Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Supergirl - Stronger Together


The second episode of Supergirl continues to focus on Kara Zor-El's (Melissa Benoist) adventures as a struggling new hero. Although her heart is in the right place, Supergirl's attempts to help cause an equal amount of damage and bad press. Taking the advice of Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) the fledging hero goes back to the drawing board and by enlisting the help of Superman's black friend James "Don’t Call Me Jimmy" Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) and Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan) she begins a campaign to start smaller and defuse more easily-handled situations while learning on the job and slowly changing public perception.

The other major theme of "Stronger Together" is family. Alex (Chyler Leigh) attempts to teach Kara the need to train. Although that message falls on deaf ears, the pair eventually make-up as Supergirl is forced to save her foster sister from her villainous aunt Astra (Laura Benanti) who appears to be leading the escaped prisoners of Fort Rozz. Supergirl has no trouble choosing her real family but this does make her a dangerous enemy going forward.

Much like the "Pilot" episode, the writing of "Stronger Together" continues to be a bit hit-and-miss. Also, Astra's plan to attack Kara rather than first attempt to entice her niece to her side is more than a little short-sighted. The back-up story of Cat blackmailing Olsen for an interview with the new hero is mainly filler. In terms of other supporting characters the episode does introduce us to Peter Facinelli, a casting I'm still on the fence about (even if the actor does have the smarmy charm for the role), and tease that Hank Henshaw's (David Harewood) turn from ally to villain may take place far sooner than expected.

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