Tell-Tale TV Panel: Supergirl Season 1

Supergirl Season 1 has come and gone, and it brought us the gift that is Cat Grant. Okay, there were other amazing things too, like Kara and Alex’s relationship and Cat Grant’s relationship with everyone.

Now that Season 1 has come to an end, it’s time to get serious and reflect upon the strengths and flaws of the season, as well as share our hopes and fears for Season 2 of Supergirl, which will be on The CW. Join the discussion by leaving your thoughts in a comment below.

Our panelists are:

• Lyra Hale, senior writer for Tell-Tale TV
• Lissete (Lizzie) Lanuza Saenz, associate editor for Tell-Tale TV
• Samantha Coley, staff writer for Tell-Tale TV
• Allison Nichols, staff writer for Tell-Tale TV

On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rank the season overall?

Lyra: I would have to rate the season a 7. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it tried to do something extraordinary with what it had.

Lizzie: I’m going to agree. 7 seems like a good number. It was adorable at times, and boring at others, but it was mostly good anyway.

Allison: I agree with the consensus. I give it a 7. It was never absolutely terrible, but it did falter at times.

Samantha: I’m going to give it an 8, because while it certainly had it’s flaws, Supergirl actually made me feel good more times than not.

What was the season’s biggest mistake?

Lyra: The season’s biggest mistake was making a romantic attachment between Kara and James. It’s the first season so I’m not really worried about him, but it’s been a mess from the start. James was emotionally cheating on Lucy with Kara. Our Supergirl doesn’t deserve someone who would do that to someone else.

The only reason why Kara is in “like” with him is because this is the first person (besides her family) that she could be 100% with. She hasn’t realized that there are plenty of other trustworthy humans that would accept her and her secret. Kara doesn’t have to settle for someone as mediocre as James.

Lizzie: The romantic elements. Both Winn and James were handled in the wrong way, and I frankly want neither of them with Kara. James is boring and he didn’t treat Lucy well, and yet we’re all supposed to forgive and forget?

Winn, on the other hand, came off as entitled instead of a friend who happens to have fallen in love with a girl. In fact, Adam, the one that didn’t last, was probably Kara’s best romantic partner. And that’s sad.

Allison: The romance was a huge issue. Winn’s characterization was the absolute worst. Towards the end, Winn started to act like a guy you might consider rooting for, but he has a long way to go. He was definitely, as Lizzie said, entitled. He thought the ONLY reason why Kara wouldn’t like him was because she was a lesbian. Dude.

Samantha: I didn’t really have a problem with the romance storylines. Sure they were a little messy and campy at times, and Winn’s “nice guy” attitude certainly drove me insane, but they were believable.

My main concern was finding the balance between monster of the week episodes and episodes that tie into the greater plot of the whole season. Switching back and forth between these two modes, without really meshing them together made the pacing feel inconsistent.

I also think it was a HUGE mistake to have killed off Astra. She was leaps and bounds more interesting and complex than Non or Max Lord. And I’ll never understand why they had Cat figure out that Kara was Supergirl, only to retcon that reveal and make her believe she was wrong.

What worked really well this season?

Lyra: The relationship between Kara and Alex really worked for this season. These two sisters love each other and would do anything in the world to protect the other.

But they’re far from perfect. They disagree on various points and have even lied to protect the others feelings. There is no show out there that makes me feel the sibling bond like these two. I’m really hoping it continues to be the core of the show.

Lizzie: The family elements. Kara/Alex and Kara/Alex/J’onn J’onzz. They were the only ones who brought out feels in a consistent manner from me. I expected the Kara and Alex relationship, but I didn’t expect J’onn to be as good or as interesting as he ended up being, so I count that as a big win for Supergirl.

Allison: Kara and Supergirl’s relationship with Cat Grant. They are what made the show worth watching for me. I loved seeing how Kara and Cat’s relationship grew. I just adored watching Supergirl get to say some of the things to Cat that she can’t say as Kara, and it was an interesting way to reveal just how much Cat means to Kara.

Samantha: I agree with the consensus here. All of Kara’s familial or platonic relationships were really the glue of the season. Her bonds with Alex, J’onn, and Cat worked exceptionally well, and really made the audience care about those relationships.

I also really liked how developed the secondary characters were, particularly the women. We all know this is Kara’s show, but Alex, Cat, and Lucy were all incredibly well-rounded and highly-successful women in their fields. This is pretty much the number one way to keep me interested in a show: developed, powerful, emotionally complex female characters, and Supergirl has that in spades.

What was the biggest surprise of the season?

Lyra: The biggest surprise was everyone conveniently forgetting that a girl jumped off a building. There was potential there to jumpstart a completely different part of Kara’s journey, the brooding. But like Supergirl’s counterpart, The Flash, this show is too family friendly and would rather gloss over these issues and avoid giving any depth.

Lizzie: How much I enjoyed Cat Grant. Really, I didn’t expect it. I loved the family connections, yes, but Cat was the funniest thing on this show and a breath of fresh every time she was on screen.

Allison: I really loved the crossover. I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to work, so I was a bit nervous about it. It was my favorite episode of the entire season, and it made me want to keep watching Supergirl. I kept up with it because I knew the crossover was coming. It sort of became one of those shows that I had to talk myself into watching at times.

The crossover featured happy Barry, who we hadn’t seen since like season one of The Flash, and Barry’s appearance just brought out a much lighter and fun side of everyone on Supergirl. I loved seeing Winn freak out over Barry, Barry and Kara freak out over the existence of each other, Cat Grant somehow knowing that Barry was the Flash, and James being slightly jealous of Barry and Kara.

Samantha: I was shocked when Alex had to kill Astra, and very disappointed in that twist to be completely honest.

What did you think of this season’s big bad?

Lyra: Who was the big bad again? Was it the tech guy? Or Kara’s aunt? Or her aunt’s husband. That was the problem with this season. I couldn’t pinpoint who the big bad actually was. Indigo? No. Not her.

Lizzie: I’m 100% with Lyra. Who was the big bag? Astra? Non? Both sucked as big bads. Maxwell Lord would have been better, but they didn’t want him going full evil, at least not yet. So, as it stands, that was one of the weakest parts of Supergirl’s first season, the villains.

Allison: I completely agree. There wasn’t a clear villain and that really hurt the show. I thought it would be Maxwell Lord, but then he kind of became a good guy, maybe? There was a lot of ambiguity, and while showing that a villain isn’t entirely evil isn’t a bad thing, we can’t just flip flop around on all the villains that the show introduces.

Samantha: I agree with all of this, the villains were all over the place. I loved Astra; I thought she was brilliant and her moral ambiguity was fascinating, but then she was killed off.

I hated Maxwell Lord. He’s incredibly creepy and did some really dark, horrible things that kind of got glossed over (did we just forget he killed 6 women trying to create Bizzaro?). And toward the end they tried to make him a begrudging good guy, which just felt wrong on every level.

Do you have any hopes or concerns now that it’s moving to The CW?

Lyra: Budget, location, and keeping Cat Grant are my top concerns. They’re going to have to scale back on so many things to keep in budget. My hope is that they get rid of James and keep Cat. I know where my loyalties lie!

Also, filming means moving to Vancouver. I don’t know if everyone on staff is really up for that, even the main cast.

Lizzie: If they keep Cat, the rest I won’t care about. Really, this is all I want. Cat Grant back on Supergirl. She’s one of the best things on the show, and I wouldn’t be nearly as interested if she isn’t back full-time.

Allison: Cat Grant is my main concern. I don’t even want to imagine a show without her. It would be depressing, and I’d probably prefer that the show be canceled if she wasn’t on it. Yup, Cat’s that important.

I’m also concerned about the crossovers. If it’s like The Flash/Supergirl one, then I’m all for it. I don’t want to repeat the Legends of Tomorrow crossover event that wasted multiple episodes of The Flash and Arrow just to prepare for the crossover.

Samantha: I’m with the rest of the group, Supergirl needs Cat Grant. That’s really my only concern with the move. I’ll be significantly less interested if Cat isn’t there.

Supergirl returns this fall to The CW.