Superman, Spiderman, Captain America, and so many others make up the world of superheros, but we have all heard about them before. Every time, no matter how new the movie or show is, it is the same old story with the same characters. Until now. We have a new superhero joining the ranks: Supergirl.

The show Supergirl, in brief, is about a female version of Superman in a different city called Kara (pronounced car-uh) who was sent from the planet Krypton to protect her cousin Superman. During her escape, she was trapped in a place where time stands still. She eventually makes it to Earth 24 years later, but Superman had already grown up. Therefore, Kara decided to hide her powers until she had use them to save her adopted sister leading to the creation of Supergirl and so on and so forth.

The idea of the show itself is original and somewhat not at the same time. The thought of Superman having a cousin on Earth is a completely new idea, but they get lazy and copy Superman’s character onto her instead of developing her differently than Superman did. Seriously, it looks like all the did was copy and paste Superman and make him female to create Supergirl. I know she is his cousin, but she has very different circumstances and should develop differently than he did.

The story line is cliche beyond belief sometimes. There are limited ideas for TV, but the writers should be able to create different stories than Superman. From suddenly losing powers for a day to her struggles in the work place, Kara’s trials and tribulations are very similar to many superheros. However, they do have some unique ideas such as Kara’s struggle to distinguish herself from Superman and show that she is equal to Superman despite gender differences.

Moving on, the casting and the actors’ performance are superb. Their emotions and facial expressions look purely genuine and believable. They portray their specific characters well and handle the various challenges in a very realistic fashion. Jeremy Johnson’s portrayal of Kara’s best friend, Wen, captures the all too familiar issue of secret love while Mechad Brooks’s role as photojournalist and Superman’s friend, Jimmy Olsen, also gives insight into loyalty to friends and ethical journalism. These actors and the cast as a whole are part of what makes the show what it is and adds more effect than any green screen.

The cliffhangers are a curse and a great achievement at the same time. Somehow, the creators find a way in every episode to weave in a suspenseful moment or two that captivate the audience and keep them focused on the show. While some are cliche, they are outweighed by the others. Along with this, they find ways to have a latent cliffhanger that the audience momentarily forgets but then shocks the audience through a subtle but sudden reminder. The use of cliffhangers shows the writers genius in the show.

Supergirl may be somewhat unoriginal in its stories and in the idea of the show, but it is canceled out by the creative intelligence of the writers and the impressive quality of acting and creation. This culminates to create some mixed feelings about the show, but also, it reiterates the momentous advancements in TV shows. So with season  two starting up, I would recommend to give Supergirl a try. You may be surprised. But seriously, I mean who names their city National City or Metropolis. Come on writers, you can come up with a better name after leaving me in a bitter sweet suspense.