SuperGirl Season 4 Episode 1 Review “American Alien”

Written by: Robert L Rovner & Jessica Quella

Directed by: Jesse Warn

Starring: Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Katie Mcgrath, Sam Witwer, David Harewood

Supergirl and the rest of the DEO returned to our screens this week with a bang showing off Supergirl as a worldwide hero rather than just being exclusive to National City. Some of the first words we hear from Kara are “For the first time in my life I have everything under control” which pretty much means we know very soon everything is about to fall apart for Supergirl.

The episode early on has a real “passing the baton” feel as we learn from President Lynda Carter that Superman is off Earth and Supergirl is filling in, Brainy taking over for Winn at the DEO and Alex as the new Director.  Things then start to pick up from where they left us in season 3, James Olsen is facing the ramifications for coming out as Guardian to the world, while J’onn is working with an AA type support group for aliens on Earth.

This episode introduces us to the new villain agent liberty (Played by Sam Witwer) who opens with the statement “Let him who desires peace, prepare for war” letting us know his intentions from the start. Witwer who’s voice might sound familiar to some as the voice behind Darth Maul in Star Wars Clone Wars and was once Orm/Oceanmaster in the DC Animated movie Justice League: Throne of Atlantis. Aided by siblings Mercy and Otis Graves a chalk and cheese pairing with Mercy the brains and Otis the brawn. 

Another familiar sounding DC comics name appears in this episode in the form of Nia Nal (played by Nicole Maines) whose alter ego is Dream Girl a member of the legion of super heroes. We are yet to see how dream girl will join the team but we do know that the CW have confirmed she will be the first transgender superhero on screen, so it’s only a matter of time before we see her in a costume alongside Supergirl.

As we come to expect with the Arrowverse shows there are again some strong political topics raised throughout the episode. We see more conflict regarding race, culture, hate crimes and people refusing to accept aliens on earth because they are different with Dr Vose saying the ever-sensitive question “Who decides what’s normal?” You can tell with J’onn J’onzz new role away from the DEO and working with the public this will be a subject that will carry on throughout the series.

The final new character we meet of importance is an empath called Fiona (played by Tiyar Sircar) who is working with J’onn at the support group and becomes an interest of agent liberty for an unknown reason. Something I’m sure will develop with the series and in twine with Agent Liberty’s grand scheme.

Lena and James relationship appears to be blossoming but with his upcoming trial about being guardian this offers us some conflict between the pair as Lena goes behind James’s back to help him, but will he see it like that?

Kara and Alex’s on-screen chemistry is one of the main reasons I return to this show week in week out and this continues to be a foundation for season 4 if the season opener is anything to go on. Replacing Winn with Brainy was a brave move in my opinion as the comedic relief given by Jeremy Jordan’s performances was a perfect balance for the show and I am yet to be convinced if Brainy’s dry android tone will be enough to carry the humour for the show.

A solid season opener for Supergirl, full of heart and emotion and leaving us with enough unanswered questions to look forward to episode 2 and the final cliff-hanger showing us a Supergirl doppelganger in Kaznia was a real head scratching moment. Who is she and what does this mean? And was I the only one who got a Red Son vibe from this scene?