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| Yes, this photo again, because it's cool. |
The opening has been expanded to include a lot of girls in the above photos. Now new characters get the cool bright color silhouette-style shots the main seven got before. Appearing now are: Starfire, Frost, Hawkgirl, Miss Martian, Catwoman, Lady Shiva, Cheetah and Star Sapphire. Yep, all the girls from the image above get these shots.
We open with Wonder Woman, Bumblebee, Poison Ivy, Beast Boy, Cheetah and Harley fighting Killer Croc. Supergirl's arrival seems imminent.
At the farm, Supergirl is rehearsing talking to Wondy. She packs quickly, pausing to toss a brochure from Korugar into the trash.
Back in Metropolis, the fight ends with Ivy's vines restraining Croc. Everyone returns to the school to await Supergirl.
The farm. Supergirl flies into the wall and falls down the stairs. Her "aunt" and "uncle" assure her that she'll like Superhero High as much as her cousin. Supergirl says of course Superman was a good student, because he had his whole life to get used to his powers, while she just got hers four weeks ago when she landed on Earth. She panics about her powers, sets the door on fire, then blows it off its hinges. Her aunt tells her the school will help her learn to control her powers. She flies off...into a flock of birds and cutely spits out a feather while waving goodbye.
At the school, everyone is excited about Supergirl's arrival except Barbara Gordon, who goes about work as usual. Her father drops in, seemingly just to tell the audience that this is her last week at the school. (I guess Gotham and Metropolis are pretty close together.) Cheetah drops off her phone to be fixed. Blah blah Gordon doesn't want "his Babsy" in as much danger as that phone. (Too bad.) He leaves and Cheetah is her typical rude self, referring to Barbara as a "nonny" for nonsuperpowered. Barbara gives her a phone she built as a loaner and Cheetah continues to be rude. Well, then go buy yourself a new phone, missy. Yeesh.
Supergirl arrives and everyone greets her. Lady Shiva gets her one line, saying "Nihao, Supergirl." (Nihao will always remind me of Shampoo.) Supergirl is distracted by Beast Boy and crashes into the cafeteria, going right through the wall. Principal Waller gives instructions, then leaves Vice Principal Grodd in charge. Harley grabs Supergirl and takes her to the dorms.
Wonder Woman is checking on the state of the school's amethyst. Waller goes to check on her, telling her that the amethyst is basically incredibly powerful and could amplify supervillain powers. Gee, I wonder if this is important information. She also tells Wondy to keep an eye on Supergirl, calling her a "one of a kind catch." Wonder Woman, having been called the same, is slighted. And who wouldn't be? Waller needs to stop using that phrase so much.
Harley's been hanging with Supergirl for six hours. Supergirl is trying to get online to talk to her family, so Harley says she'll call IT, which entails hanging out the window and bellowing for "Babs." Harley leaves when Barbara arrives, leaving her and Supergirl to bond. Barbara fixes the internet connection and tries to alleviate some of Supergirl's fears. Supergirl asks if there are any websites that can teach her to be super and Barbara takes her to the library. She introduces her to Granny Goodness, the head librarian, who gives Supergirl a bunch of books to read. Supergirl and Barbara head different ways, with Supergirl thinking she can find her way to the dorm. Nope. She accidentally breaks the handle on the locked door leading to the Boom Tubes, teleportation devices that can be accessed by Waller only. Waller takes Supergirl inside and shows her the tubes to different worlds, including Korugar and Florida. Apparently, there's a lot of supervillain activity there. Supergirl asks why the room is locked and Waller shows her the tube to Apokolips and explains that the heroes of the past almost lost the battle against Darkseid, so the room now remains accessible only to her. As the pair exit the room, Hawkgirl, Bumblebee and Flash run up. Waller tells them to take Supergirl to the dorms and as they're going, Bumblebee tells Supergirl about the recent suspicious activity. Then the Boom Tube alarm goes off again and Flash runs back to investigate, but the "perp" is gone. Supergirl hands them a green leaf and Hawkgirl takes it as evidence. Glowing eyes shine from the grate in the ceiling. Okay, these guys are the Junior Detectives and not one thought to check the grate right above their heads?
Harley and Supergirl are walking down the hall the next day. Supergirl bumps into Grodd, who isn't very nice, and Harley tells her when they're out of earshot that he used to be a supervillain. The bell goes off, bothering Supergirl's hearing.
In PE, it's strength test day. Wonder Woman easily lifts elephant Beast Boy. Then Supergirl has him turn into a giant dinosaur, which she easily lifts with one hand, then one finger and even flies with him, but then he gets wobbly and falls, but changes into a bird before he lands. Coach Wildcat tells Supergirl she needs to learn to control her powers or someone will get hurt.
At lunch, Supergirl is looking for a place to sit. She can hear what each table is saying. Lady Shiva did well in weaponomics, Cheetah seems to be complaining about Barbara, the detectives are talking about their case, and Wonder Woman is talking about Supergirl, but Supergirl misses the part where she says it wasn't her fault, because she didn't know how wobbly Beast Boy gets when he goes that big. Harley sees Supergirl and bellows for her. Supergirl says she has to study and zips off as Poison Ivy runs in and heads for the detectives. The plant is bamboo...which Grodd happens to be eating for lunch.
Later, Barbara sees Supergirl fly to the bell tower and goes to join her. She plays with the bats some and Supergirl is grossed out, but Barbara explains why bats are cool. Supergirl calls her Batgirl jokingly and then says she wishes she could be nonsuperpowered like her. Barbara assures her that she'll be fine with some practice and offers to help her, then there's a training montage where Supergirl runs through that flying course that Wonder Woman and Bumblebee did in the webisodes, as well as some other exercises. Barbara gets a wedgie during one sequence and Supergirl says "That's why superheroes wear spandex." Then she's seen with Katana, working on something.
Barbara returns Wondy's shield to her, saying she made some modifications. She also mentions that Supergirl could use a stronger sparring partner, but she's too intimidated to ask. All this time, Wonder Woman has thought Supergirl was trying to compete with her, but really she just wants to be like Wondy. So we've got another helper for the training.
Meanwhile, the alarm goes off and this time there are deep scratches on the Boom Tube door. The detectives think it might be Grodd, but Hawkgirl says there's not enough evidence. She goes to the library and Granny brings her a book, which she just happened to have marked in a certain place that makes Grodd look bad. They take this evidence to Waller, who meets with Grodd and revokes his security clearance while she investigates. He quits.
Barbara's last day has come and she says goodbye to Supergirl, giving her a blue and yellow communicator bracelet so they can stay in touch. (That's why the doll's bracelets don't match.) Supergirl gives Barbara her super suit.
The Save the Day alarm goes off and Supergirl checks in with Coach Wildcat. He tells her she's ready. Giganta is robbing the jewelry store and the same crew as the first fight is up against her, this time joined by Hawkgirl and Supergirl. Supergirl accidentally drops some cars Giganta has thrown, endangering the people. Beast Boy, Hawkgirl, Ivy and Harley get a lot of them out of the way. Bumblebee is distracting Giganta when Supergirl says she's got this. Cheetah, being a nasty piece of work, decides it's somehow a good idea to taunt Supergirl, startling her into misfiring her heat vision and hitting Bumblebee in the leg. A bunch of the girls run over and starting talking nonstop, freaking out Supergirl who yells at them and the force of it knocks them into buildings and such. Cheetah taunts her again. Really, what is she getting out of this? It's not like it's her winning these battles. It's the others that actually do more. So why taunt one of the most powerful people there? It's not like they were winning this battle or anything either, so they need all the help they can get. She's an idiot. You'd think she'd have learned after the end of the Season 1 webisodes, but no. I'm not sure if they're trying to indicate that she's always going to be a villain or if it's just poor writing. Supergirl decides they'd be safer without her and leaves.
Supergirl goes to the library to return her books. She tells Granny she's taking the next ship to Korugar and Granny says she can just take the Boom Tube. She tries to persuade Supergirl to use her strength to open the door. Suspicious. And she's got a giant green parademon pet that looks like the shadow seen in the hall when the alarm went off that first time. More suspicious. And of course Supergirl buys it because her weaknesses are kryptonite and her incredible naivete. She rips open the doors and the parademon destroys the alarm system. Granny locates Apokolips and the Female Furies come running through.
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| Big Barda. Why wasn't she the SDCC exclusive? |
Barbara is eating and she sees footage of the Giganta fight on her phone. She uses her comm bracelet to contact Supergirl, who tells her she really messed up. Barbara runs to the Boom Tube room and tosses the kryptonite through the Florida Boom Tube.
Back at the Giganta fight, Ivy once again uses her vines to restrain the villain and Hawkgirl puts these giant handcuffs on her.
HARLEY: I knew those giant novelty handcuffs would come in handy.
Ha. Only Harley.
The heroes return to the school and everyone congratulates them. Wonder Woman asks where Supergirl is.
Outside, Granny takes control of the amethyst and amps up her own power and the Furies', They storm Waller's office and Granny uses her mind control on the principal. She thanks her for falling for her plot to frame Grodd. She needed him gone because they never learned how to control gorilla minds. Then she takes over the minds of all the supers.
In Barbara's "cave" on the school campus, she's created a "detrancer" and needs a crystal to conduct the energy. Supergirl hands over her "good luck charm," the necklace she wears. Barbara attaches the crystal and tells Supergirl how to use it. Then she gives her a pair of earrings that are frequency shields that will protect her from the trance. But Supergirl's not having it. She takes off one of the earrings and puts it on Barbara, declaring that she's coming with her. She knows Barbara is super in her mind and heart, even if she lacks specific superpowers. So Batgirl suits up for the first time and says "I'm Batgirl" in this gritty voice, then coughs, says she had a frog in her throat, shrugs cutely, and says "I'm Batgirl!"
In the office, Granny directs Barda, Stompa and Artemis outside, leaving Mad Harriet and Speed Queen inside. Barda doesn't respond right away, interested in the painting on the wall. She asks if the students get to make beautiful things here and Granny says yes and it's made them weak.
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| Stompa, Mad Harriet, Speed Queen and Artemis |
Outside, the three stand guard. Batgirl's plan is to plug the detrancer into the amethyst, to get everyone at once. They don't have time to get them one by one. Supergirl distracts the Furies, while Batgirl zips up the tower, passing by Grodd's window as he's packing. Granny should have waited like another day, because needing him out of the way didn't really work if he's still on campus. Stompa stomps the ground, but Batgirl's still hanging on. Artemis fires on her and Grodd leaps out the window to take the arrow in the shoulder and then hit the ground. He's pretty tough though, so he'll be okay. Batgirl does her stuff and the supers return to normal. Granny gives the Furies the order to attack and the battle is on. I love how Harley just jumps on Speed Queen and Lady Shiva's hair skills are pretty awesome. Artemis takes on Wonder Woman and is quickly defeated. Mad Harriet goes after Cheetah, who's saved by Barbara's phone tech. She shuts the green-haired girl into a locker. Ivy is running from Stompa, who makes the mistake of stomping on her grass, so Ivy for the third time, binds someone in plants. Barda is chasing Supergirl, who leads her through the flight training course. She makes it out only to be trapped by Batgirl. Wonder Woman joins Batgirl and Supergirl and the three confront Granny. She sics the parademon on them, Wondy lassoes him and knocks him into the ground, causing him to split into a ton of little demons and attack. Well, sort of attack. Both Wondy and Supergirl try to stop Granny and are knocked down. Granny threatens them with a Granny Grenade, which could take out the entire school. Batgirl distracts her, while Supergirl uses the flagpole to play a little Granny baseball. Then she twists it around a tree to bind Granny, while the grenade rolls off. Wonder Woman catches it and says it's going to blow, so Supergirl grabs it and flies it into the air high above the school. It detonates and she flies back down, slightly rumpled.
Later, the Furies and a cage of parademons are off to prison. Barda manages to sneak a Superhero High brochure along with her. (I hope to see her in the future. I like her. Now she would have made an ideal SDCC doll. A slightly more obscure character that's still a villain in continuity, not one that a bunch of young girls are waiting for.) Grodd comes into the Boom Tube room and tosses the lot of them through the tube to Belle Reve detention center. Batgirl runs up and hugs him, saying he saved her. He awkwardly pats her on the head. The group exits the room to a cheering crowd and Flash apologizes to Grodd, who growls at them and says they're in detention for the rest of the year, then adds that it was a joke. Cheetah thanks Batgirl, saying that her tech saved her. She even calls her Barbara instead of Nonny. I was glad to see this moment, but where is Cheetah apologizing to Supergirl? Sigh. Batgirl walks away to answer her phone, asking her dad if the spaghetti is ready. The poor janitor looks at the mess and groans.
At an assembly, Waller thanks Supergirl for her role in their victory, and says they have taken Wonder Woman's recommendation and are accepting Batgirl as the newest super student.
The end! Hope that helps anyone that hasn't seen it. It's not the same as watching it, but at least you know what happened now.
PHOTO CREDITS: The lineup shot is a screencap I took from a video on DCSG's Instagram. The other two are screencaps from a commercial for the special.
