Supergirl Season Four

[infogeek247]

In the seventies, the revolutionary show All in the Family introduced Archie Bunker to the world. Archie was a racist boor who existed to be mocked and proven wrong. Unexpectedly to the writers, many viewers tuned in because they related to Archie and shared his views.
[/quote]

I do not want to start another argument. Very off topic and i am sorry. but i think that you have to view Archie though the entirety of his life. and the show.

Bigot, true. But never advocated violence. Abused as a child, veteran of a war where you went because it was your duty. God fearing, but not exactly love thy neighbor.

Remember the Vietnam war Christmas episode. The rage he felt against the "damn war!" but also the idea that if you are ordered, you go. Support and defend. Remember how he softened to Stephanie and her jewish belief?

Archie was a boy who went to war instead of school. Who now is growing old in a world that he no longer recognizes, desperatelytrying to make sense of things and to love his family.

[Visitor]

There is another point about the writers using Sons of Liberty and Bunker Hill to identify one side with the American Revolution. Bunker Hill was the first real battle where the Revolutionaries held back the British troops and won forcing their retreat into Boston. The original advance to Lexington and Concord was to capture leaders and weapons and after being forced back at Concord the Revolutionaries gather at Bunker and Breed Hills.

So even though the writers are heavily biased towards the aliens, they have been naming the opposition into the side that ultimately won the war.

Remember how he softened to Stephanie and her jewish belief?

Archie was a boy who went to war instead of school. Who now is growing old in a world that he no longer recognizes, desperately trying to make sense of things and to love his family.

Archie was less soften towards Jews than he always supported family. All those years of letting the Meathead stay rent free because he married his daughter. Even Stephanie recognized that Archie loved her and not Jews in general when on Archie's Place she warned his new business partner to not let Archie see he was Jewish.

Edith told Mike in one episode that Archie was jealous of him for going to college when he had to quit school and go to work to support his family. For Archie, family came first no matter how much he hated them.

[infogeek247]

So even though the writers are heavily biased towards the aliens, they have been naming the opposition into the side that ultimately won the war.

Nice catch, but i hope that isn't the case for the full outcome.

[Abductorenmadrid]

Regarding the identity thing for Supergirl, now having finally caught up with things, I wonder if just denying she had one could have worked? Or even state that from that moment forward she would settle her other identity's affairs and no longer be "them".

She feels no cold, nor the heat. She is impervious to everything. She can sleep anywhere she desired without fear. If hunger was an issue there is enough in nature to sustain her. Basically there is zero need for Kara to need to have possessions or whatever is required as part of a "human" existence.

[Bert]

Does this make sense? A simple yes or no is fine, if you want. Thanks!

Shev (may I call you Shev?!), your loquaciousness is formidable. A point by point response is beyond my level of interest, but I will bite to a limited extent.

"you say that the creators of the show (Norman Lear etc) were forward-thinking (i.e. progressive) for their time"

I didn't say that. I didn't even hint at it. Yet you attributed it to me. Before that, you accused me of vastly misunderstanding you. Are you starting to see a problem here, Shev? You jump to a lot of quick conclusions for someone whose word count per post must be unmatched on this forum. It would be pretty hard to misunderstand someone who shares their thoughts as thoroughly as you do.

As for your ideological perspective, I'm much less interested in what you say you are than in the actual opinions you express. You profess to be a left of center liberal, but your posts tell a different story. You are consistently, and very often scornfully critical of left-leaning opinions. Conversely, you are often understanding and apologetic of right-leaning positions.

Look, this is a slippery slope. We are complaining about the poor writing on Supergirl, an opinion we share. The focus of said poor writing this year is overtly political. So where to draw the line on discussing the writing shortcomings without descending into arguing politics in general? My complaint regarding your posts is that I think you go too far in letting your politics inform your comments, and that in doing so you let this scorn for "progressives" infect your writing. I think that if you give your comments on this thread a good, open-minded perusal you might see what I mean.

By the way, there is a great deal more I could say to back up my point. I just lack your zeal for the discussion. I will say that on the political level I have some very strong opinions about the direction your country is heading, but we're talking about a TV show and it just doesn't seem relevant to delve into all that here. I even get that you are a huge comics fan and feel that the medium is under assault by "new She-ra" type activists, and that informs the thoughts you express about SG. I'm somewhat sympathetic to that viewpoint. Still, toning down the scorn would bolster your cred, and maybe go easy on putting words in other people's mouths.

Whew, this is exhausting. How do you do it? Peace, buddy. For all this I still largely enjoy your contributions. Geek on!

[shevek]

Fair enough, I'll tone down the scorn, Bert - and yes, typing a lot is exhausting.
And I'm sorry if misattributed you saying that the writers of All in the Family were progressive for their time.
But even if you didn't, the established fact is that they were.

And ultimately, as you HAVE said (immediately above), we do agree on the poor writing on Supergirl, and to some extent, the assault on comics by far-left activism. But in any case, sure, we can try to address the overtly political writing on Supergirl without taking sides too much on it. I think the problem, however, lies in the whole idea of whether this kind of political-bias-injected writing is even appropriate or not. The writers on Supergirl would probably say that it is, and maybe we would both say that it's not, but then again, we're not the ones writing the show.

[Abductorenmadrid]

To be fair it is the "bias" towards what is being extolled as "the right thing", the moral high ground, that the writers are conversely using to create the crisis. You have to rock the boat to create a crisis and so writing the political environment to be as it is is what they chosen to do this season. Now, as the world is falling down around everyone's ears as the real feeling and sentiment on the ground oozes out of society's pores, it is evident that the support, protection and bias towards aliens has gone too far in the people's minds.

What will possibly play out in slow motion is a real-world crisis that Supergirl should have thought out in her mind before interfering in human affairs. By having been so pally with Marsdin (I am guessing she was President when Supergirl chose to reveal herself in SE01) she was already trapped on a course of interference. What would her snubbing of a future president say to the people (who might value SGs opinion) after seeing how she was with Marsdin? What if she accidentally endorsed someone who turned out to be corrupt? No - it would be safer not to have anything to do with this aspect of human life.

I think this season is going to end up with SG realising she needs a new rule set to conduct herself to avoid being tainted by the shifting nature of governments and their policies. How much of that will bleed through into her relationship with law enforcement remains to be seen but for now she is out of the DEO, something I think is for the best (although the negatives of the situation will turned up to the max no doubt!)

[DrDominator9]

I think this season is going to end up with SG realising she needs a new rule set to conduct herself to avoid being tainted by the shifting nature of governments and their policies. How much of that will bleed through into her relationship with law enforcement remains to be seen but for now she is out of the DEO, something I think is for the best (although the negatives of the situation will turned up to the max no doubt!)

I think this is a smart way for Supergirl to play it but I suspect that she will end up fighting a nasty threat from Supergirl Red and that she will be welcomed back to the DEO for her efforts. Just a hunch.

[GeekyPornCritic]

I think this season is going to end up with SG realising she needs a new rule set to conduct herself to avoid being tainted by the shifting nature of governments and their policies. How much of that will bleed through into her relationship with law enforcement remains to be seen but for now she is out of the DEO, something I think is for the best (although the negatives of the situation will turned up to the max no doubt!)

I think this is a smart way for Supergirl to play it but I suspect that she will end up fighting a nasty threat from Supergirl Red and that she will be welcomed back to the DEO for her efforts. Just a hunch.

I think they will offer her a job, but she will turn it down. I don't think she would be happy to "not have rights" in the DEO and will hold it against President Baker. He burnt a bridge that will never be repaired.

[Bert]

and yes, typing a lot is exhausting.

Grin! It's not the typing, it's the thinking. Clearly I'm not as smart as you because it takes effort for me to appear cogent! If I posted as much as you I'd be a basket case!

[GeekyPornCritic]

Supergirl will return in a little more than a month. What do you guys think of the trailer?

[Maskripper]

I do love the fact that some folks wanna find out about her secret identity! I wonder what will happen and if really someone will learn about Kara's "little" secret.
The end scene from episode 8 was brilliant, loved the tension as the President wanted to unmask Supergirl.

I actually made a post about it today:
https://maskripper.org/the-us-president ... -supergirl

[GeekyPornCritic]

DC just revealed Dreamer's costume, and I like it! The blue and gray design is very cool. It oozes sexy without being very revealing. Her mask also adds a sexy flare of mystery and perfectly compliments her face.

[GeekyPornCritic]

Tonight's episode of Supergirl may be the best episode of the season so far. There is more balance of talking and fighting.

The most interesting aspect is the "Alien Rights" issue. The writers take steps away from symbolizing illegal immigration with this season's conflicts. Instead, the government treats aliens as animals in this episode. The President orders the military to terminate a unit of trained alien soldiers, who are employed by the government.

[DrDominator9]

A very sad ending to S4 E10 between Alex and Kara. The heart of this series is in jeopardy … at least for an arc of a show or two.

[Abductorenmadrid]

Wow. So, I hadn't realised how broadly SG/Kara's secret was shared and the ongoing identity peril is great. I was a little unimpressed with Haley's attacking dialogue on the ship at the front end of the episode (no one at that level of command could possibly have that distorted sense of logic) but the venom she delivered prior to the knockout blow by Alex was awesome. Controlling, blackmailing, domineering and just downright disrespectful it was essentially what I try to put in my little speech bubbles for Lillian Luthor over in the screencap comic and I loved it!

The dilemma requiring Alex to forget SG's true identity is awesome and perhaps it is laying the foundation for some other perilous problems for SG. My "What if...?"#1 wondered what might happen if Kara didn't have the support group she's had til now, no DEO and no Alex for example ... is this where she is leading to? There is wisdom then that Brainy is trying to broaden SGs "off the books" support group. The uses for JJ as a memory manipulator are cool, a useful ability for the good guys to have and one I've made use of for one of my own story characters, Agent McGee.

In general I thought this was a strong episode, with some good action, a conspiracy and dilemmas with a dark underlying plot with the president himself pulling the strings apparently. Often I find myself thinking "that is not quite how I would have written this episode ..." but this time they made me a little envious ...

[DrDominator9]

Couldn't agree more, Abductorenmadrid!

[Bert]

This was probably the best episode of the season so far, although still kind of weak. The show is titled "Supergirl" and is centered on the DC comics character Supergirl. One might reasonably expect such a show to regularly involve, you know, some action scenes involving said Supergirl. This time we got Supergirl delivering a pretty awesome jumping punch to the face of a nearly invisible CGI alien. The alien seemed fairly unaffected by what appeared to be a very powerful blow. A moment later the alien presumably struck Supergirl. I say presumably because it was, um, invisible, so the effect was just that Supergirl suddenly flew and then rolled on the ground. She conveniently (though not shown) stayed down during the entire subsequent J.J. sequence involving the military dude and the other alien, because the plot demanded that she not intervene. We next see her struggling to her feet with Alex's help. So the character who went toe-to-toe with Reign, who is perhaps the most powerful figure the show has introduced, for a long, brutal fight before finally being defeated, couldn't faze this just introduced alien with her best punch and is taken down for a long time with one punch from the alien.

I really hate the way the writers make Supergirl's power level so totally inconsistent and subject to the demands of the plot's momentary demands. I further hate the paucity of action thus far in season 4. A more accurate title for the show at this point would be "The Adventures of the People That Surround...Supergirl!"

[Abductorenmadrid]

"The Adventures of the People That Surround...Supergirl!" is sort of what I write and so I guess I can't really be against it though for a visual medium I know why you want more of SG screen time. But if you are going to have plots and meaningful emotion and dialogue that involves SG and the other characters then you are going to have to give a crap about those people that surround her. If Alex was an occasional drop in character does it impact us so much that she has now been excluded from Supergirl's personal life, for example? Is the pent up tension the same if SG meets Lena Luthor and we don't get to see her dark (though well meaning) experiments on the side? Would we be annoyed by JJ's sudden appearance with a career change to "oh he's become a private detective now?!" if we hadn't seen his character go through self discovery in his own side stories? From the beginning SG said her strength was her inclusivity, as opposed to her cousin's policy of isolationism when it came to being Superman. I don't think we can have Supergirl and not see what is happening with the people that surround her.

[Bert]

Obviously good storytelling demands a supporting cast of characters that we care about. My point is that for this entire season to date, Supergirl has been essentially sidelined in her own show. There is no reason engaging action cannot coincide with good storytelling. There is no reason subplots concerning supporting cast cannot coexist with storylines that center on the main character. The choices showrunners have made this year make no sense to me. The lack of action scenes is far too pervasive to be anything but intentional.

[Abductorenmadrid]

Obviously good storytelling demands a supporting cast of characters that we care about. My point is that for this entire season to date, Supergirl has been essentially sidelined in her own show. There is no reason engaging action cannot coincide with good storytelling. There is no reason subplots concerning supporting cast cannot coexist with storylines that center on the main character. The choices showrunners have made this year make no sense to me. The lack of action scenes is far too pervasive to be anything but intentional.

I agree with you that they've made things action-lite though to be fair not always without some good peril. I am not familiar with how it all works but I recall that MB was under the gun a bit time-wise with some other commitments. I wonder how much planning and time certainty (and perhaps over-cautiousness) affected how they wrote SGs role in the episodes for that time and who knows how much more either side. Someone needs to do a time analysis with something comparable and see what the hero's screen time is like ...

[GeekyPornCritic]

The ending gave me an idea for a custom video to purchase later this year after I save some cash. What if Lex Luthor asks an Malefic (Jon's evil twin) to defeat Supergirl and erase her memories of being Supergirl and having super powers?

[DrDominator9]

The ending gave me an idea for a custom video to purchase later this year after I save some cash. What if Lex Luthor asks an Malefic (Jon's evil twin) to defeat Supergirl and erase her memories of being Supergirl and having super powers?

Me like!

[GeekyPornCritic]

How does Dreamer have super powers? She said only women from her planet gain special powers. I know she is transgender, but she was born a male. Do people from her planet gain powers from their psychological state of believing or knowing they are women? Did her hormone therapy trigger her powers?

[shevek]

How does Dreamer have super powers? She said only women from her planet gain special powers. I know she is transgender, but she was born a male. Do people from her planet gain powers from their psychological state of believing or knowing they are women? Did her hormone therapy trigger her powers?

I'm not sure they thought that one through, Geeky. First of all, she is written as a *transgender woman from another planet* when it's not even clear that transgenderism is a thing on that planet?? (Naltor). You're right - she is going to have to explain how she is *physically and chemically a woman* in order to fully explain why she has those powers. It will be interesting to see how this series, which clearly has the tendency to virtue signal beyond its capabilities, cobbles together that explanation.

Meanwhile S4 E10 Suspicious Minds:

This episode seemed like a complicated morality play. Almost everyone's moral limits were tested within the course of 30 minutes, and the results were often ambivalent.

- James and Lena both moved morally in the direction of "sometimes the ends justify the means" in order to activate the program giving humans superpowers. That's not absolute, that's relativistic..just like....

- Colonel Haley, who believes that sometimes morally abhorrent acts must be accomplished in order to serve her country (such as the trauma and killing of the Mori aliens), which leads us to...

- Alex, who instead of remaining morally righteous by quitting the DEO, decided to become ambivalent and pragmatic to keep an eye on Haley. Which was a good thing because she needed...

- J'onn, who believes in non-violence and that invading others' minds is wrong, to go back on his moral code and invade a bunch of people's minds in order to save the lives of everyone related to....

- Kara, who is supposed to be the moral compass of fortitude in all of this, and yet even though she knows it will save many lives, she still has considerable trouble accepting that Alex will no longer know that she is Supergirl.

So, yes, there wasn't a whole lot of action in this, and not much of Supergirl using her powers. The time was taken up by various kinds of intrigue instead.

On the plus side, we do see a lot of Chyler Leigh in her DEO outfit. Though I'm not the hugest fan of her asymmetrical haircut, I do understand why it's necessary to keep her from looking too 'basic' and more like an edgy lesbian. In any case, she looks great in that tight uniform.

I find two things to be weird, however:

- How was J'onn able to spirit away so many of the DEO's physical files when he left the organization? Wouldn't they be missing those documents?

- The idea that Brainy needs to be the one to convince Nia that she should become a superhero..ahem, a 'Super Friend'...seems a little desperate, like they had to come up with some kind of gimmick to fully activate the transgender character that they've had bubbling in the background for a while for the sake of being progressive. With Nia's main connection to the series being the fact that she works at CatCo, and thus she already knows James, Lena and Kara, it seems clunky that the writers would use Brainy as the catalyst for Dreamer rather than her fellow CatCo employees. We'll see how that shakes out, I guess.

This episode gets decent marks for avoiding the politics while ratcheting up the intrigue over who knows Supergirl's identity. I imagine she'll be doing a lot more sneaking around in the future.

-

[GeekyPornCritic]

So tonight's episode foreshadowed my question. It is stated a female baby develops the blood that carries the powers. So in this theory, it is actually possible for a person born as a male to have these powers. This is the first case of it happening to a transgender woman. Dreamer was born with the powers.

Her mother's death may be the worst death in the history of superhero media. She was bitten by a spider......really? Fucking really? Oh for fucks sake!

I wonder if Dreamer's sister will return as a villain. It would be interesting if she actually has the powers as well since Dreamer broke the cycle of babies born female to have the powers.

[Bert]

Another boring episode in "The Adventures of Some People Within the Orbit of Supergirl". The current show runner should be fired immediately.

[Danorian]

The worst thing for me is that I'm a classic LSH fan, so I know who "Dreamer", ie Dream Girl, should be. This most definitely NOT her!
First off, she was an LSH member, so she should've been part of the contingent that brought Brainy to the 21st century. Then Dreamy is supposed to be an insanely hot platinum blonde. Honestly, they couldn't find a gorgeous bottle platinum blonde for the role? Then being trans? Sorry, but I think the CW execs are trying to finish filling out the LGBTQ bingo board with this "T"
As for Dreamy's sister, in the comics she became the White Witch, a villainess then heroine, joining the LSH. When I saw the white dress, I went "Yes! The White Witch!" but no luck.
The laments of an ancient school LSH fan.

My 2 cents.

[shevek]

Danorian - I understand your pain because there is just endless hotness in the LSH lineup, Dream Girl being among them - but Nia isn't Dream Girl. who would be Nura. Nia is merely her distant relation, or something like that. And yes, with the excuse to check off the transgender box, because someone had to do it eventually, and these days (as both the TV showrunners and the comic book editors have found) the way to get good press and viral publicity with progressive-leaning media-shill critics isn't by having good writing and characters..it's by scoring political points or injecting cultural controversy.

They haven't filled out the Bingo Board, either, because the next step is of course a nonbinary hero that fulfills the "Q" requirement. Such a character was already in this past year's Supergirl comic - a character named Lee Serano who is also a Person of Colour, always referred to as "they", and co-written by a nonbinary writer for extra-chewy PC authenticity. So look for that if Supergirl enters a Season 5.

And as I said in my post about the new Justice League cartoon, 2019 looks like all the showrunners will be adding "neuroatypicality" to the list of special-interest groups on the Virtue Stack. So look for a wide array of mental illnesses to join the fray.

No complaints on the Dreamer costume though. Whatever set of genitalia is underneath it, Geeky's right - that is some sexy stuff, and a very cute mask. We can't expect spandex, this isn't a SHIP video. We probably can't expect the White Witch, either.

[GeekyPornCritic]

The worst thing for me is that I'm a classic LSH fan, so I know who "Dreamer", ie Dream Girl, should be. This most definitely NOT her!
First off, she was an LSH member, so she should've been part of the contingent that brought Brainy to the 21st century. Then Dreamy is supposed to be an insanely hot platinum blonde. Honestly, they couldn't find a gorgeous bottle platinum blonde for the role? Then being trans? Sorry, but I think the CW execs are trying to finish filling out the LGBTQ bingo board with this "T"
As for Dreamy's sister, in the comics she became the White Witch, a villainess then heroine, joining the LSH. When I saw the white dress, I went "Yes! The White Witch!" but no luck.
The laments of an ancient school LSH fan.

My 2 cents.

Please realize this is not the comics. The Supergirl TV series is a separate media. Why would people watch the show if it was exactly like the comics? The show would lack drama, peril, connection to the viewers, surprises, and fear. I suggest you change your expectations. You sound like those guys complaining about Jimmy being black, sociable, and was Supergirl's original and still should be love interest. Jimmy's change is one of the best things about Supergirl. He isn't some weak kid who needs to be saved everyday. He is one of the deepest characters from season one.

Does every heroine need to be blonde? I highly doubt anyone would complain if Katy Perry was Dreamer. Am I right?

Nia being trans has little to do with the story. It's part of her character but it is not the main focus. Being trans does not define Nia. The show is focusing on Nia's abilities and used those abilities to save her sister and Liberty's wife. This is the second episode that Nia mentions being transgender. The writing team is not shoving it down our throats.

[Visitor]

DC comic shows have less following the comic books than Marvel movies. Don't expect them to have more in common than character names and maybe powers.

It's sad when the Flash used so many classic villains to have them being killed off faster than one an episode last season before they could be developed. Supergirl was already doing that the first season by grabbing ones from Superman's rogue gallery because there weren't enough decent ones from her comics.

[DrDominator9]

It's sad when the Flash used so many classic villains to have them being killed off faster than one an episode last season before they could be developed. Supergirl was already doing that the first season by grabbing ones from Superman's rogue gallery because there weren't enough decent ones from her comics.

I have to agree with you whole-heartedly, Visitor, about the first season of Supergirl going through a villain of the week. It was depressing there because I felt they were doing that to give their ratings a shot every new episode without really taking time for the audience to savor their evilness.

That thinking didn't stop with Season 1 however. The went through Maxwell Lord and then Morgan Edge for maybe a half-season each before jettisoning them. I don't know if they were doing audience testing/marketing surveys or what but it wasn't until Reign and Season 3 that they figured out how to keep a villain's story intriguing for a good long arc.

Anyway, as to how the writers are handling Season 4, I think they've gotten their game back, albeit overly political too often. But this arc with Alex's memory being blanked to protect her sister is very good, heartbreakingly so. But there's something that really bothered me about the S4 E11 episode....

Spoiler

After all the heartache of having her sister go through her memory being wiped, how could Kara then turn around and reveal herself to Nia just to make her feel better about her problem with her sister. No, she doesn't work at the DEO and thus subject to instant investigation by them to discover SG's identity but if she becomes a superheroine who works with Supergirl then she'll probably come onto Halley's radar.

They haven't used Supergirl in many fight scenes of late, or at least those she's been in have been very abbreviated. It's like they used up their budget early in the season and have dialed back a bit to save it and to build characters around her more. Who knows. I DO know that anything that the writers can do to break up James and Lena is fine with me. What a drag of a subplot!

Nevertheless, I'm still enjoying this show quite a lot and hope there's lots of good fight action to come in the rest of the season.

[GeekyPornCritic]

James would be so much better if he was a full time reporter and superhero. He could bust crimes and reveal the full story. That would have been awesome. Instead he is behind a desk and focuses on an boring relationship. He has been missed used since season two and I don't see it getting better. I still don't understand how Supergirl can legally be a hero and he cannot especially since Supergirl was fired.

Alex's behavior doesn't make sense. Sure she does not remember who Supergirl is. However, that should not change her personality. It should not change her feelings for aliens and political beliefs. Her memories of working with Supergirl should be there. The only missing pieces are Kara being Supergirl.

[shevek]

Nia being trans has little to do with the story. It's part of her character but it is not the main focus. Being trans does not define Nia. The show is focusing on Nia's abilities and used those abilities to save her sister and Liberty's wife. This is the second episode that Nia mentions being transgender. The writing team is not shoving it down our throats.

You're right, they're not shoving it. They don't need to. The hard truth is - Nia being trans doesn't just have *little* to do with the story. It has *nothing* to do with the story whatsoever. So they can't just keep mentioning something over and over again that the viewers know is irrelevant. The purpose of introducing the trans character was to stay *ahead* of the pack of voracious critics that are demanding representation (the GLAAD organization, and a new actors' agency called Transgender Talent).

Spiderman: Far From Home is one-upping Supergirl - it is including *two* trans characters in its cast, including one that belongs to the Burger King K*ds' Club (Ya Boi Zack's terminology, but he's not wrong) that is Peter Parker's group of friends (see below - the trans cast member is on the right).

burger king kids club.jpg (49.28 KiB) Viewed 5998 times

According to an article that came out today on Bounding Into Comics, Spiderman did this because of the protest that GLAAD made against both the DC and Marvel universes. The protest demanded that 20% of all movies include a trans character within a few years, and 50% of all movies a few years after that, which of course creates a lot of agent fees for the Transgender Talent agency.

One of the complaints that GLAAD made was that in both Thor Ragnarok and Wonder Woman, characters were used in the movies that had been previously identified as LGBT in the comics, but that their 'identity was erased' in the movies because their LGBT status was never specifically mentioned. This means that GLAAD will not be satisfied unless *specific LGBT identification* is written into the script somewhere.

That's why Nia's transgender status was mentioned a couple times but not generally brought up otherwise. The character of Nia satisfies the box-ticking that needs to be done at this point in Hollywood to appease the constant forces of outrage.

[shevek]

S4 E11 Blood Memory

Well, I think I figured out how Nia was able to inherit the dream powers, but it's going to be an explanation that could be considered un-PC and somewhat insensitive, and yet is totally borne out by the facts presented in the episode (meaning that the 'problematic' nature of Dreamer's origin
was built into the writing of the episode itself, and is not just my wild interpretation).

Regardless of how impolitic Maeve's statement, made in anger, was about Nia not being a 'real woman', the fact is that Nia was not born a woman and had to become one - had to transition. When their mother dies, their father tells Nia that he had a dream in which he talked to his deceased wife and she told him to give Nia the costume box. Hence..male Naltorians also have dream powers! Thus, when Nia was born as a male, Nia acquired some of the power from the father and some of the power from the mother, and transitioning to a female (which according to the story she told Kara, she was able to do at a young age, a process which progressives are now applauding) didn't change any of that blood inheritance, because she still has the same genetic makeup. So the whole idea that the powers completely descend through the matrilineal lineage is a misconception from Naltorian culture and has thus proven to be an inadequate explanation, in fact, it's downright sexist for ignoring the male contribution. And that's why Nia has the powers!

As for the whole concept of aliens in Supergirl, this episode makes the alien narrative even harder to swallow. First, you have this idyllic village of Parthas where nobody ever leaves and nothing bad ever happens, and humans and aliens live in perfect harmony. That's some utopianist progressive thinking right there which ignores the nuances of reality. Then you have Maeve stating that every year people from neighboring towns come in to make trouble. If that's the case, why do the citizens of Parthas act like sitting ducks for an attack? She claims that the villagers can 'handle themselves', and yet they don't post any guards, they have no significant fighting skills or super strength, and when the raged-up Children of Liberty attacked they would have gotten their asses beaten if it hadn't been for Supergirl and the DEO's arrival.

Furthermore we've got the same kind of scientific and cultural inconsistencies in this episode that I've been pointing out all along. If Nia's mother arrived in a 'craft' then where is that craft? Obviously it was an incredible faster-than-light ship that brought her all the way from Naltor. So why wasn't it studied and the technology in it replicated?..And the idea that the humans and Naltorians can interbreed and produce viable children like Maeve and Nia in the first place - where did that even come from, other than from the minds of writers who have no idea about science? The Naltorians would have to have some kind of shapeshifting adaptability (like the energy being who takes human form in the classic sci-fi film Starman) in order to rework their DNA to be compatible with human reproduction. But we see no evidence or exposition that they did such things. So it's basically magic.

Lastly, I know that this episode was mainly crafted to unfold Dreamer's superheroine origin, and to draw parallels between her situation and that of Kara (sister with powers vs sister without powers). But I don't know if anyone noticed how much this episode was like the 'Midvale' episode from when Kara went back home and had the flashbacks about the time she spent there with Alex when they were younger. It was eerily similar in a lot of respects, like they couldn't think of any new way to tell the story so they just revamped a script they had already written. On top of that, it even seems like they copied a character from a different show: the Asian girl cub reporter who tries to explore an investigative lead about L-Corp (but is shot down by James) is very similar in character to Mona, the bumbling creature assistant in Legends of Tomorrow.

That, plus the very scant appearances of Supergirl in costume (as pointed out in previous posts) don't make this a high priority to watch. So if you haven't, you just might want to skip this episode, and all of its flowery dream sequences that look like they're straight out of a Kate Bush video, and move on to next week's episode, where we'll hopefully see Dreamer in her full costume.

[GeekyPornCritic]

Supergirl has been renewed for season five. I hope James and Lena will be an ex-couple next season.

[DrDominator9]

Supergirl has been renewed for season five. I hope James and Lena will be an ex-couple next season.

First off...renewed... Yaaayyyy!!!



Secondly, yes, at this point I'm hoping Lena goes full Luthor and makes Supergirl her enemy. Maybe even to the point of twisting James to see SG as bad and putting the media power of Catco against the heroine...at least for a short arc.

[GeekyPornCritic]

Lex is coming this season maybe even this Sunday.

[DrDominator9]

No SG show on Sunday or during Oscar telecast night. They don't want to go up against the Super bowl or that. Heard it on the DCTV Show podcast.

[GeekyPornCritic]

Here is the trailer for the next episode.

[GeekyPornCritic]

Tonight's episode set up a lot of stories for the remainder of the season. I will try not to spoil too much. It is a Valentines episode. Each characters' relationships are tested and most have good outcomes. We have a new villain and an old villain's charges are dismissed!

I was annoyed Brainy did not have any interaction with Nia during the party. That was poor writing. It was suppose to be a date for them, and her annoying roommate was cock blocking her. It wasn't even funny just annoying.

I expected the ending since our conversation about alien rights, and the President's comments that Aliens do not have rights. Liberty is on his way of getting super powers! Oh yeah! Let's give super powers to a serial killer!

However, the ending has a serious moral issue. The President basically confirms anyone can kill aliens without any reason. They are not protected under the law. This means Jon is in danger, and maybe this is where the finale is heading too. He wants to help Aliens, but he may be the one needing help in the end.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good episode. I wished Supergirl's fight scene was longer. Most of her fights have been really short and only at the end of episodes. I remember seeing her in a lot more action in previous seasons.

[DrDominator9]

Not only are the fights shorter but she seems to have less super power than ever in them. She's been easily compromised, showing no defensive awareness whatsoever.

In addition, with Alex's mind wiped, that all-important balance between the sisters, the soul of the show, is badly off-kilter. I know the writers are going for drama this season in that regard but they're in real danger of upsetting the very chemistry that keeps this show important to many viewers. Not sure I trust the writers to fix it well when all is said and done.

Lots of important subplots got moved forward this episode but the one that thrills me the most is the romance between James and Lena. DOA not DEO. Nuff said there.

[shevek]

I haven't watched "Menagerie" yet, but I saw a promo scene for it in which Haley and Alex are disappointed that Ben Lockwood is polling better than the President is. But if the President clearly states that aliens have no right, and Ben Lockwood pretty much believes the same thing, what is the difference between the candidates?

[GeekyPornCritic]

I haven't watched "Menagerie" yet, but I saw a promo scene for it in which Haley and Alex are disappointed that Ben Lockwood is polling better than the President is. But if the President clearly states that aliens have no right, and Ben Lockwood pretty much believes the same thing, what is the difference between the candidates?

This is a serious plot hole.

Why is Agent Liberty a legal hero to the people, and The Guardian is not a legal hero? The government was against James fighting evil aliens, but the government supports Liberty killing any alien. Are the writers trying to send a message that the government prefers a white leader for fighting aliens? I don't think this is the message, but it looks really bad in context.

However, Agent Liberty committed more crimes than just killing aliens. He turned a government agent against the government, and used stole equipment from the DEO. He is involved in turned DEO agents' deaths as Mercy Graves did not want possible witnesses. He destroyed public and private property.

Maybe they're using this plot to release Lex Luthor from prison as his crimes against Superman were not illegal. Superman does not have rights.

[DrDominator9]

I haven't watched "Menagerie" yet, but I saw a promo scene for it in which Haley and Alex are disappointed that Ben Lockwood is polling better than the President is. But if the President clearly states that aliens have no right, and Ben Lockwood pretty much believes the same thing, what is the difference between the candidates?

This is a serious plot hole.

Why is Agent Liberty a legal hero to the people, and The Guardian is not a legal hero? The government was against James fighting evil aliens, but the government supports Liberty killing any alien. Are the writers trying to send a message that the government prefers a white leader for fighting aliens? I don't think this is the message, but it looks really bad in context.

However, Agent Liberty committed more crimes than just killing aliens. He turned a government agent against the government, and used stole equipment from the DEO. He is involved in turned DEO agents' deaths as Mercy Graves did not want possible witnesses. He destroyed public and private property.

Maybe they're using this plot to release Lex Luthor from prison as his crimes against Superman were not illegal. Superman does not have rights.

Like this analysis!!

[infogeek247]

(I like it too..)

So you have Manchester and the Elites, going after Lockwood and the Children of Liberty, But Black also has a Morea with him and its main target is Haley. And Black may not be able to control a creature he cannot see.

On the other side you have the Children and Lockwood and Haley, making her super soldier weapons (and that has NEVER gone wrong in stories).

Other, once the aliens realize they have no rights, they will organize into militias to protect themselves. and the powerful ones will not have the moral code of Brainy, Jonn, Kara and Dreamer.

Add to that Red Supergirl as a wildcard.

In the middle, trying to keep the peace and prevent multiple deaths, SG, Brainy. Jonn, dreamer, And I am adding Alex. as she still sees Aliens as good. And she is a woman of peace, asking for stun guns. I wonder when Haley, will tell her about the Super soldier.

Although if Haley is killed, the memories can come back. The sisters can be reunited.

And Lena may not be too far gone, she could realize that her works will be used for bad purposes.

[brdiy]

I haven't watched the last 3 or 4 episodes of this current season, as I feel the political messaging of this show has been very forced (nauseating for me and very much of a turn off) as of late. Much as I love seeing Melissa in costume, I am not sure if I will be able to stand watching this, as based on the posts above, it seems there's nothing new to make me see otherwise. For now, I'll just be content to see the show "highlights" on the web, and any "research" material in this forum.

[Bert]

Spoiler

A supposedly loving relationship ends after a 2 minute conversation while driving to the airport for an instantly organized vaycay to Paris set up by the daughter of the world's most dangerous villain who is being wooed by the U.S. military do develop a supersoldier formula for them.

The show's titular character finally appears in the waning minutes and violently throws Menagerie into a limo, destroying it. Menagerie emerges completely unscathed and literally brings Supergirl to her knees with really bad CGI snakes, only for Supergirl to be rescued in the nick of time by an unpowered and untrained...person...who temporarily takes out the previously invulnerable Menagerie and her snakes with a steel pipe.

Alex sees her sister get attacked by an alien snake, a potentially lethal attack. Only Supergirl's invulnerability saves her, but Alex doesn't know that. Later, Alex apologizes for being overprotective regarding the incident and essentially says "fuck y'all, ima look after Numero Uno from now on." It is presented as an important growth moment for Alex.

The writing on this show is so cringeworthy that I honestly don't understand how it can possibly be reaching the screen. It's like they get a group of five year olds together and play make believe for 15 minutes, then film the resultant storyline, being careful to remove anything that might be even vaguely sexy.

I just rewatched the Reactron episode from season 1. There's more action, peril and hotness in that one episode than we've seen in this entire season. It's infuriating to see so much potential go to waste week after week. Something dramatic has happened to neuter the show. I thought they were just phoning in season 4 to reach syndication numbers, but no, the show is renewed for season 5. The only other thing that makes any sense to me is that we're seeing a massive shift away from the earlier direction of the show in response to Kreisberg's firing. His vision of the show has been abandoned because he happened to be a lecherous creep. The new direction is, well, to be honest I have no idea what they're doing now, but it certainly is boring, stupid and frustrating.

[GeekyPornCritic]

Spoiler

A supposedly loving relationship ends after a 2 minute conversation while driving to the airport for an instantly organized vaycay to Paris set up by the daughter of the world's most dangerous villain who is being wooed by the U.S. military do develop a supersoldier formula for them.

The show's titular character finally appears in the waning minutes and violently throws Menagerie into a limo, destroying it. Menagerie emerges completely unscathed and literally brings Supergirl to her knees with really bad CGI snakes, only for Supergirl to be rescued in the nick of time by an unpowered and untrained...person...who temporarily takes out the previously invulnerable Menagerie and her snakes with a steel pipe.

Alex sees her sister get attacked by an alien snake, a potentially lethal attack. Only Supergirl's invulnerability saves her, but Alex doesn't know that. Later, Alex apologizes for being overprotective regarding the incident and essentially says "fuck y'all, ima look after Numero Uno from now on." It is presented as an important growth moment for Alex.

The writing on this show is so cringeworthy that I honestly don't understand how it can possibly be reaching the screen. It's like they get a group of five year olds together and play make believe for 15 minutes, then film the resultant storyline, being careful to remove anything that might be even vaguely sexy.

I just rewatched the Reactron episode from season 1. There's more action, peril and hotness in that one episode than we've seen in this entire season. It's infuriating to see so much potential go to waste week after week. Something dramatic has happened to neuter the show. I thought they were just phoning in season 4 to reach syndication numbers, but no, the show is renewed for season 5. The only other thing that makes any sense to me is that we're seeing a massive shift away from the earlier direction of the show in response to Kreisberg's firing. His vision of the show has been abandoned because he happened to be a lecherous creep. The new direction is, well, to be honest I have no idea what they're doing now, but it certainly is boring, stupid and frustrating.

Reactron is one of my favorite episodes. It built a lot of story and also had action in it. It was a perfect combination of peril, action, and storytelling. The writers let the fight add to the peril and storytelling. Supergirl learned she will sometimes need help. It is normal for her friends and family to worry when she is fighting villains. Anything can happen and Supergirl learned the hard way.

Some critics say James and Kara don't have chemistry. Reactron proves otherwise, and is just one of many pieces that brought them together.

[Visitor]

The writing has gotten as bad as the failed Wonder Woman TV pilot. Its like they have writers not talking to each other and even worse no one reading and editing the script for continuity.

Then there were the "Make America Human Again" protester signs because Trump might find out if they came up with a MAGA version.