• Home
  • Releases
  • Blog
  • Design
  • Posters
  • Submission Guidelines
  • About
  • Privacy Policy

Loser City

Multimedia Collective

  • Home
  • Releases
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Art
  • Submissions
You are here: Home / News / Supergirl’s Second Episode Tightens Things Up and Soars for It

Supergirl’s Second Episode Tightens Things Up and Soars for It

November 3, 2015 By LoserCityBoss Leave a Comment

Supergirl

Episode 1.02 “Stronger Together”

Last week, I said that Supergirl avoided the pitfalls of most genre pilots by not slowly dragging out the world and getting to the good stuff right away but also that it felt too stuffed for one episode. We see a sort of walking back on that in this week’s episode, “Stronger Together,” as Kara learns that she needs to slow down and build her reputation while the main villain comes into view a bit quicker than it normally turns out with these kinds of shows.

By “these kinds of shows,” I mean procedurals, of course. That’s not only the bulk of network television, it’s specifically a part of CBS. Given that, the show pulls the old-fashioned trick of having the characters repeatedly exposit all the stuff we learned last week in case anyone missed the premiere. That’s generally how procedurals go: rote case-of-the-week stories with maybe a Big Bad or overarching plot lurking in the background and showing up every so often (see Castle).

Like its DC TV siblings and because it is a superhero show, Supergirl is a natural fit for Villain-of-the-Week stuff. But what’s interesting is that the episode climaxes with Kara being made aware of the survival of her aunt Astra (Laura Benanti), a convicted criminal who it turns out was actually in the crashed Phantom Zone prison Fort Rozz instead of dead as Kara previously thought. That’s the sort of reveal usually saved for either sweeps or a season finale but making Kara aware of it early on is the smart choice.

Supergirl Stronger Together

 

Doing this not only leads to additional development for Kara (and, again, some fine acting from Melissa Benoist) but also expedites the story. Given that Supergirl only has thirteen episodes this season to make an impression and the fact that the average viewer knows how this kind of story is supposed to go, it’s a smart rationale for Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kriesberg and Ali Adler (the latter two co-write this episode) and company to keep viewers hooked.

But before Kara learns the truth, she learns another lesson the hard way. Namely—after some well-intentioned rescue efforts that results in a massive oil spill—and a speech from Cat Grant that she needs to not leap in with huge acts of heroism but rather small ones that build up/rehab her reputation. And thus we get a really fun montage set to Pat Benatar of Supergirl taking out criminals and rescuing a little girl’s snake (“Who names a snake Fluffy?!?”) among other things that sees National City start to embrace her.

Meanwhile, Alex, Hank Henshaw and their DEO comrades investigate a murder at a chemical plant (named Plastino Chemicals in a great nod to Supergirl’s co-creator along with streets named Siegel and Donner Avenue). Supergirl, recognizing a quill-like aperture found in the victim’s body, realizes it’s a Hellgrammite, an insect-like alien that she remembered her mom sentencing to Fort Rozz back in her childhood.

Supergirl Stronger Together

Couple this intrigue with an insistence by Cat Grant that she get to interview Supergirl or James Olsen gets fired and Supergirl enlisting James and Winn to be her Felicities and you have just as packed an episode as the pilot. Heck, Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli) even shows up! But the key difference here is a slower pacing. Not that much slower but slow enough.

It’s an intentional choice that not only makes “Stronger” go down a lot easier but also mirrors Cat’s big speech of the week to Kara. Despite some clunky phrasing, Calista Flockhart does right by saying that, if Supergirl were hypothetically in front of her, she would tell her to calm down and get “her head out of the clouds.” It’s a nice thesis statement that, again, serves as a metaphor for the episode itself. Effectively, while the pilot was the big showcase, this second outing proves the show has the chops worth tuning in weekly for.

Two other things helped sell this episode for me. First, the pilot’s weird insistence on not saying the word Superman is gone and thank Rao for that. Second, James Olsen—I’m calling him that because Mechad Brooks is just too damn handsome and charming to be called Jimmy—gets some depth where he explains to Kara that, like her, he came to National City to stand on his own without the Big Blue Boy Scout’s considerable shadow. It’s a lovely monologue that does a lot to strengthen the Kara/Jimmy ship but is also just a perfect emotional exchange. Ditto a devastating conversation between Kara and an AI based on Alura (Bernanti)’s brainwaves that occurs at the end of the episode.

Supergirl Stronger Together James Olsen

The bad? Well, despite some damn cool mouth effects, the Hellgrammite just isn’t interesting though the surprise of who takes him down is fun. And, as a lot of others have pointed out, Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordon) is boring, boring, boring. He’s a (literal) white bread carbon copy of Cisco from The Flash and that’s really lame. Still, these are minor in the face of a strong second act that proves Supergirl is the real deal and worth your time.


Tom Speelman is a contributor to Comics Alliance, The Mary Sue, Strange Horizons and other websites. He is available for hire and blathers on Twitter @tomtificate.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: News, Reviews Tagged With: Calista Flockhart, CBS, Jimmy Olsen, Mechad Brooks, Melissa Benoist, Supergirl, TV

About LoserCityBoss

It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

SOCIAL

FacebookInstagramTumblrTwitter

Buy Loser City Apparel

loser city T-shirt

Be a Loser

Sign up for Loser City's mailing list to receive weekly updates about the latest articles, shows, and releases.

TRENDZ

Anatomy of a Page art Austin CBS comedy comics Dark Horse DC DC Comics documentary Fantagraphics Film Fossil Records Games HBO hip-hop horror humor IDW Image Comics Indie indie comics jake muncy manga Marvel Marvel Comics Melissa Benoist Music penny dreadful Pete Toms punk Questionable Comics Review Ryan K Lindsay sci-fi Seattle Showtime Supergirl SXSW Television the CW TV video games Video of the Week ymmv

Top Posts & Pages

  • Let's Do the Panic Again: Phantom Planet Returns

Follow Loser City

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
Instagram did not return a 200.

Follow loser_city on the Gram

Loser City is…

Comics, shows, a secret critical network -- we aim to fail big.

Danny Djeljosevic: Co-Founder

Morgan Davis: Co-Founder

Nick Hanover: Glorious Godfrey of LC

David Fairbanks: Creative Writing Editor

Kayleigh Hughes: Film Editor

Julie Muncy: Games Editor

David He: Assisting Consultant*

Contributors: Nate Abernethy, John Bender, AJ Bernardo, CJ Camba, Liam Conlon, Daniel Elkin, David A. French, Rafael Gaitan, Dylan Garsee, Stefanie Gray, Johnson Hagood, Shea Hennum, Zak Kinsella, Austin Lanari, Marissa Louise, Francesca Lyn, Chase Magnett, Justin Martin, Diana Naneva, Claire Napier, Joshua Palmer, James Pound, Mike Prezzato, Lars Russell, David Sackllah, Keith Silva, Nicholas Slayton, Carly Smith, Ray Sonne, Tom Speelman, Mark O. Stack, Dylan Tano, Mason Walker

Art

Why So Angry: Refusing to Forget Stories of Abuse

Poetry: My God, My World

Comic Cinema Club: Sorcerer by Rafael Gaitan and Mike Prezzato

Nonfiction: Progeny in Crisis by Kayleigh Hughes

The Persistence of Synergy: Scenes from the Stock Business Photo Prison Hellscape

More Art

Interviews

Dhani Harrison Plots His Own Path With Solo Debut In///Parallel

Boston Terriers and Desert Vibes: A Conversation with Jay and Sanders Fabares of “The Pale”

Questionable Comics: Becky & Frank and Rachael Stott

More Interviews

Copyright © 2022 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in