Spoilers "Supergirl": the 6th and final season

[The Realist]

Well, that ... wasn't very good. Basically a belated finale for last season, which also ... wasn't very good. A lot of arbitrary plot razzle-dazzle that didn't add up to much, uninspired dialogue, and hasty cleanup of poorly-conceived narrative threads. The final season of Supergirl has nowhere to go but up.

 

[thribs]

Probably should have watched season 5 before this. I had no idea what was going on as it has been a year. They kept throwing the words like “anti-life equation” like they were nothing.
The ending to this was very similar to the season 5 finale of Smallville; with the hero stuck in the phantom zone.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I had somewhat opposite reaction. I was not a fan of much of the later part of last season. It’s a haze in my memory. But they had to resolve it. Good fight scenes and visuals. Cryer is always great as Lex. Putting her into the Phantom Zone and holographic presence is a good of way limiting her appearance due to Melissa’s pregnancy. Curious what the production schedule on any of this was. Wondering if her scenes were filmed later in the season once she returned and edited in with other scenes.

Who would you cast as a Peter O’Toole type? EDIT just remembered Jason Behr was cast as an unnamed Kryptonian who helps Kara...
Would not surprise me if he is her father Zor-El put in similar role to Zaltar in the movie. I wondered for years if the original plan for that mentor character to be her father. While he actual father is a minor cameo.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Supergirl - The Final Season
Season 6 Premiere - "Rebirth"

SG/Kara: No one believed she was going to die and/or remain trapped, or even come close to it. Of course, everyone knows the real world reasons Benoist would be absent from a number of episodes, so the whole "Kara is trapped in the Phantom Zone!" business just lacks any sense of danger for the character. It would have been better..and pointing in the direction of the series' end if Kara--after Crisis and the arc from season 5--is mentally exhausted, and needs "me time" to think about how she wants to live going forward. That would have been the mature, believable way for the character to take a break, and lead into a plot that winds down the series.

Lex / Lena : The entire Lex plot is so rushed--and often contradictory in his stated goals and beliefs (surprisingly, the writers had Supergirl call him out on using alien DNA while being anti-alien...which points to the writers' error).

Lena's speech to Brainy does not correct long held beliefs or bring back the dead.

...aannd in yet another immoral act, she wipes the minds of free people. Such a hero! Then, there's Alex...

Alex: "Its nice to see you working with Lena again" Oh yeah, Alex, just hippity-hopping over Lena's belief in eugenics and anyone who died (or had her right to choose tossed aside, then being subjected to experiments) as a result of her experiments.

Rojas / Gamemnae / Leviathans: Wait...Kelly--with her infinite powers of perception--claimed Andrea Rojas' father is a "selfish narcissist" yet every controlling, self-absorbed thing Andrea's done (starting with stealing the medallion and why she did it) are not the result of her father, but her own interests & hubris--a repeated theme throughout her time on this series. In her own way, she's as corrupt as Luthor.

NOTES:
The Anti-Life Equation on this show...heh.

Convenient Martian "binding" abilities (was this ever mentioned before?) that would just stop the satellites...

Horrible CG as always, especially with the Martians.

GRADE: C-.

 

[The Realist]

Probably should have watched season 5 before this. I had no idea what was going on as it has been a year. They kept throwing the words like “anti-life equation” like they were nothing.

I rewatched last season on Blu-ray not that long ago, but it didn't help much. The whole Leviathan/Obsidian plot just became too convoluted and nonsensical, not helped by the fact that none of it was ever interesting in the first place.

I'm also tired of the show's penchant for "deus ex Martiana." J'onn (or M'gann, in this case) is always pulling some new terribly plot-convenient ability out of his green nethers.

On the plus side, Cryer never fails to entertain, I liked Lena's backup provision saving Kara's life, and Kara trapped in the Phantom Zone could be interesting (though obviously contrived to work around Benoist's early-season unavailability).

Wondering if her scenes were filmed later in the season once she returned and edited in with other scenes.

I'm sure that's precisely the case. With Kara in the Phantom Zone, they could film her scenes entirely independently of everyone else's.

Who would you cast as a Peter O’Toole type?

Squirt?

 

[thribs]

Someone needs to tell Darkseid It’s on this Earth as well.
It is a very random thing to just randomly shout out. The anti-life equation is the ultimate McGuffin in the DC universe.

Alex has a new superhero name. I was calling her Lady Nightwing; with the black and blue and sticks.

 

[Caretaker]

It was fine for what it needed to do: resolve the cliffhanger and put the pieces in place for this rest of the season/series. At least they aren't pulling a Flash and dragging it out for three more episodes (albeit, at least the first three of The Flash were the most interesting part of that arc).

When Lex said "I won", I was really thinking he should have said, "Winning".

Loved seeing the Superfriends symbols in their HQ. Nice to know they count Batwoman as part of their group.

When Lex started going to town destroying things in the Fortress of Solitude, I thought they might use that to explain the differences between the Fortress looks on the two Super shows. Alas, he got stopped pretty early.

 

[Christopher]

Hmm. So unlike The Flash and Charmed, which both played out the remaining three episodes of their planned story arcs from last season to open this season, Supergirl apparently compressed them all into a single episode. Which means we got a lot of scenes of people standing in rooms talking about stuff going on somewhere else, like everyone being brainwashed to love Lex, and Eve testifying. (I noticed there was a credit for Andrea Brooks, but I didn't see her in the episode, except in the recap.) And most of the action took place in the Fortress, or in CGI in space. I guess all that indoor shooting was how they dealt with COVID restrictions and such.

But that's okay. I'm glad they dealt with Gamemnae and Leviathan in the first few minutes, since I'm glad to see that arc ended. Better to focus on Lex as the final boss, though he didn't get the chance to do that much with his new powers.

Sentinel is a cool new name for Alex. I was expecting her to inherit the Guardian title, but Sentinel is kind of a synonym for Guardian, so she might as well have. I just wish she'd gotten a better costume out of it too. She's basically in a slicker version of Oliver Queen's initial "Hood" getup, a hoodie and heavy eye makeup.

I'm trying to forgive the fact that Brainy somehow got a haircut between the last seconds of the recap and the resolution taking place moments later. They were filmed quite some time apart, after all. But it still annoys me that they have Brainy default to his human appearance all the time. When he first upgraded to his classic green-skinned look, I hoped that the simpler makeup (without the prosthetic forehead lights) meant he'd be spending more time in his true appearance, rather than hiding behind the image inducer. There's really no good character reason why he still does that.

 

[dupersuper]

Rojas / Gamemnae / Leviathans: Wait...Kelly--with her infinite powers of perception--claimed Andrea Rojas' father is a "selfish narcissist" yet every controlling, self-absorbed thing Andrea's done (starting with stealing the medallion and why she did it) are not the result of her father, but her own interests & hubris--a repeated theme throughout her time on this series. In her own way, she's as corrupt as Luthor.

That's how trained psychologists diagnose people isn't it? Never meeting them then seeing their daughter crying...

(I noticed there was a credit for Andrea Brooks, but I didn't see her in the episode, except in the recap.)

I thought there was a quick shot of her at Catco when the satellites started to whammy every one.

 

[Christopher]

I thought there was a quick shot of her at Catco when the satellites started to whammy every one.

That and the other crowd shots may have been filmed before the shutdowns last year.

 

[JD]

This was a decent star to the season.
I was a little shocked how quickly they dealt with Gamemnae, but it was probably for the best since that whole Leviathan story wasn't that great to start with.
The stuff with Lex was pretty good.
After all this time, it's nice to the Alex get her own Superhero name. The reason she's not Guardian is because Kelly will be taking over that name later in the season.

 

[Christopher]

After all this time, it's nice to the Alex get her own Superhero name. The reason she's not Guardian is because Kelly will be taking over that name later in the season.

Yeah, I read that. And it doesn't surprise me; I always kind of figured Kelly would take over as Guardian, ever since we saw her use the shield in Crisis.

 

[dahj]

Hmm. So unlike The Flash and Charmed, which both played out the remaining three episodes of their planned story arcs from last season to open this season, Supergirl apparently compressed them all into a single episode.

If I recall correctly Supergirl only had one episode left when production was shut down last year.

 

[Christopher]

If I recall correctly Supergirl only had one episode left when production was shut down last year.

Ah, yes, you're right. Per the Wiki, it was originally going to be 22 episodes but was trimmed to 20 due to Benoist's pregnancy.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Today on Instagram Jesse Rath said tonight’s episode was the first they filmed when returning to production. That fits with other comments that episode 20 was deep into production when everything was shutdown. I imagine if anything was needed with Melissa to finish 20 it was picked up much later. First time she was spotted con location again was with David Harewood about a month ago. Both in full costume and wearing face masks between shots. She was in current costume but hair parted like in early seasons. It would be nice if the eventual DVDs and Blu rays do a doc discussing how this last season was produced - the scheduling to work with her pregnancy and safety measures due to COVID.

 

[Christopher]

Today on Instagram Jesse Rath said tonight’s episode was the first they filmed when returning to production. That fits with other comments that episode 20 was deep into production when everything was shutdown.

Really? Huh. I could've sworn Brainy had shorter hair in the opening scenes of the new episode than in the recaps just seconds before.

 

[Dick Whitman]

That is what I thought about his hair too. Maybe some scenes had to be reshot and they were more concerned about visual continuity within the episode than matching last season?? I am kind of baffled too. Be fascinating to see a shooting script. Pages usually are colored coded to signify rewrites and revisions. If they were in mid production of that episode when shutdown - there had to have been a pre shutdown script and post shutdown script. Even if changes were minor. But I suspect that for numerous reasons that they had to make huge changes.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Supergirl - The Final Season
Season 6 - episode 2 - "A Few Good Women"

SG/Kara: I still wonder if Kara's father is the genuine article. ...and as in the previous episode, any dialogue about how "impossible" it is to escape from the Phantom Zone simply hold no weight, as the viewers know she's returning (based on the production schedule with Benoist).

Lex / Lena : Cryer--far and away the best thing about this series--was solid in the courtroom scenes; his complete, table turning move against Eve was actually fun to watch. How Eve did not think her own emotions, history and actions would not be used against her is a mystery...or she's just hopelessly naive.

Lena on the stand just admitted to creating a eugenics program; it does not matter if Luthor had an outburst based on some predictable ego trap, she admitted to creating a program to manipulate humans. Lena's own self-absorbed pride led her to expose herself enough to guarantee her brother's acquittal--and prod the district attorney to consider investigate her. Nice, but the showrunners have no intention of that going anywhere.

Rojas: "We all know he's going to be convicted..." / "I want our coverage...to bury him six feet under.." Ah, the one time the showrunners were honest about most "journalism" in planning / running hit pieces on people they despise.

Rojas suggested Lena ask for forgiveness, which is rare for this series' writers to ever have anyone point the finger of guilt at Lena. Yeah, that door was going to shut by the end of the episode, with Rojas still acting as if she was some innocent party all along.

NOTES:
The stunt work with Brainy and Silas...oh, come on. ..and the CG of Dreamer watching young Alex and Kara running. Awful.

The series still has not utilized Nia in any constructive way for the character--her bouts of self-doubt is not character building, nor are the Brainy pep-talks. The characters is not given enough to live up to her potential.
GRADE: C-.

 

[The Realist]

The final season of Supergirl has nowhere to go but up.

And up it went, though not dramatically so. About half this episode was fairly solid, which is half more than last week. The emotions of Kara in the Zone, and of Alex outside it, rang true. Benoist, in particular, shows us a Kara beset in ways she has rarely been, and it's effective.

Called it weeks ago that mystery Kryptonian in the Zone would be Zor-El, though I was hoping against hope that when he turned, Kara would be like, "Zaltar?"

The courtroom theatrics were, unfortunately, not remotely plausible or convincing. Major criminal trials are not a couple of witnesses and a lot of uncontrolled showboating and speechifying. Cryer really deserves better writing than this. (Thankfully, he often gets it.)

The attack by the escaped phantoms was not nearly as exciting as the show seemed to think.

The Nia and Brainy scene was nice. His encouragement and confidence in her felt substantial and genuine, not mere platitudes. And her Next Gen callout made me LOL.

 

[thribs]

I couldn’t watch it as there was some game of Rounders on instead. I don’t know why.
I’ll have to find another way to see it