Supergirl season 2 explained

Bgcolour:
  1. 8299A9
Season Number:2
Num Episodes:22
Network:The CW
Episode List:List of Supergirl episodes

The second season of the American television series Supergirl, which is based on the DC Comics character Supergirl / Kara Zor-El, a costumed superheroine who is the cousin to Superman and one of the last surviving Kryptonians.

The season was ordered in May 2016, and unlike the first season which aired on CBS, this season was picked up by The CW. While the first season was filmed in Los Angeles, beginning with this season filming relocated to Vancouver, to reduce the high production costs of the series. The season was filmed from July 2016 to April 2017. Alongside Melissa Benoist, who stars in the title role, principal cast members Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Jeremy Jordan, and David Harewood return from the first season, and are joined by Chris Wood and Floriana Lima. Former series regular Calista Flockhart returns in a recurring capacity.

The season premiered on The CW on October 10, 2016, and ran until May 22, 2017, over 22 episodes. It received overall critical acclaim, being viewed as an improvement over the first season. The series was renewed for a third season on January 8, 2017.[1] This is the first season to air on The CW.

Episodes

See also: List of Supergirl episodes.

Cast and characters

See main article: List of Supergirl characters.

Main

Recurring

Guest

Production

Development

On May 12, 2016, Warner Bros. Television announced that Supergirl had been renewed for a second season of 22 episodes and would move to The CW from CBS.[4] [5] Ali Adler and Andrew Kreisberg served as the season's showrunners. It was also announced that, beginning with this season, production would relocate to Vancouver from Los Angeles.

Writing

In the second season, Kara Danvers / Supergirl and James Olsen end their romantic relationship, in favor of maintaining a platonic one. Kreisberg said regarding this decision, "We realized that the best scenes between [Kara and James] were just the nice, sweet scenes where they were being friends." He also said that while the theme of the first season was "how does Kara become Supergirl?", the theme of the second would be "how does Supergirl become Kara?".[6] Kriesberg said another theme of the season was "about coming into one's own and becoming who you are", such as Winn Schott becoming who he is by joining the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO), and J'onn J'onzz embracing his Martian Manhunter persona, which he spent 300 years concealing, but does not have to any longer.[7] The season is split in two-halves each with their own self-contained "big bad" story: Project Cadmus serves as the "big bad" of the first half, and Queen Rhea for the second half.[8]

The season establishes that Alex Danvers is gay, with Maggie Sawyer being her partner. Chyler Leigh, who plays Alex, explained, "it's not like this thing that all of a sudden is just spilling out, it's a discovery for her". She added, "You have so many stories [...] where people are already established as gay, lesbian, bi[sexual]; these are people who are coming in like that" and described the second season as a "great opportunity to show somebody who's figuring it out, the light bulb moment and putting the puzzle pieces together."[9] While the first season showed that the DEO operates in an isolated cave located "in the middle of nowhere", the second season shows that the DEO has relocated to their other base, a skyscraper in National City. Kreisberg explained that the creative team of Supergirl "fell out of love" with the DEO's cave setting, saying "It was cool in the beginning, and it just for some reason didn't feel like it was bringing everything together", hence the reason for shifting to the skyscraper setting.[10]

Casting

Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Jeremy Jordan, and David Harewood return from the first season as Kara Danvers / Supergirl, James Olsen, Alex Danvers, Winn Schott and J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, respectively. They are joined by Chris Wood and Floriana Lima, portraying Mon-El and Maggie Sawyer, respectively. Harewood also portrays Hank Henshaw, who becomes this series' version of Cyborg Superman.[11] The season establishes Olsen as the vigilante Guardian, unlike the comics where Jim Harper is the vigilante.[12] The producers decided to depict Sawyer as a Latino for the series, unlike the comics where she is a white blonde; however, the character's homosexuality was retained for the series.[13]

With the move of production to Vancouver, it was unclear if Calista Flockhart, who played Cat Grant in the first season, would remain with the series, as her original contract stipulated that she work near her home in Los Angeles. The CW president Mark Pedowitz said Flockhart wanted to remain with the series and that "We're in ongoing discussions... we're happy to have her in [in whatever capacity] works out."[14] Flockhart ultimately reached a deal to be recurring in the second season.[15] Andrea Brooks originally auditioned for the role of Sawyer, although she herself admitted that she did not feel that role was a "good fit". She was subsequently sent a further script to audition for the role of Janice. Having won the role, it was not until she received her first episode script that she discovered she would in fact be playing the recurring role of Eve Teschmacher.[16] The character's name is a reference to a character of the same name played by Valerie Perrine in Superman (1978) and its 1980 sequel.[17] Katie McGrath also joined this season in the recurring role of Lena Luthor.

Design

Tyler Harron worked as the production designer for the season. With the move of the production to Vancouver from Los Angeles, Harron decided to take elements from the existing sets and rebuild them in Vancouver from scratch, rather than pack the sets such as CatCo and Kara Danver's loft, ship them to Vancouver and rebuild them there. This was done due to the difficulty of having separate crews to ship the sets to Vancouver and unpack them there. Kara's loft was designed to look almost exactly as it was in the first season, while CatCo was substantially redesigned.[18]

Filming

The second season was filmed in Vancouver, rather than Los Angeles where the first season was shot. This was done to reduce the high production costs of the series, one of the issues that made CBS wary to renew the series on their network. Kriesberg explained that it "would've started to feel very small" if production had continued in Los Angeles, and that they chose to relocate to Vancouver to shoot in its outdoor locations, rather than continue facing the constraints of shooting mainly inside the studio at Los Angeles. Pedowitz said the series' move to Vancouver made crossovers with another CW superhero series, The Flash, "easier to facilitate" as the series also films in Vancouver.[19] Filming for the season began in July 2016,[20] and ended in April 2017.[21]

Music

The score for the season was composed by Blake Neely.[22]

Arrowverse tie-ins

The episode "Medusa" ends with a scene where Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon of Earth-1 arrive at Kara's loft enlisting her help with a problem on their Earth, thereby setting up the Arrowverse crossover event "Invasion!" that begins on The Flash season 3 episode 8, continues on Arrow season 5 episode 8 and concludes on Legends of Tomorrow season 2 episode 7.[23] This scene is later repeated in the Flash episode of the crossover. Kara/Supergirl appears in all three episodes as a visitor to their universe due to Supergirl being set in a different Earth, referred to as Earth-38 by the inhabitants of the Arrowverse, and has been informally referred to as "Earth-CBS" by Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim, named for the network where Supergirl first aired.[24] [25] Similarly, the episode "Star-Crossed" ends with Music Meister hypnotizing Kara and fleeing to Earth-1 to do the same to Barry, thus initiating the events of The Flash season 3 episode "Duet".[26]

Release

Broadcast

The season began airing on The CW on October 10, 2016, in the United States, and ended on May 22, 2017. It premiered on the same day as the United States in Canada on Showcase,[27] and on October 24, 2016, in the United Kingdom on Sky One.[28]

Home media

The season was released on DVD in Region 2 on August 21, 2017,[29] on DVD and Blu-ray in Region 1 on August 22,[30] and DVD Region 3 on August 23.[31]

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the second season a 92% approval rating from critics with an average rating of 7.91/10, based on 19 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "The arrival of the more famous cousin in Supergirl does nothing to detract from the show's lead, who continues to deliver strength, action, and relatability."[32] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 81 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[33]

Jesse Schedeen of IGN rated the season 7.3 out of 10, giving the verdict, "In many ways, Supergirl improved in its second season as the show moved to The CW and bolstered its already solid cast with several new favorites. This season not only looked better, it managed to blend epic superhuman conflicts with very real, authentic character drama and a status quo marked by plenty of anti-alien sentiment in National City. But not every character benefited from the shake-ups this season, and not every lingering Season 1 problem was addressed. And while the season as a whole had more good elements than bad, the final trio of lackluster episodes managed to end the year on a real down note."[34] Evan Valentine of Collider ranked the season at number 10 in his list of best and worst superhero television series of 2017, writing, "Supergirl is a stalwart within a sea of superhero shows, not necessarily standing out, but not ever being terrible. Melissa Benoist still does a fantastic job of portraying "the Girl of Steel," but we are hitting Smallville-levels of drama with the rest of the characters".[35] PopMatters writer James Plath rated the season 7 out 10 stars.[36]

Accolades

|-! scope="row" rowspan="12" | 2017| GLAAD Awards| Outstanding Drama Series| rowspan="2" | Supergirl| | [37] |-| Kids' Choice Awards| Favorite TV Show – Family Show| | [38] |-| rowspan="4"| Saturn Awards| Best Actress on Television| Melissa Benoist| | [39] |-| Best Guest Performance in a Television Series| Tyler Hoechlin| | |-| Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series| Supergirl| | |-| Best Supporting Actor on Television| Mehcad Brooks| | |-| rowspan="6" | Teen Choice Awards| Choice Action TV Actor| data-sort-value="Wood, Chris" | Chris Wood| | [40]
[41] |-| Choice Action TV Actress| data-sort-value="Benoist, Melissa" | Melissa Benoist| | |-| Choice Action TV Show| Supergirl| | |-| Choice Liplock| data-sort-value="Benoist, Melissa and Chris Wood" | Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood| | |-| Choice TV Ship| data-sort-value="Benoist, Melissa and Chris Wood" | Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood| | |-| Choice TV Villain| data-sort-value="Hatcher, Terri" | Teri Hatcher| | |}

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The CW Renews The Flash, Supernatural, Crazy Ex and 4 Others . Mitovich . Matt Webb . January 8, 2017 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20170109113246/http://tvline.com/2017/01/08/the-flash-renewed-season-4-supernatural-season-13/ . January 9, 2017 . live . January 8, 2017.
  2. Web site: INTERVIEW: Supergirl's Brenda Strong on Unleashing Lillian Luthor's Wrath . Cairns . Bryan . November 22, 2016 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20170709175031/http://www.cbr.com/brenda-strong-talks-supergirl/ . July 9, 2017 . live . September 16, 2018.
  3. Holbrook . Damian . Coming Attractions . TV Guide Comic-Con Special 2015 . 72. Former Lois & Clark cape wearer Dean Cain and original Supergirl film star Helen Slater pop up as Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, the scientists who adopt Kara..
  4. Web site: 'Supergirl' Moves To The CW, Renewed For Season 2 . Andreeva . Nellie . May 12, 2016 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20160513052542/http://deadline.com/2016/05/supergirl-moves-the-cw-renewed-season-2-melissa-benoist-1201754579/ . May 13, 2016 . live . May 12, 2016.
  5. 730874024524451840 . DavidHarewood . 22 episode order. Vancouver. CW. Details to come.#season2 #off2bed #Johannesburg . David Harewood . May 12, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180618083247/https://twitter.com/DavidHarewood/status/730874024524451840 . June 18, 2018 . live.
  6. News: Supergirl Boss Explains Why Kara and James Are Better as Friends . Thomas . Kaitlin . October 11, 2016 . . September 11, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180213103129/http://www.tvguide.com/news/supergirl-kara-james-breakup-friends/ . February 13, 2018 . live.
  7. Supergirl boss goes in-depth about changes with show's move to CW . Abrams . Natalie . October 7, 2016 . . October 1, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181001082816/https://www.ew.com/article/2016/10/07/supergirl-season-2-cw-spoilers/ . October 1, 2018 . live.
  8. Web site: Who Will Supergirl's Ultimate Season 2 Villain Be?. March 28, 2017. Screen Rant. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191014064922/https://screenrant.com/supergirl-season-2-villains-big-bad/. October 14, 2019. October 14, 2019.
  9. 'Supergirl': Chyler Leigh Opens Up About Alex's Coming-Out Story . Abrams . Natalie . February 27, 2017 . . September 25, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180925053511/https://ew.com/tv/2017/02/27/supergirl-alex-gay-chyler-leigh/ . September 25, 2018 . live.
  10. Web site: 5 Smart Changes to Supergirl and Why the Producers Made Them . Yehl . Joshua . October 14, 2016 . . https://archive.today/20181009053031/https://www.ign.com/articles/2016/10/14/5-smart-changes-to-supergirl-and-why-the-producers-made-them . October 9, 2018 . live . October 9, 2018 .
  11. News: Supergirl's David Harewood Says Playing Cyborg Superman is 'Boring' . Freeman . Molly . July 1, 2017 . . September 16, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170709062242/http://screenrant.com/supergirl-david-harewood-cyborg-superman-boring/ . July 9, 2017 . live.
  12. Web site: Lincoln . Ross A. . 'Supergirl': First Look At James Olsen As Guardian . . September 16, 2018 . October 12, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180215190247/http://deadline.com/2016/10/supergirl-james-olsen-guardian-the-cw-1201835537/ . February 15, 2018 . live.
  13. Web site: UPDATED: Being Latinx Is Not About Color: What We Can Learn From Floriana Lima's Casting as Maggie Sawyer on Supergirl . Jusino . Teresa . December 13, 2016 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20171218091423/https://www.themarysue.com/floriana-lima-latinx-not-about-color/ . December 18, 2017 . live . September 16, 2018.
  14. The CW boss finally says it: Supergirl should have been ours . Hibberd . James . May 19, 2016 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20160522001105/http://www.ew.com/article/2016/05/19/supergirl . May 22, 2016 . live . May 19, 2016.
  15. Web site: 'Supergirl': Calista Flockhart To Recur In Season 2 On CW As Filming Moves North . Andreeva . Nellie . August 1, 2016 . . August 1, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160802180404/http://deadline.com/2016/08/supergirl-calista-flockhart-recur-in-season-2-the-cw-filming-canada-1201796814/. August 2, 2016. live.
  16. Web site: Interview With Actress Andrea Brooks, "When Calls the Heart" . Hill . Ruth . March 4, 2017 . My Devotional Thoughts . https://archive.today/20180924063005/http://mydevotionalthoughts.net/2017/03/interview-with-andrea-brooks-when-calls-the-heart.html . September 24, 2018 . live . September 24, 2018.
  17. Web site: Supergirl: Over 25 Things You May Have Missed in "The Adventures of Supergirl" . Burlingame . Russ . October 11, 2016 . . https://archive.today/20180924063054/https://comicbook.com/dc/2016/10/10/supergirl-things-you-may-have-missed-in-the-adventures-of-superg/ . September 24, 2018 . live . September 24, 2018.
  18. Web site: How Set Design Shapes CW's Supergirl Season 2 . Burt . Kayti . January 27, 2017 . . September 16, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171229204618/http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/supergirl/261802/how-set-design-shapes-cws-supergirl-season-2 . December 29, 2017 . live.
  19. Web site: Go North, Paparazzi! This Is Why "Every TV Star Is Going to Be Running Around and Misbehaving" in Vancouver . Sandberg . Bryn Elise . August 22, 2016 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20181009045503/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-vancouver-could-become-new-919645 . October 9, 2018 . live . October 9, 2018.
  20. Web site: Supergirl Set Photos & Video Reveal Superman in Action . Freeman . Molly . July 29, 2016 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20161102025924/http://screenrant.com/supergirl-set-photos-superman-tyler-hoechlin/ . November 2, 2016 . live . September 17, 2018.
  21. Web site: Supergirl: General Zod Arrives in Set Photos, Video . Cave . Rob . April 26, 2017 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20180920040907/https://www.cbr.com/supergirl-general-zod-set-photos-video/ . September 20, 2018 . live . September 20, 2018.
  22. Web site: Exclusive: Interview with Composer Blake Neely . Johnston . Eric . July 23, 2017 . Supergirl.tv . September 16, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180213025333/https://supergirl.tv/exclusive-interview-with-composer-blake-neely . February 13, 2018 . live.
  23. Web site: Review: The Flash, Supergirl, Arrow, Legends Of Tomorrow crossover — Invasion . Gross . Ed . December 2, 2016 . . https://archive.today/20180918094225/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/review-flash-supergirl-arrow-legends-tomorrow-crossover-invasion/ . September 18, 2018 . live . September 18, 2018.
  24. Web site: Marc Guggenheim Reveals the Title Of Arrow's 100th Episode . Burlingame . Russ . October 23, 2016 . . October 23, 2016.
  25. Web site: 'The Flash' Recap: "Invasion!" – The Gang's All Here . Day . Carla . November 29, 2016 . . November 30, 2016.
  26. Web site: Duet: The Flash and Supergirl Musical Crossover — Review . Gross . Ed . March 22, 2017 . . https://archive.today/20180918092250/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/duet-flash-supergirl-musical-crossover-review/ . September 18, 2018 . live . September 18, 2018.
  27. Web site: Showcase Delivers Bold Hits and Daring New Dramas This Fall . August 29, 2016 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20181004060633/https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/showcase-delivers-bold-hits-and-daring-new-dramas-this-fall-591635141.html . October 4, 2018 . live . October 4, 2018.
  28. Web site: Supergirl: David Harewood slams Cyborg Superman . Leane . Rob . July 3, 2017 . . en . https://archive.today/20181001193624/http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/tv/supergirl-season-2/40487/supergirl-david-harewood-slams-cyborg-superman/page/0/3 . October 1, 2018 . live . October 1, 2018.
  29. Web site: Supergirl: The Complete Second Season . August 21, 2017 . Amazon UK . https://web.archive.org/web/20180929164127/https://www.amazon.co.uk/Supergirl-Season-DVD-Melissa-Benoist/dp/B01N6E7E7U . September 29, 2018 . live . September 21, 2018.
  30. Web site: Supergirl: The Complete Second Season . August 22, 2017 . Amazon US . https://web.archive.org/web/20170927030257/https://www.amazon.com/Supergirl-Complete-Second-Season-Blu-ray/dp/B01LTI0GM8 . September 27, 2017 . live . September 16, 2018.
  31. Web site: Supergirl : Season 2 (DVD, 2017, 5-Disc Set) . August 23, 2017 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20180929163901/https://www.ebay.com.au/p/Supergirl-Season-2-DVD-2017-5-Disc-Set/238294266 . September 29, 2018 . live . September 29, 2018.
  32. Web site: Supergirl: Season 2 (2016) . . October 29, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170204134353/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/supergirl/s02 . February 4, 2017 . live.
  33. Web site: Supergirl (2015) – Season 2 Reviews . . https://web.archive.org/web/20161202113951/http://www.metacritic.com/tv/supergirl-2015/season-2 . December 2, 2016 . live . July 1, 2017.
  34. Web site: Supergirl: Season 2 Review . Schedeen . Jesse . May 30, 2017 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20171222135748/http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/05/30/supergirl-season-2-review . December 22, 2017 . live . September 16, 2018.
  35. Web site: All of the Year's Superhero TV Shows, Ranked . Valentine . Evan . December 20, 2017 . . September 16, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180114130617/http://collider.com/superhero-tv-shows-ranked-2017/ . January 14, 2018 . live.
  36. Web site: 'Supergirl': Season Two Offers a True Multigenerational Viewing Experience . Plath . James . September 1, 2017 . . https://archive.today/20181005074142/https://www.popmatters.com/supergirl-the-complete-second-season-blu-ray-warner-2495382228.html . October 5, 2018 . live . October 5, 2018 .
  37. Web site: 'Moonlight,' Netflix's 'The OA,' 'Supergirl' Snag GLAAD Media Awards Nominations . Schwindt . Oriana . January 31, 2017 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20170201054207/http://variety.com/2017/film/news/moonlight-netflix-supergirl-glaad-nominationss-nominations-1201974187/ . February 1, 2017 . live . March 3, 2017.
  38. Web site: 2017 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards Nominations — Full List . Levy . Dani . February 2, 2017 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20170205052915/http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/nickelodeon-kids-choice-awards-nominations-2017-full-list-1201975603/ . February 5, 2017 . live . February 2, 2017.
  39. Web site: Saturn Awards Nominations 2017: 'Rogue One,' 'Walking Dead' Lead . McNary . Dave . March 1, 2017 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20170303124219/http://variety.com/2017/film/awards/saturn-awards-nominations-2017-rogue-one-walking-dead-1202000833/ . March 3, 2017 . live . March 1, 2017.
  40. Web site: Teen Choice Awards 2017 Nominations Announced: See the "First Wave" of Potential Winners . Swertlow . Meg . June 20, 2017 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20170619202941/http://www.eonline.com/news/861781/teen-choice-awards-2017-nominations-announced-see-the-first-wave-of-potential-winners . June 19, 2017 . live . June 20, 2017.
  41. Web site: Teen Choice Awards 2017 Winners: The Complete List . Vulpo . Mike . August 13, 2017 . . https://archive.today/20181002072123/https://www.eonline.com/news/873075/teen-choice-awards-2017-winners-the-complete-list . October 2, 2018 . live . October 2, 2018.

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