Supergirl: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Supergirl: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Look! Up in the sky! It's Superman with some chick!

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 20, 2017

There’s a very telling comment in one of the supplements included on this new(ish) Blu-ray release of Supergirl: The Complete Second Season where one of the show’s creative staff talks about the challenges faced by the writing team when trying to come up with a weekly nemesis for the title character, since Supergirl is, in effect, unbeatable. And, really, that seems to be one of the central issues facing any number of superhero outings, but one that perhaps afflicts weekly television series more than feature films. Week in and week out, a television series about a superhero needs to create conflict, with the preordained result that justice will triumph and that any show’s particular superhero will be back to fight another day. It’s almost a ridiculous formulation when you really step back and think about it, since it virtually removes any true suspense about how things are going to work out. That means that many superhero series try to stuff the veritable peripherals with all sorts of plot points and/or characters, none of whom or which are really central to the underlying premise, but which help at least to fill the spaces in between whatever “epochal” showdown will cap that week’s episode. Supergirl probably unavoidably falls victim to this same fate, and as such tends to feel fairly rote a lot of the time, though it’s at least partially buoyed by a relatively sunny take on events that certainly puts it at odds with any number of other reboots fashioned from venerable DC comics enterprises, including not so coincidentally entries featuring Supergirl’s cousin in films like Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice . The “revisionism” on display in Supergirl is decidedly less morose (for want of a better term), and the show might therefore appeal to demographics not typically associated with at least some superhero franchises.

As my colleague Michael Reuben mentioned in his Supergirl: The Complete First Season Blu-ray review, the series has various “constituencies” it needs to satisfy, but one of the more interesting gambits the show exploits in its second season is a much more prevalent role for Supergirl’s arguably more famous cousin Superman (Tyler Hoechlin). This would seem to be a kind of reversal of attempts (some might allege desperate attempts) to keep shows like the old Adam West Batman series alive by introducing Batgirl. In fact, Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist), AKA Supergirl and Clark Kent (AKA Superman, of course) are not the only former denizens of Krypton who end up on Earth, in another conceit the show engages in which might cause some curmudgeons to wonder whether we need some kind of “space wall” to keep out all of these (real) alien interlopers.

There are in fact so many folks dropping in from Krypton that it almost seems like old home week after a while, and it’s one of the curious formulations of this series that it struggles at times to come up with anything other than Kryptonite that can really threaten Supergirl and Superman. This season is stuffed full of sometimes fanciful episodes (including one directed by Kevin Smith), and it struggles mightily to reinvent venerable characters like Jimmy (now James) Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), who becomes the lesser known DC hero Guardian this year. (This character is actually interesting from any number of historical standpoints and those interested are encouraged to forage around on the internet for background information).

The show seems artificially “busy” a lot of the time, perhaps because there is that aforementioned issue with coming up with meaningful nemeses for Supergirl, but actually some of the non-superhero (and/or superheroine) stuff is actually what plays best. The personal relationships continue to be addressed in generally smart ways, and the show excels at the kind of light hearted banter that is typically more at home in sitcoms centered on Millennials. The large supporting cast features a number of well turned performances, including Calista Flockhart as Kara’s boss Cat, whom Michael Reuben sagely pointed out is obviously modeled on Miranda Priestley from The Devil Wears Prada, and Chlyer Leigh as Kara’s adoptive sister Alex, who works for the top secret organization where Kara tools around in her Supergirl guise. But even this element kind of plays like a retread from other high tech series with a gaggle of twenty somethings gathered around computer monitors in an impossibly deluxe looking headquarters tracking down arch villains.

While a lot of this season of Supergirl attempts to invest the whole mighty DC universe with a younger and ostensibly hipper vibe, there’s simply a feeling of sameness that permeates many of the episodes. The whole tendency toward “revisionism” that has informed so many reboots of iconic superhero franchises over the past many years might be better served by actually concentrating on the private lives of the characters rather than their more “omnipotent” shenanigans, at least if Supergirl serves as an example of what works and what doesn't.

Supergirl: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Supergirl: The Complete Second Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Judging by the comments in Michael's Supergirl: The Complete First Season Blu-ray review, this year falls perfectly in line with the first season, down to sometimes curiously anemic bitrates. The show generally looks nicely sharp and well detailed, with fine detail on elements like what looks like little rubber nubs on both Superman's and Supergirl's costumes appearing almost palpable in close-ups. Things are a little less felicitous with regard to the frequent use of CGI, much of which looks pretty soft and even relatively lacking in detail. Some elements, like a fire that afflicts a skyscraper, are patently fake looking. The show's candy colored palette pops quite agreeably across the episodes of this season, and while there are still brief flirtations with banding (I noticed no aliasing in this season), there are no major issues that I feel will overly distract the series' fans.

Supergirl: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Supergirl: The Complete Second Season features a generally well detailed DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, one that derives fairly impressive force from the requisite battle scenes that break out with great regularity. But even the "office" scenes at DEO bristle with surround activity at times, with nice placement of everything from directional dialogue to the little beeps and clicks of all the high tech monitoring equipment helping to create an immersive listening experience. The show does tend to relax its surround ambitions in "talkier" bits, including a lot of the "other" office material featuring Cat and the reporting crew. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range nicely wide throughout all the episodes of this season.

Supergirl: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Supergirl: Alien Fight Night (1080p; 10:06) focuses on the Survivors episode, which is kind of a take on Fight Club, except that there are evidently no proscriptions against talking about it (as evidenced by this featurette).

Disc Two

• Audio Commentary on "Supergirl Lives" features Kevin Smith and Andrew Kreisberg.

Disc Four

• Supergirl: Aliens Among Us (1080p; 20:05) takes a look at various extraterrestrials who populate the show, while also delving into some of the special visual effects work.


• Supergirl: 2016 Comic-Con Panel (1080i; 28:16) features the cast and executive producers.


• A Conversation with Andrew Kreisberg and Kevin Smith (1080p; 3:55) focuses on directing. This is basically an audio supplement which plays out to various stills, behind the scenes footage and snippets from the show.


• Supergirl: Did You Know? features various trivia tidbits:

  Superman Baby (1080p; 00:33)

  Martian Manhunter needs a zipper in his suit (1080p; 00:49)

  Kara eats all of the brownies out of the ice cream (1080p; 00:44)

  Mehcad Brooks collects cultural antiques (1080p; 00:45)

  Chyler Leigh crashes David Harewood's interview (1080p; 00:28)

  Melissa explains using her powers on the show without the FX (1080p; 00:46)

  We Really Want Superman Back! (1080p; 1:40)

Note: Disc Three has no supplemental content.

Supergirl: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I haven't seen a demographic breakdown of the audience that tunes into Supergirl every week, but my hunch is this show may play best for younger females in need of a little hero(ine) worship, since one of the show's subliminal facets is the fact that Kara is "going to make it after all" (if I may be permitted to date myself by quoting another era's "superheroine"). The show perhaps unavoidably can't get away from treading territory that's already been covered (repeatedly), but this season provides some good development for James and/or Guardian, especially. Those wanting an at least somewhat sunnier take on superhero material that has more often than not been shorn of all joy in many other "revisions" offered to audiences on both the small and large screens over the past several years may want to check Supergirl out, even if they don't fit into the above demographic. Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.