Supergirl S4: Graduation Season - From Guilty Pleasure to Great TV (Fansided.com article)

I totally agree LP, and though on twitter those with our view are not seen very often, its certainly not that we aren't out there....we are just those that do not go on twitter and spam and troll every single @Supergirl tweet. But I know of quite a few that feel the way we do.

Though I can say without hesitance that I enjoyed what we got of Supergirl this season, I can also say with equal fervor that it wasn't enough.

I totally get that there is only one of Melissa and they are trying very hard to not wear her down like they did in Seasons 1 and 2. I get that......but I do believe that we need episodes like Episode 1 of Season 2 where they come out of the gate with huge spectacle at least 4 to 5 times per season, at least one each 6 episodes or so and then take it home big like Season 1 in the finale. We just did not have those times this season. Great villains though I would have much rather them be centered on Supergirl rather than her sidekicks. I think for me if they will make an effort a BIG EFFORT to make it clear that Supergirl is the hero, and the others are sidekicks, much they way they have done on Arrow, not sooo much on Flash that would go a long way. Keep the cohesive writing for sure, keep the strong villains for sure (meaning make Lena that unwilling villain and if need be bring her back in the 6th season with a strong friendship....I think that would be great fun for Katie. And of course, bring back Lex as well.....and then give us some fun villains along the way as in Season 1. Tied up really well with a bow with a strong message as they did this season.

So though I agree with a lot in the article, I think as LP said some are looking at it in comparison to some weak seasons for the other shows, but hey.....I love the positivity being thrown Supergirl's way.....so I'll certain take it.

this season has gotten good reviews from quite a few sites actually.

]IGN gave season 4 a 9/10

rotten tomotoes rates season 4 certified fresh with a score of 87

I'll add more as I find them

It's nice to see the show get positive critic reviews. General feelings about a season are of course going to be subjective and rose colored glasses are a possibility. I submit that the opposite is also true, it's possible that thinking of what you disliked can obscure things too. Essentially something leaving a bad taste in your mouth makes it harder to taste the sweet stuff. An example of this is LP you remembered Alex and James finishing Ben off but not that Kara beat him in a pretty good fistfight before that.

Were there things that could leave that bad taste sure, I'll put my gray glasses on for a minute. It was an understandably unpopular choice to have Alex be the one to talk Jenkins down in Parasite Lost. The only devils advocate defense I can come up with, and I realize it's not a great one, for that was anti-alien Jenkins would've more readily listened to human Alex over Supergirl. I think the episode that really left a sour taste in a lot of peoples mouths is Menagerie. This may be a first but I got nothing to explain what happened in that episode. It was unfortunate timing that that episode came in-between breaks for the Super Bowl and award shows.

Now back to the good stuff which it happens that there's a a lot of agreement on. General consensus is that the writing was more cohesive than past seasons, that's something I feel safe in saying everyone wants to continue. The villains which had been a weak part of past seasons were greatly improved. I do think the villains being human for most of the season is a factor in fewer hand to hand fights. Other stuff I liked about the season as a whole. Jessie Rath was great, I thought I would really miss Winn but Brainy is in many ways simply a better fit. Nicole Maines did a great job in her first major acting role. Is she Melissa, Chyler or Katie no but she held her own with some of the best in the business and not many with her level of experience can do that. I saw improvement in her facial expressions by the end the season, no doubt due to Melissa's influence.

So where do we go from here. Although I don't have the same fervor as some I would like to see more Supergirl action. At a recent con Chyler talked about an effort to give Melissa more time off in the past two seasons. She said season one was rough on her with 18 hour days, she even stood guard so Melissa could sleep. I think it's feasible to move the needle towards more Supergirl action without exhausting Melissa but to expect season one level effort isn't. The vast majority of fans get that but a small sometimes vocal minority don't. I agree Kelly, sometimes a huge spectacle is needed. I'd be good with that interspersed with Kara in reporter mode episodes like American Dreamer to give Melissa a break from the cape. I'd also be down for more young Kara and Alex which is another way to give the whole cast a break.

" And of course, bring back Lex as well.....and then give us some fun villains along the way as in Season 1."

Yes - and speaking of "fun villains", I for one would love to see Mr. Mxyzptlk again.
Preferably doing something like this to the National City Police Dept.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfO_OfmGOl0&t=69s

I think they are looking at the season overall with rose colored glasses and perhaps dismissing some great stuff from previous seasons. However, they make some good points and are spot on regarding cast.

Some of the latter episodes especially truly do make for some great tv, IMO.

It's nice to see the show get positive critic reviews. General feelings about a season are of course going to be subjective and rose colored glasses are a possibility. I submit that the opposite is also true, it's possible that thinking of what you disliked can obscure things too. Essentially something leaving a bad taste in your mouth makes it harder to taste the sweet stuff. An example of this is LP you remembered Alex and James finishing Ben off but not that Kara beat him in a pretty good fistfight before that.

In my defense, I did feel like she had that clean unassisted victory, I just couldn't place it! LOL

As far as positive reviews go, I'm happy they are out there, even where I disagree.

I suspect the topical nature of the season along with the political viewpoints expressed and jabs taken at the current US administration bought a lot of goodwill from the audience in general and online reviewers both of which skew progressive. Jesse Schedeen at ign shocked the heck out of me with that 9. He'd never let the kind of things this season did slide in his reviews for previous seasons.

But whatever the case, if it encourages people to tune in and help the show succeed and have the opportunities to do even better in the future, I'm all for it.