‘Supergirl: The Complete Fifth Season’ Blu-ray Review

As many of you know from my previous coverage of the “Arrowverse,” I am very late to the party. I have always been a huge fan of DC over Marvel since childhood (I like both, but it’s just a personal preference). So, when I received the fifth season of Supergirl, I didn’t know what to expect (although I wasn’t entirely blind due to the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline that weaved through the entire DC universe of shows that have been released lately). 

That said, I really did enjoy watching this. When this series first launched, I had reservations about the lead, Melissa Benoist, in the role – mostly because I couldn’t see anybody but Laura Vandervoort of Smallville in the role. I was wrong. Benoist brings an understated strength and girl-next-door quality the character in a way that makes it believable.

This season’s overarching storyline centers on virtual reality technology from CatCo and its mysterious new owner, Andrea Rojas. The technology is incredibly addictive, and a huge number of people find they would rather live in that world than in the real world. Kara (Supergirl) tries to use the press to fight this danger and warn everybody. Along the way, she has to deal with adversaries that are great like a shadowy, ancient organization called Leviathan to those more familiar to everyday people, like a rival reporter. 

About halfway into the season, we come to the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline that almost everybody has come to know at this point. Interestingly, and this is something I have seen with most of the Arrowverse shows for the recent season, is that the Infinite Crisis also marks a change in the season’s storyline. 

Post-Crisis, as some call it, we see the storyline bring in a familiar villain in the DC Universe, Lex Luthor. He returns with another plot to take over the world and to take a piece of Lena Luthor with him (his sister and Supergirl’s best friend). Supergirl must figure out how to defeat Lex to save the world and her best friend at the same time. In a way, her relationship with Lena Luthor is a massive theme at the core of this season, and it works well. Threats and villains may come and go, but that relationship has to go through them as well. It’s made for some concrete world-building.

This season was originally intended to have 22 episodes, but that was changed to 20; however, due to Covid-19, they actually ended with 19 episodes. Impressively, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell. It doesn’t leave you hanging, and the storylines are pretty much wrapped up. If that is a major concern of yours, don’t worry, they handle the end of the season very well.

The video quality on the Blu-ray release is lovely. I went back and watched an episode on demand, and the blu-ray is a step-up from the broadcast quality. The details are very clear, the movement/motion is crisp and clean. The dark colors are deep, although this show does not have the same dark pallet as the other Arrowverse shows I have seen. It’s much more rich and vibrant. The flight scenes look clear and clean, especially for the speed in which they often happen. The sound quality is well-balanced. The speaking, music, and special effect noises all work together without one drowning out the others (which is hard to find than you may imagine). I didn’t find any artifacts or hissing in the sound. Overall it’s very clean.

The Blu-ray set comes with 19 full-length completed episodes. Special Features that include deleted scenes (found one each disc), The Best of DC TV’s Comic-Con Panels San Diego 2019, and an 8-minute gag reel.

 There is also a Bonus Blu-Ray Disc that is dedicated to the Crisis on Infinite Earths Storyline that includes:

• All Five Epic Episodes of the DC Crossover Event Crisis on Infinite Earths from Supergirl, Batwoman, The Flash, Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
• Special Features:
• •     Crisis Past and Present: Kevin Conroy Bat Legend                    
  •     Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Architects Return                                 
  •     Crisis Past and Present – Superman vs. Superman                           
  •     Characters in Crisis: Pariah
  •     Crisis Management
  •     Character in Crisis: The Anti-Monitor

Overall, this is a great series to watch, and, once again, I find myself wanting to go back and start from the beginning. Compared to other Arrowverse shows, this one is less dark/gritty and is really a lot of fun to watch. I think it would be fitting for just about anybody to enjoy.

Supergirl: The Complete Fifth Season is available on Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday, September 8th!