SUPERGIRL Season Four Finale "The Quest For Peace"
They did it! Historically, after a strong season, the finale is usually Supergirl's weakest episode. But not this year. Supergirl has finally stuck to her landing! Was it Olympic Gold? Not quite, maybe Silver... The story was too jammed packed this year, so some arcs got the short shrift like Agent Liberty, while others did not get enough time to breath or resonate to have the full impact they should have on the audience. But the accelerated pace made for captivating fun, and yes the ending was tied up way too quickly and neatly, it was still a very satisfying watch.
...super thoughts...
--the Luthor clan got all the best moments
--loved how the producers acknowledged/resolved the age issue between Lex and his mother as the actors in real life are only a couple years in age apart lol
--Lex singing
"I Did It My Way"; very fun scene
--Brainy in Brainiac default factory setting is scary!!! Luckily, true love rebooted him!
--oh poor President Sheridan... oops, BAKER, how far you have fallen. I keep trying to imagine Brent Spiner in the role as originally cast
--Lex always the smartest man in the room, and always undone by his own arrogant ego.. pitch perfect!
--Dreamer and Manhunter willing to sacrifice themselves to save Superman's new homeworld of Argo City! I thought this scene brought fitting closure to J'onn's muddled season character arc.
--wow, I know Lex is super smart, but how did he design the satellite to be able destroy Argo that is 100s light years away? Never question comic book science!!! hee hee!
--while I do not want to say the producers made a racist sympathetic, they did do an excellent job making Lockwood as three dimensional as possible and I am happy they did not simply kill him off, that he can continue to be a threat in the future... much like real life sadly...
--the heart of this show is the Danvers sisters, great to have that dynamic back!!!
--as much as the producers are trying to ship them, Alex Danvers and Kelly Olson, the actresses have ZERO onscreen chemistry together and hopefully this gets dropped between seasons
--great fun fight scene...what was that song?
--"
Yay Fourth Estate" -- a pure Supergirl moment if ever there was one. If only the Real World was that simple and good, as the Truth seldom seems to set us free anymore.
--hhhmmmm.... Supergirl has SUPER SPEED, why didn't she TRY to catch the falling Lex...? ...as usual in these shows, and as in the comics themselves, plot overrides character
--Red Daughter. The arc never quite went where I thought it might go, and the producers smartly kept it in reserve until the last third of the season instead of exhausting it early like they did with Reign last year, so while her realization of Lex's true nature and ultimate sacrifice was predictable, it also felt true to the character and the story.... nature wins out over nurture!
--Lex gets the last laugh and takes Lena fully to the Dark Side
--Wow! One of the best/fun cliffhanger teasers I have seen in a very long time...
The Supergirl finale was filled with predictable comic book tropes, but succeeds because it embraces them lovingly instead of trying to deconstruct them.
The season as a whole was mostly well constructed, though as usual it seemed to struggle with what to do with Jimmy (though Brooks' PTSD episode was a powerful performance) and J'onn at times. I know this show divides many people, (which is odd, since it's primary message has always been inclusion) feeling it is too heavy handed with it's political, gender and social commentary, but I applaud it. It may not always succeed, but at least it tries to say and stand for something... and isn't that what Supergirl is supposed to be about?
My rating:
SEASON FOUR: 8 out of 10.
SEASON 4 FINALE: 9 out of 10.