Two episodes down, and boy was this one a doozy!
No time for pre-amble this week, let’s just dive into our Five Thoughts on Supergirl‘s “Stronger Together”. And remember: here be spoilers.
1. The DEO Is Just Supergirl’s S.T.A.R. Labs, Right?
What is it with superhero TV shows and the need for the main character to have an entire organisation working behind them in order for them to train to be a better superhero? What happened to just putting a costume and going out and messing up so many times that you eventually have one good? Or do I just read too many Spider-Man comics?
All kidding aside, the inclusion of the DEO and having Supergirl work with Hank Henshaw as a DEO operative is still something I’m not sure about. One of the things that made the superfamily unique to me was that they were all pretty independent heroes that formed a tightknit family unit that meant they could depend on each other in times of need. Because this show isn’t going to show Superman any time soon and is mostly focused on mentioning him the same way Arrow and The Flash mention Hal Jordan (stop referencing him if you aren’t going to show him), Supergirl’s biggest support unit from the comics just isn’t around. So it certainly makes sense for Supergirl to work with the DEO in the show, and in this episode they do actually use that effectively by having Kara train with Alex for a scene and address something that’s always been a stickler in Superman stories.
A Kryptonian’s strength on Earth generally means they win most battles sheerly by punching hard enough, but that comes at the cost of not having formal training in how to handle a fight. This episode did a good job of establishing that Supergirl couldn’t get by just by punching things and needed to learn how to actualyl fight if she was to be a superhero.
2. For A TV Show, Those Effects Aren’t Half Bad
From the cold open with Supergirl’s training to the middle-of-the-episode montage of Supergirl’s heroics to the final confrontation at the end of the episode between Supergirl and Astra, I’ve actually been pretty impressed with the visual effects of this show. Sure, this isn’t exactly Man Of Steel levels or anything, but it’s a TV show after all and so it doesn’t have to aspire quite so high to be impressive. Some of the effects feel a bit iffy, especially when dealing with the speed of Kryptonians as the show has a tendency of having them pop into frame only to freeze there for a moment and it gives the effect that they’re able to halt all momentum in less than a second which, even for a show about a girl who can fly, seems pretty fake.
3. Hashtag TerribleGirl
Remember what I said about whatever happened to the days of heroes just throwing on garish costumes, going out and kind of hoping for the best? Well, this episode actually did a great job of addressing the idea that Supergirl couldn’t just throw herself at every disaster and expect everything to work out perfectly. This has been a stickler for Superman stories for a while now, never letting him make a mistake and having every story end with either “He saved the day because he’s Superman and he can do anything” or “He made one small mistake and thousands of people died.” Everything ends up in extremes and there’s very little room to show Superman as inexperienced without having a major death toll (looking at you, Man Of Steel). Instead, Supergirl shows Kara as relatively inexperienced and very capable of making mistakes, but uses that as a way of making her a better superhero.
Cat Grant’s big speech in the middle of the episode about taking hold of Supergirl’s narrative and the fact that she needs to start small and work her way up to the bigger stuff, combined with the whole ‘stronger together’ theme surrounding the building of Kara’s support network with characters like James, Wynn and Alex, made this episode feel like it was actually trying to develop Kara instead of having her exist as this fully formed perfect superhero like many Superman stories do with the Man Of Steel himself.
Continued below4. The World Can’t Believe There’s Really A Hero In Their Midst
James Olsen is the best idea this show has. Seriously. I mentioned last week about how having a more mature Jimmy Olsen really creates an interesting dynamic between him and Supergirl and I feel the need to mention it again. James’ big pep talk about how no realises that Clark Kent is really Superman because no one expects to see Superman walking around the Daily Planet offices and his mention of him being a shy kid with a camera really shows that this is the Jimmy Olsen we’ve always known and loved, but who’s matured a lot thanks to his connection with Clark and is able to pass on the things he learned from Superman onto Kara.
It’s an incredibly unique angle and allows the show to tie itself to the grander Superman mythology by taking a character we know and love, but putting a new spin on him without losing anything that made him stand out.
5. Family Reunion, Kryptonian-Style
I was pretty certain that the stinger at the end of the pilot that introduced General Astra wouldn’t be followed up on any time soon. Apparently I was dead wrong on that as this episode not only followed up on it immediately, but dropped every revelation on Kara it could. Not only did she find out Astra was alive, not only did she recognise Astra as not her mother (something I was convinced would have played out for much longer), but she found out Astra is looking to take over Earth and they’ve already had their first fight. Jeez, this is some end-of-the-season stuff right here. This show really is cribbing notes from The Flash.
Not only that, but I loved how this episode utilised something that’s entirely unique to Kara: her memories of Krypton. Kal-El was an infant when he left Krypton and has had to learn everything after the fact, but this show is in the unique position to use flashbacks to her childhood on Krypton that are relevant to the current storyline which they used to great effect here with the Hellgrammite plot point. It’s a really interesting angle and I can’t wait to see how they tie Krypton into Kara’s story more and more.
