My Reaction To Last Night's Supergirl Premier

As a self professed geek I tend to get very into fictional universes. As a general rule the newer and more intricate the better. When I hear Stphen Colbert go off on Tolkien trivia I get jealous. 

With that in mind I can get very critical of reboots. The problem with reboots of classic comic book characters is that there is always a challenge to keep true to the source material, while making the television programming relevant for a contemporary audience. 

My favorite scene in the show (besides the fight scenes and gratuitous explosions) is the one that was featured in the trailers, because I think it really sets the tone for what the series will shape up to be. In this scene Calista Flockhart rather eloquently shuts down Kara's objection to being called a "girl"

(Scrub to about the 3:00 mark on this link http://youtu.be/Lm46-envrHo)

Of course you will see the typical TV tropes in there too. For example after getting her rear end handed to her by the token super bad guy and then a rousing heart-to-heart "you can do it" speech from her sister, Supergirl returns for round two and miraculously is master of space-fu. 

Another interesting touch is the choice to never mention the name Superman. He is mentioned by name in the first few minutes, but the rest of the show he is referred to as Supergirl's cousin, the big guy, big blue, etc. I think this is deliberate so as not to hang the shows success only on the popularity of another character. This is Kara's story. 

Fans may have also noticed an Easter egg in the first few minutes. Dean Cain, star of the Lois & Clark TV series in the 90s, makes a visual appearance as Kara's adopted earth father, Mr. Danvers. 

In all I think the jury is still out. They did a good job with the origin story reboot, but I think they presume a lack of intelligence on the part of their audience because multiple characters constantly repeat phrases like "Finally! A female superhero!" OK we get it, girl power. 

As a fan of DC comics I really want it to work. I thoroughly enjoyed the Smallville adaptation to the Superman story, at least until the last few seasons. I'm hoping this show will be around for a while as well.