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Blu-ray Review: SUPERGIRL: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON

Sep 07, 2020 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Disclaimer: “Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-rayTM I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.”

As the fourth season of Supergirl came to a close, Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) revealed to his sister Lena (Katie McGrath) that Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) was in fact Supergirl. Lena was shocked by this revelation, feeling betrayed that her best friend Kara had been lying to her face this whole time. So, as the fifth season opens, Lena is still trying to figure out how to let Kara know that she knows. She wants Kara to feel the same kind of betrayal that she is experiencing. Meanwhile, Kara is also struggling with revealing her identity to Lena—she knows it is overdue, but keeps hesitating and pushing it off. As part of her revenge plan, Lena sells CatCo to an old boarding school friend, Andrea Rojas (Julie Gonzalo), who ousts James Olson (Mehcad Brooks) as editor-in-chief, and announces that the company will be changing its direction, becoming more of a sensational tabloid to increase subscriptions and clicks. She has also hired British reporter William Dey (Staz Nair) to join the staff. None of this sits will with Kara, James and the others.

Andrea also runs tech company Obsidian North, which has moved into the CatCo building. The company is beta testing new augmented reality contact lenses that will allow users to enter a VR world to escape all of their stress and problems in the real world. Kelly Olsen (Azie Tesfai) has just started her first day with the company, working on developing that technology to help heal patients with dementia. Kelly’s relationship with Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) is still going strong. Alex is the director of the D.E.O., working alongside Agent Dox (Jesse Rath) and J’onn J’onzz (David Harewood) to try to take down any alien threats that pop up in National City.

Much like the other Arrow-verse shows last year, this fifth season of Supergirl is divided into two halves, with the big Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event shaking things up inbetween. The first half of the season primarily follows the fractured relationship between Kara and Lena—can Lena can ever get past Kara’s lies and deceit (even though Kara’s motives were only to protect Lena), or is she too far gone, and doomed to follow in her family’s villainous footsteps? Supergirl and her team also find themselves up against two main threats in this first half of the season. First up is J’onn’s brother, Malefic (Phil LaMarr), who has returned to seek revenge on J’onn. The problem is that J’onn appears to have no memory of his brother or their conflict. Also, the secret organization known as Leviathan is back and the ancient Rama Khan (Mitch Pileggi) is now in charge and causing chaos. Some of the other enemies the team faces in the first half of the season include supervillain Breathtaker (Luisa D’Oliveira) and an assassin called Rip Roar (Nick Sagar).

Supergirl is probably the Arrow-verse show that is most affected by the events of Crisis. Before Crisis, Supergirl’s National City was on a different Earth-38, but afterwards, it is part of the same Earth-Prime as all of the other series. Only those who fought in Crisis have had their memories restored and know the truth about what’s going on. There are some things that remain the same in the second half of the season—CatCo is still a tabloid, and Obsidian North is still working on its Obsidian Platinum VR contact lenses. However, there have been some major changes—Lex Luthor is alive and well and now in charge of the DEO, effectively making him Supergirl’s boss. Brainiac-5 decides to have his personality inhibitors removed, which changes him quite a bit, and affects his relationship with Nia. It also appears that Agent Dox may be in league with Lex, especially after Lex makes him the new director of the DEO. The rest of the team knows the truth about Lex and suspect he’s up to no good, so J’onn builds a new base of operations for the team, called “The Tower”.

For the second half of the season, the main threat (besides the return of Lex) continues to be Leviathan. At first there doesn’t seem to be any trace of Leviathan on this new Earth-Prime following Crisis, but the team quickly learns that that is not the case. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor is actively seeking out a meeting with Leviathan for who knows what evil reason. Another focus of the second half of the season is the project at Obsidian North. Andrea Rojas’ college mentor/friend Gemma Cooper (Cara Buono) joins the company, and pushes for the platform to create an alternate reality where people who are unable to function in normal society could stay permanently. The company also begins human trials of its Obsidian Platinum technology to calm down unruly prisoners, but there are still some bugs in the system, which someone appears to be taking advantage of for evil purposes.

Overall, I found the fifth season to be quite enjoyable, especially the latter half of the season. The fifth season is filled with lots of exciting action-packed episodes and villains, some great character development and exploration, as well as a nice dose of humor. In the premiere, Supergirl gets a new supersuit (now with pants) after her cape is destroyed in a fight. Alex also gets the chance to don her own suit and feel what it’s like to be a superhero. The Lena/Kara relationship conflict may have been dragged out a bit longer than it needed to, but it provided some interesting conflict and character arcs for the season. While some characters exit, there are some great new characters who join the show this season—I especially enjoyed the relationship that forms between Kara and William. The second half of the season follows two very interesting storylines, which build to a really exciting season finale. However, things are left on a pretty big cliffhanger—likely due to the COVID production shutdowns. I’m looking forward to seeing how things play out in the upcoming season.

Another thing I really appreciated in this fifth season was return of Lex, who makes a great, complex supervillain, especially when he is trying to team up with an organization like Leviathan. His presence really adds a lot to the series. The season also has some fun episodes and guest stars. Some of the returning characters include Eve Teschmacher (Andrea Brooks), though in a slightly different role; Winn Schott/Toyman (Jeremy Jordan) for a two-parter; and the mischievous Mxyzptlk (Thomas Lennon), though looking a bit different this time around. The midseason opens with a fun murder mystery episode involving several versions of Brainiac-5 from the various Earths all coming together on Earth-Prime. This includes a female version played by actor Jesse Rath’s sister Meaghan. There are also a couple of the requisite social justice-y type storylines this season, such as one where Nia/Dreamer has to help a trans friend after her community comes under attack from someone who disagrees with the idea of a trans superhero.

Supergirl -- "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One" -- Image Number: CRS_S5__8x12_300dpi.jpg -- Pictured: LaMonica Garrett as The Monitor, Ruby Rose as Batwoman, Audrey Marie Anderson as Harbinger, Brandon Routh as Superman, Jon Cryer as Lex Luthor, David Harewood as Hank Henshaw/J'onn J'onzz, Stephen Amell as Green Arrow, Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl, Grant Gustin as The Flash, Cress Williams as Black Lightning, Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/White Canary, Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory/Heatwave, Carlos Valdes as Vibe, Candice Patton as Iris West - Allen, John Wesley Shipp as Flash 90, Matt Ryan as Constantine, Bitsie Tulloch as Lois Lane and Tyler Hoechlin as Superman -- Photo: The CW -- © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.The Blu-ray release of this fifth season of Supergirl includes a special bonus disc containing all five parts of the massive Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event (the DVD release will only include the Supergirl episode, “Hour One”). This event was definitely one of the highlights of the season—it felt like a single three and a half hour film following the adventures of the entire Arrow-verse as a whole, and really shakes things up for all of the shows involved. In Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Anti-Monitor has been destroying Earths across the multi-verse, and superheroes from every Earth—not just those on our own Earth-1 and Supergirl‘s Earth-38—must come together to stop him. This is the biggest, most-exciting crossover the Arrow-verse has ever attempted. The result is epic, bringing together characters/actors from decades of DC TV series and movies. I’m sure die-hard DC fans familiar with the comics will get even more geeky joy out of this then I did. But even as a casual viewer, I had so much fun spotting all of the amazing cameos, and watching this huge collection of characters come together in a bigger way than ever before. The repercussions from this crossover event will have long-lasting effects on the Arrow-verse (and possibly future DC TV shows and movies) as a new Earth-Prime arises, with some major shake-ups. While The CW had announced most of the cameos ahead of time, there were still a few amazing surprises, and it was still a delight to watch.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds amazing. The picture is pretty immaculate, with rich colors and details. The video looks excellent in both lighter and darker scenes, no matter how much action is happening on screen. The audio track provides clear dialogue and makes excellent use of the stereo and surround channels to put the viewer in the middle of the action, providing an immersive viewing experience and showcasing the show’s heroic score. The episodes are spread across 4 discs, plus there is a fifth disc containing the Crisis crossover content. The discs are packed in a standard multi-disc HD keepcase with a cardboard slipcover, along with an insert detailing the contents of each disc. The release also includes a code to redeem a digital copy of the Supergirl season 5 episodes on Vudu (this does not include the crossover event episodes from the other four series).

The bonus material exclusive to this release includes over 20 minutes of deleted scenes and a nearly 8-minute gag reel. The set also includes a featurette that is common to all of this year’s Arrow-verse releases—an hour of interviews and panel footage from the Arrow-verse presence at San Diego Comic-Con 2019. The Blu-ray release also includes the excellent Crisis on Infinite Earths bonus disc, which contains the entire 5-part Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event plus over 40 minutes of bonus material related to the crossover event. These Crisis featurettes primarily consist of the pre-recorded segments that aired during The CW’s crossover post-show hosted by Kevin Smith—the Kevin Smith interview segments are not included.



What’s Included:

    Episodes: (13:26:04)

      Blu-ray:

      • All 19 episodes of the fifth season, plus the entire 5-part DC Crossover Event: Crisis on Infinite Earths on a bonus disc:
        Disc 1: “Event Horizon”, “Stranger Beside Me”, “Blurred Lines”, “In Plain Sight”, “Dangerous Liaisons”
        Disc 2: “Confidence Women”, “Tremors”, “The Wrath of Rama Khan”, “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Hour One”, “The Bottle Episode”
        Disc 3: “Back from the Future – Part One”, “Back from the Future – Part Two”, “It’s a Super Life”, “The Bodyguard”, “Reality Bytes”
        Disc 4: “Alex in Wonderland”, “Deus Lex Machina”, “The Missing Link”, “Immortal Kombat”
        Bonus Disc: All five parts of the crossover event, including the related episodes of Supergirl, Batwoman, The Flash, Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
      • 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
      • Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
      • Subtitles: English SDH​

      Digital: (Expires 9/30/2021)

      • Digital HD copy of the season episodes (not entire crossover) redeemable via Vudu.

    Extras:

    • Main Discs
      • Deleted Scenes (20:09)
        Individual episode deleted scenes are available via the Episodes menu, or the Deleted Scenes main menu option will play all of the scenes available for the episodes that appear on that disc.

        • “Event Horizon (2:38)
          • Scene 13 (1:10)
            Nia confides in Kara Brainy’s inability to express intimacy.
          • Scene 20 (1:18)
            Kelly gives Alex Obsidian lenses. Nia tries to talk about Brainy’s lack of intimacy with him, but struggles to bring it up.
        • “Stranger Beside Me” (:27)
          • Scene 41 (:20)
            Nia gets a delivery of pizzas from Brainy.
        • “Blurred Lines” (1:32)
          • Scene 04 (1:25)
            Kelly and James discuss his options outside of CatCo. James is struggling to decide what path he should take. Kelly offers advice.
        • “In Plain Sight” (:21)
          • Scene 05 (:14)
            Nia wakes from a dream. A coworker is watching her.
        • “Dangerous Liaisons” (:33)
          • Scene 39 (:16)
            Supergirl and J’onn chase RipRoar, but are blocked by debris.
          • Scene 53A (:07)
            Supergirl and J’onn return to the handcuffed RipRoar.
        • “Confidence Women” (:58)
          • Scene 13 (:52)
            Lena talks with Jack about if she’s crazy to pursue this medallion.
        • “Tremors” (3:33)
          • Scene 10 (TIME)
            Kara and Lena discuss Leviathan. She asks Lena why she thinks Leviathan would be after her. Lena wants to be a part of the team to help fight Leviathan.
          • Scene 25 (:35)
            J’onn is ready to face Malefic
          • Scene 42 (1:13)
            Malefic and J’onn see My’rnn. My’rnn is happy to have his family back together.
        • “The Wrath of Rama Khan” (:20)
          • Scene 19 (:14)
            Supergirl is emotional after Lena ends the Hologram. Alex confronts her.
        • “The Bottle Episode” (1:48)
          • Scene 04 (:33)
            Gemma and Margot discuss their plan to move forwards using technology to take down the humans. They are glad the Anointed One agrees.
          • Scene 28 (:22)
            Evil Brainy approaches the Kryptonian witches for help getting his Earth out of the bottle.
          • Scene 37-38 (:39)
            Gemma tells Margot to spread the word that the plan is in motion. Brainy hears someone whistling.
        • “Back from the Future: Part 1” (3:33)
          • Scene 17 (:50)
            Kara catches Nia up on what’s going on with Toyman and Winn. Nia offers to help despite Brainy being a part of the team.
          • Scene 19 (2:14)
            Winn tells Alex about Ayla. He is struggling to remember things about her and they are fading. He needs to stop Toyman and get back to the future.
          • Scene 28 (:12)
            William snaps photos of Lex at a military base
        • “The Bodyguard” (:46)
          • Scene 06 (TIME)
            Andrea doesn’t want to stop the Obsidian Platinum launch. She is determined to not postpone.
        • “Deus Lex Machina” (1:56)
          • Scene 18 (:31)
            Eve tells Lex about people using Obsidian lenses during the solar event. She thinks it’s time for their next step in the plan.
          • Scene 60 (1:15)
            Lena returns Lex’s portal watch and leave. Lena was hurt by Supergirl again. Everything is going according to Lex’s plan.
        • “The Missing Link” (1:57)
          • Scene 17 (1:37)
            Kara and William find information about lex’s first visit to Obsidian. Kara tells William how she should have trusted Lena more.
          • Scene 21 (:09)
            Nia wakes up from her dream. She knows where Rama Khan is!
        • “Immortal Kombat” (:15)
          • Scene 43 (:09)
            Lena tells Supergirl they need to show people the truth behind the VR Festival
      • The Best of DC TV’s Comic-Con Panels San Diego 2019 (50:59)
        The cast and creators of five of the DC TV shows visit San Diego Comic-Con 2019. Includes interviews with the stars, and footage from the shows’ Q&A panels. Participants include Arrow (executive producer Marc Guggenheim, producer/director James Bamford and stars Juliana Harkavy, David Ramsey, Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy & Rick Gonzales, plus surprise guest Brandon Routh), The Flash (executive producer Eric Wallace and stars Hartley Sawyer, Danielle Panabaker, Tom Cavanaugh, Grant Gustin, Candice Patton & Carlos Valdes), Black Lightning (stars Marvin ‘Krondon’ Jones III, China Anne McClain, Cress Williams, Nafessa Williams, Jordan Calloway & Christine Adams), Batwoman (executive producers Caroline Dries & Sarah Schechter), and Supergirl (executive producers Robert Rovner, Jessica Queller & Sarah Schechter, and stars Jesse Rath, Nicole Maines, Mehcad Brooks, Azie Tesfai, Melissa Benoist, Chyler Leigh, David Harewood, Katie McGrath & Andrea Brooks).
      • Gag Reel (7:38)
        This fun season five gag reel finds the cast cursing (bleeped), eating, dealing with prop malfunctions, flubbing and forgetting lines, cracking each other up. The latter half is more of an action/effects highlight reel from the season followed by the cast members dancing on set.
    • Crossover Event Bonus Disc
      • DC Crossover Event: Crisis on Infinite Earths (3:32:07)
        All five episodes of the crossover: “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One” (Supergirl season 5 episode 9), “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two” (Batwoman season 1 episode 9), “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three” (The Flash season 6 episode 9), “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four” (Arrow season 8 episode 8), “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Five” (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow season 5 episode 1).
      • Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Architects Return (11:55)
        Series producers and comic book artists/writers/experts talk about the evolution of the DC Comics story the crossover event is based on, the major impact it had on the comics, and adapting this story for TV. Includes stills from the comics, and interviews with writer Marv Wokfman, artist Jerry Ordway, DC co-publisher Dan DiDio, executive producer Marc Guggenheim, artist George Pérez, and artist Tom Derenick.
      • Crisis on Infinite Earths: Crisis Management (13:08)
        The cast and filmmakers talk about taking on this massive crossover event. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, stills from the comics, and interviews with executive producer Marc Guggenheim, story editor/writer (DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow) Ubah Mohamed, executive producer Robert Rovner (Supergirl), executive producer Eric Wallace (The Flash), writer Marv Wolfman, and stars Caity Lotz (“Sara Lance/White Canary”) & David Ramsey.
      • Crisis Past and Present: Kevin Conroy Bat Legend (3:17) The cast and filmmakers talk about bringing in the Batman: The Animated Series star to finally play his character on screen. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with executive producers Eric Wallace, Marc Guggenheim & Robert Rovner, story editor/writer Ubah Mohamed, and star Kevin Conroy (“Bruce Wayne”).
      • Crisis Past and Present – Superman vs. Superman (4:37)
        The cast and filmmakers talk about seeing Brandon Routh stepping back into the Superman costume. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with executive producers Marc Guggenheim & Eric Wallace, and stars Brandon Routh (“Superman/The Atom”), Tyler Hoechlin (“Superman”), Grant Gustin (“Barry Allen/The Flash”) & Hartley Sawyer (“Ralph Dibny/Elongated Man”).
      • Characters in Crisis: Pariah (4:20)
        The filmmakers discuss adapting the Crisis comic character of Pariah to the Arrow-verse. Includes stills from the comics, and interviews with executive producers Eric Wallace, Marc Guggenheim & Robert Rovner, and story editor/writer Ubah Mohamed.
      • Character in Crisis: The Anti-Monitor (4:55)
        The filmmakers discuss Crisis‘ big villain, and adapting this character to the Arrow-verse. Includes stills from the comics, and interviews with executive producers Eric Wallace, Marc Guggenheim & Robert Rovner, story editor/writer Ubah Mohamed, and comic writer Marv Wokfman.

     


    Final Thoughts:

    My Rating
    Episodes:
    Video:
    Audio:
    Extras:
    Recommended

    The fifth season of Supergirl is another entertaining season for the series. The season is split in the middle by the epic Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event. The return from Crisis sees some big changes for the the series, which builds to an action-packed, exciting conclusion. While the season doesn’t feel incomplete, the viewer is left on a cliffhanger (no doubt thanks to the COVID production shutdown). The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, and contains a nice selection of bonus material. This Blu-ray release comes recommended for any superhero fan. While those who watch all of the Arrow-verse shows will certainly get more out of Crisis, those shows are not required viewing in order to fully enjoy this season of Supergirl. The Blu-ray is definitely the version of this release to pick up as it also contains the full Crisis event/bonus disc plus a digital copy of the season’s episodes.