Supergirl Season 5 (2019) Review

After a longer runtime then usual due to the pandemic and the crisis on infinite earths crossover I have finished the 5th season of Supergirl and here is my review for the show. The premise of the season sees Supergirl attempt to stop an ancient organisation called Leviathan, while Jonn Jonzz has to deal with the return of his long lost brother.

Main Character

Melissa Benoit is back as Supergirl this season and I have just never fully cared about her performance as the character as she is just a bit cheesy and dull, but she is fine and really comes across as a superhero. She has grown into the role well and their are elements of her performance I like and I actually thought her normal identity was more interesting but they don't give it enough time to get the chance to breath and develop. 

Supporting Characters

The show has plenty of characters to try and balance this season and doesn't always do a great job of it, the main one being David Harewood as Jonn Jonzz AKA The Martian Manhunter. The first half od the season does a great job with the character as he has a real personal story, and Harewood delivers a really strong dramatic performance. But then he is just forgotten about for the second half of the season. Braniac 5 played by Jesse Rath has the opposite problem, he doesn't really have much to do in the first half of the season, but after the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover he gets an interesting new story that fleshes out the character and puts him on a different course then he was in the beginning of the season. But lets get to the show stealer of the show, again he doesn't do anything till after the crossover but Jon Cryer is back as Lex Luthor and he steals every scene that he is in. His character is just so well written and it makes him possibly the most complex villain that there has been in this whole universe. But there are also some weaker characters, Katie McGrath is back as Lena Luthor and they showed promise for the character at the end of last season but they follow it up poorly and take a potentially interesting character and turn her into a bland character. Chyler Leigh as Alex has probably been the most important supporting character but I thought this was the season where the show doesn't give her much to do and actually at times her character actually came off as quite annoying. I thought Nicole Maines as Dreamer was a really important character last season, but this season basically forgets about her for the majority and it is such a let down, there is one episode where she stands out but it doesn't make up for the weak use of her character. The main villains of the season are a group called Leviathan but they are so generic and dull that it really hurts the season as a whole. 

Story

The story has some good individual arcs to it, the highlight being Martian Manhunters in the first half of the season, Brainiac 5's and Lex Luthors from the second half. They are done well, especially seeing Luthor plot and scheme as it adds more complexity to the plot, But due to the Coronavirus, the majority of these plots aren't finished to a satisfying degree and it left me disappointed, even though I am sure they will try and make up for it in the 6th season. They do have an interesting concept of technology versus nature but they miss the mark which doesn't help with the villains being ultimately forgettable and a huge let down.

Script

The script is a mixed bag, the writing for some of the characters is done well, but then the others are done poorly. There is some good drama here again mainly to do with the characters I mentioned that are treated right, but then there is some poor drama too that feels forced and the majority of the humour didn't quite work unless it involved Lex Luthor. 

Style

The style of the show has some exciting action scenes, this show is possibly the show that involves the biggest action scenes and the spectacle usually works, even though sometimes the CGI doesn't quite hit the levels they want to. Also the fact that there are 19 episodes is just too many, but also at the same time due to the pandemic it actually feels like an unfulfilling ending which is quite ironic.

Overall

Overall, this is once again a pretty average season of this show. After enjoying the 4th season of the show I was hoping for a great follow up but it doesn't achieve that and unless you are already a fan of this show this won't do much for you.

Rating - 5/10