Wanting to see more of the characters is a whole lot better than wanting to see less of them.Ī more serious problem with this first episode is that the villain turns out to be pretty boring. This bodes well for the future of the show, of course. Another hour would have allowed the show to breathe a bit more, and would have allowed us to see more of Kara’s life before she decides to emulate her super-cousin and take to the skies over National City.
I would have liked to have spent more time with Kara and her office mates and friends, and I would have liked to have seen more interactions between Kara and Cat Grant, the two characters who seem to have the most chemistry so far. Overall, the episode suffers from a problem common to pilot episodes, especially when the episode is constrained by an hour-long timeslot. Not that everything is pitch perfect on this first outing, however. It is mostly because of Benoist’s talents that “you will believe a woman can fly!” When she takes to the air and stops an airplane from crashing into the Otto Binder Bridge, the moment is thrilling, not just because of the above-average special effects, but because Benoist actually seems to be having fun. Benoist manages to make this nearly all-powerful hero seem downright human. Unlike Christian Bale’s Batman or Henry Cavill’s Superman, Benoist’s Supergirl seems to really get a thrill from her great power, instead of just being moody about the great responsibility that, as Stan Lee has taught us, such power entails. This Supergirl is a rarity because she, like Grant Gustin’s Flash, actually seems to enjoy her superpowers. Frankly, I found myself mesmerized by her performance (and not in the creepy Jeb Bush sense).īenoist’s Supergirl is a rarity among DC superheroes these days, and I’m not just referring to the fact that she’s a woman. Benoist brings energy to every scene and manages to make the already strong script seem even better than it really is.
Melissa Benoist is perfectly cast as the new hero in National City and, like Christopher Reeve, manages to fully inhabit both the role of Kara Danvers, personal assistant to media mogul Cat Grant (wonderfully played by Calista Flockhart), and the role of Supergirl, strange visitor from another planet with the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound and bend steel with her bare hands. Unlike those films, and even though the Man of Tomorrow makes only the briefest of appearances here, this episode actually feels like a Superman story. As a matter of fact, the Supergirl pilot feels more true to the Superman family of characters than either 2006’s Superman Returns or 2013’s Man of Steel. Like The Flash, Supergirl manages to capture the comic book spirit of the characters without becoming either too unbelievable or overly ironic. The Flash, in particular, has also shown that stories about DC characters can be light and breezy, in contrast to the “realistic” and ponderous films that DC heroes tend to inhabit.ĬBS’s new series, Supergirl, reinforces the success of The Flash. Likewise, CW’s The Flash, and to a lesser extent Arrow, have proven that DC Comics characters can make for really good television as well. was supposed to demonstrate the adaptability of the Marvel universe to television, but is only now beginning to live up to its potential.) Daredevil also demonstrated that the upbeat and family friendly “Marvel Cinematic Universe” has a place for dark and gritty storytelling. (ABC’s mostly mediocre Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. With the first season of Netflix’s Daredevil, Marvel proved that their superheroes can work just as well in episodic television as in 3-D summer blockbuster movies.