Arrowverse

Supergirl – Phantom Menaces

  • Title: Supergirl – Phantom Menaces
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Supergirl - Phantom Menaces television review

Emotion drives most of the stories of “Phantom Menaces” with Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) trapped in the Phantom Zone leaving her friends to soldier on and deal with her loss. Not suprisingly, Alex (Chyler Leigh) is hit hardest by the team’s inability to rescue Kara while J’onn (David Harewood) attempts to bury his emotions and throw himself into his work finding the phantom that escaped as it looks to breed through humanity creating a new army of phantoms. Meanwhile, Lena‘s (Katie McGrath) and Brainy (Jesse Rath) help each other work through the frustration of Lex Luthor‘s (Jon Cryer) win and attempts to get back to business in a plot thread that works to build on the redemption arc of both characters and push Lena into a new role on the series other than her brother’s keeper. McGrath continues to be the season’s stand-out.

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Supergirl – Rebirth

  • Title: Supergirl – Rebirth
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Supergirl - Rebirth television review

Supergirl‘s final season begins with a mess of a first episode that attempts to wrap up several threads from the COVID-shortened Fifth Season all in one episode prior to moving on to new stories. Before the opening credits even roll, Brainy (Jesse Rath) is saved and Leviathan is defeated leaving the rest of the episode to deal with Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) who apparently has become a god, has half the world’s population under his sway, and is working to kill off everyone else. Cryer is fun here yet again in what will apparently not be his final appearance which offers him more than one victory over Supergirl (Melissa Benoist). As has been the show’s problem recently, too much of the episode is centered around making sure every single member of the ever-growing supporting cast gets their moment. Given Supergirl’s current predicament, I’m bit concerned with the short-term direction of the show and if the rest of the cast can keep things afloat prior to the Maid of Might’s inevitable return from the Phantom Zone.

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Batwoman – The Complete First Season

  • Title: Batwoman – Season One
  • wiki: link

Batwoman - The Complete First Season Blu-ray reviewAfter a string of successes, it’s hard to believe The CW missed the mark so badly, and so consistently, as it did with Batwoman. The show introduced us to Ruby Rose as lesbian soldier Kate Kane, the niece of Bruce Wayne, who returns to Gotham years after Batman disappeared and picks up his mantle as Gotham City’s new hero.

As with every CW show, she’s surrounded with a small group of friends who know her secret and support her while fighting the city’s private army led by her father (Dougray Scott) and the return of her insane dead sister (Rachel Skarsten) and her creepy friend (Sam Littlefield) who plague the city.

From the start, the show was plagued with problems. While relying strongly on the sister vs. sister dynamic for much of the season, the show’s writers also pull in a group of D-list Batman villains for individual episodes to flush out the season with mixed success.

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Stargirl – Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. (Part Two)

  • Title: Stargirl – Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. Part Two
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Stargirl - Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. (Part Two) television review

The second-half of the First Season finale pits the new Justice Society of America against the Injustice Society of America with the free will, and lives, of millions of Americans in the balance. “Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. Part Two” wraps up the big season-long arc while also laying the foundation for new villains, and the return of a few familiar faces, when the show returns for Season Two. Stargirl (Brec Bassinger) and her team are able to successfully destroy the mind-control machine, although their victory doesn’t come without a cost as Beth (Anjelika Washington) loses her best-friend, and although Rick (Cameron Gellman) controls his rage and chooses not to kill the mindless Solomon Grundy, Yolanda‘s actions in the tunnels, which help save the day (and take some vengeance while removing the most problematic villain from the show), may continue to haunt her going forward.

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Stargirl – Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. (Part One)

  • Title: Stargirl – Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. Part One
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Stargirl - Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. (Part One) television review

The first-half of Stargirl‘s Season One finale gives Barbara (Amy Smart) a close-up look at Courtney (Brec Bassinger) in action when Icicle (Neil Jackson) sends Sportsmaster (Neil Hopkins) and Tigress (Joy Osmanski) to murder the family as the heroes evacuate and hole-up in a cabin to plan their next move. There are some nice moments of parental pride not only in seeing Courtney kick some super-villain ass but seeing her daughter with her friends and the relationships she’s built in their new home. Rick (Cameron Gellman) is finally able to crack his dad’s journal, and Beth (Anjelika Washington) is able to find the ISA’s manifesto, giving the new JSA a clue to the ISA’s plans (which, aside from murdering 25 million people in the course of a half-hour, turns out to be not that awful).

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