Monday – 28 March 2016
Fans Supergirl and The Flash have been hoping for some kind of team-up between the heroes since Variety ran an article with Greg Berlanti – along with this picture, featuring Supergirl‘s Melissa Benoist and The Flash‘s Grant Gustin – last October.
Picture (c) Variety
But, there were a number of obstacles:
- Supergirl had not been given a full season order,
- The Flash had already scheduled their Season 2 episodes,
- The shows, were on different networks1.
Then, something happened: Supergirl got picked up for a full season. Fans’ hopes got a little higher. But, The Powers That Be said that there was no time and that it couldn’t happen this season. Maybe something could be worked out next season.
On February 3rd, an announcement came out of CBS:
Supergirl’s world just keeps getting bigger—and more exciting.
CBS and The CW Network announced Tuesday that two of their respective shows will collide this spring. The Flash will appear in an upcoming episode of Supergirl, combining the two superheroes into one action-packed hour.
Fan reaction, not unexpectedly, was ecstatic. And then, the fan speculation started. Slowly, CBS released a few details: The episode title. Villains. The circumstances of Barry meeting Kara. And there were social media pushes, not just from the shows’ official sites, but also from the stars of the shows.
Just a couple of superheroes in the park… no big deal.
The episode aired tonight and it was fun. It was also reflective of the tone of both shows: Heroes doing the best they can, in both their heroic and civilian lives. It was also refreshing to see a hero team-up that didn’t involve the stereotypical trope of: heroes meet – heroes fight – heroes make up and resolve to fight bad guys trope. It was just heroes helping heroes.
Oh, the episode had villains helping villains, too; I shouldn’t forget that part.
Livewire and Silver Banshee
Picture (c) CBS
Something that added to the fun of the episode was being able to watch it with – and explain it to – my daughters. To say that they are “big fans of superheroes” would be something of an understatement. (One daughter may or may not have been named for Wonder Woman…) They know a fair number of the DC heroes, with Supergirl being pretty high on their list. I’ve wanted to let them watch Supergirl, but it’s a bit mature for them – they’re four-and-a-half. They came down to the family and started watching with me… so I decided to see how they dealt with it. They had a lot of questions:
- When is The Flash going to run fast? (They started watching after Barry had changed into civilian clothes.)
- Why is Supergirl not wearing her costume? (Civvies, again)
- Who’s that and why is she being mean to Supergirl? (Cat Grant)
- Is [person] a good friend or a bad friend?
- Did that bad friend break out of jail? (When Livewire escaped DEO confinement)
- Why does Supergirl have blood on her fingers? (After being shrieked at by Silver Banshee)
- Are they going to race?
- Why can James not hear Supergirl? (Near the end of the episode)
- Can all those people not hear either?
…but they took the episode in stride – it was easy enough for them to follow (mostly) and came down to a heroes putting the villains in jail, a concept they understand. As an added bonus for me, I got to watch them as they watched a show featuring heroes they know.
Thank you, CBS and The CW for giving viewers a fun show that didn’t feel too weighted down by the story arcs of either character’s respective show. It was enough of a one-and-done that someone who didn’t watch “the other show” regularly could enjoy for the sake of what was presented.
Now, how about renewing Supergirl for Season Two and getting Kara onto either The Flash, Arrow, or Legends of Tomorrow2?
1 – Okay, yes, CBS does have 50% interest in The CW, but they are still different networks.
2 – Legends of Tomorrow would provide an easy (re-)introduction of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Just putting that out there.
