Supergirl S3 E5 "Damaged": Discussion and Review

I enjoyed watching this episode.
I thought it was interesting to see Sam and Kara work together. Edge is working well as a villain, with out being too mustache twirly (though I would like to know how he knows everything about Lena's actions during the Daxam invasion)

On another note, It looks like Lena is going to be this season's damsel in distress again. Seriously, someone really needs to pull Lena aside and point out how stupid it is to 1. confront someone you know is dangerous 2. on their turf 3. alone and 4. with no-one knowing your whereabouts. (This is the second time she did this! Either she has the self preservation instincts of a piñata or, judging by this episode, simply doesn't care if she gets killed)

Also, was I the only one that was disappointed we didn't see any interaction between Lena and Winn? It seems like he would be able to relate to her plight, not just because his dad is a supervillian, but he was also the other person that worked on the lead bomb. I consider it a missed opportunity.

Any episode that begins with Alex and Supergirl teaming up to take down a villain has started on the right foot and is on the road to being a decent episode . Love the shot of Supergirl through the broken windshield. It really set the tone of the scene.

I thoroughly enjoy Adrian Pasdar in every role that I have seen him in and this one has been no different. As I mentioned on the News page, he does an exceptional job of depicting a, "take no prisoners-win at all costs" personality.

Brierrose, I agree, Edge is no Max. Max had a conscience and felt he was doing the right thing even if his actions weren't always morally or ethically correct. Edge, nah, he seems just to do what he does simply because he wants power and control. We don't have a backstory on him and I, for one, hope that we don't get a sympathetic story that makes us question if underneath it all, he had good intentions. Let's just let the villain be a ruthless, formidable foe for SG.

I also noticed the comment about Sam knowing Lena for awhile. At the time, I thought, whoa, did we know that before or was this brand new information .

I liked Edge's comment to Lena about the cobra and how killing the snake had unintended consequences. It really is a nice reference to how there can't be good without evil. I also loved the Acme Co., cartoon comment of the Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner BEEP, BEEP!

Besides the opening scene, Supergirl saving the plane and Lena was probably my favorite of the episode. I assumed that she would have flown under the plane to keep it up and most likely, in one piece but, staying inside provided some nice shots that showed her strength.

I've liked James thus far in the season much better than previously but, I had to question his waffling between telling Lena that she wasn't her brother and so shouldn't be judged as such to basically insinuating that she was at some fault in the bomb because she used a device her brother made. Nothing like building up a person's self-esteem and shooting the air out within a matter of minutes, lol.

Kelly - I agree with you on the Alex/Maggie scenes. First ones didn't impress me but, the last one was much better.

I wish that they could have separated Alex's story into a different episode or perhaps integrated the break-up better in previous episodes. As it was, such a pivotal piece thrown in with what going on in the Lena, Edge,SG story line made both stories feel rushed. But, I know that's sometimes easier said than done, too.

DagNABit, I'm loving Sam!!! When it starts to Reign, it's gonna POUR!!... my emotions RIGHT outta my heart, all over the floor in a sloppy mess.

Good news....Ruby didn't bug me tonight.

Ditto for me on these two points, evrafter.

Well at least one article is already saying Reign might be made to dose unforgivable things.
https://screenrant.com/supergirl-david-harewood-reign-martian-manhunter/

Okay well so far Morgan Edge is a very intimidating villain, but for a man like him he should be smarter than to get on Supergirl's bad side and to top it off him hurting Lena, her best friend, emotionally and physically well Morgan u r screwed. I wonder if Morgan will be making any direct hits towards Supergirl because so far it has just been about Lena and she is getting tied in the middle. Also is Sam not suspicious of why Kara just has like a testing tube thing that connects to her phone in her purse? She might think that she does that alot. And I just wonder what would have happened if Sam glanced down at the door when Kara broke it open, she would probably be very confused and like, "how did this door just randomly break like that?" I love seeing Sam and Kara Bond and I hope to God that it happens more before the Reign thing. Will Sam tell anyone besides her adoptive mom about the powers and hallucinations and dreams? Maybe Lena? I love the ending where Sam finds out that she might just have powers. It just made my jaw drop. Ruby in this episode is just so sweet in the beginning where she worries about her mom and how nice she is to her friends and when Lena comes over that bright smile she has when she brings out the pillows. I really want Kara to meet Ruby and if Ruby does get sucked in with Reign or something like that maybe when Alex adopts Ruby, if she does, will she find out Kara is Supergirl? At least once in the season will Ruby meet Supergirl and not when her mom Reign is trying to kill her?

Agreed, I kind of want Ruby to find out Kara is Supergirl, or for Kara to meet Ruby. This kind of says to me that if Kara can connect with Ruby she can see for herself that theres something that Reign cares about that she can talk her down with.

Eric

What do you think we change Amazing Episode to Excellent. My thoughts are that Best in 20 is amazing. I think excellent conveys more the thought you want. I would raise Very Good to a B+. I might have rated this one Excellent if given that option. I also agree that 7 options are enough.

Thoughts?

Argo

I'm looking into stars possibly, something without so much nomenclature that can be confusing

Adding fuel to the fire on the shipping roles; might James and Lena become an eventual item?

I don't like shiping but that would be the one ship to silence all ships I guess. If they really pair Lena up with someone, that might shut up all the people that wants to pair Lena with various people, since Lena is like for some reason the only person shippers are into.

Or they might just go even more berserk.

Eric

What do you think we change Amazing Episode to Excellent. My thoughts are that Best in 20 is amazing. I think excellent conveys more the thought you want. I would raise Very Good to a B+. I might have rated this one Excellent if given that option. I also agree that 7 options are enough.

Thoughts?

Argo

I'm looking into stars possibly, something without so much nomenclature that can be confusing

Being Kelly and I are both teachers, I'm sure we could create a very awesome RUBRIC for ya, Eric

Eric

What do you think we change Amazing Episode to Excellent. My thoughts are that Best in 20 is amazing. I think excellent conveys more the thought you want. I would raise Very Good to a B+. I might have rated this one Excellent if given that option. I also agree that 7 options are enough.

Thoughts?

Argo

I'm looking into stars possibly, something without so much nomenclature that can be confusing

Being Kelly and I are both teachers, I'm sure we could create a very awesome RUBRIC for ya, Eric

I say we use "care bear" emojis....... 5 "care bears" is Excellent 4 is Great 3 is Average 2 is below Average and 1 is sucks..... hehe

You are right Kiwi about Lena doing the rescuing. I was just frustrated about other things (mostly, how the fandom wants Lena to be the hero when Kara is it (not in a physical "I will rescue way" way but in a character development way), how James is blamed for stuff when he is not in the wrong and so on). It's not really the character's fault. She just had this one episode focused on her.

I am sorry about it; and bringing my frustrations and unwanted negativity here.

Anyways, about Supergirl not using Superspeed in the beginning; from their conversation after, she was clearly allowing Alex to vent out her frustrations. After all, Alex usually doesn't accompany her in these things. But, she did this time because she needed a distraction. Kara allowed it because she wanted to support her sister. It was clearly about the sisters rather than about the crime in question.

In this, I am with the writers. It was a great way for Kara to show support.

Also, Sully, yes, the Cobra Effect is a real thing (apologies for not answering this earlier). I had heard of a legend like this before. (The wikipedia says it is true with links).

Basically, what I got out of it was the cultural differences that should figure into account when you do (heh!) sociological research and propose theories. I had also read an article in Psych Today (may be?, I don't remember) about how most of the sociological/economical and similar theories and hypothesis, considered universal, are west-centred (mostly US centred) and have been seen to break down in other cultures.

Research is not easy and your biases--ones that you even don't know about--can change the outcome.

Grading: Eric/All,

House of El's seem like a great grading criteria; but may be we could have 6-7 instead of 5? With one for I don't want to vote but I enjoyed it for Kelly (and any others who feel like it).

the Supergirl rescue of the C-130 and Lena, now that was totally awesome to watch with the perfect Blake Neely music to go with it, Melissa is now an expert at selling the Superheroics, fantastic work Melissa and the Encore VFX team. Has now found a slot in my Top 5 of Superheroics from the series so far.

Something I thought they could have done towards the end of the episode was have Supergirl go and visit the children at the Luthor hospital, only needs to be a 30 to 60 second scene but would be nice to see on the show sometime.

I'm always gonna have your six on this Kiwi. Like every time.

Yeah, I find the neglect of Supergirl's 'Good Samaritan' achievements to be a great source of frustration for me on this show. After all, Helping people, lifting their spirits and saving the world is what Superman, and by extension, Supergirl does. You're absolutely right about spending a mere 30 seconds on these little uplifting scenes. And its not like you need special fx for that.

Just rewatched "Damaged." Man, I've really come to love Blake's "Lena's Theme." No worries, Super Buddies...If Lena's gonna go bad, Blake will warn us a few seconds ahead of time to prepare us

Kiwi- I appreciate Kara's optimism, too. I love that she is one who almost always focuses on the good in people and I believe that because that is a core trait of hers, she will always find her way back to it. Like you, I don't want the show to hang out in drearyland for an extended amount of time. But, seeing her occasionally struggle through events or emotions makes her feel more real to me and I think that is important also.

Brierrose - Good point on distinguishing between Kara suffering through depression rather than just grief. They are two different emotions and Kara has had so much grief that it's not at all surprising that she should find herself thrown into the hole of depression.

While what Alex said in S3E1 wasn't kind it was what Kara need to hear, similar to how it wasn't nice when Alex suckerpunched Kara in season one to make Kara understand that she needed to learn fighting techniques. Both were ultimately for Kara's own good even if she didn't think so at the time and hurt Alex too.

This is what sisters do, right? It's their job to give us pep talks when we're down, gain 5 lbs helping us eat comfort ice cream and kicking our butts when we need it.

Last note: characterizing women as one-dimensional, flat, cheery personas has long been a problem in the entertainment world, especially in the action/superhero genre, think Lynda Carter's WW and Charlie's Angles. As a result, those characters and shows are not taken seriously. I'm of the opinion that many women want to see other women in these types of roles more like the Gal Gadot WW than the Pollyanna SG (and so do some men). I'm so happy that we have a show for women like SG but, let's let her have some grit along with her optimism.

You are so right Sully. I certainly do want to see real emotions on from both male and female TV characters and am glad that seems to be becoming more acceptable.

I have always been one to believe, it was how my mother raised me.....that in order to see the true light within people there has to be darkness. We have to go through bad times in order to truly appreciate the good times. IMO, it would be a boring show, cute....but a boring show if Kara was always like this...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDDmiIMTESA

ALSO, there are several iterations of this character, and right now they are simply pulling from the New 52 period. We are already seeing glimpses of Kara coming back, but we are also seeing glimpses of a strong, independent woman that she is becoming. So, I'm fine with this season, in fact, I'm enjoying it immensely.

They haven't said it but IMO Kara is going through depression as well as grief, they often go together. J'onn did mention grief but we haven't heard the word depression. In S3E2 when Kara told Alex she was trying to live her life but the things that use to make her happy weren't working, that's exactly what I've heard depression described as. It's possible that Eliza could be the one to say it in "Midvale". I actually think it would be a positive thing for mental health awareness for Kara to say she's depressed and for her to admit it's hard but that doesn't mean she's broken.

Looking back on the first two episodes of the season brings back memories of when my friend who at the time was also my roommate was going through a period of depression. I wanted to help her feel better but was at a loss as to what to do, the only thing I did know was she wasn't going to just get out of bed one day and be back to "normal". It's a fine line between just being sitting on the couch next to someone and trying to keep them from making bad choices. Sometimes it's a good thing to gently push someone to get their butt of the couch, it's just really hard to tell if that push will help or make things worse. It was terrifying when I decided to insist that if my friend wanted the Chunky Monkey ice cream she was going to have to get up, get dressed and come with me to the grocery store to get it but thankfully that gentle push was a help. What Alex said in S3E1 pushed Kara to feel something, anything even anger at her. While what Alex said in S3E1 wasn't kind it was what Kara need to hear, similar to how it wasn't nice when Alex suckerpunched Kara in season one to make Kara understand that she needed to learn fighting techniques. Both were ultimately for Kara's own good even if she didn't think so at the time and hurt Alex too.

I'm thinking "Midvale" will be a healing episode for both sisters. Kara is getting some alone time with two people she doesn't have to pretend to be strong for and some time off from the responsibilities of being Supergirl. I really hope the first thing that happens when Kara and Mon-El meet again, before even a word is spoken, is he places Alura's neckless around her neck. No matter what happens between them it's going to be a balm to Kara's soul to find out Mon-El is alive and has kept his promise to be the man she thinks he can.

I have HOPE it's going to be ok folks, Kara is moving forward and slowly finding her joy again, The \S/ keeps getting brighter.

Great comments by all. The reality, as we all know it, is the ying and yang. With joy can come sadness, and with these come growth. Perhaps this is part of Kara and Alex’s journey this season.

Argo

Oh hey, Kelly....look. Lena has better hair in this one. Thank, Rao.

Also, Lena sure does know how to handle a gun well. Probably due to some of Katie's previous gun slinger roles lol

Anyone happen to know how soon after an episode airs that it is available on Amazon?

The CW is not available through my cable provider. I've watched the first four on Amazon but, they had already long since aired when I watched so, I'm not certain on the time frame.

Thanks ahead of time.

Okay so I am wondering who Supergirl herself is going to be battling outside of this and it Is obviously not going to be big, but we did see a battle scene in the trailer. In the trailer Lena holds a gun up to Morgan Edge which makes me wonder if he did something more then just ruin her reputation. Maybe threatened somebody she cared about? Maybe Kara? Maybe even Sam? And on the topic of Sam I can not wait to see them bond more so when Sam slips into the fall of Reign it will be even more traumatic! This is definitely going to be a good episode!

Ho ho ho.... PLOT twist there at the end. Woop woop!

Good episode.

DagNABit, I'm loving Sam!!! When it starts to Reign, it's gonna POUR!!... my emotions RIGHT outta my heart, all over the floor in a sloppy mess.

Good news....Ruby didn't bug me tonight.

The Alex and Maggie side story just felt out of sorts.

Anyone wanna start guessing what it was Kevin Smith sent Chris of Melissa that they watched and rewatched? My guess was her facial reaction when Lena was drunk and interrupted Kara. She just did a twitch of her nose and eyes, and slight movement of her head. Made ME rewind, anyways. lol

My second guess was her awesome glare through the windshield. lol But... Still think it was her reaction to Lena

Ho ho ho.... PLOT twist there at the end. Woop woop!

Good episode.

DagNABit, I'm loving Sam!!! When it starts to Reign, it's gonna POUR!!... my emotions RIGHT outta my heart, all over the floor in a sloppy mess.

Good news....Ruby didn't bug me tonight.

The Alex and Maggie side story just felt out of sorts.

Anyone wanna start guessing what it was Kevin Smith sent Chris of Melissa that they watched and rewatched? My guess was her facial reaction when Lena was drunk and interrupted Kara. She just did a twitch of her nose and eyes, and slight movement of her head. Made ME rewind, anyways. lol

My second guess was her awesome glare through the windshield. lol But... Still think it was her reaction to Lena

The part that Kevin Smith sent Chris is from the swimming pool scene.

The part that Kevin Smith sent Chris is from the swimming pool scene.

Hmmmn... I'll need to rewatch it.

So, apparently, Kara is so happy with her sister that she wants everyone to have a sister.

That is what I got from the episode.

Also: I really like Sam. I think I will miss Odette when she leaves. And, I do like Edge. He seems actually challenging.