Let's re-watch Supergirl Season 1 together!

I think this will be fun, too!

4. The show concentrated on her fighting escaped prisoners - no trying to make a political statement. Just good ole fashion fighting the bad guy.
5. Thousands of prisoners escaped Fort Rozz - the show should have stayed on SuperGirl fighting the various prisoners.

Immediately after viewing the Pilot, I described the premise to MrsPrime as "Supergirl meets The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo with aliens instead of ghosts and a dash of Doctor Who's UNIT." She instantly grasped and approved of the concept.

(In the 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, Scooby and Shaggy had to chase down and capture history's 13 most terrifying ghosts after inadvertently freeing them from their prison.)

When I say I prefer Supergirl-centric episodes, this episode is a great example of what I mean. Not just because Supergirl is featured or because she uses her powers, but because she is a driving force in the story. Her determination to excel and define herself apart from her cousin's way of doing things was key to the episode.

Erica Durance has a nice take on Alura, but I do miss Laura Benanti in that dual role.

Kara seems to have become more resistant to accepting help in subsequent seasons.

Which episode are we watching for June 21?
When originally broadcast in 2015, episodes 4 and 5 were aired out of sequence and streaming services like Netflix and Amazon list the episodes in broadcast order, rather than the order intended by the show's creators.
So, are we watching "How Does She Do It?" (actually episode 4, but aired 5th) or "Livewire" (actually episode 5, but aired 4th)?

Which episode are we watching for June 21?
When originally broadcast in 2015, episodes 4 and 5 were aired out of sequence and streaming services like Netflix and Amazon list the episodes in broadcast order, rather than the order intended by the show's creators.
So, are we watching "How Does She Do It?" (actually episode 4, but aired 5th) or "Livewire" (actually episode 5, but aired 4th)?

The dvd has "How Does She Do It?" in its original sequence as episode 4, so that would be my choice. Others who use services rather than a dvd may feel differently of course. I'm good either way.

Hi, everyone! Let's re-watch Supergirl Season 1 together. We can watch one episode of Season 1 every Sunday. Let's start on Sunday, May 31, with S1E1. That's one of my favorites. Then, we can talk about the episode in relation to what we know through Season 5. After Season 1, we can move on to Season 2 if we like. That will give us our Supergirl "fix" until we get Season 6!
After watching S1E1 on Sunday, May 31, post any interesting ideas that come to mind. We will do the same for the next 20 weeks through the end of Season 1.

Let's go with "How Does She Do It."

Becky

Well crap! I'm behind, of course. I will catch up last week's and this week's episode this week!

Becky

Episode 108: Hostile Takeover

This episode featured the first of many great balcony scenes between Cat and Kara/Supergirl. Cat had connected the dots and figured out that Kara was Supergirl (something Lena never was able to do). Even though in subsequent episodes this knowledge was refuted, I don't really believe that Cat ever stopped thinking she had it right the first time. Either way, a great scene.

Other highlights: Fantastic flying scenes, especially the fight with Astra in the skies over National City; the sparring session between Supergirl and Alex showed how much SG had improved since earlier episodes; Kara using her super hearing to eavesdrop on Dirk's conversation; and the rage and heartbreak Supergirl felt when confronting Alura about Astra. Another great example of Melissa's range.

I had never noticed in previous viewings that when Kara brings boxes of Cat's emails to James to read through, he strains to lift one of them. But Kara just takes it from him with no effort whatsoever. Easily overlooked moment, but well worth a chuckle.

Boy, am I way behind! I will do my best to catch up ASAP. The colleges where I teach have started back for Fall, and things are hectic once again!

Boy, am I way behind! I will do my best to catch up ASAP.

Same here Meadows. Look forward to reading your next posts.

Boy, am I way behind! I will do my best to catch up ASAP.

Same here Meadows. Look forward to reading your next posts.

If superbill is then I'm prepared to wait to post about Falling until the both (Meadows and Ja50n1c) of you have caught up.

I'm good with that, Kiwi. I have no problem waiting for the others to catch up, plus I recently got the Season 5 DVD so I can get my "fix" viewing that for awhile.

That would be great Kiwi and superbill Although I don't want anyone to feel they are being held back at the same time.

I have watched episode 13 and 14.

For the Girl Who Has Everything. Straight up, this episode reminded me of people who put on silly contact lenses and become immersed in their perfect fantasy world. In this episode though its Supergirl that has been provided with her perfect fantasy world via a freaky alien parasite (yuck) which covers her like a perverse breastplate.

I had a chuckle when Winn is covering for Kara saying how she was attacked by a 'tick' to Cat who does not seem the slightest bit amused. She hardly ever is though.
I think Winn does come out with funny stuff although the other characters not just Cat typically don't find him funny.

Truth, Justice & The American Way. I liked that at least one of the Fort Rozz escapees (Professor) just wanted to live a normal life, they could have all been out for Supergirl's blood or causing general chaos.

Siobhan pushing Kara's buttons was really good because we get to see once again how Kara Danvers is such a great character in herself. I've got to say personality wise she's more enjoyable to watch than the girl of steel.

James asking Kara her permission to tell Lucy that she is Supergirl because he doesn't want to lie to her was interesting. In season 3 he didn't want keep any secrets from Lena but there was nothing about revealing who Kara Danvers really is from what I remember..

Quoting Meadows: "I have to agree with superbill that the scene where Supergirl tosses Cat off the balcony is excellent. It's actually hilarious. I re-watched it numerous times during Season 1 and laughed out loud each time."

Actually the scene I was referring to was the ending scene on the balcony, where Supergirl expresses regret for her actions. But I agree, the scene when she throws Cat off the balcony was also well played by Melissa and Calista. It's another example of Melissa's remarkable use of expression to convey feelings; I loved the casual posture she took leaning on the railing as Cat fell toward the ground.

I do not believe the series ever captured the emotion of Supergirl/Kara or her true strength as they did in "Falling". The showrunners and writers, in my opinion never rose to the occasion again, I thought they were headed that way at the beginning of Season 3, but just never hit that quality again for me.

I do not believe the series ever captured the emotion of Supergirl/Kara or her true strength as they did in "Falling". The showrunners and writers, in my opinion never rose to the occasion again, I thought they were headed that way at the beginning of Season 3, but just never hit that quality again for me.

****

That's because the two co-creators of the series were given the heave-ho (Ali Adler at the end of S2) and Andrew Kreisberg (halfway through S3). They've been doing damage control ever since.

The reasons the departures are already know, but in this process they lost the lead head-writer/producer (Adler), who, btw, wrote "Falling" and the DC comics lore guru-person (Kreisberg). With these two losses, the show was effectively torpedoed and it showed as S3 fell flat, S4 was a politically polarising mess and S5 was all over the map.

I liked the scene when Kara meets Winn and interviews with Cat Grant.

I wish they had left in the deleted scene which shows Kara and Alex talking in the loft and Alex receiving a notice of academic probation.

I liked, as was Alex and Kara going their separate ways on the freeway after Kara and Lucy rescued J'onn and Alex.

Cat needs to hire a new director of security at Catco! It seems anyone can walk into the place, access computers, etc. Maybe start by requiring passwords? Just sayin'....

Kara bumps into Winn without hurting him, really hurting him I mean. He's a little bit mad but then briefly pursues the woman who will become an important part of his life, he exudes a sense of happiness in his expression when meeting her I thought.

That scene did give us more background info. Also it showed that Kara's apartment originally belonged to Alex. (I attached a screenshot)

Kara being incognito as a biker and quickly putting down those guys using her super speed made me smile.

I think Siobhan guessing Kara's password was Supergirl (probably) was lucky chance. She could have got into the 'Queen of all media''s (or whatever the title is) account while she was at it. Password being Cat (Very likely)

Something else I must mention, I have been watching the series with artificial HDR highlights using Powerdvd. It does make it really quite colorful. Everything from the computers at Cat co to Supergirl's costume. Also scenes can have part of the image which are made darker but another part lighter. I've attached a screenshot which doesn't show in HDR but gives you an idea. The shot shows Jeremiah Danvers where the trees in the foreground are quite a bit darker than normal but still show detail and the background where he is, is quite a bit brighter still showing detail.
I wouldn't necessarily encourage watching it this way as the colors are probably being over saturated, but it is an interesting experience. This series does seem to utilise a wide color palette so its a shame it isn't in HDR natively.

World's Finest was one of my least favorite episodes of Season 1. To me it began the downfall of James and really set him on the terrible writing road of being a petty, jealous jerk.