When I first watched Supergirl last season on CBS, I thought it was a decent, but flawed, superhero show. The casting was excellent and the lighthearted approach to superheroics was refreshing compared to the many darker comic book shows that populate television. Like any show, Supergirl took some time figuring out what kind of show it was. The main problem that plauged the show was its location on CBS.
Since the recent cultural superhero boom, the Big Four networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC), have struggled to figure out how to make good superhero shows. The one exception being ABC's fantastic Agent Carter, a show for which the network could never find an audience. From Gotham to Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., these networks have struggle to produce compelling superhero shows because they are creating content in a system that fears genre shows. Genre shows speak to a specific audience, and the network model wants shows that speak to everyone. On a show like S.H.I.E.L.D., for example, the writers are not only hindered by the network's avoidance of the "genre" label (which resulted in the early run of the show basically being superhero CSI), but by the studio (Marvel) which constantly makes the show change course to fit what is going on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When the networks or studios start limiting shows creatively, audiences are smart enough to notice the difference.
The CW has taken a different approach to genre shows. Being the number five network has given The CW a perspective that the Big Four don't have. When you are the lowest rated network, creating self-aware genre shows that other networks are too afraid to create, suddenly becomes a distinction that sets you apart from other networks. Producer Greg Berlanti has created in immersive DC Comics superhero world at The CW between his shows Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash, the latter of which did a very successful crossover episode with CBS's Supergirl (which is also produced by Berlanti) last season. These shows have their fair share of flaws (especially Legends), but unlike other network shows, they are self-aware, and fully committed to their comic book origins. When CBS was unhappy with the outcome of Supergirl's first season, it only seemed natural for the show to move to The CW (a sister network of CBS, that is co-owned by Warner Bros.).
Being the first episode of Supergirl since moving to The CW, "The Adventures of Supergirl," had some important questions to answer. Would it still feel like the same show? Could The CW keep up the quality of the show with more limited resources than CBS? Would the show be able to improve upon the show that CBS had established? While some of those questions will take time to answer, the overall impression left by "The Adventures of Supergirl," is that this is the best version of the show to date.
One of the biggest flaws of the first season, was the way the show avoided ever showing Superman. Yes, Supergirl is the star of the show, but the idea that she would never see her only living relative, or work with him once she became a superhero, became increasingly ridiculous as the season progress. "The Adventures of Supergirl" tackled that problem head on by introducing Clark/Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) early on in the episode, and keeping him around to help Kara/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) at various moments during the episode. If the show had any fears about Superman stealing the show, this episode proved that the writers can balance having Superman around and still have this be Kara's show. Hoechlin and Benoist have a very strong "brother/sister" type of chemistry that works perfectly for these characters. It was fun to see Clark play mentor to Kara, while Kara got to roll her eyes at how much more humble and charming Clark is than even her. Seeing the sway that Clark has over Cat Grant, or Kara's reaction to Clark thanking the DEO agents for their work provided some of the episode's best moments.
The show made some other changes as well. The DEO has moved to a new location, which gave the show an opportunity to make some meta jokes about how the show moved from CBS to The CW. Despite ending last season having finally deciding to explore a relationship, Kara has decided that her and Jimmy should remain just friends. Winn has moved careers to the DEO to put his tech skills to good use, which is a much better way for the show to keep his character relevant. After receiving the offer to take on whatever role she wanted at Catco from Cat Grant last season, Kara finally landed on becoming a journalist. Sure anyone could see that coming from a mile away, but it also allowed for a really great moment between Kara and Cat, who admitted that she envisioned this future for Kara since the day she hired her as her assistant. Since Cat will only be a recurring character this season (which I suspect will be a huge loss for the show) instead of a series regular, these kinds of moments will be few and far between, so it was nice to see the show take advantage of her presence here. There are sure to be more changes to come in future episodes, as the show gets used to its new home, but for now, the show feels more like itself than ever before.
Other Thoughts:
* Right now Superman is only set to appear in last night's episode and next week's episode, with the option to make future appearances. I hope the show finds room to have him come back every now and then, as the relationship between Clark and Kara was a very strong element of "The Adventures of Supergirl."
* I never had any strong feelings either way about Kara and Jimmy as a romantic couple. I don't necessarily think we've seen the last of that coupling, but if we have, it's no great loss to the show.
* There were some worries that the show might be lacking in the special effects department this season, since CBS has more money to work with than The CW, but this first episode looked like it was up to the standards of the first season. Whether or not the show will be able to sustain that quality for the entire season remains to be seen.
* The show introduced Lena Luthor as a character in this episode. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of her. Clark made a comment that he's learned the hard way not to trust a Luthor, but by the end of the episode Kara and Clark both seem to believe she's as innocent as she says she is. The episode gave us no reason to think otherwise, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lena become to Kara what Lex is to Clark.
* Alex and Hank were pushed to the side for much of the episode. I'm assuming this is due in large part to the episode's focus on the Clark/Kara relationship, but it's nice to see that the show is able to prioritize instead of just arbitrarily trying to service all of its characters.
* The episode starts with the revelation of the mystery man (Chris Wood) in the Kryptonian pod, but never gives any real answers about who he is. Hopefully the show gets around to that sooner than later, but this episode had enough going on that it didn't need to rush that particular answer. I would not be surprised if this character ends up being the key to destroying the new villain we saw being created at the end of the episode. Could he be a villain himself?
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