SPECIAL NOTE: This will be a review of the final episodes of the series Supergirl and will contain SPOILERS. Watch for a six-season Supergirl series overview next week.
Many fans of the show
Supergirl who love the title character, everything she stands for and especially the Danvers sisters are not going to want to rewatch the series finale episodes
The Last Gauntlet and
Kara. If those fans were looking for a satisfying and triumphant conclusion to the storied superhero series, they are not going to find it or much to like about the series’ concluding episodes.
One question that was finally resolved was the identity of
Supergirl’s season six(b) big bad – the writing staff. The lack of attention to detail, show, storyline, and character history is nothing short of appalling and the outcome is a disappointing and disjointed mess. They left a lot of story open to interpretation. They were so uncertain of what they wanted to do with the characters that they ended up not doing anything at all. Even the montage of everyone’s future was super brief and mostly unexplored as to what it meant for each person’s destiny.
Watching how the Danvers Sisters were treated in these final episodes was like watching someone rip out the very heart and soul of the show and stomp on it. Instead of embodying the “El Mayarah, stronger together” iconic sister catchphrase and theme for five seasons, the writers forgot the meaning of the phrase and had the sisters acting bizarrely out of character. They argued over the destiny totem and how to rescue Esme then going off on their separate missions instead of working together to rescue Alex (Chyler Leigh)’s daughter as they would have in previous seasons. Alex and Kara (Melissa Benoist) were so out of character that even when we finally got another couch scene (which once was a staple of the show) it seemed off, as t though their powerful bond was missing. Normally in those scenes it’s hard to tell where Alex and Kara and Chyler and Melissa begin in those scenes, but even that electricity was missing this time. Also, it should be noted that the couch scene in
Kara, the final episode of the series was only the second Danvers Sisters couch scene in season 6’s entirety. The entire second half of the season after Supergirl’s rescue from the Phantom Zone should have been about the sisters working together to find their destinies instead it felt like these final episodes, in particular were a slap in the face of Danvers Sisters fans.
There is far more to dislike than there is to like in this extremely disappointing series finale. First focusing on the good or what worked. Once again Chyler Leigh showed why she has been a series MVP for six seasons with a heartrending performance in the Tower Armory with Kelly (Azie Tesfai). Leigh perfectly captured Alex’s frustration and despair over Esme (Mile Jones)’s kidnapping. You felt every ounce of her pain when Alex told Kelly that being powerless was her Kryptonite.
Another highlight was the triumphant return of the Queen of All Media, Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart). Flockhart didn’t miss a beat capturing Cat’s tone and flair when she announced she’d re-purchased Catco, wanted Kara to be her Editor-in-Chief and told Kara she knew she was Supergirl. It was only appropriate that if it wasn’t Kara’s sister, Alex who inspired her to be true to herself, it would be Cat.
Other outstanding moments came courtesy of Nicole Maines (Nia) and Jesse Rath (Brainy). Their performances were stellar as they played out Brainy and Nia’s tortured love story. In a nice throwback to the first season finale
Better Angels Supergirl gives an impassioned hope speech inspiring people to take back the power that Lex and Nyxly were stealing. Adding season one music under this speech was a genuinely nice nod. While it was nice to see old friends Mon-El (Chris Woods), Winn (Jeremy Jordan), James (Mehchad Brooks), and Lillian (Brenda Strong) return they were woefully underused. Yay, for the creation of a new DEO. Having Nyxly (Peta Sergeant) earn the love totem while protecting Esme from Lex (Jon Cryer)’s murderous intentions was a nice twice, although again it was disappointing to see most of
The Last Gauntlet’s menace directed toward a child.
The main highlight of
Kara was the beautiful wedding of Alex Danvers and Kelly Olsen. Their vows during the ceremony officiated by J’onn J’onzz (David Harewood) who kept his promise to walk Alex down the aisle, were touch and tear inducing, Kara and Jeremy’s duet of “We Belong” was appropriate and touching, and Esme as the chief flower girl and bird-house builder with Aunt Kara was charming and adorable. As beautiful as the wedding were a few things to quibble about. For starters, there were several questionable hair and fashion choices. The final moments before the ceremony with all the Danvers women (including Esme) was sweet although it was not necessary for Eliza (Helen Slater) to put down her mothering skills. Speaking of mothers, where was James and Kelly Olsen’s mother? Did she even come for the wedding? And after that lovely Danvers family scene why was there no solo scene, not one line of dialogue, where Kara tells Alex how happy she was for her and kisses her sister goodbye before sending them off. In fact, the sisters did not share another minute of screen time, just the two of them for the rest of the episode.
For the final episode of
Supergirl to be entitled
Kara it had extraordinarily little to do about the character. The writers either could not or did not want to figure out a compelling story to tell for Supergirl other than Alex getting married and having a child. Alex actually ends up getting an entire character arc her sister did not. Kara choosing to reveal her identity and stay behind and become the new Catco Editor-In-Chief as her real self comes across as a very unsatisfying conclusion, at least to this reviewer, because it was saying that Supergirl wasn’t allowed to balance her Superhero self and a happy relationship and virtually every other Arrowverse superhero before her has done. Why does she have to end up being alone? This again makes no sense especially after taking into consideration the show’s entire 100th episode
It’s a Super Life expertly explaining why keeping her two identities separate. It’s as though the CW took delight in putting Supergirl and her fans down.
Truly little else of the finale episodes of
Supergirl made sense. The entire totem storyline continued to be pointless and uninspired. Winn did considerable damage to the space time continuum, dropping nuggets of information from the future like the new DEO, Brainy and Nia’s impending nuptials, and telling J’onn that he and M’Gann (Sharon Leal) were going to become parents. Apparently M’Gann finally returns from that patrol of National City that she departed on in episode 8
Welcome Home, Kara and hasn’t been seen since. And what was the point of wasting time with a Lex and Nyxly love story if there was not real payoff? Lillian’s death was unnecessary as was the odd decision to dress her in a white suit although her strike heels were cool, which got confusing when Alex wore a white suit at the wedding. It was also a poor choice to have her admit suppressing Lena’s magical powers and pushing science on her as a child. It was as though she was saying Lena’s success as a scientist was tied to the darkness of the Luthor family name and a distraction from her true purpose: magic. And finally, why bring back all the heroes from the future, and include James, Lena, and Andrea in preparing a standoff for a major battle with Lex and Nyxly only to have Lex defeat himself by opening a portal to the Phantom Zones and having the Phantoms turn on him and Nyxly?
Overall, it was a very lackluster and disappointing conclusion to
Supergirl. Those disappointed fans who want to look back at the super series fondly should go watch standout episodes from previous seasons. Some recommended episodes include,
Falling,
For the Girl Who Has Everything,
Changing,
Midvale,
Exodus,
Reign,
Red Dawn and
Alex in Wonderland to name a few.
What did you think of
The Last Gauntlet and
Kara? Were you satisfied with how
Supergirl ended? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
