Supergirl makes her triumphant return to the CW by handling business all around the globe. Superman is out of town, (well off planet) so Kara (Melissa Benoist) is pulling double duty as she makes saves spanning from National City to Madrid. All is right in the world of Supergirl, as she is handling business CatCo. while wearing the cape.
Enter villains of the week, Otis and Mercy Graves (Robert Baker and Rhona Mitra, respectively). They are targeting aliens with hate crimes and leading an anti-alien movement on the dark web. Of all the CW hero shows, Supergirl tends to not so subtle-ly tackle social and political matters the most. There’s some other parallels here as well when at one point an alien is hunted for his tusks. There’s lots of conflicting dialogue between Kara and the now somewhat retired J’onn J’onns (Martian Manhunter played by Homeland’s David Harewood ) concerning the villain’s actual motives. J’onn insists they are hate crimes whereas Kara, who’s newfound optimism somewhat blinds her, thinks otherwise. There’s lots of metaphors here about the future of the season.
Meanwhile, Alex (Chyler Leigh – a fave) is also kicking butts and taking names as the new leader of the DEO. She is at odds with new team member, Braniac (Jesse Rath) who either seems to do too much or too little when it comes to following her orders. Both of these characters are fantastic. Alex, who in my mind is the absolute best actor on the show, can go from bad-ass fighter to wide-eyed, girly, big sister in the blink of an eye. She’s always fantastic.
“Brainey” also takes on a more of a comic-relief, yet Data (Star Trek: TNG) type role. There’s a really nice moment between these two when they come to the realization that Alex is being hard on Braniac because she misses Winn. (We do too). Braniac however is a scene stealer as well, and a fitting replacement. They come to terms with each other as Alex realizes that Braniac (now dressed as Winn) misses the Legion too.
Also can we talk about Alex’s new magnetic gear and force field generator? I’m a fan.
Other subplots include Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) manipulating both her mother and Jimmy (Mechad Brooks) to get the latter out of trouble with the District Attorney. Jimmy is being charged for his vigilantism as Guardian and unbeknownst to him, Lena takes care of it. Jimmy…I’m sorry, James…. won’t be charged as long he doesn’t dawn the Guardian attire again. I’m absolutely fine with this.
Since day one, this wasn’t the Jimmy Olsen that we’ve known over the years in anyway shape or form. His story arc has been all over the place: spanning from him being in a love triangle involving Kara, to becoming a legit super hero, to becoming the head of CatCo. I’m okay with liberties here and there, but I feel like this character’s direction has always been the weakest part of the show.
A step in the right direction however, is bringing back Linda Carter (Wonder Woman!) to play the President of the United States. The audience already knows that she is actually an Alien from a previous cross-over event. Although aware of the threats to an Alien Summit event at Camp David, she insists that the event go on as scheduled.  Trouble ensues as Otis, Mercy, and henchman dressed as DEO agents invade the meeting. Otis is caught by Supergirl who realizes it’s all a distraction, while Mercy gets away. The kicker is that the news footage shows a split second of the President in alien form.
There’s a very genuine moment in the aftermath where Kara recognizes the reality of these hate crimes. In one scene she finds out that everyday people, people who she’s saved in fact, are reporting aliens and trying to hurt them. These aren’t the villains she fights every week. These are ordinary people that she saves day in and day out. These are moms, workers, and leaders. She says she doesn’t know how to fight this. For a moment, this episode gets very real.
The episode concludes with two big reveals. The first is that the Graves family is working for a new masked villain known as The Agent of Liberty. (I’m not familiar with the character). Additionally we see soldiers in Koznia (Fictional DC country) monitoring what seems to be either a Bizarro or other earth Supergirl training underground. This could be cool, although we have dealt with an evil Supergirl already.
Some good and some “eh” in this episode, but I’m really engaged in this Supergirl vs. everyday people concept, and how they are going to address it. This is a fresh concept we’ve never seen before, and could be the start to another great season. Expectations are high!
Rating: 8 out of 10
The Supergirl Season 4 Premiere is now streaming and on demand.
-Rob Crowther IV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30xeIaP6n4s
