Supergirl Returns! "Legion Of Super-Heroes" Review


By Divya Soni

Supergirl has flown back to UK screens this year after a short break last December, throwing us straight into the aftermath of the Reign/Supergirl showdown.

Episode 10 of season 3: “Legion Of Super-Heroes” starts with the introduction of a new (blue) face - half-computer, half-organic-life-form Brainiac-5 - who informs Kara she’s in a coma after her battle with new super-villain Reign.

The episode teases the uncertainty of Kara’s return to consciousness but let’s be real, in a show titled “Supergirl” it’s doubtful anyone truly fears Supergirl would be killed off.

The majority of the episode flicks between the outside world, in which Kara’s still comatose, and scenes of her and Brainiac-5 trying to break out of her loft, which is a physical manifestation of where her subconscious is “most comfortable”.  In other words, she’s trapped in her own mind.

Instead of focusing on Kara’s recovery throughout so much of the episode, despite the audience pretty much knowing she’ll eventually be fine, the writers could’ve used that time to focus on other characters. Reign, for example, we know to be Kara’s new friend, single mother Sam, who seems as unaware of her own alter ego as everyone else is. Despite being this season’s lead villain, we still don’t know much about her - she speaks mostly of justice and penance and lets her fists do the talking. Hopefully someone realises her true identity in the coming episodes or it’ll make for a very slow storyline.

Unlike slightly darker DC show Arrow, Supergirl has always been quite lighthearted. It would’ve been nice to see more humour in this episode, but with lots of action and the possibility of Kara’s death looming over the characters’ (but not the audience’s) heads, the writers are forgiven for not throwing in as much comedy as usual.

Ever the feminist show, Supergirl continues to put strong female characters at the forefront. While Kara herself is out of action until the very end, the show isn’t lacking powerful women. Alex, Kara’s adoptive human sister, and the DEO agents try their hardest to fight Reign while Supergirl is unavailable. Despite seeing the damage Reign did to her physically much stronger Kryptonian sister, Alex still faces this super-villain head-on, even managing to momentarily restrain her.

Overall, despite being action-packed, the lack of both a conscious Supergirl and comedic scenes made for a slightly dull episode in comparison to the show’s usual high standard. It still preached girl-power, humanity and love, but lacked a certain je ne sais quoi with regard to storyline. A new character (Brainiac-5) kept things interesting and light, and as with every episode, the ending, which revealed the existence of more people like Reign, filled us with intrigue and impatience for the next installment.


Supergirl airs at 8pm on Sky1 every Monday.

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