First Thoughts On 'Supergirl' (Pilot)

Well, for those who (probably) don't remember my trailer reaction/thoughts article on Supergirl that I posted way back when...some time ago, I can't remember - I wasn't particularly enthusiastic for the series. However, Sky 1 were showing the Pilot episode on Thursday night and I thought I'd give it a shot. Thankfully, I was rather pleasantly surprised.
Supergirl, for those who don't know, follows Kara Zor-El, cousin of Kal-El (AKA Superman), as she was sent to Earth to protect the baby Kal before Krypton's destruction. However, the shockwave caused by the explosion of the planet knocked her pod off course into the Phantom Zone - a part of space where time is non-existant - before escaping to Earth 24 years later. The younger Kara was helped by the much older Kal-El and taken to grow up with the Danvers family. Several years later, Kara is working at a News company trying to lead a normal life, but her lust for embracing who she is and following in the footsteps of her cousin is a bit too much...
One problem right off the bat with Supergirl though is that it constantly feels overshadowed by the Man of Steel. I understand that this is how it is meant to be, but I would have personally preferred it to be set in a Universe without a Superman (although a Green Arrow and Flash would fit in nicely - hint, hint); although this does mean that Kara doesn't have to suffer through the usual origin story tropes. She decides she wants to use her powers to become a superhero, gets a costume and just does it. It's a bit of a double-edged sword, but making the show seem like a spin-off that won't ever journey into Superman brings back memories of Agents of SHIELD and how that lost interest from fans from just not really affecting the rest of the Marvel universe. It's not so much of a burden with Supergirl, it's just that having Superman there means that Supergirl herself feels like a secondary hero in comparison.
Alas though, there's quite a bit of good in here. I really do like the tone and style of the series. It's very bright, lively and embraces the full superheroics that Superman's Universe is known for, and does feel like a modern version of the Christopher Reeve Superman films (the first two at least). Melissa Benoist is great as Kara, and most of the rest of the cast are all very good as well. With this only being a Pilot, they are feel like they're finding their feet with the characters, but I can see lots of potential in this show.
There were a couple of annoying characters, not to mention some stock stereotypes thrown in there for good measure (the jealous sister, the un-trusting government official, the awkward friend with a crush on the main female protagonist, etc), but as Supergirl is finding its feet at the moment, these characters should hopefully grow more as the series progresses.
The visual effects were a mixed bag though. Some stuff looks good, some stuff looks pretty dated. It's difficult to get top-notch visual effects with a TV budget, especially given how much is needed for a show like Supergirl, but the faults can be overlooked by most. The plane sequence looks pretty great, probably helped by the night-time setting - and is the sort of thing I hope to see more of in the series as it goes on.
However, I did feel that the narrative for the series and villain-of-the-week were quite poorly-handled. I never felt there was much of a threat, and the deus ex machima solution was a bit disappointing, not to mention the tacked-on final scene that seemed a bit clichéd and uninteresting.
Overall though, I'm up for continuing to watch Supergirl. It's a nice bit of fluff that I'm sure families can enjoy, but I won't be too fussed if I miss an episode one week. It's the sort of show I'll watch, but I'm not going to be super-eager to see every single episode ASAP. Not quite super, but very entertaining all the same, if I had to give this pilot a score, I'd settle for a 7 or 8/10.