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What if you could change the outcome of one of your greatest regrets? Would you do it? What if Kara could go back and tell Lena the truth before Lex had a chance to? Well when the fifth dimensional imp Mxyzptlk is involved literally anything could happen. Get your bucket of popcorn and pull up a chair as we are snapped in an out of alternative realities.
What a creative way to take us through 100 high flying adventures with Supergirl while also exploring one of her greatest regrets. Each time she told the truth things just kept getting worse and worse. Culminating in a Lena Luthor that was a sort of dictator over National City. There was also a scenario where telling the truth cost Kara her life. It was heartbreaking to see Alex existing without her. Proof of what we always say the sisters are the heart of the show.
In this landmark episode we are able to revisit some of the exciting moments that shaped our storyline over the last five years. The moments that have influenced our characters and made them who they are today. I believe Kara is learning that no magic trick can heal the rift in her relationship with Lena. She can not snap her fingers and change the past. She does however have complete control of her decisions going forward.
Supergirl is very strong but she can not break the will of a Luthor who feels she has been wronged. All Kara can do is make it clear that she wants to repair their friendship. She wants to move away from the past and be forgiven. Can Kara persuade Lena to come back to team Supergirl? Can she save her from getting manipulated by her brother? Lex has made it clear he will only be on Lena’s side as long as it serves himself. We have to tune in in two weeks to see what happens next.
In celebration of Supergirl’s 100th episode Silver Vox and I wanted to create something for you to thank you for over 100 episodes of Maid of Steel. Without all your wonderful feedback over the years we would not still be here talking about our favorite Kryptonian.
Our Superfriends all have a twelfth level intellect like Brainy I just know it. Answer these questions about our favorite high flying heroine for a chance to win some Supergirl themed prizes.
- When did the character of supergirl first appear in the comics?
- Where did supergirl’s pod go that made her land on Earth so long after her cousin?
- Where did the refugees from Krypton set up a new city?
- Where did Kara grow up once she made it to Earth?
- Which of Supergirls’ relatives were imprisoned in Fort Rozz?
- Where does Kara work?
- When did the Supergirl television show premiere?
- Who handles alien threats in National City?
- What is the key to the Fortress of Solitude made out of?
- What century is Brainy from?
- Who is Wynn’s Dad?
- What year did Helen Slater (aka Eliza Danvers) play the character of supergirl?
- What is the name of Silver Vox’s furry companion?
Will Supergirl Win Back Lena’s Loyalty?
- Yes (63%, 5 Votes)
- No (38%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 8
Cougar’s Comic Corner
Supergirl #35
Written by Mike Andreyko Released October 9, 2019
As Supergirl gets drawn deeper into Leviathan’s plans and the search for her foster parents, the newly sentient Brainiac-1 drone realizes the one thing he needs to unlock the power of millennia of Kryptonian science is the Girl of Steel herself! With her focus on her Earth family, will the distraction make her an easy target for the mad A.I.? And how will Leviathan respond as she gets closer and closer to their plans?
$3.99 on Comixology
Next Time On Supergirl!
“The Bodyguard” airing March 8, 2020 on The CW.
LENA MOVES FORWARD WITH NON NOCERE – Lex tasks Supergirl with protecting Andrea from an anti-tech extremist, but his nefarious purpose goes beyond merely keeping Andrea alive. Meanwhile, Lena moves forward with Non Nocere, with Lex’s help. Gregory Smith directed the episode with story by Lindsay Sturman and teleplay by Emilio Ortega Aldrich & Chandler Smidt
Feedback
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[sc:ms]
So… parts of my last two reviews dropped?
Back From The Future: Part 2
“Well that was bizarre. Anyone out there watching this train-wreck get the feeling that the gonzo writers, Rob Wright and J. Hiltham, ate some THP laced brownies before they penned their opus for this week‘s lesson in how NOT to write a TV episode?
BTW; Toto should SUE for that rendition of Africa. Is there any better evidence for how TALENTLESS and incompetent Staz Nair is? How can you screw that song up? He found a way. Cringe time in the cockles, people.
In the “what do we do with Alex to ruin her?” department “now that we have screwed over Mehcad Brooks”, the showrunners take the DEO away from her and give it to Braindead by editorial fiat and give no good story reason for the stupid pointless move. So she will play private eye and second banana to Dave Harewood at the Big Useless Martian (BUM) detective agency? Who did Chyler Leigh tick off to get that demotion? Must have been the same person who has it in for Harewood.
Alexis Ostrander directed this horse manure opera with botched horizon line shots, wrong PoVs in the two person set pieces and paced it like she was on Oxycodone – ( Pain Medication), Hydrocodone – (Pain Medication), Diazepam (Valium) – Anti-Anxiety Medication Alprazolam (Xanax and Niravam) – Anti-Anxiety Medication Doxylamine – Antihistamine. After watching the end result of her gross incompetence, I was ready for the Heath Ledger sayonara suicide sendoff cocktail myself.
The artificial intelligence daddy Toyman senior plot was as mismanaged in story and in direction as everything else. This was a crucial error because that was the A-story and when it failed, nothing else was going to help, not even the reveal of Mxyzptlk (Mix, youz, pot, luck) as the show booster for episode 100.
Rate it… -20,-20, -20 out of 5/5/5 for aforesaid reasons above.
For more details on this catastrophe I refer you to a good review on why this episode does not work here:
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/02/17/supergirl-has-more-winn-fighting-himself-in-back-from-the-future-part-two-spoiler-review/
[quote]
Well, then in steps William (Staz Nair) because Kara said she felt like she “had to” invite him. (She’s not wrong. The Supergirl writers and showrunners trying to make a Kara-William romance happen sure are making it feel pretty forced. Because there is NO objective reason to have him here.) And then they proceed to do some pretty cringe-worthy karaoke, even by the standards of karaoke, this was just objectively bad.
And here’s the problem with Supergirl right now. They’re trying to make Kara and William happen. Stop trying to make Kara-William happen. You had Jeremy Jordan back to do karaoke with and instead you do it with this guy who is off-beat, off-key, trying to do some hokey harmonies and if this isn’t a giant symbol of everything currently wrong with Supergirl, I don’t know what is.[/quote]
I agree with that quote.”
=======================================================
Its a Super Life:
You think Derek Simon has one good one in him? Nope. This one is all Jesse Warn, Robert Royner and Jessica Queller. Even the teleplay treatment is Nicki Holcomb for the good bits. I’ve watched enough SG episodes to almost pick out the exact bits which go to the exact names. The Derek Simon garbage is thankfully, few and far between. *See further on where I mention the gaffes.)
When I see Thomas Lennon and Melissa Benoist play comedy beats off each other I am reminded of Kate Mulgrew and John de Lancie of Star Drek; Voyager stand up comedy infamy. That is no accident. Compare a side by side photo of de Lancie and Lennon and even the Mixy makeup effect is a deliberate parody of Q. If one shucks corn this lustily for gags, one might as well go for the Lameway and Q-tip comedy. It plays on the huskings. I have a suspicion that Lyndsey Baldasare and David Rapaport (casting) hired Thomas Lennon instead of calling back Peter Gadiot for that reason (and availability and to save money. More on saving money in a moment.)
Ahem. Something else I noticed. Odette Annabelle steals every moment of screen time she is through the camera. Those scenes with Reign were action and drama DYNAMITE. It is largely the actress and the character which fills the scenes and forcefully reminds me just how much I loved the Reign/Worldkiller story arc.
The Blockhead, er Lockwood and Coleville characters reminded me how much I hated the Agent Liberty Liberty insurance salesman storyline. That was Derek Simon, 100%.
Saving Money.
That, too, is comedy gold if you watch closely. Everywhere in the episode, from the $50 dollar pet cat headstone that is supposed to be Kara’s grave marker under the tree by the Vancouver pedipath, to the three set shooting locations limits to the 28% recycled outtakes from past episodes to insert as bridge scenes, flashbacks and “new footage” is pure comedy as a money saver exercise. Poor Amy Collier and
Barbara Gerard (editors) really earned their pay the hard way with the work they had to do to mesh old and new bits. Jesse Warn, as director, had to keep all of this meshing in mind when the new scenes were shot. Outstanding for the budget and time they all were given.
Stunts.
Import the help from Arrow, why don’t they? Use the pyro and wire pull gags over and over to set up surprise villain entrances. Trouble is, it only works once or twice. Three times and the formula pratfalls.
Actors.
“Magic rules!” I wanted more Chyler Leigh and David Harewood paintball and less Sam Witwer and Chad Lowe Agent Liberty Liberty insurance salesmen. Chris Wood and Odette Annabelle were winners as Mon-el railroad and Reign. Jeremy Jordan is fine. The three standouts though were Melissa Benoist, Katie McGrath and Thomas Lennon. GREAT work from them.
Esoterica
I don’t care what they call the Nicole Maines character. That ain’t Dreamer at all, Shes a Vorlon. She uses Lightning, a diverter? Yup, she’s a Vorlon.
Lena as a Metallo, was about as obvious as it comes so it was no surprise to me. When she opens up her kryptonite Arclight generator, the sound track should have shifted to “You’re As Cold As Ice”.
On the pure comedy front, it is an astonishing reveal of all the writer mistakes of this show that the rehash covers. In the end, one realizes that Kara zor-el, the character, in this iteration, is as big a fouled up beyond any remedy El as she beats herself up for being. “Too dumb to live.” is the first thought I had as this episode ended. If it takes 100 episodes for her to realize that Lena is as responsible for this mess as she is, then Kara really needs to put an ad in the paper…
“Wanted. Clever human caretaker for one really dumb naïve Kryptonian.
Apply at Arkham Asylum with three psychotic hero references and ask for Doctor Harl E. Quinn.”
That hired applicant is of course “Mixy”.
As for rating? 20/20/20 out of 5/5/5. You are going to get a good episode rating from me when I’m rolling on the floor laughing my Aspidistra off at all the good/bad/indifferent stuff (even the Derek Simon Stuff.) that starts the chuckle-fest I had non-stop through right through the commercials.
Monty.
Some blog post comments…
“Each time she told the truth things just kept getting worse and worse.” – this is part of why I took points from this episode; I found it hard to believe some of the consequences they put forth and for me at a point it felt like they’d do anything to keep the “battle for Lena’s soul” in play. Why would Lillian fix Lena after the crash but not put a mind control chip in her? How could Ben get so close to Lena when she should have had a watch to avoid that name outting outcome? Why would the lawyer even ask that now when they didn’t ask it originally in the episode the moment came from? I liked the nod to what Max said coming true with some people relaying too much on Kara but on the whole it felt kind of cheap to me some of the “alternate consequences”.
“Proof of what we always say the sisters are the heart of the show.” – the more I think about it the more I feel an episode like ‘Midvale’ would have been a better 100th than this because while this is good for Lena-Kara stuff they are not the heart of the series like the sisters. With ‘Midvale’ you had the sisters content, you had Kara kind of on her first mission ever, and you had space dad popping in – it’s pretty perfect; true it doesn’t clip through the series but arguably it’s better to avoid it in favor of new content than the leave out an entire season like this episode did. I know S1 was on CBS but that doesn’t mean you should act like it didn’t happen especially when it’s arguably your best season! It would not have killed them to try to go back to season one and Kara tried to stop Lena from ever coming to National City since a lot of her problems have seemed to start there; this episode was going to take everything back anyways so why not do it – it would have been a better watch than the Axis universe in my opinion.
“The moments that have influenced our characters and made them who they are today.” – if you’re name is Lena or Kara. I know what the summary was but it’s still a bummer Alex was so absent this episode and that the others were hit it and quit it also basically. The more I’m thinking back on this the more I feel this is probably a 7 fairly; it’s not as bad as last week’s, which is why I rated it so high I feel (sorry Winn fans I just couldn’t get into his return), but the more I think about the little issues I had with this episode the more it adds up to a big thing and the less likely I am to watch the whole episode on repeat. I will watch some of it because Sam, but not all of it. This is more a “watch for moments” episode than rewatch the whole thing for me.
1. I’ll be real honest and say I had to look this answer up because I am more show Kara than comic Kara, unless she’s in something with Helena aka Huntress, so I’ll just post my answer like this – “The character first appeared in Action Comics no. 252 (May 1959).”
2. The Phantom Zone. And because I can – “You spend more time in the friend zone than you did the Phantom Zone”. 🙂
3. In space; Argo City is where most live, but Kara currently lives in National City and Clark lives in Metropolis and the others who survived are either dead or we don’t know about them yet.
4. Midvale.
5. Astra (miss you) and Non (he’s only related by marriage).
6. LOL, silly podcasters – Kara doesn’t work; she hangs out at Catco Worldwide Media under the disguise of a reporter but we all know that’s a hobby right not her actually qualified position. I miss you personal assistant Kara and potential promotion and marketing manager for CatCo Kara; you would have been amazing and in character last option especially. I make no apologies for laughing, reporter Kara is a joke; Nia is a reporter, Kara is someone who’s maybe interning to be one later.
7. 2015! On CBS not CW. To get the exact month and day I did have to Bing – Oct 26 2015.
8. S1 – the DEO! S2 – DEO and the NCPD to a point because of Maggie and then it seemed at times if you were a low level offender the NCPD picked you up as well. S3-5 still the DEO? They’ve been kind of slacking since S3 if we’re being honest here; maybe if they let Alex run the place for more than 5 episodes without someone over her shoulder then they could still be the leads. #Bitter.
9. Dwarf star.
10. 31?
11. Winslow Schott Senior aka Toyman.
12. Totally admit I had to look this one up also, sorry Helen (I’ve still haven’t seen the film yet), 1984.
13. K Vox! Aka Georgia. ? 🙂
On to the podcast…
Here’s to 100 more!!! 🙂
Red Daughter is like Reign – a lot of hype but a little screen time over all; her stuff, like Reign, is so good though when she’s present I can’t say S4 is the worst John. Even Ben as much as he sucks, I did appreciate someone not agreeing with Kara at every turn so there was that point. It’s a fair argument to say S4 is the worst but for me S5 has been pretty boring post Crisis especially that I feel it’s pushing for the top spot.
“Supergirl” season one is amazing and DEFINITELY deserves more credit than it gets a lot of times! We’re there some rocky starts to plots, ex: “Hank” flipping from Henshaw to Martian Manhunter only for David to play both in the end? Sure; but I dare anyone to give me another (CW superhero – “Supergirl” especially) season with as many great episodes as season one had (the back half especially). Season one has the best villains for the series so far and I’d say some of the best villains in the Arrowverse period; you have Livewire, Maxwell Lord, Indigo, Silver Banshee, Astra (depending on how you see her – villain or redemption potential), and Non just to name the easy ones! You want awesome music that actually fits the scene? Season one has it! You want sister moments – watch season one! You want intrigue and good character growth/moments – season one! Awesome action – season one. A balance of dark and light for plot and characters? Season one. Real talk: the only way season one could be better to me is if Alex came out during it! Oh and then of course you have the cool factor of it being the first female superhero title show; all respect to Sara Lance but she’s not a title character even on Legends so “Supergirl” is the first female lead superhero show which biasly as a female viewer is great. Women read comics too publishers and attempted gatekeepers!
Oh they can go back to season one type quality if they wanted John, will they is a different story. I would love to see a season one inspired season now that the characters have gown some but I worry like you it won’t happen for whatever reason – be that because they’d rather write to some big guests like Lex or because they’re comfortable with the easy drama of a cliche plot like “battle for Lena’s soul” instead of exploring what a good Luthor is like…it’s just irksome to see some quality plots get teased and then seemingly dropped in favor for others that no one really buys – reporter Kara. I still have hope but sadly I’m not holding my breath.
“What if she’s just done?” – why do you want to hurt me so much Justina? If Alex doesn’t go back to the DEO 1) what’s the point of her having stayed beyond S3 or S4 there if she was just going to leave anyways and 2) what’s the point of the DEO beyond a name in the series? There’s no J’onn there and there’s no Alex there and they don’t have Vasquez enough to show her there so really what would be the point of the DEO? Sure like Argus you could use them as a name to say they’re still around but they’re not the focus. There is SO much they could still do with the DEO just off the top of my head such as confirming if they’re just a holding jail basically or are they able to be judge and jury in cases but how many fans are going to care about those answers without Alex there; the DEO is her place and she can no more leave it than Kara can stop being Supergirl now, if she doesn’t go back to the DEO it’s going to be a crying shame.
#LenaIsGood!!!
I’m bumping my rating for this episode down to a 7, 7.5 at most.
“…but we did know what snow was.” – lol!
I will say if anything should be commended on this episode it is the editing of old stuff to new content in the era of the original clip! That was great to see instead of just having Kara and Mxy basically talk about old footage like some shows do for clip show episodes. Still, were was season one represented in this celebration episode; it’s a season too writers don’t forget!
“I don’t know how you couldn’t rate it a 10!” – *prepares dissertation*. 🙂
?It’s going to be that kind of podcast this week I see Justina. ?:)
Oh he could have gone back SO fast John, don’t let the writers off like that; they just wanted him in that moment. You know who else could have given her a speech – Cat. Season one representation right there!
I liked Thomas as Mxy.
#SamStillHasPowers!!!
You remember when Alex was a doctor also and could do doctor things? Season one remembers.
Sam is definitely another thing that you could do more on; again just off the top of my head what comes from someone who can help but doesn’t – is Sam required to help someone just because she can lift a car? Is it her responsibility to fly out of work literally to save someone; even if she can make it back in time for a meeting is it her job to do that if Kara or J’onn can’t? You could explore how Sam differs from Kara in that she’s scared of her powers because of Reign; even if Reign never came back that’s still inside of her she could fear and how does that effect her. Does she freeze during a rescue? Did she really disagree with some actions Reign took such as killing the drug members? How does her DNA effect Ruby? Sam at her DNA core is still a biological Kryptonian who was just lab breed to be super powered compared to them so even if you strip Reign Sam is still Kryptonian and thus should be on the same level as Kara and Clark. I know the writers tried to recant that but logically Sam still has powers; babies don’t rewrite DNA writers even in sci-fi…even if you pretend they do that just brings up the question of who is Ruby’s other parent to be able to do that and how does Sam deal with a enhanced kid.
To be fair to Kara, let us not forget that Lena tried to take on Reign herself; Sam asked multiple times to bring in Alex but Lena never did so she’s half guilty at least on that one!
Don’t apologize John, Sam is awesome.
#KeepBarryOutOfNationalCity
Shh Darryl, let him go; we don’t need Clark. I agree, if they go gender swapped “Smallville” it’s going to be SUCH a disappointment; that is just the laziest way they could go and I would hope even the most rookie writers would be better than that. I also agree Darryl that the outcomes were extreme; ok some might be that bad but all of them…it just felt like an excuse to keep the “battle” aka current plot going instead of admitting they made a mistake with this plot choice.
Greg Berlanti still owns the show so I’d ask why can’t they show season one stuff? Ok they may have to pay CBS some because it was on their network but I doubt they own all the rights to the images. Don’t be afraid to embrace season one show team!
“…Liberty Liberty Insurance” – ha.
“Be kind, rewind” – well done Phoenix. 🙂
“I was looking forward to a deep dive on the Danvers sisters or family.” – same Leslie!
Radio announcer Mxy was great! 😀
Comment comments…
“Stop trying to make Kara-William happen.” – AGREED!
Aaron on February 28, 2020 at 8:41 pm
“Some blog post comments…”
Yeah!
“Each time she told the truth things just kept getting worse and worse.” – this is part of why I took points from this episode; I found it hard to believe some of the consequences they put forth and for me at a point it felt like they’d do anything to keep the “battle for Lena’s soul” in play. Why would Lillian fix Lena after the crash but not put a mind control chip in her? How could Ben get so close to Lena when she should have had a watch to avoid that name out-ting outcome? Why would the lawyer even ask that now when they didn’t ask it originally in the episode the moment came from? I liked the nod to what Max said coming true with some people relaying too much on Kara but on the whole it felt kind of cheap to me some of the “alternate consequences”.”
D.E.R.E.K. freaking S.I.M.O.N.
“ “Proof of what we always say the sisters are the heart of the show.” – the more I think about it the more I feel an episode like ‘Midvale’ would have been a better 100th than this because while this is good for Lena-Kara stuff they are not the heart of the series like the sisters. With ‘Midvale’ you had the sisters content, you had Kara kind of on her first mission ever, and you had space dad popping in – it’s pretty perfect; true it doesn’t clip through the series but arguably it’s better to avoid it in favor of new content than the leave out an entire season like this episode did. I know S1 was on CBS but that doesn’t mean you should act like it didn’t happen especially when it’s arguably your best season! It would not have killed them to try to go back to season one and Kara tried to stop Lena from ever coming to National City since a lot of her problems have seemed to start there; this episode was going to take everything back anyways so why not do it – it would have been a better watch than the Axis universe in my opinion.”
The problem is that there are legal conflicts between studios. They are independent copyright season holders.
“ “The moments that have influenced our characters and made them who they are today.” – if you’re name is Lena or Kara. I know what the summary was but it’s still a bummer Alex was so absent this episode and that the others were hit it and quit it also basically. The more I’m thinking back on this the more I feel this is probably a 7 fairly; it’s not as bad as last week’s, which is why I rated it so high I feel (sorry Winn fans I just couldn’t get into his return), but the more I think about the little issues I had with this episode the more it adds up to a big thing and the less likely I am to watch the whole episode on repeat. I will watch some of it because Sam, but not all of it. This is more a “watch for moments” episode than rewatch the whole thing for me.”
I enjoyed the episode more because of the funny in it. I liked Sam and Lena more than the Agent Liberty insurance man callbacks. I appreciated what little time Chyler did have on camera most. As I wrote, I wanted that paintball game.
1. “I’ll be real honest and say I had to look this answer up because I am more show Kara than comic Kara, unless she’s in something with Helena aka Huntress, so I’ll just post my answer like this – “The character first appeared in Action Comics no. 252 (May 1959).”
a. “Lois Lane – Superwoman,” Action Comics #60 (May 1943).
b. Superboy #78 “Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister”, In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a “Super-Girl” into existence as a companion and aid to Superman. This is the first case for a “Super Girl” and leads to
c. Action Comics #252 (May 1959)
”2. The Phantom Zone. And because I can – “You spend more time in the friend zone than you did the Phantom Zone”.
3. In space; Argo City is where most live, but Kara currently lives in National City and Clark lives in Metropolis and the others who survived are either dead or we don’t know about them yet.
4. Midvale.
5. Astra (miss you) and Non (he’s only related by marriage).
6. LOL, silly podcasters – Kara doesn’t work; she hangs out at Catco Worldwide Media under the disguise of a reporter but we all know that’s a hobby right not her actually qualified position. I miss you personal assistant Kara and potential promotion and marketing manager for CatCo Kara; you would have been amazing and in character last option especially. I make no apologies for laughing, reporter Kara is a joke; Nia is a reporter, Kara is someone who’s maybe interning to be one later.
7. 2015! On CBS not CW. To get the exact month and day I did have to Bing – Oct 26 2015.
8. S1 – the DEO! S2 – DEO and the NCPD to a point because of Maggie and then it seemed at times if you were a low level offender the NCPD picked you up as well. S3-5 still the DEO? They’ve been kind of slacking since S3 if we’re being honest here; maybe if they let Alex run the place for more than 5 episodes without someone over her shoulder then they could still be the leads. #Bitter.
9. Dwarf star.
10. 31?
11. Winslow Schott Senior aka Toyman.
12. Totally admit I had to look this one up also, sorry Helen (I’ve still haven’t seen the film yet), 1984.
13. K Vox! Aka Georgia. “
Ditto.
“Red Daughter is like Reign – a lot of hype but a little screen time over all; her stuff, like Reign, is so good though when she’s present I can’t say S4 is the worst John. Even Ben as much as he sucks, I did appreciate someone not agreeing with Kara at every turn so there was that point. It’s a fair argument to say S4 is the worst but for me S5 has been pretty boring post Crisis especially that I feel it’s pushing for the top spot.”
D.E.R.E.K. freaking S.I.M.O.N.
“Supergirl” season one is amazing and DEFINITELY deserves more credit than it gets a lot of times! We’re there some rocky starts to plots, ex: “Hank” flipping from Henshaw to Martian Manhunter only for David to play both in the end? Sure; but I dare anyone to give me another (CW superhero – “Supergirl” especially) season with as many great episodes as season one had (the back half especially). Season one has the best villains for the series so far and I’d say some of the best villains in the Arrowverse period; you have Livewire, Maxwell Lord, Indigo, Silver Banshee, Astra (depending on how you see her – villain or redemption potential), and Non just to name the easy ones! You want awesome music that actually fits the scene? Season one has it! You want sister moments – watch season one! You want intrigue and good character growth/moments – season one! Awesome action – season one. A balance of dark and light for plot and characters? Season one. Real talk: the only way season one could be better to me is if Alex came out during it! Oh and then of course you have the cool factor of it being the first female superhero title show; all respect to Sara Lance but she’s not a title character even on Legends so “Supergirl” is the first female lead superhero show which biasly as a female viewer is great. Women read comics too publishers and attempted gatekeepers!”
What was “Birds of Prey”? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312098/
What was “””Black Scorpiopn”? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0155425/
“Oh they can go back to season one type quality if they wanted John, will they is a different story. I would love to see a season one inspired season now that the characters have gown some but I worry like you it won’t happen for whatever reason – be that because they’d rather write to some big guests like Lex or because they’re comfortable with the easy drama of a cliche plot like “battle for Lena’s soul” instead of exploring what a good Luthor is like…it’s just irksome to see some quality plots get teased and then seemingly dropped in favor for others that no one really buys – reporter Kara. I still have hope but sadly I’m not holding my breath.”
More Reign, less ruin.
“ “What if she’s just done?” – why do you want to hurt me so much Justina? If Alex doesn’t go back to the DEO 1) what’s the point of her having stayed beyond S3 or S4 there if she was just going to leave anyways and 2) what’s the point of the DEO beyond a name in the series? There’s no J’onn there and there’s no Alex there and they don’t have Vasquez enough to show her there so really what would be the point of the DEO? Sure like Argus you could use them as a name to say they’re still around but they’re not the focus. There is SO much they could still do with the DEO just off the top of my head such as confirming if they’re just a holding jail basically or are they able to be judge and jury in cases but how many fans are going to care about those answers without Alex there; the DEO is her place and she can no more leave it than Kara can stop being Supergirl now, if she doesn’t go back to the DEO it’s going to be a crying shame.”
Besides writer incompetence at handling ensemble shows, there are these problems.
Big sets costs money. Extras costs money, multi camera shots cost money, writers who can write to a police drama format cost a LOT of money. Soap operas (and Supergirl is one in format) are a lot cheaper.
“#LenaIsGood!!!”
Karthor.
“I’m bumping my rating for this episode down to a 7, 7.5 at most.”
Comedy and the technical expertise are the basis for my rating.
““…but we did know what snow was.” – lol!”
Snow or slush?
“I will say if anything should be commended on this episode it is the editing of old stuff to new content in the era of the original clip! That was great to see instead of just having Kara and Mxy basically talk about old footage like some shows do for clip show episodes. Still, were was season one represented in this celebration episode; it’s a season too writers don’t forget!”
COPYRIGHT.
“ “I don’t know how you couldn’t rate it a 10!” – *prepares dissertation*. “
See my review above.
“It’s going to be that kind of podcast this week I see Justina. ?:)”
Woof. woof. woof.
“Oh he could have gone back SO fast John, don’t let the writers off like that; they just wanted him in that moment. You know who else could have given her a speech – Cat. Season one representation right there!”
How about Mon-el Railroad when he actually does?
“I liked Thomas as Mxy.”
Best acting this episode.
“ #SamStillHasPowers!!!”
I’m not sure about that one.
“You remember when Alex was a doctor also and could do doctor things? Season one remembers.”
Comic book medicine is a thing.
“Sam is definitely another thing that you could do more on; again just off the top of my head what comes from someone who can help but doesn’t – is Sam required to help someone just because she can lift a car? Is it her responsibility to fly out of work literally to save someone; even if she can make it back in time for a meeting is it her job to do that if Kara or J’onn can’t? You could explore how Sam differs from Kara in that she’s scared of her powers because of Reign; even if Reign never came back that’s still inside of her she could fear and how does that affect her. Does she freeze during a rescue? Did she really disagree with some actions Reign took such as killing the drug members? How does her DNA effect Ruby? Sam at her DNA core is still a biological Kryptonian who was just lab breed to be super powered compared to them so even if you strip Reign Sam is still Kryptonian and thus should be on the same level as Kara and Clark. I know the writers tried to recant that but logically Sam still has powers; babies don’t rewrite DNA writers even in sci-fi…even if you pretend they do that just brings up the question of who is Ruby’s other parent to be able to do that and how does Sam deal with a enhanced kid.”
Sam’s situation is unclear. My latest reads is that she is a random human who was fused with Kryptonian magic by three whackjob MacBeth type witches for an ill-defined and nonsensical purpose. I blame D.E.R.E.K. freaking S.I.M.O.N. for screwing it all up.
“To be fair to Kara, let us not forget that Lena tried to take on Reign herself; Sam asked multiple times to bring in Alex but Lena never did so she’s half guilty at least on that one!”
Lena is a Luthor… overconfident and a bit pigheaded.
“Don’t apologize John, Sam is awesome.”
Yup.
“#KeepBarryOutOfNationalCity”
Sure, Kara, as this episode demonstrates can screw up the time line all by herself.
“Shh Darryl, let him go; we don’t need Clark. I agree, if they go gender swapped “Smallville” it’s going to be SUCH a disappointment; that is just the laziest way they could go and I would hope even the most rookie writers would be better than that. I also agree Darryl that the outcomes were extreme; ok some might be that bad but all of them…it just felt like an excuse to keep the “battle” aka current plot going instead of admitting they made a mistake with this plot choice.”
I don’t want Tyler Hoechlin AKA Claire Kent.
“Greg Berlanti still owns the show so I’d ask why can’t they show season one stuff? Ok they may have to pay CBS some because it was on their network but I doubt they own all the rights to the images. Don’t be afraid to embrace season one show team!”
CBS owns season one.
““…Liberty Liberty Insurance” – ha.”
Glad you liked it. I own the copyright.
“ “Be kind, rewind” – well done Phoenix.”
Be kinder, give Kara a minder, like the Great Kazoo was for Fred and Barney, the two “dum dums” of the Fred Flintstone show.
“ “I was looking forward to a deep dive on the Danvers sisters or family.” – same Leslie!”
Karthor.
“Radio announcer Mxy was great!”
Walter Wenchell would have been better.
“ “Stop trying to make Kara-William happen.” – AGREED!”
See comments about “Back from the Future Part 2”
“They are independent copyright season holders.”
Making sure I understand this correctly Monty, CBS owns the rights to season one so the CW can reference events from it but not use clips from it correct? Meaning we’ll never see scenes as they aired in season one? Would edited or additional scenes count though; by that I mean the setting is the same as season one but the dialogue is different, for example: Alex and Kara are at the desert DEO base and the events that were happening at the time are mentioned but the dialogue is new like we saw the additional Lena-Sam scenes of this episode…could the CW do that to include S1 or would that still infringe on CBS’s rights?
“What was “Birds of Prey”?”
Technically that’s under the WB logo when the network was called WB back in the day, it’s not a CW labeled show even though it’s on the what would become network. If you view it as all the same network then yes it is the first female lead superhero show on the network (“Buffy” is supernatural so don’t even bring that argument in here fans), but it’s not the first titled show as that’s an ensemble not a solo character; if it was called Huntress then it would have been the solo titled but as Birds it’s an ensemble. Also, another example of how awesome Rachel aka Alice on “Batwoman” is in the DCTV universe!
I’ve never heard of “Black Scorpion”.
“Big sets costs money. Extras costs money.”
Spend the money on the DEO, it’s worth it. If they did quality plots with them instead of making them soldiers for hire basically fans would be excited and excitement breeds more cash! Explore Alex as DEO head because we still haven’t that yet really…it’s more emotional for fans than watching Lex be shifty for the 1 millionth time.
“My latest reads is that she is a random human who was fused with Kryptonian magic”
Unless the “witches” had human DNA just laying around, which I personally find hard to believe (it’s. it impossible but I lean more than likely they used local DNA), then I tend to believe they pulled from what they had which is Kryptonian so again at her core Sam is Kryptonian and then thus should be at least like Kara and Clark. Again the writers can try and recant it all they want but logically it only makes sense to me she’s still Kryptonian. You can strip the enhancements to turn her into Reign but she’s still Kryptonian which means she still has powers.
”Making sure I understand this correctly Monty, CBS owns the rights to season one so the CW can reference events from it but not use clips from it correct? Meaning we’ll never see scenes as they aired in season one? Would edited or additional scenes count though; by that I mean the setting is the same as season one but the dialogue is different, for example: Alex and Kara are at the desert DEO base and the events that were happening at the time are mentioned but the dialogue is new like we saw the additional Lena-Sam scenes of this episode…could the CW do that to include S1 or would that still infringe on CBS’s rights?”
That goes to intellectual property law, more than video, so it would have to be okayed by CBS legal and WB to allow the ideas to be used. In an example… CBS has free use of HAWAII 5-0 because the current creators received approval through CBS Legal and the Leonard Freeman Production, and the CBS Television Network who own image, words, and concept rights. Without that written approval, the current series could not even be made nor could they refer to such characters as Wo Fat as they have done.
“Birds of Prey”
“Technically that’s under the WB logo when the network was called WB back in the day, it’s not a CW labeled show even though it’s on the what would become network. If you view it as all the same network then yes it is the first female lead superhero show on the network (“Buffy” is supernatural so don’t even bring that argument in here fans), but it’s not the first titled show as that’s an ensemble not a solo character; if it was called Huntress then it would have been the solo titled but as Birds it’s an ensemble. Also, another example of how awesome Rachel aka Alice on “Batwoman” is in the DCTV universe!”
I don’t follow Rachel Skarsten as Alice on Batwoman being related to Huntress on Birds because was she not BLACK CANARY on the earlier series? Maybe I did not read you right? My fault if I did.
“I’ve never heard of “Black Scorpion”.”
Think of BATWOMAN only as she is a Scorpion and with Roger Corman doing all the production, direction and writing. HILARIOUS and campy, but GOOOOOD.
“Spend the money on the DEO, it’s worth it. If they did quality plots with them instead of making them soldiers for hire basically fans would be excited and excitement breeds more cash! Explore Alex as DEO head because we still haven’t that yet really…it’s more emotional for fans than watching Lex be shifty for the 1 millionth time.”
First thing I learned is that you solve the money problem in the typewriter. Describe your sets so that they can be easily adapted from a few fixed locations and be quickly redressed with and by a competent set dresser to look different from shot to shot with a minimum of time and money wasted. For television, the writer has to make do with “corner wall sets”, three wall sets, a common corridor set, lots of interiors designed to those limits, a warehouse set that can be adapted for large groups scenes, adaptable into offices, apartment, factory, an actual warehouse, or whatever movable furniture, walls and floors can be made to resemble in a big hurry and that cheaply. The story has to be written to what the production company crew can do and afford with the means and time to hand. You will see and DO see this on Supergirl. No way around it. As for a good story with actors used well to entertain the audience? Ehhh. That is a function of getting someone who can write to television needs and still tell a good story. Lots of wordsmiths who cannot marry the two requirements together; still find TV scripting work. Derek Simon is an example of a particular one writer who can write easily to budget but not, in my opinion, tell a good story at all. He persists in the industry because he CAN write to TV budgets.
Reign as a human infused with Kryptonian magic.
“Unless the “witches” had human DNA just laying around, which I personally find hard to believe (it’s. it impossible but I lean more than likely they used local DNA), then I tend to believe they pulled from what they had which is Kryptonian so again at her core Sam is Kryptonian and then thus should be at least like Kara and Clark. Again the writers can try and recant it all they want but logically it only makes sense to me she’s still Kryptonian. You can strip the enhancements to turn her into Reign but she’s still Kryptonian which means she still has powers.”
The witches arrived on Earth. They brought their “kettle” with them. (Yes, it was a kettle!). Reign and the other two whackjob world-killers were “conjured” in situ here from human hosts. I don’t know the writers even understand how genetic manipulation actually works in rfeality, but the parent’s half allelles have to be altered to produce the “superbaby” and then the stable results occur the normal birth way, here on earth, no matter what comic book “biology” one pretends to employ. Otherwise it has to be “Kryptonian magic” complete with the “kettle” and all the MacBeth hooey the audience was shown.
I prefer the 2Mikes comic book origin, when a Kryptonian BAT was comic book science altered by Zor-El into Reign and survived the Argo life raft destruction.
Incidentally that is what Zor-El did to Kara, too! Great tragic story, almost as hideous as World of New Krypton. Iphigenia in Space.
Monty
Four words to get season one’s feel back, have quality plots that are dramatic but not manufactured, and characters feel consistent: Caitlin Parrish as showrunner!
Seriously name a bad episode she’s done, you can’t; heck I don’t think any of her episodes are rated below a 7 by fans if they got rated that low. It’s worth a try if nothing else! If nothing else bring her back to the writing staff because her episodes are usually fan season favorites and series favorites for people.
“I don’t follow Rachel Skarsten as Alice on Batwoman being related to Huntress on Birds because was she not BLACK CANARY on the earlier series?”
I just meant it Monty as Rachel is a part of both series, “Birds Of Prey” and “Batwoman” and is a highlight on both. 🙂 She played Dinah on Birds but that was in no way Black Canary; they basically just shared names. Her mother on the show had the Canary Cry so she was a Black Canary but Rachel’s Dinah was not Black Canary as most know the character because for one she didn’t have the Cry in any form and two she had telepathic abilities and Black Canary doesn’t have those.
It’s like Cassandra Cain in the new “Birds Of Prey” movie, which is really Harley Quinn’s movie as we all know, she’s Cassandra in character name and race only because there is nothing comic book Cassandra Cain about that character – Rachel was Dinah in name only to have the full Birds trio of a Helena, Barbara, and Dinah, not Black Canary.
We saw Reign put in a pod though and shot out too into space before planet destruction so she’s genetically Kryptonian. #SamStillHasPowers! 🙂
Aaron on March 3, 2020 at 5:46 pm
“I don’t follow Rachel Skarsten as Alice on Batwoman being related to Huntress on Birds because was she not BLACK CANARY on the earlier series?”
“I just meant it Monty as Rachel is a part of both series, “Birds Of Prey” and “Batwoman” and is a highlight on both. She played Dinah on Birds but that was in no way Black Canary; they basically just shared names. Her mother on the show had the Canary Cry so she was a Black Canary but Rachel’s Dinah was not Black Canary as most know the character because for one she didn’t have the Cry in any form and two she had telepathic abilities and Black Canary doesn’t have those.”
Exigencies of the show. I associate Lance with “Canary”.
“It’s like Cassandra Cain in the new “Birds Of Prey” movie, which is really Harley Quinn’s movie as we all know, she’s Cassandra in character name and race only because there is nothing comic book Cassandra Cain about that character – Rachel was Dinah in name only to have the full Birds trio of a Helena, Barbara, and Dinah, not Black Canary.”
1. It is hard to write dialog for a League of Assassins trained compelled mute. Even harder to cast the part, so the lazy movie creatives just went; “We’ll hire an Asian and make her Cassandra.
a.) They SHOULD hire an ethnic Asian actress for the Birds movie to play the Cassandra character, because it is the right thing to represent all of humanity, not just the Europeans among us. :\
b.) They should have stayed truer to the character because one of the things about the Birds in the comics, was that each Bird was handicapped in a different way; something that the great Gail Simone, when she wrote the Birds was subtly able to write. Barbara in the wheel chair, Helene in her anti-social psychology, Dinah in her agoraphobia. This was ignored in the movie completely.
2. The movie we got was not the quality movie we should have received.
“We saw Reign put in a pod though and shot out too into space before planet destruction so she’s genetically Kryptonian. #SamStillHasPowers!”
We also saw those stupid witches on Earth (No pod.) complete with Kettle. So… Take your number and place your bets? IF Samantha is a K-bird, then Lena has crippled her and that would be something I would like to see writer developed in the future. How a crippled Kryptonian feels about being crippled.
I would like Sam to kind of return to the fold as a reluctant on-call standby for story needs (Returning guest star.)
Monty
Aaron on March 3, 2020 at 5:32 pm
“Four words to get season one’s feel back, have quality plots that are dramatic but not manufactured, and characters feel consistent: Caitlin Parrish as showrunner!”
Willing to give it a try.
“Seriously name a bad episode she’s done, you can’t; heck I don’t think any of her episodes are rated below a 7 by fans if they got rated that low. It’s worth a try if nothing else! If nothing else bring her back to the writing staff because her episodes are usually fan season favorites and series favorites for people.”
– “Nevertheless, She Persisted (2017) … (teleplay by)”
She had her rotten episode.
– “Red Faced (2015)” … (executive story editor)
And a GREAT one.
Monty
It’s understandable Monty, I too hear Dinah Lance and think Black Canary but yeah Dinah as played by Rachel in “Birds Of Prey” is not a Black Canary, she was a new character using the name.
I liked the casting for Cassandra Cain, but she’s not Cassandra from the comics that will become Batgirl at a point. To me they should have just made her a newbie because I think that would have gone over better or at least pick a character that better fits the rogue style because while you put a name to a character you’re going to get expectations. I’m also still very meh to calling it Birds Of Prey in any form because for most of the film you don’t even have the Birds together; the end scene with Helena, Laurel, and Renee was Birds-like but you only see it for a moment which is why I feel the film really should be called what it is – The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn Featuring Birds Of Prey.
“They should have stayed truer to the character because one of the things about the Birds in the comics, was that each Bird was handicapped in a different way.”
I guess you could say the parents constantly fighting lead to her emotional handicap. Cassandra is just the least like her comic book self I feel so it was weird to me each time they called her Cassandra Cain or Cassie.
As for the movie itself, I enjoyed it; it’s certainly not perfect but I liked it more than I thought I would based on the original trailers.
I have conflicting feelings about how they edited Helena’s backstory, it was cousins who took her to Italy not an assassin of her family…also the whole family wasn’t killed it was just her immediate family of mother-father-brother, but on the whole they kept her closer to the comics than the others arguably which I liked; I loved Mary Elizabeth Winstead as her and while I wish Helena was in the movie more as a Huntress fan I am happy with her content. Casting on the whole was good I feel. Black Canary and Renee were done well also and Harley was Harley so their content was appealing to me even if Laurel’s backstory for the movie doesn’t match the comics fully either.
I give it an easy 7 for sure, but personally I’d give it like an 8, it was fun; I’m definitely hoping an actual Birds Of Prey movie will come from this starting Helena and Laurel!
“How a crippled Kryptonian feels about being crippled.”
In Sam’s case, I think she is fine with it because she wasn’t crazy about the Reign side of herself to begin with; how another would feel who’s not easy to guess (you couldn’t do that plot with Kara because we know she’s want them back) now I agree what would be an interesting plot. Had Sam experienced the good side of her powers more she might have some conflict which would just add to her story possibilities so there’s that if it happened. Hopefully Lena torched all of her Sam research because you just know Lex would love to get his hands on a way to strip Kryptonians of their power (aka black Kryptonite)!
“I would like Sam to kind of return to the fold as a reluctant on-call standby for story needs (Returning guest star.)”
I would LOVE to see Sam back in the fold! Again there’s so many stories with her progression they could have told in S4; darn you writers, why did you give us Ben when we could of had Sam! You can still tell those stories if she returned which is good; she could be the real trainee Kara has always talked about having because really Clark never needed her, Nia was already aware of her powers when she met Kara and she’s spent more time with Brainy learning more on them than she has Kara, and Mon spent more time with Winn than her and he’s trained in the future so he doesn’t count either…despite summaries Kara has not gotten the trainee she’s thought about having since she arrived on earth – Sam could be that for her both on a superhero level and Kryptonian level.
Fair Monty, but on the whole I’d say Caitlin has a pretty good record. 🙂
She was also part of the team who did the season one episode “Livewire” and for me that was the episode that made me feel if the series could write each week half this good they’d be okay for years to come!