TV Review: SUPERGIRL: Season 2, Episode 21: Resist [The CW]

Supergirl: Resist Review

The CW’s Supergirl Season 2, Episode 21: ‘Resist’ seems to be going down the same route as the other shows in the Arrowverse where it doesn’t wrap up the seasonal arcs very well in their season finales. Some moments in the penultimate episode stood out, but it often goes down to how the season reaches it’s satisfying conclusion. Based on what we’ve seen on this episode, they seem to be reusing the same style and not pushing the characters enough in daring new paths.

The biggest concern during the past few episodes leading to the season finale was avoiding the same direction that Supergirl underwent in the first season ender. Unfortunately, the worry can still be justified. Another alien invasion threatens National City with Kara (Melissa Benoist) and the team on the losing side to save their world. We can even spot the similarities with certain plotlines, like having one of the characters addressing to the people with a message of hope or that Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) is being mind-controlled by the enemy to fight Supergirl. Having Tyler return to the show is great, but having him come back as the villain again isn’t what we had in mind.

The episode also endured some pretty weak fight scenes and special effects that wasn’t enough to showcase just how serious the conflict was. The visual effects of Queen Rhea’s (Teri Hatcher) fleet of spaceships was as awful as watching a 90s sci-fi film. The action scenes with Alex (Chyler Leigh) infiltrating the DEO was much more thrilling. Even the abilities of the Daxamites can be a little baffled to say the least. On one hand, we see Kara and Mon-El (Chris Wood) having a hard time fighting them, and yet we see James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) beating them up easily with only his fighting skills, a shield, and some alien gas. What’s also puzzling is that Cat managed to recognize James under the armor and still can’t put two and two together when it comes to Kara and Supergirl.

Despite all these flaws, the character dynamics made up for it. Having Cat Grant return really helped greatly. Calista put in enough flair into the episode, whether it was mediating between Rhea and President Marsdin (Lynda Carter), commanding Winn (Jeremy Jordan) around once more, or that motivational speech she gave to Supergirl. Having Cat talk about how she discovered what happiness is was a very emotional scene that prompted us on how much we miss having her on the show. Her speech to the city wasn’t terrible, but it did leave much to be desired since we heard her speak like that before in last year’s finale. It’s good that the writers are acknowledging the problems we are facing in the political world, which doesn’t hurt.

What was surprising was the partnership we had between Kara and Lillan Luthor (Brenda Strong). They had a very powerful dynamic through the episode, so we are glad that Lillian and Cadmus was utilized for the last two episodes of the season despite them not having a lot of development as villains. There’s still some issues with Lillian’s growth as a villain, but having her fight alongside the DEO really helped her case. There was an understanding we got from her that after all she’s done, Lillian does care about what happens to her daughter Lena (Katie McGrath). It was also fun seeing David Harewood play the killing machine Hank Henshaw, addressing just how different he is from J’onn Jonzz.

What also worked really well was the sisterly bond we got to see between Kara and Alex. Both siblings had some great scenes separately as well with Kara going into the heart of the beast while Alex struggled between doing her job and saving her family. With Alex failing to follow orders, it will be interesting to see the consequences for her actions. Superman luckily helped Alex avoid that choice, so we can imagine her being disturbed by asking herself if she could make the right call.

The penultimate episode of Supergirl felt like déjà vu as we all can guess how this all goes down in the finale. Cat Grant’s return did make things a little better as we rediscover why we love her in the first place. Another surprise was Kara and Lillian’s alliance, which was actually one of the highlights of the episode. Hopefully the season finale can make it all better and offer a satisfying conclusion to a mediocre season.

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