This is why hobby-horses are fun.
I wondered that too, but I assume that if her condition was too fragile to send her into space, it might also have been too fragile for a dimensional transit.
Supergirl - Season Four
- Thread starter Kai "the spy"
- Start date
I agree with the above comment about the worldbuilding. With all these alien invasions/attacks year after year, it's good to see the show acknowledging the impact that would have on ordinary people, tying it all together from a ground-level perspective. It makes it all feel a lot more real and rich.
What I loved about this show in the first season was that it felt like real science fiction -- not just telling action and character stories with superpowers and high-tech/alien trappings, but doing what good science fiction does, exploring the consequences of its speculative ideas and using them for allegories about real social and philosophical issues. I didn't feel season 2 & 3 did that as well, but Supergirl finally feels like a real science fiction show again, in both the exploration of ideas and the thought being put into the worldbuilding and the consequences of its concepts and events. I loved the bit about Nth metal being used to make steel. I'm so used to hearing it talked about in the context of weapons and strange powers -- it's a fascinating twist to see it integrated into everyday life, treated so mundanely. It's the sort of thing you rarely see in superhero comics, where the incredible inventions of the heroes almost never trickle down into everyday use.
I continue to be impressed with Sam Witwer as an actor. He uses his voice remarkably well. It's so fascinating to listen to him talk. And it's a challenging choice to make Lockwood so sympathetic yet so hateful. We have to understand how he sank to this point without actually agreeing with his point of view, and that's a delicate balance to strike.
Given that Lena isn't a huge fan of Supergirl, it's surprising that she went to the effort to stylize Supergirl's containment suit after her regular costume. Or is it programmed to automatically mimic the wearer's clothing?
Given that it's from a press conference insert that was playing on TV in the background in the original scene, I imagine the raw footage ran a lot longer than the stuff we saw before, so I figure this is just a different part of the same clip.
What I loved about this show in the first season was that it felt like real science fiction -- not just telling action and character stories with superpowers and high-tech/alien trappings, but doing what good science fiction does, exploring the consequences of its speculative ideas and using them for allegories about real social and philosophical issues. I didn't feel season 2 & 3 did that as well, but Supergirl finally feels like a real science fiction show again, in both the exploration of ideas and the thought being put into the worldbuilding and the consequences of its concepts and events. I loved the bit about Nth metal being used to make steel. I'm so used to hearing it talked about in the context of weapons and strange powers -- it's a fascinating twist to see it integrated into everyday life, treated so mundanely. It's the sort of thing you rarely see in superhero comics, where the incredible inventions of the heroes almost never trickle down into everyday use.
I continue to be impressed with Sam Witwer as an actor. He uses his voice remarkably well. It's so fascinating to listen to him talk. And it's a challenging choice to make Lockwood so sympathetic yet so hateful. We have to understand how he sank to this point without actually agreeing with his point of view, and that's a delicate balance to strike.
Given that Lena isn't a huge fan of Supergirl, it's surprising that she went to the effort to stylize Supergirl's containment suit after her regular costume. Or is it programmed to automatically mimic the wearer's clothing?
Given that it's from a press conference insert that was playing on TV in the background in the original scene, I imagine the raw footage ran a lot longer than the stuff we saw before, so I figure this is just a different part of the same clip.
Its incredibly rare for subtlety on a show so politicized, which is one of the reasons this episode is a standout. I do like how the dean's reactionary termination of Lockwood mirrors the current climate of many American universities, where independence of thought means independent--if its following one, accepted view. Further, the basis of firing him came back to haunt her as she explained in her final scene with Lockwood, which was an important touch--that people like Lockwood (who was not short on valid points)--and now the dean have been hurt--some in fatal ways, but in the interests of political expediency, have been ignored and/or forgotten.
Call that the Star Wars prequels effect, where a character suddenly has endless, unbelievable connections to everyone who is--or will be pivotal in the story. In fact, Lockwood's story was capable of being as effective with just one lead character encounter that leads him to believe his plight has been tossed aside.
I haven't gotten to see the episode yet, but one 'tidbit' about it that helps explain why it was structured the way that it was is that it was actually the very first episode of the season that was filmed due to the fact that they needed to start production while Melissa was still performing on Broadway in order to be able to have their production schedules match up with those of Arrow and The Flash for the crossover.
A couple of thoughts I forgot to mention. One, it was really cool to me, as a regular Supergirl viewer, how the story ran parallel to various events in prior seasons. It's fun to revisit the history of a show this way, particularly from a new perspective, and it makes the whole series seem more "real" somehow when it's embedded in a broader narrative like this.
Two, was the young alien woman in Lockwood's class, whom he later confronted at the bar, the same species as Lyra from season two? Looked like it to me. (I miss Lyra.
)
Two, was the young alien woman in Lockwood's class, whom he later confronted at the bar, the same species as Lyra from season two? Looked like it to me. (I miss Lyra.
)They actually recently had a failed comedy show that took place in the DC universe and that dealt with the ordinary people and dealing with the things they dealt with after supervillain attacks.
What I liked about this one is that Lockwood is not a two dimensional villain. He went through a lot to get to where he is, and it's true that these heroes, at least on this show, tend to forget about the collateral damage.
That said, for a 12th level intelligence, the fact that Brainy didn't send Supergirl to another Earth seemed pretty stupid. I would think any person who watches multiple DC shows on CW would have yelled, "get Barry" at the screen.
What I liked about this one is that Lockwood is not a two dimensional villain. He went through a lot to get to where he is, and it's true that these heroes, at least on this show, tend to forget about the collateral damage.
That said, for a 12th level intelligence, the fact that Brainy didn't send Supergirl to another Earth seemed pretty stupid. I would think any person who watches multiple DC shows on CW would have yelled, "get Barry" at the screen.
Yeah, I was particularly struck by the scene where the Green Martian is fighting the Daxamite and destroys the guy's house. It would be incredibly scary to barely make it out of your house alive as these uber powerful aliens wreck your home and barely even give it a second thought. True, it was not deliberate or malicious and there was a greater cause at stake. The Green Martian was fighting to protect Earth from these Daxamites but still, just like in war, the collateral damage cannot be glossed over. Even if your war is just, the collateral damage that it causes to innocents can be severe.
Presumably, if going into space would have killed Supergirl, the stress of moving her to another Earth would have killed her too.
I don't think breaching has been shown to be particularly stressful. But it wouldn't have helped her under the circumstances, because the kryptonite was already poisoning her blood. The suit Lena brought apparently did more than just shield her from the atmosphere, but had some kind of healing effect that was probably explained in that torrent of technobabble from Brainy when he saw the unit.
Also, breaches aren't airtight. If the dispersal device could somehow magically contaminate all the air on Earth, even in sealed rooms, with kryptonite, what if the effect were still active and spread through the breach?
It's funny how this episode and the suited-up Supergirl storyline are the result of Melissa Benoist's unavailability at the start of the season. Creative constraints can sometimes lead to very good episodes and interesting choices.
Yeah, I read that it was due to her Broadway commitments. I was wondering if it was like last year, where all four shows did episodes light on their lead characters to free them up for filming the crossover, but apparently this year's crossover is currently filming, so these episodes had to be made somewhat before then. The Broadway thing explains it.
Kind of like how availability conflicts while filming last year's crossover gave us the utterly splendid "Midvale."It's funny how this episode and the suited-up Supergirl storyline are the result of Melissa Benoist's unavailability at the start of the season. Creative constraints can sometimes lead to very good episodes and interesting choices.
They should definitely do a sequel to that one at some point, even if there are no crossover conflicts.
At the very least. Personally, I'd be on board for Midvale: The Series (wishful thinking, I realize). Any followup they might care to do, however, should be sooner rather than later, before the young actresses age out of their roles.They should definitely do a sequel to that one at some point, even if there are no crossover conflicts.
I think that would also be a way of getting Superman centric episodes without a full series. It would be interesting to see his time on Argo City, as just one example. It would allow Melissa a break for outside personal or other professional interests.
Watched the last two episode yesterday.
The scene with Nia standing up for Brainy at the pizza place last week was really good, and a nice first step to her becoming a hero, and really made me want a Nia/Brainy relationship.
The scene with Kara trying to get away from Lena and Eve during the attack on L Corp was funny.
It was really interesting seeing how all of this crazy alien stuff effected normal people in this week's episode. While he's obviously gone way to far, I was surprised how understandable Lockwood's motivations are. Sam Witwer really knocked it out of the park.
The scene with Nia standing up for Brainy at the pizza place last week was really good, and a nice first step to her becoming a hero, and really made me want a Nia/Brainy relationship.
The scene with Kara trying to get away from Lena and Eve during the attack on L Corp was funny.
It was really interesting seeing how all of this crazy alien stuff effected normal people in this week's episode. While he's obviously gone way to far, I was surprised how understandable Lockwood's motivations are. Sam Witwer really knocked it out of the park.
Lets admit that 30th century superscience is better than 21st stone knives and bear claws....
Brainy will loving accept Nia as trans, but he's not going to accept the limitations of 21st century medical science...
Brianiac is going to feel compelled to make Nia a 30th century transwoman, because from his perspective her surgery looks like a home made job done in a kitchen by monkeys on red bull.
I think Nia is going to get furious with her blue boyfriend, as her baffeled Doctor asks the young lady how she got pregnant.
Alternavely....
The surgical nanites in Brainiac's blood and semen, identify Nia' s reassignment as "injuries" and repairs those injuries.
Brainy will loving accept Nia as trans, but he's not going to accept the limitations of 21st century medical science...
Brianiac is going to feel compelled to make Nia a 30th century transwoman, because from his perspective her surgery looks like a home made job done in a kitchen by monkeys on red bull.
I think Nia is going to get furious with her blue boyfriend, as her baffeled Doctor asks the young lady how she got pregnant.
Alternavely....
The surgical nanites in Brainiac's blood and semen, identify Nia' s reassignment as "injuries" and repairs those injuries.
^ A very good question, and one I wonder whether the writers thought of? Will be interesting to see if and how they address it.
I think this might be the best episode this show has ever done. More subtle than usual like many have commented on. The character goes through a whole arc in 40 something minutes and you totally buy into it. Put in some nudity and a more gross and gory end for the dad and this would fit in well with something shown on HBO if HBO was doing a "Supergirl" show. One of the first things I was thinking early on is "American History X" but they changed things around to fell something that is very 2018.
Jason
Jason
