This month sees the premiere of Milly Alcock’s Supergirl movie. This will be the first movie starring the character since the 1984 film starring Helen Slater. It’s easy for a cinematic hero to cement her place in pop culture, but we shouldn’t forget the small screen version of our heroes. From 2015 to 2021, Melissa Benoist was the one and only live action Supergirl.
This version of Supergirl, who debuted on CBS but spent most of the show’s run on the CW, was geared more towards a teen audience. Like many versions of Supergirl, this iteration of Kara Zor-El was rocketed from Krypton as a teenager but didn’t make it to Earth until her baby cousin Kal-El was already an adult Superman. The show had Kara raised by Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers and gave her a sister named Alex. Kara spent her teen years hiding her powers and eventually moved to National City to work for multimedia corporation CatCo. She didn’t reveal herself as a super powered alien to the public until she was an adult, so the show focused on a 20-something Supergirl fighting her way out of Superman’s shadow to protect the downtrodden and inspire people everywhere. Supergirl lasted 126 episodes, and here’s a list of five moments that proved how great a hero Melissa Benoist was in the role of the Maid of Might.
5. Defeating Reactron (“Fight or Flight” – Season 1, Episode 3)
Supergirl, particularly in the first season, was all about Kara becoming her own hero so that the public wouldn’t constantly compare her with her cousin. CBS intentionally didn’t have Superman appear on screen, but his reputation was ever-present. The early part of Supergirl’s career was plagued with doubt.
The third episode of the entire show proved that Supergirl had the potential to be her own hero. Reactron blamed Superman for his wife’s death and used his nuclear powers to get revenge on the Man of Steel. Neither one could gain an advantage over the other, so Reactron went to National City to attack Superman through Supergirl. Supergirl ended up defeating Reactron, proving that she could take on the kinds of villains in Superman’s league. Superman even congratulates her at the end of the episode, pointing out that she accomplished something he never did.
4. Watching Her Sister Forget Her (“Suspicious Minds” – Season 4, Episode 10)
Sacrifice comes with the territory when it comes to being a superhero. Kara sacrifices her career and her social life time and time again because being Supergirl is her top priority. One of the biggest sacrifices she makes throughout the course of the series is one of her most important relationships.
Kara’s sister, Alex, was an agent of the DEO (Department of Extranormal Operations), so Supergirl had a good working relationship with the organization. However, when Colonel Haley began running the DEO, she wanted to know Supergirl’s alter ego. The only way to keep her identity secret was to erase Alex’s knowledge that Kara was Supergirl. Supergirl continued to work with Alex and had to act like a stranger to her own sister. It was the hardest burden Supergirl had to bare, but she did it for the greater good.
3. Writing an Expose on Lex Luthor (“Quest for Peace” – Season 4, Episode 22)
Supergirl is one of the most powerful heroes on Earth, but sometimes, it takes more than raw power to beat the villain. Lex Luthor’s grand scheme in the show’s fourth season meant taking advantage of Supergirl’s copy, Red Daughter, becoming Director of Alien Affairs, and turning the world’s population against the aliens living on Earth.
Beating Lex physically wasn’t going to be enough. Supergirl had to use the power of the press against him. Her Pulitzer Prize winning article, “How Lex Luthor Divided and Betrayed America”, was a complete and total expose on Lex Luthor and the President of the United States. Said piece robbed both of them of their power. When Supergirl does confront Lex for a physical fight, she simply tells him, “Truth and justice always prevail”.
2. Supergirl’s Hope Speech (“Better Angels” – Season 1, Episode 19)
In getting a handle of being Supergirl, it wasn’t the powers or the fights that Kara really needed to overcome. She needed to become the hero the people could look up to. As Kara Danvers, she typically flies under the radar, but Supergirl had to be a public figure.
Supergirl’s first real address to National City was in the first season’s finale. A device called Myriad took over the minds of everyone in the city. The only way to break them out of Myriad’s hold was for Supergirl to appear on TV and give the entire city a speech about hope. The core of her speech was that National City gave her the strength to be a hero and it was her turn to inspire the city to take back its strength.
1. Supergirl Becomes Paragon of Hope (“Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two” – Batwoman Season 1, Episode 9)
Beyond the speech in “Better Angels”, there are loads of moments where Supergirl inspires hope in others. There could be a list just on her best speeches. However, one instance ties everything together. Supergirl becoming the Paragon of Hope.
The Arrowverse crossover, “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, introduced the concept of paragons. Seven heroes were said to be able to rise up and defeat the Anti-Monitor. Supergirl was identified as the Paragon of Hope. Not only did Supergirl have to suffer the loss of Krypton, she also lost her home world, Earth-38, in the first part of “Crisis on Infinite Earths”. As devastating as these tragedies were, Supergirl never fell into complete despair. She continued to believe that the heroes could restore Earth, and it was this glimmer of hope that became one of the pillars a New Earth was built on.
So what were your favorite moments from the Supergirl TV Series on the CW?
