Supergirl is a 2015 superhero action adventure drama television series developed by Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti, and Andrew Kreisberg, starring Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Jeremy Jordan, David Harewood, Calista Flockhart, Chris Wood, and Floriana Lima.  The show follows the adventures of Kara Zor-El, cousin of Superman and one of the last surviving Kryptonians, who finds herself on Earth and becomes the superheroine Supergirl.

Positives:

• Great characters
• Great cast
• Great performances
• Great use of makeup, practical, and CGI
• Interesting stories
• Good score

Negatives:

• Some character designs are lackluster
• Villains lack story arcs

Plot: The series follos Kara who, after saving a failing airliner, dawns the superhero persona Supergirl to protect National City. The bulk of the series focuses on Kara’s personal growth as well as learning what it means to be a superhero. The climax was epic and a great send off to the first season of Supergirl, however, it would’ve been more epic had they actually taken the opportunity to use it to introduce Superman so that viewers can see these two work together. (3 out of 5)

Characters: There are a lot of great characters.  Kara is the main protagonist, a costumed superheroine who is the cousin to Superman, and one of the last surviving Kryptonians. She is awesome and has a great personality, she’s likable, she’s kind; definitely can tell that she is Clark’s cousin, they both have that drive to want to help people.  Aiding her is her friend and co-worker Winn Schott Jr., love interest James Olsen, adoptive sister Alex Danvers, and DEO head Hank Henshaw. Each of these characters have their own developing arcs as well as way of support for both Kara and Supergirl.  There is this attraction between Olsen and Kara but it feels unnecessary and too soon.  The show has several main antagonists including the industrialist and tech mogul Maxwell Lord, General Sam Lane who sees people with superpowers as threats, and Kryptonian criminals Astra and Non who seek domination of Earth.  Non really isn’t that interesting, but Astra has more personality and there is this bond between Kara and Astra showing that Astra isn’t just evil.  Non and Maxwell seem like carbon copies of Zod and Luthor with few distinguishing features.  General Sam Lane is the typical war vet who thinks any and everyone is a threat to the United States. (4 out of 5)

Cast: Great performances by the main and supporting cast. Melissa Benoist is great as Kara Danvers. She is not only a perfect cast but has that innocent girl-next-door look with great energy. Calista Flockhart does a great job as Cat Grant. Mehcad Brooks does a great job as Jimmy Olsen, Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers, Jeremy Jordan as Winn Schott, David Harewood as Hank Henshaw, Peter Facinelli as Maxwell Lord. Honestly, loved the guy in Twilight, it’s nice to see him play a cocky douchebag.  (4 out of 5)

Visuals:  Thumbs up to the awesome use of the special effects.  Most of the costume designs look really good.  I like the Supergirl costume; it looks more stylish and more modern and not something cheap.   Also, liked the Superman costume design which does look stylish.  There are some questionable character designs such as Live Wire (who looks like an emo), Banshee (she looks like she’s dressed up for Halloween), Reactron, the Jailer, and Jemm.  (3 out of 5)

Score:  The music is actually pretty good.  Definitely standard for tv dramas, definitely has some modern mixes that keep it feeling present.  There are some themes that are awesome, especially with the superhero feeling. There is the main theme that sounds similar to the Superman theme but actually is different and sounds cool. (3 out of 5)

Writing: The written aspect of the series is pretty good though at times it has its share of issues.  First, there is a focus on feminism that does make the show good in some aspects and bad in others.  When it comes to the character growth of Kara and what it means to be a woman in a male dominated field (corporate America and superhero) the focus of women makes the characters cool and is well written.  However, there is a focus that only a woman can do this, only a woman can make this certain accomplishment, only a woman can make this decision and that makes it feel burdensome, makes it feel forced.  Second, there is this thing where villains are introduced and they’re interesting but they aren’t given the time to develop and when they do, no matter their status is they become straight up evil.  Look at what happened with Banshee and Livewire.  They became evil almost immediately and weren’t given the time to develop as a villain, to develop their abilities. (3 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Supergirl is a pretty awesome tv show and one we’ve definitely been wanting to see.  Despite some of the writing, direct focus on feminism, flat villains, and some poor character designs, the show features an awesome cast, some great characters, great special effects, a good soundtrack, and a good, engaging story.  Supergirl gets 3 out of 5.