By and
large, I thought Supergirl’s first
season did an all-right job making Superman’s presence felt despite his absence
from the show. Some of the dialogue
surrounding him feels weirdly stilted – I wondered at times if there was some
copyright issue forcing them to have Kara repeatedly say “my cousin” instead of
“Superman,” “Clark,” or “Kal-El,” any of which would’ve felt more natural most
of the time. However I like Kara’s
complex feelings about not being able to fulfill her original role of looking
out for him as a baby and being compared unfavorably to him as she works on
becoming a hero herself, and her and Kal’s occasional IM conversations are
brief but effective. When I heard that
the Man of Steel himself was being brought in for the start of season 2, I was
excited, but I was also a bit wary.
After all, it’s Kara’s show, and I didn’t want to see a lot of upstaging
(a few Kara-Kal-related spoilers.)
Basically? Any worry I had was completely
unfounded. I love Kara, I love the
show’s version of Kal (I’ve never been a fan of Superman, but this portrayal
might have made me a believer,) and I adore
the two of them together. From the first
moment Kal flies into National City, he’s there to help, not save the day, and
it’s an absolute pleasure to watch him and Kara fight alongside each other. They have a natural give-and-take; though
each can hold their own against any foe and ultimately come out on top, they
are, per the House of El motto, “stronger together” and can superhero tag-team
like nobody’s business.
This is
just everything I wanted it to be. Kal
doesn’t try to take charge, Kara doesn’t get possessive of her turf, and the
(admittedly-fickle) citizens of National City don’t lose interest in Supergirl
when Superman flies into town. Instead,
the Kryptonian dream team is a hit, and nowhere is it more popular than between
the cousins themselves. Both are such
enormous fans of one another, hugely admiring what the other can do and
relishing the chance to work together.
These two are even more of a delight than Kara and Barry in the DC-show crossovers. I just can’t get
over how much they adore one another and doing their thing together. They’re basically a basket of super-powered puppies
that can save the world.
I also
like how the dynamic acknowledges the Phantom Zone/time-stall issues. Kal was on Earth long enough to grow up and
becoming a superhero long before Kara’s pod even arrived and deposited her
tween self there, so he has a lot more hero experience and can give Kara advice
without being patronizing. On the other
hand, although Kal’s resources at the Fortress of Solitude have allowed him to
learn all the facts and figures about Krypton, he was just a baby when they
left. Kara passed a good portion of her
childhood there, and so she can share what their planet was actually like, the
lived-in truth you can’t get from records or simulations.
This
last point is an important one. Two Kryptonians, side by side, and
unlike last year, they’re both fighting on the same side. That connection to their home, so long lost,
is an important one. For Kal, it’s a
sight of a home he never really got the chance to know, and for Kara, it’s a
bond that keeps her memories of that home alive. And I just love that.
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