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Welcome back to the Maid of Steel podcast! A podcast dedicated to the CBS television series, Supergirl! Karen and Emilee (that’s me) are back with a discussion about Season 1 Episode 3 “Fight or Flight”, which we’ve affectionately dubbed “Keeping Up With The Kryptonians” based off a brilliant line from Director Henshaw! This episode originally aired on Monday November 9, 2015.
There was a lot to love, in my own humble opinion, about the third episode of this television show’s freshman run. I like to consider myself an objective person, someone who will keep an open mind by seeking opinions from a wide variety of people, but I can’t help but whole-heartedly disagree with the nay-sayers out there. I’m talking about the big-name couch critics, not Rotten Tomatoes (who happens to like the show! Go figure). I’m just not seeing the problems they’re raising, particularly as it comes to what many are dubbing the “Superman-sized hole” in the show. I find it altogether witty and charming, light and feel-good, while at the same time exploring contemporary issues and circumstances that affect society.
Keeping Up with the Kryptonians
There is a definite and indiscrete emphasis placed on the fact that Kara wants to carve her own spot in this world. She might be a Kryptonian like Superman, she might have a story very similar to his, but she knows that she won’t make it very far by inching along in the long shadow that Superman casts. And his shadow is so long that Jimmy is still kinda standing in it.
As in previous episodes, I really thought they did a good job of breaking things down so that they might build them back up again. This episode broke the mold of the previous two, but it’s still in the process of finding a rhythm. And I like this part of development. I really enjoy watching character growth, measurable character growth, and I think that it’s absolutely essential that we get these aspects to Jimmy and Kara, in particular, so as to see the extremes of their personalities. It’s helpful to know who Jimmy was back in Metropolis and why he wanted to get away from that. Hopefully he won’t simply be replacing Superman with Supergirl, in terms of a crutch, but that his desire to move away from that mentality will also help Kara become the hero she wants to be.
That said, I actually liked that Jimmy sort of freaked out and called his body guard in for help. Karen gives a little insight to the comic book character of Jimmy Olsen that was tremendously helpful to me, and shone a bit of light on why he would make a move like that. I think it was good for Kara to find a balance between her undeniable crush and the human nature of the object of her crush, and because this is a story that takes place after high school, the two can be adults and have a conversation about it!
Gotcha!
Ah. Gotcha journalism. I don’t like watching news casts that feature a reporter pursuing an interview subject and berating them with nasty comments. I don’t get anything out of that. However, as I mention on the podcast, I am a huge fan of well-crafted, articulate and insightful critics.
Typically when I read something in the news it’s because I want insight into something I either know little about or have little access to, so I can see sitting down to read Catco not because I think the magazine knows all there is to know about Supergirl, but because they had an opportunity to interact with someone that I know very little about. If you’re reading this, chances are you filter all information you consume through a particular paradigm, rather than just inhaling it and taking everything word-for-word, but many people don’t. I can see a National City that is very divided, between Cat Grant’s opinions, Maxwell Lord’s opinions, and their own experiences with Supergirl.
It was sad, but appropriate, to watch as Superman swoops in… not long after Kara defends Supergirl to Ms. Grant that the heroine would never call in her cousin to save her. There were a lot of “eat-your-words” moments in this episode, something I never tire of watching, because it just goes to show that circumstances are often so beyond our control that we need to be prepared for pretty much anything.
Unfortunately, Supergman’s presence overshadows the good Supergirl does for Maxwell Lord here in the scene depicted. That dude is total scum! I am highly suspicious of everything that happened to him and around him in this episode, particularly as it so intentionally detracts from what Kara is trying to accomplish. Plus, until Kara learns how to really fight, we’re probably going to see a lot of clumsy attempts. And for now, that is totally fine with me. It is more believable, in fact, that Kara can’t fight in the traditional way than if she were just automatically brilliant and skilled in combat. There has to be a learning curve.
Cougar’s Comic Corner
This week, the Scarlet Cougar credits Comic Book dot com with the suggestion of [[[Supergirl: Who is Superwoman?]]] by Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle. Check it out, tell us what you think!
Next Week
Season 1 Episode 3: How Does She Do It
Feedback
We’d love to hear your thoughts, theories and reactions to Supergirl! We record our podcast on Wednesday evenings, so please try to have you contributions in by 6pm Eastern on Wednesdays following each new episode! You can use the comments of this blog post, our Facebook page, tweet at us, or use our easy feedback page to send us your comments!
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I like the shorter intro; it still gives us that cool theme, but also allows for longer talks.
I’d love to see another training session between Alex and Kara. I don’t think Maxwell set up the situation with Reactron. I could see them possibly using a Lucy/Jimmy/Kara triangle to build Winn as a bad guy as well; as you said he may eventually turn on Kara after she pushes him away so much and if they have her lean on him more because Jimmy is talking to Lucy and Winn takes it as something more, because I definitely think he likes her more than she likes him, then sees Kara rush back to a single Jimmy it could be another step into building him into their big recurring bad guy. How would Kara feel fighting a friend? It would be like Clark having to fight a bad guy version of Jimmy. I agree about not letting any triangles take over the show; also, I’m fine with people not liking Supergirl because it gives a rounded vibe to that factor.
It would be kind of funny to hear someone say they didn’t like or didn’t trust Kara because she was never around or always leaving early. I wouldn’t put it past Lucy to say “Don’t you want someone who’s here?” to Jimmy even if she doesn’t know Kara’s Supergirl. But yeah, not everyone can like Kara or Supergirl or else that part would feel stale. “The planet doesn’t need to see her as the consolation prize” – well said. I can see someone using the “We have to come up with our own shipper name!” line; I’d be okay if they just continued using their names because that would actually make them kind of different now. As neat as it was for this episode since they can’t get Henry over for whatever reason, I wouldn’t want to see Kara IMing Clark each week because this is her show not his and if you have him in it too much it makes it feel like she can’t be successful without him; I’ve never seen the series, but I doubt “Smallville” would have done the reverse had the situation presented itself and they certainly wouldn’t of had an every week talk session between Kara and an adult Clark on any adult Superman show so no to Clark being a big factor in “Supergirl”. I understand the links and mentions because they are family, but I don’t want to see him on the show any more than he already is; in fact, I’m excited to see a Superman free episode since he’s been featured in every episode practically. Kara IMing Clark to discuss part of a long term plan or to warn him of a villain she faced is one thing, but I would hate if she did it every week or even once every month.
It’s not Cyndi Lauper, but nice outro.