Supergirl - Rebirth

Supergirl's final season begins with a mess of a first episode that attempts to wrap up several threads from the COVID-shortened Fifth Season all in one episode prior to moving on to new stories. Before the opening credits even roll, Brainy (Jesse Rath) is saved and Leviathan is defeated leaving the rest of the episode to deal with Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) who apparently has become a god, has half the world's population under his sway, and is working to kill off everyone else. Cryer is fun here yet again in what will apparently not be his final appearance which offers him more than one victory over Supergirl (Melissa Benoist). As has been the show's problem recently, too much of the episode is centered around making sure every single member of the ever-growing supporting cast gets their moment. Given Supergirl's current predicament, I'm bit concerned with the short-term direction of the show and if the rest of the cast can keep things afloat prior to the Maid of Might's inevitable return from the Phantom Zone.

What the premiere does finally solidify Lena's (Katie McGrath) role on side of the angels and start the redemption journey for both Brainy and Lena whose shared moment over past mistakes makes for one of the episode's better scenes. It also gives Alex (Chyler Leigh) a codename and create situation of a world without a Supergirl when Kara becomes trapped in the Phantom Zone. Despite the visual effects of the opening scene, the Leviathan plotline ends rather unspectacularly (as perhaps it was always going to). The final battle against Lex works better, but even here we see story sped-up and rushed in order to fit as much plot as possible within a single episode. "Rebirth" isn't so much a rebirth for one final run but a bulldozer of leftover content being steamrolled over fans.