21 Top Episodes of ‘Supergirl’ to Revisit Before the Finale

After six years, two networks, and over 100 episodes, Supergirl is coming to an end. Kara Zor-El Danvers and her group of superfriends have battled aliens, power-hungry humans, the occasional dinosaur, and ancient gods.

As the first female-led superhero show to join the Arrowverse, Supergirl has provided a welcome perspective (especially in the superhero heavy crossovers!) and has introduced characters to the universe that are all worthy of their own spinoffs.

Yes, the storylines across seasons have had their highs and their lows, sometimes putting Supergirl in situations that seem out of character. However, it has to be said that Supergirl has always been the most grounded Arrowverse show, mirroring real-world issues.

Maybe that’s because Kara Danvers herself is a journalist always fighting for the truth, or because Supergirl’s humanity is a driving theme, and framing the show in current events helps showcase it.

Supergirl Season 5 ended abruptly in 2020, when production halted due to coronavirus, so the conclusion of that storyline will wrap up at the beginning of season six. Before we reach the final conclusion for Kara and the Superfriends, let’s look back at some of the top episodes of the series.

21 Top Episodes of ‘Supergirl’ to Revisit Before the Finale:

1. Pilot (Season 1 Episode 1)

Remember way back in the day when Supergirl was a CBS show? Kara and Co. started out their journey in primetime on one of the Big Three television networks, with a slightly different cast of characters than what migrated to The CW.

The pilot episode cemented Kara Danvers as a girl/alien-next-door, willing to do anything for her friends and her sister while trying to navigate adulthood and a budding career in media.

One of the biggest losses in the transition from CBS to The CW was a consistent appearance of Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart), who is credited with giving Supergirl her hero name, and likewise, Jenna Dewan as Superman’s sister-in-law, aka the “other Lane sister,” Lucy.

2. For the Girl who has Everything (Season 1 Episode 13)

The central conflict of Supergirl Season 1 revolves around Kara’s aunt Astra, her mother’s identical twin who escaped from prison and made it to Earth. Her uncle Non has also made it to Earth, but Kara is (rightfully) more shaken by seeing her mother’s face again.

Astra and Non, having decided they want to conquer Earth, go head-to-head against Kara, Alex, and the DEO. It’s in this episode, however, that Astra is defeated at the hands of Alex, even though she knows that her aunt’s death might hurt Kara.

If there’s one central relationship to this Arrowverse show, rather than between romantic partners, it’s between the Danvers sisters. Sure, five seasons later we’ve seen them through ups and downs, but this is really the first major hurdle they face.

Ultimately, Hank takes the blame for the Kryptonian’s death, sparing Alex the hard truth, which is especially generous having just rescued her sister from the clutches of a Black Mercy that was manipulating her mind.

3. Falling (Season 1 Episode 16)

If there’s one plot point I hoped they would recycle throughout the seasons of Supergirl, it was Red Kryptonite Kara.

After coming in contact with said kryptonite, Kara loses control of her inhibitions and becomes a cold, shallow version of herself. Under the influence, she says horrible things to her friends, co-workers, and sister, claiming that she’s just saying what she’s always wanted to say.

Red Kryptonite Supergirl does little to help National City, going so far as to even cause harm. After throwing Cat Grant off the CatCo balcony, the DEO has to subdue Kara and dispense the cure.

It’s exciting to see a Supergirl that is less than perfect, and one that has an unearned level of confidence, especially when the normal Kara/Supergirl is such a humble superhero, who doesn’t like to stand in the spotlight for long.

4. World’s Finest (Season 1 Episode 18)

Okay, so Supergirl Season 1 Episode 18 is on the list solely due to the fact that it helped introduce Supergirl to the Arrowverse. Remember, since Supergirl Season 1 aired on CBS while The Flash was airing on The CW, it was an interesting feat to get Barry Allen to National City.

Whereas most Arrowverse crossovers allow characters to appear on each others’ shows, usually a two-part event, in this case, we were only graced with the appearance of The Flash on Earth-38 and not Supergirl on Earth-1.

The Kara Danvers/Barry Allen friendship of the Arrowverse crossovers is so pure. It’s always a joy to see Melissa Benoist and Grant Gustin share the screen, whether it’s a song/dance number or just trying to see which of their characters is faster.

5. The Adventures of Supergirl (Season 2 Episode 1)

Okay, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I think Season 2 is my favorite season of Supergirl. Not only did Season 2 mark the show’s switch to The CW providing more opportunity to crossover, but it introduced some of the most pivotal characters to this iteration of Supergirl.

First of all, Superman himself is introduced to the Arrowverse in the debut episode of Supergirl Season 2, as Tyler Hoechlin’s Clark Kent visits his cousin in National City to track down a story on the second important new arrival, Lena Luthor.

It’s Katie McGrath’s Lena Luthor that ultimately tips over the domino that leads to Kara Danvers pursuing a career in journalism and it’s also the youngest Luthor that remains a constant companion throughout the entire series, and might be Kara’s most influential relationship outside of her sister’s.

Elsewhere, Mon-El makes his first real appearance in Supergirl Season 2, as a mystery man, crashed to Earth in a ship eerily similar to the Kryptonian escape pod.

6. Changing (Season 2 Episode 6)

One of the other major story arcs for Supergirl Season 2 involved the other Danvers sister, Alex, and her journey to accepting her sexuality. National City police detective Maggie Sawyer picked up on Alex’s feelings towards her before Alex even realized what she was feeling.

It’s on Supergirl Season 2 Episode 6, “Changing,” that Alex, having confirmed to Maggie that she was indeed into women, comes out to Kara, telling her younger sister that she is gay and has feelings for the detective.

Kara, ever the supportive sister, tells Alex that she is proud of her and could never be disappointed in her, especially since she knows what it’s like to have to hide a part of yourself away.

Oftentimes in media, coming out stories are shown through the eyes of younger characters exploring their sexuality in high school or college. Alex Danvers, however, told the story of what it’s like to come out a little later in life, touching the lives of many viewers who see themselves in that story.

7. Medusa (Season 2 Episode 8)

An underlying will-they/won’t-they subplot in the first half of Supergirl Season 2 is the loyalty of Lena Luthor. She’s adamant that she’s nothing like her brother (Superman baddie, Lex Luthor) but has suspicious dealings with her mother.

Lillian Luthor, who is head of the terrorist organization Cadmus trying to eradicate all aliens from Earth, tries to recruit her daughter to the dark side. However, Lena is much too smart to be manipulated by her step-mother.

It’s by rendering the Medusa virus (designed to harm the alien population on Earth) useless that Supergirl takes a stand on the youngest Luthor, claiming her as a good guy.

During this debacle, Kara learns that the Medusa virus was originally developed by her own father, who was attempting to defend Krypton from unwanted guests, by killing them upon arrival.

Maybe it’s that shared common ground of less than ideal parents that helps Kara and Lena bond so quickly, and puts Kara firmly in the Luthor’s corner, willing to defend her against any harsh words.

8. Nevertheless, She Persisted (Season 2 Episode 22)

Over the course of Supergirl Season 2, Kara moves from loathing Mon-El, the Daxamite found in the space pod, to developing a romantic relationship with the alien, having bonded over shared grief for their lost planets.

However, Mon-El’s mother, Queen Rhea of Daxam ends up on Earth searching for her son. With help from an ignorant Lena, Rhea constructs a transmatter portal, hoping to bring displaced Daxamites to use Earth as their new home.

In order to defeat Rhea and get rid of all of the Daxamites, Supergirl & Co. develop a lead bomb (which is poisonous to Daxamites) and disperse lead particles in the air, forcing them to leave Earth’s atmosphere. Unfortunately, all means all, meaning Mon-El is just as affected and must leave as well.

Kara, as always, makes the selfless decision for the greater good and says goodbye to the man she loved in order to save the world. It wouldn’t be a superhero show without the titular character making impossible decisions and putting the fate of the world before their own desires, would it?

9. Far from the Tree (Season 3 Episode 3)

In a bottle episode, Kara and J’onn take off to Mars in J’onn’s sweet classic-car-spaceship-hybrid. This is the first significant look we get at the red planet where J’onn and M’gann come from, and a chance to follow a character that has been around since the beginning, but rarely gets the spotlight.

As the voice of reason for the show, J’onn is always present to lend a word of advice or to help save the day as the Martian Manhunter. It’s nice to have a chance to venture throughout the solar system and get a glimpse of where he came from.

It’s also the episode where we are introduced to his father, M’yrnn, who has his own part to play in Supergirl Season 3.

10. Damage (Season 3 Episode 5)

Astute fans probably saw it coming after it was announced that Floriana Lima would only guest star as Maggie Sawyer in a few episodes for Supergirl Season 3, but the Sanvers breakup was still heart-wrenching.

The tipping point? Alex and Maggie hadn’t had a conversation about the future and how children played a part in that until they were well into their engagement. When it turns out they had opposite ideas of how that would play into a marriage, it turned out to be too much to handle.

Kudos to Supergirl for handling this separation as amicably as possible, and for making the cause of the split due to an extremely mature reason, rather than using an old cop-out like infidelity or death.

The want for children is an extremely personal decision that one’s partner should be onboard with, and it was a necessary conversation shown between the two characters that unfortunately ended in a split between two people who still loved each other.

11. Trinity (Season 3 Episode 17)

The big baddie for Supergirl Season 3 happens to be totally unaware that she is the bad guy half of the time and also happens to be a part of the superfriends (when she isn’t off terrorizing the city unknowingly).

When Sam Arias (aka Reign) finally slipped up in the presence of someone else and Lena figured out what was going on, the scientist wanted to help her. Which means she enlisted some sketchy science for her cause.

Supergirl Season 3 Episode 17, “Trinity,” marks the beginning of a downhill journey for the relationship between Lena and Supergirl. Wanting to make sure she doesn’t have any more kryptonite, Kara asks James (Lena’s then-boyfriend) to ask her straight-up if she has any.

Unwilling to do that to risk their relationship, James comes clean that Supergirl was suspicious of her, while at the same time revealing he is the Guardian. Lena is understandably pissed that Supergirl would think so low of her, and tells that to Kara, making it awkward between the two.

12. Dark Side of the Moon (Season 3 Episode 20)

All I’ll say about Supergirl Season 3 Episode 20 is that poor Kara Danvers Zor-El has lost so much in her life — her planet, her parents, and the man she loved — it was high time for her to be surprised with a little good news.

Her quest to find more Harun-El to help save Sam and defeat Reign takes Kara and future Mon-El to a floating meteor in outer space. Yes, J’onn’s sleek sportscar spaceship makes its return!

Upon arrival, Kara discovers this floating rock is actually a piece of Krypton containing their capital city, Argo, and that her mother is actually alive and well living peacefully! Good news for Kara, and hopefully not the last we’ll see of Alura.

13. Battles Lost and Won (Season 3 Episode 23)

The Supergirl Season 3 finale is jam-packed with major storylines wrapping up, and a plethora of breadcrumbs dropped to tease what’s ahead.

First up, we say goodbye to our dear founding member of the superfriends, Winn Schott, who decides to leave back to the future with Mon-El and the Legion, taking the place of Brainiac-5, who needs to stay on Earth.

Second, James Olsen decides to reveal to the public that he is The Guardian, making him the first “superhero” in National City to reveal their alter-ego.

Third, J’onn decides to step down as director of the DEO and names his replacement to be Alex Danvers.

Like on any good Supergirl season finale, they defeat the bad guys, this time defeating Reign but saving Sam and allowing her and Ruby the chance to get away and start over.

It’s this season finale that really sets up the core group of characters that we see throughout the rest of the series, and it plants the seeds that Kara will always have a place to go, off Earth, if necessary.  

14. Fallout (Season 4 Episode 2)

As I mentioned before, Supergirl has never held back when it comes to mirroring the show’s storylines with what is/was happening in the real world. This is most evident in Supergirl Season 4, with the addition of the Children of Liberty and anti-alien rhetoric.

The beginning of the overall season arc takes hold in this episode, once the President (Lynda Carter) is outed as an alien and is forced to step down from office. Anti-Alien rallies are held and James feels pressure to take a stand at CatCo.

Nia Nal, a new character addition for Supergirl Season 4, and an intern at CatCo, reveals to James that she is transgender and ultimately convinces James to write an editorial for the publication, standing against hate.

Unfortunately, things get more divided as the season progresses, before they get any better. This episode is just the tip of the iceberg.

15. Suspicious Minds (Season 4 Episode 10)

When the government steps in and takes control of the DEO, providing unwanted oversight for the new Director Alex Danvers, Supergirl faces mounting pressure from the government to reveal her alter-ego.

The idea behind sharing her true identity is that putting a face to the hero’s name will curb anti-alien sentiment and humanize aliens to the greater population. Kara, no fool, knows that it’s likely the plan will just backfire and put her loved ones at risk.

Forced to drastic measures, a truthseeker is put into use to interrogate DEO agents into revealing Kara’s true name, and the only way to combat this invasion is to wipe the minds of anyone who knows about Kara.

This includes Alex, her sister, who has known about Kara since the younger sister came to live with her family as a young girl. They are forced to go through with it though, and the strife that it causes for the Girl of Steel is an interesting arc that continues through the season.

It provides almost an alternate reality, one in which Kara saved the crashing airplane that Alex was on, but never told her sister that she was the one behind the miracle.

16. The Quest for Peace (Season 4 Episode 22)

The back half of Supergirl Season 4 continues to explore the anti-alien storyline and the Children of Liberty involvement, while also introducing the nefarious Lex Luthor and his plans for Supergirl and his own sister.

Red Daughter, the alternate Kaznian Supergirl controlled by Lex, takes Kara’s place intermittently, wreaking havoc on the world and doing nothing to help with the anti-alien issues at hand.

The culmination of her storyline leads to her death (or her realignment with Kara Danvers) and to the defeat of Lex at the hands of the Superfriends and his dear sister, Lena.

Now, throughout Supergirl Season 4, there were many times Kara almost revealed her identity to her best friend, Lena, but stopped short for various reasons. At the end of the day, she claimed to not want to hurt the CEO, though she was doing just that.

That’s what makes it even more painful for viewers when it’s Lex Luthor that finally spills the beans on National City’s best-kept secret. At the very end, when he’s staring down the barrel of the loaded gun in his sister’s hand, Lex tells her she’s been lied to for years.

Lena, not letting that news change the fact that Lex is a horrible person, ultimately buries the bullet in her brother, even though Supergirl thought she had been the one to end Lex’s life. Poor Lena could use a bit of therapy, am I right?

(Do I buy that Lena never picked up on Kara’s weird quirks or sudden disappearances and didn’t already know she was Supergirl? Eh… not really. But for the sake of the story I will accept the fact that a literal genius was fooled by the glasses and ponytail.)

17. Event Horizon (Season 5 Episode 1)

FINALLY! What we were all waiting for since Supergirl Season 2. On Supergirl Season 5 Episode 1, “Blurred Lines,” Kara finally gets the guts to admit to Lena that she is the caped hero, claiming there will be no more lies between them and that she had lied because she wanted to protect her best friend.

Little does she know that Lena already knows, having been brought in on the secret by her recently departed brother and that she was pissed enough about being lied to, to almost spill Kara’s secret to the entire world.

However, Lena’s plans change since Kara actually reveals her secret, and instead she decides to cause Kara pain by using her for morally ambiguous reasons. Angst ahead for dear Supercorp!

18. Tremors (Season 5 Episode 7)

Lena’s true plans are revealed once she visits the Fortress of Solitude with Kara and Alex, under the guise that they are searching for a weapon that would help defeat Leviathan and Rama Khan.

In an emotionally charged scene, Lena details the extent of the pain that she felt at being the last to know Kara’s secret and how humiliated she was to have to find out from her brother instead of from her best friend herself.

She also breaks Kara’s heart by telling the blonde how she’s been using her for her own gain, similar to how Kara had used her at times and is taking something from the Fortress to deploy her Q-wave mind control and release the world from pain. Kind of sad actually, huh?

Lena was so hurt by Kara’s actions (or inaction) and decided she would erase the pain from the entire planet, just so she wouldn’t have to feel it anymore either.

While we’re used to viewing relationships through the eyes of our protagonist, Kara, it’s nice to see how actions affect the people in her life. Lena’s choices, while suspect, open Kara’s (and our) eyes to how hurt her best friend was by her lies.

19. The Bottle Episode (Season 5 Episode 10)

I’ve left most of the Arrowverse crossover episodes from this list since they serve mostly as mini-movies and didn’t have many lasting effects on the season after they were over – except for the Supergirl Season 5 crossover event, “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”

This might be the most impactful episode of the season, since it reestablishes the world that Supergirl lives in now, after having the multiverse collapsed and only one Earth, Earth-Prime, in existence.

The major changes for Supergirl, post-crisis? Lex is alive (having been resurrected in the crisis) and is seemingly a good-guy philanthropist, also now in charge of the DEO and working side-by-side with the DEO and Lena.

Kara and J’onn have memories of “the world before” and are able to reinstall those memories into the core group of characters, so they are all wary of Lex’s true intentions.

Brainy, having visited with other Brainiacs, learns that to ultimately defeat Leviathan (still a threat, despite the multiverse collapse) he has to pretend to work for Lex, leading him down a dangerous path.

20. It’s a Super Life (Season 5 Episode 13)

Supergirl Season 5 Episode 13 might be my favorite episode of Supergirl outside of the strongest (in my opinion) season, Season 2. As the 100th overall episode of Supergirl, they made it quite special, bringing a few familiar faces back into the mix while revisiting the past.

Still sore from Lena’s sudden about-face, Kara is fixating on all of the times she could have told her best friend the truth but chose not to. With the help of National City’s favorite fifth-dimensional imp, Mxyzptlk, Kara gets the chance for do-overs.

Going back through their relationship, she tries to change its course and avoid the current angst they’re facing. Long story short, no matter when Kara told Lena, somewhere in the timeline they would have either died or someone they cared about died.

Kara ultimately decides that the course of actions that led them to where they are today was the right path for them, and goes to tell her estranged friend that she can still help her make things right, but she will be forced to fight her if Lena continues working with Lex.

Does the episode serve to validate the choice not to bring Lena into the Superteam sooner? Yes. Do I still think this show would have been better off had she known earlier? Also yes. Still, it’s a trip down memory lane episode and it’s nice to see Sam Arias and Mon-El grace National City with their presence once again.

21. The Missing Link (Season 5 Episode 18)

In one of the last episodes of the shortened Supergirl Season 5, Lena is working alongside her brother on the mind-control Non-Nocere project (although Lena doesn’t really think this is harmful) and goes to check-in on a test group they’d administered the Q-waves to.

Unfortunately, it turns out that Lena’s project has a glitch, making these people (who happen to be prisoners) uber aggressive, inciting a prison riot. In order to fix the issue, the entire project is shut down, apparently deleted.

Lex’s true colors shine through when he admits that humans don’t need “no pain” they need “control,” leading Lena to realize she might have been on the wrong side of this battle all along. In an amazing show of strength, she stands her ground while she’s getting verbally abused by her brother.

Remorseful, she turns up at Kara’s apartment hoping to help Supergirl take down her brother, righting the course of their friendship and hopefully bringing Lena into the fold officially on all things Supergirl. It’s a welcome sight, and hopefully an omen of good things to come in Supergirl Season 6.

—

The first five seasons of Supergirl have covered a lot of territory, from corrupt businessmen and anti-alien terrorist groups to Nazi-Supergirl and corrupt technology. The final season is poised to wrap up an amazing run for the Girl of Steel and her group of friends.

As mentioned, Supergirl Season 5 had an abrupt, unplanned ending, so Supergirl Season 6 will pick up with the conclusion of the Leviathan/Lex storyline, and then venture into uncharted waters.

Wherever the final season goes, these characters deserve a happy ending and hopefully the chance to pop up elsewhere in the Arrowverse. I have a feeling any of them would fit right in with the crew on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow!

Did your favorite Supergirl episode not make this list? Drop the title in the comments below, and why you love it so much!

Supergirl airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

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