*This review contains some spoilers*
Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube
“Supergirl” season 4 struggles to do much more than a social commentary, but finally hits its stride with the inclusion of Lex Luthor…and bit of retconning.
The majority of this season was a fairly heavy-handed analogy about the current political climate in America, with outer space aliens standing in for illegal aliens and other immigrants. Despite the bluntness of their message, it mostly works. This is largely due to Melissa Benoist’s earnestness as Supergirl. But this time she gets an assist from the newly introduced Dreamer. While she initially comes off too similar to Kara in season one, her empathy and desire to help others come off as genuine.
The show does attempt to give some validity to the anti-alien characters. While they make a few valid points, they still mostly paint them as evil Even after an entire episode that chronicles Ben Lockwood’s journey from alien-sympathizer to murderer, we never feel like we should hope for some type of redemption arc.
Another plotline is that of Martian Manhunter and Manchester Black. Their dynamic never works the way it’s supposed to, and John’s man of peace mentality doesn’t really hit its mark like they intended. Other stories, like James gaining and losing superpowers, Brainy turning evil and Alex being mind-wiped to forget Supergirl’s identity come and go while having little impact on the overall plot.
Probably the biggest highlight was the introduction of Lex Luthor. While John Cryer is mostly known for his comedic roles, he brings the menace and intelligence required to make Lex a force to be reckoned with. While his plan is meticulously thought out and executed, it felt like they had to do a bit of retconning to tie him into the events of this season, particularly his hand in creating Red Daughter.
The fourth season of “Supergirl” starts off with a solid arc about alien rights, before transitioning into Lex Luthor as the main threat. However, both storylines doesn’t quite mesh together, and once Lex is introduced, the show loses a spark whenever he doesn’t make an appearance.
*** out of *****