Portside

What had been cautiously optimistic when the episode had premiered just a few weeks before was now upsettingly fantastical. In the wake of Donald Trump’s win, a pro-immigration woman of color being elected president seemed less realistic than the alien trying to kill her.

When “Supergirl” has its premiere on Oct. 26, it will enter a cultural landscape where female superheroes are better represented than ever before: where they have nearly as much opportunity to right wrongs and fight crime – and to play the central roles in their own stories — as their muscle-bound male counterparts.