That was not good.
In fact, Welcome to Earth felt very season one-ish and cheap. Maybe it’s because Supergirl reverted to its old ways by throwing in a lame standalone villain without any depth or purpose (apparently the flame-haired villainess is called Scorcher), but everything about this hour felt cheap and heavy-handed.
The lack of subtlety was mightily apparent with the X-Men-ish xenophobic sentiments. It’s definitely promising to explore the idea of aliens being unwanted on Earth, but the dialogue here was so on-the-nose and jarring that I genuinely kept getting distracted from the proceedings. There’s a goldmine of character wealth and insight with regards to Kara being a “refugee” and yet somewhat discriminatory herself (against aliens from Daxam), but the whole thing could have been handled with a lot more nuance.
Welcome to Earth is also notable for featuring the debut of former Wonder Woman Lynda Carter as President of the United States. Although the nods to her jet and the iconic spin were amusing, I found Carter to be somewhat awkward in the role. Nevertheless, the final twist kind of saves the clumsy performance with the reveal that she is in fact not human. Let’s how they nagivate this one.
Super Bits
– Alex’s morphing badge is pretty nifty.
– Great moment with Kara short-circuiting Lena Luthor’s racist gadget.
– The episode also featured the debut of Detective Maggie Sawyer. She’s alright thus far – the most compelling aspect being that she’s a lesbian who just might be Alex’s new love interest. I actually love this turn of events as we’ve never really explored Alex’s romantic side.
– Seriously why is Olsen in charge? Wasn’t he just a photographer? How stupid do these writers think we are?
– The flame effects were really atrocious weren’t they? I guess the show blew all its budget on the previous two Superman hours.
– I take back everything I said last week about Snapper, because his character is way too over-the-top and stereotypical at the moment.
– Great scene with Kara introducing herself as a “refugee” and telling Mon-El that Daxam is gone.
– Intriguing ending with Hank discovering the bartender at the alien bar is “the last daughter of Mars”. Hmmm. I smell romantic sparks.
Kara Quips
Hank: And for the record, she’s the one who’s lucky to meet you.
Kara: Thanks. Should I get a blowout?
Hank: Oh, dear God.
Lena: Um, if you have a parking ticket, I can have it validated for you.
Kara: Oh, no, no, no. That’s fine, I flew here.
Conclusion
Compared to the explosive two episodes that kicked off this season, this was a moderately entertaining yet highly flawed hour.
Nad Rating
C