Posted in: DC Universe, Movies, TV | Tagged: , , , , , , ,


Supergirl Finale Caps A Remarkable Second Season

This article contains spoilers for the Supergirl season finale – Nevertheless, She Persisted.

.

.

.

.

.

supergirl422

Supergirl finished off her first season on the CW with an epic level finale that shows the strength of the series. The episode was a good encapsulation of the season highlighting the characters and emotional ties as well as the comic geek moments. The last episode ended with Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) attacking Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) at what seemed to be the behest of Rhea (Teri Hatcher). But it turned out that he was under the influence of Silver Kryptonite. She had this because when Krypton exploded, it rained Kryptonite all over Daxam. They were also able to introduce General Zod (Mark Gibbon) into the series as what Superman is seeing while he's fighting his cousin. Supergirl is able to defeat the Man of Steel in an all out brawl. This took up about six minutes of the episode, which gives you an idea of what the episode was going to be like.

The main story of course was getting the Daxamite's to leave and while plan A was a trial by combat between Kara and Rhea, plan B was a bit more drastic. Lillian Luthor (Brenda Strong) brings Lena (Katie McGrath) a device created by Lex to lace the air with Kryptonite particles. Yes, an anti-Superman device. Lena with the help of Winn (Jeremy Jordan) is able to modify it to lace the air with lead, not enough to hurt humans but plenty enough to kill Daxamites if they don't leave the planet. But Mon-El (Chris Wood) is a Daxamite, so that is definitely plan B.

While they are battling, Rhea has her forces attack National City. Superman and Martian Manhunter (David Harewood) work together to save people. J'onn is out of his Lillian induced coma thanks to M'gann (Sharon Leal) who ends up returning with a group of good White Martians to help out. Cat (Calista Flockhart) and James (Mehcad Brooks) are at Catco for some reason, but are otherwise out of the picture. They of course have to use the plan B device. It forces the Daxamites to leave. Rhea turns to dust. Mon-El and Kara have a moment before putting him in a ship and sending him off to space. And then the episode wraps up with touching moments between Kara and Kal-El, Kara and Alex… who then proposes to Maggie… and a finale scene with Kara and Cat where we find out that Cat of course knows that Kara is Supergirl. This had to happen after last weeks reveal that she knew Guardian was James because she could see his eyes.

The episode also set up a lot of things, besides the different colored Kryptonite and General Zod. Superman references War World and he tells Kara she owes him a robot. I wonder what Red Tornado is doing? A group of White Martians coming to Earth to help made me think of the Hyperclan. While heading off to space, Mon-El gets pulled into a rift that is likely the Phantom Zone, which is where he ends up in the comics before the Legion of Superheroes rescue him (though there is talk that he was going to be back next season and take the code name Valor). And of course there is the final scene with a third ship being sent from Krypton before he blew up… but the "baby" put on board was referred to as "it". My first thought was Braniac. One of our twitter followers suggested Doomsday. The writers have a lot to play with for next season.

Supergirl was not my favorite show when it was on CBS. It felt too much like a work place drama that just happened to have a superhero in it. Too many awkward, sitcom moments of Kara trying to keep her secret identity and decide between James or Winn or Cat's son… And the Devil Wears Prada connection between Kara and Cat had a few good moments and a lot of bad ones. The changes made when the series moved to the CW did a lot to change my opinion. Switching the main focus form Catco to the DEO, putting James into the Guardian armor, introducing Superman, Lena Luthor, M'gann, Mon-El, Snapper Carr and of course Maggie Sawyer. All of it worked because the writers took the time to make the emotional connections believable. A show filled with incredibly powerful people made each one unique and strong in their own way.

And the debate about whether Superman is still interesting and can work for modern viewers is over. Tyler Hoechlin is brilliant as Superman, and that is as much his acting as the writing. Just the moment he takes to acknowledge Winn in the middle of all the chaos shows us the heart of the character that has been around for close to 80 years.

The series made leaps and bounds from this last season and has become something special. Here's looking forward to what they can do in season three.


Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Dan WicklineAbout Dan Wickline

Has quietly been working at Bleeding Cool for over three years. He has written comics for Image, Top Cow, Shadowline, Avatar, IDW, Dynamite, Moonstone, Humanoids and Zenescope. He is the author of the Lucius Fogg series of novels and a published photographer.
website
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.