Shawn Reviews the Supergirl Season 2 Season Premiere!

I caught the Supergirl season premiere on the CW Monday night. And I have to say I LOVED what I saw. I thought the move to the CW would lead to a decline in quality. Thankfully the storytelling has remained strong and the special effects are still solid. In fact, I’d say the writing has gotten better. The first episode of the second season set up the seasons’ storylines just like the first issue of run of an oldschool DC Comic.

Episode 1 of season captured the spirit of a Superman Family comic. The heart and soul of the Superman mythos was in this season premiere. I loved the setup and introduction of Superman to the Berlantiverse. Tyler Hochelin is THE Superman of the 21^st Century. THIS is the Superman we wanted in the movies, a friend to the public, and a bumbling nerdy Clark who makes us believe a man can fly. In his first five minutes onscreen he conveyed who Superman is supposed to be onscreen.

Henry Cavill, Take notes on Tyler Hochelin. Because THIS is HOW YOU PLAY SUPERMAN. He’s warm and friendly, not an angry brooding loner like the jerk featured in Zack Synder’s terrible movies.

 It also looks like the DEO is being taken in a new direction. I like the fact that the DEO is being changed to reflect the hopeful tone of Superman comics with a brighter environment and is being pushed to the foreground to give Kara more room to be Kara, and she’s being given space to find her own life. The DEO stuff really bogged down things last season, but these changes might make that organization a better fit for the show.

I really like the friction between J’onn and Superman it adds some dimension to their relationship that wasn’t in the comics and shows us what’s really distinct about J’onn so he won’t just be the Superman Stand in like he was last season. The issue of J’onn holding Kryptonite for the DEO sets up a nice conflict between Superman and J’onn based on morals and ethics.

I also like the setup for the guy in the pod. Could he be one of the Legion of Super-Heroes? If the guy in the pod is a setup for Legion On Supergirl it’s a WIN.

Win Schott working at the DEO was another great change. His tech skills and awkward personality works better with the DEO than it does at CATCO. In my hypotehcal run I said they should have brought Kitty Faulkner in for this kind of role at the DEO to play comic relief off J’onn and Kara’s sister. But I’ll take Win in that role.

The introduction of Lena Luthor was nicely done. A slow organic build to Kara’s female nemesis. I’d have preferred Dr. Cyber, so Donna Troy could pop in for a guest spot and establish a larger DC Universe on TV, but Lena works well here.

Kara’s replacement Miss Tessmacher was another great reference to the old Superman movies. And her bumbling and stumbling about were a great refrence to the woman who used to be at Lex’s side.

I loved the setup for Metallo, it combined elements of STAS and the comics but stayed true to the spirit of the character in both mediums. John Corbin in the cop uniform was PERFECT. Great refrerence to the Terminator 2, because the original endoskeleton Terminator was one of the inspirations of the Modern Age Metallo.

The end of the episode also sets up Cadmus nicely. What I liked was the fat that so many awesome storylines for the season were being set up in 45 minutes! I’m looking forward to next week’s episode featuring Metallo!

The only thing I didn’t like about the Season Premiere was the Superman Costume. While it captured the spirit of the Superman colors the design just lacks in comparison to the classic costume. Superman needs his red trunks and a yellow \S/ on the back of his cape to truly be Superman. Tyler has shown he has the personality to play Supes, NOW GIVE HIM HIS COSTUME!

On another note, it looks like it’s the END OF THE SWIRLD for Kara and Jimmy. Oh well, I saw this coming. I’m just hoping that James’ role doesn’t become diminished. With Superman taking a larger role on the show and Win taking a larger role in the DEO, it’s looking like James is getting ready to be sent to go take some pictures of the background. That is unless Kara in her new role as reporter for CATCO is in need of a Black man to emasculate when she goes out to save people.

It looks like Supergirl Season 2 is going to be more action oriented show with Superman being part of the supporting cast. Which is a good thing. The show needed a lot more action and a lot less angst. The Season Premiere felt like a DC Comic come to life. This is looking like the kind of show that can give Marvel Studios films the competition they desperately need. If this is the direction CW is going to take Supergirl in, the show it’s going to be an awesome season.

I’ll be reviewing Flash’s season premiere tomorrow. And Arrow’s Friday. Why Friday? Arrow Season 4 was gourmet shit on a plate. And I’m gonna need a day to get calm enough to write a blog that’s somewhat family friendly regarding the croqembouche Shitpile the Arrow Season 5 premire will be.    

Oh and it’s only 21 days until Spellbound is officially released to Kindle, nook, and Smashwords! However, with editng coming along faster I may release the paperback a little earlier than that! Like next week!