Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Supergirl Episode 317: Trinity



Supergirl episode 317, titled 'Trinity' aired this week and was an interesting episode to dissect.

Certainly there was a lot of momentum in the World Killer storyline here, as the evil Trinity of Reign, Purity, and Pestilence nearly brought about the end of the world. We see some weakness in this Trinity ultimately as the human side of these Kryptonian entities are able to manifest at opportune times for our heroes. So yes, despite being a Trinity, they are not 100% united.

But the bigger plot for me in this episode was the weakening of the heroic Trinity of Supergirl, Alex, and Lena Luthor. Yes, there is an obvious comparison here, three strong women fighting for a cause. But just like the villainous trio are splintered, you can see it here. This whole episode seems to be intent on shoving Lena out of the light and into the darkness. I have no doubt at all know that Lena will be the big bad in Season 4. Because despite Lena doing nothing but good, the characters here mostly doubt her. In fact, Supergirl's distrust of Lena and Lena keeping secrets seems to be out of left field. Kara herself has secrets. So to flaunt it so much seems wrong.

Yes, as a viewer and long time comic fan, I have been watching the 'will she/won't she be evil' scenes with great glee. But that is me, outside this reality. All this stuff seemingly could have been hashed out with a mature conversation over a coffee.

The bottom line is that all the secrets and barriers between these heroes all are now torn down ... except for two big ones. Kara's secret identity seems still hidden ... maybe. And Lena's huge secret at the end of the episode is known only to James.

So in the end, I expect Reign to be defeated at the hands of Lena. And this defeat will somehow paint Lena poorly leading to an ultimate dissolution of this friendship. It actually mirrors the Lex/Kal initial friendship nicely. After all, as I learned in Unbreakable, usually arch-enemies start out as friends. (They called him Mr. Glass.)

On to the show.





The show starts with the DEO basically interrogating Lena about her keeping Reign, a multiple murderer, hidden unknown in her lab for three weeks.

This is a defensive Lena who is appropriately angry. She was helping out a friend. She had never been approached by the DEO ever. She isn't an employee of the DEO. She doesn't have to tell them anything.

Heck, the DEO has done plenty of shady things in the past. This seemed above board. If anything, Lena kept Reign off the maps for those three weeks. And she is right, the DEO is a clandestine government black ops program. They haven't been open to others.


But this righteousness seems to fade when she has to admit that she used Kryptonite to keep Reign under control. This was Lex's Kryptonite from his lab. Keeping a weapon that only works against Kryptonians in hiding doesn't exactly cement the supposed friendship Lena was forming with Supergirl.

Still, it has been a long time for these two. Kara has befriended Lena. I think this could have been hashed out in a less confrontational way than this inquisition.

An added bonus was learning that Lena's middle name is Karen.



The World Killers meanwhile are holed up in their Fortress. The Dark Priestess tells them that the human sides need to shrivel and die for the World Killers to truly ascend.

Almost immediately, Pestilence announces that her host body persona Grace has died. Boy, that was one angry doctor.

With the three united, they form a mystic circle to bring about the death of the world.

Meanwhile, inside the Dark Valley, Julia and Sam discuss their fates. At their feet is the dead body of Grace. And you can see the psychological torture that happens in this realm. Julia is plagued by visions of the people she has killed as Purity. They berate her for being evil. Sam realizes they need to seek shelter and help each other.

I'd love just a touch more explanation about this. What was rocketed to Earth? Not Reign's body. But some essence to possess a human? Then what did Sam's mother find in there?



There seems to be a break in the questioning and Lena heads for the DEO balcony to call James. Realizing it is time for honesty, she spills the beans. She says she held Sam captive because Sam was Reign. She talks about Lex's Kryptonite. But she admits that trying to help Sam secretly has endangered all her friendships and all the progress she has made in distancing herself from the taint of the Luthor name. That seems to be her biggest fear.


That fear is only strengthened when Kara asks about the Kryptonite. Throughout the episode, Kara keeps bringing up how secrets can only destroy trust. And yet, she is as big an offender as anyone, especially with Lena.

The debate ends when Kara collapses after seeing an eclipse manifesting. When unconscious, she awakens in the dark Valley.
 


 When she is revived, Kara says she knew she was in the actual Valley of Juru from Krypton (which readers of this blog might remember is where Kara's ancestor Val-El disappeared!)

Kara also mentions Kryptonian legends of witches bringing forth a 'blessed darkness'. Sounds like a lot of this World Killer stuff is there in Kryptonian folklore. Maybe a trip to Kal's library is in order?? Should this eclipse happen fully, the Earth will plunge into an ice age, killing everyone. As it is, the lack of sun is depleting Kara.



J'onn realizes that the strength of the World Killers psychic link is such that Kara must have just picked it up like a broadcast. And maybe that is something the team can use.

The new Trinity of Kara, Lena, and Alex decide the best thing to do is reach out to Sam.



There is a lot of comic book science thrown about by Brainiac 5. But he'll somehow adapt the technology he used to enter Kara's mind when Supergirl was in a coma to send the three women to the Dark Valley. He seems absolutely thrilled with the idea, almost like it is a problem to be solved.

Once more Kara shows how much she doesn't trust Lena, at first refusing to let Lena join this mind trip. But Lena says that Sam trusts her. Sam went to Lena for help. Supergirl doesn't know Sam. Lena is the best option to reach out to Sam.



I have to again point out that this is a hard line that Kara is drawing here, unlike her since she was willing to give Pestilence, the killer of billions, a chance to prove her worth just last week.



Within the Valley, Sam and Julia realize they are forgetting crucial memories of who they are. Sam even temporarily forgets Ruby's name. Once they forget their lives, the World Killers will gain total control. At the same time, the voices of those they have harmed have become deafening. In a smart move, Sam tells Julia to write down all they remember so they can remind themselves.


Before the trip to the Valley, Kara stops at CatCo and asks James to break into Lena's lab vault as the Guardian and corroborate that there is no more Kryptonite. After all, Lex has been in jail for years. Lena has held onto it for all that time. Kara can't get over this lie. Again, a little hypocritical.

And we see just how scared Kara is. Melissa Benoist really sells how painful Kryptonite is, how afraid she is.



Meanwhile on the Legion ship, Brainy prepares his device. 

It is time for Alex to confront Lena. Lena knew Alex was trying to help Sam. Why didn't Lena talk to Alex?

Lena asks why Alex never said she was DEO before. Lena admits she knew Alex was DEO from Lillian's files. But it was Alex's secret to divulge. So why press matters.

Lena is something of a realist. People have secrets, sometimes for good reasons. Even Alex has to agree with that logic.





Brainy's machine works. The 'good' Trinity is able to cross over into the Valley. There they immediately stumble onto Grace's dead body. Creepy.


The responses of the women in this place is classic. Alex quickly finds sharp sticks to use as weapons, jabbing Lena in the ribs to prove they can be hurt in this reality. Classic.


Meanwhile, the eclipse is only an hour away from being complete. Even in this world. Kara is weakening. As they traverse the valley, she complains about getting tired and wonders why anyone would bother exercising. Amusing.






But things aren't all fun and games. As they walk, Kara continues to needle Lena about keeping secrets. Lena says her actions shouldn't be considered some personal attack by Supergirl. And when Supergirl again chastises Lena for keeping secrets, Lena beautifully turns the table asking Supergirl to reveal her real name. If that doesn't show Kara's double standards, what will.


Given that Lena knew Alex's secrets, I  have to assume Lena actually knows Supergirl is Kara. But it isn't her secret to reveal.


Finally the three stumble onto Sam and Julia. I love this set with the writing everywhere. It shows how desperate Sam is to remember her life.




Meanwhile, James breaks into  Lena's lab. Just as he is about the detonate a bomb to get into her vault, he pauses. He can't do it.


He lies to Winn on their comm-link. He says he broke in and that there is no more Kryptonite.


First Lena admits her fears to James. Then James trusts Lena. I like how this relationship is growing. It almost seems like James loyalties don't lie with the supers anymore.






Back in the Valley, the heroes calm Sam down. You see the psychological warfare of this place as Sam just keeps repeating how she killed people.


But the heroes are able to get through to her by calling on her strengths as a friend, as a fighter, as a mother. It is the mentioning of Ruby that shakes Sam into lucidity.


I love that sequence. Each person calling on a strength of Sam's.






With this sudden confidence from her friends, Sam is able to wrest control of her body from Reign. She breaks the circle and is able to send a signal to the Legion ship of where this fortress is. This is wonderful acting by Odette Anabelle as you can see from her facial expressions that this isn't the wicked Reign.


That does mean that Reign is in the valley. She begins to thrash the heroes, calling them driftwood in the path of a hurricane. Cool line.


But our Trinity knows that with the signal out, they don't need to stay anymore. They blip back to their bodies.






With the Legion approaching, Pestilence smacks Sam allowing Reign to regain control.


On the cruiser, Winn gives Alex a super-suit armed with magnet powers and a souped up pistol which seems to shoot red sun explosive charges. I don't know if I like this. One of the things that has impressed me about Alex is her ability to hold her own without powers. At least this one is way more slick than the clunky K-exoskeleton she wore in Season 1.


We then get a tremendous brawl scene with the Legion, Alex, J'onn, and Supergirl fighting the World Killers. Winn, Brainy, and Lena provide support in the air. It is a very good fight scene. And I love how Reign makes Kara kneel before her, like the General.








In the end, the World Killers are too much. The heroes have to call upon Julia, within Purity, to 'rise up' and take control. Somehow she does while still maintaining the powers of Purity. (This seems to go against the prior truths about how when the human manifests the body loses powers.)


Still, Purity squares off with Pestilence and the two kill each other. Their energy then leaves their bodies and Reign absorbs it all. With the Pestilence and Purity dead, the evil Fortress crumbles. The eclipse ends. And Reign retreats.


One thing I did like was how the two World Killers killed each other. It leans into the New 52 comic idea that only a World Killer could defeat a World Killer.






Nothing left but the wrap up.


Imra is downright giddy that Pestilence has been killed. It means the Blight didn't happen. For the first time we see a smiling, happy Saturn Girl hugging Mon-El and sure Brainy can get them back to the future.


Alex is thrilled with her new suit. J'onn gets a funny line in about Alex always wearing a polo shirt.


Supergirl and Lena seem to bury the hatchet.


But then another wrinkle. James confesses to Lena that at Supergirl's request he broke into Lena's lab. But he couldn't go through with breaking into the vault. Lena has earned his trust. She isn't a Luthor. She helped her friend. With James being so open, Lena admits she didn't use Lex's Kryptonite. She knows how to make it.


It will be interesting to see if Lena learning that Supergirl asked for this break-in will lead to more anger between them.


The last shot is of Reign swearing that Ruby must die.


Lena being able to manufacture Kryptonite is a big deal.


Overall, I  thought this was an okay episode. I feel like Kara came out looking the worst. She really lit into Lena for keeping secrets when she herself has kept plenty. Despite believing in people, even the worst of the worst this season, Kara attacks her friend. Sure it stoked the drama. But it felt off.


Still, the plot has progressed. Reign is now all the World Killers in one. Perhaps Reign is the future Blight now.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I'd love just a touch more explanation about this. What was rocketed to Earth? Not Reign's body. But some essence to possess a human? Then what did Sam's mother find in there?"

A body-snatcher would certainly all in line with the fifth Worldkiller. Hmm... Maybe its body was some kind of birthing matrix?

Intense episode, but I hope they don't make Lena evil.

Martin Gray said...

Yeah, I'm also all for Lena staying good, I really like her. Kara is a terrible friend to Lena. I wonder if 'Karen' as middle name was chosen to imply she's more like Kara than she knows.

Alex's costume was truly rubbish, just another black jumpsuit; when Winn said a costume was coming, and magnets were the future, I was expecting a one-off Cosmic Girl deal.

Good on James for trusting Lena, but it's a shame he did it furitvely - he should have stood up to Kara and Winn.

I was expecting the eclipse to bring some Eclipso business - or has DC TV done that elsewhere?

Anonymous said...

I don't agree with the sentiment that Kara came out looking bad here due to how she handled Lena.

Kara keeps her secret for a good reason as her secret identity not only protects herself but also her mother, colleagues, childhood friends etc. It is not really her secret to give away considering her enemies.

Lena has stockpiled a weapon whose only purpose has been to hurt or kill her and her cousin. It's like if I was to visit a best friend a find a journal where that friend has written a plan on how to kill me. Yeah, that would definitely spoil that friendship no matter which level it was once on. And not only has Lena kept kryptonite but she lies about it and has put considerable effort into creating it herself.

Lena really comes out of this as the bad seed imo. Kara made the right call to ensure that all kryptonite was gone. If not only for herself, but for her cousin's sake too.

I mostly enjoyed the episode. The thing that has been taking away some enjoyment for me lately though is that they keep taking away what makes her special.

Kara is depowered most of the time and getting her butt handed to her. Alex gets gear which puts her at Supergirl's power level and being able to fight worldkillers better than Kara. I feel like *eh siiigh*. The power creep caused by Winn is very hard to rollback. I want to make a hard reset for season 4. Give me a flashpoint that makes Supergirl be about Supergirl again.

They need to get back to basics. I would do away with the DEO completely. Alex should stay but in a human capacity, not running around in light combat armor more powerful than a LexSuit and worldkiller weapons. Winn could stay, but without DEO resources taking him back to a reasonable level again and do away with the power creep of humans. Mon-El needs to go, they broke him and made him more powerful than Supergirl due to his training. Imra should go as she isn't a good fit in the team. I love Brainiac, but they screwed up any chances of him and Kara having chemistry, and having both him and Winn around is a little much. I would prefer that Brainiacs role would be brought to a sane level. Stuff must take time to build, and he should instead use his 12th level intellect to make plans and assume a more leadership role. Guardian should go away, James Olsen too, they can't make his character work. Cat Grant should come back, pay her what is necessary. They should get Maxwell Lord back too. Jonn should around as he is a great character, but they should use the hook of his sick father to keep him out of adventuring most of the time and be a space dad so we don't have be annoyed that he isn't using his mindpowers to instawin against every problem.

Either way. I am still really entertained by the series, but their power creep is writing checks that their writing skills won't be able to cover. I hope they find a way to fix it before seasons end.

Martin Gray said...

To Anon, above, given how many Kryptonian villains have attacked National City and that Supergirl has been temporarily evil, it makes perfect sense for Earth folk to have Kryptonite? They need a defence and the zillions of regular guns on America's streets won't cut it.

As for Kara having to protect her ID to keep others in her life safe, pretty much everyone else in her life knows, why not tell Lena? It'd be different if Kara wasn't always going on about how they're such great friends. She's proven herself time and again... would Kara want to be assumed to be evil because her dad became an evil cyborg (different continuity, I realise). Why should Lena be tarred with the Lex and Lillian brush? She's never done anything evil.

Anonymous said...

"why not tell Lena"
Every person she tells is a risk for other people. Kara can't change the past when people has figured her out, but how many has she truly told herself?
- Winn, but when she did, she was inexperienced and hadn't any enemies.
- Her love interest
- Heroes who doesn't live on her earth.

I am trying to remember, but I don't think I can think of any others. She has been careful to protect people she cares about and not even told her best friends either as a kid or an adult.

KET said...

"Finally the three stumble onto Sam and Julia. I love this set with the writing everywhere. It shows how desperate Sam is to remember her life."

Was surprised and delighted by the Peter David Easter Egg in this scene. This episode does have a bit more of the mystical elements David wove into his Supergirl run, although he didn't employ the Valley of Juru, IIRC.

"The thing that has been taking away some enjoyment for me lately though is that they keep taking away what makes her special....Kara is depowered most of the time and getting her butt handed to her. Alex gets gear which puts her at Supergirl's power level and being able to fight worldkillers better than Kara."

Seems to me that you're missing the point of what really defines Kara as Supergirl. It's not her powers set....never has been. It's her ability to aspire to do good for others and to inspire others to also empathize with those less fortunate than themselves. If there wasn't some element of risk at stake for Kara when she has adventures, then the show would become merely rote and completely boring.

"I want to make a hard reset for season 4."

This is usually the point when someone longs for the comfort of the easy reboot to the formula of their own comfort zone, which will never happen...so get used to always being disappointed that the show runners aren't mind readers, or that the show isn't pandering.

The series has been on a multiple season plotting path since its inception, which insures that continuing change will continue to be an essential part of the plan, and central to the main character on the show.

KET

KET said...

"Why should Lena be tarred with the Lex and Lillian brush? She's never done anything evil."

...which is part of why I find the Lena-James relationship to be a very intriguing development. These are both characters who are actively resisting being pigeonholed into the stereotyped roles others seem intent to push them into....Kara included. Hope this pairing continues, but it's likely to be tested severely and ethically in the next few weeks.

KET

Anonymous said...

"Seems to me that you're missing the point of what really defines Kara as Supergirl. It's not her powers set....never has been."

Yeah, I agree but.. that's just something we say though. :D

If Supergirl would have been about a normal girl that is just really positive and helping, I wouldn't have read the comics. I still do even when she loses herself and gets angry/evil though. :p

Her personality is a factor but *cough* *cough*. So is the fact that she is the maybe most powerful girl in the universe. :p

Anonymous said...

I have to agree on the fact that to the casual viewer Kara came off looking hypocritical and I don't like that. They deliberately made a choice to show Lena almost in tears as she calls James just after which Supergirl rips into her. Kara isn't insensitive. I love the show and I defend it all the time but this episode felt like undermining Kara and Lena's friendship to boost up James and Lena.

Regardless, I agree on the fact that Kara was right to be angry at Lena for harbouring kryptonite which can kill her, as the last and only daughter of Krypton I would really like her to stick around for a long time. A lot of people have given arguments that humans should have a stash of Kryptonite in case kal or Kara go crazy again and both the kryptonians have expressed reasonable trust before in people who can handle it, but keeping kryptonite in secret, even making it, that's a serious breach of trust.

Lena and Winn are starting to annoy me with how more smart they are from brainy. That's just so ridiculous that I can't take winn's comedy dialogues anymore and Lena is just becoming Felicity level of hacktivist who can do anything tech. I hate this.

I have no idea how I am supposed to consider Mon el a hero when he is basically emotionally cheating on his wife and will probably stay back when the legion will leave in the next couple of episodes. A suit doesn't make a hero and mon el is barely one right now. I hope by the end of the season brainy is able to stay.

In this show everyone is stronger than Kara and that's why I can't fully love this season. How come the eclipse didn't effect mon el, he gets his powers from the sun too and the legion ring only gives him flight powers. I agreed that we need a soft reboot s4, give me a strong Supergirl and a reduced cast, that's what I want, not this weakass who can't hold her own. New52 Kara whooped the wks ass alone and this one can't even hold her own for a few minutes. The insult!

Also did anyone else catch the Peter David writing on the wall? That was a cool homage.

Anonymous said...

"New52 Kara whooped the wks ass alone.."

To compare with the world killers in the comics, I think that the comics were better written in this case. She was able to take them out without the writer resorting to introducing super armors or superweapons and changing the world. Also, in comparison, the resolution was much better than everyone screaming for another world killer to break out of a dream and win for them, it just wasn't very good TV. I don't really understand why they felt compelled to change that detail either. If you have something that works, use it, or make sure that the replacement is a better idea. If Kara had used the claw of pestilence to take out purity it would have been more compelling TV and not left Supergirl kneeling for the umpteenth time in this season. Zod would have loved this version of Kara.

The writers are too dependent on introducing new overpowered technology for effect. They should trust in their storytelling instead of keep turning the volume dial louder and louder. You can only do that for so long before you start to wonder why the DEO doesn't put Winns inventions into mass production and let Supergirl be Kara and spend the rest of her life eating potstickers with friends.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the review, Anj. I also agree this episode falls into the "it was enjoyable, but not helped
by the clunky writing" category. Kudos to everyone in playing their parts and selling the emotions and
thoughts of their characers, but the things that irked me the most :

- short shrift given to Angela Zhou's character -- she was built up as a Trojan Horse / seduced by the
dark side type last episode, this episode she really wasn't given much to do other than "oh, my humanity's
dead" and her reboot (read:punch) of Reign when Sam momentarily regained herself.

Also, I agree with the comment, exactly WHAT was sent over from Krypton that day? A Kryptonian form? A
Bodysnatchers type possessive form? Something else?

- the writing pushing Lena will go dark / evil -- as you pointed out, her rightfully pointing out she
doesn't work for nor have any relationship with the DEO, and in a helluva going for the jugular move, points
out Supergirl won't even give her her real name. While I do appreciate there being some lingering distrust,
and Supergirl's end comment of "a clean slate" between the two, that's where a scene of Kara Danvers dropping
by and inviting Lena for coffee or something really would have helped with things in my humble opinion.
Personally I would have liked this better and think it would have played better as "friends with a legitimate
difference of opinion" a la last episode between Supergirl and Imra in regards to Pestilence / Blight.

- Supergirl weakening -- while Supergirl's line of "Is this what it's like when humans exercise? It's
terrible! Why would you even exercise?" cracked the heck out of me, the writing of this was pretty clunky
in my view. IIRC loss of sunlight for the Supers' powerset was like running down a battery in a toy or
any other electronic device.

- "Not Jimmy, Guardian!" scene -- they need Guardian to break into Lena's vault? Seriously?

That being said, I definitely liked the Jimmy / Lena support scenes, and Jimmy continuing to be a Devil's
Advocate for Team Supergirl overall, and Lena's badassery in taking to the Legion ship like a duck to
water during the final fight.

I also have to give a shouts out to Braniac's scenes, and playing him like he was this episode -- makes
him so watchable! -- as well as the J'onn / Mon-El hug scene. Nice interpersonal moment there.


Regards
Regards

Anonymous said...

There is also the issue of Kara not winning a fight fully since ep9 to be honest. It's going on 10 episodes now that she has just got her butt handed to her and someone from the Scooby gang had to help her. I don't like these things, and from the set pics seen of the finale it will be more of the Scooby gang. O joy. I just alwant a one on one rematch again against Reign, no kryptonite or anything. It will basically be Kara vs Reign (and also purity and pestilence in a sense).

This episode was enjoyable but wasn't good as the other ones and this season has delivered some amazing episodes- ep 1, 3, 4, 9 are my favourite especially.
It's like they wanted to cram around three episodes worth of storyline into one and that resulted in clunky writing as well as clunky and jarring cuts.

Anonymous said...

Heh, in regards to the "I am only storing kryptonite in case..."-plan.

Is there anybody in DCs history who has executed that plan without one time or another ending up having it being stolen and used against our favorite kryptonians?

:D

Mary said...

Martin Gray

Alex's new costume is not a jump suit. It's two pieces and she wears a shirt underneath. Pictures from the finale posted last week show Chyler without the jacket.


I don't want Lena to be the villain next season. I want her and Brainy to work together at times.

Scrimmage said...

I agree with the general consensus of the posts so far, that the writing in this episode was more than a little “clunky.” There were a few questionable, out-of-character moments, but it was some of the highly contrived plot devices in this episode that I found most problematic. The most glaring example is the idea that Supergirl would be impaired during an eclipse. It's absolutely preposterous, given what we know about how Kryptonian physiology works from DECADES of established canon.

Solar batteries don't drain immediately at night, or during an eclipse, and likewise, Superman has never had his power diminished merely because the Moon passed in front of the Sun. The Sun doesn't go away! Kryptonian cells can store an ENORMOUS amount of yellow sun energy for an indefinite period of time, so even at night, Superman, and presumably Supergirl are just as “super” as they are during the day. It would take an extended period of time without sunlight for Kara to experience a power drain like we saw in this episode. Maybe we're supposed to chalk it up to “Kryptonian Black Magic,” but if that's the explanation, somebody should've mentioned it.

If the Trinity was broadcasting telepathically, why couldn't J'onn or Psi focus in on the psychic link, and track it to its source? J'onn is supposed to be one of the most powerful psychics on Earth, but they continually ignore that, and several other aspects of this character. For instance, why would J'onn ever LET someone hit him, when he has the power of intangibility? Why would he let his opponents SEE him, when he can make himself invisible? J'onn consistently makes poor use of the inherent tactical advantages his powers give him.

What's so unforgivable about Lena having a secret stash of Kryptonite? As a few other posters have already mentioned, I believe that's a reasonable, even prudent precaution to take, especially considering the fact that there are Kryptonian WorldKillers running around, breaking things and killing people, and they're NOT the first hostile Kryptonians we've run into. Just because Lena was prepared for the worst, doesn't mean that she has a Kryptonite Bullet with Supergirl's name on it.

Kara shouldn't take it so personally. After all, we humans live every day SURROUNDED by things that can put a quick end to us. Our fragility, vulnerability, and mortality is something we ALL have to learn to live with. Supergirl needs to figure that out, if she's ever going to truly understand what being human is all about.

Appropriately, Lesson #1 was “What it feels like to be tired.” I laughed out loud when Supergirl questioned “Why would anyone ever want to exercise?” I've asked myself that same question more times than I can count! It got me thinking about all the “human experiences” that Kara has never felt. Hunger, cold, warmth, comfort, a refreshing sleep, a good meal on an empty stomach... I wonder if Kara can appreciate the difference between the touch of silk as opposed to burlap. Sometimes, I think invulnerability would be a lot like living life wearing a full suit of armor.

Speaking of Armor...

Alex got an UPGRADE!! Of course, the fanboy in me would've preferred a much more detailed breakdown of the new suit's (magnetic?) capabilities, and a primer on Alex's new gun, and it would've been a lot better if Winn had given it to her sometime BEFORE she was about to go into battle, so she could get familiar with it, but that's a small quibble. Too bad Winn couldn't talk Brainy into giving Alex a flight ring, too. Now THAT would've been an UPGRADE!

Scrimmage said...

For what it's worth, according to the closed captioning, Lena identified herself as “Lena Keiran Luthor.”

The “Big Showdown with the Three WorldKillers was more of a letdown, especially with Supergirl contributing less than nothing to the victory, and failing to save Julia and Grace's lives. It was especially confusing considering the fact that, up until they convinced Purity to switch sides - apparently thanks to Kara's brand new “super-cajoling” power - as Anj pointed out, we were told that when Sam, Julia, and Grace took control of their bodies, they no longer had powers... I guess except when they do. Riiiight!

Of course, the writers are ignoring the BIGGEST elephant in the room, namely the Time Paradox. If the death of Pesty changed the future, then why didn't the Legion immediately disappear, since there would've been no reason for them to come back to this time if Pesty had never evolved into Blight. This timey-wimey stuff is always hard to reconcile.

All I know is, if Imra wants to celebrate, Mon-El would have to be a FOOL to not join her. Just THINK of the possibilities! She's a telekinetic with a Flight Ring!

As far as killing Ruby next week? I have to admit, I'm on Team Reign on this one!

Ruby... Must... DIE!

Anonymous said...

I think one of the biggest elephants in the room is the plot that an eclipse can block out the light of the sun for the entire earth. The moon is much too small for that, and if they increased the size of the moon to blot out the sun for the whole earth, we would have a lot more problems than the lack of sunlight.

Even under the eclipse, losing the sun for a minute is not going to be an immediate problem. We lose the sunlight a few hours every day. It's called "night".

Professor Feetlebaum said...

Maybe I've missed something, or maybe I just plain forgot, but has it been established that Lena's vault is either made of lead or lead lined? It must be, otherwise Kara could have simply used her X-Ray Vision, and not put poor James on the spot like she did.

Or tell me why Kara wouldn't just ask Hank/J'onn to check the vault for her, easy to do with his Martian abilities. And James wouldn't have been caught between two friends like he was.

Martin Gray said...

Thanks for the specifics, Mary, but I was just using ‘jumpsuit’ to mean ‘outfit’. The fact I never noticed it’s a two-piece is testament to its dullness.

Scrimmage, ‘Kieran’ has to be a mishearing by the subtitler, it sounds a lot like ‘Karen’ but is pretty male.

Anonymous said...

Clunky ep, but then clunky writing has been the show's key flaw since the pilot. Alas a lot of those strands came together this week despite some stellar acting (which is the traditional way that clunky writing gets obscured).
The issues go back to a simple question "why are the world killers here?" Are they biological doomsday machines that simply got triggered by accident, are they a colonization scheme....as mentioned before exactly what got sent to Earth by those Kryptonian cultists?
Again clunky writing, which not likely ever going to be explained, this is Greg Berlanti after all.
won't even go into the whole "depowering eclipse"thing, which is NOT clunky writing, its simply dumb writing.
One of the problems with the show is that the writing is completely blind as to how hypocritically the Danvers sisters conduct their lives, they can sometime seem to be "Luthors' without arrest records", case in point Kara pressuring a friend to break into another friend's vault to secure some info that could be obtained by less invasive means.
You could make an argument that both Kara and Lena crossed a line this week....I kind of wish that somehow Lena would stay on the straight and narrow, but the dictates of clunky writing probably mean that she'll turn bad at season's end, thats a pity.
The tone of this post would suggest disappointment on my part, I am trying to convey that this episode's flaw are a consequence of writing decisions made earlier in the season, the clunkiness inevitably derives from that.
And yes, Supergirl is getting her butt kicked way too much for my liking, MB's stellar performance skills tend to obscure this a bit, but the sheer number of smackdowns is beginning to pile up suspiciously.

JF

Anj said...

Wow!
Thanks for all the great comments. I suspected that since this was one of the weaker episodes it would get a lot of feedback.

I guess mentally I chalked up the eclipse as being 'magical' in some way, explaining the weakening of Supergirl and it killing the planet.

I agree that Supergirl and Alex do seem to talk the talk and not walk the walk. It is hard for me to hear Kara talk about how killing is completely wrong knowing that earlier this season Alex was shooting people point-blank in the face. Why doesn't Kara draw that line in the sand with her sister? Certainly Pestilence is a bigger threat than an infantry soldier on Earth X?

And yes, Supergirl does seem to bend the laws at times for the greater good - like sending in James. But that is still criminal at heart. And has others have said, there are easier ways to get that info. I suppose she didn't ask J'onn to do it because he might have objected morally.

Anyways, thanks for the great talk!

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more regarding the solar power nature of the Kryptonian powerset, though then again, there's been a pretty
inconsistent in of itself, no matter the medium. @Scrimmage's point about "Kryptonian Black Magic" actually would have made
more logical sense plotwise, and a better reason for taking Kara's powers off the board -- in hindsight, there was one line
of dialogue I recall about how the temperature would drop by X degrees within a few hours without the sun. What The Heck?!

And speaking of Lena making Kryptonite, that's now 3 times that's been attempted inshow : first was J'onn's "anyone with a
few household chemicals in the proper proportion" deux ex machina attempt in fighting against Bizzaro Girl, then
Maxwell Lord's own failed attempt at Red Kryptonite, and how well THAT turned out...

And just to put it out there, with the new suit and gun from Winn so what happens/happened with Alex's "Dibbs" gun? I LOVE
her "Dibbs" gun!


Regards

Scrimmage said...

I liked Alex's "Dibs Gun" better too. What I liked BEST was the fact that Alex would've called dibs on a badass alien pistol.

Unknown said...

I haven’t read all the comments so I don’t know if this was mentioned before but I’d like to highlight that when Reign is choking Lena and Supergirl calls for taking her instead, Reign implies that just one equal can defeat her, and that Supergirl is nothing.
That, I presume, supports your theory that Lena will play and important part on defeating Reign. And since Sam is a very close friend of Lena, she’ll try to separate Reign from her.