S06.E07: Fear Knot

[scarynikki12]

Quote

As the Super Friends brave the Phantom Zone to bring Supergirl home, each member of the team is confronted by visions of their worst fear.

 

 

[Jediknight]

"I may not be able to fight you, but I can protect them."

Freaking badass, Kelly.  That was pure badass.  At that moment, she knows she has to take up her brother's mantle.

Notice that Nia was the only one that didn't defeat her nightmare.  Everybody else confronted their fears, except Nia.  She's still gotta get closure.

Who knew Brainy is afraid of balloons?  It was even funnier for me, because the other day I rewatched the SNL Science Room skit with Adam Driver in it.

Kara's back with her family, yes!  We have to wait 3 months for new episodes, no!

[Lantern7]

Hardcore episode involving Team Supergirl's deepest fears. Also, balloons, because Brainy can compartmentalize his anxieties, and falling sacks of rubber simulate his frustrations.

Once I got used to the "Ten Minutes Earlier" gimmick for each act, things fell into place. The fears came off as valid for those characters. And now, us fans have to go through our fear of waiting three months for the last batch of episodes. I know Superman & Lois isn't disappointing, but I'dlike closure now.

[thuganomics85]

Episode was kind of a mixture of both a hallucination episode and a time-loop one, and I thought it worked pretty well.  I thought everyone's fear made sense for the character (even Brainy's.  Besides, balloons and the potential for sudden popping can be intense!), and I liked the way most of them were able to overcome them.  But I do think it's telling that Nia wasn't able to defeat hers and I have to imagine that will still be an issue that needs to be address.  It seems like she still isn't confident with controlling her powers.

Liked how we got some new pairings here, with Lena and Nia bonding over their family issues, and Brainy asking Kelly for advice about handling his emotions.  The entire ensemble really gels well, to say the least.

Great episode for Azie Tesfai in particular.  And Kelly got to wield her version of a Guardian shield!

Zor-El got to have his own version of a pep talk to Kara.  He will fit right in with the rest of the D.C. parental figures!

Saw that David Harewood got to direct this episode as well.  I liked a lot of his choices here.

Kara (and Zor-El) are finally rescued and reunited with everyone (we at least got one hug with her and Alex before they all had to bounce.)  But, of course, it's not all fun and games, because unbeknownst to them, a still alive Nxylgsptinz is hitching a ride back with them and I doubt she's going to be keeping things civil back on Earth.

Looks like we will be waiting till late August to wrap this all up, as it is now time for Cousin Clark and Lois to take back over Tuesday nights at 9:00 p.m. on The CW! 

[cambridgeguy]

Glad to see that Zor-El was able to hobble his way clear of the explosion.  I wonder how long he'll stick around since having two Kryptonians in the same city seems like overkill. 

I'm going to assume there's some cloaking technology around J'onn's ship or otherwise there had better be a lot of news about the spaceship that just lifted off in the middle of National City when they get back.

[Lady Calypso]

I actually really liked this episode. For a mid-season finale, it definitely felt a bit abrupt, but I really liked them focusing on the characters and their fears and how some of them overcame them (unfortunately, for Nia, she clearly didn't, so I look forward to seeing how that impacts her in the back half of the season).

I didn't pick up that they were hallucinations until the second time loop happened with Lena. They really got me good with Alex's hallucination segment, because I actually feared that she was about to sacrifice herself for Kara and the others.

I loved seeing Lena and Nia getting to interact. It's been a long time coming for Lena to interact with ANY of the other main characters, and I'm glad it was with Nia. 

But my favourite segment was Kelly's. Azie Tesafi did a phenomenal job this episode. They really gave her good material to work with, and she delivered. I've felt like she's been more of a supporting main character, where she's had far less to do, so I'm glad they really gave her some focus here. I love her realization that she wants to protect, similarly to her brother. 

Brainy's fear being about balloons was hilarious, but it also gave us solid confirmation that this segment wasn't another hallucination of J'onn's, and it was truly back in the real world.

Minimal Kara, but I liked her scene with her father and how he brought her out of her own fears by using her own optimism and hope back on her. 

No surprise Nxy survived. I figured she would have tricked Kara into believing that she was dead because, duh, her and her family are basically Tricksters. She'll be a fun antagonist to see roam around National City. 

It sucks to now have to wait three months for a new episode, but at least Superman & Lois is an excellent show to have as a replacement (and I know we got lucky with getting Supergirl earlier than originally planned).

[cdnalor]

3 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

I'm going to assume there's some cloaking technology around J'onn's ship or otherwise there had better be a lot of news about the spaceship that just lifted off in the middle of National City when they get back

When Alex (?) exclaimed that the Tower was a spaceship, I expected to see the whole building rise up like a rocket.  That would have been something to see!

I FF'd through most of this episode, I've seen this "everyone's worst fear" type of story too many times to sit through another one.  At least Supergirl's back home.

 

[Rushmoras]

In the beginning: "Wont Kara think after seeing a giant Tower Spaceship in the air that it's a delusion"? Me thinking to myself: "Most of the dialogue for the past two seasons was a delusion".

[Oreo2234]

That was pretty good even if it was mostly a bottle episode. The ending felt a little rushed but I liked that Kara at least got a reunion hug with Alex. Though its too bad next week wasn't the mid-season finale. It would have been nice to have a whole episode with Kara back before the show went on its long hiatus. 

[tennisgurl]

Rescuing Kara was a bit abrupt, but that was a really good episode so I don't really mind. The time jump/fear imagery worked really well and allowed us to explore the characters while also finally rescuing Kara, just in time for the midseason break. Kudos to David Harewood, he did a good job directing, this episode had a lot of complicated shots and sequences which all went very smoothly. I don't know how much directing experience he has, but I was very impressed. Everyone's fears seemed very consistent with what we know about them, and everyone fighting them allowed them to close out their arcs for this part of the season. Except for Nia, who didn't defeat her fear yet and still has a lot of work to do before she can be fully confident in her powers. 

I liked that they used some different pairings this week, like Nia and Lena bonding over their mom issues and Brainy and Kelly talking about his feelings and her insecurities. I don't think we have seen much of either of those pairings and they worked really well, I especially like seeing Kelly interacting with more people outside of Alex. This was a great Kelly episode, which I am really thrilled to see, as I like Kelly but she tends to end up stuck in some of the more boring subplots when she isn't with Alex, so its great to explore her fears and to see her in the middle of the action. 

Brainy's fear of balloons was funny, although I cant really blame him. Brainy appreciates order and a bunch of balloons randomly popping is anything but orderly. It also seems like his ability to compartmentalize allowed him to focus on a fear he could better handle, instead of his deeper fears of becoming like his supervillain family. 

Not a lot of Kara, but I liked her scene with her father and how her optimism inspired him and saved him from despair. Plus we got a big reunion hug between Alex and Kara after Kara and Zor-El are rescued. I am guessing that Zor-El will end up heading to Argo City (still around post-crisis?) to see his wife, having two Kryptonians in one city could shake up the status quo too much. Unfortunately Nxylgsptinz also hitched a ride home to Earth, which is bad for our heroes but good for us, she should be a fun villain. She's from a whole dimension of wild card tricksters, so this will be a whole big mess, which should be a blast. Especially if it means a break from Lex as the main Big Bad. 

Sucks that we have to wait so long to get to more episodes, but I'm excited to see Kara's favorite cousin on my Tuesdays again. 

[legaleagle53]

12 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I am guessing that Zor-El will end up heading to Argo City (still around post-crisis?) to see his wife, having two Kryptonians in one city could shake up the status quo too much.

Three super-powered Kryptonians on Earth if you count Kal-El. While it's quite likely that Zor-El will eventually head home to Argo City to reunite with his wife (and yes, Argo City still exists post-crisis), it would be a shame if he didn't try to meet his grown nephew at least once (or vice-versa) before he leaves Earth.

[angora]

Given that, due to CW scheduling choices, this episode served as our mid-season finale, it's nice that we got to go out on an episode that showcased all the main cast. More intimate and personal than the usual giant heroics, but this is another instance where I feel like the show made good use of COVID limitations by leaning into the characters and their relationships instead.

Kara herself got more of a short shrift, as she has throughout this Phantom Zone arc, but I appreciate that we got a look at her fears too, her fear that her father/the Superfriends were all going to die on account of her. I like that Zor-El was finally able to break through his own fears and self-doubts when he realized that Kara needed him, and Kara looking up at the Tower ship and saying, "It's my family!" made me "aww."

Lovely showcase for Kelly. Seriously, every superhero team should have a mental-health professional on board. I liked the practical tools she offered to help combat the fear delusions, although it strikes me that it's probably really hard for superheroes to separate reality from hallucination when their ordinary lives are so wild - every single one of those delusions was entirely plausible, except Lena's (and that was only because she specifically recognized the creature from the folktale) and Brainy's (which was more a manifestation of his efforts to compartmentalize his fears.) But back to Kelly, I loved seeing her stand up to her fear of the phantom and face it down on behalf of Alex and her friends. Bravery is always the most impressive to me when it comes alongside fear, and Kelly had that in spades.

Alex being afraid that she was destroying Kara's one shot at rescue was heartbreaking. It echoes the scenes between them in the Midvale flashbacks, but whereas there, Alex was frustrated at how feeling like her sister's keeper was getting in the way of living her own life, our Alex is ready to do ANYTHING to rescue Kara or literally die trying. I also really felt for Nia's continuing struggles with her powers. Sad too that Nia's delusion specifically included Brainy doubting her, when IRL, he always believes in her - even though we've seen her genuinely come through with her abilities multiple times this season, it's clear she views each one as a "that was too close" hollow victory instead of a real, earned save. I really hope she's able to learn more and gain some confidence in herself soon. Like others, I appreciated the scenes between her and Lena, especially Lena noting that Nia's powers WERE a way to maintain a connection with her mother.

Brainy didn't get a real spotlight sequence like the others, but he was used to good effect in the scenarios he appeared in. I loved his scene with Kelly, and the IRL stuff near the end with him and J'onn was a lot of fun, with him quietly freaking out over the balloons and J'onn being like, "I don't have time to unpack all that right now." Loved that J'onn was the one to beat back the phantom and help the others break through their delusions - with the structure of the episode, J'onn wasn't in it a whole lot, giving David Harewood extra room for his directing duties, but it made me happy to see him get the big hero moment.

[secnarf]

Seems like I am in the minority as I really didn't like the episode. I have a visceral hatred for any TV show or movie that repeats time over again (don't get me started on Groundhog Day).

I did enjoy the different pairings, but there were too many repeats of the same chunk of time, with the plot not going anywhere.

 

[Lantern7]

2 hours ago, secnarf said:

Seems like I am in the minority as I really didn't like the episode. I have a visceral hatred for any TV show or movie that repeats time over again (don't get me started on Groundhog Day).

I don't think it counts as a time loop because of the different points of view. One could stitch the footage without the "Ten Minutes Earlier" element, but I'm thinking it'd be less coherent.

[secnarf]

22 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I don't think it counts as a time loop because of the different points of view. One could stitch the footage without the "Ten Minutes Earlier" element, but I'm thinking it'd be less coherent.

🤷‍♀️ It irritated me regardless.

It's the constant going back in time and feeling like we aren't making any progress that is so frustrating to me - and seeing the beginning over and over again, always the same way just drove that point home.