DC Comic's Supergirl is a hot mess and however terrible the pilot was, at least it was a success, in that the lead character, Melissa Benoist (Glee, Whiplash), together with the supporting cast, succeeded in relaying the hot-messiness across perfectly.
The pilot episode, leaked online 6 months prior to its official release on CBS, fell apart right from the very beginning which opens with a voice-over. The voice talent, that of Melissa, just felt off; too giddy for the solemnity of the occasion. Then we see a younger Kara Zor-el whom I think was supposed to represent cool-headedness under pressure but only managed to convey a bravado so fake, I bet my inferior iPhone the Chinese could have done a better job.
From then on, you seem to be rushed through a seemingly endless sequence of platitudinous reveals, starting with Calista Flockart, only this time she's playing Cat Grant, a rich bitch who owns the Tribune. The best part? She seems to have added on an invisible pound; I guess no one would be running from Calista Flockart now. Was her appearance surprisingly refreshing? Yes. But I couldn't help but observe she acts the role like she's got a permanent itch in her vagina that she can't scratch.
In her interaction with Grant, to whom she acts as a personal assistant, another cheesy reveal is made: Supergirl cares deeply about people. People who'll be losing their jobs because Calista Mcbitch wants to lay off workers to save her sinking Tribune unless a hero comes along. How very original. Like people don't get laid off all the time and these people never get their lives back on track. But I digress; the Paper and the people can only be saved if and only if, a hero comes along. Kara, of course, considers this an affirmation to fulfil her heroic destiny.
Only she falls in love seconds later. How do we know this? Because a resident stock character, in the form of the pining poster boy for unrequited love/best friend tells her she'll say 'kapow' when she meets 'the one', who's Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy, a Pulitzer-winning photojournalist, is portrayed by Mehcad Brooks (Desperate Housewives, The Game) who also triples as stunning eye candy/diverse character in a main role. An annoying trait of Jimmy's is name-dropping Clark Kent, or referring to him in some form, in every scene he's in. 'My friend in blue', ' the big guy'? Ugh!
In exploring the events that define Kara's role as Supergirl, we find out she's insufferable, has a poor sense of fashion, is impetuous which, I must iterate, is a flaw unbecoming of any superhero. She is also a terrible judge of character (she looks to Mcbitch to save the world) and is grossly ill-informed on feminism: she believes Grant is perpetuating sexism when she brands the yet unidentified super-heroine who prevents a Malaysia airline-like disaster a 'girl' (helloo, ever heard of third wave feminism and the reclaiming of girrl?). Anyway, Grant schools her big time.
But what sucks most of all is Kara has the fighting skills of a Portuguese water dog-all cute and cuddly, no bite. Except Kara isn't endearing at all. Her sheltered adorable lost nerd routine is annoying and unfeminist. She's supposed to be super fast and super strong yet can't hold her own against an antagonist who doesn't appear to have half her abilities. Instead, her lack of preparedness and utter belief in her superior abilities, which fail her, forces her foster sister, with her extraterrestrial-fighting unit, to come to aid every frigging time.
Is it too much to ask for a bad ass Black Widow-like super-heroine who can do bad all by herself? Who doesn't have a defective moral compass set to 'sickeningly good' and is not required to appeal to nerds, animal rights and Christian groups simultaneously all the time?
I'm like come on...enough already! Do the producers not see Olivia Pope and Analise Keating! Even Taylor Swift in 'Bad Blood' was more bad ass than Kara, and I don't even like Taylor! I thought she was a 12-year old when she broke unto the music scene. 12 is the only age at which you can get away with cheesy country songs. And she's now added pop to her list of must-kill genres before she's done rampaging planet Earth. But once again, I digress.
Pining Lover Boy is also a dick. Just because a girl doesn't like you doesn't mean she's lesbian! That's sexist and shows how insecure you really are. And yet, Kara chooses to reveal her big secret to him. Bad bad judge of character. But an upside is, he can sew! How very convenient that the IT guy whose whole life is about algorithms also knows how to cut and stitch! Or is it Kara since it was her apartment? Argh, I just don't know, grrrr.
But Kara's got a sense of decency though. How very endearing...not. Okay, maybe. But it takes four fittings, each a notable improvement over the other, before she finally settles on a 'suitable' outfit. Funny observation; although we're made to think her transformation occurred over a number of days of trial and error, Pining Lover Boy does only two wardrobe changes. Rush much? It seems the director was like, ' Hurry the fuck up! We only got 46 minutes and 13 seconds!No time for wardrobe changes!'
Right before the closing scene, a flying Kara slows down, hovers, and her voice-over intones, 'Earth doesn't have one hero any more, now it has Supergirl'. Now imagine Courtney Love saying that, only either skunk drunk or high on heroin.
Yep. You get my disappointment now. Supergirl falls hard aided by a weak plot and a less than stellar actress in the lead role.
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