SUPERGIRL
As you probably already know, Supergirl is the story of Kara Zor-El, who was sent to Earth from Krypton to watch over her younger cousin, Kal-El. However, by the time she arrived on Earth, Kal-El had already grown up as Clark Kent and become Superman. Under the guise of Kara Danvers, Kara lives and works in National City.
Unlike the previous three shows I wrote about, Supergirl did not begin on the CW network in the shared "Arrowverse." Rather, it started on CBS and played out its entire first season on that network, taking place in a separate universe of its own. In my opinion, te producers and/or writers made some mistakes during that first season. For one thing, it seemed as though they didn't believe that the character of Supergirl could carry the show on her own. It didn't take them long to bring the Martian Manhunter into the story, and Superman made an appearance as well. What I personally disliked the most about the show, however, was its tendency toward periodically pushing the "feminist agenda."
Don't get e wrong. I am all or equal pay for equal work and ensuring that capable women have the same opportunities as capable men, etcetera, but sometimes the "man-hate" on this show grew so overt that I started thinking that I was watching the Lifetime channel. I'm not saying that it was because of that, but for some reason(s) the show did not do well, at least in the eyes of the CBS executives. They cancelled the show after that first season...but perhaps in part because something very unusual had taken place shortly before then, the show did not just fade quietly into history.
The CW and CBS had come to an agreement on terms, and near the end of the season there was a crossover episode in which The Flash, who we had already seen visiting at least one parallel Earth, visited Supergirl's Earth. I believe it was that episode that made the possibility of the CW picking up the show for a second season a very real one, and that is exactly what happened. After its first season, Supergirl joined its "Arrowverse" siblings on the CW.
Gone was Calista Flockhart, who had portrayed Kara's boss, Cat Grant. Also gone were those periodic "feminist agenda" pushes, only to be replaced by the "liberal agenda." At one point during the second season I was starting to think that the show had been turned into a far-left liberal propaganda piece and I almost quit watching it—if I want politics, I'll turn to a news channel—but then it seemed to back off from that, at least partially, and become the simple superhero show that I wanted to watch. Since then there have been a couple of more crossovers with the "Arrowverse," including one musical episode crossover with The Flash that turned out to be more enjoyable than I expected it to be.
In some ways, I think Supergirl is the weakest of the four shows I've discussed to this point, but it's still entertaining. Making Jimmy Olsen—I'm sorry, I mean James Olsen—the Guardian (I think that's the right name) is kind of pointless in my opinion, but perhaps that's just me. I think they should give the Supergirl character a chance to carry the show on her own...though it's not like the other shows haven't brought in other heroes, of course.
Arrow started out good, lost its way a bit, and then got good again. The Flash started out a little Saturday morning kids' show-like, then got good. Legends of Tomorrow shares a similar track record, at least in my opinion. So, who knows? Perhaps very soon now, Supergirl will take that step from being just okay to being a really good show.
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