Supergirl The Best of Supergirl

[flickchick85]

With the final season upon us, seems like a good time to reflect. So we all know that in terms of quality, like most in the Arrowverse, this show’s been all over the map. There’s been some stuff they’ve done that I’ve loved, and some stuff I’ve struggled to even make it through. This is a thread for appreciating the good stuff.

Over the last couple weeks, after it was announced that SG’s final season would be premiering earlier than we thought, I decided to do a rewatch of the whole show, and thought it might be fun to rank my favorite episodes as I went along, so here we are. Some general rewatch thoughts – S1 & 2 were worse than I’d remembered (which is impressive in S1’s case, if anyone’s ever read my scathing thoughts on that season before), but S3 was actually better than I’d remembered. It arguably got off to the best start of any season (if it hadn’t completely gone off the rails around episode 18, it would be right up there with S4 as the best. But, alas...it really jumped those rails, lol). S4 was easily the best overall season of the show (we’ll see how the final one goes…), but what I noticed on this rewatch was that S3 kinda had more standout individual episodes, while S4’s strength is more in its overall arc and plotting. Meanwhile, I’ve always had more fondness for S2 than it probably deserved due to its 1st two episodes, the “just go for broke” finale, and the intro of the Luthors, but most everything in between was truly messy as f***. Anyway, over the next few days I'll be posting a countdown of my top 20 eps from the first 5 seasons. Starting with....

20.) "The Quest for Peace" (Season 4, Episode 22)



So as I mentioned in the "S6 premiere" (aka S5 Finale) thread, this show has never been good a finales. BUT, in S4, they...mostly stuck the landing for once. Yay! Obligatory awkward Jesse Warn music video action sequence aside, this episode gave us such great character moments. As will be made even clearer by the end of my list, I love Red Daughter. She is precious. And she was heartbreaking this episode, realizing everything she knew was a lie. Melissa rocked that. We had Alex and Kara finally back on the same page after half a season of Alex without her memories of her alien sister, so that was an emotional relief, we had Reporter Kara Danvers saving the day by publishing all the evidence she and Lena had gathered on Lex's plan, Lena outsmarting and "killing" Lex, but not before he gets the last laugh by showing her that all her friends have been lying to her since she's known them, and perhaps most importantly, we had all 3 Luthors in the White House, doing some classic Luthor family bonding like poisoning each others' tea and holding each other hostage. Glorious. The Luthors are consistently one of the best aspects of the show, so of course giving them the spotlight in a finale for a change would result in the best finale. Thankfully, they also managed to wrap up the season's arc in a mostly sensible and satisfying way for a change, so that helped, too.


19.) "Crime and Punishment" (Season 4, Episode 18)

Almost a kind of bottle episode, this one's memorable for having Supergirl and Lena trapped in a prison for most of it. Supergirl is a fugitive, so the police soon enough have the place surrounded while the duo look for clues in Lex's old cell about what his plans are. Mainly I just enjoy this one for the moments, though. Lena and Supergirl finally starting to mend their uneasy alliance (just in time for it all to fall apart when The Great Lie is revealed in the finale), Supergirl taking on a whole sector of released prisoners (Super Clap!), Supergirl escaping Metallo Otis by turning into scared reporter Kara Danvers, and Kara bonding with that one prisoner who helps her to realize that Reporter Kara Danvers might be the hero needed more than Supergirl at this time.


18.) "Will the Real Miss Tessmacher Please Stand Up?" (Season 4, Episode 20)

AKA, the episode where Kara could've prevented the drama of S5 if she'd just stuck to her guns for 2 seconds longer. As frustrating as it was to watch at the time, seeing Kara ALMOST tell Lena the truth and back down at the last minute, it was also the moment we knew there was a big blow-up coming, and that's good for tension. This is basically a "road trip" episode where Lena and Kara went to Kaznia and uncover the truth about Red Daughter. It's also the episode where Kara realizes she's totally f***ed when it comes to the whole Supergirl reveal situation, and where she also realizes the season's evil plot goes all the way up to the oval office. The main reason this ep stands out to me is that it's one of those very rare occasions where Lena and Kara (NOT Supergirl) team up to save the world, and Lena's the one always trying to keep her poor defenseless reporter buddy safe from harm. That change in dynamic is refreshing, imo.


17.) "For the Girl Who Has Everything" (Season 1, Episode 13)

I know the first 3 on my countdown were pretty Luthor-centric, but here's one from the time before The Luthors. An adaptation of the classic Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything" by Alan Moore, I think what makes this episode so poignant is how DIFFERENT it is with Kara than with Kal. This isn't showing Superman a life from his imagination that he could have lived. No, this is the world Kara was raised in. This is showing Kara exactly the life she always assumed she'd have and perhaps took for granted, and that in some way makes it far more heartbreaking for me when she eventually has to make the choice to let it go. And having Alex go in and get her, forcing Kara to basically choose between her biological family and her adopted one?? As hard as I am on S1 in general, Melissa always brought it, especially when things got emotional, and this was a great example of that.

If anyone else has favorite episodes or moments, feel free to share here!

 

[flickchick85]

16.) "Suspicious Minds" (Season 4, Episode 10)

It's always nice when this show manages to pull off actual stakes beyond, "oh no, it might be the end of the world again!" And this episode's one of the best examples of those moments, imo. Following the new President's demand for Supergirl to reveal her secret identity and Kara's subsequent divorce from the DEO, we get this episode where the new priority mission of the DEO, lead by the President's DEO watchdog Colonel Haley, is to get to Supergirl's secret identity through any means necessary. Of course, there are several agents within the DEO who know Kara's identity, but out of loyalty to her, they keep quiet....for as long as they can, anyway. What makes this episode great to me is that we know if Haley and the President get Kara's identity, it's game over - they will absolutely use that info and the safety of her loved ones against her to keep her on a leash and turn her into the government's pet alien superweapon - they don't even pretend otherwise - and you can feel the noose tightening as episode progresses. Failure to protect Kara's identity starts to feel like an inevitability. The introduction of the Truth Seeker (an alien leech that basically acts as a Lasso of Truth to anyone it latches onto) by Col. Haley is pretty much a checkmate moment, which leads us to the emotional gut punch of an ending, where all the agents of the DEO who know Kara's identity consent to having their minds wiped of this knowledge by J'onn....and this includes Alex. The scene where Alex makes this decision to protect her sister, has to convince Kara that it's the only way, and where Kara realizes she's about to lose the one confidant she's always had on Earth, is easily one of the most moving emotional moments of the show (and the Arrowverse), imo. Chyler & Melissa sold it SO well.

15.) "Tremors" (Season 5, Episode 7)

Most of S5 was a slog, but this was the blow-up we'd been waiting 3 seasons for and it did not disappoint. Sure, Kara confessed her true identity to Lena in the premiere, but Lena pretended to be ok with it for the next 6 episodes and finally revealed the depth of the betrayal she felt when she was "caught" (because we all know she was begging to be caught) manipulating Kara for her own devices. Extra kudos for the choice of the rather poetic final shot - Kara trapped in what's basically a Kryptonite Cone of Shame, stewing in a misery of her own making (the "anti-Luthor" protocol of the Fortress turned against her).

14.) "Man of Steel" (Season 4, Episode 3)

This episode was refreshing largely because I appreciate when the show breaks from formula and does something new. I'm sure this mostly came about because of Melissa's limited availability at the start of S4 (due to a run on Broadway over the summer), but hey, it forced them to get creative and in the process, helped them with their usual villain problem. Until this episode, we hadn't even seen Agent Liberty's face yet. Suddenly we were presented with a whole episode of the guy before he was a villain at all, and saw how a regular, respectable, not-entirely-horrible college professor named Ben Lockwood, became an awful, radicalized mouthpiece of bigotry and xenophobia, and leader of the anti-alien movement. Of course in true Supergirl fashion, it certainly had its heavy-handed moments and played like a Cliffs Notes version of "how a person becomes radicalized," but I think it speaks to the solid execution of the episode that we basically had a whole episode of Supergirl with barely any Supergirl OR any of the main characters I watch the show for, yet I was still engaged for the entire runtime, thanks in no small part to the performances of two people I always enjoy watching on whatever shows they're on, Sam Witwer and Xander Berkeley as Lockwood and his father, respectively. Plus, I usually tend to enjoy episodes that go back in time and show us events from previous episodes/seasons as seen through other people's POV's.


13.) "Falling" (Season 1, Episode 16)

Anyone who's ever watched any show about a Kryptonian is probably aware of how fun a Red Kryptonite episode can be. While it's often interpreted a little differently by different writers, the typical effect is usually pretty similar - where green kryptonite affects a Kryptonian physically, the red variety affects them mentally/emotionally, removing their inhibitions in some way (in Smallville, it made Clark a "bad boy," while in Lois & Clark, it made him just kinda stop caring so much), so this rock gives the "do-gooder" character a chance to let loose, mouth off and have fun. And this episode WAS fun, seeing Kara tell off people like Siobhan Smythe and defiant alien criminals who totally had it coming...until of course it escalates to the point where a Kryptonian without those inhibitions is actually pretty scary and she starts doing things like throwing her boss off a roof. So yeah, I knew these types of episodes were usually fun, but until this episode, I never knew how emotional a red kryptonite episode could be. Like, when Kara comes out of her red kryptonite-induced haze basically traumatized by what she's done, wondering how she could ever possibly repair the relationships she's ruined and whether the city will ever again be able to see her as anything other than a terrifying alien? Yeah, I never got that from red kryptonite before. While I generally hate S1, this episode alone would probably stop me from erasing it from existence if I had the chance.

 

[Web-Head]

Great idea for a thread! A couple of "moments" that came to mind for me here

Red Faced (Season 1, episode 6) Tapping into Kara's anger and her just unleashing on Red Tornado as the score blasts and some flashbacks.





O Brother, Where Art Thou (Season 4, episode 15) I was trying to think of an exact "moment" for Cryer's Lex but it was easier to just go with his introduction. He's a large part as to why season 4 is arguably the best season of Supergirl and will go down as one of the best, if not the best Lex in live action.

 

[SSAV]

@flickchick85, thank you very much for this thread. You reminded me why I loved this show when it so often disappoints me. Most of those episodes are my favourite too (probably why. ) But even when we disagree (the value of Luthors for example), it is always nice to see the strengths from another's point of view.

Which is why I came over here after more than a year.

I wish the SCs had not taken away my liking for Lena because I had enjoyed her initially.

Oh and glad to know everyone is all right here, and safe and sound. (Hope Kelly is too). Glad to see DR still calling the elder Danvers Chyler, and Brierrose pointing out that that is not the character's name. Very reassuring.

 

[flickchick85]

Welcome back, @SSAV . Glad you are doing all right as well.

Great idea for a thread! A couple of "moments" that came to mind for me here

Red Faced (Season 1, episode 6) Tapping into Kara's anger and her just unleashing on Red Tornado as the score blasts and some flashbacks.

You know, if the execution of Red Tornado wasn't so mind-blowingly, distractingly awful, that whole episode definitely could've ranked up there for me. This moment was indeed A+.
Another moment I loved from that episode was like this show's only use of the ol' underrated Super-burrows-underground-and-attacks-enemy-from-below move.




Agreed on pretty much all things Lex in "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?" But I shall save my praises for that for when I get to it on the countdown.


And my top episodes countdown continues...

12.) "Exodus" (Season 2, Episode 15)

This episode had a lot going on - the national alien registry leaked, and Cadmus was rounding up aliens to forcibly deport them. Jeremiah had turned traitor in the previous episode and Alex was hellbent on finding him and figuring out why, eventually going rogue (with Maggie ride-or-die by her side after J'onn benched her and Kara sided with him) to do so. Lena well and truly getting herself into Cadmus/her mother's crosshairs. Kara herself going rogue at CatCo after Snapper refused to publish her article warning the other resident aliens of what Cadmus was doing, and getting herself fired in the process. And the episode actually juggles it all really well! Plus, it culminates in that great scene of Kara literally having to strong-arm a ship from leaving the atmosphere to stop her sister and all the kidnapped aliens she was trying to rescue from being whisked away to some unknown place on the other side of the galaxy.

11.) "It's a Super Life" (Season 5, Episode 13)

Ok so, anyone who knows me knows I love me some Mxyzptlk. He's literally one of my top 3 Supes villains. I enjoyed him in his first appearance, but Thomas Lennon was SUCH better casting (and I enjoyed their explanation for the recast). Having him be forced to come back in his true(-er) form to pay penance for all his various crimes in the 5th dimension and beyond, thereby making him an "ally" this go-round was an unexpectedly pleasant setup. This was the show's 100th episode, and it came in with a very simple premise that gave us an opportunity to revisit certain moments and characters from the show's run - Mxy's been convicted of wrongdoing by the Powers That Be in his dimension, so as part of his mandatory amends for his previous crimes against Supergirl, he will grant her one change to her reality of her choice. So of course, this being right in the middle of her big falling out with Lena, Kara takes the opportunity to try to go back and do things differently that maybe won't result in her and her best friend becoming mortal enemies. And the best part is, she gets to go and try out her changes and explore various alternate realities before deciding which one to stick with, giving us welcome cameos from familiar faces of yesteryear. Not only is this episode great fun with some actual amusing meta-commentary, but it's also a great turning point in the whole Kara/Lena saga. It's here where Kara finally puts her foot down, stops wallowing in "what ifs," self-pity and self-loathing over the whole ordeal, and delivers that great ultimatum to Lena at the end - basically saying she screwed up, she owned it, apologized in every way imaginable, but she's not gonna take the blame for Lena's choices from here on out - those are ALL officially Lena's, and if she chooses the villainous route, Kara will treat her like any other villain. Which was a great callback to Lena's parting words after their fallout in Tremors - "I'm not a villain. You shouldn't have treated me like one." And it was delicious.


10.) "Triggers" (Season 3, Episode 2)



One of my biggest complaints about this show's take on Supergirl is that it rarely focuses on one of the biggest things that separates Kara from her cousin: The fact that Krypton was her home, she spent her formative years there, and she experienced the trauma of its destruction (and being trapped in the Phantom Zone) firsthand. To Clark, Krypton is a story from before he can remember. For Kara, it was her reality that was lost in an instant, and left her trapped in a nightmare. So naturally, I appreciate any episode that acknowledges and gives that trauma its due. And "Triggers" was the best episode to do so, imo. Basically there's a metahuman out there named Psi who can tap into peoples' fear, and who's robbing banks and triggers Supergirl's long-dormant PTSD when she confronts her. We see Kara trying to cope with this by getting back to her roots through Kryptonian meditation methods and with Alex's help, realizing the real reason the PTSD is persisting even without Psi's help is because she fears she just inflicted the same trauma upon Mon-El at the end of S2 by sticking him into the same pod she was trapped in for decades and sending him off into the unknown alone, possibly even killing him in the form of her literal nightmare death. It's just a great episode of character exploration for Kara, and on my rewatch, I also couldn't help but notice the direction of this episode was smoother and more sophisticated than most. It's just a very well-done episode, imo.

 

[Brierrose]

@SSAV I’m very glad you’re ok.

@flickchick thanks for doing this. My choices might be slightly different but I can’t argue against yours. Completely in agreement that so far season 4 is the best, it deserved the BEST SUPERHERO TELEVISION SERIES Saturn Award that it won. For The Girl Who Has Everything is great for all the reasons you said but I also loved the look on Melissa’s face when Kara wakes up.
The way she says “who did this to me is chilling.

then a couple of scenes later she beats the crap out of Non.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I've only watched the episodes as they aired and parts of S1 on netflix so...the episodes themselves arent clear in my mind...but apart from that, what I've enjoyed about the series....

The costume and overall chariization of Supergirl was on point. Out of all the adaptations we've gotten across the Arrowverse, Kara was the best adaption they've done.

The supporting characters. Even though the lack of actual martian annoys me, I still like 97% of the characters.

The creation of Alex Danvers. Every show wants to leave their mark and introduce something original to the mythos and Alex was definitely a great creation. She quickly went on to become the other half of the show and a character that I wouldn't mind is introduced into the comics.

 

[flickchick85]

@SSAV I’m very glad you’re ok.

@flickchick thanks for doing this. My choices might be slightly different but I can’t argue against yours. Completely in agreement that so far season 4 is the best, it deserved the BEST SUPERHERO TELEVISION SERIES Saturn Award that it won. For The Girl Who Has Everything is great for all the reasons you said but I also loved the look on Melissa’s face when Kara wakes up.
The way she says “who did this to me is chilling.

then a couple of scenes later she beats the crap out of Non.

Yeah she played the shock-to-depression-to-anger transition that comes after a Black Mercy possession pretty perfectly, imo.

I've only watched the episodes as they aired and parts of S1 on netflix so...the episodes themselves arent clear in my mind...but apart from that, what I've enjoyed about the series....

The costume and overall chariization of Supergirl was on point. Out of all the adaptations we've gotten across the Arrowverse, Kara was the best adaption they've done.

The supporting characters. Even though the lack of actual martian annoys me, I still like 97% of the characters.

The creation of Alex Danvers. Every show wants to leave their mark and introduce something original to the mythos and Alex was definitely a great creation. She quickly went on to become the other half of the show and a character that I wouldn't mind is introduced into the comics.

I'm honestly surprised they didn't introduce Alex in the comics for Rebirth. They clearly based so much of that version on the show, and she was the most popular "original element" of the show at that point, that kinda seemed like a no-brainer to me.

Anyhoo, on with the countdown...

9.) "All About Eve" (Season 4, Episode 17)

This is the concluding installment of a trio of successive episodes I like to think of as the "Season 4 Awesomeness Trilogy" - essentially a 3-act reveal of Lex Luthor's plan where the big picture of Season 4 comes into startling focus, and probably my favorite consecutive run of episodes the show has had. Following the escape of Lex Luthor and the great betrayal of Eve Tessmacher, we have the trio of Supergirl, Alex and Lena deciding that Eve is the key to figuring out what Lex is up to and teaming up to track her down. There's just a lot of really good stuff here. First of all, the Supergirl/Alex/Lena trio has had tragically few plotlines together on this show (before this, the only instance of it I can recall was the "Trinity" episode of S3), and they're the 3 most consistently-compelling characters, so whenever they ARE thrown together for a storyline, it's a good time. It was especially good this time around because this is where Supergirl and Lena FINALLY hashed out their issues leftover from S3, with the help of Alex as a buffer/mediator (with the added complication of Alex still lacking the knowledge that SG is her sister, and her and Supergirl having had a somewhat strained relationship in recent times as well). Supergirl owning up to her OTT hypocritical behavior towards Lena in the previous season was, frankly, long overdue, and very nice to see. I'm not usually into the storylines they give James, but even his subplot here - dealing with his Lex Luthor-based PTSD now that Lex is back on the loose - was a compelling one to me. And even the little moments, like Eve "bonding" with Red Daughter while setting the stage for their big plans, were great. And of course, it ends with that chilling sequence of Eve trapping Supergirl in the Kryptonite-infused Lexosuit while Red Daughter makes her grand entrance on the public stage by pretending to be Supergirl and attacking the White House, such an effective moment because of the way they'd been credibly building the animosity between this government and Supergirl all season, so people would believe it. The President immediately declares Supergirl the new Public Enemy #1, and when Alex and Lena then use the signal watch to summon Supergirl, she assumes she's there to be taken into custody. So when she realizes she's wrong and that these two actually, genuinely have her back (with neither of them knowing she's Kara), it's a nice "awww" moment of relief for the otherwise truly s***ty week Kara is having, lol.

8.) "Luthors" (Season 2, Episode 12)



This was the moment the Luthors became an integral part of this show's DNA, and the show immediately became better because of it, imo. Lillian and Lena had been previously introduced and we got hints of their crappy relationship in a couple preceding episodes, but here is where the entire clusterf*** that is the Luthor family dynamic came into view. Adult Lex wouldn't be introduced for another 2 seasons, but the brief flashbacks we got here with young Lex and Lena (as well as a glimpse of the Lionel/Lillian dynamic) set up some solid foundations for the stuff to come. Basically, Metallo breaks Lillian out of custody at her trial, where Lena has just testified against her. They frame Lena as the one who smuggled Metallo's Kryptonite heart into the prison, and after she's arrested, they break her out, cementing the public's increasingly popular narrative that Lena is just another Luthor. Lillian's reasons for kidnapping Lena are far more self-serving, but she uses the opportunity try to convince Lena that she did it because she wanted her to join the cause - that Lena's her new favorite child and that they should run Cadmus together. Of course she does all this by making the argument that no one else on Earth cares about Lena but her. Mom of the Year! Kara is basically fighting an uphill battle the whole episode as not a single one of her friends/team remotely believe in Lena's innocence (there's some pretty compelling video evidence), so "Lena's Not Like Her Family" is the hill Kara's prepared to die on. Literally. Because it leads to her flying to a mountain bunker full of anti-Kryptonian weapons, where Metallo's bad synthetic Kryptonite is also about to go nuclear, in order to save her. And in the span of one episode, Kara and Lena go from friendly acquaintances to ride-or-die BFF's, and it becomes pretty difficult to imagine this show without Luthors ever again.

 

[Dark Raven]

Falling is definitely a standout, especially with Melissa's acting at the end when she realises what she had done while under the influence of Red Kryptonite.

Also the Midvale episode with Izabela Vidovic as Kara was something I liked and made me wish we had actually gotten a Supergirl show set when she was a teen. Something along the lines of Smallville, but without the no flights, no tights rule.

I also enjoyed the Flash crossover episode in Season 1 as that was the first time it became part of the Arrowverse and was great to see Kara working alongside another hero.

And the Superman episodes at the beginning of Season 2 were particular standouts. It was awesome to see them both rescue that space shuttle, and the scene of Clark running down that alleyway changing into Superman before taking off was one of the best scenes of the series.

The musical episode was definitely not all it cracked up to be though and was a disappointment.

 

[flickchick85]

Falling is definitely a standout, especially with Melissa's acting at the end when she realises what she had done while under the influence of Red Kryptonite.

Also the Midvale episode with Izabela Vidovic as Kara was something I liked and made me wish we had actually gotten a Supergirl show set when she was a teen. Something along the lines of Smallville, but without the no flights, no tights rule.

I also enjoyed the Flash crossover episode in Season 1 as that was the first time it became part of the Arrowverse and was great to see Kara working alongside another hero.

And the Superman episodes at the beginning of Season 2 were particular standouts. It was awesome to see them both rescue that space shuttle, and the scene of Clark running down that alleyway changing into Superman before taking off was one of the best scenes of the series.

The musical episode was definitely not all it cracked up to be though and was a disappointment.

I personally much preferred the musical crossover ep (which was technically a Flash ep, not SG) over the S1 Flash/SG crossover, but neither would be on my list of faves. Otherwise, agreed.

On with the countdown...

7.) "Reign" (Season 3, Episode 9)

Ok, so apologies...I gotta pause the positivity for the moment because I can't talk about Reign without a little mini-rant about how the writers squandered this storyline in the end. Like, in the comics, the Worldkillers were not just Kryptonian genetic Frankenstein monsters - but ZOR-EL, Kara's own father, was the "Dr. Frankenstein" of the story! Not only that, but there was a missing 5th (original) Worldkiller which, thanks to Kara's increasingly disturbing revelations about her father's experiments, led to her grappling with the fear that SHE may have been that missing creation (which would have been an especially plausible theory since this was coming on the heels of her surprising victory over Superman at the end of the previous season). How do you just abandon all the dramatic potential in such a set up and go, "nah, let's just make it Space Witches." Like, who on Earth thinks that's a more interesting story for our main character?!?! *sigh* [/end rant] But final act of the Worldkiller plotline aside....I really liked this show's version of Reign. The whole idea of a Jekyll/Hyde Kryptonian sleeper who, when her Kryptonian side comes out, basically becomes their version of the Punisher enacting Kryptonian biblical justice? That's a pretty cool concept, imo. Not only that, but Reign was the first truly menacing Big Bad that Supergirl has had on this show. And this was the episode where that was made abundantly clear. The first part of the season did a great job of getting us invested in Reign's alter ego, Sam Arias, as her Kryptonian side began manifesting. To me, it was a better version of what Smallville tried to do with Doomsday/Davis Bloom but without the annoying romance element that killed that approach for me in that show. And by giving us brief glimpses of Reign and her carnage in this episode, you could really feel that they were building up to a big moment. That big moment was essentially the closest thing this show has done to their own "Death of Superman" - Kara meeting Reign for the first time, thinking this is just going to be another alien fight, and Reign completely wiping the floor with her, pulverizing her into a coma without breaking a sweat, as National City watches in horror. The whole episode had a nice ominous vibe leading up to the fight, and considering it was the mid-season finale, we kinda knew it wouldn't go well, but you know, Kara sure as hell didn't. And watching her go in with full confidence and gradually start to realize that there was no way she was gonna win (and suddenly being very afraid for the safety of all the bystanders) was very effective. Plus, from a technical standpoint, this was probably the best-directed fight this show has done to date (kudos, Glen Winter. There's a reason you're a DCTV vet!). It certainly remains the most memorable. And that ending, where we see Sam's poor oblivious daughter Ruby approaching her mom (creepily standing there staring off into space) in their house, asking what's up with her and cutting to black right as Sam begins to turn, before we see which persona Ruby will be met with? That was a damn good ending, imo.


6.) "Midvale" (Season 3, Episode 6)



The relationship between the Danvers sisters has consistently been the strongest aspect of this show since the very beginning. I don't think many viewers would disagree with that. So it should've come as no surprise that an episode devoted entirely to that relationship, essentially giving us the "origin story" of their bond, would be one of the best. But I'll admit, I was skeptical of this episode, since it was gonna be an episode largely devoid of our main cast, and taking a full break from the main plot. It honestly sounded like filler. In this case, it felt great to be wrong. Not only was this episode a really nice Smallville homage (and tbh, better than most episodes of Smallville if you ask me), but it also reminded me why the character of Supergirl has remained a teenager in comics for so long and what makes that aspect of the character so appealing. After this show is gone, I really hope the next Supergirl saga on the big or small screen goes back to the whole teen, coming-of-age roots of Kara's story. Anyway, the setup for this episode is that Alex is reeling from her break-up with Maggie, so Kara decides to whisk her off back home for a weekend in Midvale to get away from both their troubles. In the process of trying to work through their baggage, we get flashbacks of their early days growing up here together, where they first pretty much hated each other, and bonded over solving the case of the suspicious death of one of their classmates. But the episode works 100% thanks to the performances of Izabela Vidovic and Olivia Nikkanen as young Kara and Alex, respectively. That casting was absolutely spot-on and these young actresses nailed it. It's a damn crime that we didn't get more flashbacks with them more often after this episode, but I'm looking forward to the ones we're reportedly getting in the final season even if they once again sound dubiously like superfluous filler. Thanks to this episode, I've learned my lesson not to write them off so soon.

 

[Dark Raven]

I personally much preferred the musical crossover ep (which was technically a Flash ep, not SG) over the S1 Flash/SG crossover, but neither would be on my list of faves. Otherwise, agreed.

On with the countdown...

7.) "Reign" (Season 3, Episode 9)

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Ok, so apologies...I gotta pause the positivity for the moment because I can't talk about Reign without a little mini-rant about how the writers squandered this storyline in the end. Like, in the comics, the Worldkillers were not just Kryptonian genetic Frankenstein monsters - but ZOR-EL, Kara's own father, was the "Dr. Frankenstein" of the story! Not only that, but there was a missing 5th (original) Worldkiller which, thanks to Kara's increasingly disturbing revelations about her father's experiments, led to her grappling with the fear that SHE may have been that missing creation (which would have been an especially plausible theory since this was coming on the heels of her surprising victory over Superman at the end of the previous season). How do you just abandon all the dramatic potential in such a set up and go, "nah, let's just make it Space Witches." Like, who on Earth thinks that's a more interesting story for our main character?!?! *sigh* [/end rant] But final act of the Worldkiller plotline aside....I really liked this show's version of Reign. The whole idea of a Jekyll/Hyde Kryptonian sleeper who, when her Kryptonian side comes out, basically becomes their version of the Punisher enacting Kryptonian biblical justice? That's a pretty cool concept, imo. Not only that, but Reign was the first truly menacing Big Bad that Supergirl has had on this show. And this was the episode where that was made abundantly clear. The first part of the season did a great job of getting us invested in Reign's alter ego, Sam Arias, as her Kryptonian side began manifesting. To me, it was a better version of what Smallville tried to do with Doomsday/Davis Bloom but without the annoying romance element that killed that approach for me in that show. And by giving us brief glimpses of Reign and her carnage in this episode, you could really feel that they were building up to a big moment. That big moment was essentially the closest thing this show has done to their own "Death of Superman" - Kara meeting Reign for the first time, thinking this is just going to be another alien fight, and Reign completely wiping the floor with her, pulverizing her into a coma without breaking a sweat, as National City watches in horror. The whole episode had a nice ominous vibe leading up to the fight, and considering it was the mid-season finale, we kinda knew it wouldn't go well, but you know, Kara sure as hell didn't. And watching her go in with full confidence and gradually start to realize that there was no way she was gonna win (and suddenly being very afraid for the safety of all the bystanders) was very effective. Plus, from a technical standpoint, this was probably the best-directed fight this show has done to date (kudos, Glen Winter. There's a reason you're a DCTV vet!). It certainly remains the most memorable. And that ending, where we see Sam's poor oblivious daughter Ruby approaching her mom (creepily standing there staring off into space) in their house, asking what's up with her and cutting to black right as Sam begins to turn, before we see which persona Ruby will be met with? That was a damn good ending, imo.


6.) "Midvale" (Season 3, Episode 6)

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The relationship between the Danvers sisters has consistently been the strongest aspect of this show since the very beginning. I don't think many viewers would disagree with that. So it should've come as no surprise that an episode devoted entirely to that relationship, essentially giving us the "origin story" of their bond, would be one of the best. But I'll admit, I was skeptical of this episode, since it was gonna be an episode largely devoid of our main cast, and taking a full break from the main plot. It honestly sounded like filler. In this case, it felt great to be wrong. Not only was this episode a really nice Smallville homage (and tbh, better than most episodes of Smallville if you ask me), but it also reminded me why the character of Supergirl has remained a teenager in comics for so long and what makes that aspect of the character so appealing. After this show is gone, I really hope the next Supergirl saga on the big or small screen goes back to the whole teen, coming-of-age roots of Kara's story. Anyway, the setup for this episode is that Alex is reeling from her break-up with Maggie, so Kara decides to whisk her off back home for a weekend in Midvale to get away from both their troubles. In the process of trying to work through their baggage, we get flashbacks of their early days growing up here together, where they first pretty much hated each other, and bonded over solving the case of the suspicious death of one of their classmates. But the episode works 100% thanks to the performances of Izabela Vidovic and Olivia Nikkanen as young Kara and Alex, respectively. That casting was absolutely spot-on and these young actresses nailed it. It's a damn crime that we didn't get more flashbacks with them more often after this episode, but I'm looking forward to the ones we're reportedly getting in the final season even if they once again sound dubiously like superfluous filler. Thanks to this episode, I've learned my lesson not to write them off so soon.

I forgot about Reign. That was one of the better storylines. I hope Samantha comes back for the final season. She was friends with Kara and Lena but now she seems to be completely forgotten about.

 

[flickchick85]

I forgot about Reign. That was one of the better storylines. I hope Samantha comes back for the final season. She was friends with Kara and Lena but now she seems to be completely forgotten about.

I wouldn't say completely forgotten about - they did bring her back for the 100th ep last season. But yes, I would certainly love to see her again this season before the end.

And Top 5, here we go:

5.) "The Last Children of Krypton" (Season 2, Episode 2)



This is essentially the 2nd half of a 2-part Supergirl/Superman movie that served as the show's "CW debut." It was like their way of saying "this is not the Supergirl you knew on CBS!" and thank the gods for that. We got Superman. We got Cadmus unleashing an A-list Supes villain in Metallo. We got a world full of aliens that KNOWS it's full of aliens (unlike the asinine world established in the pilot where "there's no such things as aliens" was an actual line, despite establishing the whole world has known about Superman for years...). We got Superman and Martian Manhunter teaming up and working out their issues. It just felt 10x more DC than before, and all the better for it. On top of all that, we got some really nice character stuff here. Kara has to prove herself in her new reporter gig, with Cat telling her to "put on her big girl pants" and fight her own battles (against Snapper Carr) at CatCo from now on. We've got some family baggage with Kara torn between Clark and Alex, her biological family and adopted one, as she contemplates moving to Metropolis to spend more time with her cousin. That scene where Alex brings home the fact that from their POV, Clark essentially abandoned Kara with the Danvers' was particularly great. And finally, we get Cat's rather poignant farewell as a series regular. For a character I found wholly obnoxious at the start of the series, she really grew on me, and her relationship with both Kara and Supergirl had become a highlight. While I do think the show improved in her absence, I was still sad to see her go.


4.) "The Faithful" (Season 3, Episode 4)



My ranking this episode so highly might come as a surprise to some, as compared to most of the others on this list, this is a REALLY low-key episode. It has no big action, no huge emotional moments, it barely has any ties to the overall season arc - it's practically a standalone. But nuance is a rare thing with this show in handling heavier issues, so honestly, an episode tackling how Kryptonians would impact religion through the "Cult of Rao" had like a 90% chance of being a disaster (especially as this was the season right after BvS tried to explore similar issues and fell flat on its face). But...somehow the other 10% prevailed and it wasn't? I think this is honestly one of the most mature, sophisticated episodes the show has done. The setup is pretty basic - Kara learns of a cult of religious fanatics made up of people who've been saved by Supergirl. They worship her and follow the teachings of a guy named Thomas Coville (who was on the plane Kara saved in the pilot to save her sister) who has acquired some Kryptonian religious texts and based his new religion on them. So with that setup, I was sure the episode would take the stance that these religious people are crazy, and condemn them as zealots, and that would be that. But surprisingly, it takes a more nuanced approach, similar to how Kurt Busiek tackled this subject during his Superman run (one of my faves). Kara is understandably unsettled (and honestly kind of appalled) when she first learns she is the object of worship, and of the "perversion" of a religion she once held dear as a kid back on Krypton, and when she goes to James to vent about these zealots, his response is...surprising. He recounts the day he was first saved by Superman, and what he describes is essentially a religious experience. He reminds Kara that she's chosen to spend her days swooping in out of the sky and answering people's prayers at their most desperate moments when they need it most. People find their faith in those kinds of moments, and it's no one's place to tell 'em they can't. Faith is about finding strength and comfort in something. He points out that to a lot of people, she and her cousin's mere existence is a miracle, regardless of where they came from, and she needs to learn to live with that. Of course, the episode condemns the more fanatical behavior of the people putting themselves in harm's way to be saved by Supergirl in order to be "baptized" into this cult (and eventually put a whole lot of people in danger just so others can likewise be "baptized"), so instead of Supergirl attempting to stop them through force, she instead tries to ensure they go into this with open eyes - she exposes herself Kryptonite, cuts her hand, shows them that she bleeds, and essentially demonstrates the truth of her existence - that she's not a god. She's not infallible and she'll never be able to save everyone. And it's up to them to do with that information what they will. It deters many of the devout from their devotion, but for others, it strengthens their faith. And what's more, it causes Kara to re-examine her own faith, as we see her turning to the Raoism she used to practice in her youth for comfort. I mentioned in my discussion of "Triggers" that I love when this show remembers/embraces her Kryptonian upbringing, so that's one thing I really loved in this ep (the first part of S3 really was the best in that regard). The acting is really what sells this episode, though. Like I said, there are no huge emotional moments, but I think Melissa gave one of her best low-key performances here, very effectively conveying how unsettled Kara was by all this. Chad Lowe as Coville had some very convincing "fanatic eyes" and I swear there were moments Melissa looked genuinely nauseous in response to him, lol. I credit Jesse Warn's directing too, because this kind of emotional nuance is what has always excelled in his episodes. Like I said, I hated how BvS handled these types of themes, largely because not only was it heavy-handed as hell, but it was also all about what everybody thought about Superman, and didn't seem to care what Superman had to say about any of it. This episode was the perfect remedy for that, imo, as it never lost sight of Kara's POV.

 

[Web-Head]

The Faithful might honestly be my favorite episode of the entire show. I liked the idea of people looking at Supergirl as a god and what that would mean. It almost could have served as a mini arc, even. I know Coville made a couple of other appearances but that's not totally the same.

 

[flickchick85]

The Faithful might honestly be my favorite episode of the entire show. I liked the idea of people looking at Supergirl as a god and what that would mean. It almost could have served as a mini arc, even. I know Coville made a couple of other appearances but that's not totally the same.

I wouldn't argue with that ranking at all, as it's probably the first episode I'd present to anyone to counter the whole "Supergirl sucks" argument.

 

[Dr.]

5.) "The Last Children of Krypton" (Season 2, Episode 2)

I guess it’s part one of this two-parter that has one of my favorite scenes in the entire series.




In terms of the drama, the scene totally belongs to Clark and Lena. Kara is just tagging along, trying to learn the ropes from a more experienced journalist. And yet… Kara is the most compelling character in the room. Benoist’s performance — which is mostly just reaction — is quite marvelous.

 

[vantheman77]

I want a Supergirl Midvale collection with the Midvale flashback episodes.

 

[flickchick85]

I guess it’s part one of this two-parter that has one of my favorite scenes in the entire series.




In terms of the drama, the scene totally belongs to Clark and Lena. Kara is just tagging along, trying to learn the ropes from a more experienced journalist. And yet… Kara is the most compelling character in the room. Benoist’s performance — which is mostly just reaction — is quite marvelous.

Agreed, that's a great scene - one of a few reasons I also rank that first episode higher...

3.) "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (Season 4, Episode 15)

This introduction of Lex Luthor to the Arrowverse was memorable in all the good ways. First of all, despite the skepticism of...most of us lol, Jon Cryer surpassed all expectations and turned out to be a pretty great Lex. One of the best there's been, imo. No doubt chosen partially as a "legacy" pick from having played Lenny Luthor, hapless nephew to Gene Hackman's Lex in Superman IV, his Lex has still got some of that Hackman camp, BUT combined with the post-Crisis menacing genius billionaire incarnation, and that's a combination that just works surprisingly well. Another memorable moment was the betrayal of Eve Tessmacher, which should've been completely obvious considering being Lex Luthor's henchwoman is literally all the character is known for, but nonetheless managed to surprise a lot of viewers (myself included) because this version of Miss Tessmacher had been with us since long before Lex had ever been a factor, and we'd grown to actually like her as an alternative take on role, as Cat Grant's and eventually Lena Luthor's lovable sidekick. So the twist here was basically a, "nope, NOT an alternative take, afterall!" reveal. And yep, they got me. So throughout this season, Lena has been experimenting with black kryptonite, aka "Harun-El" to find a miracle cure for human ailments, and by the time we get to this episode, she's pretty close to achieving it. At the end of the previous episode, James Olsen was shot in the back by a mystery assailant, and his prognosis ain't looking good. Enter Lex Luthor, out of prison in protective custody on a "mercy furlough" to see his sister, as he's dying of cancer and believes she's close to cracking the code of the Harun-El serum that could save both his life and Jimmy's, so most of this episode is a race against time with Lex and Lena working together to do just that. Meanwhile, we have Supergirl and J'onn trying to track down Manchester Black, who's suspected of being Jimmy's shooter, and the conflict with Alex, who doesn't know her sister is Supergirl, being frustrated that her sister is not there at the hospital to support her possibly dying friend when he needs her most. My one complaint about this episode is that Manchester's end here feels pretty anticlimactic, but it's a big moment for J'onn's journey throughout this season, so it didn't bother me too much. The Lex and Lena dynamic here is what really makes this episode great, as Cryer and McGrath walk that tightrope between bitter resentment, one-upmanship, and moments of genuine affection beautifully. The scene where Lex tells Lena a story from his childhood about a woman who turned out to be her mother is easily one of my favorites of the show.


2.) "The Adventures of Supergirl" (Season 2, Episode 1)

So the first part of the show's grand CW debut does indeed rank slightly higher than the 2nd part for me. Picking up right where the S1 finale left off, it resolved that cliffhanger with a little action sequence where they find a mystery coma man in a Kryptonian pod, and then got straight to business with establishing their new normal on this new network. We had Kara trying to have her first date with James when Supergirl and Superman both being called to action to save space shuttle that was sabotaged, and the rest of the episode is basically them getting to the bottom of the sabotage. Was it even cheesier than usual? Probably. Did I love every minute of it? You betcha. It's impossible for me to watch this episode without a big ol' smile on my face. It plays like a live-action Saturday Morning Cartoon starring the Super Cousins, and we've never gotten anything like this before. And as far as its importance in the Supergirl canon, it easily ranks near the top there for introducing two of the best contributions to that canon outside of the Danvers sisters in one fell swoop: Tyler Hoechlin's Superman and Katie McGrath's Lena Luthor. The former is a particularly big deal to me personally, as Superman has been my favorite fictional character since childhood, and Hoechlin's version very quickly became my favorite live-action incarnation of the character to date. This episode checked off a lot my "Superman moments" wishlist - Supes and Kara saving people together with teasing banter, Clark being the supportive Big Little Cousin offering Kara guidance on the ol' superhero/work/life balance, Clark being his charming dorky self with Cat Grant, Clark's inner-alpha coming out when he goes into "dogged reporter" mode and everybody being in awe of Superman while he greets them like the Regular Joe he is at the DEO. Just so much classic Superman goodness here. And there was also good character stuff for our heroine to chew on as well - Kara finally finds her calling as a reporter and makes some actual decisions in her life, does some soul searching with Ms. Grant, and also relates to Lena Luthor not just in being an adopted outsider but also in trying to get out from the shadow of her more famous relative. Based on that intro, it's really surprising to me that Lena was originally only intended for a 3-episode arc. She felt like a major player to me from the very beginning. Considering how much I mostly loathed the first season, the fact that this one single episode managed to take me from "begrudgingly powering though" to "genuinely enjoying" this show was quite an impressive feat.