S06.E12: Blind Spots

[scarynikki12]

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Knowing that she can make a difference, Kelly embraces her power and fully steps into her role as Guardian. Joined by Supergirl, Alex, Diggle and team, Guardian leads the way to restoring justice to the fallen community.

 

 

[cambridgeguy]

I think Diggle and Jimmy just happening to be friends has to be the writers trolling the audience, because of course the two black guys know each other even though I don't remember them ever interacting on screen.  Oh well, maybe Crisis changed things.  When they were swapping notes I hope Dig pointed out that unlike her brother Kelly decided to date the Danvers sister who doesn't dump someone before their first date.

Plus if you want to fight systematic problems then no worries, just make sure you have access to advanced tech so you can put on a fancy costume.  Oh, and it helps if you're friends with superheroes.  Effective heroes too, not losers like Black Lightning, Batwoman, and the rest who are apparently incapable of inspiring anyone outside of their cities.  Gothamites must be an easy sell.

[DanaK]

I enjoyed the episode overall and appreciated that Kelly wanted to help the disenfranchised and have people pay attention to the local Black community. I also liked that the actress playing Kelly had input into writing the episode and into the makeup of the Guardian suit to reflect her and her heritage. At the same time, it’s hard for superheroes to focus on local issues when they’ve got big bad supervillains to fight, so Kelly practically screaming at them to listen to her very local concerns when they are in the middle of finding and fighting a supervillain just seemed like odd positioning to me

[Noneofyourbusiness]

32 minutes ago, DanaK said:

At the same time, it’s hard for superheroes to focus on local issues when they’ve got big bad supervillains to fight, so Kelly practically screaming at them to listen to her very local concerns when they are in the middle of finding and fighting a supervillain just seemed like odd positioning to me

It was contrived. It also didn't make sense that Kelly acted like the others were ignoring her about the people getting sick when they actually thought that getting rid of the contaminated debris would reverse that.

[Lantern7]

Man. That was heavy. Quick question . . . the councilwoman's name wouldn't happen to have been "Karen," would it?

54 minutes ago, DanaK said:

At the same time, it’s hard for superheroes to focus on local issues when they’ve got big bad supervillains to fight, so Kelly practically screaming at them to listen to her very local concerns when they are in the middle of finding and fighting a supervillain just seemed like odd positioning to me

The main irony being that Nyxly probably doesn't care about any three-dimensional people, and she lumps them all together. "That building brings Kara joy? Gone. Screw you!" I get Kelly's exasperation, especially when she saw the footage of Supergirl playing with the giant cat and the news anchors having fun with it.

1 hour ago, cambridgeguy said:

I think Diggle and Jimmy just happening to be friends has to be the writers trolling the audience, because of course the two black guys know each other even though I don't remember them ever interacting on screen.  Oh well, maybe Crisis changed things.  When they were swapping notes I hope Dig pointed out that unlike her brother Kelly decided to date the Danvers sister who doesn't dump someone before their first date.

Also, Diggle brought up Jefferson Pierce. I don't think it's too contrived for people to bond over race or other stuff. I used to figure that Joe West and Quentin Lance swap notes and stories, since they were both with their respective police departments.

Diggle didn't visit Freeland, did he? If he did, I'm blanking on it. If anyone needed moral support, it would be Black Lightning.

ETA: "Kelly Olsen sent me." "Yeah. You're Kelly Olsen." "I don't know what you-" "You're standing less than a foot from my face. Green Lantern may have been a box office flop, but they did nail how stupid masks are with close friends."

Edited September 22, 2021 by Lantern7

[Primal Slayer]

Wow....this was....an episode. Pretty cringeworthy on the writing sorry to say.

Kelly is so mad that no one is helping the aliens that she wants to be helped, specifically the kid even though the hospital is clearly overwhelmed and helping everyone they can. So automatically everyone is the in the wrong and not understanding where she's coming from. It was just so over the top which is very CW writing so shouldnt be surprised. The Superfriends arent ignoring what's going on, they are trying to defeat the big bad themselves that caused all of this.

The governor lady, whatever her name is, they really made her into the most 1 dimensional villain ever. At the beginning she is clearly injured but Kelly is angry at her for not caring as much and then the lady gets her alien on and turns into a 0 dimensional villain.

Digg....it's sad that he is just touted out between 4 shows just to be the go to Black guy to give a pep talk to the other black characters during their very special episode and help them realize that they can be heroes as well! The writers made his and off screen relationship with James into "he's black, im black, we're friends! because we both know the struggle" 

Just another forced episode where they think they are being subtle by making the black characters into aliens but with no substance and everything thrown at your face.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

53 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Diggle didn't visit Freeland, did he? If he did, I'm blanking on it.

Nope.

[DanaK]

As said, Kelly had misplaced priorities when the whole city was under attack and many people were hurt or in danger. I can somewhat understand her anger at the humans who were ignoring her pleas, though they were overwhelmed by the attack on the city, but her superhero friends were rather busy trying to contain the problems of a city under attack and weren’t needed to focus on what seemed to be ordinary problems of some local humans and aliens. She should have left them alone and figured out the problem herself. Once she determined the councilwoman had magical powers and may have been to blame for her friends’ problems, then it made sense to bring in the superfriends to fix that issue and by turn help her friends

[Diapason Untuned]

2 hours ago, DanaK said:

At the same time, it’s hard for superheroes to focus on local issues when they’ve got big bad supervillains to fight, so Kelly practically screaming at them to listen to her very local concerns when they are in the middle of finding and fighting a supervillain just seemed like odd positioning to me

They could have divided their resources more efficiently though.

Was the entire team necessary to go look for debris? Couldn't Supergirl or Dreamer have put in a little facetime, especially since she was literally just doing social media blasts about how important the people there are and helping out Orlando, not to mention the fact that she bears some culpability in the building's collapse.

 

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Man. That was heavy. Quick question . . . the councilwoman's name wouldn't happen to have been "Karen," would it?

It was Rankine, which contains all the letters for Karen.

 

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"That building brings Kara joy? Gone. Screw you!" I get Kelly's exasperation, especially when she saw the footage of Supergirl playing with the giant cat and the news anchors having fun with it.

It wasn't just Kara and friends either. Andrea was more interested in covering traffic than a building collapse.

[thuganomics85]

I'm really not sure what to say at this point.  When it comes to social issues, the show has always taken the most heavy-handed, anvil dropping, cliched, and overdramatic path possible, and this was no exception here.  But it's just like, well, I've already accepted it at this point, so it's like I almost don't have any energy to criticize the show for it.  It is what it is, I guess.  For better or worse, this is Supergirl to its core.

Honestly though, I think they did a decent job at establishing how the Superfriends would be so invested in trying to find Nxy that they would lose sight of everything else, and not realize there are more imminent threats that need to be taken care of first.  And I do understand Kelly's frustration since they seem to keep ignoring her and, really, at the very least they could have spared one of the gang to help, because it really didn't feel like everyone was needed at that particular moment.  From what I could see, it looked like Kara, Alex, and Brainy were the only ones doing tasks that needed to be done at that very moment, while J'onn and Nia seem to just be hanging around for reasons.  I don't really have any issue with the actual content, but the unsubtle way they approach all of it just made it kind of mess at times.  But, again, I've kind of just expected it to happen like this, so I at least can't be disappointed.

And, of course, Diggle shows up for his final (?) crossover appearance and once again is basically regulated to being the "Hey, as the OG Main Black Character in the Arrowverse, I just want to say that you have my approval!" to the other black characters on their respected shows.  And apparently hanging out with both Jimmy and Jefferson off-screen.  Cool?  At least David Ramsey got to direct again and did a good job as always.

No surprise: Rankin returns and just goes from being a one-note antagonist to a full-blown villain in a mere ten seconds.  Yeah, that wasn't surprising.  At least Kari Matchett had fun sliming it up.

Andrea is back to being lame, I see.

Lena comes back and now has a helpful book of magic with her!

I for one will continue to back Brainy on his quest to get everyone to eat their veggies!  He will not be silenced!

Whatever flaws this episode had, Azie Tesfai crushed it.  I wished most of this happened before the final season, but better late than never, I guess.

[rtms77]

Cringy. Kelly gets mad because no one is paying attention to her and the residents? Sorry Olsen but there was a serious powerful villain on the loose who threaten and did hurt other citizens on NC. 
 

How is that new helmet any better for Kelly to see? And did she also use an image inducer! It’s become the go to costume invention I see. 
 

Somehow the magic book beat Lena home? Now that is fast postal service from Ireland no less! 
 

Was it just me or was Diggle implied to be the courage totem ? 

[Chicago Redshirt]

I will try to be as positive as I can about this episode before tearing into it:

I appreciate the recommendation of a couple books via Kelly's coffee table. I (and maybe some other readers) may check them out.

The new Guardian costume is pretty cool.

It's usually good to see Dig, and they seem to be strongly hinting he will become a Green Lantern at some point. 

So much for the upsides. Now for the down.

This was the most anvillicious of Supergirl episodes and that's really saying something. It hurts to think about how hamfisted the show was at addressing real world problems like gentrification, disempowerment of communities, health care disparities, distrust of institutions, representation in media and on and on and on.  Cramming all these concepts in and reducing them to buzzwords and giving them the least sophisticated treatment possible does nothing for anyone. People who are resistant or hostile to these messages in the first place aren't going to embrace them just because they are done at a high volume. And people who might be open to them are probably going to be less receptive when they are not done well. 

I hate that Supergirl is reduced to a guest-star in her own show. There was literally no Supergirl for like the first 10 minutes or so. I hate that a lot of the time when she was on screen, they twisted Supergirl's character to make the point they wanted to make about white feminists who make poor allies. Among the many problems with that is not who Supergirl is in general, and in this particular situation, where the building was imploded specifically to irk Supergirl, she 100 percent would have felt additional responsibility to those who were collateral damage to what happened in between her and Nxy. It made it worse to portray the situation as though only the person Kelly was boning could give two shits about all the people in the Heights, and that was to apparently call some friends and get some ventilators.

I hate that the show portrays Kelly as being right that the lives of the, let's say 100 people who were being treated for a mysterious disease are automatically more crucial than oh, about the rest of creation in multiple dimensions who are threatened if Nxy manages to collect her set of Macguffins. Or even assuming that she doesn't, who are threatened that she might continue to wreak havoc if she just retains her ordinary power level. 

Part of the trouble with there being such a huge cast of superheros now is it undercuts the notion that they could not divide and conquer. Between Supergirl, J'onn, Alex, Nia and Brainy, surely one or two of them could peel off from the Nxy hunt to look into the hospital situation.

Then again, Kelly does not have a plan of action for the Super Friends to follow in terms of addressing the needs of the people at the hospital, and that it's mostly generic talk about making the people of the Heights feel seen. Maybe if you had asked Brainy specifically to see what might be afflicting them and he was like "Nah fam," you'd have a point. But it seemed on the surface like the people at the hospital were in reasonably good hands. 

I pretty much couldn't take J'onn talking about how Jimmy and Kelly were treated like the real aliens in America, and I'm black.

I hate that Kara felt the need to apologize for being focused on a dimension-threatening villain and trying to stop the future mischief and mayhem she might cause.

I hate pretty much every appearance by Andrea and the notion that the once-mighty CatCo cannot simultaneously talk about the impact the destruction of a building has on people as well as it does on traffic.

I hate that they took Councilwoman Karen (whose real name I am not going to bother to look up) who had the potential to be a three-dimensional character who has a reasonable but non-evil agenda of improving her constituents' lives by bringing in high-tech companies and turned her into a one-dimensional mustache twirler who literally was leeching power from the community. I hate that Guardian engaged her goons and her in a fistfight for no particular reason, and that despite having magic powers, Councilwoman Karen only fought Guardian to a stalemate while blathering some stuff. And then a short while later, she's more than a match for Supergirl. It is kind of sad that with the power to basically do whatever she wished, Councilwoman Karen's vision was so small. And I know we are told that Councilwoman Karen is going to jail, but it seems like it would be hard to make anything against her stick. What did the Super Friends see her do that can't be written off as her being a victim of strange energy. 

And I get the thing about Kelly being tired of fighting the good fight and I suppose for this show it was reasonably well-acted. But it seems very much out of place and premature. I might be missing some things in previous seasons, but as far as I can remember Kelly has taken the lead in like three or four crusades for justice: 1. better treatment for the alien foster home kids 2. help ex-cons to avoid recidivism (although it was really Supergirl who did the heavy lifting there) 3. help make Imploded Building a possible shelter for ex-cons and low income people and now 4. fight to have the people who were affected by the blast get proper medical care and other attention. All noble and exhausting efforts. But it doesn't bode well that she's already breaking down in tears about how hard the fight is. Wouldn't it be better to have her be resolute in the face of all these challenges and the many more to come?

I also don't like that the people  Guardian was guarding were basically just props in all this and kept in the dark. It could have been a different thing if Orlando and the rest took a more active role in helping themselves. I was half-hoping that Orlando's EMP powers would be used to nullify Councilwoman Karen's use/manipulation of 5th Dimensional energy. Even if Orlando had said, "Guardian, you've inspired me to run for Council" rather than having her suggest it to him and him be seemingly lukewarm to the idea.

We come around again to it not making particular sense that to solve the problems Kelly wants to solve, being a costumed hero is not the way to go. She could set up a blog and publicize the situations that strike her as unjust. She could do actual activism, organizing the people of the Heights as a political force. She could run for City Council herself. 

I will pause in my rant but reserve the right to resume later after I get some sleep.

[Diapason Untuned]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

It's usually good to see Dig, and they seem to be strongly hinting he will become a Green Lantern at some point. 

On one hand, Dig seems to have put that whole thing away based on everything he's said over all the Arrowverse shows. On the other hand, worlds await. Time will tell.

 

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I hate that the show portrays Kelly as being right that the lives of the, let's say 100 people who were being treated for a mysterious disease are automatically more crucial than oh, about the rest of creation in multiple dimensions who are threatened if Nxy manages to collect her set of Macguffins. Or even assuming that she doesn't, who are threatened that she might continue to wreak havoc if she just retains her ordinary power level. 

The show never said that. As you yourself pointed out, one or two folks could have been diverted to go to the hospital. Kara just some episodes ago, made a commitment to do better for those same people, that's the least she could have done.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Diapason Untuned

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 minutes ago, Diapason Untuned said:

The show never said that. As you yourself pointed out, one or two folks could have been diverted to go to the hospital. Kara just some episodes ago, made a commitment to do better for those same people, that's the least she could have done.

The show very much wants viewers to think of Kelly's quest to help the people of the Heights as a noble crusade that was unfairly downplayed by the rest of the heroes, when it would have been a perfectly reasonable position for the Super Friends to explicitly say, "It's a sad thing that the 100 or so people are suffering, but they are getting the best medical care possible and the search for Nxy is a priority."

The show implicitly portrays it as wrong that the rest of the Super Friends do not share Kelly's passion for focusing on the people of the Heights and that they didn't listen to her pleas to do something. What is worse IMO is that it's not really clear what the Super Friends were supposed to have been doing instead of looking for Nxy. 

Part of the trouble with the show is that trying to depict these socio-economic problems as if they were in our world just doesn't work when you have a set of protagonists who can basically solve most run-of-the-mill problems (or at least, the symptoms of the problems) through their powers, fame, tech and connections. Not enough ventilators at the local hospital? Supergirl can fly patients to hospitals around the globe where there aren't shortages, or fly ventilators from around the world to National City. Between LexCorp and Brainy, they could conjure up some magic tech ventilators that would solve the shortage. A shortage of affordable housing? Supergirl could build 10 apartment buildings in a matter of hours and raise the money for the land by various means, from digging for gold, squeezing coal into diamonds, performing super-tasks for rent, parlaying her celebrity into a fundraiser, asking her billionaire friend Lena for a loan or a grant, etc.  Orlando can't find a job that pays more than minimum wage because he's an ex-con and an alien? Well I think a reference from Supergirl would go a long way. Not to mention that again, Lena could hire him. And there is also the inherent issue that they do have to pick and choose to some extent who they are saving. Every time they have a game night or mess around being Catco employees is time that they could be spending to literally save lives. I don't begrudge them downtime, but it remains the case that there is some picking and choosing of who to save. Helping these 100 people in National City means that they aren't helping starving kids elsewhere or doing any of a number of other options. 

There was a possible way that they could have presented both the let's-focus-on-the-Heights-residents and the let's-focus-on-the-search-for-Nxy points of views as reasonable even though they conflict. But the way the show portrayed things, it underplayed why finding Nxy was so important and had Supergirl apologize for focusing on Nxy, with no apology from Kelly for not seeing that it at least was understandable why Kara and co. prioritized finding Nxy. We the viewers had information that Nxy was depowered and having trouble getting the search for the MacGuffins started. This all stacks the deck to make Kelly's position seem better. As opposed to a situation where dealing with the Heights residents gave Nxy an insurmountable headstart in getting the MacGuffins, or where a powered Nxy was off wreaking havoc during the search.

Neither Kelly nor the show really made it clear what the Super Friends were potentially going to do in the service of the people from the Heights other than generically pay attention to them, hear and see them.  This is part of the writing fails for this episode. Kelly is popping off at Supergirl, who has proven herself to be a champion not just of all people, not just of refugee aliens but the Heights specifically. And it has Supergirl be the one to apologize when she didn't do anything wrong and when she's been doing right for years.

For my money, Kelly came off as disrespectful, entitled, myopic, unfair and whiny in her viewpoint, as opposed to the strong guardian that the show wanted us to think of her as.

[Diapason Untuned]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

The show very much wants viewers to think of Kelly's quest to help the people of the Heights as a noble crusade that was unfairly downplayed by the rest of the heroes, when it would have been a perfectly reasonable position for the Super Friends to explicitly say, "It's a sad thing that the 100 or so people are suffering, but they are getting the best medical care possible and the search for Nxy is a priority."

Except it was not such a priority that they it needed all hands on deck. Nxy was not immediately causing an issue right then and there. Even Kelly mentioned that in the episode.

No one is saying abandon the search for Nxyly, but at least send someone over to take a look. Especially when Kelly was raising the alarm that there was something going on there that conventional science couldn't explain.

 

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The show implicitly portrays it as wrong that the rest of the Super Friends do not share Kelly's passion for focusing on the people of the Heights and that they didn't listen to her pleas to do something. What is worse IMO is that it's not really clear what the Super Friends were supposed to have been doing instead of looking for Nxy. 

If for example, Brainy had spared a few minutes to go down there, they would have figured out the issue with Rankine much faster than they did.

 

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Helping these 100 people in National City means that they aren't helping starving kids elsewhere or doing any of a number of other options. 

I would appreciate this argument more if Kara hadn't already made a commitment to be there for those people just earlier.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Diapason Untuned

[DanaK]

1 hour ago, Diapason Untuned said:

If for example, Brainy had spared a few minutes to go down there, they would have figured out the issue with Rankine much faster than they did.

Brainy did spend who knows how much time helping Kelly redesign her Guardian suit (that seemed like an awfully quick redesign)

The issue with the people from the Heights initially seemed like an ordinary medical issue amid an overtaxed hospital and a city under attack, until Rankine showed her magical hand. What were the Superfriends supposed to do before that when they were dealing with a city under attack?

[Humbugged]

2 hours ago, DanaK said:

Brainy did spend who knows how much time helping Kelly redesign her Guardian suit (that seemed like an awfully quick redesign)

The issue with the people from the Heights initially seemed like an ordinary medical issue amid an overtaxed hospital and a city under attack, until Rankine showed her magical hand. What were the Superfriends supposed to do before that when they were dealing with a city under attack?

Brainy did not just redesign the suit ,it was a thing he had came up with before when James was still there as he said (Jimmy just would not let him play with it)

Edited September 22, 2021 by Humbugged

[vibeology]

9 hours ago, Primal Slayer said:

Wow....this was....an episode. Pretty cringeworthy on the writing sorry to say.

Kelly is so mad that no one is helping the aliens that she wants to be helped, specifically the kid even though the hospital is clearly overwhelmed and helping everyone they can. So automatically everyone is the in the wrong and not understanding where she's coming from. It was just so over the top which is very CW writing so shouldnt be surprised. The Superfriends arent ignoring what's going on, they are trying to defeat the big bad themselves that caused all of this.

I think the real problem was they had Kelly at an 11 in the first scene. Hospitals have limited resources. Even rich hospitals can't handle 100s of casualties simultaneously. Triaging is a thing that happens in any mass casualty event. So yes, it sucks very deeply that in poor neighbourhoods there are less resources but she was already so angry at the hospital staff who were clearly doing the best they could that there wasn't anywhere for her character to go. 

And she did have a point later when she wanted some help when the patients weren't improving after the collapse of a magical building. A superhero should have agreed that it was odd and someone should have looked at the situation instead of blowing her off but her frustration in that moment when she was justified was the same as the earlier moment when she wasn't justified. At every point after this I was on Kelly's side but I do think the initial reaction in the first hospital scene was a misstep.

And some of the dialogue was so on the nose that it hurt. I get that those lessons need to be imparted to many, many people but it was just so unnatural.

The best scene was Kelly wrapping her hair and just feeling everything. That was powerful without spelling things out. Overall, it was an episode of good intentions with some missteps (I don't even want to get into Councilwoman Kari Matchett) that dragged it down.

[Lady Calypso]

10 hours ago, Noneofyourbusiness said:

It was contrived. It also didn't make sense that Kelly acted like the others were ignoring her about the people getting sick when they actually thought that getting rid of the contaminated debris would reverse that.

For me, I think it was more the fact that Kelly was trying to explain to them that there was something else going on but she was getting interrupted by everyone. There was a point where they all were at the site of the collapse and Kelly was trying to tell Supergirl and Alex about her feeling that something was going on with the people in the hospital, and she wasn't able to finish her thoughts before they both jumped in with "We'll figure it out." It wasn't outright "No, you're wrong about this. We're going to not listen to you here and focus on this bigger problem", but a more subtle "Yeah, yeah, we get it...BUT we'll fix this bigger problem and everything will be fine!" None of the Superfriends went down to check on the people in the hospital to see what Kelly was talking about.

Actually, the only one to acknowledge Kelly's feelings was Nia. She may not have fought as hard for her voice to be heard as she could have, but she was a step above the others by saying "You're right, trust your gut, here's the Fifth Dimension device to help you out." 

Azie did a fantastic job starring in and writing this episode. David Ramsey did an excellent job directing and getting to act alongside Azie. Yes, I do think there were some missteps with the overall arc of the episode and things that could have been written better, but it was still a solid debut for Azie. I think the intent was clear and it was almost there, but there needed to be a few pieces of dialogue added or changed that would have made this even better,

I think they really needed to establish that Nxyly was not an immediate problem for the Superfriends and that they COULD take a few hours to really help with the problem that Nyxly caused. Or establish that, by solving this actual problem with the Fifth Dimension magic, that it would benefit the city in the long-run. Because, yes, a Councillor running around with magic in her system and draining others in the process IS an immediate problem. They sort of established that, but not nearly enough. 

And yes, the writing was very on-the-nose and in-your-face. Of course, it's The CW, and it's Supergirl, so obvious writing is obvious. I hope Azie does spread her writing chops to other networks where she can master subtle writing, because she has the talent to write some fantastic episodes. But Supergirl DOES tend to write like this more often than not, so this isn't the actress' sole issue, it's the show's overall issue with their writing.

I prefer to forget about Lena being forced to be some sort of magic user. 

This is definitely David Ramsey's best cameo through the Arrowverse this season. He had a lot to do and had some great moments.

I will say, I liked Nia's support of Kelly, and I actually LOVED J'onn's speech to Alex near the end about him choosing the face of a black man and how he understands that Kelly/James don't have that luxury of choice.

Overall, it WAS a good episode. A bit weak in places, but the intent was there. And I LOVE the new Guardian outfit. Kelly looks like a damn badass.

[DanaK]

2 hours ago, Humbugged said:

Brainy did not just redesign the suit ,it was a thing he had came up with before when James was still there as he said (Jimmy just would not let him play with it)

Yes, I actually did catch that dialog, so maybe that’s why he was able to so quickly redesign it but that redesign still seemed a little fast

For whoever asked, there are 20 episodes this season, so 8 episodes left. And I have to add to the complaints that they seem to be delving into certain things a little late with so little time left, including Lena being a witch and Kelly becoming the new Guardian

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

7 hours ago, Diapason Untuned said:

Except it was not such a priority that they it needed all hands on deck. Nxy was not immediately causing an issue right then and there. Even Kelly mentioned that in the episode.

No one is saying abandon the search for Nxyly, but at least send someone over to take a look. Especially when Kelly was raising the alarm that there was something going on there that conventional science couldn't explain.

 

If for example, Brainy had spared a few minutes to go down there, they would have figured out the issue with Rankine much faster than they did.

 

I would appreciate this argument more if Kara hadn't already made a commitment to be there for those people just earlier.

If an insane/insanely powerful imp with no sense of restraint or scruples trying to get even more power is not an all-hands-on-deck situation, then no such situation exists. 

The Super Friends could not know how long Nxy was going to be depowered for, if she couldn't make progress on the search for the MacGuffins while depowered, who Nxy might hurt along the way, etc. etc. 

We also keep running into that the Super Friends responded, from all indications, generally appropriately to the hospital situation given what they knew at the time.

When they learned that the hospital was short on ventilators, Alex pulled strings and helped them remedy the situation. (Why the hospital needs her to do this as opposed to simply requesting on its own ventilators or shipping patients to hospitals that have them, I have no idea, But good on Alex for helping.)

When they are told that Joey is not getting better, there is no real reason to think that there is something unusual going on at first. 

When they learn of a tie to the 5th dimensional energy, they jump to the conclusion that dealing with the debris will kill two birds with one stone. That is, it will enable them to track Nxy and (they thought) would likely cure any residual sickness. They did not know and pretty much could not have reasonably been expected to know that Councilwoman Karen was siphoning energy from the people who had been near the blast, and that was what was causing people to weaken.

If Brainy had investigated early on, it's not a given that he would have been able to figure out what was making Joey and the others remain sick or how to address it any sooner.

And once they knew what was going on, the Super Friends acted.

So it doesn't seem to me fair for Kelly to act like she was abandoned or not listened to when she didn't have any specific requests, when the Super Friends were at least somewhat responsive and interested in the fate of the Heights people, and when prioritizing the search for Nxy makes sense.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

12 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I hate that Guardian engaged her goons and her in a fistfight for no particular reason,

A goon tried to hit Orlando when he stepped forward, Guardian blocked the goon with her shield, and the goons attacked her.

[Diapason Untuned]

7 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

If an insane/insanely powerful imp with no sense of restraint or scruples trying to get even more power is not an all-hands-on-deck situation, then no such situation exists. 

The Super Friends could not know how long Nxy was going to be depowered for, if she couldn't make progress on the search for the MacGuffins while depowered, who Nxy might hurt along the way, etc. etc. 

Again, Nxy was not doing something right that very minute. They could have diverted some people to go to the hospital. What's the point of having a team if you can't do that?

 

Quote

 

When they learn of a tie to the 5th dimensional energy, they jump to the conclusion that dealing with the debris will kill two birds with one stone. That is, it will enable them to track Nxy and (they thought) would likely cure any residual sickness. They did not know and pretty much could not have reasonably been expected to know that Councilwoman Karen was siphoning energy from the people who had been near the blast, and that was what was causing people to weaken.

 

If they had deigned to stop by they could have figured it out.

 

Quote

If Brainy had investigated early on, it's not a given that he would have been able to figure out what was making Joey and the others remain sick or how to address it any sooner.

Considering how quickly he figured it out when he did take an interest, I can say it's a strong possibility.

 

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 9/22/2021 at 1:43 PM, Diapason Untuned said:

Again, Nxy was not doing something right that very minute. They could have diverted some people to go to the hospital. What's the point of having a team if you can't do that?

 

If they had deigned to stop by they could have figured it out.

 

Considering how quickly he figured it out when he did take an interest, I can say it's a strong possibility.

 

 

The things that allowed the Super Friends to make the connection between the people of the Heights becoming sicker and Councilwoman Karen using her powers were:

1. obtaining the detection devices from the other branch of the DEO to track 5th Dimensional energy

2. The realization that there was 5th Dimensional energy in the debris, the Heights residents and elsewhere.

3. Scanning/seeing Councilwoman Karen and learning that she went from being weak to strong and that she had a lot of 5D energy.

4. Observing Councilwoman Karen using her powers and thus allowing the hypothesis/realization that she siphoning 5th dimensional energy from the Heights residents and thus harming them.

5. Brainy using the DNA sample from Councilwoman Karen to confirm that she was responsible.

There is no real reason to think that a visit to the hospital or any form of earlier intervention by the Super Friends would have enabled them to put the pieces of the puzzle together sooner than they did. In particular, without knowing that Councilwoman Karen had her powers in the first place, they would not have been able to conclude the cause of the drain was her or likely do much about it.

I'll stop going on in circles on this other point after one last repetition: Even taking it as a given that some of the team could and should have split off to address the situation at the hospital, it is unclear how Kelly wanted them to do more and exactly what they would have done. In the absence of a refusal to do some specific things and in the absence of evidence that their earlier intervention likely would have improved things, I find Kelly's attitude wildly inappropriate.

Edited September 24, 2021 by Chicago Redshirt

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, Noneofyourbusiness said:

A goon tried to hit Orlando when he stepped forward, Guardian blocked the goon with her shield, and the goons attacked her.

What I meant is that whole scenario was very artificial and implausible, created so that there could be a fistfight and we could see Guardian being a badass.

In anything resembling the real world, a politician's goons would be unlikely to try to punch someone who does not pose a threat at a press conference. It seems like taking on either Orlando or Guardian would be bad for the public image.

And similarly, Councilwoman Karen getting in a physical fight with Guardian when she could wish her into a cornfield or do whatever she wants doesn't make any sense. 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Chicago Redshirt

[Primal Slayer]

What is the DEO even doing right now? They should've introduced us to Alex's/J'onns replacements and have them be at odds over this whole 5th Dimensional Imp thing.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

6 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

In anything resembling the real world, a politician's goons would be unlikely to try to punch someone who does not pose a threat at a press conference. It seems like taking on either Orlando or Guardian would be bad for the public image.

I dunno, I could easily see them saying he was belligerent and the media glossing right over it. I wouldn't be surprised if that has happened in real life.

2 hours ago, Primal Slayer said:

What is the DEO even doing right now? They should've introduced us to Alex's/J'onns replacements and have them be at odds over this whole 5th Dimensional Imp thing.

Per Legends of Tomorrow, the DEO headquarters is still in ruins after it was destroyed by Rama Khan and the organization is defunct.

[secnarf]

20 hours ago, rtms77 said:

Somehow the magic book beat Lena home? Now that is fast postal service from Ireland no less!

It's from Newfoundland, not Ireland. I know with the accents it's hard to tell - IMO they are not doing a great job of a true Newfoundland accent, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone successfully imitate it!

6 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

And similarly, Councilwoman Karen getting in a physical fight with Guardian when she could wish her into a cornfield or do whatever she wants doesn't make any sense. 

In my head-canon, she was still figuring out her fifth-dimensional powers 🤷‍♀️

[rtms77]

52 minutes ago, secnarf said:

It's from Newfoundland, not Ireland. I know with the accents it's hard to tell - IMO they are not doing a great job of a true Newfoundland accent, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone successfully imitate it!

In my head-canon, she was still figuring out her fifth-dimensional powers 🤷‍♀️

She was supposed to be in Ireland not Newfoundland which is Canada, which I noted last episode. I know the sign said that, but Lena made it sound that she flew to lreland . That was either a complete screw up by the crew or they really did not convey that her mother was from Canada. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, Noneofyourbusiness said:

I dunno, I could easily see them saying he was belligerent and the media glossing right over it. I wouldn't be surprised if that has happened in real life.

In the scenario from the show, though, the reporters and camera crews were literally right there when the goon swung on Orlando. In all probability, the camera crews captured the goon swinging first. There is no spinning that Orlando started things getting physical. At least, not without brainwashing people.

And the scene illustrates more about how poorly written this ep was. The shittiest politician in America would have been able to deflect Orlando's criticisms with some meaningless platitude, talking point or empty promise. "I'm so sorry to hear about your brother. I pledge to do everything I can to make sure that National City General (or whatever the hospital is called) has the resources it needs to look into cures." Or "I promise we will investigate what caused this building's collapse and get to the bottom of why it has affected so many innocents." Or "I know I'm fortunate to have made a full recovery. And I'm pulling for everyone who was near the implosion to do the same." 

Even the weakest politician wouldn't put on stank face at being upstaged by a rando and feel like they needed to abruptly leave their press conference.

As part of the further bad writing, not one of the at least two camera crews follows Councilwoman Karen and her goons after a masked vigilante and another guy show up and chase after them. What are they waiting for, an engraved invite to do journalism?

And I suppose I should let it go, but it bugs that Kelly literally ripped out a bunch of Councilwoman Karen's hair like it was nothing when Councilwoman Karen bamfed away. Like it just doesn't make sense that Kelly would have grabbed her hair, that Councilwoman Karen would have bamfed away for no particular reason from a fight that she could easily win, or that in bamfing, she would have left behind all that hair. 

[angora]

I like a lot of what they were trying to do here, although there were definite issues with the execution. Loved the final scene with Kelly wrapping her hair and then talking to Alex, especially the admission that she needed Alex to just be there and support her without her having to unpack all her trauma right that second. I liked the little notes of Nia being somewhat more understanding of Kelly's position than the other Superfriends, first giving Kelly her scanner thing to take to the hospital and then intervening when Kara wanted to go after Kelly in the immediate aftermath of Kelly's blow-up. I really enjoyed the scene between Kelly and Brainy, with him offering her what hope he could for the future while acknowledging that things still aren't "fixed" by the 31st century, and the support he gave her as an emerging hero (plus, I just like the Arrowverse trend of the techies also being big costume nerds - of COURSE Brainy had already been working on ideas for her suit!)

While I obviously understand the thrust of the main plot (subtlety, thy name is not Supergirl,) it didn't fully come together for me. I certainly understood Kelly's frustration, and I agree with other posters who've noted that, immediate crisis or not, the group could've spared at least ONE Superfriend to help Kelly. But the main issue for me was that the Superfriends seemed uncharacteristically dismissive of the hurt/sick civilians. Like others have said, this is the same community that Kara was going all out to support just a couple weeks ago, so it's weird for me she wouldn't pay any attention to Kelly's concerns here. And the Superfriends have ALWAYS been about protecting innocents, not just on stopping villains. How many times have we seen someone use their powers to shield a bystander from an alien gun or whoosh them out of the way of falling debris? Villains know that a handy way to escape is to put a bunch of civilians in immediate danger, because Supergirl will always save the people instead of chase after the villain. I'm reminded of that Ben Lockwood flashback episode early in season 4, where he had some sort of past interaction in which every single main cast member totally ignored his struggles/pain/whatever. I remember one scene where J'onn crashed into Lockwood's roof or something while fighting an invading alien and totally trashed everything - even the kid's bike caught on fire - and J'onn just barked, "You're safe now!" and flew away. This episode was a lot like that scene, the Superfriends acting in this particular way to make the point the episode wants to make, whether it makes sense for them or not.

It's also weird to me that, after their introductory episode, there's been almost zero reference to Joey and Orlando being aliens. Here, they were just the main representatives of the underserved Black neighborhood in crisis. No mention of their powers, no reference to the intersectionality of being both alien and Black-presenting (I wonder if they use image inducers or if that's just how they look.) I've enjoyed Kelly's relationship with both of them over these past few episodes, but it would be nice for them to share a few scenes with J'onn too in light of that particular shared experience.

Brainy telling Joey to eat his vegetables made me smile - oh Brainy, never change.

[Rushmoras]

Kelly's outrage that no one of the hospital staff is rushing in to help the victims of the building collapse made me chuckle. Is this her first time of being in an overcrowded, under-staffed and under-equipped public hospital? I mean, sure, it sucks that people don't get help right of the bat, but it is what it is. Just be glad that, if you are capable of speaking, orienting in your surroundings, conscious and not out right dying, they don't make you wait for almost an entire day to go in to the examination room.

Edited September 23, 2021 by Rushmoras

[cambridgeguy]

21 hours ago, DanaK said:

For whoever asked, there are 20 episodes this season, so 8 episodes left. And I have to add to the complaints that they seem to be delving into certain things a little late with so little time left, including Lena being a witch and Kelly becoming the new Guardian

It just means they won't have a chance to completely drop their big "message" storylines and give them more generic stuff.  Remember when Nia fighting for transgendered people was a big part of her character?  Now it's barely mentioned, so obviously the problem has been solved, right?  Anyone who hadn't watched the previous seasons would have no idea this was such a big part of her blow up with her sister rather than standard jealousy about not getting the cool powers.  If there was a season 7 Kelly would probably become just another vigilante.

Edited September 23, 2021 by cambridgeguy

[Wiendish Fitch]

I'm sorry, but I hate the new Guardian costume. Between the pointed angle of the helmet and Kelly's dark red lip gloss, it gave me some serious Phantom of the Paradise vibes.

[Primal Slayer]

18 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I'm sorry, but I hate the new Guardian costume. Between the pointed angle of the helmet and Kelly's dark red lip gloss, it gave me some serious Phantom of the Paradise vibes.

I think it looks great and a definite upgrade to James' version of the outfit. I just question the braids. They do look great as an aspect of it but are they supposed to be just part of the helmet that appear magically? Because from what all we've seen of Kelly, it isn't really  part of her personality compared to say like Anissa. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

I was under the impression that the braids are part of the helmet. But then again she could be a student of the Mr. Terrific School of Hair Design and Secret Identity-Keeping, where before going into battle he apparently would get his hair did.

Edited September 23, 2021 by Chicago Redshirt

[tennisgurl]

Me: "Oh boy, I cant wait to see what happens next with Nxy and the battle with all of the fifth dimensional power!"

*reads episode description*

Me: "...sigh"

I know that Supergirl is gonna Supergirl, no point in rolling my eyes at this point when the show grinds the plot to a halt to give us Very Special Episodes that even an 80s sitcom would call over the top, but it really is annoying that we are still getting so many of these so close to the end. I might have liked this episode better if it was earlier in the season, I am at least glad that this has given Kelly something to actually do, but when we are so close to the show ending, its just gotten especially annoying. As much as the show LOVES to do this anvil dropping issue episodes, sometimes entire arcs, and it does occasionally do alright in smaller moments, it is often extremely clunky in execution, so even when its a good message they are sending it gets all messed up in subpar writing that exists to tell a message instead of a story. I can buy that the Superfriends would get too busy dealing with Nxy to spend much time worrying about overcrowded hospitals (something that I am not sure what they can really do about) and that there is an issue there, superheroes dealing (or not dealing) with the collateral damage of their fights is an idea that is often touched on in Superhero media but they were being written as way more dismissive of Kelly then I think they normally would, it felt off. They obviously needed to be weirdly dismissive so that the show can give us all of the speeches about marginalized communities being forgotten, which is a good topic to discuss, but it sucks that they had to write everyone, especially Kara and Alex, out of character to do so. Alex is Kelly's girlfriend and Kara just dedicated a whole episode to saving that building, you would think they could take three seconds to listen to Kelly about it being destroyed. 

This was probably better than most of Diggle's cameos, and I enjoy the fact that there is apparently some kind of Arrowverse black superhero group chat, which Kelly will now presumably join, and while its hard not to see it as "Being the Arrowverse original black guy, I approve" in a way that could rub people the wrong way, its always good to see him and he and Kelly had some good scenes that felt a lot more natural than much of the episode. 

Of course Councilwoman Karen isn't just a normal person with a different idea of what is best for the community than the main characters, or even just an unscrupulous politician looking to make money and get reelected on a progress campaign, she's a mustache twirling supervillain who drops lots of buzzwords that people with the "wrong" opinions say on Twitter so that our heroes can use the buzzwords that the people who are "right" on Twitter use, so its alright for Kelly to kick her ass in a way that would probably be a bad look if she was just a normal person who the heroes dislike. She's what I sometimes call a "luckily" villain or situation, where a villain or story embodies some kind of moral quandary that the audience might have mixed feelings about, or even that they might think the villain is making some solid points, but then the writers end up providing a reason to make this moral quandary nice and simple so that the heroes know who to punch and the audience doesn't have to ask questions that might lead them away from what point they're trying to make. Bringing in a big new company like the Councilwoman wanted to do seemed popular with her constituents, Kara had no real answers as to why the people living in the area shouldn't want more economic growth instead of low income housing besides "its right damn it" and you could probably make a case that what she was doing really would benefit people in the long run, and I can see some viewers agreeing with her and the other people Kara talked to/ignored that this is the better option for them. Luckily, she's also using fifth dimensional magic to drain people to power herself and wants to take over the city to remake it in her imagine, so now the heroes can beat her up and she her business proposition are evil and that's that. Who knew that these huge issues of socioeconomics were so easy to deal with? I actually think the story would have been better without an evil politician trying to destroy the heights because she's a magic racist, and the whole thing with the neighborhood wanting the new business over the low income housing was all really just people doing what they think is best, just not thinking about how it would affect the ex cons who are trying to start over again. No malicious intent, the people in that housing area really were just invisible, its not an evil plot but a blind spot, just like with the Superfriends. I think that would have been much more powerful and impactful than having it all be a supervillain plot instead of just actual ignorance. 

Andrea is clearly an idiot if she thinks that no one is interested in a whole building going down on top of people, no wonder Catco's ratings are in the toilet. And I have actually found most of Andrea's supposedly bad ideas, like doing interviews with the superheroes, to actually be pretty good. 

These episodes are just so frustrating because they are good things to talk about, but the show just so often has no idea how to talk about them in a way that feels engaging and not anvilious. 

Edited September 24, 2021 by tennisgurl

[legaleagle53]

On 9/22/2021 at 6:26 AM, Lady Calypso said:

And I LOVE the new Guardian outfit. Kelly looks like a damn badass.

The first thing I thought of when I saw that new upgraded outfit was the redesigned Batwoman outfit. And if anyone can understand exactly what Kelly feels and experiences, it's Ryan (Batwoman 2.0). Batwoman and Guardian is the team-up that would be the perfect way for these two women to meet.

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 9/23/2021 at 12:41 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

In the scenario from the show, though, the reporters and camera crews were literally right there when the goon swung on Orlando. In all probability, the camera crews captured the goon swinging first. There is no spinning that Orlando started things getting physical. At least, not without brainwashing people.

You don't understand. A black man stepping towards a white woman is "threatening". Police and security get away with the "feeling threatened" excuse all the time. You can look up any number of examples. That's one of the few things in this episode that wasn't unrealistic, and it was cathartic to see someone intervene for once.

What was unbelievable was the Superfriends dismissing Kelly when that wasn't in character for them (character should drive plot, not the other way around), and then spending scene after scene talking about how they failed and needed to do better, using every buzzword imaginable, instead of getting straight to dealing with the problem they had just said was an immediate problem (and is Kelly a psychic who can predict Nyxly will graciously wait an episode or two before she does something apocalyptic?). Real people don't talk like that in conversations, only if they're attending a talk.

Not to mention the script forgetting that the Ormfell residents are aliens like Kara.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Noneofyourbusiness

[Noneofyourbusiness]

23 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Of course Councilwoman Karen isn't just a normal person with a different idea of what is best for the community than the main characters, or even just an unscrupulous politician looking to make money and get reelected on a progress campaign, she's a mustache twirling supervillain who drops lots of buzzwords that people with the "wrong" opinions say on Twitter so that our heroes can use the buzzwords that the people who are "right" on Twitter use, so its alright for Kelly to kick her ass in a way that would probably be a bad look if she was just a normal person who the heroes dislike.

I think it being okay to kick ass her ass had more to do with her actively threatening to destroy and rebuild the city.

They could have had her go on such a power trip with a more sympathetic motivation, too (and still get her ass kicked).

Edited September 25, 2021 by Noneofyourbusiness

[Chicago Redshirt]

12 minutes ago, Noneofyourbusiness said:

You don't understand. A black man stepping towards a white woman is "threatening". Police and security get away with the "feeling threatened" excuse all the time. You can look up any number of examples. That's one of the few things in this episode that wasn't unrealistic, and it was cathartic to see someone intervene for once.

I happen to be a black man, so I do understand the notion that someone might argue that one merely stepping toward her was a "threatening" gesture. 

What I am saying is that kind of logic doesn't hold up very well in the face of multiple witnesses and the event (likely) being captured on film through the news crews at the press conference. 

I'm sure there are plenty of real-world examples to be found of cops/security guards doing things like pushing people out of the way during events in full public view. The notion of them taking a full-on swing at someone who is just loud, who displays no sort of weapon, and while being watched by a dozen members of the news media seems unrealistic to me. 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

8 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I'm sure there are plenty of real-world examples to be found of cops/security guards doing things like pushing people out of the way during events in full public view. The notion of them taking a full-on swing at someone who is just loud, who displays no sort of weapon, and while being watched by a dozen members of the news media seems unrealistic to me. 

I don't know. Depends how smart the guard in question is, I guess. Certainly there would be bad press the next day, but that doesn't seem to stop people. Although on other hand, apparently no one pays attention to press about the Heights. But you may be right that it would be more likely for them to manhandle him than punch him. That is defaulting to the worst thing they could have them do.

Still, I'm reminded of something I saw on the news a few months ago where a black woman member of the council of representatives for a state or town was forcibly ejected for trying to observe a vote by the opposing party that she had every right to be present for. They dragged her through the hallways protesting the whole time and the entire thing was on camera. Then they charged her with trying to violently disrupt the proceedings despite no evidence to that effect and she was held in jail for a short time. So like I said, the potential media consequences don't always stop people from thinking they can get away with it, especially people with more brawn than sense.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Noneofyourbusiness

[Delphi]

I'm all for very special episodes but I do think,  even though it's Supergirl,  the conversation between Kelly and Kara should have happened with someone else.   She watched her planet blow up,  jonn watched his daughters die.   In universe there are some soap boxes you don't stand up on. It's insulting and rude, my people are ignored,  sorry about the massacre of your entire race. 

[legaleagle53]

On 9/27/2021 at 5:42 PM, Delphi said:

I'm all for very special episodes but I do think,  even though it's Supergirl,  the conversation between Kelly and Kara should have happened with someone else.   She watched her planet blow up,  jonn watched his daughters die.   In universe there are some soap boxes you don't stand up on. It's insulting and rude, my people are ignored,  sorry about the massacre of your entire race. 

And Kelly is watching the massacre of innocent people without hope because the system that is supposed to have their backs doesn't give too hoots about them, and they know it. The only difference is that these people are being massacred in a slow, drawn-out process that is akin to death by a thousand paper cuts. Kelly was right to scold Kara and the rest of the Superfriends for ignoring problems that they can fix now instead of focusing on one that for now simply isn't fixable.

[Chicago Redshirt]

23 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

And Kelly is watching the massacre of innocent people without hope because the system that is supposed to have their backs doesn't give too hoots about them, and they know it. The only difference is that these people are being massacred in a slow, drawn-out process that is akin to death by a thousand paper cuts. Kelly was right to scold Kara and the rest of the Superfriends for ignoring problems that they can fix now instead of focusing on one that for now simply isn't fixable.

"Massacre" is far too strong a word for what is happening either generally to the people of the Heights or the specific people who were afflicted by the collapse of the building in this episode. 

Also, the Super Friends had no reason to think that the staff at the hospital wasn't taking the very best care of the people of the Heights in this episode. So they didn't have any particular reason to think that there was a problem that needed their help until about the time that they intervened. Putting Kelly's unfocused request to do something on the front burner when universal armageddon was a realistic possibility doesn't seem prudent.

There is no reason to think that the problem of Nyxly "for now simply isn't fixable" from the perspective of the characters. From our perspective, we know that because there's X number of episodes left, the Super Friends cannot and will not fix this problem in the immediate future, and we also know that Nyxly cannot and will not succeed in her objective in the immediate future. But the Super Friends cannot know these things and should be operating under the premise that Nyxly has the means to find the Totems, unite them and become all-powerful. They took a rational step in trying to figure out a way to figure out the Nyxly problem: develop a way to detect Fifth Dimensional energy in the hopes that it could either lead to Nyxly or the Totems. 

The well-being of the 100 or so Heights residents pales in comparison to the well-being of all denizens of at least two dimensions (3rd and 5th), as does pretty much any of the other situations that the Super Friends could be helping with but aren't in National City and around the globe.

[statsgirl]

On 9/21/2021 at 11:48 PM, Primal Slayer said:

Wow....this was....an episode. Pretty cringeworthy on the writing sorry to say.

Kelly is so mad that no one is helping the aliens that she wants to be helped, specifically the kid even though the hospital is clearly overwhelmed and helping everyone they can. So automatically everyone is the in the wrong and not understanding where she's coming from. It was just so over the top which is very CW writing so shouldnt be surprised. The Superfriends arent ignoring what's going on, they are trying to defeat the big bad themselves that caused all of this.

The governor lady, whatever her name is, they really made her into the most 1 dimensional villain ever. At the beginning she is clearly injured but Kelly is angry at her for not caring as much and then the lady gets her alien on and turns into a 0 dimensional villain.

Digg....it's sad that he is just touted out between 4 shows just to be the go to Black guy to give a pep talk to the other black characters during their very special episode and help them realize that they can be heroes as well! The writers made his and off screen relationship with James into "he's black, im black, we're friends! because we both know the struggle" 

Just another forced episode where they think they are being subtle by making the black characters into aliens but with no substance and everything thrown at your face.

This was written by Azie Tesfai. It's admirable that Berlanti and the CW lets the cast of their shows try their hands at writing and directing but  they still need someone to oversee these early efforts.

I think that Kelly was supposed to be an avatar for racialized communities, that  people disregard her needs the way they disregard those of the community, but the writing was too heavy-handed. I can't buy that a building collapsing was ignored in the news because they were doing traffic reports instead (a parking garage in a town on Ontario collapsed and it was front page for days), or that Alex is such a terrible girlfriend that when Kelly said "I need help here" she disregarded her. Of course the only one who listened to her was Nia because she's othered too (although Nia telling Alex and Kara not to follow Kelly out was bad advice because it just isolated her even more which I guess was the point of the episode.) Alex's speech at the end "I can't know what you're feeling" was so obvious, it was at the level of a high school student written play. I wish I was half as affected by this episode as I was by the one Murdoch Mysteries did on the Black community and policing.

Rankin was one-dimensional but saved by Kari Matchett's acting.

David Ramsey directed the episode and I guess that he didn't want to instruct Azie too much because she wrote the episode but she could have used it. I thought that Kelly's phone call to James was a message she was leaving rather than a conversation because she never stopped to let him reply. But other than wrt Kelly, I thought the directing was good and it was nice to see Diggle fighting in light at last.

When I saw Guardian's new outfit, I thought of Bumblebee.

 

I wish these female superheroes would stop with the long hair, especially long flowing hair like Guardian's braids. They're a handhold just waiting to happen.

[Maelstrom]

On 10/19/2021 at 11:10 AM, statsgirl said:

I thought that Kelly's phone call to James was a message she was leaving rather than a conversation because she never stopped to let him reply.

I figured that, too, and assumed James got in touch with Diggle after hearing it (rather than, you know, calling his sister back during her time of need. Or maybe he did call her, and we just weren’t shown their conversation to make room for more oh-so-subtle storytelling).

[Lugal]

I give them credit for tackling these issues, but they are way too heavy handed about it.  Their most subtle metaphor was a white woman literally stealing the life force of black people.  Although I have to give credit to Kari Matchett for the way she asked, "Can I be taken to the white hospital?" without saying the words.  And Brainy reminding children everywhere to eat their vegetables.

On 10/19/2021 at 11:10 AM, statsgirl said:

I think that Kelly was supposed to be an avatar for racialized communities, that  people disregard her needs the way they disregard those of the community, but the writing was too heavy-handed. I can't buy that a building collapsing was ignored in the news because they were doing traffic reports instead

Yeah, first of all a building collapsing I think would effect the traffic with first responders going to the accident and such.  Second, when apartment buildings collapse, it's usually in poor and racialized communities, because rich people spend enough money to ensure that their homes don't come crashing down on their heads.

But IMO the episode had bigger flaws.  While Joey and Orlando's story was good (even if they did forget they were aliens), but the writers don't seem to realize that they undercut their whole message.  Orlando said (rightly) that the system doesn't listen to people like him.  How do their voices get heard?  By having a powerful friend that the system will listen to.

That brings to the biggest problem: The system that is supposed to have their back doesn't and they all know it.  No one questions the legitimacy of that system.  If it is legitimate, then how do they get it to work as promised?  And if it isn't, then are they justified to replace it?  This is especially important for the Superfriends because they actually have the power to do these things.  While I don't expect Supergirl to carry the banner of Reform and/or Revolution, they should at least be asking these questions.