Supergirl: Midseason Premiere Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Warning: this review contains full spoilers for Supergirl: Season 5, Episode 10. We'll be checking in with all the Arrowverse shows to see how they're following up on the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Check out our review for Batwoman's new episode here, and look for reviews of Black Lightning, Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow later this week. [poilib element="accentDivider"] It was always a safe bet Supergirl would be one of the Arrowverse shows most directly impacted by Crisis. Even with the various ways Crisis: Part 5 managed to clean house and rearrange the toys in some semblance of order, it's no small matter for Kara Danvers to watch her world die and see her city reborn on a new Earth. That's to say nothing of Lex Luthor's new status quo as the world's most beloved philanthropist. So even as Supergirl picks up the pieces of the Leviathan storyline now, it's almost like stepping foot into a brand new season, with all the excitement and promise that comes with it. Whereas Batwoman's midseason premiere barely acknowledges Crisis even happened for the majority of its runtime, Supergirl's first post-Crisis episode dives headlong into the crossover fallout. The new opening sequence (presented in the form of a DEO ad and narrated by Lex himself) is great about setting the tone for National City as it exists now. Seeing Lex at the top of the world is both funny and alarming. In general, this episode does a great job of playing on that dichotomy and transforming Lex into a far more ambiguous figure than before. We also get answers to some big Crisis questions in these early scenes, such as which characters retain their memories of Earth-38 and how exactly the crossover impacts Lena and Kara's rift (not at all, as it turns out). [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=supergirl-the-bottle-episode-photos&captions=true"] One of the big takeaways from this episode is that we can expect a whole lot more of Jon Cryer's Lex going forward. Frankly, I'd be perfectly fine keeping Lex around as the series' prime antagonist, but the show isn't resting on its laurels. Lex was an unrepentant villain in Season 4, and even in Crisis he only helped to the extent that it furthered his own agenda. But now, having created a new world where he finally has the respect he feels he's owed, Lex is no longer so overtly evil. This episode takes pains to show Lex may actually be genuine in his desire to stop Leviathan and rebuild his broken family. Or maybe he's just smart enough to fool even a lie-proof alien slug. Either way, it's going to be fun following his journey in the latter half of Season 4. There is one weird quirk to the way this episode builds on the events of Crisis. Despite that closing montage of different universes thriving at the end of the crossover, our heroes on Earth-Prime seem convinced the multiverse is gone. I'm assuming the goal here is to simplify things and cut down on the number of interdimensional crossovers for a while. Even though The CW's Crisis didn't actually destroy the multiverse as the comic version did, maybe the Arrowverse is still following a similar mandate - one world, one set of heroes. Does anyone actually need or want that streamlined approach, though? In any case, this episode makes it clear not all the kinks of Earth-Prime's creation have been ironed out yet. No fewer than three Brainiac-5 doppelgangers have arrived in National City to make things interesting for the DEO. This episode serves as a chance for Jesse Rath to really stretch his muscles and play multiple versions of the same character (while also acting alongside his sister Meaghan, for good measure). The result is extremely entertaining. The Flash's Tom Cavanagh is a case study in how both to do this well and how not. Most of Cavanagh's recurring versions of Harrison Wells are unique, distinctive individuals, but the more minor, fleeting variations tend to be silly, broad caricatures. Fortunately, Rath is able to bring life and depth to each new version of Brainy, blending humor with just the right dose of pathos. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/18/crisis-on-infinite-earths-crossover-review"] If anything, this episode proves what a wise decision it was to make Brainiac the show's new designated tech geek. Where Jeremy Jordan's Winn became aimless after the first couple seasons, Brainy is a reliable source of humor and character drama as he struggles to assimilate into a world very unlike the one he knows. This episode sheds much-needed light on his backstory and wraps up his journey to become a fully realized human being. That it does so even as it forces Brainy to cut ties with the people he loves and forge an alliance with a Luthor makes his transformation all the more emotional and bittersweet. In order to save his new home, he'll likely turn into exactly the villain he was so afraid of becoming. In terms of action, this episode doesn't have a great deal to offer. The final battle scene certainly doesn't do much to justify bringing back the Kryptonian witches from Season 3. But with all the compelling drama on both the Luthor family and Brainiac fronts, that's a small concern. Supergirl is already making the most of the foundation established by Crisis and building an even better status quo in 2020.

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