S01.E06: Red Faced

[Tara Ariano]

Stress and anger get the better of Kara when she goes too far during a training exercise with Red Tornado, a military cyborg commissioned by Lucy Lane's father, General Sam Lane. Elsewhere, Cat's tough exterior is shaken by a visit from her judgmental mother, Katherine; at the same time, Alex enlists Winn to investigate her father's mysterious death.

[Trini]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKe9vBct6nE

 

It's got to be red kryptonite, right?

[Trini]

"Jimmy's special boyfriend" might be my new favorite nickname for Superman.  :-P

[Lantern7]

"Tonight's episode is brought to you by the Red Lanterns. The Red Lanterns: have you engaged your rage today?"

 

So-so episode. The show is over the top, but it's not nearly as fun to watch as Gotham. Once again, Cat gets some character growth, but it isn't enough to make up for the show's flaws. Also: Why did Kara have to get a car dangling like a heavy bag? Has Winn never introduced her to the bonus rounds of Street Fighter II? You can vent on a regularly-parked car.

 

RIP Red Tornado. It came off as a busted-ass Vision knockoff, so Supergirl did us a favor by blowing it to bits.

[statsgirl]

Poor Lois, growing up in a family with Lucy and her father.  Is he single?  General Lane would be the perfect match for Cat's mother.  So it's Supergirl's fault that General Lane commissioned an android to take her out but she beat it up?  And her fault that they failed to put in a failsafe device into it.  Nice firing of the scientist there, it makes Red Tornado going after you and your daughter all the better.

 

The juxtaposition of Alex's fight with the scientist and Kara's fight with Red Tornado was cool but it didn't make any sense because how would Alex and Kara be making the exact same moves at the exact same time?  If the robot was working independently, then it's more understandable.

 

So we're getting  some romance with Alex and Lord?  He wasn't so bad today so maybe it will be interesting.

 

Cat is getting more complex, although still hugely self-centered.  She took Kara drinking for her sake not Kara's. The advice is good but it still feels like Cat is giving it partly for her own glory to be the mentor she wish she had had rather than for Kara's own sake.

 

Jeremiah Danvers is so not dead.

 

As for Lucy, sigh.  I was hoping she would to get on that plane with her father because other than at the very end, she was just awful. Blind to her father's contempt for James, rude to and about Supergirl, ungrateful when she was saved.  Didn't tell her father he was being stupid and arrogant until the last moments and even then it was about her relationship with James rather than the unfair way he had treated Supergirl.  When Kara told James that she could never have what he and Lucy had, I thought "A crappy relationship? Anyone can have one of those."  The way Mechad Brooks played it, I thought James was hoping Lucy would leave too because it would at least end the relationship without him having to be the one to pull the plug. She's gorgeous but it's one of those things when you say the sex must be fantastic to keep him with her.

[Writing Wrongs]

Is Lucy supposed to be of an ethnic origin? It kind of threw me to see a pale ginger as her dad.

 

I find myself really enjoying this show.

[quarks]

So hoping that in this universe, Lois Lane has cut off ties with her father. Yikes. Manages to blame everyone but himself for loosing an evil robot on an innocent city, jumps all over his daughter for her relationship choices, jumps all over Jimmy for his beverage choices (really, what was that? Who cares whether or not the other person at the table is boozing it up or not unless the other person is driving, in which case, club soda is definitely the appropriate choice, you go, Jimmy!). And that's not even mentioning the taxpayer money he just wasted on this robot.  And he didn't even take the time to grow a mustache to twirl. If he had a redeeming moment, I missed it.

 

And continuing on the bad parent front, Cat's mother was....quite something, wasn't she? I guess that was meant to explain just why Cat is the way she is, but she was so over the top awful, right down to telling her daughter that she didn't have the ability to chat with Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood, that I couldn't take her seriously.

 

Loving the developing relationship between Cat and Kara, though, even if my theory that Cat knows that Kara is Supergirl took a bit of a hit when Cat seemed to really believe that Kara could be cut by glass - and wasn't surprised when Kara was. HMM.  Fanwank: Cat doesn't believe that Superman and Supergirl are really invulnerable.

 

Or she put Kryptonite in those glasses.

 

Hmm.

[TLoyd]

Not sure why I am still watching, maybe becasue nothing else is on.

 

The "fighting" the tornado was really lame, exactly what did she did except  smash her lips together and fly into the tornado?  Winn and James add nothing, the Lanes add even less.   No surprise daddy Danvers will still be alive. And we get it Henshaw has a deep red glowy eye secret.

 

Have we ever seen James with a camera, does he do anything besides get lunch?

 

So much for girl power when Lucy resigns her commission to stay in National City with James.  How about asking for a transfer first at least.

Edited December 1, 2015 by TLoyd

[TV Anonymous]

If the key to destroying Red Tornado is by using the Heat Vision, why bother engaging him from the beginning or in all the other occasions? Why made physical contact and risk injury when the Vision did the job just fine?

 

I guess all the genius engineers in National City missed an important key in any mechanical device. Emergency shutdown. Last week we had an automated train that could not be stopped while running (and running at high speed in urban area nevertheless), this week once the battle robot goes into self-preservation mode it also can not be stopped.

[Winston Wolfe]

 

I guess that was meant to explain just why Cat is the way she is, but she was so over the top awful, right down to telling her daughter that she didn't have the ability to chat with Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood, that I couldn't take her seriously.

Toni Morrison is a distant cousin (4th or 5th I think) of mine, so that reference was really cool, even though I missed it.  I'm trying to pull for this show, but it's rapidly losing its luster for me.  Other than the Kryptonians, every VOW has been lame, lame, lame.  Kudos to the poster who referred to RT as a "busted Vision knockoff."  Kara's fight scenes are consistently weak, and James Olsen's only purpose seems to be eye candy.  Right now I'm basically hanging in there for Henshaw's big reveal, but even that will be anti-climatic given how heavy the anvils have been.  Still, it's only Season 1, shows often take a while to find their groove.  I still remember how awful the first season-and-a-half of ST:NG was before the cast pulled a mini-revolt over the script quality.

Edited December 1, 2015 by Winston Wolfe

[Trini]

Did they explain at all how Red Tornado got his arm back?

[WhosThatGirl]

I don't know how I feel about this show. At times I like it, but other times I don't. I don't ship Kara with Winn Or James. And the show is like really pushing that pairing, I think. 

[cynic]

It's not that I don't agree with the feminist messages and yeah, they aren't acknowledged enough, but this show is kinda preachy.

 

Kara's job isn't doing it for me. Is she trying to work herself into a better position? Is Kat supposed to be mentoring her or something? Why is Kara putting up with this woman? And how does she get away with spending so much time away when Kat is so demanding of her time? 

 

I wish Kara had another name they could use. It's weird that they call her Supergirl all the time at the...whatever that secret agency is.

 

I really like Jimmy and I like that he gets development, unlike another love interest on that other Berlanti show.

[Cthulhudrew]

Did they explain at all how Red Tornado got his arm back?

 

I wondered the same thing until they revealed that Dr. Morrow was still controlling him. Probably used a spare arm to fix it.

 

Though that just begs the question of why they needed Max Lord to find him instead of asking that question themselves. "Where could he have gotten a replacement arm? Hmmm."

 

Was there a point to noting that the Red Tornado became sentient right before Supergirl fried it? Except to make me wonder if she's a murderer now?

[statsgirl]

I think the sentient thing was to explain why it was still moving even after Alex had killed Dr. Morrow.  Ups the tension for 30 seconds.

 

Lucy Lane is blonde in the comics, however Jenna Dewan Tatum's father is half Lebanese so that may be where the exotic look comes from.

 

Margaret Atwood is amazingly cool and would be completely comfortable exchanging snarks with Cat.  (She's also a great person to follow on twitter.)

 

 

If the key to destroying Red Tornado is by using the Heat Vision, why bother engaging him from the beginning or in all the other occasions? Why made physical contact and risk injury when the Vision did the job just fine?

She made contact because General Lane told her she had to fight it, and then Lucy taunted her about it so Kara wanted to prove herself.  Defeating it with Heat Vision was about connecting with her anger because it wasn't working at first.  There were (canary cry) howls of rage as she fought it.

 

At least that's my fanwank.

 

Or she put Kryptonite in those glasses.

 

Hmm.

 

Good theory but I'm still convinced that Cat doesn't know because a reveal when she figures it out (during February sweeps?) makes for a better story.

[ottoDbusdriver]

So, Red Tornado's feet spin make him fly ?  Was he designed that way because that seems really stupid ?

 

And Red Tornado just blowed up real good ?  That's it.  All the while Kara is imitating the little blonde girl from the series 'Believe', only now with laser eyes.

 

I also thought it was a little convenient that the only thing on fire behind Supergirl after Red Tornado blew up were carefully placed oil drums, yet there was a tarp and some plastic sheeting that should have also been on fire.

[pete]

Why doesn't Kara just work at the DOE as an assistant of some type for legal /tax salary reasons.

 

I know she wants to be as normal as possible but no way  she would be able to just leave whenever like she does.

 

The bad guys of the week on this show are lame.

[Chicago Redshirt]

As for Lucy, sigh.  I was hoping she would to get on that plane with her father because other than at the very end, she was just awful. Blind to her father's contempt for James, rude to and about Supergirl, ungrateful when she was saved.  Didn't tell her father he was being stupid and arrogant until the last moments and even then it was about her relationship with James rather than the unfair way he had treated Supergirl.  When Kara told James that she could never have what he and Lucy had, I thought "A crappy relationship? Anyone can have one of those."  The way Mechad Brooks played it, I thought James was hoping Lucy would leave too because it would at least end the relationship without him having to be the one to pull the plug. She's gorgeous but it's one of those things when you say the sex must be fantastic to keep him with her.

 

I don't think Lucy was at all blind to her dad's contempt for James. James made her very aware of it, referencing it in the scene where they were talking about going to dinner. At dinner, she specifically told her dad to play nice, which he ignored. And on returning from the restroom, she checked in to see what had transpired. In quitting her job, she again stood up to her father. He wanted her to be his little Mini-Me. And she was like, not having it. My life is with James.

 

Lucy was rude to Supergirl at first, but in part I will write that up as a combination of bravado and insecurity. Her serving the "executive order" forcing Supergirl to participate in their test of the Red Tornado of course doesn't make sense. She was catty about Supergirl when talking with Kara and James. When she encountered Supergirl after being saved, she said thanks.

 

When it comes to Supergirl, Lucy was in his chain of command. So I could see her as being unwilling to seem insubordinate.

 

I dunno. It seems like James has been very happy with Lucy. They enjoyed each other at Game Night, and the only sources of tension in their relationship seem to be General Lane and Superman.

 

And continuing on the bad parent front, Cat's mother was....quite something, wasn't she? I guess that was meant to explain just why Cat is the way she is, but she was so over the top awful, right down to telling her daughter that she didn't have the ability to chat with Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood, that I couldn't take her seriously.

 

In fairness, I don't think many people would be suitable dinner companions for Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood.

 

Have we ever seen James with a camera, does he do anything besides get lunch?

James is now the art director, so his days of going around with a camera are presumably done. We have seen him working with layouts and the like.

 

 

 

If the key to destroying Red Tornado is by using the Heat Vision, why bother engaging him from the beginning or in all the other occasions? Why made physical contact and risk injury when the Vision did the job just fine?

 

I guess all the genius engineers in National City missed an important key in any mechanical device. Emergency shutdown. Last week we had an automated train that could not be stopped while running (and running at high speed in urban area nevertheless), this week once the battle robot goes into self-preservation mode it also can not be stopped.

 

I suppose it's the same reason why Voltron never used his blazing sword as the go-to weapon even though every single fight ended with it. Because any real fight between Supergirl and pretty much any Kryptonian would be a two hit fight.

 

In the context of this story, their first fight was supposed to be just sparring. So Supergirl was pulling her punches, and even using her other powers took things too far. In the second fight, punching was doing just fine, until RT started a tornado as a distraction to get away. (Speaking of which, General Lane, F--- you two times. You complain about the possibility of casualties and then when Supergirl saves dozens of people you blame her for letting RT go? It would not have taken much to write General Lane with some level of nuance. I hope Lucy is bi and starts showing interest in Supergirl so both your daughters are into aliens.)

 

The third fight was a little ridiculous. I just was shaking my head at the red-hot ragey heat vision face.

 

As for the emergency shutdown, since Morrow was controlling RT all along, there's no issue with it.

 

I am also sad about the waste of potential of Red Tornado. I mean, I guess there's nothing to stop them from saying that there's a Red Tornado 2.0 who is the good guy we know from the comics. But still..blowing it to bits doesn't seem like the call. 

[thuganomics85]

Man, I usually love Glenn Morshower and I guess he technically did a good job here, but wow, General Lane was the worst.  An asshole who feels the need to control his daughter's life, playing the blame game like an immature child, and apparently, a big old bigot, who thinks all aliens are bad.  I was so hoping something bad was going to happen to him.  Like real bad, such as Kara sonic punching him or Hank using his alien eyes to incinerate his brain.  But I would have at least settled with Jimmy knocking his teeth out.

 

Although, I guess Cat's mom was a good runner-up, but she was just the typical one-dimensional jerk, who at least got chewed out at the end, so she wasn't that frustrating.  I guess her main goal was to make Cat come off more sympathetic, which kind of worked, but she still could afford to be nicer to Kara.

 

Looks like they are heading there with Alex and Maxwell Lord.  The actors have chemistry, I admit, but if will kind of be a dick move on Alex's part, since Kara told her what he did.

 

Luke Macfarlane showing up as some kind of random agent, was strange.  Is he being set up for future episodes?

 

Hi, Iddo Goldberg!  Bye, Iddo Goldberg!

 

Way to almost reveal Kara's identity to Lucy, Winn.

 

So, now it sounds like Alex/Kara's dad and Hank went on some kind of mission years ago, with dad dead/missing (so, not dead), and Hank showing back with amnesia.  Hmm...

 

Whatever issues this show might have, Melissa Benoist is so damn charming.

Edited December 1, 2015 by thuganomics85

[Actionmage]

Alternate title: "Parents Just Don't Understand"

 

Glen Morshower should have a guest Emmy for making me hate Sam Lane so thoroughly and completely. Also Joan Juliet Buck was as adept as Mama Grant. Man.

 

I was disappointed in how the episode handled stopping Red Tornado. I know that he could actually return, but the potential lost going in the 'must blow it up' option is disappointing. Everyone just seemed to take Lane's word that the android was a danger, just because he said so. It was a machine and it was controlled by Morrow. How did Lane forget that?  Also the whole not bothering to track down the creator of said android wasn't even brought up! These folks would make bad rookie cops.

 

I did appreciate the continuing deepening of Cat's character, but I was thrown for a moment when Cat told Kara to come with her and the cut was to Lord Industries! I don't know why I thought that, but I was relieved when it wasn't Cat and Kara.

 

Winn was wonderful tonight, even with his awful turn at whichever game they were playing.  Against his better judgement, and father issues, he helped the Danvers ladies.  I hope they can be smart about the new intel they are finding out about. I don't want Winn in trouble. He really won me over this week. He doesn't have to be The Boyfriend, but I wish Winn gets chances to be heroic in coming episodes.

 

I was also disappointed that we didn't get to see James order his meal. After the pile of crap he was made to sit through and put a happy face on for coward Lucy, I was pulling for the evergreen passive-aggressive Most Expensive Thing on the Menu. Lane dissed everything but the part of James' hair and expected him to eat a meal with Lucy and himself? Then he can surely foot whatever James, as Lane's guest, wanted to order. But that is me. I also was hoping that James politely left the restaurant after being told all the bile that Lane spewed. No one should have to stay in the vicinity of someone so thoroughly invested in tearing you down.

 

I want to like Lucy, but as a poster up thread said, her not returning to Metropolis was more about her dating status not being in her father's purview more than Sam Lane being a hateful xenophobe. It is a small step, though, so it leaves me hopeful.

 

Henshaw needs to quit with the randomly glowing red eyes; someone's gonna see it.

[Shriekingeel]

Have we ever seen James with a camera, does he do anything besides get lunch?

That touches on my biggest problem with the show. Basically every established characteristic of Jimmy Olsen in 75 years of comics and in prior portrayals by Jack Larson, Marc McClure etc.--his comic-relief awkwardness, his eagerness for "scoops", his puppydog devotion to Superman--can't appear in Mehcad Brooks's portrayal because these characteristics would quickly be construed as "racist" by the usual suspects. So we're left with this utterly bland, uninteresting character who does absolutely nothing. "James" might as well be a cardboard cutout.

[Kromm]

A third good episode in a row (which makes like 5 out of 6 in total). There's some BS (I definitely agree with TLoyd for example that we really need to see James actually doing his job), but the main action of the show and the main relationships are coming off well. They've done an exceptional job with Cat, for example--maybe even a tad excessively in that she's almost a co-protagonist at times, so maybe they need like.... 10% less Cat). 

 

Lucy is a slightly befuddling character in that I think the actress herself is really likable (so she's far better than some similar characters on other shows), but Lucy herself seems kind of one step too removed from the action to make total sense in this story. As cliche as it is, if they somehow could have written her to be friends with Kara FIRST and THEN hook up with Jimmy (in other words ditch their ex-status from Metropolis and go with something vague like they knew each other through Lois but never hooked up) then Lucy would have made more sense for this show. At this point she just comes off as the Interloper, and that can't last. 

 

I think it might work to GIVE her purpose by putting her permanently into the DEO, but that emphasizes the problem that people call Supergirl "Miss Danvers" in the clear at the DEO and so you'd either have to stop that, or have some way to bring Lucy into that circle of trust, but somehow justify her keeping secrets from her Daddy. Who clearly WASN'T read in to Supergirl's Earth Name (at least the episode stayed consistent there with suddenly nobody at the DEO HQ Miss Danvers-ing her.

 

I was a little disappointed to see Red Tornado destroyed. It seems a waste of a cool DC character to have him totally knocked out of the box like that.

[Kromm]

Oh... and it's only in the TV version of the Army that someone can leave whenever they want.

[cambridgeguy]

It seems odd that Kara wouldn't have noticed her powers were gone until that moment in the office unless that heat vision blast burned through most of her power and she hasn't had enough time to recharge before using the rest to fly back home.   It might be like Superman's new solar flare power that leaves him powerless for about a day after.

 

Evil or not Maxwell Lord has been portrayed as a smug, arrogant jackass.  Is Alex, an accomplished agent, really supposed to be stupid enough to fall for him? 

 

Kara doesn't seem to have much of a connection to Dean Cain - she never once referred to him as her foster dad.  It does make sense if he "died" only a year after she showed up but it looks like her interest in the mystery is solely due to wanting Alex to get some resolution.

[Big Mother]

Kara bleeding scares me. What does that mean for Supergirl?

General Lane has classic Borderline Personality Disorder and Cat's mom has typical  Narcissist Personality Disorder.

If Lucy was partnering with James for game night and Kara with Winn, who was usually James's partner?

[Kromm]

Kara bleeding scares me. What does that mean for Supergirl?

Horrible terrible things!  Muhahahaha!

 

Really as cliffhangers go, it was weirdly low key. 

[Primetimer]

Kara works out her anger issues on the Red Tornado, but she may have worked out more than that.

Read the story

[shrewd.buddha]

I understand the formula of the show is that the first third is the shi... ummm... crap on Supergirl segment, followed by pep talks and life lessons learned at the end. But the logic and reasoning for the blame game is utterly ridiculous : 

"You wrecked my expensive car instead of letting me plow through a bunch of young girls in a crosswalk !!" 

"You wrecked my expensive robot that I asked you to fight and caused him to run away !!" 

 

The person watching with me said that this type of illogical writing is aimed at a younger audience. But, seriously, how young would a person have to be for that to seem reasonable? It's like Saturday morning cartoon writing. 

 

And I won't even bother to get into how lame it was that Supergirl stopped the threatening tornado by flying into it with a super determined grimace on her face. Gah. 

 

I would give the show some credit for trying to tie together "Red Faced", Red Tornado, 'Seeing Red', and Cat's lecture about how women are not allowed to show anger as opposed to how society allows men to do so. But a lot of the show's feminist preaching doesn't hold up upon closer examination. 

Is Cat's diva-like behavior, rants, and random firings really different than displaying anger? The reality is that anyone in a subordinate position is forced to swallow their anger and pride as they attempt to climb the corporate ladder. 

Not even men can get away with hysterical, unhinged anger -- just look back at some of past presidential  candidates that flamed out when they failed to keep it together. There is a difference between being justifiably angry and losing your shit. 

Edited December 1, 2015 by shrewd.buddha

[kitmerlot1213]

If Lucy was partnering with James for game night and Kara with Winn, who was usually James's partner?

 

I thought the same thing!  How awkward is game night if it's just Kara, James and Winn?  And I didn't appreciate James inviting Lucy without Kara's permission first--who does that?

 

I liked the layers to the Supergirl/Lucy interactions.  We know that Lucy feels threatened by Supergirl because of James but then she was sincere in her thanks when Kara saved by her  and I especially liked Lucy's talking about the evil robot using Supergirl's humanity against her--good for her for realizing that Supergirl may be an alien but she's not the enemy.

 

And Kara may like and even care for James but her anger is based on her belief that she'll never have a conventional life but here's my question:  why does Kara have to have a normal life? If she finds someone to love and tell her secret too, then they'll be in on the secret and she can relax and be herself.

 

I like the idea of Cat's looking out for Kara and mentoring her but that Cat's kind of annoyed to be doing it, like she doesn't actually want to like Kara but she kind of does.

 

Max Lord is Lex Luthor-esque in being a rich and morally gray character and I'd like to see that fleshed out more.  That being said, I like the scenes between Max and Alex--they're kind of cute together.

[MarkHB]

My thought was that she flew in circles to create a counter-vortex, similar to what the Flash did against Weather Wizard, but they did a poor job of showing it.

Morrow may not be dead; it certainly looked like he would be, but they didn't clearly establish it one way or another. If he is alive, then Reddy 2.0 is indeed possible.

Shallow note: Chyler looked great in those jeans.

[MarkHB]

One more thought: I wonder how much time people like Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood have to spend with pretentious asses like Cat's mother. Also, "Kitty?" *Giggle*

[sjohnson]

Red Tornado seemed like a sucky villain to me. It's a desk fan on steroids, why does ne need a head?

 

DEO=Dull Endless Obfuscation. This is getting close to being a deal breaker. I'm even warming up a little to James, now that they've given him a character trait...He's a black man! But everything with the DEO sucks the life out of the show for me.

[Kromm]

Also, "Kitty?" *Giggle*

As in jokes go, this one works out pretty well (because it actually serves the plot).

[Tarasme]

Interesting episode- IMO driven by Kara and Cat bonding, ignition of what could be complex game play by Alex and Max (can I call him Max?), and another nod to everyone's daddy issues.

But.... how dare they make Red Tornado look like a complete doofus!

[Kromm]

I thought the same thing!  How awkward is game night if it's just Kara, James and Winn?  

I think they really missed a simple way to explain it, with a simple throw-away line that Alex was supposed to be there but couldn't make it.

 

After all, it makes sense.  Basically game night would normally really double as Superhero strategy night with her inner circle... thus making James' invitation of his girlfriend even MORE awkward and inappropriate.

Edited December 1, 2015 by Kromm

[sinkwriter]

From the recap:

 

 

Meanwhile, Alex has tracked the control signal to Dr. Morrow's lair and gone there alone to stop him. Alas, Morrow tells her that his telepathic relay means that the only way to stop the robot is to kill him.

 

Question: couldn't Alex have simply yanked that telepathic relay headset off his head? It wasn't fused to his skull, was it? If it's not connected to his brainwaves anymore, there's nothing to relay; thus, nothing for the robot to do.

 

(But then I suppose they had the convenient "Oh no, now he's sentient" thing. *eyeroll*)

[Kromm]

(never mind)

Edited December 1, 2015 by Kromm

[KirkB]

That game they were playing, whatever it was, may not be what they usually play on game night if it's just the three of them (I can't quite see Alex playing), they may have instead chosen a team one since there was an extra person. Or Lucy herself may have suggested it, or even brought it, being a Lane she might have anticipated teaming with James and being able to win.

 

Henshaw said that Red Tornado's chassis being lined with lead meant it was at least partially designed to fight Kryptonians, because there are people out there who still think Superman and Supergirl are threats. Fair enough. But that was the best they could come up with? It makes wind? Superman wouldn't have batted an eye stopping a tornado and it only took Kara that long because she had never done it before. If you're anticipating fighting Kryptonians, how is kryptonite NOT a part of every single design?

 

I know people like Cat's mother. No matter how successful you are, no matter how well respected, no matter how rich, nothing you ever do will be good enough. It seems like Cat knows this and puts up with it because it's her mom but stepping up to protect Kara (while simultaneously mispronouncing her name) is her way of lashing out, something she probably doesn't usually get to do. I like Cat. At first I wasn't sure how CF was going to play her but now I get she is unapologetic about her success and not trying to please anyone else.

 

As for the ending, I got the feeling Kara used up a majority of her energy destroying the Red Tornado and just needs to recharge, though that sun lamp thing at the DEO should take care of that. I hope they don't draw the no powers thing out for too long.

[Chicago Redshirt]

That touches on my biggest problem with the show. Basically every established characteristic of Jimmy Olsen in 75 years of comics and in prior portrayals by Jack Larson, Marc McClure etc.--his comic-relief awkwardness, his eagerness for "scoops", his puppydog devotion to Superman--can't appear in Mehcad Brooks's portrayal because these characteristics would quickly be construed as "racist" by the usual suspects. So we're left with this utterly bland, uninteresting character who does absolutely nothing. "James" might as well be a cardboard cutout.

 

I couldn't disagree more with pretty much everything you've written.

 

1. I think in the 75 years of comics, film, TV and animation, there have been many different  versions of Jimmy Olsen. He hasn't always been presented this way or that.

2. At least some of the characteristics you describe as being part of the established Jimmy Olsen are part of Supergirl's Jimmy Olsen. He still is pretty awkward at times, even randomly spilling the beans on Superman's secret identity. He is so devoted to Superman that in fact, that his girlfriend broke up with him because she thought he cared more about Superman than her. He has the classic signal watch (which I guess has now been modified to Superman-only or Supergirl-only settings). They have tried a little to have him as comic-relief (for instance, when he and Winn are trying to hide that they're about to meet SG in the alley and both are trying to be nonchalant and failing). His eagerness for scoops and photos, the show admittedly moved away from because they wanted to portray him as growing up, and he's an art director. You can get scoops as a photographer, not so much as an art director. (Granted, in this day and age where most newspapers have no direct competition, there's less relevance to scooping other newspapers).

3. I think that the "usual suspects" have more important things to complain about in real life than the portrayal of Jimmy Olsen.

4. I think that nothing about portraying Jimmy Olsen as awkward, comic-relief, devoted to Superman or being eager for scoops would cause the "usual suspects" to think that such treatment was racist. I can't even understand how any such qualities might be considered racist by even the most paranoid of critics. (If I were to guess, the notion of black Jimmy Olsen being in love with at least one white woman and probably Supergirl would be more concerning than portraying Jimmy as a good, if goofy, guy. Not that it should be, IMO, but I suppose if one looked long enough one could find someone upset that it perpetuates the idea that a successful black guy is not going to be interested in black women.)

5. I doubt that the powers that be GAF about what criticisms the "usual suspects" might have of their show. Also, I'd wager that the powers that be are getting far more criticism of turning white Jimmy Olsen black than they could ever get from anything they'd likely get from black folks about Jimmy Olsen's portrayal.

6. Even conceding for argument's sake that the powers that be are concerned with the potential criticism that black Jimmy Olsen was portrayed in a racist manner if he was depicted as awkward, comic-relief, friend to Superman and so forth, there's certainly a slew of alternatives to making him bland and devoid of personality (not that I agree that he is these things.)

 

Evil or not Maxwell Lord has been portrayed as a smug, arrogant jackass.  Is Alex, an accomplished agent, really supposed to be stupid enough to fall for him? 

 

Kara doesn't seem to have much of a connection to Dean Cain - she never once referred to him as her foster dad.  It does make sense if he "died" only a year after she showed up but it looks like her interest in the mystery is solely due to wanting Alex to get some resolution.

 

Max Lord is brilliant, rich and handsome, and he seems to value Alex in her own right, which is not something that seems to be true of any character other than Kara. I could see attention from someone like that going to her head, if she downplays his evil thing.

 

Yeah, it was very noticeable too that she referred to Papa Danvers as "Alex's father" rather than "our father," or my foster dad.

 

If Lucy was partnering with James for game night and Kara with Winn, who was usually James's partner?

I would suppose that they might play different games depending on who all shows up. They played some variation of Charades/Taboo, which requires at least four people. There are plenty of classic games that can be played with only two.

 

That said, it seems like a pretty sorry game night. They should have sprung for a couple of extras to just be there.

 

Also, Winn sucks at Charades/Taboo. Also, I was half expecting Supergirl to use X-ray vision and cheat her way to beating Lucy/James.

 

I understand the formula of the show is that the first third is the shi... ummm... crap on Supergirl segment, followed by pep talks and life lessons learned at the end. But the logic and reasoning for the blame game is utterly ridiculous : 

"You wrecked my expensive car instead of letting me plow through a bunch of young girls in a crosswalk !!" 

"You wrecked my expensive robot that I asked you to fight and caused him to run away !!" 

 

The person watching with me said that this type of illogical writing is aimed at a younger audience. But, seriously, how young would a person have to be for that to seem reasonable? It's like Saturday morning cartoon writing. 

 

And I won't even bother to get into how lame it was that Supergirl stopped the threatening tornado by flying into it with a super determined grimace on her face. Gah. 

 

I would give the show some credit for trying to tie together "Red Faced", Red Tornado, 'Seeing Red', and Cat's lecture about how women are not allowed to show anger as opposed to how society allows men to do so. But a lot of the show's feminist preaching doesn't hold up upon closer examination. 

Is Cat's diva-like behavior, rants, and random firings really different than displaying anger? The reality is that anyone in a subordinate position is forced to swallow their anger and pride as they attempt to climb the corporate ladder. 

Not even men can get away with hysterical, unhinged anger -- just look back at some of past presidential  candidates that flamed out when they failed to keep it together. There is a difference between being justifiably angry and losing your shit. 

 

Pretty sure in real life, some people would have the attitudes the driver and General Lane had, if perhaps not so persistently. People can be irrational, what can I say?

 

Like others said, I think we are to intuit that Supergirl stopped the tornado by flying in a counter-direction. It just was extremely poorly portrayed.

 

Re: anger, I think Cat's point is that she cannot show anger in the same way as a man (for example, physically throwing things). She can show anger in the way women can (snark, making minions jump at her every command, demanding coffee at the perfect temperature), and even that only goes so far.

 

The only candidate I can think of who flamed out was Howard Dean, and that wasn't because of anger but the awkwardness of the "Dean Scream," which was about enthusiasm about how well he was claiming to do at that point. I suppose there are going to be different standards at different times. Certainly, some candidates have been criticized for not becoming angry at all or enough (Michael Dukakis, for example, when he was asked the question about whether he would want the death penalty for someone who raped and murdered his wife, or Barack Obama, who has been criticized for being almost too calm by both sides). 

[Chicago Redshirt]

Henshaw said that Red Tornado's chassis being lined with lead meant it was at least partially designed to fight Kryptonians, because there are people out there who still think Superman and Supergirl are threats. Fair enough. But that was the best they could come up with? It makes wind? Superman wouldn't have batted an eye stopping a tornado and it only took Kara that long because she had never done it before. If you're anticipating fighting Kryptonians, how is kryptonite NOT a part of every single design?

 

We'll see where they go with it. I had a pet theory that it employed red kryptonite in some way. 

 

Background: in the Superman mythos, there have generally been different variations of kryptonite. Green kryptonite is the most common and it weakens and even kills Kryptonians. Red kryptonite has different effects on Kryptonians in the comics. As on Smallville, it has made Kryptonians less inhibited and more prone to anger.

 

That seems to fit in with what seems to be happening to Kara. In this episode, at least, she has been very much on edge. One hole is that she was that way before encountering Red Tornado, so I have to admit the theory is somewhat of a stretch.

[statsgirl]

I completely agree that the DEO is dull. And stupid since Alex had to guilt them into helping catch Livewire.  I'm still hoping that it will get better once the Supergirl/Catco/Team Supergirl set-up is done and the writers can pay more attention to the DEO.  Maybe it's coming with Jeremiah's storyline.

 

In fairness, I don't think many people would be suitable dinner companions for Toni Morrison and Margaret Atwood.

I don't know Toni Morrison outside of interviews but I know someone who knows Margaret Atwood and from what he said, she would be fine with dinner with James.  More so than dinner with General Lane or Mama Grant.

 

From the extraordinary people I've met (including two Noble prize winners in physics and one in chemistry), the truly great are often genuine and encouraging of others.  (Edward Teller spent half an hour giving an interview to me for something that would go no farther than my college radio station.  Richard Rosenthal was more encouraging and excited about my research than my professors.)

 

Those who behave like Lane and Mama Grant are the small minds, and I suspect they would bore Atwood and Morrison immensely.

I thought the same thing!  How awkward is game night if it's just Kara, James and Winn?  And I didn't appreciate James inviting Lucy without Kara's permission first--who does that?

Someone who isn't quite sure how this other person fits into his life and jumps at the chance to do this with her because it's something.  (Maybe they plan different games when it's just the three of them, or maybe Alex makes up the fourth.)

 

I saw a number of cracks in their relationship -- overt ones (like Lucy disappearing when she knows her father dislike Jimmy and while she's gone, Lane takes the opportunity to gut him, or calling Superman "Jimmy's special boyfriend" which is barbed rather than friendly teasing since that's the reason they broke up before (resentment much?)) and others more subtle (like Kara being the one to notice that James needs a way to get his anger out or James struck speechless when Kara broke down saying she'll never have a relationship like he has with Lucy, or in the last episode when he left Lucy on their vacation to phone his friend Kara (not Supergirl) and wish her a happy Thanksgiving.

 

I think Mechad Brooks is doing a good job  of conveying Jimmy's conflicted feelings without the dialogue.  He has to sell James being with Lucy but also set the stage for later.  I expect Jimmy and Lucy will break up but only after Kara has found a new love interest. Because Plot.

 

General Lane has classic Borderline Personality Disorder and Cat's mom has typical  Narcissist Personality Disorder.

If Lucy was partnering with James for game night and Kara with Winn, who was usually James's partner?

I'd say Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  But even better, Paula Caplan and Kay Patony (?) wrote a paper called the Delusional Dominating Personality Disorder which describes Lane perfectly, such as thinking other people should do what you say because you're the one saying it.  (It was a satiric paper written in response to the DSM committee wanted to put in PMS as a personality disorder and hysterically funny.)

 

ETA:  I like Kromm's suggestion that games night really doubled as a Superhero planning session.  With games to break the tension.

Edited December 1, 2015 by statsgirl

[Cthulhudrew]

If Lucy was partnering with James for game night and Kara with Winn, who was usually James's partner?

 

That's funny- it hadn't even occurred to me until you suggested it! lol

 

As others have suggested, though, maybe they play a different game. I could also see them playing that as "first to guess it wins" with everyone alternating the charade role and just tallying up points.

 

My real question is- is this the last we'll ever see of "game night"? It would be nice to see it retained as a periodic character building moment outside of the dramatic, tension filled A plots, but I suspect it (sadly) served its single episode "awkward date night" purpose and will never come up again.

 

I Jimmy actually pick up a camera at some point. Heck, with his close friendship with Supergirl,why isn't he out there getting shots of everything going on? I guess you could argue that he doesn't want to be doing the same thing he was when he was in Metropolis with Superman (as he himself said at one point) and doesn't want to take advantage of his relationship with her for personal or professional gain, but at least show him doing something to justify his paycheck!

Edited December 1, 2015 by Cthulhudrew

[Tarasme]

As others have suggested, though, maybe they play a different game. I could also see them playing that as "first to guess it wins" with everyone alternating the charade role and just tallying up points....

 

Maybe they're arm wrestling for extraordinarily brief periods? Heh.

[statsgirl]

James is now an art director. When Cat was off to Metropolis to pick up her award, James was the one responsible for the issue.

 

I hope games night continues and becomes a theme on the show.

 

A nice writing?  directing? moment was when they were leaving the restaurant. Both James and General Lane reached for Lucy's hand as she reached back to her father's, Jimmy almost rolled his eyes, here we go again.  It was a subtle statement of where they were.

 

Jenna Dewar Tatum seems like a very nice person.  My problem with Lucy is that she serves no purpose other than to keep James and Kara apart.  Even if she is under his command (and her showing the executive order was very unpleasant), when Supergirl save them outside the restaurant and Lane was still yelling at her for failing, Lucy could have spoken up as his daughter and someone who was just saved and told him how far out of line he was.  That would have shown her defending Supergirl instead of putting her down (they could have done it after Supergirl flew off if they needed to keep her angry) and it would have been a way in for Lucy to join Team Supergirl and be useful.

 

But they didn't.

Edited December 1, 2015 by statsgirl

[Chicago Redshirt]

I don't get the complaints about supposedly not showing Jimmy doing his job.

 

First, there have been at least a couple things that alluded or showed him doing assignments. Someone alluded above to him being in charge while Cat was getting her award. There was also him working with the first pictures of Supergirl and being in the meeting about it in the pilot. And there was also him brokering the first interview with Supergirl.

 

Contrast that with Winn, who is supposed to be an IT guy. I don't think we have seen him once do IT work for CatCo. He did use his position to put together the Fortress of Stronger Together, but that is not exactly doing work.

 

The fact is, I don't see much why viewers should really care all that much about Jimmy or Winn's work.  Being an art director or being in IT is not that exciting compared to supervillain fighting and alien hunting. The only possible plus to more work scenes with Jimmy or Winn would be to have interactions between Cat and them, in my book. 

[NorthstarATL]

I've never really been keen on the Red Tornadoes (though the woman with the pot on her head appeals moreso than the robodroid because of the quirkiness), so seemingly losing this version didn't bother me. I liked the Cat/Kara interactions and hope that the cut hand doesn't mean a prolonged period of powerlessness. The show is too "new" to attempt that just yet.

   So this universe's Lanes are the military version? Too bad. I liked Flight Attendant Lucy, whose schedule gave JimmyJames breathing space. And General Lane comes off as a poor man's Thunderbolt Ross from the Hulk.

  I'm wondering if our Hank Henshaw is a "changed" Hank or a replacement? Or was he always "different", even before the mission with Danvers? And when Danvers likely reappears, will it actually be the original?

    As to why Kara doesn't quit CatCo and join the DEO fulltime: Cat seems to pay enough for that cool apartment. The Government likely would not.

 I assume that Kara keeps all sorts of board games around for game night. My friends do. She's probably saving Twister  for the night only JimmyJames can make it.

[Jordan27]

Not sure why I am still watching, maybe becasue nothing else is on.

 

The "fighting" the tornado was really lame, exactly what did she did except  smash her lips together and fly into the tornado?  Winn and James add nothing, the Lanes add even less.   No surprise daddy Danvers will still be alive. And we get it Henshaw has a deep red glowy eye secret.

 

Have we ever seen James with a camera, does he do anything besides get lunch?

 

So much for girl power when Lucy resigns her commission to stay in National City with James.  How about asking for a transfer first at least.

Agree with you on everything.  A whole lot of meh in this ep. 

[Jordan27]

If the key to destroying Red Tornado is by using the Heat Vision, why bother engaging him from the beginning or in all the other occasions? Why made physical contact and risk injury when the Vision did the job just fine?

 

Yep, the show is forgetting Supergirl has super speed and no matter how strong the robot was, he didn't have super speed or quickness and she should have been able to out maneuver it and take it down relatively easily.  But, they still want to play the pro wrestling shtick and let Supergirl stand around and let the villain get the first blow in.   Really lame. 

Man, I usually love Glenn Morshower and I guess he technically did a good job here, but wow, General Lane was the worst.  An asshole who feels the need to control his daughter's life, playing the blame game like an immature child, and apparently, a big old bigot, who thinks all aliens are bad.

 

Yep, that was right of the cliché character writing school.  Nothing interesting  or original about him at all.   What a waste.

That touches on my biggest problem with the show. Basically every established characteristic of Jimmy Olsen in 75 years of comics and in prior portrayals by Jack Larson, Marc McClure etc.--his comic-relief awkwardness, his eagerness for "scoops", his puppydog devotion to Superman--can't appear in Mehcad Brooks's portrayal because these characteristics would quickly be construed as "racist" by the usual suspects. So we're left with this utterly bland, uninteresting character who does absolutely nothing. "James" might as well be a cardboard cutout.

They've made Jimmy into the masculine guy who is usually a nerdy guy.  And Kara is really the nerdy girl and so is Supergirl who shouldn't be. 

 

I'm not buying her jealousy of Jimmy's girl.  How long has she known him? 

 

Plus, why is she such a nerd when her sister is such a go getter and they grew up in the same family?

[queenanne]

I don't get the complaints about supposedly not showing Jimmy doing his job.

 

First, there have been at least a couple things that alluded or showed him doing assignments. Someone alluded above to him being in charge while Cat was getting her award. There was also him working with the first pictures of Supergirl and being in the meeting about it in the pilot. And there was also him brokering the first interview with Supergirl.

 

Contrast that with Winn, who is supposed to be an IT guy. I don't think we have seen him once do IT work for CatCo. He did use his position to put together the Fortress of Stronger Together, but that is not exactly doing work.

 

The fact is, I don't see much why viewers should really care all that much about Jimmy or Winn's work.  Being an art director or being in IT is not that exciting compared to supervillain fighting and alien hunting. The only possible plus to more work scenes with Jimmy or Winn would be to have interactions between Cat and them, in my book. 

 

The problem for choosing "art director" for Jimmy is, as you indicate, these aren't "active things", which does away with 50% of possible level of interactions.  It also keeps him tied to a desk more or less, which is not what they want for this character, and due to its passivity from an action-hero point of view (or just action), for all intents and purposes Jimmy's got the same job as Cat, and he can't react the same way Cat would react to all work related issues or else he might as well BE Cat. I wish they would make it so that he's such an impassioned photographer he just can't stop himself, or bust him back to photog or something.  Same reason and problem why people say, never make movies about "The Writing (Creative) Process", because there's only so many ways to portray someone pounding away at a keyboard, and they're all boring visually and dramatically.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I'm not buying her jealousy of Jimmy's girl.  How long has she known him? 

 

Plus, why is she such a nerd when her sister is such a go getter and they grew up in the same family?

 

You don't need to know someone long to be interested in them, or to be jealous of their significant other. 

 

Moreover, the jealousy is not entirely of Lucy, according to this episode, but at least in part based on her perceived inability to have a normal relationship.

 

I (and I bet at least some of the other people on this board) are living examples of being a nerd who grew up with more than one go-getter (or a go-getter who grew up with a nerd.) I don't think there's anything unusual about people growing up together with very different personalities.