Supergirl - 'Better Angels'

"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more."

Wrapping up this season's run of DC finales (I'm not counting Gotham, which is clearly a different universe,) is Supergirl's 'Better Angels'.

Kara and Robo-Alex fight, with Alex's Kryptonite exoskeleton and sword overwhelming an opponent who really, really doesn't want to hurt her, but thankfully not-dead J'onn drops in with Mama Danvers, who is able to connect with Alex, not only freeing her from Myriad's control, but providing proof of concept for Cat Grant's hail Mary. Supergirl broadcasts her message of hope, and boom, Myriad goes bung. Villains defeated and home for tea and crumpets.

Except that that's all in the first five minutes.

This. Just... this.

Sam Lane rearrests the injured J'onn and Superman remains in a coma and just out of shot for legal reasons. Apparently the show got the rights to occasional name drops, texts from Clark, and use of Superman in long shots, close ups blurred out by lens flare, and boots-only coma shots. Worse than that, Max Lord interrupts a Danvers family moment to tell them that Myriad is in overload and will make every human head on the planet explode in a few hours.

Kara says goodbye without saying goodbye to her friends, knowing that she probably can't take Non and Indigo alone. Fortunately, J'onn is willing to step to the plate, despite his injuries and arrest, and the two of them take on our villains at the wreck of Fort Raz, their base of operations, undetected because the military reactivated its cloaking device when they realised that they couldn't move it. Nice move, Army guys!

I really enjoy this show.

With the fate of the entire planet on the line (for the second time in as many weeks, although I guess they never knew about the multiversal destroyer in The Flash,) Kara and J'onn cowboy up for a desert double showdown: J'onn vs Indigo and Kara vs Non (achievement unlocked: designated girl fight averted.) J'onn takes another stab to the chest, but manages to rip Indigo in half, while Kara pulls out all the stops to pwn Non in Kryptonian eye-beam wrestling, burning out his eyes. Yeah, you read that right. Hot catsuit villain is pulled in two at the waist in a shower of Brainiac pixels and Non's eyes get incinerated. This shit is fucking hardcore.

Learning that the engines on Fort Raz can't be fired without the now defunct Indigo (or possibly at all; it's conceivable she was intending to strand Non on a dead world with her just to spite him for not listening to her earlier,) Kara intends to push it into space, stranding herself without gravity to push against or oxygen to breathe and this is kind of mind blowing, because apparently Kryptonians are earthbound in this continuity. That's kind of huge, as Superman has traditionally swanned around on the Moon without ill effect, flown between worlds, and in the classic Superman movie was apparently able to let Lois breathe in space. Fortunately, Alex is able to fly Kara's pod to save her, J'onn is pardoned by the President, he and Alex are reinstated at the DEO and Hank/J'onn gives a speech about how secrets are the enemy over a montage in which Sam Lane secretly slips Max Lord some alien tech to monkey with.

Well, this season is clearly ending on a happy note with no cliffhanger
whatsoever.

Cat gives Kara a promotion, complete with a new office, and an invitation to write her own job description in lieu of a payrise. She even gets Kara's name right. The extended Supergirl family - minus Clark, of course, although he is awake and texting - meet for dinner at the apartment, James gives Kara his 'favourite Supergirl photo', which is of course of her as Kara, and then another Kryptonian pod crash lands, carrying a cliffhanger ending.

I have really enjoyed Supergirl Season 1. It was a bit awkward at first as it found the right tone and took the anvils off its feminism, but over all it has been pretty kickass. Melissa Benoist's Kara is delightful, and the supporting cast have been a lot of fun. The love triangle was resolved just short of becoming utterly unbearable and OMG Martian Manhunter! I've particularly enjoyed watching the balance of power, with J'onn a strong supporting presence, but never overshadowing Kara. I particularly enjoyed a scene in this episode where Kara delivers to the injured J'onn the forehead kiss which father figures traditionally bestow upon daughters. To get to that from the antagonistic early relationship which morphed into J'onn acting as a superhero mentor without diminishing his character was quite an achievement.

With Wonder Woman on the way and Captain Marvel in the distance, Supergirl has landed DC the first great female superhero of 21st century live action entertainment, and made some amends for Legends of Tomorrow's Hawkgirl being so much the Load.