TV on DVD

Delightful Supergirl offers entertaining supporting cast

DVD cover for Season 1 of Supergirl
DVD cover for Season 1 of Supergirl

What is it? Supergirl, Season 1, 20 episodes on three Blu-ray discs from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

When? Now

How much? $54.97

Isn't she Superman's cousin? She is. Right before their home planet of Krypton blew up, young Kara Zor-El (Malina Weissman) was sent to Earth by her own parents (Laura Benanti and Robert Gant) with orders to protect her infant cousin, Kal-El. But complications sent her to the Phantom Zone instead, where she stayed in a sort of suspended animation. By the time she finally made it to Earth, 24 years had passed and baby cousin Kal-El, now a fully grown Superman, was no longer in need of her protection. And she was still only 13 years old.

So, Superman took her to be adopted by scientists (Helen Slater and Dean Cain) who were in on his secret.

Fast-forward another 10 years and Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) is in National City, hiding her powers and her origin, working as assistant to the successful but narcissistic media mogul Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart).

Kara feels frustrated, wanting to do something more to help humanity. She decides to follow in her cousin's footsteps, but that does not make her sister, scientist Alex (Chyler Leigh), happy. It turns out, when Kara escaped the Phantom Zone, a whole prison full of bad guys escaped with her. And since her mother, Alura, sent most of them to prison in the first place, she's the prime target of their revenge. One of their leaders is Alura's twin sister, Astra (also Benanti).

Supergirl actually has a group of friends and allies who know her secret: There's her sister and parents, of course. But also James (formerly known as Jimmy) Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), the new man at Cat's company, and Kara's best pal Winn (Jeremy Jordan).

Then there's Alex's workplace, the Department of Extra-Normal Operations. Headed up by the tough and mysterious Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), it's a secret government agency in charge of tracking aliens.

How is it? Entertaining. Benoist makes a charming superhero, able to keep the goody-two-shoes nature of Supergirl from being too annoying. And she's got a good supporting cast.

It's not all light and fluffy, but it's also not deep and dark like some other superhero stories (like Batman), so if you prefer your good guys on the tortured side, you might want to look somewhere else.

Are there bonus features? A few. There's a 15-minute clip of the cast and creator's panel discussion at Comic-Con 2015 and featurettes on the design and emotional importance of Krypton and on the character of Henshaw. There's also the requisite gag reel and deleted scenes.

New this week: 19-2, Season 2; Arrow, Season 4; The Bureau, Season 1; The Carol Burnett Show, The Lost Episodes Ultimate Collection; Chicago Fire, Season 4; Chicago Med, Season 1; Criminal Minds, Season 11; Grey's Anatomy, Season 12; Hee Haw, Collector's Edition; Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Seasons 1-3; Mom, Season 3; NCIS: Los Angeles, Season 7; The Night Manager, Uncensored Edition; Shameless, Season 6.

Next week: American Crime Story, Season 1; Charlie's Angels, complete series; Coach, Seasons 1-2; CSI: Cyber, Season 2; Dennis the Menace, complete series; The Flash, Season 2; Friday Night Lights, Seasons 1-2; Limitless, Season 1; Necessary Roughness, complete series; Rectify, Season 3; Republic of Doyle, complete series; South Park, Season 19; Star Trek, 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection; Supernatural, Season 11; Tales From the Darkside, complete series.

Style on 08/28/2016

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