Supergirl - Season Four

[The Realist]

^ Hm, I actually do see what you're saying. Possibly, Supergirl's writers --always well and honestly intentioned, rarely nuanced or subtle -- could have handled it better. Still, I invite you to give the speech the benefit of the doubt, and to give Nia a little more sympathy. Clumsy or not, the point was not that she was denying James's perspective, but merely expressing her own, from her own very personal experience. It's possible to say, "This is what I feel," without necessarily saying, "You've never felt this."

 

[Christopher]

This was a very strong episode. I feel the show is back on track after losing its way a bit last season. There's a renewed focus and maturity to the writing and direction, and while the message is very clear, it doesn't feel as clumsy as it sometimes did in the previous year or two. Nia gave a very strong showing for herself. And James is finally starting to feel credibly like the editor-in-chief of a news outlet, although maybe 70% of that is the suit.

The humor was well-done too -- I loved the sequence where Lena was so protective of Kara that she wouldn't let her out of her sight, and Benoist was brilliant playing Kara's desperate attempts to get away to change.

Given that Agent Liberty is essentially a voice-only performance so far, I'm glad they cast Sam Witwer, who has a wonderfully rich and expressive voice. I wonder what the reason for the mask is, though. Meanwhile, it's nice to see Bruce Boxleitner as the new president, and I really hope he doesn't turn out to be evil. I expect we'll be seeing a fair amount of him, given that they apparently built a whole Oval Office set (unless they borrowed it from some other production, like when Stargate SG-1 borrowed the White House sets built for X2: X-Men United -- come to think of it, that was also in Vancouver, so maybe it's the same set?).

Brainy finding Nia familiar has got to be because she's the ancestor of his Legion teammate Dreamer. I was a bit surprised that he didn't show recognition of her name.

Anyway, the fact that Nia contrivedly came to a pizzeria in search of coffee, for some reason, reminds me how they used to have that restaurant/coffee shop that was a regular haunt for the CatCo crew in season 1, but then it totally vanished when the show moved production to Vancouver in season 2. I think we continued to see its logo on coffee cups in season 2, but now it's just forgotten. Well, maybe that restaurant was wrecked in one of the alien attacks.

 

[Greg Cox]

I found the idea that a D.E.O. agent would go over to the other side very plausible in that the DEO's original mission was basically to protect the Earth from dangerous aliens. Then their leader is exposed as a Martian, Supergirl starts working closely with the team, Brainy replaces Winn, and the focus is now on protecting aliens from persecution. I can certainly see an old-school DEO agent going "Hey, I signed up to fight aliens, not help them infiltrate our planet!"

Personally, I would have cast an older guy as the traitor, but it still rang true to me.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

^ Hm, I actually do see what you're saying. Possibly, Supergirl's writers --always well and honestly intentioned, rarely nuanced or subtle -- could have handled it better. Still, I invite you to give the speech the benefit of the doubt, and to give Nia a little more sympathy. Clumsy or not, the point was not that she was denying James's perspective, but merely expressing her own, from her own very personal experience. It's possible to say, "This is what I feel," without necessarily saying, "You've never felt this."

I sympathize with her position, but I think it would have worked better if in defending Brainy, she revealed being a trans woman to the pizza shop man who did represent the clueless type that would need to have some truth dropped on him. Nia breaking what would have been his initial assumption about her, would force him to question whether or not he's still accepting (because subconsciously, he would have based on image alone), and if so, then he might extend that acceptance to a being that is the same guy he's known all along--human species or not.

The pizza shop guy's reaction--if negative--could have added more drama to Nia's own story, then, in the reveal to James, he could have shared some personal story to let her know how deep an issue discrimination is / act in a big brotherly way (as opposed to a Perry White and/or paternalistic way).

 

[Dick Whitman]

That is a great point. You would imagine that this whole time there were DEO Agents who shared the real Hank Henshaw’s beliefs. Just because the leader is replaced does not magically changed the ideology of his followers.

I have been very impressed with this season. The Reign storyline was not strong enough to support a whole season. Take away the protracted mystery of when Sam would be discovered as Reign there was not much there. More Kryptonian mythology, they have gone to that well for adversaries too often. Having human enemies is refreshing and more grounded in reality.

I also like that the scope of stories is extending beyond National City.

 

[dahj]

Another strong episode, really liking the start of the season.

I guess the Earth being poisoned by Kryptonite is the reason for the suit we saw in the trailers.

 

[Christopher]

By the way, I forgot to mention how shocking the closing moments of the episode were. The Graveses and their DEO sympathizer stole the lead dispersal device (which Otis had conveniently reminded the viewers of in his interrogation scene) and used it as Lex originally intended, to spread kryptonite and poison Earth forever for Kryptonians. That's a doomsday scenario for Supergirl, and in episode 2 of the season, no less! How the heck are they ever going to fix this? (We see now why the writers wanted Superman off-planet at this point, so they wouldn't have to deal with the complication of how this would affect him.)

I found the idea that a D.E.O. agent would go over to the other side very plausible in that the DEO's original mission was basically to protect the Earth from dangerous aliens. Then their leader is exposed as a Martian, Supergirl starts working closely with the team, Brainy replaces Winn, and the focus is now on protecting aliens from persecution. I can certainly see an old-school DEO agent going "Hey, I signed up to fight aliens, not help them infiltrate our planet!"

Personally, I would have cast an older guy as the traitor, but it still rang true to me.

Good point. Still, it'd be more plausible if the guy weren't giving off such blatant "I hate you people and I'm plotting evil deeds" body language and facial expressions.

Also, how did Mercy and Otis know who he was? Otis pointed him out to Mercy, and she knew his name. I guess they must've researched the DEO and identified likely sympathizers.

 

[dahj]

On the whole DEO thing, I forget, do the people working there generally know Supergirl is Kara?

Because she's been there a bunch of times in plain clothes and obviously being very sisterly with Alex, but at other times they've pretended they don't know, so I've lost track...

 

[DigificWriter]

Alex referred to herself as Otis' boss, so he might have been a DEO operative, which is how he'd be familiar with Jensen.

 

[Greg Cox]

Also, how did Mercy and Otis know who he was? Otis pointed him out to Mercy, and she knew his name. I guess they must've researched the DEO and identified likely sympathizers.

I wondered if maybe he had been posting in one of those anti-alien chat rooms and message boards we saw last week.

 

[Christopher]

I wondered if maybe he had been posting in one of those anti-alien chat rooms and message boards we saw last week.

That's a possibility. I doubt he would've used his real name there, but they could've hacked that information.

I would've thought he was actually Agent Liberty if I didn't already know Sam Witwer was playing that part.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Also, how did Mercy and Otis know who he was? Otis pointed him out to Mercy, and she knew his name. I guess they must've researched the DEO and identified likely sympathizers.

Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman? All three were part of Cadmus. He would be the best source on the DEO they would have had excess too. Though as Greg said this traitor is a little young. Hard to say if Henshaw ever knew him.

Regardless with Mercy and Otis having history with Cadmus it would be nice to better explore Henshaw. Even David Harewood himself admitted he was not happy how poorly written “Cyborg Superman” has been as a character. But that could be changed. Plus they have the advantage he is played by a regular cast member. Not like other past villains who are not available due to scheduling conflicts.

 

[dahj]

Though as Greg said this traitor is a little young. Hard to say if Henshaw ever knew him.

Henshaw has been out of the DEO for ~15 years, so probably not.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Totally loving Brainy and Nia here. In their scene together, and in general. It was very difficult for anything to stand out in an episode so packed with awesome and tense from start to end, but they still did for me. Nia going from reluctant to fired up was quick, and made her my instant favourite. Her encounter with Brainy is where the episode peaked – and that started before things started to fall down. Then Brainy going in the exact opposite direction was so sad, and beautifully handled. I was unable to anticipate or fully comprehend his reaction as much as he wasn't.

The now-ex DEO agent/actual traitor getting angry in an ill-timed manner just as he saw Brainy hurt and after he eavesdropped on him confessing his actual terror so as inappropriate as it was typical – worst timing and circumstance if there's one. Not seeing further than his nose in a nutshell. Speaking of which, I'm loving how the definition of traitor is on its head – a foreigner who is loyal to your country/planet is like the mathematical opposite of it.

I'm surprised Kara didn't expose herself. I literally expected her to expose her identity to Lena a couple moment after she read that it was Brainiac 5's image inducer that was compromised. There wasn't an actual hint in that scene that we were going to actually go there, was it? Subliminal messages, anyone? I was actually shocked that this random anticipation of mine was followed by an actual trap that almost forced her hand. Even that was a tense experience, and additionally communicated the risk every other alien was being in just then.

Jon going to speak to rabidly anti-alien guys and attending Agent Liberty hate sermon was something too. The mere act of him being there send your mind to a different place, and elevated his character to a new level.

13/10.

P.S. The cloud is bad for a lot of things, but hooking devices that provide life-saving privacy to it is unethical and downright criminal on L-Corp's part. Would not buy again.

 

[dahj]

I'm surprised Kara didn't expose herself. I literally expected her to expose her identity to Lena

I'm pretty sure that's coming this season, an episode where that finally happens seems tailor made for the current arc.

 

[Noname Given]

I'm pretty sure that's coming this season, an episode where that finally happens seems tailor made for the current arc.

I'm sure it'll happen either when, or just prior to Lex Luthor showing up. (Gotta keep the "Will Lena revert to her 'evil' ways..." subplot alive and kicking at thw worst possible time for SG )

 

[Snaploud]

So, just to be clear: an alien lied her way into the Oval Office, and Supergirl helped keep her illegitimacy a secret. Afterwards, not one of the main characters is willing to repudiate these actions.

 

[Tuskin38]

I was afraid they would do something dumb to try and keep the president in office, I’m glad they didn’t. She broke the law.

 

[Snaploud]

Her entire presidency is illegitimate. Every one of her actions, including her court and justice department appointments, are illegitimate. She brought the country to a crisis so severe that it could realistically lead to a mass uprising of the citizenry.

Resignation is not enough, imo. She should be in prison.

 

[Christopher]

Her entire presidency is illegitimate. Every one of her actions, including her court and justice department appointments, are illegitimate.

Yeah, and so is Kara Danvers's driver's license. These are people who came to Earth at a time when they had no legal existence or protection, so they had no choice but to hide their identity from the law. Not all laws are moral.