J’onn keeps stored at the DEO, but the focus remained pleasantly on Kara’s family and her future.
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I wish I could say I was surprised people used that sort of language in relation to James, but I’m not. It’s still crappy, though. I’d be especially interested to see how people who reacted so violently to a relationship between James and Kara felt about the love triangle stuff with Winn – I like Winn at times, but he was SUPER proprietary towards Kara, whereas like you said, James was always perfectly innocent.
It’s definitely poor writing, especially because they didn’t have any time jump at all between the finale nad the premiere. They literally just got together and she realizes “nah, not so much”? Ugh. I wish the writers had the confidence to tackle the relationship with more respect even in the face of criticism, and criticism that, like you pointed out, was sorely unfounded. Because aside from that, I really love how this show is written.
I like that even Superman is getting a bit of a well rounded character here. I’m not really sure he’s in the right to be that whiny about J’onn keeping some kryptonite around. Yeah, it can kill you. And tons of things can kill humans, but they’re not all banned from existence, so why should the one thing that can hurt you be banned? He’s being unreasonable, but I like that, because imperfections are what make good characters.
Yeah, Winn’s crush on Kara was creepy at times. At least most everyone can agree that the dynamics between women are the strongest part of the show, which is not something you see said often when it comes to fiction.
Agreed with everything else you said! Hopefully we explore more of Clark’s flaws next week in addition to his shiny heroics, and I can only hope upcoming developments with James allow him and Kara to go over the way they ended a little more in-depth.
Fictional scenario: “I can’t work here, because you have kryptonite and kryptonite hurts me! Also, Gary here is allergic to dairy and yet Gina always has her yogurts in the fridge! Plus not all the snacks in the vending machine are dairy free! So Gary and I are out!”
Gary: Uhhh, I’m lactose intolerant actually, which is different, and even if I wasn’t they do a good job keeping the overall workspace clear of actual dairy traces…”
Supes: “No, Gary, it’s disrespectful to you, how dare they have anything that can harm you anywhere in the building, even if it’s locked away safely! We’re OUT!”