*Note: While chronologically the 5th episode, this was brought forward to replacing the 4th due to the original episode’s similarities to recent terror attacks. The reviews, however, remain in order.
Related: Supergirl…Just How Does She Do It?
First of all, special mention has to be made of Ellie Goulding’s cover of Hozier’s “Take Me To Church”.
Actual Supergirl heroics takes somewhat of a backseat today, and more focus being placed on both Kara Danvers and the people around her. Despite the lack of actual Supergirling, (because we can never have too much Melissa Benoist), the episode still maintained tight storytelling with great acting from pretty much everybody!
First off, the villain was good! Livewire had a decent backstory, her effects were pretty fantastic, and she uses lightning whips like a certain Marvel villain! I especially liked the wire transfer power she has: the top-down view reminds me a lot of The Flash’s running effect.
Calista Flockhart delivers another storming performance as Cat Grant, although the development of her relationship with Kara and Supergirl are both a little rushed, likely due to CBS’s decision to swap episode 4 and 5.
I liked the interactions in the Danvers family. Eliza being exceptionally hard on the older sibling, Alex, brought me back to times when I got blamed for everything my sisters did… ah, the good days… Also, Chyler Leigh’s Alex was on point the whole episode.
Alex acts as a foil to Kara’s ditzy act, and oh, boy! did she get me laughing. Her insistence on her mother being angry was particularly amusing, and she also pulled off a great emotional scene with Helen Slater’s Eliza Danvers with brilliant use of brilliant music (the aforementioned cover of “Take Me To Church”).
Winn seems to never catch a break… being denied by James Olsen definitely doesn’t feel good. I feel you bro, I feel you.
I’m liking the current trajectory that Supergirl is taking: the acting is good, writing is getting better and less in-your-face, and Supergirl is starting to figure things out by herself. If it continues on this path, it might actually start getting less attention than just a female-led superhero show, but simply as a good superhero show… which is kinda the whole point of this whole “equality” thing, yeah?
Related: Supergirl’s Not Quite Super But Flying There
Next week on Supergirl:
https://youtu.be/xabJrkVBrAU
[divider]Easter Eggs/Theories[/divider]
Agent Mulder from X-Files
Cat Grant confuses Hank Henshaw for Agent Mulder, from the X-Files.
Also, doesn’t Alex look a little like Agent Scully?
Ghostbusters!
♪ If there’s something strange, in your neighbourhood,
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! ♪
Helen Slater
Helen Slater plays Eliza Danvers, Kara’s foster mother in the current show, which means this is the second time this former Supergirl (Supergirl, 1984) plays Supergirl’s mother. Yeap, slightly confusing.
She also played Supergirl’s biological mother, Kara-El, in the Smallville television series.
Dean Cain
He knows everything there is to know about Superman, because he was Superman. Dean Cain starred as Superman in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, running from 1993 to 1997 and, like Slater, returned to the DC TV universe in Smallville.