Supergirl: Pilot: Pre-Review

     This show isn’t supposed to air until November this year, but as most people know by now, the pilot has been leaked. I managed to see it and it was a very interesting episode. I’ll give general opinions here and I’ll be back for more solid impressions later. It might change. After all, the late great “Constantine” had a leaked pilot that was very different from what was actually aired. However, this seems much more final than that, so I’m fairly certain this one will stay the same. This came so soon after the super long trailer that I got really confused as to what the tone of this show was supposed to be.

The six minute trailer hints at something very different from what was actually in the pilot episode. The funny part is how similar the trailer is to Saturday Night Live’s parody Black Widow trailer. Basically the trailer is a pretty big turn-off. It makes the show look like a coming of age sitcom wrapped in a superhero disguise. The cheery music and worrying about clothes and boys dominate what it could have been, which definitely could turn off most superhero audiences. No one wants to see Rory Gilmore in a cape.

What happens in the pilot is that we get more Andy Sachs out of a cape (why do I know these characters?). Kara Danvers (an interesting name, I wonder if she’s related to Carol) is an assistant to Cat Grant, who is a media mogul instead of a gossip columnist. One of the interesting things is how the few Superman (who they refuse to call by name for some reason) characters that make appearances are so much farther ahead in life than the ones we’re familiar with. Jimmy Olsen has even gone from being a prepubescent ginger klutz to a 6’4″ handsome black guy with muscles. I would never have expect “James Olsen” to be the heartthrob of any series whatsoever. Hank Henshaw, who is an insanely dangerous villain in the comics, has also been changed into a black man. I am definitely interested in seeing where his character is going.

The biggest issue I have is the shoehorning in of feminist propaganda. I’m all for feminist values and I understand that all art has something to say, but it should never be so heavy handed. When the message is put into a person’s face this way, it feels forced and insincere. The reason this invokes so many groans is because it makes people feel excluded which is always bad for ratings. The same things happen in all forms of media when a project focuses more on message than entertainment. If you want to change views you have to make people understand instead of making them obey. More flies with honey and all that.

No one likes any agenda being shoved down their throat (I said the same thing about the antiterrorism episode of “Castle”). Say what you want, but try to keep it in the subtext. Joss Whedan for example does feminism well, but instead of forcing it, he just gives all of his female characters equal treatment to the males. They don’t have to point out the fact that they’re girls because that’s obvious to even the least developed of minds. They’re just badass because they are and it works for everyone.

That small rant aside, the pilot is pretty solid. There’s a frustrating amount of exposition meant to bring non-comic fans up to speed and make comic veterans aware of the changes, but it’s a pilot so that’s to be expected. There are sitcom moments here for sure, but the show and definitely its characters need time to grow. There is massive potential here, especially with what’s going on with the villains, but they’re going to need to work on their pacing.

This wasn’t bad and I understand the need to distinguish itself from the unending stream of superhero properties as well as the need to stuff a lot into the pilot, but a bit of a slow down couldn’t hurt. The good news is they’ve gotten all of her origin story in one episode instead of dragging it out over an entire season. That gives them a lot of room to play with for the rest of season one. We’ll just have to wait until November to see what they do. I’m willing to give Supergirl a shot.

Jonathan Jones

Jonathan Thomas Jones is a speculative fiction author and founder of geekhavenreviews.com. He has been passionate about all things geek for his entire life. See more about him at jonathanthomasjones.com and follow him on twitter @jtgloryjones.