Last week, Supergirl upended itself by not only having Kara go bad, nearly kill Cat Grant and turn all of National City against her as a result of Red Kryptonite. But the episode saved it’s biggest twist for last with Hank Henshaw revealing his true identity as J’onn J’onzz to help take Kara down. That’s obviously something […]
Supergirl Goes To Incredible Heights by “Falling.”
Thus far, Supergirl has soared by doubling down on the positive, inspirational qualities of its main character. That’s to be expected of a member of the Super-Family, of course: in the 1940s, not that long after Superman’s creation, there was a “Supermen of America” fan club. And we get more of that in this week’s […]
Supergirl Sees Winn Put Away “Childish Things” And Become Interesting
Supergirl comes back after a week hiatus and it’s like the show was listening to my and others’ consistent complaints about Jeremy Jordan’s Winn (I know they weren’t, but it’s fun to imagine). Because this episode finally dispenses with the boring unrequited love business and sees Winn confess his feelings to Kara and deal with […]
Cannibals, Midwesterners, and Talking Horses: The Best TV of 2015
TV in 2015 was wonderfully weird and eclectic, with basic cable taking up more of the critical conversation and Netflix continuing its ascent as a major player. Our favorite shows this year ran the gamut, from pop superheroics on the CW to the finales of long running faves like Mad Men to new entries from emerging […]
Supergirl Episode 1.04 “Livewire” Review
Episode 1.04 “Livewire” Before I talk about this week’s Supergirl episode, first a digression. As you may have heard by now, this episode, “Livewire,” is not the one that was originally supposed to air. The episode that was supposed to air—“How Does She Do it?” involving Supergirl foiling a bomb plot around National City—was pushed […]
Supergirl’s Third Episode Shines Bright
Episode 1.03 “Fight or Flight” Rather unexpectedly, this week’s Supergirl episode, “Fight or Flight,” picks up right where last week’s left off, with Supergirl flying Cat Grant (Calista Flockart)’s car to a secluded spot to conduct an interview on her terms. I kinda thought this episode would start out with the interview going to press […]
Supergirl’s Second Episode Tightens Things Up and Soars for It
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, […]
Supergirl’s Pilot and Cast are Terrific but Feel a Little Rushed
The best and worst thing about the pilot of CBS’ new series Supergirl is that it moves as fast as its lead character. Like a lot of genre TV pilots, Supergirl feels slightly rushed in its attempt to exposit everything as fast as possible to keep Joe Average interested and that’s frustrating. But it’s awesome for […]
Double Consciousness: Better Than Nuts
Here’s a trick: Find a person you love and offer them something no one has ever seen, that no one will ever see again. Admire their astonishment. Then, produce a peanut. It could be anything in a shell—an oyster, say, but that’s messier to share. Crack it open, and each eat one of the nuts. […]
Penny Dreadful S2E2 “Verbis Diablo” Review
“Verbis Diablo” is a rare specimen. It is both Penny Dreadful‘s most minimalist episode and also it’s most terrifying. Nestled within it lies a wonderful look at Victorian hypocrisy and otherworldly manifestations of evil. Penny Dreadful thrives on its exhaustive knowledge and application of Victorian literary characters and themes. For tone, though, Gothic horror reigns […]
