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As I have said elsewhere on social media, my life is in a bit of a whirlwind these days and I am doing my best to keep my head above water.
So apologies for the lateness of this post, a review of the Supergirl Season 4 premiere titled 'Event Horizon. You are all two weeks ahead of me, so you definitely know more on where some of the plots in this series have gone.
For me, I was definitely impressed with this episode as it totally builds off of the events of the last. There isn't some feeling of a pause here. There isn't the sense that characters are starting from a clean slate. The events of last season are having a strong impact on everyone.
Alex is in charge of the DEO but in a relationship with Kelly.
Brainy is still dealing with the emotional fallout of his brief evil/cold turn last season.
Nia is trying to grow the romantic relationship she has with Brainy.
Kara is being celebrated for her article which took down Lex but is still dealing with not telling Lena her secret.
And Lena? She is harboring a lot of ill will after learning Kara is Supergirl. And Luthors hold grudges.
We'll add to that mix a bunch of new characters and plotlines. A new CatCo CEO. A new CatCo reporter. A new AI whispering in Lena's ears. Ma'alefa'ak returning to fight his brother. And oh yeah ... a Crisis on the horizon.
And, no surprise, the acting in the episode is solid. In particular, Melissa Benoist has a scene which reminds me just how blessed we are that she is on this show. She is such a force.
But I am invested. This season is off to a great start (or it got off to a great start 3 weeks ago). On to the show.
We start out with a school bus careening out of control about to run into a pack of kids crossing the street.
In flies Supergirl, using her powers to slow the bus down and save everyone! It's a fun scene. And when one of the kids says they want to be like Supergirl, she says they have to do what's right and tell the truth.
Out of nowhere, Lena walks up chastising Supergirl for lying. And remarkably, she unleashes a right cross which sends Supergirl flying into the bus.
Okay, I thought it odd that Lena would happen to be on the sidewalk of the accident and immediately thought she set the whole thing up. But it turns out to be a new sort of Virtual Reality, complete with an AI named Hope. Lena uses such scenarios to work through her emotions.
And then we hear some harsh words from Lena. She doesn't consider herself evil. She doesn't want Supergirl to die. But she wants Supergirl to feel the same pain she feels. And she will start to think coldly, without emotion.
Oh Lena! Don't go down the dark path.
And Hope doesn't sound like a dispassionate database. Hope sounds rather human and is rather defensive of Lena's feelings. You almost hear Hope's dislike of Kara. Hmm ...
We then hit real life and get caught up on most of the good guys.
In a coffee house, Kara is dismayed at everyone existing behind their devices or the new VR contact lenses (that we saw Lena wearing). We learn Kara won the Pulitzer for her takedown of Lex. But instead of igniting social change, people seem to have receded.
Kelly Olsen is working for Obsidian North, the company which makes the lenses. She will be working in their medical department, utilizing the VR to treat people with dementia or other neurologic conditions. Obsidian North's headquarters is in the same building as CatCo so Kara and Kelly will be close.
Can I just say, find someone who looks at you the way Alex looks at Kelly.
And we learn that despite Alex nudging her, Kara hasn't told Lena about her secret identity. And Kara is using any excuse to delay.
In CatCo, they run into Brainy and Nia who are arguing about movie villains. I love the Danvers' sisters' answer to 'who is the best movie villain'. Classic.
You can see that Brainy and Nia, while a couple, are still figuring out what to do about affection. In particular, Brainy seems uncomfortable.
At CatCo, James is talking about looking into all the candidates involved in a special election happening. (Remember, the President was ousted last season.)
But before James can flex his editorial muscle, he and Kara are taken by surprise.
Lena sold CatCo to Andrea Rojas, owner of Obsidian North. And she is taking over as editor.
When Kara goes to ask Lena about the sale, Lena gives some deliciously worded double speak. She talks about being a coward for not telling Kara the truth about the sale. She kept her friend in the dark. How could not be virtuous like Kara? Sooooooooo delicious .... soooooo Luthor ....
But before Kara can respond, she hears that there is a disturbance at a museum showing Kryptonian artifacts, including the pod Superman arrived in.
At the museum, a young girl shape shifts into a T Rex and fights with Kara and J'onn. So much fun to see Supergirl slug it out with a dinosaur.
When J'onn goes in to engage, a psychic backlash knocks him off his feet. The dinosaur also seems affected. It shape shifts again and flies off in Superman's pod.
It seems pretty odd and scary and unsafe to have a working alien pod out in the open of a museum, no?
At the DEO we learn the pod has an antimatter engine which if detonated could destroy 3 solar systems. So they kept that out in the open ??
The fight also destroyed Supergirl's cape. That is pure John Byrne level of shred!
A rather jazzed Brainy accepts the challenge to fix Kara's costume. It is a well-worded and witty scene with Brainy so revved that he denounces Alex's sarcasm and storms off. Jesse Rath has completely embraced the Brainy-ness of this role! And we even get a Takron Galtos mention!
It turns out that Lena wanted to announce the Obsidian takeover of CatCo the next day. Rojas jumped the gun.
We again see the Luthor of Lena come through as she confronts Andrea for breaking this promise. Everything Lena does, including the timing of things, is for a reason. So calculating ... so Luthor!
She promises Andrea a huge story the next night, something that will be dropped at Kara's ceremony to receive her Pulitzer.
At CatCo, Rojas calls a meeting of the staff.
Gone are the days of well-researched and well documented news. Gone are long articles discussing the sides of a story.
She wants water cooler news. She wants quick hits. She wants eyeballs and revenues. And she wants clicks.
And since everyone at CatCo just signed a 3 year contract with noncompete clauses, they better get on board or suffer.
While James and Kara both speak up, it is clear. It is Andrea's way or the highway. I guess she wants sizzle, not steak.
But seriously, shouldn't people read their contracts?
The young girl cobbled together a Phantom Zone projector from the pod and opened up a portal releasing a prisoner.
J'onn and Supergirl go to investigate they run into Midnight, the destroyer of multitudes. She can wield energy voids. And she wasn't imprisoned by Alura. She was imprisoned by J'onn.
Before the crew can zap her back to the Zone, she teleports out.
J'onn remembers Midnight fighting with the White Martians against the Greens, But unfortunately, J'onn can't remember how he defeated her.
The change at CatCo isn't easy for people fighting for truth to deal with.
James talks to Kelly about what his options are.
And when Kara is introduced to slick reporter William Day, a respected journalist who now shreds articles down to short, sweet, but biased pieces, she can't take it any more.
She won't allow Day to rewrite her pieces. She goes on a passionate rant about how she will fight for the truth in her stories and she won't be silenced.
Wow.
At the Pulitzer party, Brainy gives Kara a new suit, shrunk microscopic but which will materialize when she whips off her glasses. That is very Steve Orlando, who had Kara's hair change color with her glasses being removed. But it does mean .... sadly ... no more shirt rips!
Lena is also there to introduce Kara and it is clear she is going to out Kara as Supergirl at the same time.
But before that can happen, Kara bites the bullet and reveals she is Supergirl to Lena. This is a scene you need to see. Benoist runs an emotional gamut as she talks about being scared to reveal it. How she made excuses. How she knew she was hurting Lena but didn't want to lose her friendship. It is incredible. Please find this on line and watch!
At the podium, Lena talks of how truth is hard but Kara keeps working at it. It sounds like 'apology accepted'. I thought we were out of the Luthor-ian woods.
But then Midnight shows up ready to tussle.
Lena tells Kara to save the day.
Our hero whips off her glasses and her new suit, completely with pants materializes.
I don't know. I like the red skirt!
All the super friends are there ... J'onn, Dreamer, Brainy, and Alex.
They converge on the theater to fight Midnight.
Midnight opens a mini-black hole and Kara wonders if igniting a 'solar flare' would collapse the hole.
But then two things happen. J'onn gets sucked into the void. And Midnight is sent back to the Phantom Zone.
Okay, the villain defeat happened a little too quick. We barely get to know just who she is and what she can do.
The effects here are great. But Benoist's wire work is brilliant. Great flying here.
With the villain defeated, it's time for the wrap up.
James quits the new CatCo.
Good for him!
Brainy admits to being unable to be close to Nia because he is still upset for hurting her last season. Nice callback. Brainy definitely would perseverate over that.
But she tells him she knows the real Querl.
They finally kiss.
At J'onn's office, the young girl from the museum morphs into J'onn's brother Ma'alefa'ak.
But J'onn doesn't remember having a brother!
Hmmm ...
As for Lena and Supergirl, it looks like I was premature in thinking that Lena was willing to let bygones be bygones. Even when Supergirl flies to the Luthor balcony and presents Lena with a signal watch, stating no more secrets.
Inside her office, Lena tells Hope that she didn't reveal Kara as Supergirl as planned because now she can use the knowledge of the secret identity to influence Supergirl to do her bidding. She'll never forgive. But she will use this opportunity to use Kara.
Soooooooo Luthor ....
And man, I love Katie McGrath playing manipulative, calculating villain. She is perfect at it.
Throw in a teaser of Eve Tessmacher being kidnapped before the credits and you have a great opener.
In particular, the Lena/Kara dynamic looks like it is set up for a tremendous arc this season.
So again, sorry for delay. I'll catch up, I promise!
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