Originally published May 24, 2017. Updated November 29, 2022.
Martin Carr reviews Supergirl’s season 2 finale…
Silver Kryptonite is a bitch. Turns up at the most inconvenient time to turn your best friend bad, best cousin evil and then make said person into an arse kicking force of nature. So it begins with our grandstanding, all singing, all dancing finale to season two of Supergirl. Showing us a fist fight designed to level buildings, give away flashes of an old enemy in a new actor and set up some old-fashioned bitch fighting for ruler of Earth gets things off to a good start.
Tyler Hoechlin returns as the Superman who slotted right in from the get go and continues to do so here. Self-assured, extremely watchable and sharing a genuine chemistry with Benoist, you begin asking almost immediately why they waited so long. Also you forgive the tenuous introduction which smacks of convenience because he is just so damn good in the role. Other elements however are less forgivable and feel just a little too easy.
Lillian and Lena Luthor’s reconciliation for one which makes next to no sense considering the early season plot points. Suddenly and for reasons not explained fully, they back side by side again mother and daughter again. Banding together against a former female mentor in Rhea does not represent solid enough reasoning to me. However with the amount on effects of screen, pitch battles against drone Daxamites and other diversionary tactics, maybe they figured people would ignore it.
A tactic which for the most part works as Benoist and Hatcher trade blows on building tops amid expositional dialogue. Having said that once the MacGuffin kicks in and peace is restored we drift all too easily into saccharine soaked territory, which is handled with tact and minimal musical interludes. Unfortunately there is a distinct sense of tying off going on, where loose ends are perhaps perceived as a crime. Come the credits everyone is playing happy families with one exception, giving us a reason for mournful looks, multiple mooning opportunities and longing glances to an imagined horizon.
Which is why this prerequisite cliffhanger for season three feels so obviously tacked on. Dark, moody, brooding and hinting at an unresolved threat in waiting. There is not enough information to engage but too little to ignore. Leaving us either in limbo or worse still indifferent. A strange way to whet the appetite for later this year when Supergirl returns for another bite of the cherry.
Martin Carr – Follow me on Twitter
