‘Supergirl’ season 2, episode 5 video: James tries to lend Kara a helping hand

We’re getting close to the beginning of the James Olsen-as-Guardian era on “Supergirl,” and in the sneak peek below from Monday night’s new episode of the show, we’re getting what we like to think of as almost a proto version of the vigilante. James may not have a suit or an alter ego just yet, but you see a willingness here for him to go out, mix things up, and try to help the good guys prevail. For the time being, that’s as good as we’re going to get.

At first when we were watching this, we were ready to groan and commence a million or so eye rolls over the thought of some more bank robbers trying to do their work in National City. After all, why in the world would you even try that when you’re living in the world of Supergirl? She can easily defeat you; it’s almost like playing with the #1 team on Madden versus a bunch of scrubs on rookie difficulty.

This is where things get a little crazy: These people have some powered-up guns that neutralize much of what Kara can do against them. We think of them right now as less-interesting versions of Captain Cold and Heat Wave. When Kara goes down, James gets physical, and at least tries to stop them from getting away. Alas, it doesn’t quite work.

We do understand where the desire is for James to want to become Guardian, given that he’s got the whole “always the sidekick, never the hero” thing going on. He feels helpless to control matters himself, and wants to find a way to stop that. Here’s the problem we foresee for him: A shield and a fancy suit may only do so much against aliens with powers that are exponentially greater than his own. Will it be fun? Sure, but there’s a reasonably good chance of him getting killed.

Want some more “Supergirl” fun? Then head over here to check out our piece suggesting how to implement “Gotham” into the CW universe. We’ll be back Monday with a full review for this episode. (Photo: The CW.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE4NygTXwJM