Spoilers "Supergirl": the 6th and final season

[Guy Gardener]

You were being preached to--the long standing practice of most Berlanti series. Contrary to the opinions of the ill-informed, the issues limply explored on the Supergirl episode in question have been addressed for decades. It is nothing new in media, and certainly not for black people in the real world who have labored, fought and bled on the streets, courts, law offices and police stations for generations. For anyone to even suggest this has been an ignored problem is--frankly--sheltered, or just continuing to push the opportunistic check-boxing BS of a Berlanti TV series.

As noted time and again, the life and plight of black Americans has never been the sociopolitical issue of choice/importance to Berlanti productions, so when an episode drops this 11th Hour, weak attempt to "do a black story" its end result is leaving a sour taste for those who know for Supergirl, this is coming out of nowhere (or pulled out of some other area).

Black Lightning's creators so effectively presented the landscape of black life in America--effortlessly weaving many of those complex issues into the everyday lives of its characters throughout its run. Of course, that was due to people who were the polar opposite of Berlanti and his usual cohorts, but what's worse is that two of the Supergirl episode's main writers were black, yet they were so out of touch, that they wrote like White Liberals trying to stand on a soapbox and seem relevant--shameful to be sure for Azie Tesfai and Holtham. You did not see that kind of lack of insight in the scripts for Black Lightning or The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Two black faces wrote the "original" story.

(Then 20 white people spent 6 months rewriting it.)

 

[The Realist]

This is shaping up to be the season's best episode since the Midvale two-parter. Some funny stuff. Possessed Brainy was a delight.

ETA: J'onn: "Hold that thought."

Some decent drama, too. Sergeant sold that scene with Nyxly and her brother.

ETA: So where has this show been all season? That was actually a solidly entertaining hour of superhero TV.

 

[thribs]

A pretty good one. Very heavy-handed, as is typical of this show; the white councilwoman vampirically draining the life from the people in the neighborhood couldn't have been a more blatant metaphor. But it had some potent and effective things to say, and deepened Kelly's character in a way she's needed. I like how the story gave her a very strong personal reason to become Guardian and to stand up for an overlooked community, and a reason for redesigning the costume to make a statement about her identity, with a more visible face and the really nice long braids. (Although in the process they've made it much closer to Jack Kirby's original Guardian costume.)




That was 5-6 years ago, though. And he could've adopted a different persona in his off-duty life. Instead, he made a choice to stick with the Henshaw appearance.




No, this was clearly the end of the arc, as it was always intended to be. (Remember, most of Superman & Lois's season was delayed by a COVID case, and as a result, Supergirl's season actually started earlier than originally intended. So this was always going to be the last of Diggle's appearances.) In The Flash, he was fighting against the headaches and the voice in his head saying "Worlds await." At that point, he didn't seem to fully understand what was happening to him. But here, he told Kelly that he was "offered the chance to become a special kind of hero," so by now he does have a clear understanding of just what it was all about. And when he left at the end, his last line was a decisive "Worlds await." Which tells us, implicitly, that he chose to accept the calling after all and will now be going off to become a Green Lantern.

If anything, the only Diggle appearance that was out of order was the S&L one, which seemed like it was meant to come first, as it barely touched on his arc aside from a throwaway reference to "glowing boxes." (Plus, again, it was probably meant to air earlier.) So we go from there, where he's basically just in his normal status quo as an ARGUS agent, to Batwoman, where he's seeing a specialist about his headaches, to The Flash, where the headaches get worse and a voice in his head tells him "Worlds await," to here, where he's over the headaches and has accepted the calling. Clearly there's a missing piece between The Flash and Supergirl where he somehow got his answers and made his choice, but that's the most logical order for the sequence.

Ah. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Supergirl - The Final Season
Season 6 - episode 13 - "The Gauntlet"

SG: Oh, so after 5 previous seasons, the character who was sold as the "bestest" of everything/one, she has a failing where courage is concerned...great continuity. SG says "Nyxly is unlike any villain we've ever faced," in other words, she supposed to be the most dangerous. Oh well, so much for discount CW-Crisis' threats/villains being the "greatest ever".

Alex: "You are amazing and can do anything". Enough of the constant pep talks that's telegraphed everything from a thousand miles away. The Berlanti crew do not know how to develop a growth arc.

Nyxlygsptlnz: Her unlocking the power of the courage totem by being vulnerable (not aided by Peta Sergeant's overacting) does not sweep away her being desperate to commit patricide.

Kelly: "Still processing" but hey, its no big deal, since her behavior is as trouble-free as someone who did not have a racial conscience problem at all. Go figure. Name dropping Orlando will undoubtedly lead to some stand-at-the-top-of-the-stairs, speech-making moment for this hollow sub-plot.

Even Alex pointed out that Guardian did not need to show up for the lightshow.

Lena: Lena going on and on about seeking a scientific explanation for the totems was all too transparent telegraphing of Lena's empowerment moment as she embraces being a witch to help win the day. . Yawn.

NOTES:

The museum's David and Goliath slingshot artifact was the one and only point of interest in this episode; the curators can be assumed to have believed the slingshot was the genuine artifact, so Supergirl blasting it into two pieces would--in the real world--see her buried underneath a prison. But, this is Supergirl, so a historical artifact or that magnitude can be destroyed and no worries, no questioning from any of the museum staff...

CG dragon or whatever that was...really, year 2000 video game-level EFX belong in that year, not on a series produced in 2021.

GRADE: D-.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

J’onn is hilarious in this episode though that witch seemed to be having a good time totally hamming it up. Skipped the last two, but solid for Supergirl, which is all I expect at this stage as we ride it out.

 

[Tuskin38]

I'm still wondering what Kara would have had to do to win the test. Actually show her face? When she rescued that one guy, neither the victim nor his assailant saw her face.

 

[Christopher]

This had some fun character work, especially with J'onn, but I'm not that fond of the current story arc. The "gather the items of ultimate power" plot feels like a knockoff of the Infinity Stones, and calling them "totems" makes it feel like a rehash of Legends of Tomorrow's arc with the Zambesi Totems.

Also, they're really looking for excuses to reuse their CGI alien dragon every chance they get. They used it a few weeks ago as the kryptonite-breathing dragon Nyxly summoned, and now one of that species is just randomly there at the museum? On the other hand, at least they're finally having Brainy spend more time with his natural green skin. They've never given a plausible in-universe reason for why he persists in using the image inducer even in private or in superhero mode.

I wish we'd gotten more followup on what Orlando's plan for the neighborhood was that Guardian was helping with. I hope that whole thing doesn't just get shoved to the side.

I'm still wondering what Kara would have had to do to win the test. Actually show her face? When she rescued that one guy, neither the victim nor his assailant saw her face.

That was essentially my first thought -- that her lack of courage was in retreating behind a secret identity. Maybe they're setting up a series finale where she reveals her identity to the world.

 

[thribs]

I'm still wondering what Kara would have had to do to win the test. Actually show her face? When she rescued that one guy, neither the victim nor his assailant saw her face.

She either has to have the courage to not save that guy, or the courage to reveal herself to the public.

 

[The Realist]

She either has to have the courage to not save that guy, or the courage to reveal herself to the public.

She already had the "courage" not to save that guy the first time 'round, so that can't be it.

That actually was a slightly sour note in an episode I generally enjoyed: the retcon revelation that Kara had ignored a cry for help on her debut night. Understandable, perhaps, since she had spent years at that point being fearful of using her abilities openly, but still not exactly a shining heroic moment for the character.

 

[The Realist]

The episode's co-writer, Jay Faerber, has dropped some interesting tidbits on his Twitter:

Since this is an episode all about courage, Dr. Beatrice Lahr’s name is a play on the name of actor Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz.

And Dr. Lahr’s played by Holly Deveaux, Jesse Rath’s girlfriend. We’d wanted to cast her for awhile and we’re kicking ourselves for waiting so long because she’s terrific!

Supergirl co-writer and mad genius Dana Horgan had the idea for the Kryptonian witch Vita to “possess” Brainy and oh my god I’m glad we did it. Rosemary Hochschild read all of Vita’s lines, and then Jesse Rath memorized and imitated her delivery.

Oh, and the “nipples” line was a classic Jesse Rath ad-lib.

https://twitter.com/JayFaerber/status/1443067189012041738

 

[Christopher]

Naming the scientist Lahr confused me, because we already have Leslie Larr over on Superman & Lois.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

She either has to have the courage to not save that guy, or the courage to reveal herself to the public.

I doubt the test would be the act of revealing her identity, as maintaining her anonymity is not a character failing, but a natural born right. In other words, its not the world's business or need to know Kara is Supergirl.

 

[dupersuper]

So, were the Kryptonian witches searching for these things on Earth? Why are these things all on Earth? Will any be elsewhere?

 

[Guy Gardener]

So, were the Kryptonian witches searching for these things on Earth? Why are these things all on Earth? Will any be elsewhere?

The said "Every planet has a set".

I wrongly assumed that paragons and totems were the same thing.

 

[Christopher]

So, were the Kryptonian witches searching for these things on Earth?

Maybe they weren't there pre-Crisis. Although in that case, they still might have been in the revised post-Crisis version of history. (The annoying thing about Crisis is that the old episodes are not necessarily canonical to the current continuity anymore, or at least didn't happen the way we saw them happen.)

 

[theenglish]

She either has to have the courage to not save that guy, or the courage to reveal herself to the public.

I agree with you here. She is always trying to save everyone, but maybe she needs to understand that she just cannot do that. Revealing her identity might be the key because it appears that she needs to do something that will make her vulnerable. Perhaps it is as simple as revealing her vulnerabilities to the public--showing she is just as human as everyone else, and that could connect to revealing her identity. I do have a feeling that that letting the world know who she is is what the finale is going to be about.

 

[Christopher]

I do have a feeling that that letting the world know who she is is what the finale is going to be about.

Yeah... it feels appropriate to end the series by bringing it back to what (IIRC) was its very first line: "My name is Kara Zor-El." (Not as literally the last line like in Iron Man, but as a climax to the final episode.)

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I agree with you here. She is always trying to save everyone, but maybe she needs to understand that she just cannot do that. Revealing her identity might be the key because it appears that she needs to do something that will make her vulnerable. Perhaps it is as simple as revealing her vulnerabilities to the public--showing she is just as human as everyone else, and that could connect to revealing her identity. I do have a feeling that that letting the world know who she is is what the finale is going to be about.

Revealing her identity serves no purpose to her, or anyone who wold placed in danger as a result of knowing who she's connected to, and if comic book history has proven anything, its that no superhero or even a group of them can fully protect civilians from being targets of the superhero's enemies.

Then again, the finale appears to have many characters dressed in black, so if SG did something as senseless as revealing her true ID, it might cost the life someone she's close to.

 

[The Habs Fan]

Echoing what some others have said, this is the best episode since the prom ones, but it’s nowhere near the quality of episodes of previous Supergirl seasons. It definitely seems to have peaked with season 4. Season 5 was good, but not season 4 good. This season, to be completely honest, has been mediocre to terrible, which is sad since it’s the final season. Hopefully it picks up with the next episodes.

also, the writing staff seem to treat Bible history as fact and this annoys the hell out of me. David’s slingshot in the museum is something you would not see in an actual science museum since there is no archaeological evidence the David vs Goliath story ever happened. It’s more of a fake “artefact” you would see at an evangelical museum. This continues a trend that I noticed back in season 5 with Brainy referring to Noah’s flood as an actual event. I know Chyler Leigh is a serious Christian, but I guess some of the writing staff are as well. These biblical references in Supergirl annoy me to no end. Sorry if I offended anyone. The religious overtones in Black Lightning didn’t bug me at all btw.

 

[Christopher]

also, the writing staff seem to treat Bible history as fact and this annoys the hell out of me. David’s slingshot in the museum is something you would not see in an actual science museum since there is no archaeological evidence the David vs Goliath story ever happened. It’s more of a fake “artefact” you would see at an evangelical museum. This continues a trend that I noticed back in season 5 with Brainy referring to Noah’s flood as an actual event. I know Chyler Leigh is a serious Christian, but I guess some of the writing staff are as well. These biblical references in Supergirl annoy me to no end. Sorry if I offended anyone. The religious overtones in Black Lightning didn’t bug me at all btw.

Well, this is the same universe as Constantine and Legends of Tomorrow (and the same multiverse as Lucifer), in which Heaven, Hell, and angels are literally real entities. And yet we know that Themyscira and Atlantis exist in that universe as well, and thus the Greek gods were presumably real as well. It's not a religious statement any more than Thor is an expression of genuine Aesir worship on the part of its Jewish creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It's just using the mythology as fictional tropes for the sake of a story. Both DC and Marvel Comics have a long history of including characters from Christian and other mythologies as literally real, with Greek, Norse, and other deities all cheerfully coexisting in the same cosmology where the Biblical God unambiguously reigns.