I was contemplating on whether or not I should write an official review for this episode as I founded myself to be a lot more disappointed than I expected going in with an open mind. Now before I start the review, I must emphasize that the episode by itself isn't necessarily bad, but what made it especially impactful for me was the amount of wishful thinking that I had driving behind it. I really wanted this episode to atleast be decent enough to wash away the mixed to poor direction that the writers and producers has had on their characters thus far in the series. One of my major issues with this show is the major lack of at least one compelling villain which results in every upcoming episode to pile up the wishful thinking heap until it's practically overflowing.
Red Tornado was the one character that I had slightly high hopes for being that he was actually is a familiar name and face (which is great considering the amount of low level unknowns that Supergirl has faced so far in my opinion). Although I must admit from the still image that they released while back all the way to the first moment we see him in the episode, I seriously didn't like the suit and facial design that they decided to go with. When it comes to television series, I'm usually a bit more forgiven in the costume and visual FX departments as I'm fully aware of the significant budget difference in films to TV, but this character took a little bit of a challenge to get pass the Power Rangers-like quality design.
With that in mind, I'm actually curious as to why they would even choose such an off the wall character to adapt especially with his bizarre looks and power set (for a robot anyway). I'm still not 100% sure on which comic book characters the studio has the rights to utilize, so villain choices like the Red Tornado really catches me by surprise when they announce them. As far as the way they executed his character, I will say that they did manage to do his powers some kind of justice showing him fly around in his traditional tornado spin (which is beyond ridiculous even for this show).
Also showing him actually a create a tornado as a distraction for Supergirl to stop was kinda cool as it felt like effort was put in to having him be as close to the source material as possible despite how outrageous it felt. Again, we're talking about a robot who can spin around so fast that actual massive whirlwinds are formed.
However, even with some of the effort put in on his abilities being true to form, the character itself felt like he was scraped from the bottom of the same barrel that's been spilling out these one note D-grade villains for the show so far. The idea of him randomly turning sentient after being disconnected from his user felt completely forced just for the heck of a final surprise fight. The character felt dull with little to no presence whatsoever (even a robot can have a powerful presence as we've seen with characters like Ultron and Terminator) resulting in the feeling of another sack of wasted potential being tossed onscreen.
Now will Red Tornado return in some shape or form in a future episode much upgraded and better designed? That's something that can only be checked off and thrown into the wishful thinking pile with everything else. We see in each episode that Supergirl struggles around with these enemies until she realizes that the overall themed lesson of the episode is the key to beating her opponent (the case in this episode being for her to learn how to control her anger), so at least they stayed consistent with that element in utilizing his character.
Now, much like the other episode reviews that I've done, I have to point out the one thing that the show does pretty descent which is its character drama. Going along the tone of an ABC Family or Lifetime series focusing on the struggles of adulthood, there's always something to take back and enjoy for what it is whenever we see characters going through normal life issues. This is where the show works at its best and I have to give full props where its due as not every superhero show can pull off "normal" and still make room for the more fantastical elements.
I won't get into the Jimmy Olsen/Lara Lane stuff as it easily got swept under the rug for me considering the real hook of this episode was the introduction to Red Tornado, but I will quickly mention that it was pretty okay as filler goes. However, the reason I came aboard a show called Supergirl was definitely not to see if she'll ever find true love or if her boss will start respecting her as an individual, so scenes like those are easily forgotten down the line.
But it's with these mundane situations that can help elevate the super heroisms when certain plot points connect as the show has been doing a pretty good job with. I'd like to point out that seeing a pissed off loose cannon version of the character was actually pretty entertaining and the final moment when she unleashes everything on Red Tornado with her heat vision had a genuine feeling of an epic character moment (the first one on the show really). There's also that cool scene where she first faces off against him and completely trashes him when she starts unleashing her rage on him causing him to flee.
If they can pull off more moments like that then they might actually have something special on their hands. We haven't seen the full height of her powers yet (which is a good thing), so if they can keep giving little hints like that specific scene showing her utilize her rage for power, there will be lots of room for equally exciting and spectacular action sequences.
Overall, Supergirl has consistently been standing on thin ice for me as every episode so far has resulted in me thinking "Guess, I'll just watch it because who knows if something cool might actually happen". However, no matter how many times I bash the show's many flaws in its action scenes, villains, and overall entertainment value, I will always acknowledge the significant amount of potential that lies within the core of the series. Supergirl is a great DC comics TV event in the making...it's just taking its lovely time to get there.
Episode Rating: 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment