All this week, we are taking a look back at the TV series that we covered during the year, and sharing our five favorite moments from each. We will be doing similar retrospectives in July, August, and September, focusing on different aspects of each show. Enjoy!
It’s that time of the year where we’re languishing without good superhero television to watch. While we’re meant to be enjoying our summer, we’re too busy spending time worrying about what we’re going to do on Monday nights without a new episode of Supergirl.
That’s why I’m here to count down the five best moments from the first season of Supergirl! This was a pretty hard list to curate because, hey, guess what: Supergirl is a damn good show with some amazing moments throughout the season. Still, let’s venture forth and find out what my best moments of the season were. And if you disagree or if you think I missed any (I definitely missed a few), let me know in the comments below!
5. Saving The Plane In “Pilot”
Honestly, when thinking about the best moments from Supergirl‘s first season, I wanted to go back to the first moment that really impressed me: the plane rescue from the pilot episode. It’s a moment that’s pretty immediate in the show, but it was a moment that sealed my fate into loving this show no matter the ups and downs to come. It was ambitious and epic in scale and was a scene that kept escalating until the “Holy shit” moment where Kara had to turn the plane on its side to thread it through the bridge without destroying anything. It was a scene that would be jaw-dropping in any superhero film (as it was when it happened in 2006) and was a hell of an opener to the show.
Most of these points are probably going to be talking about Supergirl’s strength of character, but this was a feat of physical strength that cemented Kara Danvers as the hero of National City.
4. Supergirl Seeing Red In ‘Falling’
Changing gears, this is a moment (well, episode) that is drastically different in tone than our last pick. Coming much later in the season, this is where Supergirl had really found its stride in my opinion and was willing to take Kara in very interesting places. Exposing her to Red Kryptonite, this was essentially the show’s Superman 3 moment right down to Evil Kara sitting at a bar pinging nut shells into glass bottles with the force of bullets.
What ranks this is as one of my best moments is for any scene where Melissa Benoist gets to let loose as Evil Kara. Benoist is a top notch actor and brings her a-game to every single episode of the show and is very literally the heart and soul of Supergirl, but she outdoes herself here. The outburst of rage that had been welling up in Kara through most of the season lets Benoist go places with the character that she would never be able to in any other circumstance. Playing that against Cat Grant and Alex Danvers through the episode and culminating in a major plot revelation as J’onn J’onnz is exposed to the world and National City turns against Supergirl makes this entire episode one of the best moments of Supergirl or, honestly, superhero TV in general.
3. Teaming Up With The Flash In ‘World’s Finest’
I know what you’re thinking: “How is this not number one,” right? Well, because I wanted to tie into the last point and because, as cool as this episode was, there was only really one moment that stood out to me as a best moment. Seeing Supergirl work with the Flash to take down Livewire and Silver Banshee was neat as the DCTV equivalent of a superhero crossover, but it played out as a very average team-up if you take away the gimmick of it being The Flash.
The moment that stood out to me here came at the very end of the big teamup fight where Livewire tries to blast a helicopter out of the sky and Supergirl flies in front of the lightning and takes the full brunt of the attack. That moment causes the people of National City to rally around Supergirl telling Livewire that if Supergirl was willing to die for them then they’re willing to die for her. The cherry on top of this is when the firefighter picks Supergirl up, telling her that it’s their turn to help her.
Continued belowThis is the culmination of what is essentially a ‘Death And Return Of Supergirl’ arc done right that started in ‘Falling’ and saw Supergirl fall out of favour as National City’s hero and have to win them back through her selflessness. This is why this show is so good.
2. Supergirl Saving The Day With A Broken Arm In ‘Human For A Day’
Another moment that comes pretty early in the season, but ‘Human For A Day’ was a massively pivotal episode for Supergirl. It was the episode that transitioned past the show’s somewhat rocky beginnings to become a legitimately terrific show and it did so by placing Supergirl in a situation where she couldn’t use her powers to save the day. After seeing massive, widespread destruction across National City and realising that she can’t do anything to help without her powers (including a heart breaking scene where Kara has to watch a man die after suffering a heart attack and knowing she can’t help), Kara decides to put her life on the line and confront a group of armed looters holding up a convenience store.
It’s a fantastic moment that shows the conviction and determination of Kara in the face of situation that could very well kill her (a situation she’s never really faced before as Supergirl) and the image of Kara placing her very mortal hand over the barrel of a gun, trying to convince the man behind the trigger to choose a better is one that brings me to tears every time. And juxtaposing that scene with a beautiful speech from Cat Grant about coming together as people in the face of tragedy and it’s a scene that show real heroism. No powers, no flying, just… just the attempt to bring people to a better path. The faith that people can and will help people, that they will choose to be good people.
1. The Symbol Of Hope Speech From ‘Better Angels’
And… this is it. My best moment of Supergirl Season One comes from the very last episode. You know, there was a moment there when Supergirl‘s renewal for a second season looked a bit dire and I was kind of okay if we didn’t get a second season because at least we got this scene.
The power of Superman and Supergirl and any character who wears that ‘S’ on their chest isn’t their physical strength and it isn’t their powers and it isn’t how big a bad guy they can punch to death. Their power and their strength is their strength of character and what they mean as a symbol. A symbol of hope, a symbol of inspiration, a symbol to rally behind and come together as better people. And I don’t mean within the stories that they exist, I mean in real life. I’m talking about us, real people, watching and reading the stories of these characters and learning to be better people through their actions. These characters are heroes not because they have powers, but because they believe in the best in humanity. They face these terrible dangers and these tragedies and see a better day for tomorrow. They look past the pain we are experiencing now to the day where we will all help each other.
This speech is a masterclass in writing Supergirl and a masterclass in acting from Melissa Benoist and was the perfect way to punctuate this first season of the show. This is why Supergirl is such a fantastic show.
