S05.E04: In Plain Sight

[Trini]

Quote

SAYING GOODBYE IS HARD TO DO - Kara's investigation into William Dey's (Staz Nair) "criminal" activities results in the shocking revelation he is not who she thinks. Meanwhile, the conflict between Malefic and J'onn J'onzz reaches a boiling point.

David McWhirter directed the episode written by Jay Faerber & Jess Kardos.

Airdate: 10/27/2019

[mtlchick]

Peace out Mehcad.  You deserved a lot more than what the show did to you after the first season. 

Edited October 28, 2019 by mtlchick
And he deserves to have his name spelled correctly.

[bettername2come]

Wait, was that it? Was that all the exit they're going to give James? I feel like Winn got a bigger farewell, but since they've basically ignored him since then it's probably all the same. 

"You don't need me, Kara. You never have." Maybe that was supposed to make Kara sound like a strong, independent woman, but I really just felt like they were ignoring the role he played in season one where he was a conduit to the experiences and advice Clark had. 

I did like "Call me Jimmy" at the end. 

Farewell, Mehcad. May you find something that will treat your characters better. 

[statsgirl]

Did the writers open a box of cliches for this episode? Because, wow.  "Malefic isn't the villain here, J'onn. You are."  "I'm just glad somebody made it out of this town. And I'm glad it was you." "I've lived on Earth for over 300 years and I've never really found true peace. And I believe it's because of what I did to you. (And all the rest of that speech)" "The roof, if it collapses, then everyone in here is going to die."

I hate how Alix becomes an emotional mess whenever she gets into a relationship. Another cliche.

Lena's lipstick game was beautifully on point. Good move if she's going to become a villain.

Tamaranean technology! Starfire!

Cue the start of Kara's new live interest.

That's it? James is gone, and in the most cliche way.

With Mechad gone, the regular cast is now six women (including Eve) to two men, excluding the cast in for just this season). Not a good ratio.

[mommalib]

29 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

Peace out Mehcad.  You deserved a lot more than what the show did to you after the first season. 

What happened to Mechad on this show is disgusting. When I think about the blatant racism from the fans and the subtle racism from the writers it ticks me off. 

[UNOSEZ]

Well they didn't use him properly for multiple seasons ( tho season 2 gets my vote for worst treatment of a star player in recent memory)  why wouldn't his exit just be an item checked off among many others going on.. Including the new guy mooning all over Kara... Good luck in future ventures Mechad... I'll always have season one

9 minutes ago, mommalib said:

What happened to Mechad on this show is disgusting. When I think about the blatant racism from the fans and the subtle racism from the writers it ticks me off. 

He got wynonna Earpd... Least this show will keep me as a viewer.. That show lost me that very episode 

[angora]

Yeah, I thought at first that the Calvintown stuff was going to lay the GROUNDWORK for James's exit, but they went through with it all in one episode. The idea of it wasn't bad, but it was all way too fast and executed with the subtly of a sledgehammer ("Thanks for standing up for me, guy I just met!! You're a real hero, no one around here would do that!! Wait, you're not sticking around indefinitely?? My faith in humanity is crushed, goodbye forever!! Stand and watch while I sad-bike-ride away!!") The scene in the bar still mostly got to me, if only because you could tell the actors' feelings at saying goodbye to Mehcad were bleeding through.

But yeah, that "you never really needed me" thing made me mad. It reminded me of Sleepy Hollow and the whole "my job is done" bullshit. James/Mehcad deserved better than that.

Well, I guess they DID realize the "bad boy reformed by Supergirl's love" storyline didn't need a repeat. I'm relieved, not because I'm crazy about William, but because I'm sure the Kara/William train is coming at us no matter what and I'd rather Kara not be saddled with a prick. Next step: have him realize that the way to Kara's heart is to include her in his super-sleuthing, not try and shield her from it for her own protection.

I always like the Brainy-Lena relationship, and even though she was obviously working with an ulterior motive here, I liked that she was able to get through to him, both with his issues at the DEO and his troubles with Nia. If only Lena could take her own advice... (Seeing Kara so excited to have Lena at the DEO really bummed me out. Come on, Lena! It's like you have a vendetta against a puppy!)

I like how J'onn is very understandably ashamed of what went down with Malefic and is beating himself up over it, but every single friend who's learned the secret has been gentle and loving with him. First Nia last week, and now Kara and Alex this week. Loved that moment between him and Alex where Alex asked how he could ever believe she'd say those things to him and he admitted he'd been thinking them about himself.

[mommalib]

20 minutes ago, UNOSEZ said:

Well they didn't use him properly for multiple seasons ( tho season 2 gets my vote for worst treatment of a star player in recent memory)  why wouldn't his exit just be an item checked off among many others going on.. Including the new guy mooning all over Kara... Good luck in future ventures Mechad... I'll always have season one

He got wynonna Earpd... Least this show will keep me as a viewer.. That show lost me that very episode 

Yeah I threw Wynonna in the trash as soon as the killed Dolls. And now i'm pretty checked out of Supergirl as well. It's crazy how similar these two situations is.

[Lady Calypso]

Yeah, that was a really shitty goodbye for Mehcad. I mean, I never loved the character of James, but...could they not have given a little more of a goodbye? Like, really? I guess he could still show up so it's good that they didn't just kill him. But man, I thought he might have had a couple of more episodes before his exit. 

Once again, any scenes that Lena has with other characters where she's being nice to them is utterly ruined with knowing with how evil they're making her. Now she has J'onn's brother captured as...what, a science experiment? A helper? This season makes Lena look really, really bad. I really can't wait for this arc of hers to be over but I'm afraid it might have tarnished Lena has a character completely for me. There's not much where she can come back from this, all because she's pissy that Kara kept the Supergirl secret from her. 

It just makes Lena look ridiculous and it's hard to feel bad for her.

At least Kelly got some good stuff. But is Malefic's arc really over? At least, for now, but it kind of ended quicker than I thought. I guess they're trying to get to the evil Andrea stuff and to set up William/Kara.

Which...man, their last scene together was horrifically badly written. William did NOT come across as sympathetic to me because of the cliche writing and the overpraising of Kara. I don't blame Kara for not liking William yet because he came off as incredibly fake. The actor did not do a good job in that scene; he made William look worse.

David Harewood got some excellent material to work with, at least. I liked J'onn's scenes and I felt bad that he was beating himself up so much over the brother issue.

Brainy and Nia are still cute enough. I need more Nia in general. It was nice to see Brainy work with Lena this episode. I always wanted Lena to work with the DEO a bit more (remember when we got a taste of it back in season 2 with Lena/Winn?) but this isn't how I wanted it to go.

[Lantern7]

Meh episode. I find it amusing that Kara smothered Alex's bomb vest because Batwoman did the same thing tonight for smaller explosions over on her show. And Malefic ("Male Fiction"?) is sent to the Phantom Zone . . . except nope, he's still on Earth, because Lena means weapons to show us that she really is dedicated to being a Big Bad.

Well, I don't think James got the Poochy departure, but it was pretty close. "Wait, so my hometown has basically fallen on hard times thanks to The One Percent*? Fuck it, I'm gonna move there to make things right!"

26 minutes ago, mommalib said:

What happened to Mechad on this show is disgusting. When I think about the blatant racism from the fans and the subtle racism from the writers it ticks me off. 

I didn't feel that at all. Is this a view held by factions of the fandom? And was there a part of the viewers that bitched about a black actor being cast in a role usually meant for redheaded Caucasians who can look like schmucks? PM me if you wish to go off-board, @mommalib.

*sigh* And the English a-hole isn't a total a-hole. Which means he and Kara will probably be an item soon. It just seems too obvious. I'd rather hook her up with Comet the Super-Horse at this point.

Speaking of ships . . . you think Nia and Brainy will go to couples' therapy like Barry & Iris did a few years ago? That seem like an entry for some cheap laughs, given that Brainy is an alien. I mean, Nia is half-alien, but Brainy is alien in more sense of the word.

Yay for Kara Quick Changes! I'd like a return of Kara-Fu, where she does Supergirl stuff without the costume.

*Apologies if my apparel was clumsy. It just looked like Calvintown is in a position where shady shit was going on, probably backed by huge sums of money. For all we know, this could be related to Leviathan.

[quarks]

Good things:

1. Nia and Brainy are still adorable.

Also loved Lena's "Well, I'm not going to give you relationship advice," followed immediately by Lena giving relationship advice.

Questionable things:

1. Putting a thin table between her and the camera is doing nothing whatsoever to hide Andrea Brooks' pregnancy, show.

2. How exactly did Lena smuggle Evil Martian from the DEO/Phantom Zone to her lab?

3. Why, why, why are we getting yet another romance between Kara and a boring white guy who started off their relationship by being condescending to her?  

I mean, to be fair, I haven't liked any of the romantic relationships Kara's had on this show yet, which is probably increasing my skepticism here, but so far this one is not looking like a real improvement. Not everything is better with British accents, Supergirl!

Bad things:

1. Everything this show has done with Mechad Brooks, right down to this exit. Both the actor and the character deserved better.

[UNOSEZ]

25 minutes ago, mommalib said:

Yeah I threw Wynonna in the trash as soon as the killed Dolls. And now i'm pretty checked out of Supergirl as well. It's crazy how similar these two situations is.

And what kills is both shows had to know what they were doing.. Making the male lead opposite the hetero female star black... Now I woulda turned into both these shows if they didn't have black leads...and I enjoyed episodes where they weren't the focus...  But them being all out front with it did make me smile..and added expectations And for both of them to pull the bs they did.. Shameful 

[legaleagle53]

14 minutes ago, quarks said:

Why, why, why are we getting yet another romance between Kara and a boring white guy who started off their relationship by being condescending to her?  

Staz Nair (William) isn't a full-blooded Caucasian. He's half-Indian and half-Russian. That's not exotic enough for you?

[mommalib]

6 minutes ago, UNOSEZ said:

And what kills is both shows had to know what they were doing.. Making the male lead opposite the hetero female star black... Now I woulda turned into both these shows if they didn't have black leads...and I enjoyed episodes where they weren't the focus...  But them being all out front with it did make me smile..and added expectations And for both of them to pull the bs they did.. Shameful 

Nothing but fake progression and fake diversity. 

5 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

Staz Nair (William) isn't a full-blooded Caucasian. He's half-Indian and half-Russian. That's not exotic enough for you?

He's a white guy point blank. Or it can be said that he's surely white enough. He ain't black and for a certain segment of the fan base that's good enough.

Edited October 28, 2019 by mommalib

[quarks]

7 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

Staz Nair (William) isn't a full-blooded Caucasian. He's half-Indian and half-Russian. That's not exotic enough for you?

That I didn't know. 

I'll correct this to:

Why, why, why are we getting yet another romance between Kara and a boring guy who started off their relationship by being condescending to her?  Even if he does have an British accent?

[UNOSEZ]

34 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

didn't feel that at all. Is this a view held by factions of the fandom? And was there a part of the viewers that bitched about a black actor being cast in a role usually meant for redheaded Caucasians who can look like schmucks?

I can't speak for anyone else when it comes to the 1st point... But James was a horribly mishandled character after season one... How it happened and was written.. And TV history lead me to believe that the networks succumbed to complaints of "chemistry" that seem to pop up when a black body is encroaching on a space usually reserved for a white one... There were complaints about Mechad as James from the minute he was cast complaints about his body and backstory even tho it was explained as to why this version wasnt the cub reporter dorky kid who went on adventures with supes.. Execs also assumed that the CW audience would prefer any version of Chris wood over what they had.. And that was the end of James... Even now after his last epi which he had to share with William Rey gushing and mooning over Kara.. I still never got the conversation I waited for in every episode of season 2...  Kara and James sitting down.. And Kara explaining what the hell happened with their budding romance that she deaded.. With like no words than fell down the Mon-el hole... God did that make everyone look bad

[UNOSEZ]

16 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

Staz Nair (William) isn't a full-blooded Caucasian. He's half-Indian and half-Russian. That's not exotic enough for you?

Well for the show his name is William Dey... Until i see otherwise my bet is they'll have him as a non-threatning never talk about my roots ethnic person... With a white parent... 

This is the show that gave us floriana Lima playing latina

Gave us all the horrible James stuff... 

Hasn't really committed to the NIA Nal romance 

If it wasn't for David hardwood I wouldn't trust them at all

[BaggythePanther]

This episode was all over the place. There were way to many things happening.

Lena is firmly in villain territory now, but I don’t think she’s irredeemable. Though making a partnership with Malefic won’t lead to anything good. Is Kelly still connected to him? What will happen if Kelly gets a vision and sees that Malefic is in Lena’s lab?

How was Kara able to arrest someone in Mexico and then lock them in a US prison? I know it’s a small detail but it bugged me.

[Chyromaniac]

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

Once again, any scenes that Lena has with other characters where she's being nice to them is utterly ruined with knowing with how evil they're making her.

Before I comment on this, please note that I believe:

A) it was dumb for Lena to never have figured out Kara’s secret on her own, and

B) it’s disappointing that they even feel the need to make her bad at all.

Having said that, I do feel like knowing that she’s “evil” has given her scenes an interesting edge thus far.  It’s fun to analyze Katie’s performance looking for clues and tells- and so far I think she’s doing an excellent job of not giving It away with the heroes, then switching on a dime for sinister mode.

[Jediknight]

Not buying what William was selling.  Dude's working for Leviathan.

Also not buying that this is all Lena.  Hope is controlling her somehow, I do think the conversation with Brainy was the real Lena coming through.  But I'm just not buying that this is Lena pulling all the strings.

[Trini]

I'll miss Mehcad on the show, but I hope he gets other roles where his characters are treated better. I thought it was a good exit; what was bad was that it happened all in one episode, and almost all in one day. Also, I thought we would have had more episodes with Mehcad.

I'm glad that Harewood/J'onn has material to work with this season. The J'onn/Malefic is the subplot I like the most so far.

I'm sure the other villains are worse than Lena, but right now, she's still firmly in 'bad guy' territory, and I hate it.

Did we even get a name for the airbending assassin??

Even with the 'j/k! I'm not really a jerk!' reveal, I'm still not feeling this William Dey character. I can see them trying a romance with him and Kara, but I don't think they will move as fast as Kara/Mon-El did. -- But I can also see them not making it a romance; these writers seem to change their minds on a dime when it comes to characters' love lives.

Edited October 28, 2019 by Trini

[thuganomics85]

That really is James' exit?  The idea of him going back to his hometown, seeing corruption, and wanting to fix it isn't a bad idea, but I thought they were going to build up to it.  Instead, after it feeling like he was literally thinking of being a senator just a few minutes ago, he's all "Whelp, bye, guys!  Off to play publisher at a small time newspaper!  Don't even have time for hugs and slo-mo good-byes!  Just one toast that is really more about how awesome Kara is!  Peace!"  Damn, that is cold!  I know the show always struggled with the character, but I've always liked Mehcad Brooks and I wished he got a better send-off than this.  Granted, this ending does carry with it a sense of a possible return down the line, but I would be surprised if he'd ever want to come back, frankly.

Anyway, the rest of the episode was alright.  Malefic sure knew how to get into J'onn's head by controlling Alex and really going for the jugular.  Dave Harewood was in fine form here.  Looks like Malefic is taken of the board at least, but well, it certainly doesn't seem permanent.

Because, yep, good old Lena Luthor secretly rigged the device to actually transport him to her cell, and she is now approaching him about a possible alliance.  At least one can safely say that she isn't like her brother, because no way Lex would have worked alongside an alien!

But, hey, she did help Brainy with his relationship problem by convincing him to reach out for Nia for help!  I'd like to believe that it wasn't all just for her benefit, and the non-vengeful Lena is still in there.

So, the smug asshole persona from William was really an "act", and he is actually trying to bring down Angela from within.  Still doesn't make him interesting, but I'm sure he'll still end up being a love interest for Kara.

[UNOSEZ]

I don't get why they made William "Soooooo Sad" about his behavior  if all he is saying is true than he was doing a good thing.. But his whole "good guy" reveal felt off.. Its not like he was Kara's secret lover and he was undercover as her tormentor or something... He was just A lot... Maybe the show won't go there I hope not... But James' ghost is off saving a small newspaper... Brainy is a hard reset away from caring about anyone other than Nia... And I doubt the show will go there with Lena... A season and change is a long time for a lead to not have some kind of romance on a show like this... 

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, UNOSEZ said:

I don't get why they made William "Soooooo Sad" about his behavior  if all he is saying is true than he was doing a good thing.. But his whole "good guy" reveal felt off.. Its not like he was Kara's secret lover and he was undercover as her tormentor or something... He was just A lot... Maybe the show won't go there I hope not... But James' ghost is off saving a small newspaper... Brainy is a hard reset away from caring about anyone other than Nia... And I doubt the show will go there with Lena... A season and change is a long time for a lead to not have some kind of romance on a show like this... 

That's why I feel like William was coming off as fake in that scene. It was probably overdramatic WITH the cliche writing that didn't make it work in any way. 

"I felt sooooooo bad Kara. But you're AWESOME. I felt SO BAD when I had to call your writing shit."

Mmmhmm. Not buying it, but now I'm not sure if it was just the actor or if it was more the writing and directing in that scene. I don't think the actor is bad, but I don't think I buy him being a good guy, even though I think he actually is supposed to be.

[Starry]

Not a bad exit for James. I wish they didn't rush through it though. They knew Mehcad was leaving so why didn't they give him a four episodes storyline leading up to this? I guess this is a rhetorical question.

The kid getting upset at James for not staying after he hooked him up with a good lawyer was a forced plot point.

A huge prison being what stands out the most about the hometown and James not knowing anything about it beforehand was forced as well.

Sudden exit or not, I guess this is better than dropping dead during Crisis.

I am glad Kelly didn't disappear off screen.

For a moment there I feared Lena had used her tech on Brainy.

The Kara/Nia team-up was good. It's nice that they got some scenes together. I am also relieved that William was faking it. I am not shipping him and Kara but these writers can't write a good enemies to lovers romance to save their lives. I'd rather William be a good guy in disguise than a jerk Kara may find herself attracted to despite his crappy behavior.

8 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

Well for the show his name is William Dey... Until i see otherwise my bet is they'll have him as a non-threatning never talk about my roots ethnic person... With a white parent...

This is the show that gave us floriana Lima playing latina

The actor is mixed and looks mixed to me. Unless they make the huge mistake of giving William two white parents like they did with Lana on Smallville it'll be hard for me to view him as white whether he talks about his ethnic roots or not. But I am sure many people will find him more "palatable" as a love interest than James because of the antiblack racism that puts black people at the bottom of the totem pole and that's a problem.

The issue with Floriana Lima is that they had a white actress play a Latina character whose ethnic roots were made a part of the narrative. That was insulting and the biggest reason why I am not mad Maggie isn't on the show anymore.

[UNOSEZ]

11 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

That's why I feel like William was coming off as fake in that scene. It was probably overdramatic WITH the cliche writing that didn't make it work in any way. 

"I felt sooooooo bad Kara. But you're AWESOME. I felt SO BAD when I had to call your writing shit."

Mmmhmm. Not buying it, but now I'm not sure if it was just the actor or if it was more the writing and directing in that scene. I don't think the actor is bad, but I don't think I buy him being a good guy, even though I think he actually is supposed to be.

Whether it was Bad writing.. Bad direction.. Bad acting... Him overcompenasating to hide something else... I get the feeling the show expects us to see him give the mea culpa.. And be all good... And I for one just walked away even more weirded out by the guy... I'd prefer if he was a bit of an asshole.. But didn't hate Kara as much as he put on... I know none of us really wanted a rehashed jerk becomes a real boy thanks to Kara and her super sunny disposition.. But I'd take a version of that over whatever William " non-threatning ethnic" Dey is selling

[UNOSEZ]

3 minutes ago, Starry said:

The issue with Floriana Lima is that they had a white actress play a Latina character whose ethnic roots were made a part of the narrative. That was insulting and the biggest reason why I am not mad Maggie isn't on the show anymore.

Yeah not sure what the calculus was on that... And its not like they weren't aware.. Its the reason she never called herself a latina on the show.. Just some off hand comment about being... I wanna say she said brown.. But I can't remember totally she was talking to Alex about being the one non- white kid... Either way... Real icky.. Then they compunded it by having Carlos Bernard Papierski be her dad.. And he's Spanish ( from Spain)  and polish... And they had him playing a vaguely central American who was concerned about walls and what not... What a mess that was... But Kelly Brainy and J'onn are great..So is Nia... So win some lose some?  

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎10‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 3:40 PM, Trini said:

SAYING GOODBYE IS HARD TO DO - Kara's investigation into William Dey's (Staz Nair) "criminal" activities results in the shocking revelation he is not who she thinks. Meanwhile, the conflict between Malefic and J'onn J'onzz reaches a boiling point.

Welllp, it started bad when the writers demonstrated they do not know the meaning of the word "incept" and things got worse from there. I'm surprised to hear that lame Jimmy Olson plot about the crooked prison was a sendoff to the actor and not a story arc that would just happen to tie in to whatever is going on this season at the season "finally". Wait, didn't the Catco exclusivity contract forbid employees who quit from doing anything journalism related? They certainly threw the book of Ye Olde Tyred Storytelling Tropes at the wall this time, did they not?

12 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

And Malefic ("Male Fiction"?)

No, it means something in Latin like "evil work" (mal + fic).

[Trini]

3 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Mmmhmm. Not buying it, but now I'm not sure if it was just the actor or if it was more the writing and directing in that scene. I don't think the actor is bad, but I don't think I buy him being a good guy, even though I think he actually is supposed to be.

For me it was the writing - clunky.
 

3 hours ago, Starry said:

Not a bad exit for James. I wish they didn't rush through it though. They knew Mehcad was leaving so why didn't they give him a four episodes storyline leading up to this? I guess this is a rhetorical question.

...

Sudden exit or not, I guess this is better than dropping dead during Crisis.

I'm just sayin' - there have been way worse exits for characters who have been around for seasons in these DC shows, so I didn't think this was bad. Not great, but not bad.

[cdnalor]

I assume the kid's name being Simon Kirby was an Easter egg referring to Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, longtime collaborators in the comics field.  Also Jack Kirby worked on the Jimmy Olsen comic book in the late sixties, so that's a sendoff for James, I guess.

Speaking of names, what a coincidence that an evil Martian is named Malefic instead of following the same naming convention as his brother J'onn J'onzz.  It's almost like naming your daughter Krystal or Mercedes and then having her grow up to be a stripper.  Nice parenting, M'yrnn.

[Ubiquitous]

41 minutes ago, cdnalor said:

Speaking of names, what a coincidence that an evil Martian is named Malefic instead of following the same naming convention as his brother J'onn J'onzz.  It's almost like naming your daughter Krystal or Mercedes and then having her grow up to be a stripper.  Nice parenting, M'yrnn.

Isn't the witch in Sleeping Beauty's name Maleficent?

[BaggythePanther]

4 hours ago, cdnalor said:

Speaking of names, what a coincidence that an evil Martian is named Malefic instead of following the same naming convention as his brother J'onn J'onzz.  It's almost like naming your daughter Krystal or Mercedes and then having her grow up to be a stripper.  Nice parenting, M'yrnn.

To be fair, in the comics his name is Ma'alefa'ak, which sounds a little less evil.

9 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

Whether it was Bad writing.. Bad direction.. Bad acting... Him overcompenasating to hide something else... I get the feeling the show expects us to see him give the mea culpa.. And be all good... And I for one just walked away even more weirded out by the guy... I'd prefer if he was a bit of an asshole.. But didn't hate Kara as much as he put on... I know none of us really wanted a rehashed jerk becomes a real boy thanks to Kara and her super sunny disposition.. But I'd take a version of that over whatever William " non-threatning ethnic" Dey is selling

I don’t know if the show expects us to buy it yet. Kara still seemed a little suspicious William. What I don’t understand is why William found it necessary to pretend to have a wife. He’s a famous journalist, one quick Google search would show that he was lying.

[Trini]

I guess the writers thought that McGrath needed another actor to play off of? - because I don't really see the point of bringing back Eve, and then literally turning her into another character.

[RobertDeSneero]

19 hours ago, Starry said:

Not a bad exit for James. I wish they didn't rush through it though. They knew Mehcad was leaving so why didn't they give him a four episodes storyline leading up to this? I guess this is a rhetorical question.

This show tends to not drag things out.  James having a quick exit comes from the same place as Nia/Brainy not being apart for multiple episodes.

1 hour ago, Trini said:

I guess the writers thought that McGrath needed another actor to play off of? - because I don't really see the point of bringing back Eve, and then literally turning her into another character.

Maybe they just really like the actress and wanted to keep her around.

[MarkHB]

18 hours ago, cdnalor said:

I assume the kid's name being Simon Kirby was an Easter egg referring to Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, longtime collaborators in the comics field.  Also Jack Kirby worked on the Jimmy Olsen comic book in the late sixties, so that's a sendoff for James, I guess.

True story: when Kirby moved over to DC from Marvel, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen was about to be cancelled.  Kirby asked if he could take over that book as he didn't want to push anyone else out of a job. In #134, he then gave us the first appearance of Darkseid.

[Josh371982]

On 10/27/2019 at 10:20 PM, statsgirl said:

Did the writers open a box of cliches for this episode? Because, wow.  "Malefic isn't the villain here, J'onn. You are."  "I'm just glad somebody made it out of this town. And I'm glad it was you." "I've lived on Earth for over 300 years and I've never really found true peace. And I believe it's because of what I did to you. (And all the rest of that speech)" "The roof, if it collapses, then everyone in here is going to die."

I hate how Alix becomes an emotional mess whenever she gets into a relationship. Another cliche.

Lena's lipstick game was beautifully on point. Good move if she's going to become a villain.

Tamaranean technology! Starfire!

Cue the start of Kara's new live interest.

That's it? James is gone, and in the most cliche way.

With Mechad gone, the regular cast is now six women (including Eve) to two men, excluding the cast in for just this season). Not a good ratio.

I think Kara's new Mon-El, William is a regular as well. I say new Mon-EL cause it's the same trope how they met. Its very tiring and I hate that trope 

[Josh371982]

On 10/27/2019 at 11:43 PM, quarks said:

That I didn't know. 

I'll correct this to:

Why, why, why are we getting yet another romance between Kara and a boring guy who started off their relationship by being condescending to her?  Even if he does have an British accent?

Cause the Writers are lazy ? 

[Rushmoras]

IMO, it's not even laziness, it's something else. I for one, when I hear the words super-hero show, I do not associate it with soap-opera, but rather with action sequences and what is left could be dedicated to inter-personal relationships. However, in this case, for some odd reason, they chose to turn-around it and give priority (or at least a second place) to soap-opera stuff. Granted, this season has a bit more action, but... What I mean is, if I wanted to see who gets with who, I tune in a Mexican soap-opera.

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 10/28/2019 at 11:01 AM, Ubiquitous said:

 Wait, didn't the Catco exclusivity contract forbid employees who quit from doing anything journalism related?

Jimmy claimed that the contract could keep him from working for a newspaper, but it couldn't keep him from publishing one. 

[tennisgurl]

"I have to go, my hometown needs me." -Jimmy, apparently. What a sad way to get rid of a long time character, it all seemed so sudden. One minute he is running a media empire and being a part time superhero, the next...its a journalistic version of Roadhouse? And no real big ending either, no hugs or talking about how great James is, it was HIM telling everyone that they dont need him and never did (which meta wise is sadly hilarious considering how this show has never known what to do with him) and one toast. This could have worked if they built it up over a few episodes or gave him a real exit arc, this just seemed so random. But, at least he got a happy ending and didnt get killed off or something at least. And the "Its Jimmy" line was good. Farewell Mehcad. Hopefully your next project appreciates you more. 

[Rushmoras]

But Kara's ego should be really inflated by now, I mean, almost every male that she interacts with is worshipping the ground under her. Just saying... Was surprised that William did not profess his undying love to her in his speech at the end. Talk about South American soap-opera stuff... Jeesh...

Edited October 30, 2019 by Rushmoras

[cdnalor]

11 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

But, at least he got a happy ending

Um, phrasing?

[cdnalor]

23 hours ago, Rushmoras said:

IMO, it's not even laziness, it's something else. I for one, when I hear the words super-hero show, I do not associate it with soap-opera, but rather with action sequences and what is left could be dedicated to inter-personal relationships. However, in this case, for some odd reason, they chose to turn-around it and give priority (or at least a second place) to soap-opera stuff. Granted, this season has a bit more action, but... What I mean is, if I wanted to see who gets with who, I tune in a Mexican soap-opera.

I feel this is the problem with all the CW superhero shows.  I suppose it's easier on the production budget to simply put two characters in a room and have them talk about their feelings for five or ten minutes and then call that character development, but as you say, it comes off rather soapy.  Old series like Wonder Woman and The Incredible Hulk had more action and emphasis on plot but were too formulaic (Banner comes to a new town, finds a problem, Hulks out, problem solved, hits the road again.)  I suppose we've simply gone from one extreme to the other.

[tennisgurl]

Brainy and Lena are a lot of fun together, but all of the interactions we have with Lena are now colored by the fact that she is lying to everyone and doing all of this sketchy stuff in the background. 

So reporter guy isnt actually a jerk, he is actually an awesome nice reporter guy! We can tell he is on the up and up because he thinks Kara is the best writer of the decade, and he cant compare at all to her prose with his two measly Pulitzers! I mean, if it was me I would suspect that he was just playing to Kara's ego and was still sketchy, but this is probably all on the level. Still not an interesting character, but at least it isnt exactly Mon-El part two. 

Glad that Nia and Brainy are alright again, they're too cute to be broken up!

 J'onn is still messed up over his brother, but I am glad that he at least told Alex what really happened. I mean, his brother has clearly gone full darkside and rejected J'onns olive branch, but I do think that  J'onn and his dad really screwed up with him. 

Edited October 30, 2019 by tennisgurl

[iMonrey]

I liked Mehcan Brooks but I won't miss James. They never really seemed to know what to do with him beyond the first season, and even then they took too many liberties with the character. Part of the problem is that "Jimmy Olsen" was just never meant to be a lead character so the show tried to "re-imagine" him as another type of character. I don't see the point in that, why not just create a new character? You're screwing with the source material when you do that.

Plus the whole Guardian thing was always stupid to me. James deciding he needed to be a superhero because . . . he felt left out or something. That's when the character really jumped the shark for me, and the whole Guardian arc was half-assed at best, especially towards the end, without Winn at the controls. 

Speaking of which, didn't I read somewhere that Winn is coming back this season? Or did I just imagine that?

Quote

Also not buying that this is all Lena.  Hope is controlling her somehow, I do think the conversation with Brainy was the real Lena coming through.  But I'm just not buying that this is Lena pulling all the strings.

I'm sure it depends on their long-term plans for the character and whether or not they plan to "redeem" her, but I was thinking it could turn out she was "infected" by Lex somehow. He did have her tied up there for awhile.

Quote

Not buying it, but now I'm not sure if it was just the actor or if it was more the writing and directing in that scene. I don't think the actor is bad, but I don't think I buy him being a good guy, even though I think he actually is supposed to be.

Yeah, there's something about the actor's looks that just scream "villain." Sorry, but not every actor can play every role. 

[legaleagle53]

On 10/29/2019 at 12:06 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

Jimmy claimed that the contract could keep him from working for a newspaper, but it couldn't keep him from publishing one. 

And even if it did, no court would ever enforce it because (1) there is no contract where there's been no meeting of the minds -- you can't enforce a contract that the other party was never aware even existed -- and (2) a non-compete clause that is that vague and overbroad (three years of no working in ANY journalism-related job anywhere in the country?) would be considered unreasonable in scope and therefore completely voidable.

[MarkHB]

6 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

And even if it did, no court would ever enforce it because (1) there is no contract where there's been no meeting of the minds -- you can't enforce a contract that the other party was never aware even existed -- and (2) a non-compete clause that is that vague and overbroad (three years of no working in ANY journalism-related job anywhere in the country?) would be considered unreasonable in scope and therefore completely voidable.

Supergirl Radio came to the same conclusion. My thought at the time was that the Catco employees had the world's worst union.

[ruby24]

Not enjoying this season much. This William Day guy is an obvious love interest for Kara and he's SO bland and boring. I don't know why they have such a hard time giving her a decent love interest.

I'm not interested in the stuff with Jonn's brother. I don't care at ALL about Brainy and Nia. Ditto for Alex and Kelly.

The only thing I like is the possibility of Lena finally going evil, but I'm still not sure whether to trust that that's actually going to happen with this show, or if it's just a storyline that's going to last til February and then not go through with it (instead it becomes about the evil AI or something).

[JoyGirl]

On 10/31/2019 at 2:55 PM, ruby24 said:

Not enjoying this season much. This William Day guy is an obvious love interest for Kara and he's SO bland and boring. I don't know why they have such a hard time giving her a decent love interest.

Because the show insists every guy has to put Kara/Supergirl on a pedestal and do nothing but praise and adore her.  

[Trini]

2 hours ago, JoyGirl said:

Because the show insists every guy has to put Kara/Supergirl on a pedestal and do nothing but praise and adore her.  

I don't think this is really true, but even then, sounds like typical love interest behavior; and not just for this show.

But I'm still 50/50 on William actually becoming a love interest for Kara. Just because this show has a history of changing their minds when it comes to this subject. Plus they seem to want to focus on Kara/Lena right now.