Supergirl Season 1 Episode 5 "How Does She Do It?" - Recap and Review

The fifth episode finds Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) struggling to maintain a healthy balance between her office work as Kara Danvers and the heroic responsibilities of being Supergirl.

Supergirl finds herself being followed by drones. After dismantling them, she initially suspects her DEO boss Hank Henshaw (David Harewood). Hank denies this and Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) has a suspect on her mind: Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli). His company, Lord Technologies have been working on the materials that were used in making the drones.

These suspicions become stronger, when there is an explosion in yet another Lord Technologies' lab. Hank and Alex pose as FBI Agents to purportedly carry out their investigation to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Alex and Maxwell are attracted to each other. Despite this, Maxwell refuses to take her help.

Kara Danvers faces two issues: The first one is the return of Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan Tatum) to National City. Lucy wants to get back with her ex boyfriend James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks). Even though James believed that it was Lucy who had dumped him, Lucy informs Kara that James' obsession with Superman was the actual reason that caused the separation.

Kara faces another challenge when she offers to babysit Carter Grant (Levi Miller). Carter is the son of her boss, Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart). Cat's mother is busy with her career and her former babysitter is injured and unable to help out.

Kara's babysitting duties interfere with her superheroic ones. She takes the help of Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan) to take care of Carter while she flies around saving lives.

As was shown in the previous episodes, Maxwell's company has been working on a fast train. He ignores the recent attacks and decides to go ahead the grand unveiling of the product.

All these threads come together in the climax, when Carter runs away to meet Supergirl at Maxwell's function and the venue happens to be target of the next attack.

This was a good episode. The action sequences were the highlights of the episode. Supergirl's flying effects have been executed very well. They are far superior to what we see in the terrible Man of Steel.

Melissa Benoist is terrific as the Girl of Steel. She is the perfect counterpart to the late Christopher Reeve's Man of Steel. Right from the beginning, she has been great whenever she wears the cape.

Credit also to the producers and crew for making the flying and action sequences so much fun and enjoyable. This show is clearly being made by people who love DC Universe/Superman mythology very much and these scenes are ample proof of this.

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This episode is also significant for another reason: We get our first (and recurring) human villain/antagonist in the form of Maxwell Lord. The show sets up Maxwell as National City's equivalent of Metropolis' Lex Luthor.

If Lex hates the presence of a God-like alien in his city, Maxwell is intrigued by Supergirl's powers. He is the one who masterminded the attacks on his company and forced his employee, Ethan Knox (Scott Michael Campbell) to make himself a suicide bomber on-board the train. Maxwell intends to study Supergirl's powers and all of his actions have been carried out with this single purpose in mind.

This episode shares some common elements with “The Last Son of Krypton” - the first episode of the critically acclaimed Superman: The Animated Series. In that episode, Lex Luthor deliberately lets his company property get stolen in order to strike an illegal arms deal. Supes prevents this from happening and warns Lex that he will be keeping an eye on him.

Supergirl also issues a similar warning to Maxwell at the end of the episode.

Yet another of my favorite aspect of the show is the mystery surrounding the true identity of Hank Henshaw. As I have mentioned in my reviews of the previous episodes, I strongly believe that Hank is none other than the great Martian Manhunter (MM) himself in disguise.

More clues pop up in this episode. When Kara accuses him of following her, he retorts that if he had been following her, she would not even be aware of that fact. Martian Manhunter (MM) has shape shifting powers and the ability to become invisible as well as phase through objects. These would indeed make him a super spy and it would be nearly impossible to detect his presence. In a later scene, Hank's eyes glow red - another trademark physical characteristic of MM.

As good as the show is with regards to bringing the DC Universe to life, what makes the show so successful is the perfect casting choices. The actors/actresses are great in their parts and enjoy a genuine chemistry with each other.

As I mentioned earlier, Melissa makes a superb Supergirl. The scene abroad the train when she tries to convince Ethan Knox to change his plan shows the humanity and wisdom that is typical of a Girl/Man of Steel. Another great scene was her telephonic conversation with Cat as she flies to pick up Carter from his school.

Both Chyler Leigh and Peter Facinelli get adequate screen-time as their respective characters, Alex Danvers and Maxwell Lord get to know each other and develop a mutual attraction for each other. Maxwell reveals that his parents were killed due to negligence on the part of Government officials. This explains his lack of trust in authority figures. His line: “We are orphans. We do not get over things easily” reminded me of the Dark Knight himself.

But there are still a few chinks in the armor.  I am referring to Jenna Dewan Tatum as Lucy Lane and Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen. Though these two actors portray characters who are supposed to be past lovers, their lack of chemistry is quite palpable.

Nevertheless, this is a minor drawback that does not distract heavily from enjoying the show. Must watch for fans of Supergirl/Superman/DC Comics.

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Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

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Supergirl Season 1 Episode 4 "Livewire" - Recap and Review

This episode (“Livewire”) was originally intended to be the fifth episode as well as a Thanksgiving special. But due to the horrific attacks on Paris, the network/producers decided to swap this episode with the initially planned fourth episode (“How Does She Do It?”).

As the episode title indicates, the focus of the episode is on the supervillain of the same name. Leslie Willis (Brit Morgan) is a CatCo employee, who likes to spout venom against Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) on air. Her attacks get so personal that even Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) has had enough.

Cat reassigns Leslie to a field job. As luck would have it, bad weather strikes. Despite Supergirl's best efforts, Leslie is hit by a lightning and is transformed into Livewire.

Livewire has the powers to transport herself through anything that runs on electricity. She can also manipulate electricity and fire electric blasts. Her one and only target remains her employer, Cat Grant.

Supergirl manages to save Cat from Livewire's first murderous attempt.

The other subplot involves the visit of Kara's foster mother, Eliza Danvers (Helen Slater). Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) is a bit nervous and Kara does her best to calm her sister down. Alex is apprehensive that Eliza might not like the fact that Kara has revealed her superpowers to the world.

The Danvers have a guest at the Thanksgiving dinner: Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan). Winn becomes the unsuspecting witness to the family argument that erupts when Alex reveals herself to be working for the DEO.

Cat Grant decides to take Supergirl's help in taking down Livewire. They lay a trap and even though, it looks like the supervillain might eventually prevail, Supergirl again resorts to using brain over brawn to defeat her opponent.

Eliza finally reveals the reason for her fears about both Kara and Alex working for Hank Henshaw (David Harewood). It seems  that years earlier, Hank approached the Danvers with the intention of studying Kara's biology, since the Man of Steel has refused to work with the DEO.

To protect his adopted daughter's privacy, Jeremiah Danvers (Dean Cain) volunteers to share with the DEO, all the information he has collected about Superman as part of his research. Jeremiah ostensibly died in a plane crash, while working for Hank. But Eliza has her suspicions about the real causes of her husband's death and believes that Hank had a part in it.

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In the closing scene, Kara and Alex decide to keep an eye on their DEO boss, Hank. Nice try: I still believe he is Martian Manhunter.

Not much to write on the acting front. Helen Slater and Chyler Leigh spend most of their time busy being at each other's throats. Jeremy Jordan's Winn does his usual unrequited pining for Kara. Only difference is: he does this at the Danvers' apartment. Interestingly, neither Eliza or Alex notice this.

Newcomer, Brit Morgan is adequate as the foul-mouthed Leslie and later the villainous Livewire.

Only Calista Flockhart manages to breath some life into the episode as the irrepressible and witty Cat Grant.

Interestingly, there was a similar episode with the same name in the critically acclaimed Superman: The Animated Series. The plot was similar too: Leslie airs her rants against the Man of Steel and becomes Livewire, despite Superman's efforts to rescue her from a lightning strike.

Compared to the previous fun-filled episodes, this one was a bit downer. The emphasis on the Danvers family drama was a bit overwhelming. Hopefully, the next episode will be more light-hearted.

There was however one major drawback in the episode: Kara uses her heat vision to heat up the Turkey for the Thanksgiving dinner. As a firm believer in Animal Rights, this scene was an eyesore. Why would anyone want to express their thanks by eating a dead bird is beyond me.

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Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

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Supergirl Season 1 Episode 3 "Fight or Flight" - Recap and Review

The episode starts with a quick recap of the previous two episodes, right from the Krypton's scene to Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) whisking away Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) away for an one-on-one conversation.

Supergirl's interview with Cat Grant has more than a passing resemblance to the one that Margot Kidder's Lois Lane had with the late Christopher Reeve's Supes. While Margot's Lois took notes, Cat Grant uses her smartphone to record the interview.

Over the course of the interview, Supergirl unintentionally reveals that she is Superman's cousin. Being the savvy businessperson that she is, Cat Grant makes sure that this piece of information becomes the talk of the town.

This attracts the attention of Reactron (Chris Browning), a super-villain with a long standing grudge against the Man of Steel. Since he is unable to kill Supes, he decides to try his luck with the Girl of Steel.

On the personal front, Kara Danvers faces yet another challenge from her boss. Not content with publicizing Supergirl's connection to the Man of Steel, Cat also wants to host a gala occasion to publish her self-authored critical piece about Supergirl.

Supergirl faces Reactron and manages to cause enough damage to his suit to make him flee the scene. To get back into a fighting condition, Reactron infiltrates Lord Technologies with the intention of abducting someone with the necessary skills and knowledge to repair his damaged suit. Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli) willingly offers to be the hostage.

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Supergirl takes Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan)'s help in zeroing in on Reactron's location. James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) is against Kara taking on the supervillain, who has proven to be a match even for Superman. James' fears come true when Reactron overpowers Supergirl and is about to finish her off, when the Man of Steel himself appears out of nowhere and forces Reactron to make yet another escape.

Kara is not happy with Jimmy summoning Superman to help her. James explains that he did so more out of old habit and a fear of losing her.

Reactron makes his re-appearance during Cat's aforementioned function. With help from Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) and Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), Supergirl finally defeats Reactron.

The third episode of Supergirl turns out to be the best one yet. The actors are getting into the skin of their characters very well.

At the top of the list are Melissa Benoist and Calista Flockhart. Melissa has been under the costume and the cape right from the beginning. But her act as Kara Danvers was a bit too Tina Fey for my taste. In the last episode and particularly in this one, she finally manages to leave her own stamp on the role.

Same is true of Calista. Her Cat Grant is growing as a character. She hints at childhood trauma as well as a romantic past with Lords. Calista is clearly having fun with her part.

David Harewood continues to glower effectively as Hank Henshaw. This episode gives even more evidence that he is Martian Manhunter (MM). Hank Henshaw uses his telepathic powers to detect Alex's presence. Fingers crossed that he turns out to be MM.

There is a newcomer in town and this is Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan Tatum). Lucy is the younger sister of Lois Lane and the former flame of James Olsen.

The writers included a number of winks and nods to current pop culture events (James Bond, Millenium Falcon from Star Wars, Caitlyn Jenner Vanity Fair, Keeping up with Kardashians).

But the best parts were the references to Superman mythology . The watch used by James to summon Superman to his help is a staple of the Superman Canon. James also accidentally reveals Superman's secret identity to Winn Shott.

Even better was the brief appearance by Supes himself. Needless to say, that was the highlight of the episode for me.

Melissa Benoist gets to mouth some of the best lines:
1. Supergirl's reply to waitress: “I am an alien”.
2. Supergirl's description of Cat Grant: “She is a super interviewing villain”

I also liked this line: “Every Generation gets the Superhero it deserves.” A subtle nod to the Christopher Nolan's Batman movies, perhaps...

With great acting, fun action sequences and made by people who clearly love the DC Universe and especially Superman, this is becoming a must watch for fans of Superman/DC Comics.

Trivia
The song “Wish I Could Fly” by Roxette plays during the scene in which Kara Danvers is entering the venue of Cat Grant's event.

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Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), DC Comics Database, Wikipedia

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Supergirl Season 1 Episode 2 "Stronger Together" - Recap and Review

After a smashing pilot episode, Supergirl returns for the sophomore outing.

Hank Henshaw (David Harewood) subjects Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) to intense physical training to ensure that she is in top physical shape in order to shoulder her duties as a Department of Extra-Normal Operations (DEO) agent. She receives information about a ship being on fire. In her eagerness, Kara first uses her freeze breath, then her heat vision and finally her super strength. She seems to succeed, but then disaster strikes. Supergirl's inexperience while applying her superpowers on the ship results in the ship developing cracks along the surface and there is considerable oil spill.

Meanwhile at the Plastino Chemicals plant, we meet our villain-of-the-week: a Hellgrammite. This is an insect-like species that can take the shape of a human being and feeds on DDT that is available in abundance at the chemical plant.

Kara's fiasco in causing the oil spill dampens her confidence considerably. It does not help when her sister, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) gives her a humbling lesson in physical confrontations. To clear things, Kara was considerably weakened by Kryptonite. But Kara is pissed off with Alex, not realizing that she was just following Hank's orders.

Kara receives some unexpected help from none other than Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart). Using herself as an example, Cat advises that Supergirl should instead start from the basics and build her skills before taking on major assignments/obstacles.

With help from James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) and Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan), Supergirl takes on robbers and practices other street level heroics. Soon, both Kara's self-confidence and the public's confidence in Supergirl starts to soar.

On the villain's front, General Astra (Laura Benanti) is not happy with our Hellgrammite munching on human victims and drawing attention to himself. As a punishment, she orders him to bait Supergirl.

Hank Henshaw and Alex Danvers themselves try to trap the Hellgrammite. Unfortunately, Alex gets kidnapped by the villain. Supergirl locates Alex using her super-hearing senses.

Kara Zor-El faces off against her aunt, Astra. Though she is able to use the lesson learnt from Alex against Astra, it is Hank Henshaw who saves the day by attacking Astra with a dagger shaped Kryptonite weapon.

A subplot involves Cat Grant forcing James Olsen to arrange an interview with Supergirl. Though Kara is reluctant at first, she finally decides to do the interview.

Now for the most interesting part in the episode: Hank Henshaw's eyes glowed red for a few seconds during the closing moments. According to Wikipedia, Hank Henshaw is Cyborg Superman, a supervillain.

I am hoping that it turns out that it is Martian Manhunter/J'onn J'onzz, who is disguised as Hank Henshaw. Martian Manhunter (MM) is an alien from Mars and has red glowing eyes. Phil Morris made a great MM on Smallville.

It would be logical that MM would be heading the DEO. MM being a CIA agent also make sense, since he has been a police detective in the Canon.

Martian Manhunter is one of my favorite DC characters and also one of the most criminally underrepresented when it comes to DC Comics based adaptations. Besides, he has some of the coolest superpowers in the Comic Book Universe.

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There were a number of references to Superman and his adaptations throughout the episode:

1. Supergirl's quote: “Sounds like a job for Supergirl”
2. Supergirl claims to have gone from a Superhero to Eco-terrorist “in a single bound”

3. An incident on 5th and “Siegel” - Reference to Jerry Siegel, who created Superman (along with artist Joe Shuster)
4. Another incident on “Donner” Avenue - Reference to Richard Donner, who directed the 1978 Superman movie
5. Supergirl saving “Kitten” Fluffy from a tree - Hilarious send-up of the famous kitten rescue by the late Christopher Reeve's Superman
6. James Olsen being referred to as Superman's Pal
7. Alex refers to Superman's Fortress of Solitude
8. The hologram representation of Kara Zor-El's mother, Alura Zor-El - Similar to how Jor-El was show interacting with Kal-El in the 1978 Superman movie

As a fan of Superman and Richard Donner's movie, I enjoyed these nods very much.

Yet another villain, Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli) makes his appearance. His comments about the maintenance budget of Metropolis due to Superman's presence was a good and honest commentary on the cost of having a superhero around.

Kara Danvers' explanation of her insignia “S” as being standing for El mayarah - which in Krypton language means “Stronger Together”. It was a nice contrast between Alura and Astra vs Kara and Alex, who are stronger by having each other's back.

In another similarity to Arrow, the episode featured a flashback scene to Krypton. Kara Zor-El  remembers a conversation she had with her mother, Alura about the latest alien criminal who had been apprehended.

Trivia
The song “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar plays during the scene in which Supergirl is fighting the robbers.

Recommended watch to fans of Supergirl/Superman.

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Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), DC Comics Database, Wikipedia

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Supergirl Season 1 Pilot Episode 1 - Recap and Review

The latest DC Comics based TV show from the creative team of Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg looks set to continue their astounding run of success. Starring Melissa Benoist as the titular character, Supergirl confirms that the successes of Arrow and The Flash were no flashes in the pan.

The show re-imagines Kara Zor-El's origin story as being sent right after Kal-El in order to protect him on the alien environment of Earth. But Kara's pod gets stuck in the Phantom Zone and when she finally makes it to our planet, 24 years have passed by. Kal-El is now known as Superman and has adopted the secret identity of Clark Kent, a mild-mannered reporter at the Daily Planet.

Superman rescues Kara and introduces her to her foster parents: Jeremiah Danvers (Dean Cain) and Eliza Danvers (Helen Slater). They have a biological daughter, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh). Alex and Kara hit it off right away and look out for each other.

A grown up Kara Danvers works at Catco Worldwide Media, a media conglomerate in National City. Her colleague, Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan) is an alien conspiracy theorist and has an unrequited crush on her.

Kara's boss is Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart), an insufferable and tough-as-nails lady. She shouts orders at Kara just as Perry White would at Clark Kent. The parallels continue further. Daily Planet's James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) takes Lois Lane's place at Catco. Winn Schott is the nerd here, subbing for Jimmy Olsen himself at the Daily Planet.

Kara reveals her powers to the world, when the plane carrying Alex develops problems mid-air. She also reveals her secret to Winn, who promptly sets to work on her costume. Cat, for her part, is presumptuous enough to come up with the name: Supergirl.

Supergirl is “abducted” by agents of a top-secret government agency, headed by Hank Henshaw (David Harewood). One of his agents is none other than Alex Danvers herself. Turns out that Alex was the target when her flight was sabotaged by unknown conspirators. 

Hank is suspicious of Kara's powers. Kara gets to test her powers again, when she is summoned by Vartox (Owain Yeoman) for an one-on-one confrontation. Vartox is a fellow Kryptonian and works for The Commander (Faran Tahir). Vartox was behind the attack on Alex and is determined to get Supergirl out of the way.

Vartox physically bests Supergirl and is about to finish her off, when Alex arrives in time to save her. Realizing that she does not have the brawn to beat Vartox, Supergirl uses her brains (and heat vision) to defeat him.

This was a good pilot and promises a bright future for the show. The casting is spot on for the most part. Melissa is excellent as Supergirl, combining the innate goodness and charm of Superman (as the late Christopher Reeve did so memorably). Her bumbling act as Kara is a bit too reminiscent of Tina Fey's character from the show 30 Rock. I felt that Tina overacted and her character came across as irritating than innocent, as was probably intended. Hopefully, Melissa will improve as the series progresses.

David Harewood makes a strong impression despite his limited screen time. I look forward to more of him in the upcoming episodes.

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Rest of the cast is adequate in their roles. The only exception is Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen. Mehcad looks too self-absorbed and comes off more as a self-concious male model. He does not appear to get in character as James Olsen. An intelligent girl (like Kara) would probably find him obnoxious in real life, but I guess since this is a fictitious world...

I enjoyed the jab at Bill O'Reilly.

There are a couple of cameos that continue the DC tradition of casting former actors from the DC Universe: Dean Cain and Helen Slater. Dean played the Man of Steel in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the TV series that aired from 1993 - 97. Helen Slater played Supergirl in the 1984 movie of the same name.

Fans of DC Comics will remember that the late Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder had cameos in Smallville. Adam West made a guest appearance as The Gray Ghost on Batman: The Animated Series.

More recently, Mark Hamill (Joker in Batman: The Animated Series) played The Trickster in The Flash. John Wesley Shipp who plays Barry Allen's father, himself was the Scarlet Speedster in the short-lived TV series The Flash (1990-91). Interestingly, Shipp voiced Professor Zoom in an episode in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

The airplane rescue that Kara performs and unintentionally makes her presence known to the world is a regular staple of Superman adaptations. In Superman: The Animated Series, Superman's rescue of a flight makes him an overnight sensation. In the 2006 movie, Superman Returns, after being gone from the Earth for five years, Brandon Routh's Superman again comes into the limelight by saving the plane carrying Lois Lane.

In addition, the manner in which Vartox communicates with Supergirl using a frequency that only she can hear reminded me of the 1978 movie: Superman. Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor spoke to the late Christopher Reeve's Superman in a similar way. This was a nice tip of the hat to the seminal movie, that marked the birth of the Superhero movie genre.

Another piece of trivia: Owain Yeoman (who played the hulking villain in this episode) portrayed Cromartie, yet another physically imposing antagonist in the pilot episode of another show: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The show (understandably) has some similarities to Arrow and The Flash. In both of these shows, the heroes have a supporting team giving them directions and advice. Here too, Supergirl has her sister Alex and presumably, the other agents to give her guidance.

As a fan of the DC Universe in general, and of Superman in particular, I enjoyed this episode very much. I loved his brief appearance in the show, especially his flight as he leaves the Danvers. Not to be outdone, Kara too uses her super powers throughout the episode. First, when she uses her super hearing powers to predict Cat Grant's impending arrival and later, when she uses her X-ray vision to view Alex in her apartment. Superman (and Supergirl) has some of the coolest powers of any Superhero and this show seems to be well aware of that fact.

Recommended watch to fans of DC Comics/Superman.

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Image Sources: Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), Pet Fly Productions, Warner Home Video, DC Entertainment

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