Supergirl opts for a darker turn in its first episode of the season. Everything we’ve seen from the trailers is very much true; Supergirl is rejecting her secret identity of Kara Danvers because, in her words, “she sucks”. The premiere focuses on Kara’s grief for Mon El after she sent him away from Earth at the end of last season. While there are issues with this, it’s interesting to see a more complex side to the Girl of Steel.
The first cliffhanger of last season is answered very quickly – Maggie did say yes to Alex’s proposal. Unfortunately, we know Floriana Lima isn’t available all season, so it seems that may not last. Regardless, they’re happy for now, even when their date night is interrupted by villain-of-the-week, Bloodsport, which includes a brief car chase and a good save from Supergirl.
If there’s one thing this episode teaches us, it’s that Alex Danvers is the best sister imaginable. It’s hard to sympathize with Kara because Mon El wasn’t exactly the greatest guy around. For Alex to have put up with her bad attitude for six months is– commendable, to say the least. Especially when Kara decides that her reporting job is no longer important and quits. Alex confronts her about it, and there’s a (yes, another) scene of Kara saying, “What if it was Maggie?” The show is messily trying to compare a rocky, oftentimes abusive relationship to a healthy, stable one between two people about to be married. She’s allowed to be sad, absolutely, but Kara is downright mean in this episode.
This episode we’re also introduced to new long-term villain, Morgan Edge. He’s already butting heads with Lena (who is wonderful, as always) and James over the rebuilding of National City after Rhea’s attack in the finale. He’s your typical creepy misogynist who talks at people instead of to them. Basically, he wants to buy up a lot of the city to use for his own agenda, including CatCo and the waterfront. While we get some Cat Grant this episode, she’s the new press secretary at the White House, and had to put her CatCo shares in a blind trust. Also, Edge happens to be secretly in cahoots with Bloodsport.
After this episode, it’s even clearer that Kara and Lena’s relationship is one of the most important on the show. They try to come up with a plan to stop Edge, which ultimately ends with Lena buying CatCo for herself. Edge isn’t happy, but I already live to see him unhappy, so it’s fine. By the end, Lena is actually the one to convince Kara to come back to her job, even when both Alex and James were unsuccessful. Suddenly, Lena is Kara’s boss, and I’m interested to see how that will go moving forward. Also, what does this mean for James?
Alex and Maggie also hit a rough patch with their wedding plans this episode. The thing about the six-month time jump is that a lot of things that happen in this episode should’ve happened something like five months ago. Alex seems unsure about the wedding, which worries Maggie, but eventually she reveals that she’s sad her father won’t be there to walk her down the aisle. It’s a great thing to bring up, because where is Jeremiah anyway? And where is Cadmus? This recycled-from-last-season mini drama is ultimately unnecessary, because they’re able to resolve things like adults and they’re back to their normal selves afterwards. Not only that, but there’s a beautiful scene where Alex asks J’onn to walk her down the aisle.
Finally, we see our first glimpse of world killer Reign in this episode. Except, she’s not Reign at all. She’s a regular woman with a young daughter called Ruby, and it’s clear that she has no idea what she’s capable of. There’s a ceremony at the waterfront to unveil a new statue of Supergirl, but of course, it’s the prime target for Bloodsport. We see the first glimpse of Reign’s powers when Ruby gets trapped underneath some metal bars after the attack, and she’s able to lift it off like it’s no big deal. Supergirl saves the day in a very badass way by finding Bloodsport underwater in a submarine and pushing the torpedo they fire back inside.
Kara and Lena make quite the team, each managing to stop one of Edge’s conquests. The destruction of the waterfront would’ve made it easy for him to buy it all up. There are also a couple of notable moments at the end: we get a glimpse of an alien ship underwater and Reign has a nightmare that raises a lot of questions. The episode ends nicely with Kara choosing to go to the bar with all of her friends. Hopefully this is the end of Kara Danvers being unnecessarily cruel to the people she loves.
THE REEL SCORE: 7/10
Next week…
