I'd been thinking about what to say about this finale for a while now, and now that I'm actually sitting down to write this review... Suddenly, I'm at a loss for words. This episode wasn't perfect, this season wasn't perfect, and this show definitely wasn't perfect. But the funny thing is, this episode didn't try to look back at what came before it, but rather looked forward towards these characters futures. And in my personal opinion, that's what every series finale should do.
Even though this is a 10 / 10 review, I did still have bones to pick.
For a series finale, the action was mediocre at best. Arrow's final action sequence was a lot better and more drawn out with choreography and camera work that made you move in your seat with every blow, but this one had a charm of its own despite being shorter and lacking meaningful payoffs. I was surprised at the characters they brought back. PARASITE? RED TORNADO?? NAZI SUPERGIRL??? That's some pretty deep cuts, but it worked. Despite that, the fight was still pretty short, and Lex and Nyxly's defeat was more than a little underwhelming.
I was also not a fan of Alex and Kelly's vows at their wedding. And don't even think about playing the "istaphobe" card. My favorite Arrowverse character is Sara Lance, a bisexual female assassin married to a *woman* from the future. My issue stems with the fact that the writers have done literally nothing to make us care about Kelly other than using her to racebait the audience in "Blind Spots". I've never cared for the character, as I've never found anything that makes her personable, and Azie Tesfai's performance has been very hit-or-miss throughout the series. So when Kelly and Alex were exchanging vows... It felt hollow. Honestly, I felt like J'onn's speech had more impact than Alex and Kelly's.
I also think that starting off the episode with Lillian Luthor's speech was really stupid. Lillian Luthor is cold, calculating, callous, and self-centered beyond belief. I just don't see her really caring about Lena, even if it did give Lena closure on her arc that was also about accepting herself for who she is.
Why was Mon-El even here? He was in the episode for five minutes max, and didn't really do anything to turn the tide of the battle, or even have that much of a meaningful conversation with Kara.
And finally, yes, I do get where some people are coming from when saying that Kara revealing her identity to the world is a stand-in for her "coming out", but I didn't even consider that to be a possibility until I started reading reviews. I'll do a deep dive into why I think this ending worked later, but I felt that I had to address that as a common criticism. And no, it's never publicly stated that Kara Danvers and Clark Kent are cousins, only that Supergirl and Superman are. Superman's identity hasn't been leaked to the public yet. So while there could be people in-universe that would say that Supergirl and Superman are wolves in sheep's clothing, I think making that argument takes away from the final moment for the character. It's a great idea for a worldbuilding perspective, but the moment itself is incredibly satisfying character-wise, and Superman and Lois clearly doesn't want to tackle the idea of Superman's identity being found out yet. They'll cross that bridge when they get there, so let's not try to force it.
Now that I've gotten my complaints out of the way, let's get into the positives.
For starters, I love the fact that the writers chose to handle the action in the first ten minutes of the episode, and save all the character moments for the rest of the episode. It does make the battle at the beginning feel a little rushed, but it makes a lot of narrative sense. Plus, it gives the writers that much more room to give the characters closure, and I think that structure worked really well here. This isn't like Black Lightning's "The Book of Resurrection: Chapter Two: Closure" where the writers didn't seem to know what to do with all the pieces they had, so they literally had to write two different episodes and mash them together to make a thoroughly messy finale. "Kara" is an episode that knows what it's doing and takes its time with all the big character moments, making sure to give every big moment time to breathe.
I think that it was a pretty smart decision to keep Brainy in the present day and for him to essentially say "Sprock the future!" Though he belongs in the future and needs to save the Big Brain, his heart belongs in 2021 with the Super Friends, and he's finally allowed to take control of his own destiny instead of relying on the facts and numbers all the time. It makes him seem like a lot more of a well-rounded character as a result. In his first appearance he came off as almost robotic at times, but since then we've seen him really express himself, laugh, love, cry, make real friends, and take hold of his destiny. (And somehow people don't see Brainy's story as a "coming-out" metaphor. Now who's looking for allegories that aren't there?)
While I thought that the vows exchanged between Alex and Kelly weren't really that great, I thoroughly enjoyed J'onn's speech beforehand. It might actually be one of my favorite performances from David Harewood in the entire series. He almost had *me* tearing up, and I don't cry at anything! Seeing J'onn walk Alex down the aisle was great too, since he really does care about Alex and Kara as if they were his own daughters.
I thought the moment with Kara, James and Winn was well done as well. It was great to see them all together one final time, and that was a scene that was sorely lacking from the Arrow finale "Fadeout". Yeah, we got shots of Oliver and Felicity, and Oliver and Diggle had one last mission together, but we didn't really get a moment of the three of them all together one final time. Yeah, I know that Oliver was *dead*, but we didn't get that scene in season 7 either, since that was Arrow's last "proper" season. And maybe it's just because I have some nostalgia for the days before Winn and James left the show and the writing quality was generally better, but there is a novelty in seeing the three of them together as friends that hasn't completely worn off yet.
A few small notes too. I love that Alex and Kelly got to drive off in J'onn's shapeshifting car. That was awesome! Also, Helen Slater is here! With a shotgun! Why? How? No idea! But it was fun! And as per usual, Andrea contributed absolutely nothing to the plot. Thank you. Andrea is truly a despicable character, and I'll take her doing absolutely nothing of value every chance I get.
And that leads us to the final part of the episode: Kara revealing her identity to the world. And honestly, I'm very impressed with how this turned out. Then again, I also liked the WandaVision finale, so glean from that what you will. I was under the impression that Kara's story would end with her returning to Krypton and reuniting with her parents, but I actually think I like this ending better. Because at the end of the day, it's very symbolic of the differences between Superman and Supergirl as characters. Sure, it's not as apparent as their differences in the comics, where Kara is much more alien and detached from humanity. The show does a really good job though of showing that Kara's true identity is Supergirl, where Superman's true identity is *Clark Kent*. Kara feels most like herself when she's flying or when she's saving people, but Clark feels most like himself when he's spending time with Lois or helping out his sons. (And yes, I do know that Jordan Kent is a completely original character for Superman and Lois, but it doesn't change the point in any fundamental way.)
Clark grew up in idyllic Smallville and inherited their values of family and responsibility, but Kara's never really shown to be comfortable in any home and frequently uses her powers carelessly or just because she wants to, even in the small town of Midvale, and even when she's threatened by the DEO at a very young age. Clark isn't necessarily ashamed of where he came from, but he believes that he's more at home on Earth because they're a more loving and caring people. On the other hand, Kara's secret identity has *always* been holding her back, and even though there's things she *wants* to do as Kara Danvers, she puts Supergirl first without a second thought. So really, the only way for her to truly feel whole would be to give up being Kara Danvers. It's an idea that's touched upon briefly throughout the series, but one that doesn't feel like it comes out of nowhere. Even now, I can remember back to season 3's episode "Midvale" where Kenny Li saw Kara flying and knew she was an alien, but loved her anyway. He was able to accept her for who she was, but Kara couldn't do that for herself. And there was no better way for the episode to show that than by bringing back CAT FRICKING GRANT!!!
Genuinely, I did not expect Calista Flockhart to show up for this episode, but I am *so* glad that she was able to come back! It makes the episode feel so much more complete having Cat Grant here to give Kara her final sendoff. Cat Grant is quite possibly the best character on this show, based solely upon how she interacts with the other characters and manages to push them to be better versions of themselves. Seeing Cat give one of her token motivational speeches was very reminiscent of season 1, and that's probably the best part of the episode.
Overall, I really enjoyed this episode, and I didn't go into it thinking I would. It's not perfect, but it managed to give Kara a satisfying conclusion to the arc she's been on since the series began. The series had its ups and downs, and I'm not sure if I'll miss it, but this episode managed to make me invested in the characters again; which I hadn't been "Welcome Back, Kara". If the writers had put in this much effort all season long, maybe the season would've been better. The more you know!
10 / 10.