Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Supergirl Episode 318: Shelter From The Storm


Supergirl episode 318, titled 'Shelter from the Storm' aired earlier this week and was the second episode in a row which I found just a bit lacking. Now trust me, there are some very solid moments here, including a slow boil on the Lena/Supergirl eventual clash and some touching moments between J'onn and his father. There are even some Donner nods, something which always makes me smile.

Unfortunately, for me, there were several story decisions here which I thought lessened the total arc. In particular, the constant Mon-El is what is driving me a bit batty. There was a perfect moment in this episode for him to exit the show in a heroic and sympathetic way. It would have been the best redemption for the character and the perfect way to put Supergirl back in the spotlight.

Instead, Mon-El reverse course, comes back, and ultimately sort of saves the day. And then, the embers of the Kara/Mon romance suddenly seem to be glowing brighter.

I haven't had the complete disgust towards Mon-El that others have had. I think he has grown a lot as a person, even just in last season. But the time was right for him to head off into the sunset.

But enough about Mon-El. The straw stirring the drink of this episode was Lena, just as she was last week. Katie McGrath is ratcheting up the Luthor-ness of Lena, even as Kara seems to be unintentionally nudging the character deeper into the shadows. Look out. A Luthor is going to be the big bad of Season 4, no doubt.


We start out the show rather sexily as Lena and James look out onto the city in the early morning. It is clear the two have had an amorous evening as they are all in states of unbuttoned and unzipped, playfully getting each other dressed while kissing. I have to say, initially this pair had as much chemistry as a couple of bricks. But they have seemed much more natural around each other. The pairing has grown on me.

The loving moment is shattered, literally, by the arrival of Reign. Last episode ended with Reign declaring that for Sam's persona to completely fade away, Ruby had to die. Here she tries to pry the information of Ruby's location from Lena. I love this shot with Reign floating outside the high rise window.

But never expect a Luthor to be caught off guard. Suddenly Lena is wielding a Kryptonite spray can which acts as a repellant driving Reign off.

 Okay, it is one thing to say that Lena can manufacture Kryptonite and has some in a safe. It is another thing completely to say that you have weaponized it into a spray. This isn't just rocks to keep Sam at bay in a clinic. This is anti-Kryptonian military tech. That isn't all innocent of Lena.

Meanwhile, the Legion plans on heading back to the future.

Imra says that Chameleon was the first to fall victim to the Blight with the 6 others succumbing shortly thereafter.

But welcome to the world of timey-wimey. With Pestilence dead, the Blight never happened, and the ill Legionnaires now have stable vitals. No Blight means no illness. So why not wake them up? Why keep them in the jar? Maybe they'd like to stretch their legs??

Of course, in standard time travel paradox, they never would have gone back in time if it weren't for Blight so why are they still there?? Someone pass me the ibuprofen.

Imra states they need to rush back to check on the political landscape of the galaxy. Without the Blight to unify the United Planets though, war might have erupted. This is true. Maybe things are even worse.

These time travel loops sometimes drive me batty.


I have enjoyed Brainiac 5's odd mix of awkward social interaction, intellectual superiority complex, and intellectual struggles throughout the show. It makes some of the moments moving forward that much worse. Brainy should have been a keeper on the show.

There is almost a little bit of 'frenemy' between him and Winn which also has been fun. Here Brainy says Winn is a 1.42 level intellect, still a far cry from his 12th level. Brainy says it like it is a high compliment even though it is something of a dig. But you know his heart is in the right place when he tries to give an awful bro hug.

With the Legion going, Imra excuses herself (albeit with a sort of cold look back) so Mon-El can say goodbye to Supergirl. It is sort of cringe worthy because I don't these two have interacted enough in a meaningful way to earn the heaviness of the scene. Kara says she is proud of the man Mon-El has become but it is time to say goodbye.

In a nice throw away line, Mon-El doesn't mind not saying goodbye to J'onn (who is home with M'yrnn). Mon knows he'll see J'onn in 1000 years. That means J'onn is alive in the future, something we saw in the 5YL Legion run.

The news of Reign's attack on Lena reaches the DEO and the team realizes that they need to split up to protect Reign's potential next victims - Sam's adoptive mother for one, Ruby, stashed in Lex's cloaked mansion the other. J'onn and Kara head to the Arias farm.  Meanwhile, no big surprise, Alex heads to find Ruby.

Now one thing that has been constant this season has been the understanding about how love and humanity can save.

Here in Sam's childhood home we see the opposite. Sam's mother Patricia regrets how she treated her adoptive daughter. Cold, distant, cruel ... it all drove Sam away, perhaps opening the way for Reign to manifest. She says when you try to bury something (in this case the way she treated Sam) it only comes back at you harder (meaning that hate has been magnified by Reign.). Patricia wants to see her daughter and apologize.

I do love this contrast. Sam's room looks untouched with boy band posters and childish things still up. And yet we learn that Sam constantly drew the Reign glyph, even putting it huge on the wall.

I suppose this is the Superman origin writ sideways. What if the Kents were cruel?

Meanwhile, Alex finds the cloaked mansion and sticks close to Ruby.

Despite how recent events have shown that lies only make things worse, Alex won't open up to Ruby about Sam's condition.  Instead she clouds things.

Stuck in the dark of Alex's lies, you can see how Ruby is going to take matters into her own hands..
With Patricia in a 'safe room' (on her farm??), J'onn and Kara await Reign's arrival. And she doesn't disappoint.

Except now we see that Reign has all the World Killer powers. FLowers droop. She has the venom finger nails. It is chilling to see her stalk through the house saying 'Sweetheart, it's Mommy!' I wonder if the presence of the other powers has buried Sam even deeper in the valley.

A decent fight breaks out. Supergirl, crouched in a closet like a victim in a slasher movie, unloads with an electricity gun. (Check out Kara in the closet. This is a nice shot!)

But the combined World Killer powers quickly overpowers J'onn and Kara. A Purity sonic blast really does a number on J'onn.


It is then Patricia shows up to try and reach Sam.

She apologizes for her mistakes. She wishes she had loved more.

Then she tells Sam that she needs to 'rise up', the second time that particular saying has been used with a World Killer. It is what snapped Julia to the surface last episode. Why 'rise up'? Trying to get one last boost from Hamilton?

Regardless, it doesn't work. Reign gives the old Pestilence gut shot.

I'm glad Patricia's pleas didn't work at all. She had no relationship with Sam. There is no reason for this to somehow break Reign's hold.
Kara scoops up Patricia and they and J'onn retreat.

Meanwhile the Legion, including a true Brainiac 5 (no more image distorter) prepares to head back to their time. It is here that Brainy picks up transmissions from the DEO (he bugged the place!).

Realizing that Reign is now powered by all the World Killers, he calculates Supergirl's chances of beating Reign alone at just over 50%. But if just one Legionnaire sticks around, it goes up to 88.8%.

Okay. So this is the moment.

There could have been hints that Mon-El would be the one to stay. But instead Brainy could stay. This would solve the Mon problem. It would bring Brainy into the show. It might start a Brainy/Kara romance.

This was the moment ...


At the DEO, Patricia dies, again saying how she regretted her life, especially never seeing Ruby.

With the bodies piling up, James tells Lena she has to come clean about having more Kryptonite. He is sure that if Lena comes to the DEO as an ally, providing a weapon to stop Reign, that Supergirl will see Lena as trustworthy and an ally.

This scene shows Katie McGrath's range. You can see all those insecurities about being a Luthor written on her face as she says how she knows Supergirl will be angry, shun her, and brand her as evil. It seems this is Lena's weakness. In the end she relents.


Meanwhile, Reign floats over the city, listening for anything that can help her pinpoint Ruby's location.

I loved this shot (sorry so blurry) as it completely mirrors Supergirl's from the first episode.

Reign and Supergirl are such wonderful foils.


Meanwhile, Supergirl continues to be stymied on how to reach Sam. J'onn reminds me of how her secret weapon is her heart.

But then he thinks that maybe M'yrnn can help. After all, he somehow managed to reach the White Martians enough for them to spare M'yrnn's life for 300 years. With J'onn shape-shifted into a White Martian to shake the memory loose, M'yrnn says that he turned the White Martians beliefs back onto them. He reminded them of their own beliefs.


David Harewood and Carl Lumbly have been killing it in these scenes as you really feel their emotional pain.

And nice Eradicator namedrop here.


Okay, so one Legionnaire staying could help Supergirl.

On the cruiser, Mon-El says he won't stay but Imra begs him to. She knows he wouldn't hurt or disgrace her. But he needs to sort out his feelings. And she'll be waiting.

Sigh.

This could have been the moment. He could have said that she was wrong. He has sorted his feelings out. He leaves with Imra. Brainy stays. It's that easy.

Instead, we get this mess.

Another option would have been to say that Imra had fallen out of love with Mon-El as well. This was an arranged marriage. Maybe she couldn't stand him. If only Imra had a better moment to go out on than the cheated on wife, emotionally bereft, hoping her husband returns to her.

This was the moment ...
Lena shows up at the DEO with super-Kryptonite to help Supergirl fight Reign. She admits she can manufacture it.

But as usual, Kara loses her mind. Supergirl keeps saying how any Kryptonite is a personal attack. She demands Lena turn it all over.

In a nice retort, Lena talks of how humans walk each day in danger of things other than Kryptonite. She says Supergirl has a God complex.

That is full on Lex there. An El thinking they are above humans.

I think this was the turning point on this relationship. It has to be over.

Sick of being fed lies, Ruby walks out of Chez Luthor and calls Sam on her cellphone. Her voice is picked up by Reign who streaks off.

But the Luthor house isn't without it's defenses. In a shot ripped right out of the Donner Superman movie (extended cut) Reign walks the Luthor gauntlet.

Wonderful.
Supergirl and Alex try to hold off Reign. But then ... who should show up ... but Mon-El. With Kryptonite.

Imagine the surprise if it was Brainy that showed up instead. That in flashback we saw Brainy tell Mon to do the right thing. Imagine that moment ...

As it is, we get a very good fight in which the heroes fling Reign through and get flung through priceless objets d'art in Lex's bunker. I love it.


Then Reign's mask gets ripped off. And Ruby sees it is her mother.


In a crazy move, Reign moves in to kill Ruby. Her daughter's tear-streaked face doesn't reach into the Valley. Interesting.

It is then that Kara's scheme of turning Reign's beliefs back on her is sprung. Supergirl talks of how Reign's mission is to purge the world of sin. And Ruby is without sin. There is no reason for Reign to lash out.

That mind-poke makes Reign pause long enough for Mon-El to crush the Kryptonite into bullets he fits into Lex's home Gatling gun.

Riddled with high K-aliber rounds, Reign falls.


Held down by K, we see Reign back in Lena's medical bay, behind the force field wall.
Supergirl apologizes to Lena, saying that the Kryptonite worked but that the use of Kryptonite will always be considered a personal attack.

That would have been a fine scene to end on. But the writers give us one even more delicious to mull over. Ruby is now at Alex's. Kara and Lena enter the elevator to visit at the same time. The review recent events. At the beginning, Lena has a look on her face like she knows Kara is Supergirl.

But then, so perfectly, Lena says she will never trust Supergirl again. Supergirl tried to turn James against her, lied to her. Supergirl acted the way Lillian Luthor acted. (That has to be the biggest burn Lena can throw.) The relationship between Supergirl and Lena is over from Lena's view.

Nothing like a Luthor/El spat to liven things up. And it is even better with Kara hearing both sides. And I still think that Lena knows, making this whole conversation even more venomous.

So that was a huge high point to end on. (Yes, there was a cliffhanger about Thomas Coville's journal being stolen but this was the big kapow.)

If only the Mon-El thread was handled better. He could have left on high ground. We could have had Brainy. There wouldn't be all this meaningless romantic triangular nonsense.

And that just sort of weighed the rest of this episode down.

Lena - calls Kara Lillian, never trust


25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mon-Els return was the worst decision since Highlander II decided that Highlanders were aliens.

I am so done with Kara kneeling every episode. Get makeup on set and make me believe that she is out of the fight. Melissa is an amazing actress but not even she can pull off looking defeated without visible injury. The writers need to stop using this as a thing to create mid-fight dialogs.

Brainy should have stayed instead, how could the showrunners not see that.

I was also a little disappointed in how easy Lena went dark. Supergirl helped her over and over. Lena then creates the one substance that her brother has been using to hurt Kara's cousin, and then has the gall to be this offended that it upsets Kara. Given this turn it's fair to say goodness never came natural to Lena. She was a strained spring having to put effort into being good and popped as soon as she had a reason to stop pulling for it.

Given that they finally made her relationship with James believable. That could have been the trigger instead. Supergirl being forced to prioritize something over James costing him his life. The way they did it now, Lena just comes out looking like a petty rotten soul.

Brainiac 5 was so good. I felt this episode left the show in a much worse place than it started. I hope the Coville arc gets better and we finally get to see "Supergirl"™ again.

Red Forever said...

Unless the writers have plans for a Legion show and they are setting up the eventual Imra-Garth relationship, this has to be a braindead decision. But then again, in the arrowverse a lot of things has changed a bit sideways.

Anonymous said...

I'm also tired of the Mon-El drama, even though I never hated the character. Although, if certain spoilers are to be believed, it'll not be an issue after this season...

And according those spoilers, maybe we haven't seen the last of Brainy...

I wonder if the writers are trying to kill Supercorp. Anyway, I HOPE that Lena doesn't become evil. She was her family's sane member. Why turning her into Lex 2.0? DCSHG, I can live with it. But I don't want to see it in Kara's own series.

garyb said...

The folk over at Redit noticed that in the tease for next week's episode: the young girl running away with the book is strikingly similar in appearance to the "new" Power Girl and is named "Tanya"

Anonymous said...

Oy so Mon El aka "superfluousman" is staying huh? Thats predictable sad to say. Lena's swing to the darkside seems good-to-go, I had hoped otherwise I do think that in contrast to Mon El's storyline, at least Ms. Luthor is being depicted as "having her side of the story". Mon on the other hand is a half-@ssed BF that the writers can't seem to decently eject from the continuity. So yeah, Lena is gonna be Season Four's Big Bad, which is likely given Berlanti & Co's fondness for female antagonists.
Count me in on the whole "sick of Supergirl kneeling" thing, the show is getting very dependent in a bad way on MB's tight acting chops (she can pretty much "sell anything") to barrel thru scenes like that.
Better episode than last week, but a lot of this storyline's gaps are still pretty glaring...

JF

Anonymous said...

"It is another thing completely to say that you have weaponized it into a spray. ... This is anti-Kryptonian military tech. That isn't all innocent of Lena.'"

Yup - and James doesn't find that noteworthy?! Doesn't show a flash of doubt.

"So why not wake them up? Why keep them in the jar? Maybe they'd like to spread their legs??"

Oops, you are confusing this with James and Lena's amorous evening. I think you meant "stretch their legs."

A "storm cellar" at the farm would have made more sense than a "safe room."

Kara's anger about the kryptonite is troubling. Very self-centered. I guess she thinks as the earth's protector, she feels an entitled claim to safety that is higher than any other law enforcement, and dismisses the risks all mortals endure.

Batman always kept some kryptonite on hand - carried it with him, in fact, just in case Superman went nuts. He probably used it a few times. Superman knew about it and I think came to terms with it. It's a reasonable thing for at least one reliable person to have on hand.

And if Lena can manufacture it, then short of giving her a lobotomy, or killing her, or having Professor Pepperwinkle spray her with amnesia spray, how is she going to forget?

As for Mon-El, he should just go away. Maybe he can return to the past and avoid coming here in the first place. That would be best - let Kara just forget about him!

Anonymous said...

The Lena/ Kara argument has been beautifully set up- both of them are a little right and a little wrong. Kara is reacting instinctively to kryptonite being made by Lena. Lena here is actively manufacturing something which is lethal to only one species and that species is almost extinct apart from only 2 surviving members. That is an intent to harm from Kara's POV. Lena could have just told Supergirl that she is making kryptonite to help Sam but instead even when Sam asks her to call Supergirl that maybe they can help, Lena refuses to, stating that only she can help Sam. For me, that's a god complex.

As for Mon el, it really could been the end but instead they are going to drag his arc out and he even has a 'big role' to play in the finale. Oh joy. What Mon el needs is time alone, he needs to go on some self discovery journey and get out relationships for a while. As for imra, I am sorry to say but she deserves a man better than Mon el, maybe Garth can show up after all since the timeline has been changed.

As for Kara and brainy, to me it seems like there has been a recalibration of plans post ep 10. Cause the ending of ep10 really made it seem like Kara was interested in brainy especially since they used the trope of looking longingly as your crush walks infront of you. But I for one agree if they decided that the Kara/brainy thing should be started from s4 because that with the mixture of karamel and also imra and Mon el's marriage would have been too complicated. From the spoilers we have heard and read, it seems like they want to wrap up karamel nicely by the end of s3 and begin a new chapter from s4. I can appreciate the sentiment.

Anonymous said...

"Yup - and James doesn't find that noteworthy?! Doesn't show a flash of doubt."

This. We shouldn't forget that James originally was Superman's best friend, watch and all, and Clark hates Kryptonite even more than Kara, going so far as to remove every single piece from earth. James is stabbing Kara in the back, but I think his betrayal to Clark is on a whole other level.

Guardian has been James path to lies, secrets and moral compass problems. Season 1 James would have had the Super's back. Season 3 James is giving it all up to sleep with his boss.

Red Forever said...

That's the problem when you mix up characters that much. James here is acting like Guardian actually does, the real Guardian(No.2), like Mal Duncan does and is a bit secretive, protecting those he cares about first and the family he's going to make...though since Bumblebee isn't here, he'll have to make do with Lena not-Thorul. It's that kind of lack of foresight that leads to things like these in the long run.

Also, has anybody noticed how Reign looks an awful lot like Satan Girl from Adventure Comics 313, when Supergirl faced her with the Legion, instead of how the Worldkillers looked in the New52? I've been away for quite some time so, I dunno if Anj noted that similarity.

Anj said...

Thanks for great comments.
‘Spread kegs’ line edited. Oops!

The comments about James is a good point. Perhaps he is so in love with Lena he can’t see the issues.

I’ll have to look to see if I said Reign looked like Satan Girl at some point.

Anj said...

Seriously good discussion.

I did briefly talk about Reign and Satan Girl.

http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2017/11/supergirl-show-reign-first-look.html

Mary said...

I still don't like Lena with James. I don't hate it as much as the Kara/Lena shippers do, since they feel it only came about in an attempt to try to kill any possibility of a Kara/Lena relationship (I really don't think that was going to happen anyway), but I just think they're meh as a couple.

I can see why Kara sees Kryptonite as personal. At the moment she and Clark art the only Kryptonians on Earth (unless he and Lois got married and are at least expecting) and not counting Reign as she's more than Kryptonian. So if anything happens to either of them, that's half of the Kryptonian population gone. Plus it is specific to them. It's not the only thing that can kill them, but it's the only thing that can be harmful to them just being close to it.

I would have preferred if Brainy had been the one to stick around. Hopefully we haven't seen the last of him.

Anonymous said...

Agree this was a step up from last week, but still weighed down by clunky writing, though alot of the highlights somewhat made up for it,
like the awkward Brainiac 5 socializing moments (always), the cloaked Luthor mansion (WOW!) with creepy Lillian portrait, and -- in light
of Margot Kidder's passing this weekend -- the riffs and nods to the Superman 1 movie.

I REALLY liked the "I'm thinking like a Luthor" moment from Lena when she brings kryptonite to the DEO, and I liked the interplay between
the two as to arguements for and against that -- honestly that should have been in last week's ep, but still I don't think that should
be grounds for her to go dark in the future. The bit in the elevator between Kara and Lena really wasn't needed, unless TPTB are just
spinning things in that direction, but I'll repeat my personal PVO again, Lena SHOULD NOT be going down that path!

And yes, Supergirl needs to whup some Reign butt soon... the "Did you miss me?" / "So Much!" scene had me whooping with joy! Score one for
Supergirl!


Regards
And to wherever Margot K has gone, may she rest in peace.

KET said...

"This isn't just rocks to keep Sam at bay in a clinic. This is anti-Kryptonian military tech. That isn't all innocent of Lena."

One shouldn't expect a Luthor to play by the same rules of ethics as others in National City. I think she also made that clear during the elevator scene with Kara (which also served well as the show's writers trolling back at the Supercorp shippers cult).

"If only the Mon-El thread was handled better. He could have left on high ground. We could have had Brainy."

Sorry, but it's pretty obvious now that Brainiac 5 has been set up as a foil for Winn. Kara and Mon-El are the couple with the personal issues to resolve. Comics be damned on not lining up with this arrangement; they're not sacrosanct to series television anyway.

"Guardian has been James path to lies, secrets and moral compass problems."

Actually, Kara and Winn also brought some of that on even before James put on his Guardian suit. First season, sneaking around other people's offices and buildings, looking for dirt on suspicious people....


However, his burgeoning relationship with Lena (which may be thought of as a replacement for Kara suddenly dumping him in Season Two) will likely hit a major 'crossroads' of self-identity next week.


KET

Scrimmage said...

LOOK! Up in the sky! It's a punching bag! It's a flying failure! No, it's a less-than super girl!

This was yet ANOTHER episode where Supergirl's primary function seems to be getting her butt kicked, and depending on someone ELSE to save her, while once again, she fails to save the life of someone supposedly under her protection. I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

Einstein once defined insanity as “...doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.” If I didn't know better, I'd swear he talking about Supergirl! This is like the fourth or fifth time Supergirl has gone up against with Reign, or the other WorldKillers, whose powers they KNOW she now possesses, and yet she continues to allow Reign to get the upper hand by choosing the time and place for their battles. What happened to all that film study of their previous encounters, looking for an advantage against Reign's fighting style? Electric guns, and cute cape tricks aside, Supergirl has consistently underestimated Reign at every turn, and/or overestimated her own ability to deal with her.

That's another thing. If Sam's mother, Patricia (the great Betty Buckley) wants to be used as bait, fine, but why put her life at risk? J'onn should've shape-shifted to look like Patricia, at least for the element of surprise, and the REAL Patricia should've been whisked away, and IMMEDIATELY put into protective custody at the DEO while Kara, J'onn and the entire DEO set a trap for her daughter at the house. They also know that Lena's force field can contain Reign, so why not lure her into a room where they could have that set up. Just toss in some of Lena's Kryptonite, flip the switch, and BINGO! Instant containment! Unlike Reign, J'onn could simply make himself intangible, and walk out of there.

Instead, they all just waited around for Sam to show up like a teenager who sneaked out of the house. What did they expect Patricia to do? GROUND Sam for being a WorldKiller on a school night?? Heck, they wouldn't have even known Reign was coming if she hadn't announced her presence by killing all the plants in the vicinity. In the end, the house was destroyed, Reign got away, and Betty Buckley was dead, a victim of matricide. Great job, Supergirl!

The action sequences were well done, but the notion that Supergirl would take inspiration from a story M'rynn – a victim of Martian Alzheimer's – told her about White Martians, and try to convince Reign to NOT murder Ruby because killing innocents was “against her code” was not only incredibly naïve, but it was as monumentally stupid as it was ineffective LAST week, when Supergirl tried to talk the other WorldKillers out of... well, killing the world! Reign has ALREADY amassed a pretty high body count, and the vast majority of her victims have been innocent. That's kind of implied by the whole "WORLD KILLER" moniker! I think the only reason why Reign hesitated at all was because she was either stunned in disbelief, or she was trying to keep from laughing in Supergirl's face!

Naturally, someone OTHER than the star of the show, saved the day. This time it was Mon-El's turn, making Kryptonite bullets that somehow worked in a Gatling Gun, WITHOUT gunpowder. As the SNL Church Lady used to say... “How conveeeeeeeenient!”

Despite their mid-season hiatus, it feels like the showrunners are churning these episodes out too fast, without taking the time to think things through, and to close some of the more glaring holes in the plot, and to address some of the inconsistencies in these storylines. I think they've overextended themselves, juggling too many characters and subplots, all going on at the same time. Trying to fit everything in is distracting from the overall narrative of the season, and the MAIN character, Supergirl, is suffering the most because of it.

Professor Feetlebaum said...

So Kryptonite, like Beethoven, now comes in spray cans? Did Lena add a fragrance too? "...Not only does it kill Kryptonians, it makes the house smell like a pine forest!"

Yes, Mon-El should have gone. It would have been nice if, after Brainy gave Mon-El the statistics (50 percent to 88 percent) Mon-El had said something like "We're talking about Kara-Supergirl. I have confidence in her. I know what she can do. She can beat those odds. I'm going back with you!" Instead, he stayed and did the Mighty Mouse bit. Oh, well....

And I agree, having Brainy stay instead would have been a nice surprise. Now I'm not big on so-called "ship names", but if Kara and Brainiac were to come together, what would be their ship name? KARAINIAC?

Finally, off topic, but the new Comic Shop News features an interview (by Cliff Biggers) with Brian Bendis. Bendis is asked "will other "absent" Super-titles (Super Sons, Supergirl, etc. return?" Bendis answers "This is just the beginning...throughout the entire year, there will be some relaunches. There will be some brand new titles."

So maybe there's a little light at the end of the tunnel.


Scrimmage said...

Kryptonite MACE?? Are you KIDDING me?? While I can accept the possibility that Lena might've anticipated an attack from Reign, the idea that it was not only VERY handy, but also that Reign – with her super-speed and all – would give Lena a chance to use it against her was absolutely LUDICROUS! The way she touted it's potency, she sounded like Walter White from “Breaking Bad,” bragging about his latest batch of blue crystal meth.

Of course, Kara was upset that Lena has a home recipe for Kryptonite. I liked that Lena made the same argument that I did last week, when she pointed out to Supergirl that human beings live every day with things that are potentially fatal to us, and don't complain about it the way Supergirl whines about Kryptonite. Kara's SUCH a snowflake!

J'onn was all but useless as well. Why does someone with the power of intangibility allow the much more powerful Reign to get her hands on him? The DEO has already developed a counter measure to Purity's sonic scream, so there's no excuse for them not having those devices handy when Reign showed up.

At least Reign showed us what a super powered Kryptonian woman is SUPPOSED to look like, first, when she floated “Superman Returns” style, waiting for the disobedient, and insufferably whiny Ruby to screw things up, and then later, when she showed up at the fortified Luthor Mansion, and strolled through its defenses without breaking a sweat. Now, THAT was impressive. Ol' Lex sure takes his home security seriously. It's a good thing Guardian Olsen didn't try to break into HIS vault, or he'd have been ventilated, and charcoal broiled inside his little tin suit.

Sam looked super-sexy without her mask, although is was silly that she never lost it all season after taking several super-strength punches to the face, until it “just happened to” fall off just before she came face-to-face with her daughter. It would've been MUCH scarier, and more dramatic if Reign had removed the mask deliberately.

I only recently realized that Sam/Reign (Annabelle Odette) was the hot chick who was impaled in “Cloverfield” (2008), one of the better monster flicks in recent memory. I knew back then that she was destined for bigger and better things. Between Sam, Imra, and Kara, this show has some drop dead GORGEOUS women in the cast.

The love triangle stuff between Mon-El, Imra, and Kara has been completely predictable, and a lot less compelling than the growing rift between Lena and Supergirl, or even the awkward blooming bromance between Brainy and Winn, but none of the interpersonal storylines could distract from the HUGE flaws in this poorly written, highly contrived episode. I think that things will only get worse along those lines if Ruby becomes a part of Kara and Alex's family, as some have speculated.

This little girl is a TERRIBLE actress! I've seen better performances from kids in a Chuck E. Cheese commercial! It's a mystery to me how she got the job, especially considering the marvelous casting of the girls who played young Kara and Alex in an earlier episode. The girl who plays Ruby must be related to somebody important at the network, because she certainly didn't earn the role with her acting ability. Every scene she's in just breaks the spell, and reminds me that I'm watching an untalented amateur working with professionals on the set of a TV show.

Ruby is this show's Kryptonite, and as such, her exposure should be extremely limited. If she's going to stick around, the best I can hope for is a recast, STAT!

Scrimmage said...

Professor Feetlebaum, if Brainy was as smart as he claims to be, he should've been able to calculate WHICH Legionnaire would've improved Kara's odds for success the most by staying behind. It was like he quit before his calculations were finished.

I think the "ship" name you're looking for might be KARNAC, which would be an unlikely choice, but that's a moot point now.

Professor Feetlebaum said...

Scrimmage: KARNAC? HEEEEEEEEEEEERE'S JOHNNY!!!!!!!

As for Brainy calculating which Legionnaire should have stayed, that's something the writers should have had him do. But obviously, they wanted Mon-El to be the one to stick around.

Anonymous said...

I just noticed that Supergirl is moved to the Sunday slot. Question to people living in the US: Is this a better slot compared to season 3 slot?

Red Forever said...

Don't hold your breath Professor Feetlebaum, if Bendis does bring Kara abck it'll probably be horribly terrible given his track history. I already made preparations for the inevitable funeral of little Jon Kent and Supes' happiness.

Professor Feetlebaum said...

Red Forever: My bringing up that Bendis quote had nothing to do with what he might have planned for the characters. Just that, as far as I know, this is the first indication that some of the cancelled titles (Supergirl and Super Sons were specifically mentioned) might be brought back.

And DC's past record with Supergirl isn't too encouraging, Bendis or not.

Anonymous said...

DC is keeping Supergirl front and center - on 3 covers of Wonder Woman over the next 2 issues (so, presumably appearing in 2 of the 4 parts of the current Wonder Woman arc), while participating in Man of Steel, and, apparently, having some role in No Justice (per the preview in DC Nation #0).

Given the reasonable amount of ongoing exposure of the character as such, I speculate that the bigger changes to the title will be to things like workplace, rogues, DEO, friends - the setting. Maybe to make it closer to the TV series - or to try a new direction altogether.

The setting doesn't work that well on TV. Like, the job at CatCo. Does she even still work there? Then there's this problem called Mon-El. I wouldn't want the comic to move further in this direction!

Anonymous said...

Correcting what I wrote:

"on 3 covers of Wonder Woman over the next 2 issues (so, presumably appearing in 2 of the 4 parts of the current Wonder Woman arc)"

Actually appearing in at least 3 issues - 46 (if you count the last page), 47 (both covers) and 48 (both covers). Previews doesn't yet have images for the covers of Wonder Woman 49. Solicitation says "Wonder Woman stands alone!" so maybe she -- does.

WW 47 variant in greytones:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiM-8k5nNuk/?taken-by=jennyfrisonart

and color:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiPOnkan3FC/?taken-by=jennyfrisonart

WW 48 line art:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi5AGW3nDWI/?taken-by=jennyfrisonart

Martin Gray said...

Suddenly everyone is being super hard on Lena? Last time we were backing her having Kryptonite, now it’s bad because she has a spray handy? She’s a super-genius who knows she’s a target, of course she has some of the synthetic stuff handy.

I’m still refusing to believe she’s going bad. Too obvious!

And I reckon Mon El will choose Imra.