TV Review: SUPERGIRL: Season 1, Episode 15: Solitude [CBS]

CBS’s Supergirl Solitude TV Show Review. Supergirl Season 1, Episode 15: Solitude proved to be an episode that hit the right notes at certain places but missed a few opportunities in the process. ‘Solitude’ provided some major Easter eggs from the Superman mythos, especially with an appearance from Smallville’s Supergirl Laura Vandervoort. There were some big moments for Kara (Melissa Benoist) in the episode that teased a bit of what’s to come for our female superhero. However, the episode proved to be weak for our other characters due to unbearable relationship drama, strange subplot, and less of fan favorite character Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart). The hour was full of excitement for fans of the series but it suffered from poor representation of the lives of Kara’s friends and family.

With Kara cutting herself off from the DEO after their association with her aunt Astra’s death, she tries to take on a new threat in the form of Indigo (Laura Vandervoort) alone. The task wasn’t as easy for Kara by herself as she once thought, which forces her to visit her cousin’s famed Fortress of Solitude for some guidance. The introduction to Indigo should be a treat to fans as they may be familiar with her character who goes by another name – Brainiac-8, which the show acknowledged on that connection.

Another connection was revealed on the show when Indigo told Kara that she was responsible for getting them both to Earth from the Phantom Zone. It was such a smart twist to put out there, hopefully meaning that she may soon become a major nemesis for Kara just like with Brainiac and Superman. Despite the familiar design used for Indigo, Vandervoort puts in enough agility and ferocity into her performance that makes it enjoyable to see.

Indigo’s plans for launching the missiles on National City definitely raised the stakes for Kara and the DEO, making the episode much more intense and exciting. Seeing Supergirl race against the clock to stop the nuclear missile from destroying her city was fun to watch, even with it’s all-too-familiar Superman-type scenario being played out. Unlike last week’s battle with the Master Jailer, the show managed to use its budget wisely and not go too over-the-top.

The fight with Indigo also displayed some powerful emotions for Kara, especially since it reflects her feelings toward the DEO. Alex (Chyler Leigh) finally dropped the bomb this week after she finally revealed to Kara that she was responsible for Astra’s death. But, the way it all turned out wasn’t what we were expecting. In a defining and powerful Supergirl moment, we see Kara hugging her sister and forgiving her. It was a moving scene that ultimately paid off to one of the most shocking moments on the show. It was heavy on emotion, but both Benoist and Leigh pulled it off with ease.

The episode really came together when we went down into the famous Fortress of Solitude. This scene was important for Kara’s development as a superhero as well as for fans of the Superman comics. The sets looked like they came straight out of the original Superman films and perhaps from Smallville as well. It was a nostalgic trip seeing Kara tour the Fortress as we saw sculptures of her relatives Jor-El and Lara and even the Legion ring was on display. It was comic book heaven seeing the Man of Steel’s HQ on the show.

With some high points, the episode also went through some low ones when it came to Indigo’s powers to travel through Internet servers and resting on Winn’s (Jeremy Jordan) shoulders to save the day. It turned into such a cliché that the only way to take down an advanced alien AI was with a virus. It felt like something out of an old 90s sci-fi movie, especially with Winn’s terrible dialogue with the alien machine. Even the hacking subplot was a poor way to make it into a huge story for CatCo. Sometimes relating the show with real-life current events doesn’t always work. We did however get to see some development with Siobhan Smythe (Italia Ricci), who seems to be hitting it off with Winn.

The only big drama the episode dealt with was with James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) and Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan-Tatum). James is on a constant struggle to balance his love life with the work he’s doing with Supergirl. Things get worse from there once Kara tries to talk some sense into Lucy, accidentally telling her some things that James only told her in confidence. The love triangle doesn’t tend to work here since Kara is jumping from one potential love interest to another. It’s hard to give support to anyone in this situation.

‘Solitude’ gave fans some Superman-filled history on the show and turned into a fun episode with some faults. Seeing Kara and Alex hugging it out was one of the most touching highlights on the show, but the episode faltered from a technological perspective and the relationship drama that gets hard to follow. Other than that, it was filled with action and tension that proved to show the caliber of Kara’s character.

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