Supergirl Season Five Episode Discussion and Review Volume 1

Good thoughts, Brierrose! Sounds like a plausible resolution.

Repairing Kara and Lena's friendship aside...

This is some of what Lena knows.
• That her friend pretended to be interviewing her for a story about her mother while really just digging for dirt on Cadmus.
• That her best friend didn't trust her with Kryptonite when she was trying to find a way to defeat Reign, opinions vary on Kara’s reaction.
• That her best friend was the one who recruited her boyfriend to spy on her. I think the consensus is that Kara was wrong to ask James to break onto L Corp, this IMO was Kara’s biggest mistake and on her.
• That her friend interviewed her about Mercy Graves just so she could find and stop Mercy.

Even were all of the above true, it would still not justify Lena's actions. She has gone far beyond "righteous anger" and jumped to threat to humanity. Pretty words about doing no harm aside, she literally aims to bend every other person to her will.

The most ironic line of Tremors was from Lena-- "I'm not a villain," spoken as she makes off with a stolen Kryptonian superweapon. (Ranks up there with Obi Wan Kenobi's: "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." )

If and when Lena realizes the truth of Kara's motives and comes around, there is no way in Hades I would trust her again. Kara, though, is possessed of an incalculable supply of goodwill and forgiveness, so I'm fairly sure it will work out with her. Seeing how the other characters in Kara's orbit react will be even more interesting to me.

Good thoughts, Brierrose! Sounds like a plausible resolution.

Repairing Kara and Lena's friendship aside...

This is some of what Lena knows.
• That her friend pretended to be interviewing her for a story about her mother while really just digging for dirt on Cadmus.
• That her best friend didn't trust her with Kryptonite when she was trying to find a way to defeat Reign, opinions vary on Kara’s reaction.
• That her best friend was the one who recruited her boyfriend to spy on her. I think the consensus is that Kara was wrong to ask James to break onto L Corp, this IMO was Kara’s biggest mistake and on her.
• That her friend interviewed her about Mercy Graves just so she could find and stop Mercy.

Even were all of the above true, it would still not justify Lena's actions. She has gone far beyond "righteous anger" and jumped to threat to humanity. Pretty words about doing no harm aside, she literally aims to bend every other person to her will.

The most ironic line of Tremors was from Lena-- "I'm not a villain," spoken as she makes off with a stolen Kryptonian superweapon. (Ranks up there with Obi Wan Kenobi's: "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." )

If and when Lena realizes the truth of Kara's motives and comes around, there is no way in Hades I would trust her again. Kara, though, is possessed of an incalculable supply of goodwill and forgiveness, so I'm fairly sure it will work out with her. Seeing how the other characters in Kara's orbit react will be even more interesting to me.

Quite true two wrongs don't make a right. I wanted to point out that Lena's feelings aren't coming out of left field. That in no way makes her actions justifiable, being hurt doesn't give you the right to hurt back. Lena's recent actions with Eve, Ma'alefa'ak, and in the Fortress are villainous. Things seem to have turned out better for Ma'alefa'ak but that wasn't due to Lena. IRL the Eve/Hope thing was probably done in part as a way to allow Andrea to work as late into her pregnancy as she wants to. I would love to see Kara struggle to trust Lena again. It seems from the synopsis of CoIE that Alex and J'onn work with Lena but that's an understandable if we don't work together we're all going to die situation like working with Lillian in season two. It would be nice to see cynical Alex have plan Bs like Kara did when working with Lillian (having Winn program CyborgSuperman to get them all off the ship and having Lena/Winn give the lead bomb denotator to Supergirl).

Maybe on Kara’s Earth her new boss can unilaterally rewrite a contract, but not on this one. Any of the CatCo employees who walked (and that should include Kara) would be able to get another journalism gig in a heartbeat.

Didn’t like Kara’s new hair.

Did like how Kara was the center of her own story. Last season felt as though she was a bystander in many episodes.

Did like her new suit, but it deployed way too slowly. And what happened to her dress? Was it crushed beneath the new suit?

Didn’t like the new, evil Lena. Luthor family members trying to take over the world are a cliché.

I've been musing about Lena's electronic assistant (Help?). It brings to mind the supercomputer HAL9000 in the film "2001: A Space Odyssey." Lena at one point tells it that it is getting smarter. It is already questioning Lena's actions. I'm wondering if at some point it will go rogue and cause Lena to reject her reliance on technology, thereby becoming a catalyst for reconciliation between Lena and Kara.

Review of the season premiere from Hypable. Warning while specific details aren’t shared I wouldn’t call it spoiler free. The author says it’s emotionally intense and that it’s one of their top 10 favorite episodes of the series. Only one day to go!

just stopping by to say hi, and drop off some goodies

sneak peek

Mostly spoiler free screener secrets from Hypable for Blurred Lines. The author thinks it’s “much stronger than the previous episode...”. There’s also an interview with Azie who says Kelly doesn’t know Kara is Supergirl.

Another question I have is how is James putting on the Guardian suit and not getting arrested?

As a minor aside: Suppose the villain is the Evil Stapler Lord, armed with a giant staple gun. The giant 6" staples are used to attack Kara to a wall,.namely they are large that they enter the wall on each side of her wrists, not breaking her skin, but nailing her in place.

Supergirl can perhaps lift a million tons. She can certainly pick up an automobile and toss it. The staples do not hold her in place. If she pulls even very gently, it is the wall sections where the staples went in that pull out of the wall If the wall section is battleship armor, it bends until it tears.

Kiwi:

Long time no see..or no chat in this case!

I'm seeing a lot of complaints about the animation quality on J'onn and his brother, whenever they are in Martian form. Not here, but online, in general. I hate to say it, but it's a reasonable complaint. 5 seasons in, I feel like it would be cheaper and less visually jarring to come up with some sort of prosthetic for the actors, or their stunt actors. I can't speak to the reasoning behind the decisions, but the animation quality does tend to pull me out of the moment. And a show like this should be able to pull off that type of prosthesis at a relatively minimum cost, I should think.

I'd think a modern show in 2019 should be able to pull off for one character what shows like Star Trek: TNG were able to do 30 years ago, at a reasonable cost that may be cheaper and higher quality than CGI.

Hi Kiwi, nice to see you.

Overall, I've really enjoyed this season, far more than I did the first 5 episodes of Season 4. By this point I was ticked off last season that I had almost stopped watching and was going to wait until the Summer and just binge it on Netflix.

But this season has really held my attention.

Loving....

• The fact that FINALLY we are getting solo battles for Supergirl.
  
The fact that Kara is going out on her own as a reporter in very dangerous situations.
The fact that Kara seems to be totally at ease as both a Superhero and Reporter this season. We saw a little of it last season, but she is full force forward this season.
The fact that Kara has been the saving hero in almost every situation....it seems like the Supergirl show, rather than the Alex Danvers Show that I felt we were getting the first half of last season.
The Lena part of the storyline is REALLY interesting. I can't wait to see what she has in store for Supergirl and if we are correct and Kara finds out in the next 2 episodes that Lena is plotting against her, I cannot wait for that dramatic meat for Melissa.

Things that I could do without...

Jonn's storyline of his history coming back to haunt him. I'm really tired of that storyline. Please move him on from that storyline.
Nia and Brainy, though it has cooled over the last two episodes so I'm happy about that.
I don't like that Kara is lying to Nia......has she not learned? Not cool...

So on average the episodes have been in the 6-9 range. I haven't seen one yet that deserves a 10....hopefully sill see that soon. I have to say once again better than this time last season. The episodes were averaging about a 3 - 5, "Ahimsa" being the 5, the rest were 3s by this time.

Confidence Woman was IMO necessary and not “filler”, we needed the backstory for Andrea/Acrata. I actually care about her now that there’s more to her than a horrible boss. Similarly, I thought “Man of Steel” made Ben Lockwood a more compelling character last season. It also provided some context for Lena’s reaction to finding out Kara’s secret. And now all the players know the name Leviathan. My prediction is Kara and Lena will realize they have to work together against Leviathan in the classic the enemy of my enemy is my friend situation. Working together will help them regain some of the trust that’s been lost on both sides. Looking back on last season almost everything was done for a reason even if we didn’t know the reason for several episodes, growing up my dad told me patience is a virtue so let’s show some.

Confidence Women was certainly not filler. I also agree the characters need a backstory. I didn't care for the backstory as much as I expected to, but it did flesh Andrea out. I'm not anymore sympathetic, but hardly anyone is a villain in their own eyes.

Confidence Women was what I would call an "eat your vegetables" episode--something you have go through in order to get to the "good stuff."

Last season, for me, the good stuff was just barely worth it. This year seems much better so far.

I hope the 100th episode is a bonkers fun one-off that lets the cast have fun and celebrate their achievement with the fans.

Brie, I saw online that Danielle Panabaker said the most recent episode of The Flash (which SHE directed) would show Grant Gustin at his goofiest. Well, I say for episode 100, let Melissa be the queen of silly. She has shown silliness in many behind the scenes pictures and videos on Instagram.

Time to loosen up and celebrate.

That Flash episode was delightfully bonkers! I wouldn't want every episode to be like it, but it is nice to just have some fun once in a while.

Ever since Queller took over, I have had the impression that the show takes itself a little too seriously at times.

Also shouldn't the fact that National City's newspaper of record (see season 2), was bought by a social media company, spark some controversy on it's own? Especially if CatCo goes from hard-hitting journalism to click-bait overnight? Wouldn't Lena get some flack for selling it to a social media company.

Andrea should fear the wrath of Cat Grant! I have hopes that Cat will someday re-take her namesake company and promote Kara to editor-in-chief. That scenario may fit with Calista's life, allowing for an occasional appearance.

It will also be interesting to see how the William Dey character develops. Right now I think he is another person who Kara would like to fling into space (Siobhan Smythe being the other), but time will tell.

Maybe on Kara’s Earth her new boss can unilaterally rewrite a contract, but not on this one. Any of the CatCo employees who walked (and that should include Kara) would be able to get another journalism gig in a heartbeat.

My guess is that the new boss is using the same clause that Cat did in season 1 when she forced Leslie Willis to become a traffic reporter. It's odd that the contracts reporters have would be the same as entertainment.

There must be other ways to get around this issue even if this is enforceable. Perhaps Supergirl and Dreamer can boycott CatCo Magazine, refusing to give interviews to a publication that no longer values journalistic integrity. They can also chose another publication to give exclusives to. It may true that Kara Danvers and Nia Nal can't have a newsblog (see season 2), but there is no reason why Supergirl and Dreamer can't. In the mean time they can wait out their contract.

Also shouldn't the fact that National City's newspaper of record (see season 2), was bought by a social media company, spark some controversy on it's own? Especially if CatCo goes from hard-hitting journalism to click-bait overnight? Wouldn't Lena get some flack for selling it to a social media company.

@LibertyPrime: Re; Previous post. 100% agree. Talented, but not structurally cohesive. And certainly not rigorous or real-world astute in application.

@rachelrr: Re; Your post: Good to see your musings again.

Maybe on Kara’s Earth her new boss can unilaterally rewrite a contract, but not on this one. Any of the CatCo employees who walked (and that should include Kara) would be able to get another journalism gig in a heartbeat.

I didn't bring this (or a couple of other plot points) up, because I was such a stickler for stuff like this last year. I fear I stepped on some toes.

Suffice it to say at this point, I believe that while the writer's room has immense aptitude for character-based drama, their collective talent does not necessarily extend to logic, consistency, or real-world applicability.

Interesting start. I have always loved Lena that being said. hoo boy...

I am a bit disappointed in Lena. I hope she gets better because complaining about how people are run by emotion, when her decision to eschew all emotion, is ultimately driven by emotion, while ironic, is seriously grating. She's acting like a moody teenager, to the point I half expected to see her to sulking in a Hot Topic.

I really wish she and Brainy were closer, because he could tell her what sort of person you become when you are devoid of all emotion.

Also you would think that someone operating purely on logic might consider the thought that Lex might not have been completely truthful when he told her that Kara and their friends weren't really her friends and mocked her behind her back. This is what I assume is the real 'betrayal' since she was okay with Alex not telling her that she worked for DEO, and Lena has plenty of secrets of her own. That's what this boils down to Lena is upset because she took something Lex, of all people, said at face value. So much for logic.

Also apparently Lena was going to expose that Kara is Supergirl? What is that supposed to accomplish? (Other than prove to the world that Kara not telling her was the correct decision, since she clearly can't be trusted)

I hope she gets better because Lena kinda sucks now.