#FILM/TV: ★DC★ Supergirl TV series, Season 1

[Floret deBrocoli]

So, I downloaded the first season of the Supergirl TV series, and I have mixed feelings about it. It's a typical Hallmark channel, girl meets boy love story, jazzed up with supernatural phenomena and far-fetched science. There is a strong emphasis on family, friendship, compassion & understanding, but the writers express little interest in concocting a story that is logically consistent. In other words, it's a typical melodrama.

To be fair, there are some obvious improvements over Smallville. Notably, Supergirl wears a traditional costume, rather than just a blue jacket. And, unlike Superman, Supergirl has character flaws. She's naive, impulsive, vindictive, and she often struggles to control her temper. Even better, the bad guys do get to play rough with her. It's practically a given that she'll have to take at least one tough blow, every time she goes up against a supervillain. Moreover, the writers found other ways to hurt kryptonians besides kryptonite, such as the Black Mercy. As for Melissa Benoist, she proved to be a good actress, and though it's obvious that she is not an elite athlete, at least you can say she's pretty.

The problem is, the stories are not well thought-out. Among countless logical flaws, the most flagrant is the simple fact that Superman plays almost no heroic role in the story. From time to time he compliments Supergirl for her excellent work, and then he goes back to tacking a nap while Supergirl has to deal with madscientists, alien invaders and diabolical plots to either destroy and/or take over the world. It seems to me that the writers are trying too hard to prove that Supergirl can handle her affairs without Superman's help, especially since they are more than willing to admit that she does need help. In fact, there are several episodes where one of the other characters in the story saves Supergirl, including an ordinary civilian and even one of the villains.

So while its true that Supergirl can't save the world all by herself, and it's also true that almost anyone can come to her aid, the mightiest hero in the galaxy can't do squat. One day, when Supergirl grudgingly asks Superman for help, he quickly rushes to her aid and is literally knocked out by one punch. The same blow, I might add, that doesn't even put a scratch on Supergirl. So, once again the hapless superheroine has to get help from other characters, such as the Martian Manhunter.

If the writers don't want Superman to upstage Supergirl, it would have made more sense to have just left him out of the story altogether. It's pointless to include a character that's not the least bit involved, especially if he's a superhero. If the writers want us to think that Supergirl is stronger, than having Superman die would be more straightforward. If it were clear that Superman can die, than it would also be clear that Supergirl can die. Therefore, Supergirl's willingness to risk her life to save others would seem more genuine, and she would seem all the more braver for her efforts.

So, to sum it up, Supergirl isn't much better than most of the sci-fi series that I've seen over the years.  If you like slushy, sentimental moments, you'll get more than your fair share. But, if your looking for lots of action, you'll probably be disappointed.

The entire first season is comprised of 20 episodes, ranging from 40 to 45 min in length, with the commercials removed. The 20 Mkv clips are all ripped from a Bluray disc, and the picture quality is pretty good, considering a frame height of 400p and an average bitrate of only 1 Mbps. Each clip is approximately 300 Mb in size, for a total of about 6 Gb.

4shared.com/folder/XiYkupWk

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[derekh48]

would agree with most of that. having seen the first three seasons the first was certainly the weakest. i had gone in with an ideal that she'd be "more powerful than a locomotive" etc but they dialed down her strength to the point that there was very little superfeats apart from the Fort Roz lift in the season finale. season two improved with the arrival of kara's love interest and subsequent season battle with his mom. i did like season three with Reign basically a souped up version of Kara with an evil streak. looking forward to season four to see where she goes from there

[SCJames]

Nice review from Floret. Melissa Benoist is a lovely lady in her own right, but she's no athlete.
So they put her in a padded suit, which I think looks terrible. Perhaps someday mainstream entertainment
will cast a believable female athlete in a superheroine role. Good luck. The show's producers are far more
interested in their personal politics than making a good show.





     

[Floret deBrocoli]

Melissa Benoist is a lovely lady in her own right, but she's no athlete. So they put her in a padded suit, which I think looks terrible.

Wow, in a 500+ word review, I devote only ONE sentence to Melissa Benoist, and you noticed it! At least they showed us some legs, albeit they're rather thin.

Perhaps someday mainstream entertainment will cast a believable female athlete in a superheroine role.

To date, Heroine Legends has been the best compromise. Cayla Black and Tiffany Chase may not be world class athletes, butt they're both above average in this category.





Brooke Ence got a bit role in the most recent Woman Woman film, but her appearance was so brief you could easily have missed her.




Perhaps muscular women like Brooke can be cast as villains instead. They might be a good replacement for the tall, fat women who have a long standing tradition of beating up sexy young heroines. Brooke would also be good for lifts that usually only men can do.

[Floret deBrocoli]

season two improved with the arrival of kara's love interest and subsequent season battle with his mom. i did like season three with Reign basically a souped up version of Kara with an evil streak. looking forward to season four to see where she goes from there

So, you think I should check out season 2 on Netflix? I take it there'll be better action, but is it the same corny soap opera I just finished seeing?

[necro2080]

season two improved with the arrival of kara's love interest and subsequent season battle with his mom. i did like season three with Reign basically a souped up version of Kara with an evil streak. looking forward to season four to see where she goes from there

So, you think I should check out season 2 on Netflix? I take it there'll be better action, but is it the same corny soap opera I just finished seeing?

It's a show on the CW, the nertwork that makes angsty teen drama. You have to be aware of what you are getting into. Some can look past all that and enjoy the show, some can't.

[derekh48]

season two improved with the arrival of kara's love interest and subsequent season battle with his mom. i did like season three with Reign basically a souped up version of Kara with an evil streak. looking forward to season four to see where she goes from there

So, you think I should check out season 2 on Netflix? I take it there'll be better action, but is it the same corny soap opera I just finished seeing?

its worth a look

[mike2]

So, you think I should check out season 2 on Netflix? I take it there'll be better action, but is it the same corny soap opera I just finished seeing?

Yes, and the corny soap opera stuff gets cornier and soapier. The action scenes are about the same. And the logic never improves. If anything, it gets worse. Our heroine dumps her long-sought hunky love interest for no sane reason. He gets kicked upstairs to be her boss at work, and then is given increasingly little to do -- exactly the same thing that happened to Lyle Waggoner's character in the old Wonder Woman series. The replacement actor has better chemistry with Benoist, but his character is obnoxious and threatens to take over the show at times, leaving Supergirl a guest in her own series.

There are also boring, time-consuming subplots about Martians and lesbians. It's the kind of show that makes Martians and lesbians boring.

And the science fiction aspects are just as bad. In one story, our heroine steals plutonium from a nuclear power plant to blow up the bad guy right in the middle of the city.

You might like that Superman himself shows up at the beginning and end of the season, though the actor does better by Clark Kent than Supes, so maybe check out the season premiere. But the producers never put together an episode that's excellent from start to finish and the best you get is an occasional scene or sequence that doesn't entirely insult your intelligence.