Supergirl: The Season 2 Midseason Report Card

Supergirl is arguably one of TV‘s better feel-good stories in recent years.

The series, which never felt totally at home at CBS and started seeming like it might be “on the bubble” for cancellation about six episodes into its first season, failed to secure that pickup at CBS, only to migrate to The CW, where it has delivered strong ratings, received better reviews than season 1, and of course delivered the network one of its biggest weeks in years as part of the four-show, three-night “Invasion!” event.

With our recaps, Easter egg hunts, interviews, and more, though, we rarely get a chance to step back and actually review an episode. When we do, it tends to be the big “events” like the first appearance of Superman or the “Invasion!” crossover.

What has the season been like so far, though? That’s what we’ve been asking ourselves as we binged the first handful of episodes in preparation for the second half of season 2.

Here’s what we came up with…!

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The midseason premiere of Supergirl — which is titled “Supergirl Lives” and directed by Kevin Smith (Chasing Amy) — will air Monday, January 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

THE HEROES

A lot has changed in the second season of Supergirl as far as its lead characters are concerned — some for the better, and some…not so much.

First of all, the absence of Cat Grant has been felt. There’s some huge potential in Snapper Carr, particularly in the hands of an actor as capable as Ian Gomez, but it hasn’t yet been capitalized upon, which leaves us wondering when they’re going to find a replacement for the dynamic Kara had with Cat.

To an extent, they’ve inverted it, with Kara playing a similar hard-edged and exasperated mentor role to Mon-El…but that’s not the same as having your main character dealing with their self-doubt in an entertaining and fulfilling way.

Mon-El himself is another area where there could be some improvement. Chris Wood is likable and the character is engaging, but his story seems to be crawling along at a snail’s pace. With trailers already revealing that he plans to become a superhero in the second half of the season, and that December cliffhanger revealing that he has some mysterious aliens on his tail, that should resolve itself soon enough.

James Olsen’s transition into Guardian was abrupt, and while some of that material has been entertaining, it doesn’t feel as though they’ve fully fleshed out the whys and hows of it all yet. We look forward to seeing more from that story because it’s not bad — just underdeveloped.

What’s working more than ever is the DEO stuff. Alex’s storyline — including coming out, her struggles with identity, and eventual relationship with Maggie Sawyer have been an undeniable highlight of the season, played expertly by Chyler Leigh and Fiorina Lima.

Same with Martian Manhunter/J’Onn/Hank Henshaw. David Harewood has had to play both the “real” Henshaw (Cyborg Superman) and J’Onn this year, and he’s pulled off both, while writers have given him some real meat to work with on the J’Onn side, especially as it pertains to his seemingly-predestined (but also seemingly doomed) relationship with M’gann.

(And do we even need to talk about how wonderful Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman was?)

THE VILLAINS

The villains of the week have been hit-or-miss, as they tend to be on superhero shows, but far more hit than miss for the most part.

Part of that is a combination of A-list super-foes like Metallo and Parasite with rarely-adapted types like Barrage and Roulette. Part of it is the addition of The Guardian widening the range of acceptable supervillain threats. And, of course, the Cyborg Superman has been a long time coming.

…and where does Lena Luthor fit? Is she a “hero” or will she turn out to be a villain in the end?

THE STORY

So far this season there have been a lot more questions raised than answered, which is to be expected in the first seven episodes of the year.

It’s also been kind of all over the place — a challenge that started when you had Superman in weeks 1 and 2 followed by a week 3 guest appearance by the President/Wonder Woman.

Underlying it all, so far, has been the Cadmus threat, which felt pretty similar to the Maxwell Lord threat from season 1. They certainly had more diversity in their approach than Lord did, and taking point as the primary antagonist while the aliens took the back seat was different, but it will be interesting to see how the second half of season 2 compares to the first season’s challenges, given how similar a lot of the story elements were early on.

It’s difficult to judge the biggest parts of the story so far; it doesn’t feel like Cadmus will continue to be the principal antagonist, but that there will be a larger alien threat; it also seems like, with romance teased and a partnership budding in the field, we won’t be able to make real educated guesses about where Supergirl is going next until we know what Mon-El’s deal is.

That said…it’s hard to argue that a show leaving us with this many juicy questions isn’t telling a compelling story.

THE BIG BAD

We touched on this a bit already, but it bears repeating: Cadmus didn’t blaze a whole lot of new ground. Other than being a Luthor instead of Max Lord (and, frankly, Max Lord sounded a whole lot like the Lex Luthor of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in season 1), it was essentially the same fight they were having last season.

They made things interesting by alternately hiding in the shadows and doing big, splashy attacks that people saying their name, but if they remain off the board following Director Luthor’s arrest, the show will need a new (or is it just “the real”) season 2 big bad soon.

…will it have to do with Mon-El?

NUTS AND BOLTS

From a nuts and bolts standpoint, most episodes have been great as stand-alone stories. There are certainly some effects shots that are a little hinky, although that’s true of any of The CW’s superhero shows.

Part of the reason that happens is that Armen Kevorkian and his VFX team are so wildly ambitous that sometimes something falls flat. But the other side of that is for everything that falls flat, there are a half dozen or more gags that are note-perfect.

Performances on Supergirl are uniformly excellent. Both Jeremy Jordan (Winn) and Ian Gomez (Snapper) are playing their characters a little broad so far this season, but they’re also normal guys up against larger than life, iconic figures. Playing broad might be the only way to really stand out (especially, in the case of Gomez, with almost no screen time).

We’ll see how Gomez, in particular, fares in the Kevin Smith-directed “Supergirl Lives,” which is Snapper-heavy.

THE VERDICT

Supergirl has been one of, if not the, best superhero shows on The CW this season.

It has managed to exceed expectations in almost every category — and delivered an incredibly memorable Superman two-parter which set the tone for the season and could literally have torpedoed the show for life if it hasn’t been as great as it was.

There are bits that could use some firming up — how the writers are using the supporting cast and what exactly is going on with the overall season-long threat — but overall the season has  been an improvement over the already-enjoyable first year, and while some of them might not be 100% all they can be yet, nearly every character added to the series this season has been a welcome change that added value to the show.

Grade: A

…but seriously, guys: enough comas for Mon-El.