Supergirl: Falling Review

image credit: DC, CBS, supergirl.tv

Shocking, tear jerking, and game changing would be the best way to describe tonight's episode of Supergirl.

Are "turn the hero bad" episodes a bit of a cliche? Yes. But in this case, in the overall scale of things, it works.

Just as things seemed to have gotten better for Kara and co. during the last episode, everything naturally goes to heck in this episode. There are so many shocking moments that happened, but in order to avoid spoilers, I won't say what happens. But it's definitely going change the show overall; in character arcs as well as relationship arcs.

It's also a tear jerking. I myself was crying more than once during the episode thanks to Melissa Benoist's absolutely stunning performance in the episode. She managed to convey the effects of "Red Kryptonite" to where it wasn't corny and made Dark!Kara a legitimate threat, projecting cruelty and malicious into a usually bubbly character (though constantly weighed by morality and tragedy). Not to mention the moments after the effects (spoiler alert) wore off where Kara realized the gravity of all she'd done.

On top of Benoist's performance, we had two more knock-out performances in our midst: David Harewood and Chyler Leigh. Their performances in some (spoilery) scenes of the episode was done beautifully and brought even more tears from me. Honestly, Alex and Hank (or J'onn)'s relationship is one of the best relationships on the show, in my opinion.
What will happen next? I have no idea. But it's going to be good, I know that much.

Rating: 9/10

Next Time:

Supergirl: Livewire Review

Tonight saw the airing of what was originally episode five of the first season of Supergirl, and boy

Credit: CBS, kryptonsite 

was it a good one. So, as I always say, onto the review!

Synopsis:

When Leslie Lewis is transformed in a super-powered being called Livewire, she goes after the two people who've wronged her: Cat Grant and Supergirl. Meanwhile, Alex believes that her mother will disapprove of Kara's antics as a superhero.

Review:

This is easily the one episode I was looking forward to the most this season. Why? Because I was actually familiar with the villain, Livewire, thanks to some recent issues of Batgirl (written by Cameron Stewart and drawn by Babs Tarr). And tonight's episode of Supergirl did not disappoint. While the origin story of Livewire is different from that in the Batgirl comics, it did not detract from the fantastic (and somewhat simple) plot. 

While the plot itself may be simple (a wronged radio host decides to seek revenge), it's the characters that more than make up for it. Following Arrow and The Flash's lead, tonight's episode of Supergirl gives us some flashbacks to Kara and Alex's childhood....and opens up a future plot-line. 

Cat Grant also gets some much needed character development, and no longer is just the incredibly blunt boss that we've come to love (and sometimes hate), but has a few emotional scenes that proves that Cat is indeed as human as the next person...er....some people anyway.

Another part that truly made the episode was the family relationship between Kara, Alex and their mother, Eliza (Helen Slater). While there's more than a little tension at first, it's finally resolved in a way that not only opens a new story-line, but gives us a more in-depth look at Alex's character, and particularly how she feels about always looking out for her sister.

While Winn and James aren't really in their episode, their presence is felt and their relationship with Kara is still the best, and both get several funny scenes in the episode (as well as serious, since we get a better look into Winn's family and James' relationship with Lucy Lane).

All in all, this episode has so far been my favorite of the season thus far. Let's hope next week can continue the string of excellent episodes!

Rating: 5/5