Five reasons why Supergirl Lost Ratings
Since the pilot episode Supergirl’s ratings have gone down like a cheerleader at prom on the quarterback and people are asking why this happened?
Well let’s get the shallow theory out of the way: It wasn’t because the main character was a girl. IF that was the case then Once Upon a Time, Orphan Black and Lost Girl wouldn’t have multiple seasons. It sure as hell wasn’t casting either. Melissa Benoist has been (according to critics) the woman who’s carried the show through its awkward first steps.
I don’t even think its tone either. It’s an upbeat show with a stronger positive vibe than Man of Steel offered.
So here’s GEEKPR0N’s five reasons why Supergirl lost viewers.
5. Kara isn’t different enough.
It’s not enough that she’s a girl. Kara needs to be different in how she acts and fights from Superman and also she has to be distinct from other incarnations of Supergirl. Kara wasn’t raised on Earth, she was raised Kryptonian until she was thirteen (by the show’s continuity) that means two things:
She remembers being mortal.
She remembers kryptonian technology and science.
But the show doesn’t highlight or take advantage of those differences. Instead she fights the way Superman does and her alter ego is a shy girl working in media like Clark does. There isn’t enough to make her different from Superman apart from the gender issues and the narrative about living under the shadow of Superman. Otherwise she fights exactly how you imagine he would only she makes more mistakes. This would be fine if he didn’t exist. But he does.
And that’s not enough.
4. The pilot has too much going on.
The entire thing is a goddamn mess. Too much of it is focused on the world around Kara and not Kara herself. We are introduced to her boss and their terrible relationship, we meet her sister and their relationship is terrible (and gets resolved in the same episode), we are introduced to DEO and Kara is made a member, Alex’s issues with the leader of the DEO are also resolved the same episode and we learn a massive supermax phantom zone prison was released because of her. Oh! Also we learn her biological Aunt wants to kill her.
Did you get all that? No. Of course not because that is too much for a single episode! What you have there is a plot that could have stretched over several episodes and even several seasons! But because all of this is being set up not enough of the time is spent on Kara making her character woefully underdeveloped.
3. Absolutely nobody believes in Kara.
Okay three people do and one of them we never see in person. The other is Jimmy Olsen (spectacular revision of him too, gotta give thumbs up where it’s due). Everyone else spends the pilot telling Kara she can’t be a super hero. I barely count Winn because while he does help he doesn’t say anything to give Kara any confidence about her decision.
You remember how in the Flash, Harrison Wells tried to stop Barry because it was openly shown Wells valued Barry more for his speed then what he could do with that? Yeah Supergirl has to dig up to that. The majority of people in the first episode verbally demean and put down Kara in one form or another. She literally, succeeds at saving her sister only to get berated for it later BY THE SISTER SHE SAVED! That’s messed up.
Seriously! Who acts like this?
At the end of the episode the number of people who are shown believing in Kara goes up by one person. Her sister. That’s it.
2. Kara can’t do anything right.
Nope you didn’t read that wrong. Kara cannot do anything right on her own. Period. Lands a plane on her first outing with no casualties? Press criticizes her. First time flying, crashes into a hill. Goes out for the first time in her full and proper costume aaaaand… gets immediately taken out by the DEO. SERIOUSLY?
Just going to kneecap your hero like that? Then you have a villain she can’t defeat without the help of her sister. Not to harsh on a point here but isn’t Kara… FROM AN ADVANCED ALIEN CIVILIZATION? Why doesn’t she know anything scientific? What? Was she a dropout or something? Why can’t her knowledge of science be a thing that makes her distinct?
1. The show won’t shut up about Superman.
Okay. It’s a problem. A legitimate problem. You have a spinoff character to one of the most iconic heroes of all time.
That being said, if you want a drinking game take a shot every time someone in the pilot of Supergirl refers to Superman. You’d be dead by the time the episode ended. Everyone mentions Superman, excessively. Yes he exists and is a big elephant in the room but apart from the opening he doesn’t need the constant references.
Plus they’re all veiled, never completely showing Superman. It would have been a lot more effective to have him as Clark Kent visiting his cousin for a bit and helping out and giving advice like a father figure. Just don’t show him in the costume. Instead he’s this never shown figure, always larger than life like a deity giving messages through his apostle Jimmy Olsen.
And that’s our reasons why Supergirl’s ratings tanked so quickly after launch. Do you have your own? Share them with us.
