I have enjoyed the entire first season of Supergirl. In the beginning, it felt like a guilty pleasure and I struggled with trying to determine if I liked the show due to a feeling of girl power solidarity or because I am a glutton for Gotham and could use Supergirl as a snack of sorts while I waited to feast upon Gotham. I liked the show and I felt apologetic, much like I do when I admit to watching and liking Fuller House. I liked Supergirl, but felt like I should not and that the show did not earn my viewership, much less praise. Early on, it had some fun fan moments (i.e. casting Dean Cain and Helen Slater as Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers), that teased at potential that consistently fell short. The most recent episodes, however, show improvement in the writing and the cast.
One of the reasons I enjoy Batman so much is the fact that he is a superhero, but he is not perfect. He is haunted and has made plenty of mistakes. Despite his dedication to fighting crime, he has failed several times. Depending on which aspect or continuity of the Batman franchise you follow, he has arguably helped create some of his most infamous villains and may have indirectly killed thousands by not killing the Joker. In hindsight, I have discovered that I enjoy the Supergirl episodes that are steeped in comic book lore and that show Supergirl or even her sister, Alex, and comrade Martian Manhunter are not perfect. These episodes, although formulaic, are much more memorable and dramatic than the others. Like other fans, I was tingling at rumors that Supergirl was going to attempt a crossover episode with the CW’s The Flash.
“Worlds Finest” not only paired Supergirl with The Flash (Grant Gustin), it also reunited Benoist and Gustin who co-starred on Glee together. The episode’s title was inspired by the World’s Finest Comic series in which Superman would pair up with other DC superheroes. The episode title, however, did not include the apostrophe in the word “worlds,” changing the meaning of the word from possessive as in the comic series to plural as a reference to the concept of the Multiverse, that the Flash and Supergirl exist in two different worlds and the existence of multiple universes such as one that may contain an evil Flash or another world in which JFK was not assassinated. As a viewer, we are also privy to another Multiverse. One in which multiple movies, comics, and television shows exist on multiple plains. All of these universes existing in different layers like the peeling of an onion.
Supergirl and The Flash exist in different universes and worlds from each other, but are a part of another same universe. The “Arrowverse” is a shared fictional universe that is centered on television series airing on The CW, developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg and Geoff Johns, based on DC characters. The shared universe was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, casts, and characters starting with Arrow, expanding to The Flash, then to the animated series Vixen, to Legends of Tomorrow, and now to Supergirl. It is really exciting because Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow all appear on the CW while Vixen appears on CW Seed, but Supergirl appears on CBS.
In this episode of Supergirl, Siobhan is still fueled by her hatred of Kara. In previous episodes, she was pitted against Kara by Cat professionally, but quickly fell from Cat’s grace when she leaked footage of Supergirl letting a criminal go while she was under the influence of Red Kryptonite. When Cat was not interested in the footage, Siobhan sent it to The Daily Planet, but was unaware of the paper’s link to Cat. When Cat found out of the betrayal, she had Siobhan blacklisted. Realizing she will not be mentored by Cat nor will she build her own media empire similar to CatCo, Siobhan blames Kara who has been taken under Cat’s wing. Because Supergirl is always around to protect Kara, she also hates Supergirl. At risk of sounding too preachy, Siobhan should really blame herself for poor decisions, but if she must blame someone else, as most villains do, Siobhan should blame Cat who used her, pitted her against Kara, and then discarded her.
While ranting about her hate for Kara, Siobhan trips and plummets to her would be death from a rooftop, but is saved when she screams at a loud, supersonic level that manages to cushion her from hitting the pavement. Siobhan discovers that the women in her family are cursed with the spirit of a banshee, which can only be quieted by killing whoever wronged them. Siobhan frees Livewire from captivity at the DEO and suggests they team up. Siobhan, now reborn as the Silver Banshee, has decided that Livewire is her ticket to getting Cat and Supergirl, who both manage to always protect and save Kara, out of the way. Siobhan and Livewire kidnap Cat.
The last time Supergirl faced Livewire, she almost lost. This time around, Supergirl teams up with the Flash to take on Livewire and Silver Banshee. The Flash crossed over from his world accidentally by moving way too fast and appeared in Supergirl’s world just in the nick of time to save Kara, unaware of the existence of Supergirl much less that Kara is secretly the heroine herself. The two are victorious and Supergirl is finally able win back National City’s trust. Later on, Kara discovers everyone in National City has fallen under mind control, revealed by Non to be the Myriad effect and hinting to be next week’s antagonist.
The crossover with The Flash strengthened the feel-good, light, and sometimes cheesy mood of Supergirl. The chemistry between Supergirl and The Flash was uncanny. While enriching and seeming to add a credibility to Supergirl, the chemistry between Supergirl and The Flash made the much-anticipated kiss between Kara and James seem even more strained, awkward, and cringeworthy. James, who seems to be at least interested in Kara, was supposed to seem jealous of her friendship with The Flash, but lacked any passion and seemed half-assed. If anything, it was a slap back to the reality of the typical writing on this show from an otherwise exceptional episode.