Supergirl - Season Four

[JD]

Everything, and I mean everything, worked. I was on the edge of my seat at times, and on the edge of tears at others. They made the Alex memory wipe thing finally pay off in a major way, culminating in a beautiful and almost magical scene adapting one of my favorite moments in Superman lore: the bit in Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns, when a dying Superman clutches at the Earth and draws upon the stored solar energy from the surrounding vegetation to revive himself. (For some reason, despite teeing it up precisely, Zack Snyder didn't follow through with that scene in BvS, leaving it to more capable hands to employ to better effect tonight.)

So that did come from the comics then, I was wondering about that.
Another great episode this week.
I did find it a bit funny that they had Red Daughter in a full body suit during the big Kara/Kara fight, so that way wouldn't have to worry about hiding the stunt/body double or doing face replacement.
I'm glad they finally gave Alex her memories back, the show just wasn't the same without the Alex/Kara dynamic. The scene where it happened was great, Chyler Leigh really did a great job there.
It was nice to see young Alexa and Kara again during the flashbacks.
Man, Brainy after his reset really was scary, Jessie Rath definitely shares MVP status with Chyler Leigh this week.
Lena using the Truth Seeker on her mother was pretty ruthless, but after Lilian has done, not entirely unjustified. I was surprised that Lena actually did poison her.

 

[USS Firefly]

Episode 4x20 was bad, too predictable.
We all know Lena will find out that Kara is Supergirl, I so hoped that she where going to tell Lena the truth in the plane.
My wife want to quite watching Supergirl and I have my doubts to continue after this season

 

[Christopher]

Man, Brainy after his reset really was scary, Jessie Rath definitely shares MVP status with Chyler Leigh this week.

And Sam Witwer, who did an absolutely dead-on impression of Brainy badly impersonating Lockwood.

 

[JD]

Oh, I forgot about that, that was great.

 

[Reverend]

Maybe it's more wishful thinking on my part, but did anyone else get a very specific 'Corey Burton as Brainiac' vibe from Rath's emotionless Brainiac 5?

And yeah, Witwer continues to prove himself a very skilled impersonator.

 

[Christopher]

Maybe it's more wishful thinking on my part, but did anyone else get a very specific 'Corey Burton as Brainiac' vibe from Rath's emotionless Brainiac 5?

I think both Burton in the DCAU and Blake Ritson on Krypton have effectively portrayed Brainiac as a powerful and chilling menace, and those precedents helped make Brainy's transformation as scary as it was. But I think Rath made it his own.

 

[JD]

Maybe it's more wishful thinking on my part, but did anyone else get a very specific 'Corey Burton as Brainiac' vibe from Rath's emotionless Brainiac 5?

And yeah, Witwer continues to prove himself a very skilled impersonator.

I didn't realize Witwer voiced The Emperor in Rebels. I knew it was him in Force Unleashed, but not there too.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I didn't realize Witwer voiced The Emperor in Rebels. I knew it was him in Force Unleashed, but not there too.

Sam Witwer voiced the Emperor in Rebels season two.

Ian McDiarmid himself voiced the Emperor in Rebels season four.

 

[Awesome Possum]

You know, I remember when DC rebooted Batwoman as a lesbian, several years ago. Suddenly there were all these vocal fans insisting that dealing with her personal life at all was "unnecessary" or "irrelevant" or "forced":

"Why do they even have to address her sexual orientation at all? This is a superhero comic. I just want her to punch bad guys and stuff."

Never mind Lois Lane, Steve Trevor, Mary Jane Watson, Reed and Sue, Scott and Jean, and the fact that superheroes and their supporting casts have had love interests and soapy personal subplots since "The Scarlet Pimpernel" at least. Somehow it's only when you're talking same-sex relationships that certain fanboys suddenly decide that this kinda thing has no place in a superhero show or comic.

I'm getting a distinct deja vu vibe here.

You see this a lot, usually with claims of it being shoved down your throat. Yet heterosexual relationships are present in essentially every form of media and intended for all age ranges. It's just a problem with same-sex couples, mostly likely because the offended party also have a problem with same-sex couples even existing. You see it with any depiction of LGBTQ people.

 

[Greg Cox]

You see this a lot, usually with claims of it being shoved down your throat. Yet heterosexual relationships are present in essentially every form of media and intended for all age ranges. It's just a problem with same-sex couples, mostly likely because the offended party also have a problem with same-sex couples even existing. You see it with any depiction of LGBTQ people.

And you really can't win with some people. If you make the character's sexuality central to a storyline, folks will complain about an "agenda" being rammed down their throat. But if you don't make a big deal of a character's sexuality, the same folks will wonder why they "had" to be gay at all? They really won't be happy unless gay characters and relationships are invisible or, at best, segregated in their own series.

And, yeah, the double standard can be jaw-dropping sometimes. You can literally get an entire episode about Character A's heterosexual travails, but that one scene of Character B kissing her girlfriend is "forced" or "excessive" or "pointless" or whatever. Drives me nuts sometimes.

 

[Guy Gardener]

1. An Alien Refugee powered Alien Refugee blaster? F##K off.

2. Kara looking through Red Daughter's apartment, reminded me of Eve looking through Villanelle's apartment in Killing Eve.

3. Lex holding Red Daughter like that, was a mock of the iconic death of Supergirl Crisis on Infinite Earths cover from '85.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Speaking of this show's history, what was with Kara saying she's been dealing with kryptonite for 15 years? Back at the start of the series less than 4 years ago, she didn't even know what kryptonite was. Although I guess maybe she was exaggerating to psych out Red Daughter?

Maybe at the start of the series she hadn't *encountered* Kryptonite. I find it hard to believe that her cousin wouldn't have mentioned that the rocks that were remnants of their homeworld could possibly kill her when helping to set her up with the Danvers. So from that perspective, she's been dealing with it - the idea of getting killed by it - emotionally, if not practically.

I've always liked the dynamic between Lena and Lilian. Sure, Lena used a baby truth seeker on her mother, but it was warranted. The poison was probably too much, but at least she had an antidote.

I'm still not sure she poisoned her. She decided to try to sell it by insisting on the antidote, but I got the impression that there was a moment of communication there between the two of them that really said, yes, I probably didn't poison you, but I'm not going to admit it, and you wouldn't respect me if I did.

...and Captain Marginalized Olsen still has no character focus, even with his gaining superpowers---which flies in the face of his Guardian period, where he once felt he did not need powers to make a difference as a crimefighter.

I agree with what you're saying about the way Olson is written, generally, but I'm not sure it applies to the going back and forth on powers issue. I mean, even if you didn't want powers on principle or as another matter of personal preference, it might be hard to justify giving them up when you know that having them can help you fight a clear and present danger and protect friends. It might not be that he wants them so much as he thinks he NEEDS them right now. Or, he may be changing his mind. Power corrupts. And in this case, I'm not even sure it's corruption so much as he didn't know what it was like to have powers... before he had powers.

And Sam Witwer, who did an absolutely dead-on impression of Brainy badly impersonating Lockwood.

So good that I actually would have forgotten to count this as an example of awesome acting, because my brain just said that was Brainy. LOL.

 

[Christopher]

Maybe at the start of the series she hadn't *encountered* Kryptonite. I find it hard to believe that her cousin wouldn't have mentioned that the rocks that were remnants of their homeworld could possibly kill her when helping to set her up with the Danvers. So from that perspective, she's been dealing with it - the idea of getting killed by it - emotionally, if not practically.

In the pilot, when Supergirl was first brought down by the DEO's kryptonite weapons, Hank Henshaw (who hadn't yet been retconned into J'onn J'onzz) explained what kryptonite was to her when she woke up, implying that the writers intended it to be the first time she'd even heard of it. Although, granted, her reaction didn't indicate whether she needed the explanation.

 

[USS Triumphant]

In the pilot, when Supergirl was first brought down by the DEO's kryptonite weapons, Hank Henshaw (who hadn't yet been retconned into J'onn J'onzz) explained what kryptonite was to her when she woke up, implying that the writers intended it to be the first time she'd even heard of it. Although, granted, her reaction didn't indicate whether she needed the explanation.

I think we can safely assume from the 15 years line that, regardless of what the writers intended with that in Season 1, she already knew about it. It would have been pretty thoughtless of Clark not to mention it, and he's freaking Superman, so....

 

[Christopher]

regardless of what the writers intended

That's my whole point, that it's a retcon of the original intention and thus perhaps a continuity error.

It would have been pretty thoughtless of Clark not to mention it

Except that seasons 1-2 portrayed kryptonite as something very rare, with every known bit of it either gotten rid of already or in DEO hands, so there was no reason for Clark to expect Kara to have to deal with it. It's a common failing of Superman-based productions to make kryptonite more ubiquitous over time (with the opposite exceptions of the '40s radio series, where every piece of kryptonite in the entire run of the show came from a single meteorite that was split into fourths, and Smallville, where kryptonite was insanely ubiquitous from day one).

 

[USS Triumphant]

Except that seasons 1-2 portrayed kryptonite as something very rare, with every known bit of it either gotten rid of already or in DEO hands, so there was no reason for Clark to expect Kara to have to deal with it. It's a common failing of Superman-based productions to make kryptonite more ubiquitous over time (with the opposite exceptions of the '40s radio series, where every piece of kryptonite in the entire run of the show came from a single meteorite that was split into fourths, and Smallville, where kryptonite was insanely ubiquitous from day one).

At least Supergirl provides a possible explanation for an increase - the arrival of other things that bring more Kryptonite along with them. Like Fort Roz.

 

[Christopher]

At least Supergirl provides a possible explanation for an increase - the arrival of other things that bring more Kryptonite along with them. Like Fort Roz.

Except Fort Rozz arrived on Earth at the same time Supergirl did. It was the principal source of villains in season 1, and as I said, season 1 treated kryptonite as rare.

I can buy the recent increase in kryptonite abundance because it all seems to be coming from Lex, and it's plausible that either he had a secret stash somewhere that Superman and the DEO never managed to find, or he figured out how to manufacture it. I just have a problem with the retcon that Kara has had fifteen years to get used to its effects rather than three and a half.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

You know, I remember when DC rebooted Batwoman as a lesbian, several years ago. Suddenly there were all these vocal fans insisting that dealing with her personal life at all was "unnecessary" or "irrelevant" or "forced":

Who said Batwoman's (or Alex in this thread) sexuality was irrelevant?

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I agree with what you're saying about the way Olson is written, generally, but I'm not sure it applies to the going back and forth on powers issue. I mean, even if you didn't want powers on principle or as another matter of personal preference, it might be hard to justify giving them up when you know that having them can help you fight a clear and present danger and protect friends. It might not be that he wants them so much as he thinks he NEEDS them right now. Or, he may be changing his mind. Power corrupts. And in this case, I'm not even sure it's corruption so much as he didn't know what it was like to have powers... before he had powers.

Ah, if the series ever has James want to keep his powers, its another sudden switch for his view of what being a hero meant. It would be another example of James being a victim of "guess the identity of the week" because the showrunners simply fail at ever giving him a strong, consistent belief system (meaning knowing what it takes to address his character), while just about every other main character has a steady line of character development. What's worse, is in keeping the powers, all of what he said in earlier seasons regarding asserting himself sans powers (including the arguments he had with Supergirl about that specific issue) are flushed down the toilet, and makes him appear to be a hypocrite.
Its rare for any TV series to so thoroughly mishandle the second billed actor/character over the course of 4 seasons.

 

[USS Triumphant]

What's worse, is in keeping the powers, all of what he said in earlier seasons regarding asserting himself sans powers (including the arguments he had with Supergirl about that specific issue) are flushed down the toilet, and makes him appear to be a hypocrite.

Not really. To use an odd metaphor, if I had access to cheese but set out to make the best cheese-less lasagna and went around bragging about how much better it was than regular lasagna - but then secretly made lasagna with cheese for myself because I preferred it when no one was around, that would make me a hypocrite. But if I had never had access to cheese, and set out to make the best cheese-less lasagna I could make and insisted on my right to try... but then when I got cheese, made lasagna with it and realized it was better, that's not hypocrisy at all.

James never claimed that him asserting himself as Guardian was *better* than what Supergirl does in any way. He just demanded the right to try. He didn't have the cheese. Now he does. Throwing the cheese away and trying to pretend it was better without it is the part that would be stupid, no matter how much pride you took in your skill without it. James going back and forth is us seeing an internal struggle between his pride and his practicality, and I feel like either practicality will win, or something will happen to take the choice away. That said...

Its rare for any TV series to so thoroughly mishandle the second billed actor/character over the course of 4 seasons.

...this calls forward the question: should he be second billed at all? I mean, early in the show, the second most important role definitely seemed to be either Cat or Alex. For a bit, it was Winn and Alex, then Mon-El and Alex. These days, it seems to me to either be Dreamer or Alex. The consistent factor is Alex, and I think that actress should be second billed. But I'd understand if the actor playing James would feel slighted by that, since he was brought onto the show with second billing. So he either needs to leave the show (which the current storyline might lead to), or, they need to give him the juice to be interesting enough for second billing. Which probably means powers, and an outfit more interesting than the boring generic Guardian armor. He becomes Steel, maybe? But then, I've also heard a rumor (the reliability of which, I have no idea) that the show will become Superman next season. So maybe he's stepping up into FIRST billing (since I doubt they'd bring the supporting actor they have playing Supes in to lead, or reorganize the show *that* much)?