Supergirl Season Two Overview

It has been a couple of weeks since the end of the second season of Supergirl and I have been mulling things over. There is a lot to think about and process when you realize we are talking about 22 episodes.

I felt like I needed one more post to bring up the lingering thoughts and issues I had and give everyone more opportunity to chime in. This won't be exhaustive. This is really just me writing a bit off the cuff, talking in broad strokes, and being a bit more raw.

Season as a whole: B
There are definitely a lot of high points to this season and I'll go through each character after this. I think the big villains in this season were definitely a high point. Lillian Luthor/Cadmus and Rhea/Daxamites were delicious in their villainy. I thought the addition of Superman was just right. The few moments we got of Cat made me realize how much I miss her. I thought the addition of the Alex/Maggie relationship was very good. I thought the Kara/Mon-El relationship was a bit forced. But my main problem with these relationships is that it made for much fewer Kara/Alex moments, a big part of what I love in this show. There are characters that seem forgotten or lost. I thought the politics of the show often seemed heavy handed and one-sided. Much like I complained about the Feminism 101 approach to season 1, I thought this season was Liberal Politics 101. Don't tell me ... show me. It is funny to think that the episodes I feel I will rewatch the most are Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk, Duet (from the Flash), the Invasion crossover, and Alex - and many of those are a bit outside of the main plot running through the show.

All that said, there was never an episode that I finished and said 'that was awful'. The cast is terrific together. And there was a ton of super-heroics throughout that made me very happy. There are some things that need to be smoothed out, but overall I thought this was a very solid season.

On to the characters!

Supergirl/Kara - I think this season had some ups and downs for the character. There were a lot of great moments. I loved seeing Supergirl be so confident in her heroing skills, sometimes to the point of over-confidence. I loved seeing her ascend to be the 'hero of Earth'. There were still plenty of emotional moments for her in the series, especially looking at Alex through the glass of the spaceship in Exodus. I thought her growth as a reporter from someone flaunting the rules to understanding what she needed to do was also great. And I loved seeing her interact with Cat.

But I felt that a little too much time was spent on her on again/off again Mon-El romance. There were episodes where I felt she was being held back a bit by him. I could read the haters online about how toxic he was. I definitely thought that the time dedicated to that story might be better spent on super-heroing. I didn't like how she seemed to be defined by this relationship. And that made there be less Kara/Alex moments.

I'd love for next year to be romance-free for Kara, a year where she is a journalist, a hero, a great friend and sister.

Mon-El - I am not knocking Chris Wood's performance of Mon-El. He played him with a goofy charm and he definitely seemed likeable. He had an arc where he went from hedonistic frat boy to becoming a man desperate to do better. But there was a portion in the middle of the season where there was just a bit too much 'two steps forward two steps back' in his character. He always seemed to backslide into this caricature of the beer-drinking buffoon who doesn't care about his partner's feelings. It all seems to end in a better place, with him understanding Kara's decision to save Earth. But I wish ... WISH ... he had a moment in the finale where he sacrificed something, showed he had grown.

Alex/Maggie - Alex coming to terms with who she is and forming this relationship was an important and well-done portion of the show. It was interesting to see Alex being so emotionally vulnerable at times while at the same time being the same kick butt agent we have seen all along. Both characters needed to grow a bit, mature into a caring relationship. But, as I have said, so much time was devoted to this relationship that we didn't get enough Alex time with the rest of the cast. I love Alex's character; I love what Chyler Leigh brings to the table. I want to see her talking to J'onn, working with Winn, and definitely having those super-sister moments. But I understand why the Maggie relationship was so important. I guess I want it all.

J'onn - Hank had some quality time this season. The subplot with Miss Martian, with his working past his own prejudice, was very good. But I just thought that the writers had a hard time dealing with J'onn and his power set this season. All too often he was incapacitated or his mental powers were 'somehow blocked'. I do think they should set up a rivalry with the real Hank. That needed to be a fight this season.

James - Of all the characters, James suffered the most this season. It seemed the writers just didn't know what to do with him. The Guardian identity, especially his motivations to become the Guardian, seemed wrong. He never seemed to emerge as a force for justice as the head of CatCo. He could have been a hero just by having control of a media dynasty and being a beacon of truth. But he seemed lost, absent in whole episodes, and basically missing from the finale. Is it time for him to be written off?

Winn - Conversely,  Winn really grew leaps and bounds this season. Working for the DEO made way more sense for his tech-character than being the IT guy at CatCo. Seeing his playful personality in the midst of the more stoic DEO environment was a lot of fun. I'll never forget the 'blink and you'll miss it' imitation of Batman. And he grew as well. He wasn't going to be kicked around any more. He was comfortable with who he was. And Jeremy Jordan made the most of his moments, like being awestruck at Superman. I don't know if I have latched onto the 'bad girl' romance with Lyra. But we'll see.

Lena - I think the breakout new character of the season was Lena Luthor. There was this delicious dread all season of 'will she become a bad guy'. You could see Lena trying to fight nature, trying to be the white knight on the chessboard, trying to work with the forces of good to distance the Luthor name from evil. And seeing how that all plays out in contrast to the incredible Lillian Luthor was all the more phenomenal. Katie McGrath just crushed it as this powerful, intelligent woman who was still nursing the emotional wounds of her childhood. I suspect there might be an evil turn next season but for this season it was great to see her be as big a hero as Winn.

Lillian/Rhea - What could be better than two evil mothers, vying for control of Earth, and ready to use their offspring as pawns to get their desires. Brenda Strong played Lillian with this quiet, simmering evil. You couldn't believe one word she said but it was delivered in a way that made you wonder if this was the time she was being honest. She was an ice queen sort of villain, using tactics behind the scenes. This was contrasted by Teri Hatcher's performance of Rhea, this out in the open, spittle-flying, evil queen who chewed the scenery every time she could. Just wonderful big bads this season.

Quick thoughts on others:
Jeremiah - He was there, he was gone. He was a villain; he was a hero. He simply disappeared. How about wrapping up this story next season?
Mr. Mxyzptlk - Just the best villain I could ask for, perfectly annoying and mischievous. Sterling Gates wrote that spot on. He better be back next season.
Snapper Carr - I hope we see more of him next year. You could play whole episodes with the old George Reeves style scripts with Carr as Perry, Kara as Lois/Clark, and James as Jimmy. Give us some of this ... please!

So my final thoughts!
What did you guys think?

Posted in: Reviews