Welcome back to The Hollywood Reporter‘s weekly DC TV Watch, a rundown of all things DC Comics on the small screen. Every Saturday, we round up the major twists, epic fights, new mysteries and anything else that goes down on The CW’s Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and Black Lightning, and Fox’s Gotham. Note: The Flash, Arrow, Gotham, Legends of Tomorrow and Black Lightning have wrapped for the season.
Supergirl
Spoiler alert | Something as huge as Kara (Melissa Benoist) not only learning that her home of Argo City is alive and well despite Krypton’s destruction but also reuniting with her mother Alura (Erica Durance) after 15 years should have been one of the biggest twists of Supergirl as a series. It’s one of the biggest parts of her comic book history, and it took three seasons to get here. And yet The CW chose to spoil both of those twists last week in the promo for this week’s episode, making the actual epiphany moments fall flat. When Kara and Mon-El (Chris Wood) arrived on Argo City to find the Kryptonian rock needed to turn Reign (Odette Annable) back into Sam, viewers knew exactly what it was and who was waiting for them because of the trailers playing on the network all week prior. The moment that Kara and Alura see each other for the first time and realize who the other is hit all the expected emotional beats from the actors, but the overall scene didn’t induce chills in the way it would have if the promo hadn’t already revealed that very reunion for an entire week. Robbing that game-changing moment of its potential was an odd choice considering its ramifications.
Paradise found? | Based on promos for next week’s episode, THR accurately predicted that upon learning that her mother and home city survived Krypton’s destruction, Kara is going to return to Argo City for an unspecified amount of time after believing she helped cure Sam of Reign. But while she’s away, Reign somehow rises again. Will Kara’s takeaway from not being on Earth when she is needed most convince her that she can’t live a normal life on Argo City with her mother and fellow Kryptonians? If so, prepare for an even more dark and heavy show next season as Kara pines for her lost opportunity to live with her mother as she fulfills her obligation to be Earth’s protector. Or will it perhaps push her in the opposite, extreme direction where she doesn’t want to be the savior of an entire planet when she could live with her people in peace like she always was meant to before Krypton’s destruction? That woud fulfill her wildest dreams that she’s been having all season long, but Supergirl taking a sabbatical is not in line with who she is as a character. Her moment of doubt would of course be temporary, but that wouldn’t make it any less compelling to see.
No need for a mask | Is Alex (Chyler Leigh) destined to be more than just a DEO agent? With the debut of her badass new black suit care of Winn (Jeremy Jordan) a few episodes back, it seemed like Supergirl was laying the foundation for Alex to become a superhero. And in this week’s episode, watching her leap tall buildings in a single bound, her actions were clearly out of the realm of believability for what a normal human can do. Sure, Winn’s suit is giving her an upgrade, but what made Alex so special on the series is that she could handle herself against a human or alien criminal, no extra help needed. She had worked her entire life for the skills that Kara was born with, and that made her a more diligent hard worker because of it. If Supergirl does make Alex into a new superhero, alter ego and all, that would undercut the emotional poignancy of the story told over the last three seasons of how Alex was able to be a hero without being super. Hopefully the series backs off from giving Alex any more “upgrades” moving forward.
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Gotham will return for season five on Fox. Supergirl airs Mondays, The Flash will return for season five, Arrow will return for season seven, Legends of Tomorrow will return for season four and Black Lightning will return for season two, all on The CW.
