Spoilers "Supergirl": the 6th and final season

[TREK_GOD_1]

Supergirl - The Final Season
Season 6 - episode 9 - "Dream Weaver"

SG / Kelly/Joey/Orlando: You gotta love how characters with next to no real development is just dipped into Issue of the Week--and not being knowledgeable enough to give the subject the attention it deserves. The entire Kelly Saga.

Kelly mentioned someone named "Jimmy." Must be some new character.

Unlike Black Lightning, this thin series uses the topic of inmates used for crimes / prison industrial complex not to focus on the plight of real black inmates, but using black people as their continuing alien commentary, and there's so much inconsiderate and offensive about that. Is not enough to focus on black inmates abused in the criminal justice system, naaahhh--they're only good for having their skin be the poorly written gateway for this pointless story, and Supergirl gets to makes a "I understand that the system is not designed for y-y-you..." speech, because she cares. Oh, how she cares about us.... Typically self-serving preaching from a position of pure ignorance.

Oh, and of course an inmate can just be exonerated overnight for a quickie reunion. Yeah, life works just that way.

...and Kelly being the new Guardian. That's supposed to be exciting, I guess.

Alex: Not much to do.

Andrea: Yeah, in episode eight, she used the Acrata medallion, and so far, she's not facing any consequences for it.

Nia / Nxylgsptinz: The Nia Mama Drama was never an interesting plot. I've pointed the following out before, but Nia had potential for other, larger stories that take advantage of the character (a purpose) apart from the other series regulars, but that has not happened, and with only a handful of episodes left, it never will. She was added to this series and was just moved from one scene to another.

Nxylgsptinz--an example of the writers thinking this kind of character is supposed to be "troublesome but appealing," but that's not happening. She's conning Nia all for some revenge plot never developed enough for anyone to care about it--or her.

NOTES:
Last week dumping trash into the oceans, this week prison abuse....

GRADE: D-.

 

[Christopher]

An okay episode. Not the first time this year that the Arrowverse has taken on private for-profit prisons, I think. And we get our first inklings of Intergang and Bruno Mannheim. Well, not our first. Mannheim was briefly mentioned in an Arrow episode as an Intergang crime boss who'd been brought down in the past, and a couple of early Supergirl episode name-dropped Earth-38's Intergang in passing. But this is its first mention in Earth-Prime continuity, and it seems that it's now an active operation again. Interesting that they're bringing in a Jack Kirby-created criminal organization in the same episode that puts Kelly on the path to become Guardian, another Kirby character.

I wonder if that precocious, adorable kid Esme from the group home will be more than she appears. I'm wondering if she's Nyxly in disguise, but that doesn't track with Nyxly being trapped in the dream dimension. Unless she's lying about being trapped, but then why would she need Dreamer's help?

They’re really getting lazy with their aliens. They all just looked like humans to me.

A couple had subtle forehead ridges or pointed ears, par for the course for Supergirl makeup. It's no different from the way aliens have been depicted in the show for years, especially in episodes like this where there are a lot of alien guest stars. You saw the same thing in the Star Trek shows in the '90s-'00s -- if there was just one or two alien guests, they could have elaborate makeup, but if you needed a bunch of aliens, they were more likely to be human-looking with just some small ridges or spots, something simple enough that the makeup staff could apply it to a lot of people in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[thribs]

I wasn’t expecting Kelly wanting to be Guardian after that. I was expecting her wanting to adopt a kid.

 

[The Realist]

She can do both (though only one particularly plausibly).

I have seen speculation that she and Alex will end up adopting Esme.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Speculators work fast.

 

[dupersuper]

Why were the Kryptonians dumping waste in their oceans when they had cheap space travel and Phantom Zone Projectors?

Also, what did their polluted oceans have to do with their planet exploding?

 

[thribs]

I wasn’t even aware Krypton had oceans

 

[Guy Gardener]

I wasn’t even aware Krypton had oceans

Krypton is an Ice Word?

Or its going through an Ice Age?

Thinking of the 78 movie and the Krypton Series.

Climate collapse, ocean death, makes the Kryptonians desperate.

Tap the core.

Boom.

Ideally, a technologically enough society can generate power from tidal forces.

After a thousand years of that, when suddenly the oceans turn into an ice cube... They are %%cked, and tap the core.

Kryptonians are too pragmatic to over populate the planet.

Especially if they are a clone race.

As resources shrink, so does the population.

The population could go from billions to millions as a caretaker population holds out in domed cities waiting for the Iceage to break.

oh...

If the oceans are already dead, a drop in 40 degrees over a century, kills everything that swims, so... The mostly frozen oceans become a trash heap, since it's a dead zone anyway.

Still not answering the question.

####.

 

[thribs]

I suppose it depends on what version of Krypton we’re talking about. It’s always struck me as a very alien planet. Not resembling Earth in any way.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I suppose it depends on what version of Krypton we’re talking about. It’s always struck me as a very alien planet. Not resembling Earth in any way.

...because in numerous adaptations across the decades it did not resemble earth at all, but Supergirl needed it to make a slapped-together message episode lacking any of the details and serious issues around real world dumping. But the Berlanti brain trust wanted their Very Special Episode, so Krypton suddenly turned into a world just like earth....yeah...that works....

 

[dupersuper]

I suppose it depends on what version of Krypton we’re talking about. It’s always struck me as a very alien planet. Not resembling Earth in any way.

Except all of those bipedal primates walking around on it...with their dogs...and monkeys...

 

[Guy Gardener]

Reverse the shrink tech.

Turn Garbage Island into a new continent.

Set up a bank.

Generate billions out of nothing.

Invite all the alien refugees, and everyone else dissatisfied by America.

 

[The Realist]

It seems the series finale will be a two-hour "event":

Based on episode count and weeks remaining, I think what they're actually doing is simply airing the final two episodes (19 and 20) back-to-back.

 

[Guy Gardener]

IS THAT AN OLD PICTURE???!!!

Or are those ##cking bangs back?

I liked the Heidi/Princess Leia swoops Kara had in her hair last week.

 

[Commander Troi]

They’re really getting lazy with their aliens. They all just looked like humans to me.

LOL! I said the same! @Christopher thanks for the background on how that usually happens.

I have seen speculation that she and Alex will end up adopting Esme.

I wouldn't be surprised. I wonder what Esme's ability is? Besides being *insanely* cute.

I agree with @TREK_GOD_1 that the writing on this one was terrible, heavy-handed, and just . Which is a damn shame.

 

[The Realist]

A little better than the recent standard. Script was solid if not exactly inspired, and there were some decent character moments (especially with Nia) and a couple of laughs ("Nobody touch my chair!"). Nyxly continues to be a highlight, largely thanks to Peta Sergeant's mercurial malevolence. And the return of Mxy in the closing moments bodes well for next week.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Supergirl - The Final Season
Season 6 - episode 10 - "Still I Rise"

SG / Orlando: Oh, so now Supergirl tackles the impact of low income housing consumed by local government & corporations at the expense of the underprivileged. Thanks to Supergirl and Kelly solving America's prison industrial complex / alien abuse problem, SG is free to continue her "Solve America" tour, righting wrongs no one was ever able to address.

Gee...a "social media takeover" is just what the people and big developers needed the hear to change America into pots 'o gold and rivers made of chocolate. But wait! Some of the residents believe their lives were improved by the very program Orlando says is hurting him. What to do, what to do. Well, stopping Rankin's plans might work out for Orlando, but not the residents who criticized SG for her position.

Alex / J'onn / Brainy / Andrea: They were...there.

Nia / Nxylgsptinz: Nia's Mama Drama Saga continues, and yes, her sub-plot will not be Nia-centric much longer.

Nxylgsptinz's trying to trap Supergirl...and who cares about this sub-plot, when her entire motive for regaining her powers is to murder her father? I guess audiences were supposed to gasp when SG called for Mr. Mxyzptlk as her last hope....

NOTES:
Episode eight - dumping trash into the oceans.
Episode nine - alien abuse in the prison industrial complex.
Episode ten - low income residents / paroled individuals threatened by corporate buyouts of property.

One can only imagine which PSA / Norman Lear script this series will rip-off next week.

As seen in last week's Very Special Episode Spotlighting How Much Berlanti Productions Cares and Understands, a black character (rather, an extraterrestrial who happens to appear like a black person) is used as this politically and intellectually empty production company's weekly stand for all of those people beneath their notice (starting with one of the former lead characters, and his the marginalization and misuse, which is this series' permanently affixed anchor of indifference to black characterization and issues). Orlando's "see me" speech was the kind of conveniently dropped scene (with expected close-ups on the principals watching...and why were they unaware of the plight of former inmates and the poor over the the long years of the series in-universe?) that only exists and succeeds in bad Very Special Episodes. ...and yes, Rankin still being against the preservation of the housing project was their "fight goes on" moment, but the ending was still wrapped up in a nice bow.

Supergirl & Kelly--

Kelly: "How am I gonna fight beside all of you when I can't even master one move?"
Supergirl: "What are you talking about? I saw you take down Alex--that was awesome!"
Kelly: "Yeah, but I couldn't get the move she was showing me."
Supergirl: "Who cares? The way you used her momentum against her was efficient and BRILLIANT! You just have to shift your perspective so that yo see how capable we already know you are."

Notice how Supergirl is over-the-moon with support and enthusiasm for non-powered Kelly becoming the next Guardian, but she argued with James, actually ordering then threatening to stop him. The differences in the treatment of the Olsens is undeniable: James was unfit for the Guardian because as a regular human, he could be hurt to life-threatening degrees...yet that's not an issue where Kelly's concerned, and no one is attempting to stop her.

Berlanti Productions hypocrisy at its finest.

Sigh....the Super Friends "veggies" PSA was a total rip-off of the Captain America video from, Spider-Man: Homecoming. When Berlanti's crew is not misusing a group of people to hold up their soapbox, they're ripping off the MCU.

GRADE: D-.

 

[Christopher]

Nice to see them getting back into social consciousness stuff; the execution was kind of heavy-handed, but that's nothing new for this show. It was a hell of a way to show Nyxly's malevolence, to have Supergirl fight so hard to preserve the building for low-income housing, then have Nyxly destroy it and maybe ruin a lot of people's lives purely to hurt Supergirl. (Hopefully Mxy will be able to fix it next week, or the "Super Friends" will find another alternative for the community.)

Between her recent Charmed appearance and this, Kari Matchett seems to be falling into a niche of playing characters who embody institutional racism.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Supergirl - The Final Season
Season 6 - episode 11 - "Mxy in the Middle"

SG: "We can save everyone" Alright, alright, enough with the telegraphing of the series finale.

...and her wanting to "save" Nxylgsptinz was ridiculous--she (Nxylgsptinz) has repeatedly proven herself to be a soulless monster with murder on her mind. That's not something a speech and showing her "another way" is going to solve.

Alex / J'onn / Brainy / Andrea: They were...there, and sort of doing things with that bracelet.

Nia: So, Nia was more concerned with Supergirl "losing all respect" for her, instead of coming clean about her releasing Nxylgsptinz out of the dream realm, when their time was running out? Whatever. Yeah, she eventually spilled her guts to SG, but the reason for her hesitation was senseless.

Nxylgsptinz / Mr. Mxyzptlk: Two characters with no appeal whatsoever, and that seven totems business... Yawn. But the Imp plot continues...

Lena: More mama-related drama. It is clear the "writers" have run out of things for Lena to do, so now, her mother was part of a coven (sooo unexpected), and in no surprise, the showrunners are giving Lena 11th hour powers...just in time for a convenient participation in the Nxylgsptinz / totem matter, and probably the series finale.


NOTES:
Episode eight - dumping trash into the oceans.
Episode nine - alien abuse in the prison industrial complex.
Episode ten - low income residents / paroled individuals threatened by corporate buyouts of property.
Episode eleven - Go-nowhere plots with less than a thread of a connection to episode ten, but fear not, because the Very Special Episode Spotlighting How Much Berlanti Productions Cares and Understands returns in E12 when Kelly says...

"I'm looking at people suffer. People that look like me."

Oh, so now the showrunners are going to give her some sort of black awareness? All to be capped off with a would-be feel-good moment of Kelly putting on the suit. Go figure, since this series has an absolutely abysmal track record with even a particle of understanding about the American black experience, and its marginalized black cast members.

GRADE: D-.

 

[Christopher]

HEAT VISION LASER POINTER!!! That bit alone made this episode worthwhile.

Otherwise, it was a pretty nice character story for Supergirl, Dreamer, and Mxy, but it had some plot problems. For one thing, it was kind of a disconnect to have Lena hearing about her biological mother the witch and saying "I don't believe in magic" while her teammates are casually talking about Mxy and Nyxly's magic in the other plotline. For another, in the fight with the giant cat, Dreamer and Brainy were talking about her letting Nxyly out while they were standing within normal human earshot of the Kryptonian with super-hearing, yet we're supposed to believe Kara still doesn't know about it in the next scene.

Also, what are the odds that two of the three members of Lena's mom's coven had daughters who looked exactly like them?