A major theme during Season Two is about the treatment of extra-terrestrials as a fairly heavy-handed allegory to immigrants in the US. Given that the main character of the show, Kara/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist, Glee, Whiplash), is an alien, this isn't all that surprising of a storyline, as such parallels can be easily drawn. During this season, Supergirl will have to confront the evil organization Cadmus, led by Lillian Luthor (Brenda Strong, Desperate Housewives, Starship Troopers), as the group will not only attempt to rid the planet of aliens, but take advantage of every extra terrestrial evil-doer as a call to arms to have aliens removed. Of course, many of the tactics Cadmus uses to show alien presence as a threat are dirty. For example, by the end of the second episode, Cadmus sends the kryptonite-powered cyborg Metallo after Supergirl and Superman (Tyler Hoechlin, Road to Perdition, 7th Heaven, Teen Wolf), who finally has a face in the series, in an attempt to show how dangerous the Kryptonians are.
Meanwhile, Cat Grant (Flockhart, Ally McBeal, Brothers & Sisters) has decided to travel the world and leaves CatCo in the capable hands of James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks, Desperate Housewives, The Game), and while Jimmy finds the new responsibility a lot to handle, he quickly feels like he isn't a part of the action anymore. Especially since Winn (Jeremy Jordan) leaves CatCo to be an agent at the DEO with Alex (Chyler Leigh, Grey's Anatomy, Not Another Teen Movie) and J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter (David Harewood, Homeland). Fueled by a desire to be more than just a sidekick or desk jockey, James suits up and starts pounding the pavement under the name of The Guardian.
This season also introduces Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath,Merlin, Jurassic World), Lillian's daughter and Lex's sister. As the new head of Luthor Corp, she renames it to L-Corp in the hopes of creating a new image that distances the company from her brother's crimes and relocates the headquarters to National City. While Lena quickly becomes a suspect for many of the issues that seem to be timed with her arrival, Kara quickly befriends the Luthor woman and works to defend her against unfounded accusations.
Season Two digs deeper into the alien side of National City as the characters start to hang out at an alien bar. Winn eventually picks up a girlfriend in the alien Lyra (Tamzin Merchant Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, The Tudors), and Alex discovers a new side of herself when she gets a girlfriend. Alex's relationship with local cop, Maggie Sawyer (Floriana Lima, The Family, Allegiance), has a shaky start as Alex tries to figure out exactly what she wants and Maggie's own past has a tendency to get in the way as well, but much of Alex's story this season involves her relationship with Maggie.
Adding to the list of love interests is M'gann M'orzz (Sharon Leal, Dreamgirls). When an alien fight club run by Roulette (Dichen Lachman, Dollhouse, Being Human, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) reveals to the DEO that there is another Green Martian, J'onn has to confront many long-buried feelings. But it seems M'gann, like many of the show's new characters, has some secrets she would like to remain in the dark.
The last, but far from least, new addition to the show's main cast is Mon-El (Chris Wood, The Vampire Diaries, Containment), a Daxamite who ended up on Earth in an apparently stolen Kryptonian shuttle. Daxam is the sister planet to Krypton and while the Kryptonians were all about science and democracy, Daxam appears to be a monarchy with a strong class structure. When the death of Krypton also destroyed Daxam, Mon-El was able to get away. Now that he has awoken on Earth, he starts to get a feel for his new powers and strives to learn how to be a hero under Kara. Much of this season's story is about Mon-El and his journey, as well as the prejudice Kara has towards Daxamites and her attempts to get over them.
Supergirl: The Complete Second Season has two crossover events with the other Arrowverse series. The first has her joining forces with Teams Arrow and Flash along with the Legends of Tomorrow to take down an alien threat in the version of Earth that the other Arrowverse shows take place on. While Supergirl herself is a major player in that storyline, very little of it is seen in this series. At the end of one episode, Barry Allen/The Flash (Grant Gustin, The Flash, Glee) shows up in Kara's apartment and asks for her help. This same scene is reused in The Flash's crossover episode. While the Supergirl series doesn't get to do much with the Invasion crossover event, it did get another crossover with The Flash where Benoist and Gustin are joined by another former Glee cast member, Darren Criss as Music Meister, an interdimensional mischief-maker that traps the two in a musical where several familiar faces will be playing very different, and often amusing, roles.
Speaking of multidimensional beings, this season also has an episode featuring Mr. Mxyzptlk (Peter Gadiot, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland). The trickster creature has decided that Supergirl will make the perfect bride for him, even if she doesn't want anything to do with the imp.
This season has a few interesting guest stars. Top among them is Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman) as President Olivia Marsdin, but Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) also returns as Jeremiah Danvers, Kara's adoptive father. Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives and also from Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) and Kevin Sorbo (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys) both have pivotal roles this season, but talking about who they are would result in a minor spoiler that is best left untouched. Another guest star that I enjoyed, primarily because I watch iZombie, was Rahul Kohli as inventor/entrepreneur Jack Spheer, the man behind a revolutionary new medical nanobot design.
Of this season's special features, one is a commentary track with showrunner Andrew Kreisberg and Kevin Smith for the episode Smith directed, "Supergirl Lives." This Blu-ray release also comes with the 2016 Comic-Con panel, as well as three featurettes and a series of short interviews as many of the cast and crew reveal one-off interesting facts about the show. The featurettes focus on everything from the alien fight club featured early in the season, to the show's use of extraterrestrials as an allegory to immigrants in the real world, as well as a short interview with Kreisberg and Smith about the show in general.
Supergirl: The Complete Second Season goes a lot further in developing the characters than the first season did. While Season One set the stage and gave viewers a good foundation of what to expect from this show, this season pushes many of the characters in some interesting directions and introduces enough new players to keep the show evolving. While I liked the show's first season, Season Two really shines and is worth watching.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a copy of the Blu-ray. The opinions I share are my own.
