TV Review: SUPERGIRL: Season 1, Episode 4: Livewire [CBS]

CBS’s Supergirl Livewire TV Show Review. Supergirl Season 1, Episode 4: Livewire made her live-action debut on Supergirl and there was some kinks to the character that didn’t work but the episode was a fun caper that brought on some family drama among the Danvers and showed us Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) in a new light. It was a fun episode with a great villain, but it did have some faults.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Eliza Danvers (Helen Slater) makes a visit to see Kara (Melissa Benoist) and Alex (Chyler Leigh) for a family feast. However, there wouldn’t be a family dinner without some drama among the household. We also learn the fate of their father Jeremiah Danvers (Dean Cain) in a flashback when he worked under Hank Henshaw (David Harewood). It was a twist that many of us have expected, but at least Kara and Alex are working together to uncover the secrets that the DEO is hiding from them. DEO hasn’t been the most interesting element on the show, but Jeremiah’s demise might be what we need to keep us interested in this shadowy organization. Also having a bigger mystery arc this season will definitely makes things fascinating as we all know who the villain actually is.

The biggest problem with this episode is that Kara is put on the sidelines and doesn’t have a chance to get any character development. She pretty much starts and ends the episode the same way, along with taking down some villains. We also learn a bit about Winn (Jeremy Jordan), whose father as we find out is in prison. Since we are getting a DC version of Toyman in the series, it’s a matter of time before we are introduced to the villain once Winn’s father enters the picture. Kara’s still been avoiding Winn’s affections for her, as her heart has been moving towards James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) who apparently has gotten back together with Lucy Lane (Jenna Dewan-Tatum). James hasn’t grown so much since last week’s episode, so it’s kind of sad that he was put on the backburner during ‘Livewire’.

Having the villain though has been a burst of energy on the show. Livewire’s (Brit Morgan) origins still remain in tact. She’s still the RJ in her radio station who has been criticizing Supergirl on air and ends up being sidelined by Cat for her mean opinions of the superheroine. It’s not until a lightning storm that blasts into Supergirl and transfers her way into Leslie’s body that gives her the electric powers. What’s great about the show is the villains that they come up with because not every villain has to be born from a science experiment or from a substance in outer space. It would’ve been easy to whip up some escaped Kryptonians for Kara to fight, but these last two episodes have given us some great foes that aren’t aliens.

Brit Morgan does a fantastic job playing a shock jock-turned-villain. However, Leslie’s relationship with Cat and her instant dislike for Supergirl could’ve been handled in a few episodes before turning her into a villain. Even though she just another critic in the media against Supergirl, her journey into villainy might have been better told prior to the episode. It also could’ve given an extra layer into Cat’s story.

Speaking of Cat, we learn a lot from her during the episode and it was a great way to develop her in the series. We find the guilt that Cat faces after blaming herself to pushing Leslie into the villain that she has become. Even though she’s rough around the edges, Cat still shows some empathy. Especially when Kara opened up about her birth parents, it interested Cat into learning a little more about her assistant. Calista does wonders into bringing this character to life with her attitude and those famous one-liners.

The other focus on the episode was with Alex’s relationship with her mother. Sadly, it brought the episode down making Alex not that interesting of a character. Her attitude towards her mother also didn’t help much. It looked like the episode intentionally wanted to show how Alex struggled to please her mother who hasn’t been supportive of her life decisions. The way this was shown seemed like Alex only wanted her mother to love her the same way she does with Kara. But that was not the case, since Alex only wanted her mother to be proud of the work she’s done. Maybe it was the way the episode executed the emotion that didn’t work, but either way, it just didn’t hold the episode together.

‘Livewire’ was a fun episode that gave us a great villain for Supergirl to fight. We also managed to dig deeper into what makes Cat Grant tick. The action was outstanding, along with Brit Morgan’s complete transformation into the character. Learning some more on the Danvers added some more flavor into the episode, giving us something to look forward to uncovering a little more of this season. The only problem we faced was that Kara wasn’t given much to do, giving all that focus into the other elements of the show. It felt a little unbalanced, but hopefully things get back on track in the next few episodes.

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