What does it take to be a superhero?

Well, for starters, don’t be a klutz. There is a steep learning curve for Kara, AKA Supergirl, the second episode of CBS’s new drama. This week, the new hero must learn how to be an effective champion quickly or be chewed up and spit out by the media and city. In her over-eagerness, Supergirl attempts to stop an explosion of an oil tanker by pulling the bow (front) of the ship away from the flames. Well, things don’t go exactly as she hopes, and she mistakenly rips a hole in the ship, spilling crude oil into the bay.

It seemed difficult to keep pace with the show, which felt as if it zipped on through the story. There are many moving pieces, but a common theme throughout the entire episode is that you must learn to walk before you can run. In the case of Kara, she must learn how to be a hero before she can be a good hero. In the episode, Stronger Together, Kara faces insecurities as she measures herself up to her cousin(the infamous Superman). Her frequent mishaps have become front page news as she is doing more harm than good in her city. The city isn’t the only one losing confidence in her. The EOD, Kara’s sister, and Alex start to doubt Supergirl, too.

Kara then enlists the help of Jimmy and Winn to help her become a better hero. Kara goes on a hot streak, by stopping small crimes with minimal collateral damage. Just as she starts to gain the city’s trust back, another escapee from the Kryptonian prison wrecks havoc and kidnaps Alex. The EOD and Hank call on Kara as their only hope of rescuing Alex. In the final act, Kara then meets her aunt, General Astra (think Zod but for Supergirl). Astra’s attempt in recruiting Kara for earth’s domination fails and a battle ensues, which I am sure is the first of many.

As I previously stated, there are a lot of fast-moving parts in this episode alone; nevertheless, it was an exciting episode to watch. Last week’s pilot was extremely fast and at times felt campy. This episode sheds that image rapidly with the appearance of Astra. The Wicked Witch (Wizard of Oz reference) is cold and calculated, and I love to admit it, but it’s usually the bad guy (or woman) who makes the show. Astra seems as if she will be an incredibly difficult challenge to handle. We can expect to see Kara be the underdog in this war. For this series the worse the bad guys are, the better. That will be great for the season and ultimately the series.

I am fond of the direction the series is going in. A reoccurring theme in episode two was learning, and I am sure the creators have learned a lot from their predecessors. The writers understand that the superhero-saturated culture (us) are tired of slow-moving origin stories. What they are doing well, is getting us right in the action. They have the audience arriving late and leaving early, instead of bogging us down with boring repetitive serials. We can expect each episode to connect to the last episode with coherent plot development.

Verdict:

This episode was most definitely a step up from its pilot and quickly became a bit more exciting to watch. The special effects still leave a lot to be desired, but you can’t expect much from a basic cable TV show. The fight scenes were exciting to watch; however, the fight choreography needs improvement. Kara, played by Melissa Benoist, seemed like she never threw a punch. They will have to improve the techniques to make it little more believable that Supergirl can win a fight.

8.0/Great