Why I Think CBS’s Supergirl’s Episodes are Lacking Something

Supergirl is a new, yet way overdue, TV series on CBS.

Why overdue? I suppose it has something to do with ignoring the character since my favorite incarnation of Supergirl in the 1984 movie Supergirl. Sure it was campy, ridiculous and with that magical 80’s female mentality, but she was flipping awesome. She could even super power her hair brown! Way to at least try to disguise yourself…

Sure we saw her here and there in Young Justice and supporting in other animated films…. But she was always a character long forgotten and ignored. There has been a tough struggle with female superheroes, and that stigma alone is tough to deal with. Wonder Woman has seen some troubles getting the spotlight, as well. Perhaps DC is confident that the Batman VS Superman will introduce her with enough force and mystery that her movie will actually get funded and written properly? Only time will tell.

So why do I think that Supergirl’s episodes are lacking something? Well, it took me some time to put my finger on it as well. I had been able to watch as many episodes as CBS allows me (I’m a stream machine), so I have a good grasp of the show. Let’s talk about a few awesome things they did.

 See what they did there? Do you recognize these people? They are played by Helen Slater (from the Supergirl movie) and Dean Cain (from Lois and Clark). A little shout out for the fans, worked on me! Good start there in episode 1. Apparently, these scientist friends of Clark Kent raised up Kara. Fine, but we pretty much never see these people again. Fine.

I also like the addition of some neato characters such as the Red Tornado, didn’t see that one coming. Martian Manhunter, good play! Will we see more of Martian Manhunter’s green form? I suppose if the budget allows it….

But, something just makes me fizzle out of excitement by the end of the episodes. Here’s why:

• No Mystery.
• Not enough characters you can relate to.
• Boring “drama”.
• And dammit, why is love always what girls “want”?!!??!?!?!

Now I don’t expect then to follow any sort of comic book timeline, and CBS should be able to successfully execute their own story with this leniency, but they are stereotypically puking all over the place.

No Mystery: Sure Alex Danvers (Kara’s sister) had a little mystery plot with what had happened with her dad, but that is beyond my point. Supergirl comes to this planet, knows she can do superhero things, knows about her parents and their intentions, has a great job and a questionably nice apartment and seems confident in her personal identity… There was, and still is, a bit of mystery with her Evil Aunt, but how much do you know about your own aunt? Is it enough to drive us to the next episode?

Maxwell Lord is the main story arc drive. Is he B.A. enough? Let’s check out his background via the New Earth DC Comics:

Initially, Lord worked behind the scenes to establish the (Justice) League, while under the control of a villainous computer created by Metron. The computer wanted Max to set up a worldwide peacekeeping organization, as part of its plan to dominate the world. – DC Wikia

This may or may not be his secret drive in this series specifically, but I am really just not interested enough in this guy to care whether or not Supergirl stops him. She will when it’s time, and the time will be at the end of the season. Ooo lala…

Not enough characters you can relate to: As far as I am concerned, there is hardly anyone in the show you can really relate to. What I mean to relate to a person is that you could easily put your self in their shoes, and would have an emotional tie to when something bad may happen. Most of that characters come off way to perfect. Kara has a bit of doofy spunk, but all in all, she comes off a bit bland and either showy or meek. Her sister, Alex, is boring (there I said it). Just because she can shoot a gun and work for a government faction doesn’t make her interesting or relatable.

And Winn… As a show appealing to an age group of 20 somethings, how many real comic collecting fan boys wear cardigans, button ups and khaki pants? Show of hands? Does his mom dress him everyday? I don’t mind that he’s the impossible tech guy – every superhero needs a tech person. But who can relate to this guy? I know there would be zero chance I would buddy up with this dude in the office. This may sound crazy, but I think they should have made him gay. They still could have had an emotional “coming out” episode and everything if they didn’t portray him from the start as a “Ducky” (male character in love with the female who has no chance – i.e. Pretty in Pink…). It would make him stand out, and be a real person. This character advancement probably could have even won awards for the message, but I’m not sure if CBS is ready for such a bold move unfortunately. :/

Don’t even get me started on Ally McBeal Cat Grant. Are we supposed to care for an egomaniac CEO, with her constant put downs and self entitlement? In real life I would have quit the **** out of that job and probably tried to start her car on fire for spite!! It’s hard to believe that she can be a Grade A ‘B-word’ for the good of Kara? Tough love? That’s how most sociopaths think, too. Bleh. Can I relate to that? Do I have affection and a connection for someone in my life like that? Nope. Pass.

Boring Drama: What a coincidence that all those evil dudes in the Phantom Zone, who crashed along with Kara 12 years ago are just now mostly surfacing and causing a ruckus. I know that every superhero show on air presently has their extremely predictable moments, but I am still waiting to go “Oh snap!”, “What the!?” and “I’m not crying… allergies…” moment. How can we break their drama cyclone of doom?

The best moment, at least my favorite so far, was when we discovered Hank is Martain Manhunter. However, we just let that happen without enough gusto, yet they focused on Cat and her mothers relationship problems for an entire episode. It was very clever of them to make Cat think Kara is Supergirl (as she goes to point out her disguise sucks) and bringing in Hank to imitate Supergirl to keep up the ruse. But these events are just little entertaining snippets while we are lacking true-to-real-people emotional battles and hardships.

I want Supergirl to battle with herself. Not like a split personality thing, but if a real person was capable of the powers of Supergirl, could you resist going overboard based on your personal judgement? Are some people allowed to just be arrested? Would you accidentaly kill someone? Being a superhero, you have to deal with crimes and crimes get ugly. It’s not all just saving the kitten out of the tree, there is darkness in crime that Supergirl has barely even touched upon yet. She does have to “battle” the media spinning her in the light of fear, but perhaps one of these times she will give the a good reason to.

Love, lovey, girls, puke, love, bleh: I’m a girl and you know what I’m 100% over? The seemingly necessary love story in any show that has a female present. It’s wildly uncalled for in this first season, not to mention somewhat degrading. As a “woman” of power, why does Kara even need this? Romantic interests and the hardships and tension that follows can drive ratings, but they are playing this game like a soap opera. Yuck.

So Kara is into dreamy James Olson, who by the way, is a taken man!!! He has a woman! I cannot stress this enough, I want to throw something across the room about it! Normal people cut their losses and move on. Do you want to be the rebound Kara? Is this what writers think girls are like?? Be real. Please, please, please, let her just punch holes through walls and people (maybe even James for leading her on a bit), and don’t worry about going on dates until you start acting like a grown up. You want to be called Superwoman, then act like one.

Phew, got a little emotional, my apologies. I just recommend to the writers, if you want encourage full mind and body strength in the ladies who are watching, you are going to see Kara be brave and solid in knowing what she wants in life, always. Maybe Cat’s “training” is going to help her… dang.

I expect good things out of this show, and I am going to continue to watch it. It is interesting enough, but I am hopeful for more spunk, pizzazz and genuine action-drama as the season progresses. What do you think about it? Any predictions?

Why Should I care so much about Supergirl? Because I am Supergirl.  😀