Episode Review: 2x04 "Survivors"

By Corinne McCreery

We’re going to be breaking rules number one and two tonight, as we talk about a certain type of club. And not as the masks would have us believe the same type of club as seen in Eyes Wide Shut.

We open with the devastation of Daxam, and see that Mon-El was the bodyguard to the planet’s prince. The prince tricked him into the pod, and the rest is history. The biggest thing I’m wondering with Mon-El is why Kara hasn’t questioned the similarity in their names yet. I’m really hoping they are not setting him up as a romance for Kara, because they seem more like friends than anything more than that. I love that Mon-El is essentially a golden-age Kryptonian. Tough skin, but not invulnerable, strong but not too strong, no flight but good leaping, no vision or breath powers.

Episode Review: 2x03 "Welcome to Earth"

By Corinne McCreery


Let the ships sail! This week we got introductions to a few new characters, and more screen time for another two that were recently introduced (three if you count coma boy).

Speaking of Coma Boy, we open where we left last week with him choking out Kara, and then escaping the DEO, with J’onn lamenting the loss of his Kryptonite. On top of that, the President is visiting, so having a rogue alien on the loose could pose a big problem.

Episode Review: 2x02 "The Last Children of Krypton"

By Corinne McCreery


This episode was everything I could have ever asked for. So let’s dive right in, right?

First thing, I was very happy that the clunky opening was just for the first episode, and much more condensed this week like the season one opening. Also that they replaced the shadowy shot of Superman with one of Tyler when he gets mentioned.

Episode Review: 2x01 “Adventures of Supergirl”

By Corinne McCreery

Welcome back everyone! I’m back too, and apologize for not finishing last season, and will hopefully get the reviews I missed up shortly as well.

With a new season come big changes for the show, with moves of both networks and geography. The change is evident immediately, with the new opening and the new logo. I love the new logo, it looks snazzier than CBS’s did. The new opening feels a bit clunky to me though.  I am hoping it gets cleaned up and that the super wordy intro was just for the premiere to catch new viewers up. Aside from the opening, though, the show didn't miss a single beat in quality in the move of networks.

Episode Review: 1x16 "Falling"

By Corinne McCreery

Man. I didn’t think this show could raise the bar again. I just didn’t think it was possible, because the previous bars had been so high. I was dead wrong. I hope I will be wrong again, but we’ll see.

“She is the kindest person you’ve ever met.” That line says it all to me, just as much as a line from Supergirl TV Talk’s own interview with Sterling Gates (have you listened to it yet? Go do it now) did, “She’s an unwavering optimistic voice, in an increasingly cynical world.” Those are both brilliant once sentence descriptors of this character, and both are so powerful at this time.

Episode Review: 1x15 "Solitude"

By Corinne McCreery

Fair warning, there is a lot of Cori nerding out in this episode. This episode hit me on so many different levels of things that I love, so I can’t contain my excitement at certain things.

The first of many nerd moments for me this episode was the Brainiac logo popping up on the dash of Kara’s ship. Brainiac is one of my favorite villains. Brainiac 5 is one of my favorite heroes. Brainiac 8 was there when my interest in comics was getting reignited. Any live action form of Brainiac has long been a pipe dream for me, and one that is now realized.

Episode Review: 1x14 "Truth, Justice, and the American Way"

By Corinne McCreery

I apologize for not getting the comic review up like I said I was going to, but some important personal things came up.

The pain on Kara’s face in the opening scene, was just another testament to Melissa’s amazing acting chops. I also absolutely loved the bits of Kryptonian culture (and the mention of RAO!) that we got in this episode. It was also driven home again that Krypton had abolished Capital Punishment, and that makes me very happy.

Episode Review: 1x13 "For the Girl Who Has Everything"

By Corinne McCreery

We open this week with a bit more of a cold open than most weeks, with Kara waking up on Krypton from what appears to be a fever dream. We get a couple of awesome comic references right away with Kelex and Argo, Kelex traditionally being a Kryptonian robot that aids Superman in his Fortress of Solitude; Argo being the city that the Silver-Age Kara grew up on after it survived the explosion of the planet. We also get a beautiful establishing shot of Krypton as Kara realizes where she is.

Then we cut back to Earth, where Kara is missing from CatCo and Cat is none too pleased about it. Winn’s attempts to cover for her are so adorable, and so very awful. “Kara has lice.”

Episode Review: 1x12 "Bizarro"

By Corinne McCreery

Here we go again! Yet another episode that draws specifically from the Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle run on Supergirl. “Bizarrogirl” was the last trade (and second to last arc) that the two collaborated on in the title. Sadly the paperback version of the book is out of print, but you can find it on Comixology for some good collaborative reading!

Max Lord really upped his super villain game in this episode. Before he was merely despicable, sometimes deplorable. With this episode, he is 100% evil. Seven Jane Does claimed by Max? That’s not just evil, that’s a danged serial killer. The show also throws a little bit of an Easter egg at us with Lord wanting his own Supergirl. As I’ve said before, Lord is a very obvious stand in for Lex Luthor, and in the early 1990s, that version of Supergirl was both in love with and on Lex Luthor’s payroll. Max playing up that he knows Kara’s secret was intense, and Alex’s manhandling of him was well deserved. I’m very interested to see where the story with a captive Max Lord goes.

Episode Review: 1x11 "Strange Visitor from Another Planet"

By Corinne McCreery

Wow. What an extremely emotional episode. I’ve said before on multiple occasions that this show is best when portraying emotions. No other episode so clearly illustrates and reinforces that declaration than this episode did.

The opening scene of the episode very deliberately and poignantly evoked images of Mars, as foreshadowing what was to come with red skies and the feeling of searing heat.

Episode Review: 1x10 "Childish Things"

By Corinne McCreery

Full disclosure, he may not be a big name villain, but Toyman has always really terrified me. The year was 1993, I was 9 years old, and had just started reading comics with the “Death of Superman” in Superman (volume 2) #75. Nine months later, Superman was back and I was still hooked. Superman #84 and 85 left an undeniable impact on my young psyche. In those two issues, Cat Grant’s son Adam is kidnapped by Toyman, along with several other kids. Adam leads an escape attempt, and when he is caught, he’s stabbed to death by Schott. These comics were very dark for a nine year old, especially since Adam was probably no more than that age himself. So this episode hit some feelings for me, which made it take awhile for me to write.

Episode Review: 1x09 "Blood Bonds"

By Corinne McCreery

I’m actually having a tough time finding words to start this week’s recap, because I don’t really feel this episode as a stand alone episode, but more just as the continuation of the last, which in fairness is an accurate description. For that reason, “Blood Bonds” doesn’t take the ranking of favorite away from “Hostile Takeover”, but in a way shares it.

Episode Review: 1x08 "Hostile Takeover"

By Corinne McCreery

Great Rao. I stand corrected. Again. Just like the last two weeks, this episode continued to improve upon a great foundation. For the third consecutive week, I have a new favorite episode. A part of me still can’t believe this is a thing that I’m getting every week. Even if this is the only season we get, I’m still getting about 15 hours of the most perfect version of my favorite hero.

Episode Review: 1x07 "Human For a Day

By Corinne McCreery

First things first, I unfortunately got spoiled on the reveal before the episode aired. You see, I live on the West Coast. None of my friends on Facebook watch the show live, so I didn’t have to worry about any of them. I assumed I wouldn’t have to worry about comic news sites too, since there’s been so much backlash with pre-west coast airing spoilers with things like Walking Dead. I assumed incorrectly, because twenty minutes after the episode aired, Newsarama spoiled it in both their link and in the image they used to show the link. Shame on you Newsarama.




That said, this episode was absolutely amazing. It nailed every single thing I love about this show. Mostly it was the most emotional episode we’ve gotten yet, and as I’ve said before, emotions are where this show really excels.

From the opening scene, I knew we were in for an emotional roller coaster episode. The really sad “Thanks. …Mom.” at the end of the scene choked me up. And then “Stupid Red Tornado” had me giggling. As did “He’s such a nerd.”

Since the reveal was spoiled for me, I have to say that Henshaw’s response to “I will grind your loved ones to dust” was even more poignant for me. It resonates on a whole different level when you know the truth.

Man, do I love James Olsen. So much more after this episode even. His backstory broke my heart. And continues to do so on every rewatch.

Cat Grant taking a picture of the guy who left for his family is just so Cat… As is her forgetting Winn’s name. And her pep talk this week going to everyone, rather than just to Kara. The talk with Kara and Cat at the end was heartwarming and sincere. “I know you inspired them, because you inspired me,” may just be my favorite line from an episode chalk full of great lines.

“Don’t you think people need a more positive message? Hope, rather than fear?” Perfect. Again, this show nails the character I love so much. This is my Kara, my beacon of hope. And then, the scene with the dying father, lord what a gut wrenching, heart breaking scene. Kara trying so hard to save him, and failing is so hard to watch. This is another lesson that Kara learned in the Sterling Gates run on the book, that you can’t save everyone. (She actually learned it the arc before he took over, but was still dealing with the ramifications well into his run, and honestly Sterling handled it so much better).

“They don’t know that.” God, I love Melissa’s Kara so much. I can’t say enough How perfectly she embodies a character I’ve loved for most of my life. The overlay of Kara stopping the robbery with Cat’s speech is an amazing choice and works so well. And James’s picture. I hope beyond hope that CBS is seeing how many people want a print of that picture, and release it in their store, because I’ll buy two. At least. I REALLY WANT THAT PICTURE OKAY?

The Jemm scenes were dark and creepy, and perfect for the mood they were going for. I do think it’s a funny coincidence that Supergirl had a purple psychic villain so soon after Jessica Jones premiered.

The one thing I didn’t like about this episode was Winn’s reaction to the hug. It was a simple hug, and he overreacted big time. Winn, I love you, but you went stereotypical “Nice Guy” there.

Alex kicked SO MUCH ASS. That is all.

The city-saving montage was absolutely amazing. I especially loved her smile at the school children. I’ve said before that no matter how I feel about the show, I’m not the important audience. The children are. And I’m seeing that more and more. A few weeks ago I went to a comic con, cosplaying as Kara. I had a little girl point at me, and her dad came over and told me she really wanted a picture with me. She was dressed as a tiny Wonder Woman, and the picture was probably the most adorable thing ever. As they left, I found out her name was actually Kara and that she really wanted a picture with her namesake. Then this week, two separate friends sent me pictures of their children. One posed in front of the Supergirl logo on TV with her hands on her hips, standing strong and proud. The other in a Supergirl hat with a giant grin on her face. These little things warm my heart and make the show so much more worthwhile.

Alright, I buried it long enough. Let’s talk about the absolutely HUGE reveal. I was wrong. Hank’s not Cyborg Superman. Or at least this Hank isn’t. And I’m thrilled. While I’d love to see that villain eventually (Either Jeremiah Danvers or the real Hank Henshaw would be great), I LOVE that we’re getting J’onn. I’ve loved the Martian Manhunter for almost as long as I’ve loved Supergirl. I also REALLY hope we get to see “Hank” enjoy some Oreos in the future. AND J’ONN LOOKED AMAZING.

And for the second straight week we got a great cliffhanger ending to the episode, leaving me begging for more.

Last week I said that I couldn’t imagine a more perfect episode of Supergirl. I happily eat crow this week, and hope I continue to. I loved “Red Faced” so much, but “Human for a Day” is my new favorite by miles. Please let this show stick around for years and years to come. See you next week for the Fall finale! (And I think I have something special planned for the couple of weeks of hiatus we get, so stay tuned).


Corinne McCreery has been a fan of comic books for over twenty years, and a fan of Supergirl in particular for just about that long. Other comic characters near and dear to her heart are the members of the New Teen Titans (Especially Nightwing), Kitty Pryde and Roy Harper. Other non-comic related interests include water skiing and tattoos, of which she has five, three of which are comic related. One of the best days of her life came when she met Dean Cain, and was able to recreate the famous Crisis on Infinite Earths cover with the Man of Steel that she grew up with. Currently she lives in Oakland, CA; a transplant from South Dakota. You can find her online on tumblr at effyeahsupergirl or Twitter at @corimarie21, where you will likely find her live-tweeting the west coast airing of Supergirl every week.

Episode Review: 1x06 "Red Faced"

 By Corinne McCreery

After three weeks, I finally have a new favorite episode. Don’t get me wrong, the last two episodes were great, but for me they just weren’t enough. This episode was probably the most perfect episode I can imagine getting. Traditionally, I’ll rewatch the episode immediately after it airs, and then again as I go to bed for the night on Monday nights. This time I had to give myself a break, because I needed time to cool down and process what I had just witnessed.

Most of what I absolutely loved about the episode boiled down to one key ingredient. I’ve gushed many times over in these recaps about how much I loved Sterling Gates’s and Jamal Igle’s run on Supergirl (it’s my second favorite run on a Supergirl book overall, and favorite modern era Supergirl run by about a million miles). And while the show has certainly looked to that run on the book for inspiration, over and over and over again; never before has it so fully felt like it had just completely pulled from the pages of those comics than it did in this episode. The look of the episode was so very close to Jamal’s art that it was uncanny, and the writing was pitch perfect in line with Sterling’s amazing work.

Episode Review: 1x05 "How Does She Do It?"

By Corinne McCreery

This episode starts out AMAZING. I’ve praised the special effects in this show many times already, but good lord. I’m in awe of how incredible that opening flight scene is. It’s just beautiful to watch.

With the Siegel Award reference, we finally get the last real Easter Egg I expect right off the bat in the show. Though I think there will probably be a shout out to Peter David at some point, and I’m crossing my fingers for nods to Jim Mooney, Paul Kupperberg, and Carmine Infantino at some point too.

Some people online don’t like that Cat is being, well catty, to Lois Lane, especially since Lois isn’t there to defend herself. They see it as a denigration of one of DC’s premiere female characters, and pointless. I think it serves to sharpen Cat’s character. She’s not nice, and definitely wouldn’t be to a competitor. I don’t think that the jabs in the show are meant as mean spirited towards the character from the show, but from a character within it.

Episode Review: 1x04 "Livewire"

By Corinne McCreery

I’ll open this week in saying that while still a fantastic episode, this is the first one that didn’t outshine the previous week’s for me. I still loved it, but I had some major hangups about certain parts of it. None of those problems came from what seems to be the controversial thing about the episode when I’m talking to others in my circles though. I have friends that don’t think they should have swapped episode order. That people should be ‘strong enough to separate reality from make believe.” I disagree with that sentiment and fully stand behind CBS’s decision to air the episodes out of order. I think it was both a respectful decision and one that makes a lot of business sense. The other options were to either air the originally intended episode, and possibly hurt and alienate some viewers into never coming back; or to not air any episode, which for a show that had been slipping in the ratings would have probably been a death knell. I’m glad they did what they did, and I think it shows the compassion that the show excels at. The episode still flowed well, the only continuity problem was how quickly it seemed that James and Lucy reconciled, but knowing the episodes were out of order made it easy for me to just assume the reconciliation happened in the one we missed.

Episode Review: 1x03 "Fight or Flight"

By Corinne McCreery

This show continues to amaze me. While “Fight or Flight” continues the trend of episodes that I loved more than the last, I was a little worried about this episode coming in, for two reasons.

The first is that Reactron is my favorite Supergirl villain, due mostly to Sterling Gates’s amazing run on the Supergirl comic in which he made her Kara’s archenemy, and with a very personal backstory to it. I was annoyed when the show announced that he was going to be introduced as a former Superman villain, because Reactron has always been a Supergirl villain first. Despite that reservation, I was really hyped for this episode, because I never, ever thought I’d see Reactron on screen. So a little bit of my worry was that I was overhyping it. 

The second reason was that I saw a spoiler for something that happened in this episode, and it seemed to point at the episode being a big let down episode. I saw that Superman was going to appear, and saw the clip of him saving Supergirl, and that worried me profusely. More on that scene in a bit.

Episode Review: 1x02 "Stronger Together"

By Corinne McCreery

So I loved the pilot episode, and watched it over twenty times between the time it leaked to the internet, and the time in which we finally got something new for me to watch. At this point “Stronger Together” has been out for three days. I’ve watched it a dozen times. Somehow, I like this episode even more than the pilot, and that makes me extremely happy. I just hope that each episode continues this trend. 



Melissa continues to shine in the role. She’s just such a phenomenal actress and embodies everything I love about the character, both on screen and off. Just like last week, it’s the little things that make me believe in her the most. In this episode it was the nose crunching when Cat suggested that Supergirl might be Superman’s girlfriend. It was the look of, “Oh god, why did I do this?” when she rescued “Fluffy.” It was a moment I’ll talk about in more detail later that happened at the end of the episode.

Episode Review: 1x01 "Pilot"

By Corinne McCreery

The Supergirl pilot has finally aired, and I’m still not over it. I’ll give full disclosure on the subject right now: I’m probably the biggest fan of Kara Zor-El you will ever meet. I own her first and second appearances, every issue of every solo series she’s ever had, and a good chunk of her key appearances in Action Comics and Adventure Comics from the 1960s and 1970s. I have a tattoo of George Perez’s Supergirl from Crisis on Infinite Earths tattooed on my leg, and plans for at least three more Supergirl centric tattoos. She’s my favorite character in all of comics, and one that I have looked to over and over again for guidance in tough times of my life.

I will say that I was leery coming in to this show. When the show was announced, I was no longer reading the comics, as the version of Supergirl in comics at the time was far from the version that I hold such a deep connection to. She didn’t represent the hope, optimism and compassion that Kara always had for me. She had been turned into an angry teenager, something she’d been before but never for so long, and lost the things that made her unique and, in my opinion, a better character than her cousin. I was worried that that would be the version we would get. Then, I was still leery when Melissa Benoist was cast, mostly because, not being a fan of Glee, I had no exposure to her. Even still, when the costume shots were released. The suit was what I wanted, very close to the classic look from the first movie and many years of comics, but the colors in those first photos were washed out and it looked like the show might be going in a darker direction.

Then we got the six minute trailer. I was just getting off work when it hit, and my friends started blowing up my phone wondering what I thought. I watched it on my tiny little phone, in public, at the bus stop. Not caring about the odd looks I was getting from the people around me, I was immersed in a trailer for a show I had waited nearly two decades for, since discovering the character. The trailer brought me to tears, along with eliciting inhuman squeals of happiness and literal jumping with joy.  The show won me over then and there.