Supergirl TV Show Review (2015–2021) 🦸‍♀️

Finally, a CW DC show that actually remembered superheroes can be hopeful

🎬 Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

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Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

So today we’re talking about Supergirl, which originally started on CBS in 2015 before moving over to The CW from Season 2 onward, and honestly? Out of all the Arrowverse shows, this is one of the better ones.

I’m giving Supergirl an 8 out of 10.

And yeah, I know this show has problems. It absolutely does. This is still a CW superhero show, so of course there’s drama, speeches, relationship issues, villains with questionable plans, political themes that sometimes get subtlety thrown out the window, and plenty of moments where characters could solve the conflict if they just talked like normal people for five minutes.

But unlike some of the other CW DC shows, Supergirl actually has a heart.

That is the big thing here.

The show follows Kara Zor-El, played by Melissa Benoist, Superman’s cousin from Krypton. She was sent to Earth to protect baby Kal-El, but her pod gets knocked off course, she arrives years later, and by the time she gets to Earth, Clark is already grown up and already Superman. So Kara has to build her own life, hide her powers, work at CatCo, and eventually become Supergirl.

And honestly, that setup works.

Kara isn’t just “female Superman.” The show is at its best when it focuses on her trying to figure out who she is outside of Clark’s shadow. She is Kryptonian, but she grew up on Earth. She lost her home, her family, her culture, her entire planet, and still chooses to be kind. That’s what makes her work.

Melissa Benoist is easily the best part of the show. She carries this thing hard. She gives Kara warmth, awkwardness, charm, pain, anger, hope, and that classic superhero sincerity that could have been cheesy if the wrong actor played it. But Melissa makes it work.

Where The Flash slowly became repetitive and Batwoman felt like someone stole Batman’s leftovers and tried to cook a show out of them, Supergirl at least feels like it knows what it wants its lead character to represent.

Hope.

And yeah, sometimes the show gets messy. Some seasons are stronger than others. Some villains are better than others. Some supporting characters are great, and some feel like the show is just stacking people into the DEO like a superhero office party that never ends.

But overall? I actually like this show.

It’s not perfect, but it has enough good characters, emotional moments, strong performances, and solid superhero storytelling to earn that 8 out of 10.


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Character Rundown

Kara Danvers / Kara Zor-El / Supergirl, played by Melissa Benoist, is the heart of the entire show. If Melissa Benoist didn’t work, this show would collapse immediately. But she does work. She has that bright, hopeful Superman-family energy, but she also brings real emotional weight. Kara is funny, awkward, kind, stubborn, and sometimes reckless, but she always feels like someone trying to do the right thing. Her trauma is also important because she remembers Krypton. Unlike Clark, who was a baby when Krypton died, Kara lived there. She remembers her parents, her world, and what she lost. That makes her story different from Superman’s, and the show is strongest when it leans into that.

Alex Danvers, played by Chyler Leigh, is Kara’s adoptive sister and honestly one of the most important characters in the show. The relationship between Kara and Alex is the emotional backbone. This show is not just about Kara being a hero. It’s about sisters. Alex is protective, tough, complicated, and sometimes messy, but her bond with Kara is one of the best parts. Chyler Leigh gives Alex a lot of strength and vulnerability, especially later when the show explores her identity, relationships, and desire to be a mother.

J’onn J’onzz / Martian Manhunter, played by David Harewood, is another major highlight. At first, he seems like a strict DEO leader, but once the show reveals who he really is, he becomes one of the strongest characters. J’onn is carrying his own survivor trauma because he lost Mars, just like Kara lost Krypton. That parallel works really well. David Harewood gives him wisdom, sadness, and power. Also, Martian Manhunter being in this show is just cool. I don’t care. That’s awesome.

Winn Schott, played by Jeremy Jordan, is one of Kara’s closest friends early on. He is the nerdy tech guy, comic relief, and one of the first people who helps Kara become Supergirl. Winn works best in the earlier seasons because he brings charm and humor without feeling too forced. He eventually grows beyond just being Kara’s friend and becomes more of his own hero-support character.

James Olsen, played by Mehcad Brooks, is introduced as Superman’s friend and a photographer now working at CatCo. James has potential, but the show struggles with him. At first, he’s Kara’s possible love interest, then that fizzles, then he becomes Guardian. And honestly, the Guardian storyline is not my favorite. I get what they were trying to do, giving James his own heroic identity, but it never feels as exciting as it should. Mehcad Brooks is good, but the writing doesn’t always know what to do with James.

Cat Grant, played by Calista Flockhart, is one of the best parts of Season 1. She is Kara’s boss at CatCo, and she brings that sharp, intimidating, media-mogul energy. She can be harsh, but she also becomes a mentor figure for Kara in her own weird way. Cat Grant is funny, stylish, dramatic, and honestly the show loses something when she is not around as much.

Lena Luthor, played by Katie McGrath, becomes one of the most important characters from Season 2 onward. She is Lex Luthor’s sister, but she spends so much of the show trying not to become her family. Lena is smart, damaged, guarded, and one of Kara’s best relationships. Her friendship with Kara is one of the show’s strongest and most frustrating storylines because when the writing is good, it’s great. But when the writing drags the secrets and betrayal drama, it can get exhausting. Still, Katie McGrath is fantastic.

Mon-El, played by Chris Wood, is introduced as a Daxamite and becomes a major character in Season 2. He starts immature and selfish, but grows over time. His relationship with Kara is a big part of the show, and I know fans are split on him, but I think he serves a purpose. His arc is about learning to be better, and Chris Wood does bring charm to the role.

Brainiac-5 / Brainy, played by Jesse Rath, joins later and becomes one of the best later additions. Brainy is weird, funny, brilliant, socially awkward, and genuinely lovable. Jesse Rath gives him this strange robotic comedy but also real emotion. He could have been annoying, but he ends up being one of the more entertaining characters.

Nia Nal / Dreamer, played by Nicole Maines, is another important later addition. She works at CatCo and becomes a hero with dream-based powers. Nia is important both as a character and because of what she represents, but beyond that, she actually fits the show’s themes of identity, acceptance, and finding your place.

Lex Luthor, played by Jon Cryer, is one of the best villains in the show. I know some people were unsure about Jon Cryer as Lex at first, but honestly? He works. He plays Lex as arrogant, petty, brilliant, smug, and completely convinced he is the smartest person alive. And that’s Lex. He is dangerous because he believes he should be in control of everything.


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Pacing / Episode Flow

The pacing of Supergirl depends heavily on the season.

Season 1 is more of a classic superhero origin season. Kara is learning to be Supergirl, balancing work, family, and hero life, and dealing with threats tied to Krypton and Fort Rozz. It has that early CBS feel, which makes it a little different from the later CW seasons.

Season 2 is where the show really becomes part of the Arrowverse. It introduces Superman properly, brings in Lena, Mon-El, and moves the show into a wider DC universe. This season has a lot of fun energy.

Season 3 is one of the stronger seasons because of Reign. That storyline gives Kara a villain who feels personal, powerful, and tragic.

Season 4 is probably one of the show’s most ambitious seasons because it deals with anti-alien fear, propaganda, and Lex Luthor. It can be heavy-handed, but it’s also one of the more focused seasons.

Season 5 is messier. It deals with technology, Obsidian, Leviathan, and post-Crisis changes, but the season feels uneven.

Season 6 is the final season, and like a lot of final CW seasons, it has strong emotional ideas but also pacing issues. It wants to wrap up Kara’s journey, but not everything lands perfectly.

Overall, the show flows better than some Arrowverse shows because Kara has a consistent emotional core. Even when the plot gets messy, Kara herself usually keeps the show grounded.


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Pros

Melissa Benoist is fantastic as Supergirl. She is the reason the show works.

The Kara and Alex relationship is one of the best emotional relationships in the Arrowverse.

The show has a hopeful tone that makes it stand out.

Martian Manhunter is great, and David Harewood gives J’onn real emotional weight.

Lena Luthor is one of the best additions, and Katie McGrath brings a lot of depth to her.

Cat Grant is fantastic in Season 1.

Reign is one of the better villains.

Lex Luthor is surprisingly strong.

The show actually tries to have themes. Identity, immigration, prejudice, family, trauma, power, and hope are all part of the show’s DNA.

When the show works, it really works.


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Cons

The writing can get very CW. Lots of speeches, secrets, relationship drama, and characters not communicating.

Some villains are weak.

James Olsen gets mishandled.

The Guardian storyline never fully works for me.

Some political/social commentary gets way too obvious and heavy-handed.

The show sometimes has too many characters and doesn’t know how to balance them.

The Lena/Kara secret drama gets dragged out too long.

The later seasons are not as strong as the earlier/middle seasons.

The CGI can be rough, especially with bigger alien battles.

And like most Arrowverse shows, it probably ran longer than it needed to.


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Final Thoughts

Supergirl is not perfect, but I do think it’s one of the better Arrowverse shows.

It has a strong lead, a strong emotional core, and a tone that feels different from the darker shows around it. Kara is not Batman. She is not Oliver Queen. She is not supposed to be brooding in a warehouse yelling at criminals. She is hopeful. She is kind. She believes people can be better.

And honestly, that is why the show works.

Even when the writing gets messy, even when the villains aren’t great, even when the CW drama starts crawling up the walls, Melissa Benoist keeps the show alive.

This is a show about hope, family, identity, and choosing to help people even after losing everything.

And for the most part, I think it succeeds.


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Rating

8 / 10

It has flaws, but it also has heart.

And in the Arrowverse, that counts for a lot.


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⚠️ Spoiler Warning

Alright, now we’re getting into everything. Every season, major villains, plot twists, character arcs, and why this show works better than some of the other CW DC shows.


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Spoilers

Season 1, which aired from 2015 to 2016, introduces Kara Danvers as someone who has spent years hiding who she really is. She was sent from Krypton to protect baby Kal-El, but her pod got trapped in the Phantom Zone. By the time she arrives on Earth, Clark is already grown and already Superman. That is such an interesting twist because Kara’s original purpose is gone before her life on Earth even really begins.

She gets adopted by the Danvers family and grows up with Alex. Years later, Kara is working at CatCo as Cat Grant’s assistant, trying to live a normal life. But when Alex’s plane is about to crash, Kara finally uses her powers publicly and becomes Supergirl.

That moment works because it’s not about fame. It’s about saving her sister. The entire show starts with Kara choosing to reveal herself because Alex is in danger, and that tells you right away that this relationship is the heart of the show.

Season 1 also introduces the DEO, where Alex works under Hank Henshaw. The big twist is that Hank is actually J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter. The real Hank died years earlier, and J’onn took his identity after Jeremiah Danvers helped protect him. That twist is great because it adds another survivor to the show. Kara lost Krypton. J’onn lost Mars. Both of them are refugees from destroyed worlds, and that gives them a strong emotional connection.

The main villain storyline involves Astra, Kara’s aunt, played by Laura Benanti, and Non, played by Chris Vance. Astra is interesting because she is tied to Kara’s Kryptonian past. She believes she was trying to save Krypton and that Earth is repeating the same mistakes. That gives Kara a villain who isn’t just evil for fun. Astra is family, and Kara still loves her.

Astra’s death is one of the big emotional moments of Season 1. Alex kills Astra to save J’onn, but J’onn takes the blame because he knows it would destroy Kara’s relationship with Alex. That is actually good drama because it’s not just action. It’s about trust, guilt, and family.

The season ends with Myriad, a Kryptonian mind-control plan that Non uses to try to control humanity. Kara has to stop him and save National City. It is very comic book, very big, very “Supergirl saves the day,” but it works for a first season.

Season 1 is not perfect. It has some cheesy moments and the CBS style feels different from later seasons. But it sets up Kara well. It gives her a strong sister relationship, a good mentor in Cat Grant, and a clear emotional conflict between Earth and Krypton.

Season 2, which aired from 2016 to 2017, is where the show moves to The CW and becomes more fully connected to the Arrowverse. This season opens with Superman, played by Tyler Hoechlin, actually appearing, and honestly, his introduction works. He feels warmer and more classic than some modern Superman portrayals. Kara and Clark’s dynamic is fun because they’re family, but Kara still has to prove she is not just Superman’s cousin.

This season also introduces Lena Luthor, and that is one of the best decisions the show ever made. Lena arrives carrying the Luthor name, which means everyone expects her to be dangerous or corrupt. But she is trying to separate herself from Lex and Lillian Luthor. Her friendship with Kara becomes one of the biggest relationships in the series.

Season 2 also introduces Mon-El, who turns out to be from Daxam, Krypton’s rival planet. At first, Mon-El is selfish, immature, and not exactly hero material. But over the season, Kara helps him grow. Their romance becomes a major part of the season, and while I know people are split on it, I think Mon-El does serve a purpose because he challenges Kara and gives her someone who has to learn heroism instead of naturally starting there.

The Cadmus storyline gives us Lillian Luthor, played by Brenda Strong, who becomes a major anti-alien threat. Cadmus is all about fear of aliens, control, and paranoia. This is where Supergirl really starts leaning into its alien/refugee themes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it gets obvious, but at least the show is trying to be about something.

Season 2 also has Alex coming out, which becomes one of her biggest character arcs. Her relationship with Maggie Sawyer, played by Floriana Lima, is important because it lets Alex figure out a part of herself she had buried. Chyler Leigh is fantastic in those scenes because she plays Alex’s fear, confusion, relief, and happiness really well.

The season ends with Queen Rhea of Daxam, played by Teri Hatcher, invading Earth. Rhea is Mon-El’s mother, and she wants to restore Daxamite power. Kara has to fight her, and eventually Earth’s atmosphere is filled with lead to stop the Daxamites, which forces Mon-El to leave Earth because lead is toxic to him.

That ending is actually emotional. Kara saves Earth, but she loses Mon-El. It’s a very Superman-style sacrifice: winning still costs something.

Season 3, which aired from 2017 to 2018, is one of the stronger seasons because of Reign. Samantha Arias, played by Odette Annable, is introduced as a single mother and friend to Lena, but she is also unknowingly connected to a Kryptonian worldkiller identity called Reign.

This is a great villain setup because Samantha is not evil. She doesn’t know what she is. She has a daughter, Ruby, and she is trying to live a normal life. But Reign is this terrifying Kryptonian weapon hidden inside her. That makes the villain personal and tragic.

Reign is one of the few villains who actually feels physically dangerous to Kara. Their fight is brutal, and Kara gets badly beaten. That matters because Supergirl is so powerful that villains need to feel like real threats. Reign does.

Season 3 also brings Mon-El back, but now he has been gone for years from his perspective and has become part of the Legion of Super-Heroes. He returns married to Imra Ardeen / Saturn Girl, played by Amy Jackson. This creates emotional tension because Kara is still dealing with losing him, but he has lived a whole life without her.

This season also introduces Brainiac-5, played by Jesse Rath, and he is great. Brainy could have been annoying, but Jesse Rath makes him weird in a lovable way. His arrival helps expand the show into more cosmic DC territory.

The season’s mythology with Worldkillers, Kryptonian cults, Argo City, and Kara’s mother Alura still being alive gives Kara more connection to Krypton. Argo City surviving is a huge deal because it means Kara hasn’t lost everything from her birth world. But it also creates emotional conflict because Earth is still her home now.

Season 3 works because Reign is strong, Samantha is sympathetic, and Kara is forced to deal with her grief, loneliness, and identity. It’s not perfect, but it has one of the best villain arcs in the show.

Season 4, which aired from 2018 to 2019, is probably the show’s most political season, and it focuses heavily on anti-alien prejudice. This season introduces Agent Liberty / Ben Lockwood, played by Sam Witwer. Ben starts as a professor whose life gets damaged by alien-related events, and over time he becomes radicalized into an anti-alien leader.

This is one of the most ambitious storylines in the show. It is very clearly about xenophobia, propaganda, fear, and how people can be turned against vulnerable groups. Sometimes it is subtle. Sometimes it is not subtle at all and basically walks into the room with a megaphone. But overall, I respect that Season 4 tries to be about something serious.

Nia Nal / Dreamer, played by Nicole Maines, is introduced this season, and she becomes a major new hero. Her powers involve dreams and visions, and her story fits the season’s themes of identity and acceptance.

This season also introduces Manchester Black, played by David Ajala, who is a more morally gray character. He loses someone he loves and responds with violence, which contrasts with Kara’s more hopeful approach. That gives the season more complexity because not everyone fighting injustice agrees on how to do it.

Then Lex Luthor arrives.

Jon Cryer’s Lex Luthor is one of the best surprises of the show. He is smug, brilliant, petty, theatrical, and dangerous. He manipulates events from behind the scenes and turns the season into something bigger. His plan involving Red Daughter, a duplicate of Kara created from black kryptonite energy, is very comic book, but it works.

Red Daughter is interesting because she is basically Kara shaped by a different ideology and environment. Melissa Benoist gets to play a different version of Kara, and that adds another layer to the season.

The Lena/Kara secret also becomes a huge ticking bomb because Lena still doesn’t know Kara is Supergirl. Lex revealing Kara’s identity to Lena is one of the biggest betrayals in the show. And honestly, this is where the Kara/Lena drama becomes both compelling and exhausting. You understand why Lena is hurt. Kara lied to her for years. But the show drags this conflict hard.

Season 4 is strong because it has a clear theme, strong villains, and Lex gives the show a major boost.

Season 5, which aired from 2019 to 2020, is messier. It deals with technology, Obsidian North, Leviathan, Lena’s anger at Kara, and the fallout from Crisis on Infinite Earths.

The biggest emotional storyline is Lena feeling betrayed after learning Kara is Supergirl. Lena is hurt because Kara, her best friend, lied to her while everyone else around her seemed to know. Katie McGrath plays the pain really well. The problem is the show stretches Lena’s revenge/anti-hero arc too long. Lena wants to use technology to stop people from hurting each other, which sounds noble, but also deeply controlling and very Luthor. That’s the point, but the pacing gets rough.

Andrea Rojas, played by Julie Gonzalo, takes over CatCo and becomes connected to Obsidian North. Andrea is also tied to Leviathan and has her own superhero identity as Acrata. There are good ideas here about tech, virtual reality, corporate control, and people escaping into artificial worlds, but Season 5 doesn’t pull it together as cleanly as Season 4.

Leviathan is one of the weaker villain groups. They are built up as this ancient, powerful organization, but they never feel as compelling as Lex or Reign. And then Lex gets involved after Crisis, because of course Lex does. Honestly, Lex is more interesting than Leviathan, which kind of tells you the problem.

Crisis changes reality, and now Supergirl’s Earth is merged with the rest of the Arrowverse on Earth-Prime. Lex is now seen publicly as a hero and owns the DEO, which is actually a fun post-Crisis twist because it makes everything more complicated.

Season 5 has good character drama, especially Kara and Lena, but it is uneven. It feels like the show has too many ideas and not enough focus.

Season 6, which aired in 2021, is the final season. The season starts with Lex sending Kara into the Phantom Zone. This is emotionally important because the Phantom Zone is tied directly to Kara’s original trauma. She was trapped there as a child, and now she is forced back into that nightmare.

Kara being stuck in the Phantom Zone gives the season a darker opening. She meets her father, Zor-El, played by Jason Behr, which gives her some emotional closure. Meanwhile, the Super Friends on Earth are trying to rescue her.

The final season also focuses on Nyxly, played by Peta Sergeant, a Fifth Dimensional imp who becomes the main villain. Nyxly has a tragic backstory involving her father and exile, but as a final villain, she is a mixed bag. She has personality, but the magical totems storyline can feel repetitive and very “final season fetch quest.”

Lex also returns, and his bizarre romantic obsession with Nyxly is one of those choices where I’m like, okay, sure, why not, apparently this is happening now. Lex is still entertaining because Jon Cryer is good, but the Lex/Nyxly stuff is weird.

The final season is more focused on Kara’s identity and whether she can keep living two lives. This is the right emotional endpoint because the show has always been about Kara balancing being Kara Danvers and Supergirl. By the end, she reveals her identity to the world and stops hiding.

That ending works thematically.

Kara started the show hiding who she was. She ends the show fully embracing herself. That is a good full-circle arc.

The finale also brings back familiar faces like Cat Grant, Winn, and Mon-El, which gives the ending more emotional weight. Cat returning is especially important because Cat was one of Kara’s earliest mentors, and having her push Kara toward fully owning her identity feels right.

So even though Season 6 has pacing problems and the Nyxly storyline isn’t my favorite, the emotional ending for Kara works.

And that’s why I still like Supergirl overall.

It has messy seasons. It has rough CGI. It has CW dialogue. It has villains that don’t always land. It has plotlines that drag. It has social commentary that sometimes gets delivered with the subtlety of a falling piano.

But it also has Kara Danvers.

It has Melissa Benoist giving a genuinely great superhero performance.

It has Alex and Kara’s sister bond.

It has J’onn’s survivor grief.

It has Lena trying not to become a Luthor.

It has Reign.

It has Lex.

It has Cat Grant.

It has hope.

And honestly, that is what separates it from some of the other Arrowverse shows.

Supergirl remembers that superheroes should inspire people.

That doesn’t mean the show is perfect.

But it does mean the show has something a lot of these other shows lost.

A soul.