Supergirl - season 5 (The CW) (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

The Maiden of Might will return for a fifth season of adventures, premiering on Sunday, October 6 and 8/7c.

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The fourth season ended with Supergirl defeating Lex Luthor and the forces of intolerance; Brainy reconnecting with his emotional side; the U.S. president of Earth-38 being forced out of office in disgrace; war between the United States and Kaznia being averted; Red Daughter sacrificing herself for Kara; James Olsen losing an eye; Lena learning that Kara Danvers is Supergirl; Lockwood being imprisoned; the Monitor retrieving J'onn's long lost brother; and the Monitor resurrecting Lex Luthor. In other news, it turns out that Eve Teschmacher wasn't actually besotted by Lex Luthor, she was coerced into aiding him by a shadowy organization known as Leviathan.

Jessica Queller and Robert Rovner will continue as showrunners for the fifth season.

Melissa Benoist, Chyler Leigh, Katie McGrath, Jesse Rath, Nicole Maines, and David Harewood will continue as series regulars for the fourth season. Azie Tesfai, who was introduced last season as Jimmy Olsen's sister and Alex's new love interest, has been promoted to series regular. Andrea Brooks, who has recurred as Eve Teschmacher since the second season premiere, has also been promoted to series regular. Mehcad Brooks, who has played Jimmy Olsen since the pilot, will be departing the show during the first half of the fifth season. Jeremy Jordan, who left after the third season, is returning for a three-episode arc in the aftermath of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event.

Series star Melissa Benoist will make her directorial debut with the 17th episode of the season.

After a fourth season centered around the immigration debate, the first half of the fifth season will tell an allegorical story about modern society's overrelliance on technology and our tendancy to turn to escapism rather than deal with the real problems facing our planet. Last season emphasized spectacle; this season will return the focus to the characters.

New casting:

• Julie Gonzalo as Andrea Rojas, "a polished businesswoman and heir to a Central American tech empire" who launches a hostile takeover of CatCo Worldwide Media. She also holds a mystical secret related to her Mayan heritage.
  
• [Staz Nair as William Dey, a "hardened reporter ... who looks down on Kara’s earnest idealism" and has ties to National City's criminal underworld.
• Meaghan Rath as a female Brainiac 5. She is the real-life sister of Jesse Rath, who plays Brainy.

New permanent costume, which more closely mirrors the Earth-38 Superman costume:

Spoiler

Comic-Con Trailer:

 

[Garysb]

Supergirl tease per TVline

SUPERGIRL
“We think of this as our ode to Black Mirror,” showrunner Robert Rovner says of Supergirl’s fifth season, which finds our heroes battling technology itself. “The hope is that people would be more engaged with what’s going on and wanting to make the world a better place, but they seem to be more engaged with technology. We explore how that affects our characters and how our villains try to exploit that.” On a more human level, “the relationship between Kara and Lena is the emotional center of the season,” Jessica Queller avows. “Kara’s betrayal puts that friendship front and center.” Meanwhile, as Alex and Kelly are “getting to know each other better,” Nia and Brainy have a “slightly more challenging” romantic journey ahead of them. (“Brainy is… a little different,” the showrunners acknowledge.) And forget everything you’ve heard about Julie Gonzalo’s character, media maven Andrea Rojas (aka the superhero Acrata). “We put our own Supergirl spin on Acrata,” Rovner says, “one that is unique to our show.” And on the Big Bad front, expect Leviathan’s “agenda for Earth” to play out as a season-long arc.

BONUS SPOILER!: Queller promises a big twist for Eve in Episode 2 — and it’s “not what fans might be expecting.”

RETURN DATE: Sunday, Oct. 6 at 9/8c (The CW)

 

[Kevin Hewell]

Can't wait!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

More casting:

• Mitch Pileggi as Rama Khan, "an ancient alien who is able to control the four ancient elements — fire, water, earth, and air. Arrogant and willful, Rama Khan has been entrusted to use his powers to protect the Earth from mankind for millions of years but now his agenda puts him at odds with Supergirl as well as Lena Luthor."
• Cara Buono as Gamemnae, "an ancient alien, who with others of her kind, have been safeguarding the Earth from the follies of humanity throughout the ages. Gamemnae’s aim is to use technology to subjegate humans. Gamemnae is cunning, witty, ruthless, and always ten steps ahead of her adversaries. Gamemnae’s agenda puts her into conflict with her would-be allies and on a collision course with Supergirl."

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Season premiere tonight at 9/8c, following the series premiere of "Batwoman".

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It's nice to see Kara finally called out on her entitlement in the CatCo storylines, which have been among the show's weakest since Calista Flockhart left the show.

Alex's love life continues to feel disconnected from the rest of the show, though they're working harder to incorporate Jimmy Olsen's sister than they did with Maggie Sawyer before she was written out. But I liked Maggie more as a character.

The stuff with J'onn's supposedly traitorous brother is interesting mainly because we know the Monitor dropped him off on Earth, so the events in that storyline will have some role to play in the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Lena not being clued in to Kara's secret identity feels like insufficient motivation for her to go supervillain, but I'm interested to see where that story goes. The character works better when her morality is on shaky ground. I do hope Eve isn't gone for good, though, as I thought she was one of the more interesting characters and I was looking forward to learning more about the "real" her.

I like Nia and Brainy together. Their little storylines are bonkers, but kind of adorable.

I do wonder where this Obsidian North business is headed.

 

[DaveHof3]

I'll continue to watch out of habit, but to me this is a show that has really lost its way. There was a moment in each of the first two episodes in which Supergirl prevented a deadly traffic accident, looks up, and smiles at the folks she's just saved. Those were the only moments that connected this series to its first two seasons. Back then they were content to tell good guys (girls) vs. bad guy stories with plenty of whiz bang action. Now it's too much politics and hot button issues, and devoting way too much time to too many peripheral characters as they play out very dull storylines.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

i actually think a lot of the story arcs are still decent, it's just the execution that's bad. The characters stand around a lot talking about their feelings, but I don't actually feel their feelings. The show does a lot of telling when it needs to be doing a lot more showing.

 

[Hanson]

I largely watch this show because Melissa Benoist is an absolute joy to watch. But the show has become so poorly crafted that I have lost all desire to keep going.

First and foremost, I know this type of show has to have special effects. But they're so cheaply and unconvincingly executed that it takes me out of the show. The special effects make me roll my eyes. I can't take the Martian storylines seriously because Martian makeup/effects are terrible. The flying effects are terrible. The regular fights are plodding interruptions with zero stakes. Right now, the pros are: Melissa Benoist and Braniac. The cons are: EVERYTHING ELSE. I feel so bad for David Harewood -- he really kept Jonn grounded the first few seasons, but the dialog has become so bad you can see the seams in his performance.

I considered staying with it until the Crisis event, but I think I'm gonna bail now and just watch Crisis.

 

[Sam Favate]

All of the relationship stuff is cringeworthy. Of course, Brainy and Dreamer were happy so they had to find some contrived way to separate them. It's way past straining credibility.

Also, Alex is much too sentimental a person to be put in charge of an important government agency. It doesn't ring true.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The storyline with Jimmy Olsen's hometown being a dystopian Ferguson-esque hellhole was one of those situations where the writers take a contemporary topic of controversy and turn something complicated and nuanced into something simple and easy to solve.

That being said, having Jimmy Olsen exit to become the publisher of a small town local newspaper felt "aw shucks" in a way that is very in keeping with the legacy of Superman and his idealistic brand of Americana. And I loved his final line.

First and foremost, I know this type of show has to have special effects. But they're so cheaply and unconvincingly executed that it takes me out of the show. The special effects make me roll my eyes. I can't take the Martian storylines seriously because Martian makeup/effects are terrible. The flying effects are terrible.

What kills me is that the first season, shot in Los Angeles with a CBS-sized budget, felt like 43 minutes of a Superman movie every week. The storylines and villains were pretty cheesy, but I believed a girl could fly.

Five seasons in, and the show is reduced to the modern equivalent of the effects from the George Reeves "Superman" show in the fifties. We rarely see her fly anymore; most of the time she leaps out of frame, and then the show cuts to her landing at the new location. The vast majority of her superpowers happen off screen now.

All of the relationship stuff is cringeworthy. Of course, Brainy and Dreamer were happy so they had to find some contrived way to separate them. It's way past straining credibility.

I actually like Nicole Maines as Nia/Dreamer a lot, even though her character has been loaded up with just about every minority status there is. And I like the dynamic between Nia and Brainy a lot. It's goofy and innocent and sweet. But the (brief) split up happened because wanted it to happen. There was nothing underpinning it.

Also, Jimmy Olsen's sister is a terrible character. The performance isn't great, but the main problem is the writing. There's nothing to the character. She's just a hodge podge of things the writers want to include in the show. The relationship between her and Alex wasn't earned at all. We don't see them fall in love, we don't see why they're attracted to each other, all of their scenes together feel so pedestrian and beside the point.

I wasn't obsessed with Alex and Maggie like some viewers were; I thought the writing for that relationship needed work, too. But at least Maggie Sawyer felt like a real person. Kelly Olsen feels like a placeholder.

Also, Alex is much too sentimental a person to be put in charge of an important government agency. It doesn't ring true.

Thank you. Even when she's at the DEO in her official capacity, she's way more worried about her personal concerns than she is about the mission or the DEO's priorities. J'onn was a much more effective leader, even though his decision making occasionally came across as amoral.

 

[DaveHof3]

I still enjoy the occasional moments in each episode when Supergirl shows up. Someday maybe they'll build a whole series around that character.

 

[Garysb]

This was one of the better episodes of Supergirl even though Kara was very much a supporting player. The episode featured Lena Luthor and Andrea Rojas who were front and center and the episode dealt with their backstory. Also tried to explain why Lena is trying to do what she is doing this season. She is hurt and feels betrayed. This episode explains why. Lex Luthor made an appearance in flashback. Leviathan story advanced in the episode. Rahul Kohli, Ravi from IZombie, made an appearance as Jack Spheer Lena's boyfriend in flashback . He originally played the role in 2017 in the episode "Ace Reporter".

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This was one of the better episodes of Supergirl even though Kara was very much a supporting player.

Barry was also barely in last Tuesday's episode of "The Flash". I'm wondering if these episodes were shot at the same time as the crossover episodes.

The episode featured Lena Luthor and Andrea Rojas who were front and center and the episode dealt with their backstory. Also tried to explain why Lena is trying to do what she is doing this season. She is hurt and feels betrayed. This episode explains why.

I still think her reaction to Kara not telling her her secret was way over the top, but this episode did help a bit.

Another homerun from the casting department when it comes to the younger versions of characters, though.

Lex Luthor made an appearance in flashback.

I was trying to figure out if any of the Lex footage was new, or if it was all taken from previous episodes. Jon Cryer wasn't in the credits after the title card; I forgot to check whether he was in the credits at the end.

The timeline seemed to be a little off with Lex's hatred of Superman. The flashback to "Five Years Ago" made it sound like Superman had just arrived. But Superman was already well established when Kara's spaceship arrived in 2003. So Lex should have already been a homicidal maniac when Lena was in boarding school.

 

[Garysb]

I thought they said in a previous episode that Lena was adapted by the Luthors so that she was not a blood relative. On Sunday's episode her DNA triggered the Fortress' defense systems because she was a Luthor which wouldn't make sense if she was adapted. Again Lena's reaction to Supergirl's not telling her that she was Kara was too over the top. This is no justification for what Lena is trying to do. I think Lena is in serious need of psychological help .I think Kara's guilt about the same is also over the top. The Martian Manhunter storyline with his brother seems to have been resolved quickly if that is indeed the end of it.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I thought they said in a previous episode that Lena was adapted by the Luthors so that she was not a blood relative. On Sunday's episode her DNA triggered the Fortress' defense systems because she was a Luthor which wouldn't make sense if she was adapted.

She grew up thinking she was adopted at her stepmother's insistence, but in 2x12 ("Luthors") it was revealed that she was actually the product of an affair between Lionel and one of his subordinates. When the subordinate got pregnant, Lionel paid her off so she would disappear. But when she drowned when Lena was four years old, Lionel decided to adopt his illegitimate daughter.

So, biologically speaking, she's the half-sister of Lex.

 

[Garysb]

Thanks for the information.

 

[Sam Favate]

Groan. The latest episode had five different conversations between characters that all ended in tears. The show needs better and more varied writing.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Given that "Crisis" is coming next week, this would have actually been a really unique opportunity for the villain to succeed at his evil plan to destroy the world, since this Earth presumably won't even exist once "Crisis" is over.

I'm assuming that Eve/Hope was sent to prison because Andrea Brooks is going on maternity leave.

This was the first episode of "Supergirl" this season to really delve into the preparation of "Crisis". The previous season had ended with the Monitor saving Lex Luthor and dropping J'onn's brother on Earth. Now we know that the former is because the good guys will need Lex's devious intellect, and the Monitor needed the Martian Manhunter unburdened for the fight ahead.

Other than the fact that the caption specified "Earth-1" rather than a date and time, it was the same stinger as the "Batwoman" ending. It does raise an interesting question: "Batwoman" is shot and airs in the 2:1 aspect ratio. The other Arrowverse shows all shoot and air in the 1.77:1 aspect ratio. Is all of "Crisis" going to be in the 2:1 aspect ratio, or will the second hour differ from the rest?

 

[Garysb]

Renewed for Season 6 . All Arrowverse shows have been renewed by the CW for the 2020 - 2021 Season except Arrow, of course.

https://tvline.com/2020/01/07/the-cw-renewed-shows-2020-list-riverdale-flash/