S06.E04: Lost Souls

[scarynikki12]

Quote

Supergirl finds an opportunity to escape from the Phantom Zone but it comes with some dangerous strings attached.

 

 

[cambridgeguy]

Maybe Alex or Lena should have had the bright idea to record Kara's last message if they're that broken up about losing it forever?  It's not an interactive hologram so it's not like they're losing something critical by making a copy on their phones

[thuganomics85]

Oh, Brainy!  He now learns about the concept that is stress eating/eating your feelings away.  For an alien android, he certainly can be one of the most human and relatable characters at times!  But I'm glad it was really more about him opening up to Nia more, and I'm glad both of them seem to be growing closer again.  I believe in you two!

Sheesh, in a mere two episodes, Nxylgsptinz already goes from ally to turncoat in a flash (sorry!)  And, from what I can tell, it's because she thought Zor-El sending Kara to Earth was just as bad as her own father casting her out?  That doesn't make much sense to me, so is she simply just crazy?  Maybe there was more to her story and her father actually did have good reason to do what he did.  Or is this all just the Phantom Zone making her go nuts?

At least Team Supergirl (sans Supergirl) managed to defeat the Phantoms and even freed the recent prisoners (yay, Silas!)  Good interaction as always (especially Lena and Brainy geeking out over the Ghostbusters-like weapon.  They're really BFFs now!), but the highlight for me was definitely getting more Alex/Lena scenes.  While part of me still thinks that Alex maybe a bit too forgiving of Lena's past deeds, I can see why they would bond over their current predicament, and why Alex would be the one to make Lena realize that she can't cling to the past and has to look to the future to really find redemption.  And while Lena was selfish to put her own feelings for Kara over the safety of thousands, it was still a human moment and I can understand it (especially since she feels responsible for Lex being able to one-up them.)  Chyler Leigh and Katie McGrath were great together.

Should have known M'gann wouldn't be fully out the woods after what happened last week, but I'm glad it seems over now.  Hope she and J'onn make it as well.

Can honestly say that I didn't really miss Lex.

So, according to next week's previews: 

Spoiler

it's this show's turn to do some time-traveling!  And it will hopefully put Brainy and Nia front and center.  I approve!

 

[Pepper the Cat]

So there is no brush/comb in Kata’s home that will provide her DNA? Or maybe a sweep of her home?
 

[DanaK]

Last episode I wondered if Nxly was faking her niceness, and boy was she. Either that, or the Zone was affecting her mind

Pretty fun episode, especially with Brainy’s zany eating and quips. I fully expected he wouldn't know how to use the Ghostbusters gun but I guess he’s smart enough

[rtms77]

So does this mean Zor El is dead? Or did he leave the building before the explosion? 

I swear Lena is more of wreak than Brainy, but at least he has Nia Who is helping Lena? And where is Kelly in all this? 
one good thing we haven’t had any dumb Catco scenes with Will and Andrea. The super friends are down as it is.

Ya another Midvale ep!

Edited April 22, 2021 by rtms77

[vibeology]

10 hours ago, Pepper the Cat said:

So there is no brush/comb in Kata’s home that will provide her DNA? Or maybe a sweep of her home?

Maybe part of her powers is that she never has any hair fall? Still, a toothbrush? A pillowcase with drool? It's just strange to me that between Lena and Brainy they haven't thought of this or explained it away? 

This was an okay episode. I'm glad they defeated the Phantoms but there was never really any doubt. And I figured either her dad or Nxly was messing with their progress. I actually figured Zor El for it so I guess it was a bit of a surprise. I was relieved not to have Lex or Lillian in this episode. Those are characters I am very much over.

I actually don't know what I want from this show at this point. For me it's just fine. But I have no idea what would make it better.

[cambridgeguy]

11 hours ago, rtms77 said:

So does this mean Zor El is dead? Or did he leave the building before the explosion? 

He's probably still alive but killing him off screen would fit the oddness of his entire arc.  Kara has treated finding her long lost dad as if she ran into an old acquaintance.

Speaking of the Els, her mom designed one slow self destruct if Kara can start running at the end of the countdown and still get clear before the building blows up

Edited April 21, 2021 by cambridgeguy

[Chicago Redshirt]

Yeah, it seems weird that Our Heroes can't think of anywhere to get actual Kara DNA given they have access to her home, the Tower, the Fortress of Solitude. I forget what has happened with the DEO in the current continuity, but presumably they could get actual DNA from various treatment of her over the years when she was depowered or weakened by Kryptonite. 

And at the same time "digital DNA" apparently counts. 

I don't like that this many years into things, J'onn, Brainy, and Lena all need pep talks about things that should be relatively obvious. But as long as people are going to be talking through their trauma, maybe it would have been a good idea to have the character who is a psychiatrist by training help people work through their grief and loss. 

[shantown]

 Did they seriously make J'onn do a little speech about the ghouls just to shoehorn in the phrase “a global pandemic”?? The writing on this show is so PAINFUL sometimes.
 

1 hour ago, cambridgeguy said:

He's probably still alive but killing him off screen would fit the oddness of his entire arc.  Kara has treated finding her long lost dad as if she ran into an old acquaintance.

I'm still baffled at how they take what should be these really huge, emotional, life-changing arcs for Kara (your mom is still alive! your whole planet is still alive! your dad is still alive!) and then have Kara reacting with the emotional equivalent to finding out there was still some leftover spaghetti in the fridge from last week. So hum-drum! Everything about this storyline was off.
 

3 hours ago, vibeology said:

I actually don't know what I want from this show at this point. For me it's just fine. But I have no idea what would make it better.

I'm kind of at a loss as to what would make it better at this point too - is the writing really that bad, or can the actors just not sell it, or are things just edited weirdly? It's always been overly preachy, but there were some solid relationships that you invested in. Everyone just seems very thrown together at this point - perhaps because everyone is always in supersuit mode in the super tower? There's just nothing really grounding the show anymore or connecting it to humans. I did appreciate Lena and Brainy's sibling-like bickering though!

[angora]

While J'onn comparing the Phantom propagation to a global pandemic was quite the "oof" line, Brainy stress/comfort-eating was totally quarantine-relatable to me. Again, I love that we're actually, finally dealing with what it's like for him to have the inhibitors off now that the aggravating "working with Lex in secret" plot is out of the way. So glad that Nia was there for him and that he in turn was there for her. I'm also happy that Nia was able to make the connection with her Midvale dreams, and next week seems like it'll be a blast, but I do hope that this frustration with interpreting her dreams will eventually lead her back home to reconnect with her sister (Maeve still needs to apologize for those awful things she said when she found out Nia had the dreams.)

Really liked Lena working at the Tower in an official capacity. Brainy's excitement to have her there was too funny/cute, and the scenes between her and Alex are great. I don't know if I fully buy Alex being completely on Team Lena at this point (I would more easily believe "we're all still in crisis mode, so let's table past betrayals for now,") but I loved the confrontation between them over whether to use the sensing device for Kara vs. the Phantoms, and that last scene between them on the balcony was lovely.

Well, didn't take long for Nxly to show her true colors then. I was figuring she'd been at least a little unhinged, but I was hoping we'd get a more gradual rollout on that. So far, she seems more bitter and projecting her issues onto other people than outright EVOL!!!, which I like, and it's interesting to me that she seemed to think she was helping Kara by hobbling Zor-El (man, Kara does not have good luck with 5th-dimensional imps taking a shine to her.) I loved Kara smashing the mirror when she realized she wouldn't be able to hurt Nxly - lovely parallel with Alex's decision to follow the sensing device to the Phantom's lair. Even in different dimensions, the Danvers sisters are holding it down!

There was something really weird about the whole scene where Kara hears Zor-El shout that he's found the mirror and then comes to find him injured. It so clearly telegraphed "NOT ALL IS AS IT SEEMS HERE!", but in a way that felt odd and underwritten. Super clunky.

[tennisgurl]

I suspected that Nxylgsptinz would turn on Kara eventually, but I didn't think she would go all supervillain on us so fast. Those Fifth Dimensional beings, never a dull moment! She has either really lost it in the Phantom Zone or she is just majorly projecting her own issues with her dad onto Kara, doing her the "favor" of trying to throw her dad away. What Kara's parents did was to save her life, not exile her for selfish reasons, I guess she just "forgot" that little part. 

I am assuming that Kara's dad is still alive, but given how weirdly chill Kara has been about finding her father who she thought was dead, maybe he did die and I just missed his death and her reaction? This show really needs to do more to make these big moments seem appropriately big, its like when Argo was discovered and Kara found her mom, it all just felt so ho hum normal and not the huge life changing revelation for Kara that it should have been. Her finding her dad should feel a much bigger deal. 

Kara and Alex both choosing to give up escape/saving Kara to save more lives was a great parallel, Alex was right that Kara would never want her being saved to come at the expense of others. So while Kara might be stuck in the Phantom Zone still, the team did at least get one win by saving everyone who had been turned into Phantoms, including Silas (yay!) so that's a win for them at least. They really needed that win, everyone is struggling so much with Kara gone. I am glad that Nia and Brainy are getting close again, they're scenes are always so cute and him stress eating is a very relatable way to deal with those brand new emotions. Plus Lena and Brainy continue to be one of my favorite teams on the show. "The perfect movie." 

Sometimes I think everyone is being too forgiving of Lena, but its clear that she really is terribly sorry about her mistakes and wants to make amends, and were all so hurt by everything that happened with her, I cant blame them for being so willing to accept her into the fold. I am fine with it because I hated Lena being evil and am just ready to move past that story, and I especially missed her scenes with Alex, and we got a nice one with them here. Lena wanting to put Kara over so many other lives was a selfish but human moment and it led to her reflecting more about herself and how she wants to be a hero, and I appreciate how much time Lena has spent really thinking about herself and is trying to see ways she can be better. 

Ooooph that pandemic line, that was painfully bad. For a second I had the horrible thought that we would get a whole mini arc where the Phantoms are a very on the nose metaphor for COVID, but thank God it was just a terrible line and not a terrible plot. 

[MarkHB]

I was just thinking that if Alura "built" the Phantom Zone, she must have left a key under the mat somewhere.... and I had also thought that Nyxly wasn't as good as she was making out!

Glad to see Kara get to be Kara for a bit, and glad to not see Lex!

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, shantown said:

 Did they seriously make J'onn do a little speech about the ghouls just to shoehorn in the phrase “a global pandemic”?? The writing on this show is so PAINFUL sometimes.
 

I'm still baffled at how they take what should be these really huge, emotional, life-changing arcs for Kara (your mom is still alive! your whole planet is still alive! your dad is still alive!) and then have Kara reacting with the emotional equivalent to finding out there was still some leftover spaghetti in the fridge from last week. So hum-drum! Everything about this storyline was off.
 

I'm kind of at a loss as to what would make it better at this point too - is the writing really that bad, or can the actors just not sell it, or are things just edited weirdly? It's always been overly preachy, but there were some solid relationships that you invested in. Everyone just seems very thrown together at this point - perhaps because everyone is always in supersuit mode in the super tower? There's just nothing really grounding the show anymore or connecting it to humans. I did appreciate Lena and Brainy's sibling-like bickering though!

Yeah, Kara should be able to muster the enthusiasm for finding her father that she does for being able to get a dumplings feast!

It seems to me that all the Arrowverse shows except for Superman & Lois and maybe Batwoman seem tired. Maybe that's partially the pandemic, maybe it's just that the rest have had their run, maybe it's me as a viewer. But it feels particularly acute with Supergirl that the actors and writers seem to be playing out the string more than anything else. 

I assume things are already in the can at this point and not much can be done to change course.

But a quick rundown of what I see as the problems with the present status quo:

1. Having Kara separated from everyone else is a bad idea. The show's strength has always been the relationships Kara has with J'onn, Alex and the rest of the cast. Now we're deprived of that. We're also deprived of her doing Supergirl things by virtue of this extended Phantom Zone plot

2. Too many characters to try to service. Back in the day, it was about Kara/Alex/Jimmy/Winn/J'onn with Cat drivebys. Now it's Kara/Alex/J'onn/Brainy/Dreamer/M'Gann/Kelly with a side of Andrea/William. I'm sorry but I don't care all that much about J'onn/M'Gann's romance, Brainy/Nia or Alex/Kelly.

3. The show is in dire need of a better caliber of villain. Lex is past his expiration date. The Phantoms aren't particularly scary or interesting or fun to watch. Nxy could maybe get the job done, but right now it's one-sided since she has powers and Kara doesn't. Maybe she gets Kara back to Earth soon and then a powered Supergirl can fight her? 

[Oreo2234]

Quote

1. Having Kara separated from everyone else is a bad idea. The show's strength has always been the relationships Kara has with J'onn, Alex and the rest of the cast. Now we're deprived of that. We're also deprived of her doing Supergirl things by virtue of this extended Phantom Zone plot

I think they had to separate Kara from the rest of the cast because

Spoiler

Melissa Benoist was not on set for the filming of the 5 episodes after the premiere (which used at least some footage from what would've been last season's the finale) so all the Superfriends scenes had to be filmed without her. 

Quote

Too many characters to try to service. Back in the day, it was about Kara/Alex/Jimmy/Winn/J'onn with Cat drivebys. Now it's Kara/Alex/J'onn/Brainy/Dreamer/M'Gann/Kelly with a side of Andrea/William. I'm sorry but I don't care all that much about J'onn/M'Gann's romance, Brainy/Nia or Alex/Kelly.

The cast has gotten too big. I think they should have made Andrea a recurring character and William should have been written out. I would like the final season to center around the characters who have been here multiple seasons, especially Kara, Alex and J'onn. 

Edited April 21, 2021 by Oreo2234

[rlc]

Seriously, though. What did Chyler Leigh do to piss off the makeup team? 

Edited April 22, 2021 by rlc

[rtms77]

9 hours ago, shantown said:

I'm kind of at a loss as to what would make it better at this point too - is the writing really that bad, or can the actors just not sell it, or are things just edited weirdly? It's always been overly preachy, but there were some solid relationships that you invested in. Everyone just seems very thrown together at this point - perhaps because everyone is always in supersuit mode in the super tower? There's just nothing really grounding the show anymore or connecting it to humans. I did appreciate Lena and Brainy's sibling-like bickering though!

Combination of all three I think. Plus I think everyone is just burned out on this show. No wonder Melissa called it quits, it can be syndicated, she and the cast can sit back at make money, and she can focus on family. This arc is really displaying the need for major counseling for every character. These woke people are completely dysfunctional. 

Edited April 22, 2021 by rtms77

[Rushmoras]

They can harness DNA from holograms now... Well, if that's the case, I don't understand how can they have such trouble bringing Kara back from the Zone. Just whip-up some magic science from your ass!

[opus]

On 4/20/2021 at 11:27 PM, Pepper the Cat said:

So there is no brush/comb in Kata’s home that will provide her DNA? Or maybe a sweep of her home?
 

Too complicated. Simpler to just go back in time.

[legaleagle53]

On 4/20/2021 at 8:27 PM, Pepper the Cat said:

So there is no brush/comb in Kata’s home that will provide her DNA? Or maybe a sweep of her home?
 

Kara's hair is as indestructible as she is. The only way you could get a hair sample off her would be if she cut it for you using either her heat vision or her fingernails. She'd never leave a sample on a comb or a brush because it could never break off on its own.

[immortalfrieza]

On 4/20/2021 at 10:19 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Sheesh, in a mere two episodes, Nxylgsptinz already goes from ally to turncoat in a flash (sorry!)

Cisco: "Barry, I think there's a source of immense heat in the room. It's... localized around your head?"
Barry: "Well, my ears are burning."

Quote

Maybe there was more to her story and her father actually did have good reason to do what he did.

From the moment she told her story I fully expected that Nxy was actually the insane paranoid one and the king banished her because she was a raging psychopath. This seems to have confirmed it.

On 4/21/2021 at 4:05 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

It seems to me that all the Arrowverse shows except for Superman & Lois and maybe Batwoman seem tired. Maybe that's partially the pandemic, maybe it's just that the rest have had their run, maybe it's me as a viewer. But it feels particularly acute with Supergirl that the actors and writers seem to be playing out the string more than anything else.

Considering that this is Supergirl's last season it's no surprise. It's clear that in Supergirl especially nobody involved gives a crap about anything other than grabbing their last paychecks and it shows, both in the performances of the actors and the quality of the writing. COVID probably doesn't help, but really I doubt it would be any different without it.

[Avabelle]

On 4/21/2021 at 7:01 PM, shantown said:

is the writing really that bad, or can the actors just not sell it, or are things just edited weirdly

I think it’s a mixture of everything. For a last season this is just awful. The writing has always been cringey but the actors could usually sell it. This season everyone looks a mixture of embarrassed and bored. I get they’re all tired but this was a standard six season show. It’s not like it went on for years and years.

[Maelstrom]

On 4/23/2021 at 10:10 PM, legaleagle53 said:

Kara's hair is as indestructible as she is. The only way you could get a hair sample off her would be if she cut it for you using either her heat vision or her fingernails. She'd never leave a sample on a comb or a brush because it could never break off on its own.

Solid point, but I have to wonder how she got those ill-advised bangs - SuperScissors?

[legaleagle53]

25 minutes ago, Maelstrom said:

Solid point, but I have to wonder how she got those ill-advised bangs - SuperScissors?

Heat vision and a mirror. It's also how Superman shaves.