Supergirl premieres Monday night on CBS and seems to arrive at just the right point in current pop culture. Superhero movies and TV shows are obviously a phenomenon right now, dominating the Hollywood blockbuster landscape (which has led to some grousing among those who feel more original material or the “middle class” of films are being ignored) and making a surprising splash on TV.
Though I do wonder if the argument can be made that superhero TV fills more of a niche on networks such as the CW and Netflix with shows that feature costumed heroes versus series like Gotham and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which take place in worlds were superheroes are emerging or already exist, but aren’t necessarily about superheroes. (Some of you might disagree with that.)
For the most part, superhero stories still traffic in dark territory, with muted colors and modified costumes that try to steer away from the source comic book material, as if producers are still afraid that this material won’t be taken seriously and needs to be set in as realistic a world as possible. Yet the success of the Marvel films — and to a far greater extent, The Flash — demonstrates that movies and TV shows featuring comic book heroes no longer have to apologize for or be tepid about their roots. The Flash, especially, has found success by steering directly into what made that character a success in DC Comics, embracing wacky characters and storylines like Gorilla Grodd and multiple timelines/universes.
You can’t get more wacky — or borderline cheesy — than a series about a woman dressed up in a Superman outfit, who happens to be the Man of Steel’s cousin. Calling her “Supergirl” doesn’t quite help with that perception either, almost implying that the character isn’t meant to be taken seriously. But executive producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg take superheroes seriously, which is why Arrow and The Flash have been so successful, even if their depiction of them isn’t always deadly serious.
That definitely comes across in the pilot episode, in which the material is treated earnestly and the title character is never made to seem like a second-rate or knockoff superhero. This is important if for no other reason than superhero movies and TV has largely been a boy’s club, and in serious need of a female lead character. Supergirl beats Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel to that punch, even if it’s on the small screen instead of the big screen. Just as comic books have shown they can offer more, so should their movie and TV adaptations.
Writer Ali Adler, along with fellow executive producer Sarah Schecter (and Berlanti and Kreisberg), has to acknowledge the obvious with Kara Danvers (played by Melissa Benoist, Glee) sporting the iconic “S,” established as the Kryptonian symbol for hope in Man of Steel, on her uniform. The early part of the pilot establishes that she is indeed related to Superman, having been sent to Earth to protect baby Kal-El. But her spaceship was knocked off its path by Krypton’s explosion, which delayed her arrival and explained why she’s a younger woman than her famous cousin.
Though Superman is unquestionably a presence in this series, he’s more of a mythological figure in this series — one who has certainly changed the world, but is sort of unattainable and inaccessible, up in the clouds while humanity tend to our daily lives down on Earth. The show doesn’t come right out and say it, but it’s sort of implied: Supergirl is a hero for the rest of us, someone far more relatable. She’s not trying to fit in like Clark Kent, so much as needing to find her purpose.
Obviously, the relatability only goes so far. Yes, Kara has issues at work with a demanding boss and problems in her dating life (which seems like a concession to a younger female audience, but hopefully that isn’t a frequent topic as the series progresses). But once our hero decides that she needs to do something with the extraordinary abilities she’s tried to keep hidden since childhood, she becomes something more and complicates her life far more than she could imagine.
The sequence in which Kara first demonstrates her powers, rescuing an airplane from crashing is impressive for television, and very much true to the spirit of the Superman mythos. It’s a scene clearly inspired by Superman: The Movie and Superman Returns, in addition to John Byrne’s 1986 DC Comics reboot. It’s a great way to not only depict Kara’s superhuman abilities — notably flight and strength — but shows that she’s capable of the same feats as Superman.
That essentially sets the rest of the series in motion. By outing herself, Kara draws the attention of the Department of Extra-Normal Operations (DEO), a covert government agency tasked with monitoring and apprehending alien beings — many of whom appear to have also come from Krypton, freed from a prison transport that was inadvertently brought to Earth along with Kara’s ship. You can see how that establishes the week-to-week narrative, with Supergirl having to take care of a new villain each episode, but also an overarching mythology that serialized shows such as this one need to keep viewers continually engaged.
The introduction of the DEO also leads to a big revelation early on, one that some of the trailers and marketing may have given away. Personally, I’m not sure I like the twist, as it seems to make Supergirl’s initial journey less heroic and more like she’s a pawn in a bigger scheme. But it certainly explains why a relatively known actor was cast for that part, which initially appeared to be more of a sidekick role. Maybe this plot development will also add to the depth of the conspiracy in later episodes, calling into question who Kara can trust and what the true motivations of people around her might be.
All of this adds some dramatic weight to the series, helping to emphasize that Supergirl is to be taken seriously, and isn’t just some light, airy, rom-com version of a superhero story. We’ll see if those elements end up being part of the show, depending on what the audience responds to and CBS presses its objective of drawing a younger, female viewership to the network.
Even so, the tone of the series presents a nice contrast to the gloom and violence depicted on Gotham in the same Monday timeslot on Fox. Supergirl looks like it will be a lot more fun, and if it can also demonstrate that it has a clear direction — unlike Gotham and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, which seem to be making it up on the fly and adding more comic book mythology to seem significant — it stands a chance of being as good as Arrow and The Flash.
