Supergirl - Season Four

Thought it was Batman who's the dick?

 

"Superdickery" is a joking reference to the trend in Silver Age ('50s-'60s) comics for the covers and stories to show Superman apparently behaving in an out-of-character, mean or hurtful way to his friends, only to have it turn out that he was really doing it to protect them or teach them a lesson, or else he was an impostor or had been changed by red kryptonite or what-have-you. Since the Comics Code limited their ability to do stories about fighting criminals, they had to build the stories more around weird mysteries of what was going on with the heroes.

And Batman being a jerk is a comparatively modern invention, from the '80s onward. After his first year or so, after he was partnered with Robin, Batman became a wholesome, fun, upbeat father figure who was accepted as a legitimate partner of the police at a time when Superman was still a hunted tough-guy vigilante. I'd say the idea that Batman could be a jerk or an obsessive loner may have begun with The New Teen Titans in the early '80s, when Dick Grayson became disaffected with being Batman's partner and eventually struck out on his own. But of course it was post-Frank Miller that the modern characterization set in.

 

Supergirl
Season 4 / episode 17 - "All About Eve"

SG/Kara: SG - "Kal left me to protect earth..." In other words, when Superman is on earth, between the two, he's the assumed natural protector of the world?

For once, Supergirl's priorities were in the right place as she considered Lex the most important matter/threat, rather than the repeal of the alien amnesty act.

"Crazy Lex-girlfriend" Hardy har-har...

Now that she's been set up as an enemy of humankind--with James as a witness to the attack--her response to it all will say much about her character. I would expect one of her inner circle to ask her to surrender to authorities, but I doubt she would do that.

Lex / Lena / Lillian / Eve: Lillian predicting Lena's fall / estrangement from her friends...deliciously evil woman. Something tells me that she might be aware that Lena is playing her for information, and has the appropriate cards up her sleeve as a response.

Lena's "what is wrong with humans wanting to protect themselves?" Sensible question SG cannot possibly answer...along with Alex's numerous examples of the value of Lena's work .

Lena has no reason to doubt what everyone witnessed: Supergirl attacking, unless she knew about the creation/existence of Comrade Kara all along. If not, did she even ask James if it was Supergirl? After all, he was there..

James / Kelly: James not at all curious about the serum that saved his life? Come on. His dealing with PTSD over being shot on the orders of Lex has the potential to send James in an interesting direction--getting him out of the office, but I'm not confident that will ever be explored, since his character is--more often than not--an afterthought.

Lockwood / George Lockwood: I so want to see Lockwood and Lex verbally spar over master plans.
One could think Lex did not care if Lockwood lived or died--or he's being played by Lex to either join him outright, or submit to some scheme that will make him the fall guy.

Nia/Brainy: About the ring: "you never know when you might need it" Obvious hint about what's around the corner for the series..

J'onn: Screaming that he's no man of peace...eh..whatever. Four seasons in, and the showrunners still do not know what to do with this character.

NOTES: Ah, the swipe or homage to the Kryptonian trio's attack on the Oval Office from Superman II (1980)

Nice, short fight with the Metallo-based test subject.

The series returns April 21.with Agent Liberty on the loose.

GRADE: B.

 

Wow, Lex has been at large for two episodes and things have already gone utterly to hell. Supergirl is Public Enemy #1? Yikes.

But at least Supergirl patched things up with Lena, which was a great scene. And Hailey, surprisingly, is on Supergirl's side here too.

A weird FX anomaly... When Red Daughter was firing her heat vision inside the Oval Office, the exterior shot showed the beams emerging from somewhere to screen left of the White House.

 

I don't think Hailey can eve be redeemed from what she did to those alien children.

 

I thought that was weird, too, but then I remembered the Oval Office is in the West Wing, not the mansion proper. You can see the exterior of the office when she fires her heat vision back into it from the outside just before she flies off. It probably would've helped not to frame the shot so it was only on the mansion and the Oval Office was off-screen.

 

No. They nailed it. We were seeing the south side of the white house, so the oval office should be to the left. The CGI folks did their homework.

I really liked how they showed the rooftop of the west wing from above at one point. If they focused on the west wing from afar, it'd be confusing as most people don't know what the whole west wing looks like from the street.

 

Oh, I see. The White House is bigger and the wings more set apart than I realized.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House#/media/File:WHComplex.svg

 

I was initially kind of disappointed the doppelgänger girl would kill all those people on command, as it was really out of character with the person we got to know last week, and then I suddenly remembered how last week ended. I still think it went one bit far, even with the immense anger and anguish she must be feeling right now, but I'll attribute that to the fact that we're once again out of context when it comes to her, and we're no longer following what other manipulation Lex has put her through. Though I probably don't need to, as I've definitely never been in her position...

I do wonder – and even hope – if her finding the boy, alive, would play a role in future developments. Mostly because it would be hell of a realisation for her, but also it may offer one way out of the current impasse.

 

If the doppelganger sees the men on the destroyer as being the "tip of the spear" that killed her young friend then those people in the president's office were probably seen as the hand that holds the spear.

 

Why didn't Lena just tell them that she allowed Lex to help her with the serum in order to save Lex? Just sounds like unnecessary drama to me.
It was an okay episode but I was hoping she would do more damage to the White House. They deserve it for being dicks.

 

I think she kept trying to tell them, but no one would listen. In fact Alex kept interrupting her as she was trying to confess what she did for Lex.

The drama came about when Momma dearest used it to put fear into Lena that her friends weren't friends at all and would show their true selves when they found out.

I wonder if Lillian told Lex about Kara's alias, or if he figured it out on his own.

 

Very interesting rumor/report here. Slightly spoilery, so I'm coding it.

Spoiler

https://supergirl.tv/rumor-young-alex-kara-return

The comments to the article offer a good bit of additional supporting evidence from Internet sleuths.

This is great news, if true. "Midvale" remains one of my very favorite episodes of the series. The two young actresses killed it, and I find that the episode informs and deepens my sense of Kara and Alex's bond even today. If they are in fact doing a "sequel," it could be another great show in a generally terrific season of Supergirl.

 

^^ Great news if true, but I wonder if it will be next season.

 

Nope, not per the info in that article and the comments. It's all about stuff they're shooting currently.

 

Excellent news!

 

Larger land masses wouldn't mean the planet itself is any larger - just that there is more land in the land/water ratio in the DCU.

 

And now they are all desparate not to get caught in the stink of it all.....

 

Proof of climate change?

Or the opposite, considering changes in cartography, the existence or disexistence of countries, short of exploding nukes on fault-lines, would go beyond immediate human history, so any climate change that has happened on the two Earths creating this flagrant schism, happened because of not Human input.



Blame Atlantis.

 

Supergirl
Season 4 / episode 18 - "Crime and Punishment"

SG/Kara: SG - "If the government wants to stop me from helping people, let then try." Thoughtless, as she's only making her situation worse. Her constant cries of "It wasn't me" speaks to her wanting to be admired (as much as trusted), as she's not handling what could be the public's true perception of her. The inmate referring to her personality as being "malignant narcissism" was actually spot on, and its refreshing that the showrunners had someone call her out in that way.

The prison fight was pointless, as every human on earth is well aware of a Kryptonian's power, so this was a waste of a scene. The real fight was with Super-Otis, but plot convenience #1 was her retrieve her clothes and her glasses, when she did not bring that with her..

Lena: The discovery of Lex's secret lab was plot convenience #2; her deducing that the wall art was not the alps was not arrived at with information/logic, but a memory which would not lead her to seeking out a secret control.

James / Kelly: I was wondering why no one ever asked James why he was never traumatized by any other bad experiences: he had been tortured by Lex a number of times, captured and beaten by Maxwell Lord, and attacked/shot at numerous times long before he had the protection of the Guardian suit. The point being that he's faced death before, yet he's only now exhibit signs of PTSD, when in truth, it should have manifested itself before Eve shot him.

The expanding veins mirror that of Lena's dead test subject. First thought is that he's in danger, but he was treated with the same formula as that used on Lex, so the series--if they actually had an idea on how to finally use James in a creative way--should have him become the true "protector" he's always wanted to be. Being enhanced and not needing a suit would give him a sense of fulfilling that purpose...if the drug does not mutate him in some bizarre way.

Lockwood / George Lockwood: Lockwood is back to being a motivated antagonist, instead of the "coward" type seen in the protest scene a few episodes earlier. The following might be a stretch, but I have the sneaking suspicion he will be forced to face off with Comrade Kara (if he's not aware of her existence) sometime in the future, which will draw the real SG into a fight to save or help him, leading to his partial ideological shift. It would be one of the few ways for Lockwood to hit the breaks on his vendetta against her...but not necessarily bringing an end to his views on other aliens.

Haley: She was correct in pushing back against Alex's over-the-line use of Haley's daughter as a misapplied argument about her duty and what is "right," but her sudden, unprofessional behavior (the signal watch) in this episode is quite uncharacteristic for Haley's established character.

Brainy: There was nothing cute about Brainy scrubbing the alien registry--completely illegal, but this series dances all over the idea of following the law when inconvenient. At least he understood that the government has the capacity to find another way to locate aliens, so that should have clued him in on how pointless it was to take that illegal action.

NOTES: Kara's "there's nothing more powerful in the pursuit of justice than the power of the press" The line is historically incorrect (in the broad way Kara uses it) as justice often grew out of the streets long before the media ever took notice of an issue or campaign seeking to address injustice. The showrunners need to stop the painfully obvious topical preaching, as everyone knows what they're referring to. The collective news media are not a noble band of angels, nor are they a pit of devils. Factually, it is a flawed institution, like police departments, state and federal government, etc., but the showrunners have an axe to grind, so....


GRADE: C.