Supergirl: The Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Supergirl: The Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 15, 2022

Part of the subtext of any property featuring a superhero (or heroine, as the case may be) is that someone somewhere needs help. In that regard, it's maybe just slightly hilarious that Supergirl decides to end its six season run with an impassioned plea for "self help", or at least "self empowerment", in a plot device that may suggest to some that one Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) may have just returned from a life altering retreat with practitioners of EST, The Forum and/or any other group spearheaded by Werner Erhard or similar types. Supergirl's attempts to get the entire global population, but especially those in National City, to stop waiting around to be saved and, well, save themselves of course only occurs after a season full of trials and tribulations, not to mention multiverses and the occasional Phantom Zone. A lot of the series is obviously goofy as all get out, and there's little doubt that the show has been affected by the humongous success of "superhero team" franchises like The Avengers and/or Justice League, and as such there is a veritable glut of supporting superheroes and supervillains that populate this season.

Reviews of the previous seasons of Supergirl can be accessed by clicking on the following links:

Supergirl: The Complete First Season Blu-ray review

Supergirl: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray review

Supergirl: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray review

Supergirl: The Complete Fifth Season Blu-ray review

(It appears that the third season of the series has yet to be officially reviewed.)

The shenanigans of Lex Luthor (a wonderfully hyperbolic Jon Cryer) is of course up to his old tricks, and a lot of this season features the ripples radiating out from his various misdeeds, not the least of which is trying to more or less hypnotize people into loving him via the same Obsidian technology mentioned in our review of the series' fifth season. The fallback motive for any archvillain, namely world domination, is the goal, though Lex and, ultimately, Nyxly (Peta Sergeant) end up basically sucking the life out of any mere human who would deign to question their superiority. That whole long plot arc leads to one of this season's kind of fun visual effects, which might be compared to Pleasantville in that the visual representation of people losing faith in themselves is that they become desaturated and, finally, black and white (assumedly shortly before their demise).

There's also a somewhat more soap operatic element playing out with regard to another member of the Luthor clan, namely Lena (Katie McGrath). There's some quasi-mother and daughter drama between Lena and Lillian (Brenda Strong) that reaches a bittersweet conclusion in the series' final episode, though even this element seems to be part and parcel of the writers' "self empowerment" storyline, since Lillian urges Lena to recognize her (i.e., Lena's) power and use it accordingly. This is yet another season where Lena's motives tend to shift with the wind, but that makes for some appealing vignettes where McGrath gets to show a bit of subtlety, something this show doesn't always aim for.

The simple glut of characters means that not a whale of a lot of time is spent in typical "development", other than the underlying tenet that both mortals and superheroes (and heroines) need to recognize their own power(s) in order to prevail over calamity. There's also the none too surprising emphasis on working together as a team rather than fracturing off into various splinter groups, and of course there's a rousing finale where the assembled good guys (and gals) take on Lex and Nyxly, giving them a bit of their own Phantom Zone medicine.

The series ends with a marriage which won't be spoiled here (even if longtime fans can guess who the spouses are), as well as a kind of cheeky "salute" to one of the main conceits of the whole Superman and/or Supergirl franchise, namely that a pair of glasses can instantly provide an unrecognizable alter ego for the general public. The series kind of ends back where it started on one particular level involving CatCo, and Calista Flockhart contributes a brief cameo in that regard.

Supergirl: The Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Supergirl: The Sixth and Final Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is one of the sharper looking seasons that I've personally reviewed, with really commendable fine detail levels suffusing almost all of the non-CGI or other special effects sequences. A glut of finely patterned costumes features excellent detail on textures, and the palette also pops agreeably throughout, running the gamut from bold primaries to softer pastels. While some of the special effects work can still look occasionally soft and not especially well rendered, relatively speaking I found this season's efforts to be among the better that I've reviewed. The almost Nosferatu like demons that erupt from a portal in several episodes are especially evocative and spooky looking.

Supergirl: The Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Supergirl: The Sixth and Final Season offers a continuously boisterous DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that features some whirlwind surround activity in many of the over the top action sequences, as well as some floorboard rumbling LFE. There's some kind of drinking game potential with this series in terms of Supergirl and a variety of other characters crashing through various objects to make a crouching landing, and all of those moments typically feature great immersion. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Supergirl: The Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• A Farewell Tribute to Supergirl (HD; 24:14) offers some fun candid moments with the cast.

Disc Two

• Deleted Scenes (HD; 6:02)

Note: The Deleted Scenes can be accessed in aggregate under the Deleted Scenes Menu, or via a little scissors icon next to each individual episode (which plays only deleted scenes from that particular episode).

Disc Three

• Deleted Scenes (HD; 4:21)

Note: The Deleted Scenes can be accessed in aggregate under the Deleted Scenes Menu, or via a little scissors icon next to each individual episode (which plays only deleted scenes from that particular episode).

Disc Four

• Deleted Scenes (HD; 6:26)
  
  Note: The Deleted Scenes can be accessed in aggregate under the Deleted Scenes Menu, or via a little scissors icon next to each individual episode (which plays only deleted scenes from that particular episode).

Additionally, a digital copy is included, and packaging features a slipbox.

Supergirl: The Sixth and Final Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As is perhaps indicated above, I found some elements of the "self empowerment" aspect of this series to be on the laughable side, but the good thing about Supergirl is that, despite some melodramatic aspects, it never seems to take itself that seriously. Fans of the series should certainly find enough here to warrant checking out this release, and the good news is technical merits are solid. Recommended.