Supergirl Season Five

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DrDominator9
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Might as well start this thread since all this talk of Supergirl's new costume is about what's actually going to take place in S5.

On the plus side of the ledger there's supposed to be a lot less politics so that's cool.
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All this talk about the new costume being more practical just doesn't make sense. They have a show about beings with god-like powers and they are talking about practicality?
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Like it or not, part of the allure of the series for most people is the hotness of the lead character and the reality of the situation is that the new costume in my estimation does not improve upon the original. No amount of PR bullcrap is going to change that reality. I hope the show does not suffer in the ratings for this decision.
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Main practical is Melissa won't be freezing (as much) when shooting outdoor stunts and scenes in Vancouver when it's really cold.

“We’ve been talking about pants since season 1,” Benoist tells EW. “Every time a writer from the show has come up, and it’s freezing cold in Vancouver, I’m like, ‘Guys, please can I not wear tights?’ I love [Kara’s old costume]. I haven’t changed it because it so works, and I think it is very Kara. I’ve always felt that — until recently, I’m like, ‘Something’s gotta give.'”

https://ew.com/tv/2019/07/15/supergirl- ... on-5-suit/
.
.
As to ratings...
Supergirl Ratings.png
Supergirl Ratings.png (123.35 KiB) Viewed 6666 times
...they be declining season by season. Like it of not, original TV show costume, not all that alluring. The writing not all that alluring. Move to sundays not all that alluring. Many of the B plots were a drag and not alluring.

I don't mind the costume change. And I hope they write her more adult and smarter. And turn the soap opera-ness down to about 15% from where it's been.
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Maybe they ought to have focused on improving the writing first before tweaking that costume. Personally, I stopped watching last season inspite of the costume because the writing was cringe worthy at best.
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I actually thought the last five to seven episodes of the season were pretty strong although I do agree that overall the writing of the show is fairly mediocre. I have not heard if there were any changes to the writing staff between seasons and the fact that the producers evaluation of their own show only told them that the only change that needed to be made was with the costume, well.....that tells me that they felt that the only changes needed were cosmetic, that the show did not have any foundational issues which is something I fundamentally disagree with. Who Knows, maybe they can take the momentum of the final episodes of last season and continue on that run this season. The writing does need to get better but I wonder if the people in charge fully grasp that fact. Also, in this age of DVR, the day of the week that it airs does not matter anywhere near what it used to. I guess my question to theScribbler would be if the costume was not all that "alluring", then why did they wait until season five to change it?
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The fact that Lex Luthor was brought back with other significant villains is probably going to be the only redeeming feature of the new season. Already they announced that the main plot points are Leviathan as the villain organization and Lena Luthor's reaction to finding out Kara Danvers was Supergirl. So lots of soap opera angst with Lena and being betrayed.

Now Lex brings decent plot twists, peril, and fight scenes.
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theScribbler wrote:
4 years ago
Main practical is Melissa won't be freezing (as much) when shooting outdoor stunts and scenes in Vancouver when it's really cold.

“We’ve been talking about pants since season 1,” Benoist tells EW. “Every time a writer from the show has come up, and it’s freezing cold in Vancouver, I’m like, ‘Guys, please can I not wear tights?’ I love [Kara’s old costume]. I haven’t changed it because it so works, and I think it is very Kara. I’ve always felt that — until recently, I’m like, ‘Something’s gotta give.'”

https://ew.com/tv/2019/07/15/supergirl- ... on-5-suit/
.
.
As to ratings...

Supergirl Ratings.png

...they be declining season by season. Like it of not, original TV show costume, not all that alluring. The writing not all that alluring. Move to sundays not all that alluring. Many of the B plots were a drag and not alluring.

I don't mind the costume change. And I hope they write her more adult and smarter. And turn the soap opera-ness down to about 15% from where it's been.
I think part of the decline is from switching networks. I don't know many people who watch The CW, and it's one of the least talked about stations. I think that move hurt the show's visibility to a national audience. This also proves James and Kara should have never ended their relationship. The show has went down since the break up!

Supergirl faced super competition on Sundays. NFL games, The Walking Dead, and even Housewives of Atlanta are much more popular shows. I'm expecting Supergirl to struggle at 8pm (Central) because most people will be watching football. It was a horrible move. Bat Woman may face the same problems.

I think Supergirl can work well on Friday nights. Please correct me if there is tough competition on Fridays as well.
Bert

The creative team from last year is still in place, so time slot, costume and hairstyle don't matter at all. The show will continue to suck. I'm done with it. I'll check out Youtube vids of the odd action sequence that might still somehow get filmed, and I'll be disappointed by them. There was more good action in many individual episodes of the first two seasons than all of season 4 combined. The show is lost. It was pretty darned good there for a while though.
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The pant suit does make sense if it is to protect her from kryptonite. I am assuming a helmet would 'automatically' appear if K is present.

That said I hope they don't ditch the original costume completely. I want Mel's legs to be free!
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GeekyPornCritic wrote:
4 years ago
theScribbler wrote:
4 years ago
Main practical is Melissa won't be freezing (as much) when shooting outdoor stunts and scenes in Vancouver when it's really cold.

“We’ve been talking about pants since season 1,” Benoist tells EW. “Every time a writer from the show has come up, and it’s freezing cold in Vancouver, I’m like, ‘Guys, please can I not wear tights?’ I love [Kara’s old costume]. I haven’t changed it because it so works, and I think it is very Kara. I’ve always felt that — until recently, I’m like, ‘Something’s gotta give.'”

https://ew.com/tv/2019/07/15/supergirl- ... on-5-suit/
.
.
As to ratings...

Supergirl Ratings.png

...they be declining season by season. Like it of not, original TV show costume, not all that alluring. The writing not all that alluring. Move to sundays not all that alluring. Many of the B plots were a drag and not alluring.

I don't mind the costume change. And I hope they write her more adult and smarter. And turn the soap opera-ness down to about 15% from where it's been.
I think part of the decline is from switching networks. I don't know many people who watch The CW, and it's one of the least talked about stations. I think that move hurt the show's visibility to a national audience. This also proves James and Kara should have never ended their relationship. The show has went down since the break up!

Supergirl faced super competition on Sundays. NFL games, The Walking Dead, and even Housewives of Atlanta are much more popular shows. I'm expecting Supergirl to struggle at 8pm (Central) because most people will be watching football. It was a horrible move. Bat Woman may face the same problems.

I think Supergirl can work well on Friday nights. Please correct me if there is tough competition on Fridays as well.
The problem with being on CBS is that ratings wise, the threshhold to becoming a successful series on a big 3 network such as CBS is much higher than a network like the CW. The show likely would not have survived to see a season 5 if it remained on CBS with the numbers it was getting. I believe the thinking was that it would be helped with the synergy and crossover appeal of being on the same network as Arrow and the Flash. Friday is a double edged sword, yes there is far less competition on Friday nights, but the other side of that is that there are far less eyeballs on Friday nights these days in order to get an audience, that Friday and Saturday nights are the least watched nights of the week, thus the potential to get a substantial rating is difficult. For broadcast networks, Friday and Saturdays often serve as a type of phantom zone for shows the networks are not sure what they want to do with. Based on the responses on this board, I would be really curious as to the percentage of the fans of Supergirl who watch the show live because I am very surprised at how many people list Sundays as being part of the problem with the show's ratings.
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To amplify bushwackerbob's thoughts, Friday night would most likely be a disaster for the SG tv show because their core audience, teenage girls are out on Friday nights at the mall or whatever. Unless the show promoted tv viewing parties on Friday nights, that would be the death knell for the series to be shunted over to that night.

As for the dropping ratings at CW over the course of the season, it is somewhat worrisome. I think if they get something like 750,000 viewers (O.75 million) consistently, the network would be fine with that. When they start to edge down towards only half a million, I think they start wondering if its worth it.
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Aside from the ratings, the production choices, the real world "politics" digging into the show and on and on and on ... I'd like to get back to one of the hangovers from the season just passed, namely the Supergirl/Kara/Lena Luthor relationship.

Lex really twisted the knife into Lena by revealing that Kara Danvers was SG all along, a sort of vengeful departing gift as it were. And so we are at a knife edge as to what will happen next. Will Kara really confess to her identity as she said she would. Will Lena just blurt it out that she knows? Or will the "outing" happen another way, or maybe you dont think it will happen at all?

I propose a mini competition - for the Kudos only - perhaps to be judged by a forum Mod - (Dr D maybe if he will accept the job?) with a deadline before SE05 EP01 - submit a brief outline of circumstances leading to Kara's confession to Lena she is SG (or SG confessing to Lena she is Kara D). Or maybe you think it wont happen at all within season 5 ... it's just left seething to create a cliffhanger for Season 6? Fellow writers, what do you think?
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bushwackerbob wrote:
4 years ago
The problem with being on CBS is that ratings wise, the threshhold to becoming a successful series on a big 3 network such as CBS is much higher than a network like the CW. The show likely would not have survived to see a season 5 if it remained on CBS with the numbers it was getting. I believe the thinking was that it would be helped with the synergy and crossover appeal of being on the same network as Arrow and the Flash. Friday is a double edged sword, yes there is far less competition on Friday nights, but the other side of that is that there are far less eyeballs on Friday nights these days in order to get an audience, that Friday and Saturday nights are the least watched nights of the week, thus the potential to get a substantial rating is difficult. For broadcast networks, Friday and Saturdays often serve as a type of phantom zone for shows the networks are not sure what they want to do with. Based on the responses on this board, I would be really curious as to the percentage of the fans of Supergirl who watch the show live because I am very surprised at how many people list Sundays as being part of the problem with the show's ratings.
People like myself believe Sundays are part of the problem because of the fierce competition. Sunday Night Football, The Walking Dead, Housewives of Atlanta, and even now 90 Days Fiance is becoming more popular than ever. Our girl of steel doesn't stand a chance in hell. She's lucky to get 1.5 million viewers on any Sunday.

The Walking Dead is the only show known for crushing the NFL during its early seasons. The NFL is difficult to beat in ratings. Did you know over 30 million people watched Brett Favre VS The Packers on a Sunday evening at 2PM?
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GeekyPornCritic wrote:
4 years ago
bushwackerbob wrote:
4 years ago
The problem with being on CBS is that ratings wise, the threshhold to becoming a successful series on a big 3 network such as CBS is much higher than a network like the CW. The show likely would not have survived to see a season 5 if it remained on CBS with the numbers it was getting. I believe the thinking was that it would be helped with the synergy and crossover appeal of being on the same network as Arrow and the Flash. Friday is a double edged sword, yes there is far less competition on Friday nights, but the other side of that is that there are far less eyeballs on Friday nights these days in order to get an audience, that Friday and Saturday nights are the least watched nights of the week, thus the potential to get a substantial rating is difficult. For broadcast networks, Friday and Saturdays often serve as a type of phantom zone for shows the networks are not sure what they want to do with. Based on the responses on this board, I would be really curious as to the percentage of the fans of Supergirl who watch the show live because I am very surprised at how many people list Sundays as being part of the problem with the show's ratings.
People like myself believe Sundays are part of the problem because of the fierce competition. Sunday Night Football, The Walking Dead, Housewives of Atlanta, and even now 90 Days Fiance is becoming more popular than ever. Our girl of steel doesn't stand a chance in hell. She's lucky to get 1.5 million viewers on any Sunday.

The Walking Dead is the only show known for crushing the NFL during its early seasons. The NFL is difficult to beat in ratings. Did you know over 30 million people watched Brett Favre VS The Packers on a Sunday evening at 2PM?
What you say about Sunday night being the most competitive night on television is certainly true. My point is that almost no one that I know watches live television anymore except for sports, with the advent of DVR, streaming and On Demand, thus the need to catch a show at 8PM live on Sunday night is not necessarily appointment television anymore, one can watch it anytime at one's convenience, that one does not have to watch it live, and you can blow right through the commercials. I am not saying that the day and timeslot for shows is no longer a factor at all, just that the viewer has more options than ever before if one has their favorite shows opposite each other on the same night. I personally often watch Supergirl back to back with Arrow and Flash later in the week.
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Winn is returning and here's hoping they finally learned how to use him and not make him a human Brainiac. They spent all those seasons with him in the friend zone with Supergirl. Then he got girl friends that left after a few episodes. They only kept him around for tech solutions to their problems.
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Another random thought on the show. I know GPC has been shipping the characters of James Olsen and Supergirl for a long while now, but to be honest with you, in my opinion there just is not a lot of romantic chemistry between either the actors or the characters, I am just not feeling it. They are better suited as a pseudo brother/sister dynamic. I do like the character and think that the writers have tried hard to give him some depth, but ultimately he belongs in the friend zone.
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https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/sup ... 29998.html

Jimmy Olsen is leaving so the actor can work on his own show among other projects.
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Visitor wrote:
4 years ago
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/sup ... 29998.html

Jimmy Olsen is leaving so the actor can work on his own show among other projects.
Looks like they've somehow solved the Jimmy Olsen problem.
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"So I want you to start your coerced by Lena kryptonian striptease dance over there..."
Supergirl-Season-5-Set-Photos-1.jpg
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"and seductively while clearly humiliated, gravitate to your second mark, amid all those weird Luthor Corp tech sex toys, by which time you should be virtually nude, with only your shiny belt still on.
Supergirl-Season-5-Set-Photos-2.jpg
Supergirl-Season-5-Set-Photos-2.jpg (232.5 KiB) Viewed 5979 times
"I know the call sheet indicated we'd be shooting with a skeleton crew and no crowd extras, to be added in post, but as you can see, plans changed. I think this will really help your performance."

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They have literally done everything possible to de-sex an otherwise sexy girl. Melissas new haircut is the final step before she goes butch lesbian. Absolutely none of her assets shine in that new man-boy suit of hers. This show went off the rails in so many ways.
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JennyFromTheBlock wrote:
4 years ago
They have literally done everything possible to de-sex an otherwise sexy girl. Melissas new haircut is the final step before she goes butch lesbian. Absolutely none of her assets shine in that new man-boy suit of hers. This show went off the rails in so many ways.
Why do you think I have that Red Kryptonite episode permanently saved on my DVR? Was she ever hotter in her street clothes than then? I think not!!! Bring THAT WOMAN back!!!
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The bodysuit certainly has its appeal, but we already have tons of heroines for that (Batgirl, Batwoman, Black Widow and even Captain Marvel to name just a few). To me SG is identified by the skirt or maybe the hotpants even, so I am not too happy with this change. 😢

And the SJWs in social media are calling this a victory because forcing SG to wear a skirt is sexist or so they say. 🙄
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The suit sucks.
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I echo the previous statements.

Looking at the suit...its looks....ehh...OK I guess?

My issue is it's the same suit Superman and Dreamer wears. Batwoman wears similar and so does Flash etc, etc ,etc.....
Long Bodysuits have become so standard and so boring. A red bikini over it would give it sooo much sexiness but you know that's never happening.
But what made Supergirl stand out and gave her added sex appeal was always that little red skirt. Now she is just like every other heroine.

That said, hopefully in exchange we get more peril than ever this upcoming season. And that is one area I absolutely cannot
complain about the past four seasons. Think about it...
-Supergirl has had 2 mammoth build up showdowns and was destroyed twice...vs Reign and Red Daughter and both were epic beautiful defeats
-She has been humiliated by Lillian Luthor in season two, toyed with by son Lex in season 4
-Put in a coma from Black Mercy
-Put into dreamland by Mxyzptlk
-worked over by Monel's mother Rhea in season 2
-Shocked into oblivion by Livewire in season 1
-Sucked dry by the parasite
-put into a state of fear by Psi
-Knocked out by Kryptonite by metallo
and so much more !

She has been the ultimate jobber heroine which I absolutely love watching.
So a suit change may suck but I will still be watching each week.
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She is such a sweeet innocent looking angelic heroine in her skirt and that beautiful blonde hair...PLEASE just let the changes be temporary and we get to see her amazing legs
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Made this on the fly. Thoughts?
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I like the high-rise briefs better but sadly, it'll never happen.
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Another edit I did real quick
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^Definitely hotter, no doubt about that. But it's still not the Supergirl (in my book, at least).
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Wow, awesome pics hiyaboy15, Supergirl looks fantastic! It would rock if Melissa could strut the red-higher cut bikini like this, even if it was just now and then for an exciting costume change.
:yahoo:
Bert

Take a look at the first half dozen episodes of Supergirl, season one, and compare them with season four. Now rewind 40 years and compare the first dozen episodes of Wonder Woman with the second and third season. Both shows began with a willingness to place the titular heroine in tight jams - because that's how you create drama and suspense. If your show is about a superheroine fighting crime, the only way to make it interesting and create drama is to have the outcome uncertain. Nothing could be more simple. But in both shows, forces motivated by something other than solid storytelling intervened and the shows became shadows of their former selves.

What I take away from this is even greater respect for programs like Buffy The Vampire Slayer that managed to avoid this pitfall and stay true to good, dramatic storytelling right to the end. Buffy kept us on the edge of our seats for seven seasons, fighting her heart out, often the underdog.

I'm done with Supergirl. I'll Youtube the scant action bits once a month and be underwhelmed. Happily, we've got Cobie Smulders this fall starring in Stumptown. Not a superheroine, but at least she's allowed to get punched in the face. We'll see how long that lasts.
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Bert wrote:
4 years ago
Take a look at the first half dozen episodes of Supergirl, season one, and compare them with season four. Now rewind 40 years and compare the first dozen episodes of Wonder Woman with the second and third season. Both shows began with a willingness to place the titular heroine in tight jams - because that's how you create drama and suspense. If your show is about a superheroine fighting crime, the only way to make it interesting and create drama is to have the outcome uncertain. Nothing could be more simple. But in both shows, forces motivated by something other than solid storytelling intervened and the shows became shadows of their former selves.

What I take away from this is even greater respect for programs like Buffy The Vampire Slayer that managed to avoid this pitfall and stay true to good, dramatic storytelling right to the end. Buffy kept us on the edge of our seats for seven seasons, fighting her heart out, often the underdog.

I'm done with Supergirl. I'll Youtube the scant action bits once a month and be underwhelmed. Happily, we've got Cobie Smulders this fall starring in Stumptown. Not a superheroine, but at least she's allowed to get punched in the face. We'll see how long that lasts.
After reflecting on your post quite a bit, I have to say I agree with you on the lack of suspensive peril in regards to Supergirl, especially if you compare the show to the other CW shows like Arrow and Flash. The Arrow and flash seem to get their butts handed to them on a lot more regularly than Supergirl. There are two reasons in particular that I feel as though this is the case. Number one, with a female superheroine, I think Supergirl producers goal is female empowerment, about her near invinceability, and I wonder if they make her more vulnerable on a weekly basis, that the message some will takeaway is one of being a victim, undermining their female empowerment message, so they pick and choose judiciously when and where to show her vulnerabilities. Pure speculation on my part. The second and perhaps more practical reason for her lack of peril might be as simple as the fact with Supergirl with the exception of Kryptonite (and they even have protected body armor for that) she is almost invulnerable to conventional attacks from humans unless she is fighting aliens with powers. Now obviously I am not saying that it is impossible to write peril stories for Supergirl, just that her near invulnerability I think might create challenges for the shows' writers looking to create more drama or obstacles for Supergirl and as we all I am sure agree that the writing for the show is clearly not one of the shows' more stronger attributes.
Bert

Initially they had no trouble finding powerful opponents for her. By season four she was reduced to a supporting role in her own show. There are more (and much better) fight scenes in some of those early episodes than in the entire season 4 combined. As far as I know the recent creative team is the same as last year, so I see no reason to expect anything to improve. I don't hate the new suit, and I'm inclined to feel sympathy for Melissa having to wear a short skirt in the cold Vancouver winter, but everything about the show seems to be moving away from any hint of sexiness and any degree of dramatic action for Supergirl. Oh well, Cobie Smulders is beautiful and Stumptown looks to be rooted in some gritty action.
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From the pilot episode right up until the finale of last season, the Supergirl tv show had no real problem showing Supergirl as being beatable in any given fight motif. She was always knocked about quite readily by all sorts of villains, be it aliens or humans with advanced technology. And frankly, I wasn't at all opposed to seeing it occur, being the miscreant I am. But the formula through that time became all too predictable: by the episode's end, she would prevail via her own resurgent strength, help from friends, and/or a speech about hope and heroism; then possibly a cliffhanger that led into the next week's peril.

And yes, the writing on the show has been badly uneven in a variety of ways, most aggravating of which is the writer's handling of her power levels. At times they're off the chart and other times, she can be knocked around by an overgrown iguana. Again, happy to see our girl imperiled but the lack of consistency is more than annoying. In the trailer they show Lena actually knocking SG's head back in anger during an encounter on the street. Unless Lena has dosed herself somehow with that hara-nel serum to give herself super powers, that would be a horrible breech of the writer's handbook of SG power levels. Lena would break her hand under normal conditions. We shall see.

That said, it's still an interesting show to me and the writers have come up with tons of inventive ways to defeat Supergirl, at least temporarily within the episodic format, so I will remain attentive to the show and for those who have foresworn watching it, I'll try to keep you apprised of such highlights come the new season. Watch this space!
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bushwackerbob
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The best analogy I can come up with is that Supergirl the TV series is that beautiful girl in high school who just got by on her looks alone. The best thing the series has is Melissa Benoist in that Supergirl outfit. The show would not have lasted nearly this long without such a talented and gorgeous actress in the role. Casting kudos. Yes, I agree the writing is uneven, it ranges from the simply insipid and uninspiring to halfway decent and fairly good at times. I have watched the show from the beginning and plan to watch season 5 but I also think that the show is fortunate to see a season 5 considering the overall quality of the series in regards to the writing. I think the shows' survival is due in part Benoist and also to the iconic nature of the Supergirl character.
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bushwackerbob wrote:
4 years ago
The best analogy I can come up with is that Supergirl the TV series is that beautiful girl in high school who just got by on her looks alone. The best thing the series has is Melissa Benoist in that Supergirl outfit. The show would not have lasted nearly this long without such a talented and gorgeous actress in the role. Casting kudos. Yes, I agree the writing is uneven, it ranges from the simply insipid and uninspiring to halfway decent and fairly good at times. I have watched the show from the beginning and plan to watch season 5 but I also think that the show is fortunate to see a season 5 considering the overall quality of the series in regards to the writing. I think the shows' survival is due in part Benoist and also to the iconic nature of the Supergirl character.
Can't disagree with you there.
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I have to agree except they did have some peril with the Sons of Liberty in one episode and most of the Lex Luthor stories. however except for the Lex Luthor arc, the writing has gotten so bad if I forget to record a show, then I usually don't care because I can YouTube the decent scene if there was one.

About the only parts of next season that I'll like will be the return of Lex and maybe the parts related to the crossover. However I've heard some things that I could skip like J'onn with his brother.
Bert

""I’ve kind of grown with this character," says Benoist, who originally played Supergirl on CBS before the show was moved to The CW. "It took me a long time to actually feel that strength [of being a superhero]. I feel like if you don’t feel it from the inside out, it’s not going to translate."

This quote is from Entertainment Weekly. To say I find her quote disheartening would be quite a large understatement. Benoist has essentially dissed the earlier part of the series, and only now feels like she properly inhabits the character of Supergirl. Given how bad season 4 was, how the same team is in place for season 5, and Benoist's opinion that her more recent portrayal is best, I feel even more strongly that good, dramatic storytelling and powerful villains that push our heroine will be largely absent in season 5.
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The revival of Lex Luthor for the crossover will probably be the only redeeming feature of season 5. *sob*
bushwackerbob
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Bert wrote:
4 years ago
""I’ve kind of grown with this character," says Benoist, who originally played Supergirl on CBS before the show was moved to The CW. "It took me a long time to actually feel that strength [of being a superhero]. I feel like if you don’t feel it from the inside out, it’s not going to translate."

This quote is from Entertainment Weekly. To say I find her quote disheartening would be quite a large understatement. Benoist has essentially dissed the earlier part of the series, and only now feels like she properly inhabits the character of Supergirl. Given how bad season 4 was, how the same team is in place for season 5, and Benoist's opinion that her more recent portrayal is best, I feel even more strongly that good, dramatic storytelling and powerful villains that push our heroine will be largely absent in season 5.
Maybe what she is really saying is akin to starting a new job where you don't know what you are doing, your confidence level is shot, and you are not sure if you are doing a good job, then after a while, getting some experience under your belt, you gain confidence and feel more comfortable in your role. Perhaps that is what Benoist is saying, that she is now more confident, more comfortable in Supergirl's boots so to speak. I mean she's had other parts on Glee, Homeland, and others, but this was her first big break, her first starring role. The reality of being the big star on a television show and having to play such an iconic character and to try to live up to the audience's expectations, well that must have seemed to be a daunting task at the time she took the role.
Bert

You may be right. I've lost so much confidence in the show that I probably tend to see the worst in new developments. Thing is, Melissa has been praised quite strongly right from the beginning of the show. Even people who dislike it admit she's been great in the role. I'm not claiming certainty here, but I suspect she is looking back on showing vulnerability in the role early on as a weakness in her performance, whereas I see it as a huge plus. To tell dramatic stories, the hero needs flaws and must be defeatable. I worried when the producers brought in Lynda Carter as a character. She may well have advised Melissa against displaying vulnerability as Supergirl. Carter became difficult to work with after season 1 of WW, and more than once refused to shoot scenes where WW was challenged or defeated. Also, the main showrunner for Supergirl was fired for being abusive to staff during Season 3, and storytelling since then has been radically different. I suspect a combination of these forces has led Benoist to be more insistent on avoiding scenes where Supergirl is imperiled.
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"I suspect a combination of these forces has led Benoist to be more insistent on avoiding scenes where Supergirl is imperiled."

Those peril scenes were usually the best parts of the show. It gets really boring if you know the hero or heroine doesn't have a challenge and can sweep in and win without breaking a sweat. Batman back in the 1960s wouldn't have survived with out the cliffhanger death traps. Wonder Woman had a better first season with opponents that could fight her or put her in peril. Even in later seasons, the ones we liked were the peril episodes like the toymaker and his android Wonder Woman.
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I agree with most of the sentiment here. MB has proven to have been perfect in a show which has some frailties when it comes to some of its themes and plot lines. None of those issues however should reflect on her, she's been pretty much spot on all the way in her performance.

Unfortunately, for me, the Achilles heel of the show is that they felt the need to show development of personality in the Kara Danvers character. From the get-go she at least seemed meek and naive (how much was put on to hide her powered self I am not sure) and of course that helped stir a protective sense from her friends and probably the audience. As time has gone on however the persona of Kara Danvers has begun to merge in with her costumed alter-ego. Just look at her clothing choices in her apartment now compared to season 1. The Kara Danvers I really liked is gone, never to return. And it seems no one can see KD is SG, even though her assertive attitude and more model-like looks align ever more closely with each passing season. Maybe Season 5 will be the end, the hair style change and suit marking a moment of Supergirl becoming a Superwoman, I don't know.
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I share everybody's lament on here in regards to the lack of Supergir's peril on the show and think that the show would obviously be better if they showed her vulnerabilities more. I do think that it would bring more captivating drama. I do wonder though that considering our forum's affinity for SHP whether we are representative of the viewership as a whole or are we just advocating for our fetish. The posts on here do make me wonder just how much influence Melissa has on her character and on storylines in general. She got her new costume but that does not necessarily tell us how much power and influence she has on the show. While I am certainly no expert on how television shows are run behind the scenes, I would think Benoist as the star would be able to wield some power, have some input, but as a layman who enjoys reading stuff about how shows are made, but obviously has no professional insight into that milieu, it is hard for me to believe she has power over storyline decisions and the amount of peril Supergirl has to go through. I have a hard time believing that Stephen Amell or Grant Gustin have that kind of power and influence let alone Melissa Benoist, but what do I know, just pure speculation and guesswork on my account. When Stephen Amell gets told by producers that there gonna send his character to prison for a good chunk of the season, can he veto that decision? That is hard for me to believe.
Bert

Yeah, my comments were based on the quote from EW, but I think the new showrunners are mostly to blame for the new direction. The quote seems to indicate that Benoist is onside with it, almost to the point of distancing herself from the earlier work.
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All good comments.

Some may disagree, but I continue to observe a very beautiful, sexy girl who seems to be going out of her way to be less sexy.

The costume move, the hair, just everything. I'm sorry, but looking at the Supergirl from Season 1, you can see she has just become less feminine and more butch at each turn. This final season just really shows it.

Melissa Benoist clearly is the SJW that cannot stomach the male gaze. I think her iCloud hack really damaged her psyche and it is showing in her work and attitude.
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