S01.E01: Pilot

[Tara Ariano]

At 24, Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin, decides the time has come to embrace her superhuman abilities and fulfill her destiny as a hero in the series premiere of this drama based on the DC Comics character Supergirl.

[Kromm]

I think it will be interesting to see if they've tweaked this any from the leak most of us have seen (as long as people are willing to admit they saw it!)  I mean that leaked copy was SO freaking complete (why most people think it was 100% on purpose) it will be interesting to see if the many and very public reactions led to any further changes.

The big "what if" here is also if the leak hurts the ratings or helps. One would suspect some might not want to invest time watching if they've seen it already. Then again, the time gap is big enough (another reason to suspect it was all intentional) that people may be ready to see it again. And even more willing if they'd liked it.

[Skyfall]

Are they not allowed to say Superman? Sorta takes me out of the show everytime they say "him."

[chitowngirl]

Helen Slater as her adopted mother-HA!

[AimingforYoko]

Drinking Game (If you want to get wasted): Take a shot everytime someone says "Cousin".

The dialogue has to improve. On the hokiness meter it's burying the needle.

Overall, it has potential. Let's see if they find their feet.

[bmoore4026]

Felt like "Exposition Girl", at least in the first part.  Do love geeky, "Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada" civilian Kara.

 

It's weird seeing Jimmy Olsen as anything but the "jiminy jillikers" type.  Still, big macho black man is nice on the eyes.

 

Kat is irritating.  Kara's stepsister (wicked stepsister?) is also irritating.  Loved Kara's gay friend and the figuring out the costumes.  Do wish the costume was a little brighter, though.  Also, loved evil aunt from Krypton.

 

Loved the "Oh, come on!" part with the bridge and the plane.  Wished they blamed the whole plane accident on a goose, or a goose themed villain.

 

Also, "Danvers"!?  It ain't good to be a woman with the last name Danvers in comics.

[Primetimer]

TV's newest superhero contends with her own personal Kryptonite. And actual Kryptonite.

Read the story

[Happywatcher]

This seemed slow and lamish

[Guest]

I liked the former Supergirl (Helen Slater) and Superman (Dean Cain) cameo as Kara's adoptive parents.  That is about it.  Well, I kind of like James 'Jimmy' Olsen.

 

The 'I'm just like him' narration ad nauseam. Ugh. 

 

The lead actress is some terrible cross of the actress that plays Felicity's Arrow and Revenge's Emily (but in a bad season or maybe in a season of Brothers & Sisters or Everwood).  

 

The annoying actress from Grey's Anatomy playing the annoying adoptive sister from a secret agency that hunts aliens.  And a secret agency.  Already?  Really?

 

They did a kitchen sink on things not to be enthusiastic about and then supersized it to 90 minutes.

Edited October 27, 2015 by ParadoxLost

[Gentian root]

Shame she can't count. On the roof she tells the Cisco that only three other people know. Danvers Mom, Dad, and Sis plus Kal makes how many?

Flights were good, fights not so much.

[lion10]

Was the pilot exactly the same as the leaked version? 

[Skyfall]

Shame she can't count. On the roof she tells the Cisco that only three other people know. Danvers Mom, Dad, and Sis plus Kal makes how many?

Flights were good, fights not so much.

Was it know or told?

[AimingforYoko]

Shame she can't count. On the roof she tells the Cisco that only three other people know. Danvers Mom, Dad, and Sis plus Kal makes how many?

Kal's not a person, technically.

 

Felt like "Exposition Girl", at least in the first part.  Do love geeky, "Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada" civilian Kara.

 

It's weird seeing Jimmy Olsen as anything but the "jiminy jillikers" type.  Still, big macho black man is nice on the eyes.

 

Kat is irritating.  Kara's stepsister (wicked stepsister?) is also irritating.  Loved Kara's gay friend and the figuring out the costumes. 

Is he gay? I thought he had a crush on Kara.

Edited October 27, 2015 by AimingforYoko

[cambridgeguy]

The big guy/Kara's cousin/Kal-El/Him doesn't bother to show up at all even though there's apparently a bunch of Kryptonian villains starting to run around?  That actually does sound like a job for Superman - too bad he apparently can't stand talking to his cousin.

 

Did Dean Cain get paid to stand there and say nothing for ten seconds?  That's a good gig.

[Guest]

I never read these comics.  Were the comics so unoriginal that they also decided to have Kara clone Clark's life by going to a different city to work at a different newspaper.  I'm trying to decide if the lack of any original thought is on this show or on the source material.

[bmoore4026]

Is he gay? I thought he had a crush on Kara.

 

I thought he was.  Either that or this show is giving me mixed signals.

[Nidratime]

Too many people know who Supergirl is and her capabilities. She's almost the last to know. Loses its mystique that way. She seems more of a tool of this secret gov't aganecy than this special being apart. I think that was a mistake.

 

I thought he was.

 

 

No, he's not gay, and that's pretty clear from the huge crush he has on her.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Nidratime

[bmoore4026]

I never read these comics.  Were the comics so unoriginal that they also decided to have Kara clone Clark's life by going to a different city to work at a different newspaper.  I'm trying to decide if the lack of any original thought is on this show or on the source material.

 

More or less.

[Gentian root]

Being nonhuman doesn't make one a nonperson, Yoko. My nerds will back me up on this.

[mtlchick]

Calista Flockhart can be switched out for Sarah Michelle Gellar and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference: facial structure, speaking tone, pronunciation, etc.

 

It was ok but man, that was RUSHED.  It felt more than exposition, it felt we were already 3 episodes in with a lot of parts missing.  I do think Melissa is adorable and has potential but there were some moments where it was kind of awkward.

 

Oh Dean Cain.  You literally stood there and said or did NOTHING.  You're still my favourite TV Superman.  And made me long for the of the best things from Lois and Clark's pilot; the costume montage! 

 

[TheRabbi]

 

 

They did a kitchen sink on things not to be enthusiastic about and then supersized it to 90 minutes.

 

It was a 60 minute episode.  Though if it felt like 90 minutes, that's probably not great for your potential future with the show.

 

Personally, I kind of enjoyed it.  I have VERY little experience in the Superman lore, but I found it rather good popcorn entertainment.  The only things I didn't like were their constant refusal to say Superman (do they not legally have permission or something? It was so jarring), and that their was too much narration and explanation of what she can do (and coming from someone without knowledge of the Superman saga, that should really be saying something).  

 

Anyways, I'm in for next week at least.  Could be fun.

[stealinghome]

Drinking Game (If you want to get wasted): Take a shot everytime someone says "Cousin".

    The dialogue has to improve. On the hokiness meter it's burying the needle.

    Overall, it has potential. Let's see if they find their feet.

Yeah, I wanted to really like the pilot but it was middling at best. It has the potential to get better, but it also has the potential to get a lot worse. It kind of reminds me of AoS' pilot like that. Here's hoping it doesn't go the "awful" route like AoS.

 

The writers could not have hit us over the head with the "You should like her because she's a FEMALE SUPERHERO!!!" sentiment any more. I am ALL in favor of more female superheroes, but if that's the only reason to like her, well, that's not a good sign for the rest of the show. It also hit an overwhelming number of reliable tropes. Too many. I lost count of how many superhero cliches were in the episode.

 

Chyler Leigh and Callista Flockhart up the acting talent like 500% every time they're on-screen. Supergirl is likeable but I'm not sure she can ACT--she's not pulling off the stammering, aw shucks thing--and the best friend with the costume and crush is a really bad actor. Jimmy Olsen is decent. (Also, I swear I wasn't looking for it, but there is some inappropriate sparkage between Supergirl and her sister. I missed the first ten or so minutes and for half of the rest of the episode was like wow, they act like jilted exes.)

 

It's 2015, writers. No homo jokes are not funny.

 

So yeah, has potential but I am skeptical. I may give it another few episodes, but they're going to have to do a lot better to keep me. This was not good.

 

It was ok but man, that was RUSHED.  It felt more than exposition, it felt we were already 3 episodes in with a lot of parts missing.  I do think Melissa is adorable and has potential but there were some moments where it was kind of awkward.

Agreed. The info dump in this episode was immense, and wasn't handled well. They should have waited a few episodes for Super Secret Shadow Government Organization.

 

The shame is, there were some scenes that were nice--I thought Benoist's best acting moment was when she teared up seeing her mom, that was legitimately well acted and moving--but it was so rushed that it only had about 15% of the impact it should have.

[Rai]

Y'all don't know how lucky you are that Vartox didn't appear in his costume from the comics.

[Nidratime]

That was great! (The scene of Clark and his mom working on his costume.) That first season of Lois and Clark was magic.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Nidratime

[mustbekarma]

I loved it. Maybe after watching The Walking Dead yesterday I needed a big damn hero moment. I swear, I teared up in the scene where she stood on the wing after saving the plane. Her absolute joy at saving her sister really hit home with me, and how she was so visibly crushed when her sister bitched her out for revealing herself.

 

The weak scenes for me were any with Calista Flockhart. I just find the Cat character grating, and I was kind of pissed yet another person was dumping on Kara.

 

I'm in. I know it's up against Gotham, but I think I could stand a healthy dose of optimism versus doom and gloom.

 

I really, really loved Melissa Benoist as Kara, and I thought she'd be the weak link. I only ever saw her act on Glee, and that wasn't exactly a stellar role.

[nksarmi]

I never read these comics.  Were the comics so unoriginal that they also decided to have Kara clone Clark's life by going to a different city to work at a different newspaper.  I'm trying to decide if the lack of any original thought is on this show or on the source material.

I didn't read the comics either, but I have two kids and I saw the Justice League version. :)  Anyway, in the cartoon, she arrives on Earth as a teen and Superman/Batman find her and she pretty much immediately goes into the role of Supergirl.  No normal childhood to my knowledge.  But I do believe she gets a public personal complete as Clark's cousin.

[clack]

Well, that was bland and banal. Trite dialogue, cliched situations, stereotypical characters.

[nksarmi]

Well I actually really liked it.  I think they might be going overboard with the female hero, female power boss, AND female villain, but I love the dynamics between Kara and her sister so I'm probably going to buy in awhile longer.  I liked Jimmy a lot and I think she has good sparkage with her guy friend. 

 

The moment they got to me a little was Kara tearing up over the message from her mom and the scene where her sister saved her from the first fight.  I really like positive girl interaction and could use some real sister bonding after the mess that is Laurel and Sara Lance.

[Whimsy]

I didn't mind this. I'll stick around for a bit. My biggest pet peeve is that there is NO WAY anyone can take one look at Supergirl and not see Kara. I mean, it's always been ridiculous with Superman, but at least he did his hair different.

Also the James Olson "reveal"- I thought it was obvious, and to me it was played as it was obvious to Kara that he knew. The whole bank robbery discussion... I mean that to me made it seem like she knew he knew!

[Kromm]

Are they not allowed to say Superman? Sorta takes me out of the show everytime they say "him."

They do at least twice (unless this was changed from the leak).

[mybabyaidan]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mechad, so I had to give this a try.  I liked it enough to continue watching.  I think I was one of the only people that liked Marley on Glee, so I wasn't put out by Melissa.  I think she did a good job.

[stealinghome]

Though I will say I appreciate the optimism and the general happiness of Supergirl. I like Man of Steel but this show captures what a Super show is supposed to feel like. Leave that grim and gritty bs for Batman.

[Ms Blue Jay]

The actors are adorable - Melissa Benoist was so charming and cute.  I like Mehcad Brooks a lot from Necessary Roughness and I think he's better here.  And Calista Flockhart made me so nostalgic for being younger and watching Ally McBeal.

 

The guy from Smash was also fine and the Grey's Anatomy girl was way less annoying than she was on GA.  The villain is from The Mentalist right?  It's all these people adopted from other shows.

 

However, it is really stupid and annoying when they keep saying Him and they should quit that tactic for episode 102.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[Kromm]

Too many people know who Supergirl is and her capabilities. She's almost the last to know. Loses its mystique that way. She seems more of a tool of this secret gov't aganecy than this special being apart. I think that was a mistake.

I think more people hate/have a problem with the "she's hiding it from someone important" trope, so I think as time goes by you may not see much agreement on the opposite point of view.

The only person she's really hiding it from is her boss (a marginal, possible baddie).

However, it is really stupid and annoying when they keep saying Him and they should quit that tactic for episode 102.

The weirdness is almost highlighted by the fact that they DO say "Superman" a few times. People hear that in the back of their minds I think, DON"T retain that it happened, but then it drives them even buggier hearing name avoidances in the same program (and convinces them even more they never heard "Superman" at all... when frankly they did).

[Nidratime]

I think more people hate/have a problem with the "she's hiding it from someone important" trope, so I think as time goes by you may not see much agreement on the opposite point of view.

The only person she's really hiding it from is her boss (a marginal, possible baddie).

 

 

Then what's the point? Why doesn't she come right out and say who she really is to everyone, even if her cousin is still hiding his identity? I don't agree with her doing this but this is what you are arguing.

[Ms Lark]

I was looking forward to this more than any other new show and I'm a bit disappointed. The dialog was sooo klunky. Was it the writing or the delivery or both? I'll give it a few more weeks, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Kromm]

I didn't mind this. I'll stick around for a bit. My biggest pet peeve is that there is NO WAY anyone can take one look at Supergirl and not see Kara. I mean, it's always been ridiculous with Superman, but at least he did his hair different.

It's the glasses trope, of course. In fact, without really be spoilerish (because it's such a nonsense detail) I'll say there's a preview photo for one of the upcoming episodes showing Kara standing in front of a Supergirl cardboard cutout made by Catco (clearly to promote them exploiting her to sell papers and whatever else they do). I think they're likely to play this for humor, because of course... glasses (and also having her hair pinned up), doesn't mean it doesn't look just like her. But this is one of comics OLDEST tropes, so unlike the "hiding her secret from the person close to her" trope, I think rather than explode it, they're likely to leave the glasses disguise trope perfectly alone and just honor it "as is". 

[Lantern7]

Well. I see there's potential for greatness. I also see the potential for the WTFblity that was Smallville. And this show's closest version of Lex Luthor is played by a woman who can be sent out the window with a sneeze. No, not a Supergirl sneeze. A regular, human sneeze.

 

Anybody else substitute "God" for "he" and "him"? Show becomes differently entertaining if you do that. On the bright side, this James Olsen seems to have his shit together. Part of me thinks he's taken a coolness serum or something like it that has turned him into a ladykiller. Once it wears off, it's back to the bow ties.

 

What a waste of Vartox. Couldn't the show come up with an anagram of "Generic Villain" and save Vartox for a sweeps month episode?

[Kromm]

Then what's the point? Why doesn't she come right out and say who she really is to everyone, even if her cousin is still hiding his identity? I don't agree with her doing this but this is what you are arguing.

Because if the WORLD was told then the bad guys would go and murder all her family and friends?

 

The point of hiding her identity still exists. It's just that this character (vs. Superman) is written in wanting help/partners/a team.

 

And really it's clear Jimmy, er... James... already knew. It's only her dorky co-worker she told (since of course her sister also already knew). 

Edited October 27, 2015 by Kromm

[missbonnie]

I had a lot of fun with this! I love Gotham as well but have never gotten into The Flash and I can't even get past anyone else other than Justin Hartley as Arrow. Outside of not being able to stand Calista Flockhart in any role, I was happy with the casting. I should probably also say that I loved Smallville, even though the Clana damn near killed me at times. Probably why I liked this show. I'm in so far.

Edited October 27, 2015 by missbonnie

[Kromm]

The lead actress is some terrible cross of the actress that plays Felicity's Arrow and Revenge's Emily (but in a bad season or maybe in a season of Brothers & Sisters or Everwood).  

Ouch. You're entitled of course to dislike her performance, but I personally think Melissa Benoist's portrayal is the highlight of the whole show. It's convincingly positive without being cartoonish, it's certainly not wooden like lets say... Laurel on Arrow.  She physically resembles Felicity on Arrow, it's true, but the Superman/Girl mythos probably owned that glasses thing first.  To me, the actress pulls of the role with a surprising amount of charisma, given that her role on Glee wasn't really a good exhibition of that.

 

The dialogue needs some work, but even that wasn't as bad as many shows of this type.

[SnoGirl]

I loved it. Maybe after watching The Walking Dead yesterday I needed a big damn hero moment. I swear, I teared up in the scene where she stood on the wing after saving the plane. Her absolute joy at saving her sister really hit home with me, and how she was so visibly crushed when her sister bitched her out for revealing herself.

I totally teared up too. For real, I don't care how cheese-tactic this show gets, I'm in. I loved Lois and Clark as a kid when I watched it with my Dad and now I wish I had a daughter to share this show with.

Female superhero show? Yes please! I actually preferred it to Gotham, which I watched first but from now I'll be DVRing and watching this first. And I don't care how many times they refer to her "fighting like a girl" and then she triumphs because she's underestimated or that there needs to be "more female heroes," because frankly, there does. If we live in a world where fighting like a girl is supposed to be a slam, then shows like this need to be on tv too. It was definitely a feel-good hour. I don't know how many times I wanted to cheer for Kara.

My only complaint? I wish there was more diversity. I loved that Jimmy Olson wasn't white, I just hope more supporting players aren't white as well.

Edited October 27, 2015 by SnoGirl

[Guest]

The weirdness is almost highlighted by the fact that they DO say "Superman" a few times. People hear that in the back of their minds I think, DON"T retain that it happened, but then it drives them even buggier hearing name avoidances in the same program (and convinces them even more they never heard "Superman" at all... when frankly they did).

 

I was less bugged by Superman being used or not used in conversation as I was by the constant comparison between the two of them.  It came across to me that they very badly wanted to hammer home that Kara is just like Superman but a girl so please watch.  Same upbringing.  Same job.  Sam secret identity.  Same costume.  Same powers.  Same first public heroic act. And so on.  That was why I was groaning every time they said 'him'.  That is also why I noticed how infrequently the said Superman.  The context was so annoying that it grated and underlined the exact word they used.

 

I do admit that reading the forum, I'm wondering if there was some negotiation on how many times they could use 'Superman'.  It seems deliberate, but whether its related to DC or the showrunners is a toss up.

[Lantern7]

Reading the recap . . . Geek Boy's name is Winn Schott?!? Wow, that's not good, on so many levels.

 

While I'm thinking about it: Whose idea was it to put this show on at the same time as Gotham? I know, there are finite times you can run the program which doesn't run counter to other DC shows, but a little effort would have been nice.

[Kromm]

The only things I didn't like were their constant refusal to say Superman (do they not legally have permission or something? It was so jarring), 

They say it, I promise. They just only say it a few times and then oddly avoid saying it another bunch of times on the same episode.

 

Unless, as I said, this got edited from the leak... I still haven't watched the actual broadcast... on the leaked version "Superman" is said at least two times clearly. The first time in fact should be only 2 and a half minutes in (it's when he pulls her out of her pod) and she clearly says "revealed himself to your world... as SUPERMAN!".  There's also the use of his other name, Kal-El, and that one's only a few seconds in to the show.  The only name we don't hear is "Clark" or "Clark Kent", and I doubt that's a legal issue either. I think they don't want to invite THAT comparison yet, but also you can't really show Clark vaguely the way they can a guy in a cape at an angle or flying in the sky or on a news program.  Also, logically JIMMY/JAMES is the only person she could really speak about Clark to. It's not clear if the Danvers family even knows who/what Clark is.

Reading the recap . . . Geek Boy's name is Winn Schott?!? Wow, that's not good, on so many levels.

 

While I'm thinking about it: Whose idea was it to put this show on at the same time as Gotham? I know, there are finite times you can run the program which doesn't run counter to other DC shows, but a little effort would have been nice.

This was predicted/expected to beat Gotham's ratings. So if that's DOES happen as both CBS and a lot of people expect, then it's FOX that might regret not moving a show.

 

Or... the ratings may go belly up and then it would be on the cancellation track anyway. CBS can be ruthless, I think, even if they reward their successes even more.

Edited October 27, 2015 by Kromm

[IOU Payne]

If only Joss Whedon had been associated with the project!  I really liked the pilot, and I've been a Supergirl fan since the 60s.  A little quippiness and a few pop culture references would have taken this from good to freakin' awesome.  And is Superman now the Supreme Being?  The arch use of "Him" and "Your cousin" was so grating that I'm glad I didn't have any alcohol in the house because the drinking game rules wrote themselves.

 

Looking forward to next week, and how things develop.  I'm all in!

[TV Anonymous]

I think it is quite underwhelming. However, it might just my personal opinion since I have to wash away Marley rose image from Kara.

 

As this is a Berlanti production and it is suppose to be in the same universe as The Flash and Arrow, I hope for something with more depth and more grit. Maybe not on Arrow level, but on a level slightly less than The Flash. Even compared with the first episode of Smallville, this show feels like all unicorns and rainbow.

 

My nitpick, if the villain is a fellow Kryptonian, how come when the ax explodes he gets injured while Kara does not?

[Whodunnit]

Did we really need to get hit over the head with all the repetition? I get it, I get it, Important Tropes ahead! And with all the Important female characters we get handed a ditz as the protagonist who apparently has a cousin who hates her so much she hasn't seen him in years, and a sister who has been spying on her for the government because she has inferiority issues.

Sigh. I had high hopes for this show.

[Delphi]

I enjoyed it again, but maybe j just enjoy the break from the bleakness that is other shows but I think it will do well. I'm betting we get at least a full season.

I was less bugged by Superman being used or not used in conversation as I was by the constant comparison between the two of them. It came across to me that they very badly wanted to hammer home that Kara is just like Superman but a girl so please watch. Same upbringing. Same job. Sam secret identity. Same costume. Same powers. Same first public heroic act. And so on. That was why I was groaning every time they said 'him'. That is also why I noticed how infrequently the said Superman. The context was so annoying that it grated and underlined the exact word they used.

I do admit that reading the forum, I'm wondering if there was some negotiation on how many times they could use 'Superman'. It seems deliberate, but whether its related to DC or the showrunners is a toss up.

There probably was, I mentioned this month's ago but back in the early 2000s on Birds of Prey, the show was only allowed to use Batman's name sparingly. It showed up in the intro every episode but other than that they were limited to a few times in the pilot in order to set up the story, an episode focusing on Batgirl and the finale. DC loves their mandates. Edited October 27, 2015 by Delphi

[Kromm]

My nitpick, if the villain is a fellow Kryptonian, how come when the ax explodes he gets injured while Kara does not?

He's not Kryptonian. They do a bad job of making it clear, but apparently the Kryptonian justice system incarcerated criminals from around the galaxy. He's another kind of alien, and that will supposedly hold true for most of these prisoners... with a few Kryptonians being the cherries on top when the storyline gets advanced enough.