Review: Supergirl 5×19 – “Immortal Kombat“
[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers]
Director: David Harewood
Writers: Emilio Ortega Aldrich & Nicki Holcomb
Starring: Melissa Benoist, Chyler Leigh, Katie McGrath, Jesse Rath, Nicole Maines, Azie Tesfai, Andrea Brooks, Julie Gonzalo, Staz Nair & David Harewood
Reviewed by: Sean Blumenshine
Summary
Supergirl realizes that she must work with Lena to stop Lex and Leviathan; Nia struggles with what her dreams are trying to tell her; Brainy realizes there is only one way to stop Lex.
Positives
It was cathartic to see Kara truly stand up for herself to Lena and say everything I’ve been saying the entire season. I don’t think that makes up for how poorly written Lena has been all season but I enjoyed the emotion of the scene. And Melissa Benoist and Katie McGrath are terrific actors so the scenes between them are good chances for the two to really shine.
I loved seeing the anti-Kryptonite suit again. I still think that costume without the helmet plus a cape would be a cooler new costume than the actual new one
There’s a lot of fun action in this one. Rama Khan gets two buddies who can control other elements. The effects are cool and they have a solid foreboding presence. The supporting cast mostly fights them in several well staged fights that David Harewood directed well.
Jesse Rath is incredible as Brainy. He’s one of the show’s secret weapons and I loved every moment with him this episode. His story goes in a direction I did not expect at all; it’s great.
Gemma Cooper references her boss several times which makes me hop that this season isn’t the end of Leviathan. They’ve ultimately taken a back seat to Lex so hopefully season six will focus on this mysterious boss and make her a compelling character. I love Jon Cryer as Lex but we’ve had two seasons of him so I’d like for him to either take a back seat or move to Superman & Lois.
Negatives
One unfortunate aspect of this being the unintended finale is that Supergirl doesn’t have a ton to do. She spends a lot of the episode standing around. Which makes sense for the story and this wasn’t supposed to be the finale but the episode before the finale. And while there are cool moments, she’s not that active. And her big moment is a repeated thing from season one.
I don’t love Alex’s costume. I appreciate that the color scheme is the same as her fantasy Supergirl outfit; that’s a nice touch. But it’s kind of boring; it looks like a rejected Green Arrow sidekick. And even though what inspired Alex to put on a costume was Kelly telling her to wear a mask, Alex is of course not wearing a mask. Like Oliver in season one of Arrow, it’s just make-up. These are weird choices.
Verdict
This is a strange episode. It’s a finale but not really. And the show will be gone for at least a year. It was weird watching it. But it’s really good. There’s terrific action and the character work is great. Several members of the cast get to tear it up. I loved the episode.
