Spoilers Supergirl - Season 1

[The Old Mixer]

Kara is in no way obligated to share her secret with Lucy, or anyone else. For what it's worth, she didn't even deliberately bring James in on it, that was Superman's call.

That's something I can't stand in the Berlanti shows, especially Arrow...all the angst they milk out of people feeling like they're entitled to know other people's secrets.

 

[Christopher]

I think Kara is right to be reluctant. Even though she is cool with Lucy, she probably doesn't trust her fully, and neither is she completely over her feelings for James. So why would she let a potential rival-maybe someone she's even a little jealous of or insecure about-have her secret identity?

Well, I was addressing James's motives, not Kara's. I was saying that I don't see any contradiction between James protesting the DEO's treatment of Lord and James wanting to be honest with his girlfriend. And in both cases, James took his concerns to Kara and talked with her openly about them like a good friend, rather than trying to go behind her back or something. He could've told Cat and Lucy about Max's captivity, but he didn't. He could've told Lucy about Kara's secret identity, but he didn't. He voiced his concerns to Kara but still respected her right to be involved in the decision. So I don't see any contradiction in James's approach to the two matters.

As far as Kara's concerned, I don't think she'd be as petty as you suggest. Lucy can't be any more unreliable a confidante than Winn "I might have hereditary supervillainy and I'm bummed that you rejected me" Schott. And this is about James as well as Lucy. James can't be true to one of the most important women in his life without betraying the other, and that's an unfair position to put him in.

And while Lois and Lucy are sisters, it doesn't mean they will respond to learning a secret of that magnitude the same way. From what I've read of Lucy in the comics she's much more in line with her dad than Lois, even to a very dark degree. Of course the show might not take follow the comics in that regard, but that's what I have to draw on in an attempt to get a feel for the show's Lucy.

Granted on Supergirl thus far she has defied her father, in regards to James. But would she extend that to Supergirl? An alien who her dad is suspicious of? An alien that had deceived her? Plus General Lane's likely not the only one in the government that has fears or doubts about Supergirl. So it could become an issue of duty/patriotism versus her feelings for James. And if Lucy also thinks or suspects that there's more to James and Supergirl's relationship, then Lucy's jealousy might come into play, propelling her even more to the dark side.

I don't see any reason to think that the show's Lucy has that in her. She's been characterized as a more decent person than that. Her issues with James have tended to be over matters where she had legitimate grievances. Two people in a relationship can both be reasonable and well-intentioned and yet still have miscommunications or conflicting goals, and that's what I see in James and Lucy. It's a nicely handled portrayal of a relationship between decent, mature people, rather than the usual petty soap-opera conflict between emotionally dysfunctional characters.

And that's why this plot development is interesting. The question of whether to tell Lucy the truth is complicated and difficult for reasons that don't require any of the characters involved to be juvenile or jealous or untrustworthy. That gives it more nuance than the usual secret-identity hijinks.

Another thing I just thought about is that Kara is probably emotionally distraught right now. She's still grieving for her aunt. She's angry at Hank, perhaps she feels a sense of deep betrayal and its hard for her to fathom letting anyone else in right now. And then she's probably also concerned about letting Maxwell Lord loose. And then there's her new office rival as well. It perhaps wasn't the best time for James to ask her. Though he's dealing with his own issues and it was the necessary time for him, if he wanted to keep his relationship with Lucy. So it sucks that they arrived at that point.

Yes, exactly. Everyone involved means well and has good reasons for how they feel, but they still end up with conflicting needs and concerns.

 

[Zaku]

Not to this degree. In the Spider-Man comics, Parker had been fired and/or barred from jobs on numerous occasions, either for his unexplained behavior, failure to provide what Jameson wanted, or even due to personality conflicts.That is closer to reality than the weekly soap opera BS with Cat/Kara.

Fun fact: one of the jobs of pre-crisis Supergirl was soap-opera actress!

And the first encounter Supergirl-Master Jailer!

 

[Admiral2]

I did a quick look and came up with some links below for Supergirl's enemies.

In the New 52 I wouldn't mind if we saw Simon Tycho (though Maxwell Lord sort of has that kind of spot covered right now) and the World Killers (perhaps for the season finale). Also bringing General Lane's Project 7734 with Atlas and Codename: Assassin into the mix, not to mention Superwoman. And its possible that Granny Goodness, The Female Furies, and other denizens from Apokolips might be out there for the show to use. So I don't think Supergirl is necessarily hurting for villains. It would be great if they built up Reactron. I thought he made a very good foe in the pre-New 52 Supergirl stories.

http://comicvine.gamespot.com/supergirl/4005-2351/enemies/

http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Supergirl_Villains

I read that first list. A bunch of retread Superman and Batman villains among some lightweights.

That first guy...yeesh! He looks like that douche Mahkizmo from Marvel Comics.

 

[Christopher]

Okay, now I want to see Melissa Benoist say "Great Krypton!" Hey, if Mike Colter could make "Sweet Christmas!" work, then...

 

[Mr. Adventure]

And the first encounter Supergirl-Master Jailer!

I know it's for the sake of drama but I've always wanted to see more of using superspeeds like that.

 

[Christopher]

And the first encounter Supergirl-Master Jailer!

His gun... shot... keys??? That's... aerodynamically problematical.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^ It's why he only uses it at point blank range.

 

[Admiral2]

Fun fact: one of the jobs of pre-crisis Supergirl was soap-opera actress!

And the first encounter Supergirl-Master Jailer!

Yeah, see...Jailer's a pussy.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Does Supergirl have any kind of a rogues' gallery of her own? New 52 or otherwise? Cause all the Superman villains are doing is making me wish this was a Superman series.

One notable Supergirl rogue in recent years is Lucy Lane. She wore a suit that gave her Kryptonian-like powers and, as Superwoman, she was part of Sam Lane's plan to rid Earth of Kryptonians... until Supergirl accidentally killed her during a battle.

I agree. I think the writers have a problem here. On one hand, they want Supergirl/Kara to work at Catco as a way of showing her civilian side. Like with Superman, the character needs to have two lives, the super hero life and the civilian alter ego life. on the other hand, what we've seen at Catco, there is no way in real life that Kara would still have her job. A personal assistant like her would normally always be at her desk, answering calls and taking care of any task that the boss needs to delegate. But Kara has been routinely late or missing in action, constantly running off to be Supergirl or to chat with James and Winn in their secret office. Realistically, there should have been dozens of times when Cat asked Kara to do something and she is awol from her desk. And then we have Kara's odd and sometimes unprofessional behavior. So realistically, the writers should have Kara get fired but then they lose the alter ego civilian side of the character.

Alternatively, they could have kept Cat in on the secret instead of using Hank to confuse Cat. I tend to think that would have been preferable.

During the year Doctor Octopus body hopped and took over Peter Parker's life, he went back to school and got Parker a Doctorate in at least one field, maybe applied sciences and/or Engineering, and then opened Parker Industries a multinational mega-corporation poised to put Stark in the poor house, as Otto in Peter's body convinced the world that he was Steve Jobs reborn on steroids.

To anyone who says, "Oh, but Peter's not that rich," I point out that he bought outright the Baxter Building. Peter Parker is a freakin' billionaire now. Real estate in lower Manhattan, especially a skyscraper like the Baxter building, isn't cheap.

I sometimes think the whole point of Superior Spider-Man was to create a bunch of new toys for Peter to use that he wouldn't have created or acquired for himself, but since Otto created them it's okay for Peter to use them.

 

[Christopher]

I like the idea of letting Peter gain success from his scientific genius while Miles Morales, now folded into the main Marvel Universe, takes over Peter's former niche as the teenaged, "street-level" Spider-Man. That's a nice way to handle having two Spideys without it being redundant.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The Baxter Building's in Midtown.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I doubt real forensic scientists and test pilots are allowed to wander off their jobs at will like Barry and Hal.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

The Baxter Building's in Midtown.

For some reason I thought it was in lower Manhattan. Is it the Avenger's Mansion that's down there?

But the point is, Manhattan real estate is expensive. Buy a skyscraper, it's going to cost a lot. Peter's worth ten figures.

 

[Christopher]

The Baxter Building's in Midtown.

For some reason I thought it was in lower Manhattan.

Well, it does move around a lot. I just read the first Essential Fantastic Four volume (impulse check-out at the library), and the Baxter Building got lifted off its foundations twice in the first 20 issues -- first dragged into space by Doctor Doom, then levitated over Times Square by the Molecule Man.

Interestingly, in the debut issue of the FF, they weren't yet based in New York, but instead were said to be from... Central City!

 

[The Old Mixer]

For some reason I thought it was in lower Manhattan. Is it the Avenger's Mansion that's down there?.

Nope, Avenger's Mansion is on the upper Eest Side overlooking Central Park.

Strange's sanctum is down in the Village, though.

 

[DarKush]

Christopher,

I wanted to reply to your response. I don't know how to work that multi-quote thing. But anyway, I don't think it's fair to consider Winn unreliable at the time Kara told him her identity. At that time he was her closest friend, at least on the job, and likely the closest non-relative. She didn't know about his dad nor did she know how he truly felt about her. If she had known those things she might have been reluctant to tell him.

As for the pettiness issue; perhaps that was foreshadowed a bit in this episode where Winn made a distinction between Supergirl and Kara, trying to give Kara some space to be less than perfect. I'm okay with Kara being a little petty, being jealous or insecure. It shows her as more human. Just like her fear and anger and perhaps even vengefulness regarding Max Lord made her a bit more complex and interesting a character. One thing I've liked about Supergirl in the more recent comics (particularly the Sterling Gates/Jamal Igle) books was that Kara wasn't perfect. She could be rash, she got angry.

You are right that we haven't seen a villainous turn for Lucy. At first she was something of an obstacle to Kara, a roadblock between her and James getting together. But the show didn't make her a bad person, which would've been the easy and perhaps lazy way to go, to make her obviously unworthy a mate for James. That being said the source material for Lucy to turn bad is there, I don't see why they wouldn't use it. They faked us out with Hank Henshaw, but it seems like a waste of a good villain to not have Lucy become an antagonist sometime down the road. The twist with Hank was so cool that I forgive them for denying us a Cyborg-Superman. Well, maybe they will go there, and it just won't be Henshaw.

I agree with your thoughts on James and his predicament. I do think its nice that he asked Kara and is going to respect her decision even if it causes additional strain between him and Lucy.

 

[Christopher]

I wanted to reply to your response. I don't know how to work that multi-quote thing. But anyway, I don't think it's fair to consider Winn unreliable at the time Kara told him her identity.

Not my point. My point is to refute the idea that Lucy would be a worse candidate than those who already know. I honestly don't see anything wrong with her as a potential confidante.

As for the pettiness issue; perhaps that was foreshadowed a bit in this episode where Winn made a distinction between Supergirl and Kara, trying to give Kara some space to be less than perfect. I'm okay with Kara being a little petty, being jealous or insecure. It shows her as more human. Just like her fear and anger and perhaps even vengefulness regarding Max Lord made her a bit more complex and interesting a character. One thing I've liked about Supergirl in the more recent comics (particularly the Sterling Gates/Jamal Igle) books was that Kara wasn't perfect. She could be rash, she got angry.

But when it comes to her hostility toward Max or Hank, at least there are some real issues and stakes involved there. This is just a work colleague being petty and trying to show her up. It seems beneath her.

Then again, now that I think about it, when you're upset about something serious, it can heighten your frustration with even trivial things. Kara's reaction to Siobhan -- and to Max and to Hank -- is surely a consequence of her grief and pain about Astra. I guess it makes sense in that context.

That being said the source material for Lucy to turn bad is there, I don't see why they wouldn't use it.

Felicity Smoak, in her original incarnation in Firestorm comics, was a recurring antagonist for Firestorm, a businesswoman who sued him for destroying her property. Arrow's Felicity is nothing like her. Caitlin Snow, in the comics, is the supervillain Killer Frost. The Flash's Caitlin Snow is a heroic character, with Killer Frost existing only on Earth-2.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Personally I don't think James should have any say over to who Kara divulges her identity. That's got to be akin to coming out of the closet or other private matter. Once that secret is aired her private life is over. Not to mention just how dangerous it could be for multiple parties. That is for Kara alone to entrust and she shouldn't be pressured by anyone to give that up.

 

[DarKush]

Christopher,

The only thing I want to say about Winn is that I do think there is a difference. He was a person she trusted, was (and still is) her friend when she told him. He's the first non-relative, as far as we know, that she told. Who is Lucy compared to that? She's the daughter of a powerful man who is hostile to her and wants to take over the DEO and she's the girlfriend of a man that Kara has feelings for. What makes Lucy as worthy a candidate as Winn for inclusion in on her secret?

Let me repeat that Kara learned about the 'troubling' stuff about Winn after she had already told him. While Lucy hasn't done anything to make Kara or the audience suspicious, I don't see why Kara should widen her circle at this time. Right now she's reeling emotionally and might want to keep a lid on her secret.

Of those that currently know her secret you have her sister, Superman's best friend, Kara's best friend, Hank (who has sworn to protect both Kara and Alex). The only rotten apples who knows are Max and she didn't tell him, he learned through his deceitful means, and the Kryptonians who don't seem to care about Kara's secret identity. Of those that Kara let in on her secret I don't see how any of them can be called 'worse'. They are either close to Kara, Alex, or Superman. Darn near family.

Good point about Felicity. But Felicity was included on Arrow as a one-off character, however she really connected with audiences. I wonder if the name was just picked as an Easter Egg. To me the Caitlin example works better, however even Flash acknowledges a Caitlin as Killer Frost, if not the Earth-1 Caitlin.

Granted Lucy could've just been added to the show because of her family connections. I think she might have also had a relationship with James in the comics, but I'm not 100% on that. And it might not go further. I was hoping though that with her inclusion on the show we would get to see Superwoman. I really liked that whole New Krypton/Project 7734 arc and hope the show does it at some point.