Supergirl S04E01 Review: Second Season Redux

Supergirl, Season 4, Episode 1: The American Alien

This is an... interesting season opener. It feels more like a re-establishment of the status quo more than anything, and even the "big event" that happened at the end of this episode feels more like a re-affirmation of subplots dropped after season two when we decided to focus on all the Reign stuff in the third season. We basically learn through various one-liners that Sam Arias has gone off to get her happy ending with her daughter and Superman is off visiting Argo (presumably keeping both of them out of the picture). Less importantly, Alex offhandedly mentions that she's "in the dating pool", meaning we're moving away from the romance-fallout season three plot as well. 

And how badass is that opening scene as Supergirl zips around various crisis-es over the world, saving trains and stopping meteors all in time to arrive as Kara Danvers to be a reporter? That opening scene is easily one of my favourite moments in this series. 

The main storyline in this episode involves Supergirl first denying -- and then confronting -- a series of anti-alien hate movement. It's a great follow-up to very interesting plotlines built up in season two that just sort of tapered off and never really went anywhere. First she thinks it's just happenstance that the doctor guarding a plot device stolen by Mercy and Otis Graves (great combination of two different Luthor stooges, by the way) is an alien. But then as hate crimes stack and she discovers this set of computers basically managing and facilitating alien hate crimes, she realizes that her fight this time around isn't just punching an evil alien overlord... but something more insidious. And kind of hilarious, as the internet points out -- "Supergirl has discovered 4chan". Granted, this dark web network thing (that Brainiac, a robot alien from the future, apparently can't crack) actually does provide like, anti-alien weapons and shit, but still.

Without getting too political, it's definitely an interesting direction to take the character and the show in. The episode's climax isn't the most exciting, as two terrorists on motorbikes really aren't the most threatening villains to throw at Supergirl, but the events of the attack on the summit manages to cause a stirring revelation to the world that President Lynda Carter Marsdin is actually an alien herself. We also get hints at the true big bads of the season, the mysterious masked man called Agent Liberty, pulling Mercy and Otis's strings; as well as the ever-so-mysterious "Red Son" Supergirl. 

It's not the most exciting premise, again, but it is delivered pretty well with a pretty right balance of being overt in that it's a commentary on current politics while also not shoving it down our throats. The whole idea of aliens as an oppressed minority is certainly an interesting one, and the idea that Supergirl doesn't just have to fight another Astra or another Reign is certainly an interesting one. 

The B-plots in this episode, unfortunately, don't really fare a lot better. J'onn's whole deal about being a passive bystander is an interesting one, and David Harewood really delivers an earnest performance, but I honestly can't help but roll my eyes at how J'onn insists that he can't "pick up a sword" to save lives and stop these terrorists. Lena's storyline about tricking he rmother to reveal incriminating secrets about Bruno Mannheim, while simultaneously helping James out of his legal problems behind his back is... it's neat, but very predictable. James's own storyline about how he's under legal fire for being Guardian is thankfully mostly taken care offscreen.

There's a very short subplot with Kara being a mentor to a new character, which is... okay? I've never been the most enamoured with CatCo scenes, but this episode's CatCo plot is okay -- it does help to give some 'spice' to Kara's whole life as someone leading a dual life, I guess. The bit with Alex and Brainiac is... it's cute. Brainy being basically a superhero himself that's able to zip into the battlefield is also pretty interesting. I don't really have much to say about it beyond the fact that this episode delivers a neat little showcase of Brainy's new dynamic with Alex and Kara. 

Overall, it's a solid episode, but not a spectacular one. It's more of a realignment of Supergirl's priorities as a show and a re-establishment of its status quo after the pretty disastrous third season's finale with how utterly insipid everything regarding Reign and the witches are. Like Flash, I'm mostly cautious about being optimistic because, again, I've been burned too many times now... but it's a solid opening if nothing else. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Mercy Graves, introduced in Superman: The Animated Series and a relatively major supporting character throughout the TAS series, is introduced as Lex Luthor's chauffeur-cum-bodyguard, and has appeared in a similar capacity in various other comics and adaptations. 
• Otis, unrelated to Mercy in his original appearances, is the name of the fat, bumbling thug that worked for Lex Luthor in the Christopher Reeve live-action movies. 
• While not physically seen, Bruno Mannheim is the name of one of the more prominent leaders of Intergang, an enemy of Superman. Intergang is a group of gangsters that receive alien technology from an unknown broker (Darkseid or one of his agents depending on the series).
• Agent Liberty shares his name and is based on a character of the same name, a supporting character initially introduced in Superman comics -- initially an antagonist trying to overthrow what he saw as an unjust government, but later became a supporting ally of Superman. Obviously, this version of Agent Liberty doesn't share much with the comic character other than his name. 
• Nia Nal isn't an existing character in the comics, but she's obviously based on Nura Nal, the civilian identity of Legion of Super-Heroes character Dream Girl.