S01.E07: Human For A Day

[MarkHB]

Kara and her friends must rely on their inner strength and courage when an earthquake strikes National City. Also, Alex’s mistrust of Hank reaches a breaking point when the earthquake traps them in the DEO with Jemm, a powerful alien escapee.

[Kromm]

Well the episode name certainly spoils the cliffhanger from last time, right?

[Chicago Redshirt]

Where Jemm is, the Holograms are certainly close behind. :)

 

I kid, I kid. It is a reference to Jemm, Son of Saturn. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jemm

[RandomWatcher]

I knew it!!

[AimingforYoko]

Hank Henshaw is dead, long live Martian Manhunter! (Seriously though, the red eyes were kind of a giveaway) Should make a good ally for Kara.

[silverwings]

Martian Manhunter!! Was it just me or did he sound like Carl Lumbly when he transformed? Because that would be awesome.

[nksarmi]

Holy crap - I did not see that coming.  My son loves Martian Manhunter lol. I know some won't like this, but I think it's awesome.

[Chaos Theory]

This show is starting to grow on me. It started out as way to CBSy and lesson of the week for me. Plus I don't care for the love triangle. The Alex stuf was awesome especially the gun fight and then Martian Manhunter. Honestly I think that was the best part. This show is starting to grow on me.

[cambridgeguy]

I guess the costume change will always be hand-waved away (where the heck did she keep that thing) but fair enough.  It's a shame they didn't show the aftermath of that scene, with Supergirl jogging away to change.

 

I wonder how powerful this version of J'onn is - his usual comic book powers pretty much make him equivalent to Superman, if not more powerful.  Well, except for the weakness to fire.

 

For better or worse this is not a CW show - kill the stupid love triangle!  It makes everyone involved look bad.

[thuganomics85]

Hell yeah, Martian Manhunter!  I was hoping they were going that direction, and I'm glad they did.  I'm glad that it looks like this time, it is a case of a good person/alien taking over for someone who was kind of bad and will be a help to the hero, instead of an adversary.  Looking forward to where this goes, although I hope he and Alex don't keep Kara in the dar for too long, because, well, secrets like this never stay hidden for long.  I guess my only issue is, as much as I enjoy David Hardwood in this, part of me will always wish they got Carl Lumby (Martian Manhunter from the Justice League animated series), but I guess that would have been too much.

 

Anyway, I enjoyed this episode.  Kara losing her powers is familiar territory, but it was still interesting to see her reaction (unlike most heroes, she's had them pretty much forever), and Melissa Benoist was great as always.  They already went ahead and did the whole "fails to save someone", which I guess makes sense, because this was around the same time they did that to Barry in The Flash.  The scene with the looter was a bit on the cheesy side, but again, Melissa sold it.

 

Cat Grant was actually pretty good in this too.  On the other hand, I usually like Mehcad Brooks, but I felt like there was something off with his performance in this one.

 

Winn though, just annoys me.  Maybe I need to watch that again, but it was only just a hug between Kara/James, but he was acting like they were making out on the floor.  And maybe I would have been more understanding if I felt like Winn was really upset over the idea of them cheating on Lucy, but I still think a lot of it is because she's not hugging him.  Whatever, Winn.

 

Even underneath all those prosthetics and make-up, I could tell that was Charles Halford (Chas from Constantine) as Jemm.  He was also on the first season of Agents of Shield, so I guess he's trying to make all the superhero show rounds.

 

So, is Agent Donovan/Luke Macfarlene dead, too?  Kind of sucks for him.  Especially since Alex was the one who convinced him to go with her.

 

Hello again, Astra.  Laura Benanti still manages to go to maximum crazy-eye levels, in only a few seconds.

Edited December 8, 2015 by thuganomics85

[quarks]

It wasn't exactly a shock, given all of the fan speculation, but still, the Martian Manhunter reveal was pretty awesome.  And as incredibly cheesy as it was, I have to say I loved the bits with Kara and the looters, especially intercut with Cat's speech.

 

My most WTF moment, though, was when Kara saved James from the elevator shaft - and took time to change into her costume along the way. I mean, I know she's superfast and this is a comic book show, but if the situation was dire enough to generate Kryptonian hormones, then it was dire enough that she shouldn't have had enough time to change her costume.

[statsgirl]

If the radiation from our sun is what will restore Supergirl's powers, why didn't she spend the day off sunbathing?

 

Cat won me over in this episode when she used the word "bloviating".  I thought they hit the right balance for her, between her encouraging speeches to her self-absorption "Wit"... "Wik".  I thought it was an interesting shift in the balance of power when Supergirl said Cat had inspired her.  Not something Cat had expected, and I wonder how it's going to affect Kara in the future.

 

When Supergirl returned and flew over Lord, the expression on his face was "Curses, foiled again". Perfect.

 

I really liked Alex's plot and the Martian Manhunter reveal.  Can we all be friends again now?

 

I see what they're doing with the triangle (James encourages Kara to be a hero even without powers; seeing Kara pushes James to be a hero; Winn loses it seeing the woman he wants wanting to be with a guy who has a woman of his own) but really, it's not pretty and it's not well done.  Leave that stuff to someone with more finesse.

 

Taking the time to change into her Supergirl outfit when she should have been saving a falling James bothered me too.  Who was there to see?  Everyone but James and Winn were in the room away from the elevator.

Edited December 8, 2015 by statsgirl

[legaleagle53]

My most WTF moment, though, was when Kara saved James from the elevator shaft - and took time to change into her costume along the way. I mean, I know she's superfast and this is a comic book show, but if the situation was dire enough to generate Kryptonian hormones, then it was dire enough that she shouldn't have had enough time to change her costume.

 

Not an issue, since it would have taken less than a second for her to change.  That's how fast Kryptonians really are (although the show hasn't yet shown just what their limits are in that regard).

[statsgirl]

But James was falling 32 ft/sec and accelerating so that less than a second could have made the difference between life and death for him.

[opus]

I wonder how many non-comic readers laughed at the dramatic announcement of what sounded like "My name is....JOHN JONES!!"

[legaleagle53]

But James was falling 32 ft/sec and accelerating so that less than a second could have made the difference between life and death for him.

 

That's still a nice, leisurely pace compared to the speed she's capable of (Mach 2 at least).

[BkWurm1]

Since the glowy red eyes I've assumed the suggestion about MM were correct so the big reveal wasn't surprising but I was very pleased when they went all the way and gave us his classic red lederhosen look.  I'm very pleased that Henshaw was a red herring.  Big improvement on the character.

 

 

Winn though, just annoys me.  Maybe I need to watch that again, but it was only just a hug between Kara/James, but he was actually like they were making out in the floor.  And maybe I would have been more understanding if I felt like Winn was really upset over the idea of them cheating on Lucy, but I still think a lot of it is because she's not hugging him.  Whatever, Winn.

 

Yeah, until Winn came in, (and even after for a while) it didn't occur to me that there was anything wrong going on.  When Winn showed up, I just thought Kara was worried he'd be uncomfortable, not that she'd done Lucy wrong or anything.  I guess they were too cozy in the office but it was very much a friend moment. 

 

It's funny, yes, I think part of Winn wished he was getting the hugs but it's almost like he'd made his peace that he wasn't going to get them because as he said she was living above them on another level.  And the stupid "the hero doesn't get the girl or guy"...umm except in the Donnerverse, yes, Superman always got the girl.  So did Spidey and The Flash (in the comics) and even Green Arrow got married (not my fault if he 'effed it up)  Only Batman doesn't get the girl and that's only because she usually dies on him.  Or is evil. 

 

I never had a problem with Winn before but I really didn't like his attitude.  It was like he'd convinced himself that he'd have her all to himself as a direct result of her never being allowed to have real happiness.  Maybe he has the makings of a villain after all. 

[TV Anonymous]

So let me get this straight. Kara got undress, put on her Supergirl costume - certainly in a private area since he did it with the speed and awkwardness of a human - put away her civilian clothes and glasses, undo her hair - including changing the color from brunette to blonde - and then walk to the corner store. With the whole street watching her not flying. And oh, she changed into that tight-fitting costume and those high boots with a broken hand.

 

And what happened after the robber handed over the pistol? Did she call 911? Did she make citizen arrest? Did she leave the robber to the store owner? And then she walked away from the store with the costume? Find another dressing room to change?

Edited December 8, 2015 by TV Anonymous

[david gideon]

This episode seemed to put the final nail in the coffin for Kara's earth dad, which I find disappointing. I suppose it's never 100% certain until you see the corpse (and even then it might not be) but I don't think we'll be seeing much of Dean Cain other than flashbacks.

[VCRTracking]

Yahoo! front page spoiled the surprise for me, dammit.

[cynic]

"The hero doesn't get the guy". Eff you, Winn. You suck. 

 

I loved the Alex/Martian Manhunter plot. I'm glad he ended up being a good guy and can help Kara.

 

The "lost powers" trope ended up being effective, if a bit simple. It helps that Benoist is so earnest and charming.

[Jediknight]

Loved Kara, Winn, and James teaming up to save the people above them.  I did not love Winn's scene with Kara at the end.  Come on dude, WTH?

 

Loved the Martian Manhunter reveal, that whole part of the episode was great.

 

Kara/Supergirl is still the most adorable character on television.

That's still a nice, leisurely pace compared to the speed she's capable of (Mach 2 at least)

And that's only what she's at now, she's Kryptonian so really there isn't much of a limit to how fast she can ultimately fly.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Props to people who correctly guessed that "Henshaw" was really Martian Manhunter rather than Hank Henshaw. I wonder if OG Henshaw is still out there.

 

The trouble with the reveal is it doesn't make much sense. For instance, why was MM such a douche to Supergirl if they have all that in common? How does MM think recruiting Alex into a paramilitary organization that hunts aliens constitutes "keeping her safe"? Why take on the Hank Henshaw persona rather than Jeremiah Danvers or just straight up telling the Danvers who he was? (Yeah, I know he said, "to reform the DEO." But given that one of his first acts in the show was to shoot SG full of Kryptonite, I hate to think of what the unreformed DEO was like.) Why was MM going out of his way to be shady with Alex? Or letting his glowing eyes show? (BTW, Hank Henshaw also has glowy eyes).

 

Re: the main plot, it's pretty pathetic that SG burnt herself out fighting RT. I mean, it would take so much to beat RT. But let's go with it.

 

I'm glad that SG showed herself to be a hero even without her powers, even if that situation was contrived. Good thing she didn't run into one of those villains who empties a clip at SM/SG and then when that doesn't work, throws the gun at him/her.

 

People wanting to see Jimmy do his job, I hope you are happy that he decided to get his photography on.

 

When Kat told people they could take time off if they need, what was that supposed to be? For any media company, a major earthquake means all hands on deck. That's time to win Pulitzers. 

[statsgirl]

When Kat told people they could take time off if they need, what was that supposed to be? For any media company, a major earthquake means all hands on deck. That's time to win Pulitzers. 

It was Cat being nice, letting people go home to their loved ones. And then she took pictures of anyone who left.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Fair enough, but i don't buy that she would have feigned being nice, nor that any journalists would have fallen for her pretending to be nice. 

[VCRTracking]

[AudienceofOne]

I should probably just give up on this show although at this stage complaining about how bad it is remains enjoyable.

 

For a start, this episode was terribly written. Exposition, exposition, exposition, contrivance, cliche, contrivance, cliche, cliche, cliche, the end.

 

Re: the main plot, it's pretty pathetic that SG burnt herself out fighting RT. I mean, it would take so much to beat RT. But let's go with it.

 

 

Well, she is just a girl (I hate to repeat myself so often but everytime they make her more pathetic than Superman just because of her gender I get steamed). There is no way that threat should have stripped her of her powers.

 

But ok, they want to make her 'human for a day' even though we've only seen her with her powers for six episodes. Okey dokey.

 

o let me get this straight. Kara got undress, put on her Supergirl costume - certainly in a private area since he did it with the speed and awkwardness of a human - put away her civilian clothes and glasses, undo her hair - including changing the color from brunette to blonde - and then walk to the corner store. With the whole street watching her not flying. And oh, she changed into that tight-fitting costume and those high boots with a broken hand

 

I know, right? And then she apparently just wandered off with James on foot and nobody noticed that Supergirl was there in the middle of the disaster... walking.

 

If the radiation from our sun is what will restore Supergirl's powers, why didn't she spend the day off sunbathing?

 

 

She spent the weekend in an underground base and then panics because her powers haven't returned. Three guesses!!

 

Oh, and the tiddly annoying thing to me about that secret base was the big deal they made of the fact that only Supergirl could get into the room with the hologram but there they all were crowded around it when she wasn't there.

 

Alex's breakdown in the middle of the crisis made NO sense, whatsoever. It's not as if Henshaw could be suspected of orchestrating Jemm's escape. But good going tying up the other person with the gun during a crisis and then taking on the bad guy by yourself. Because that makes sense.

 

Cat Grant was actually pretty good in this too.

 

 

Her character's working for me, mostly because she's hilariously self-absorbed but it's nicely balanced with her sudden moments of self-reflection. I enjoy watching her scenes.

[Cthulhudrew]

That was a pretty cool reveal; I'd somehow missed all the speculation. I like how it not only preserves the genuine affection and concern the character of "Henshaw" has shown thus far- in spite of his supposed comic book villainy- and also opens up the opportunity to have the real Henshaw come back in all his nefarious (and probably righteous) indignation at a later date. It sounds like the real Henshaw is just the sort of jerk that he is in the comics, and if he survived and became a cyborg... J'onn and Kara better look out.

[BkWurm1]

Well, she is just a girl (I hate to repeat myself so often but everytime they make her more pathetic than Superman just because of her gender I get steamed). There is no way that threat should have stripped her of her powers.

 

They established that it has happened to Superman plenty of times as well.  That's the info Winn was looking at.  Also, I thought Red Tornando was an A-lister in terms of power.  Or maybe that's only when he plays on the side of heroes?

[patchwork]

I'm a bit disappointed we got Martian Manhunter instead of Miss Martian (my personal speculation), I think she would have fit into the show's overall theme better but never mind I like Jon too. 

 

I might be saying this too soon but the show seems to be finding it's balance, it's stop being relentlessly messagey and just telling the story. 

[Kromm]

Ugh. Not good.  Worst episode of the season.
 
A lot of bad stuff in this one, but the worst moment?  She's dressed as Kara when the elevator cable snaps. Nobody is around other than people in on her secret ID. THEN she has to change into Supergirl clothes to catch the elevator. Because you know... she doesn't have Super-powers when dressed in civvies (rolling eyes).
 
To me this kind of useless stupidity in a script should be a firing offense.  Then again, it's probably unfair to fire a writer over it when a director, a script supervisor, and some producers just let it go too.
 

Well, she is just a girl (I hate to repeat myself so often but everytime they make her more pathetic than Superman just because of her gender I get steamed). There is no way that threat should have stripped her of her powers.

Hmm.  I didn't mind her being stripped of her powers.  What I DID mind was the unnecessary addition to the situation that she (magically) took much longer than Superman to recover. For you know.. reasons.  I mean nothing in the plot demanded that. This earthquake could have JUST as easily been set 12 hours after our last episode as several days. And yet it WASN'T.  For again... "reasons".  
 
I'm gonna hope that was a flourish from the same Asshole who wrote that she had to change outfits to catch that elevator and not something the showrunners always planned.

I'll say this. I won't conclude definitively that this show is sexist until I see that it goes beyond this one writer. Then again we have a script supervisor, a director, and a showrunner all seeing it before it goes out too. So... show. You are on notice.

EDIT - Ugh. Bad news. I looked it up here. The "Asshole writer" in question is unfortunately some loose conglomeration of people. So unfortunately that spread the blame and DOES go back to making them all look incompetent.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Kromm

[Winston Wolfe]

 

Props to people who correctly guessed that "Henshaw" was really Martian Manhunter rather than Hank Henshaw. I wonder if OG Henshaw is still out there.

Yeah, I was one of the folks that called it very early on, it was so obvious to us comic book lovers.  Still, I wish that they had gotten Phil Morris for the part.  I loved his take on J'onn Jonzz from Smallville.  If you're going to be that obvious, go all the way.  Plus, just like some comic book characters, Phil never seems to truly age.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Winston Wolfe

[BooBear]

Ugh. Not good.  Worst episode of the season.

 

Yeh, First I was bored during most of it. Then there was way too much Jimmy being Mr. Cheerleeder. In a way he sort of creeps me out he is such a fan boy.  Perhaps I am not a reader of the comics but the idea that Kara or supes could "blow out their powers" and particularly that Kara could do it over such a small use of them as last week, annoys me. Alex's plot annoyed me and I didn't like her co workers getting taken out because *she* wanted to find out what was going on.

 

I would have liked it if Kara would have decided to learn CPR or other basic things so, if she lost her powers again she could help.  But no... learns nothing.

[FurryFury]

Hank Henshaw just became a lot more interesting. I liked the ep overall, even despite the cheesiness - and I credit a lot of it to MB's acting, because she just seems so SINCERE in her niceness.

 

Also, good use of Alex and another scene with Maxwell Lord whom I'm starting to seriously adore. Hope he won't become a full-on villain, more like an anti-villain or anti-hero. The actor is really charismatic and has chemistry with both Kara and Alex.

 

The bad stuff: Love. Triangle. Please go away! I could have liked Winn and even root for him as an underdog but the actor's choices and the character's behavior doesn't do him any favors.

 

As for James, whatever. He could go back to Metropolis with Lucy for all I care.

[kitmerlot1213]

It's funny, yes, I think part of Winn wished he was getting the hugs but it's almost like he'd made his peace that he wasn't going to get them because as he said she was living above them on another level.  And the stupid "the hero doesn't get the girl or guy"...umm except in the Donnerverse, yes, Superman always got the girl.  So did Spidey and The Flash (in the comics) and even Green Arrow got married (not my fault if he 'effed it up)  Only Batman doesn't get the girl and that's only because she usually dies on him.  Or is evil. 

 

I never had a problem with Winn before but I really didn't like his attitude.  It was like he'd convinced himself that he'd have her all to himself as a direct result of her never being allowed to have real happiness.  Maybe he has the makings of a villain after all. 

 

THIS!  To me, Winn was being deliberately hurtful because he was jealous that Kara hugged James and not him so that makes his speech about her being above all of them because she's special ring false.  It's as if he doesn't want her to have any personal happiness unless it's with him and that feels very villainous to me.  And isn't Maxwell Lord a man he looks up to?

 

Cat Grant continues to be awesome, a great combination of supportive and self-absorbed--she wants to help the city and restore hope but she's also annoyed that she's the one who has to do it.  Cracks me up :)

 

Martian Manhunter is fabulous and I like that Alex now knows what happened to her dad.

 

I just thought of something--CBS owns the CW, so could this show have a Supergirl/The Flash crossover?  That could be rather cool.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Reddy may be powerful, but I wouldn't consider him an A-lister, and he's definitely not in the SM/SG weight class. Not his fault...few people are. That's one of the underlying problems with the show. Some of the previous incarnations of Superman shows have compensated by having SM be at the earliest stages of his career so that he doesn't fully know what he's doing and having Kryptonite be ubiquitous (Smallville) or by having the emphasis be on his civilian life (Lois & Clark). Here, SG should have outclassed basically every villain of the week she's come up against except for Astra. I can buy that part of the reason why some of the fights she's been in haven't been the two-hit fights talked about in Breakfast club (her hitting VOW, VOW hitting the floor) is that she is pulling punches/trying to reason with people.

 

As far as we know, Reddy is not made of whatever the DC equivalent of adamantium is. There should be no reason for SG to not simply rip Reddy limb from limb, grab it and fly it into the ground at Mach 2, or why a more conventional burst of heat vision would not destroy it, other than to set up her being powerless. 

 

Speaking of which, another supermentoring fail. SM should really have told her that she can burn through her powers if she is not careful, since it apparently happened to him enough times for Max Lord to have worked out how long it takes SM to recharge.

[sjohnson]

DEO, too boring to watch, read during those scenes. It's becoming an increasing problem. 

 

The rest was okay. Perhaps the weight of the conclusions didn't justify all the scaffolding? 

 

Winn may or may not have correctly read James but  I think he certainly was correct that what Kara did would have angered or maybe even hurt Lucy, had she been watching. 

 

It seems to me the really objectionable part to the triangle is not James reluctance to commit to Supergirl. She is after all more an inspirational picture and a sexy costume than a romantic partner, and he doesn't really know Kara Danvers a real person that well. Nor is it that Lucy hasn't been solidly committed to James. The path of false love is no smoother than the path of true love. And it's not that Winn fell in love with Kara Danvers. To my eyes at least Danvers is attractive and pleasant. No, it seems to me that the really objectionable part is Kara's obliviousness to Winn's feelings. It makes her seem either callous or stupid, neither trait is attractive. It's starting to seem that her only excuse is that either she believes it grossly obvious she's too high status for him to admire her (which also is kind of repulsive,) or she thinks the dude is gay/bi and its' a deal breaker.

[cambridgeguy]

 

Hmm.  I didn't mind her being stripped of her powers.  What I DID mind was the unnecessary addition to the situation that she (magically) took much longer than Superman to recover. For you know.. reasons.  I mean nothing in the plot demanded that. This earthquake could have JUST as easily been set 12 hours after our last episode as several days. And yet it WASN'T.  For again... "reasons".

The reason was that there had to be the possibility (in her mind) that she'd lost her powers permanently.  If she knew all she had to do was wait out the fixed time then that's not nearly as angst inducing. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

I just thought of something--CBS owns the CW, so could this show have a Supergirl/The Flash crossover?  That could be rather cool.

 

It's a rumor that people keep talking about, but remains unconfirmed. Here's an article from a couple days ago where a muckety-muck tries to downplay the possibility: http://www.accesshollywood.com/articles/no-plans-flasharrowlegends-crossover-supergirl/

[FurryFury]

I think Kara does know about Winn's feelings, but tries to suppress this thought because she doesn't want to lose a friend. It's kinda selfish, but quite relatable, actually.

[Chicago Redshirt]

No, it seems to me that the really objectionable part is Kara's obliviousness to Winn's feelings. It makes her seem either callous or stupid, neither trait is attractive. It's starting to seem that her only excuse is that either she believes it grossly obvious she's too high status for him to admire her (which also is kind of repulsive,) or she thinks the dude is gay/bi and its' a deal breaker.

I think with this episode she made it clear that she knows about Winn's feelings for her and that is why she apologized for hugging Jimmy. Although that could just reflect her believing that Winn thinks she's putting moves on a spoken-for guy.

 

A lot of bad stuff in this one, but the worst moment?  She's dressed as Kara when the elevator cable snaps. Nobody is around other than people in on her secret ID. THEN she has to change into Supergirl clothes to catch the elevator. Because you know... she doesn't have Super-powers when dressed in civvies (rolling eyes).

 

There are several extras shown in the background just before and as the explosion first hits -- Kara and Winn pass a guy and another guy passes in front of them just before the explosion hits, and a black woman in an office, and another woman in a cube. With CatCo presumably trying to cover the explosion, there should be quite a few people. Also, there are the newly rescued people from the 26th floor who are still around potenially.

 

Not that stops Team Supergirl from having multiple conversations about her "secret" where various people can hear. Probably happened at least 4 times this ep.

 

Speaking of secrets, I hate that MM has required Alex to keep his secret even from Kara, and that she didn't push back on it. Secrets and lies...seems familiar.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Chicago Redshirt

[shrewd.buddha]

Ugh. Not good.  Worst episode of the season.

I was wondering if I was just in a harsher mood than normal, but this episode just seem way more hamfisted than usual. There was nothing subtle about the love triangle shenanigans at Catco or Alex's over-the-top reactions to Henshaw at the  DoX (department of Xenophobia). 

 

The costume thing was really bizarre... First Kara discovers she is powerless when she cuts her finger at Catco - then she dresses as Supergirl to get tested at DoX (where most people should know she is Alex's sister, from all the yelling about it). Does Kara change clothes in the car when Alex is driving her back home? 

Later she manages to change into the tight fitting Supergirl costume rather quickly, despite having a broken arm and no powers. 

After all of that, her taking the time to change outfits before flying down the elevator shaft to save James just seemed normal. 

 

The earthquake emergency also brought up other questions. Does Superman not bother to fly across the country for major national disasters? Do the super people only feel obligated to take care of people in the city where they have decided to live? It also seemed hard to believe that Kara would have the time to kick back and relax at the end of the day in her civilian identity when there would still be lots of things she could help with after a major catastrophe.

But, you know .. comics... 

 

In fairness, John Jones (Henshaw) also has magic costume powers. Apparently he is shape-shifting his clothing as well as his body. It makes me wonder what happens to jackets that he takes off... (but I don't think we are supposed to think about that).

Edited December 8, 2015 by shrewd.buddha

[random chance]

I wonder how many non-comic readers laughed at the dramatic announcement of what sounded like "My name is....JOHN JONES!!"

 

Heh that was me.  "OOoookay ... your name is actually ordinary, how startling."

[Bats27]

Well, I was wrong. Congratulations to all who called this before. I wonder of the real Hank Henshaw is still out there? If he is, he might not be happy about someone else stealing/using his identity. Also, this reveal opens the door for more "hidden heroes" to potentially be out there (since Superman and Supergirl are apparently the only public ones in this continuity).

 

Also I continue to be impressed with how much more interesting they've made Cat Grant so quickly.

[Primetimer]

When an earthquake coincides with the loss of Supergirl's powers, Kara has to break new ground in her hero game.

Read the story

[william0102]

This was definitely one of the worst episodes script wise, and you guys covered it all so nicely.

However, I have to talk about how Winn was such a sh*tty firend. Kara hugged James, hugged. She did nothing wrong, but Winn turns on her because his feelings were hurt. He's such a whiny baby. Kara knows about his feelings for her and still tries to be nice. He's asked her out, and she turns him down. Her mistake is not telling him straight out that she doesn't like him romantically, so now she has to change her behavior to save his feelings- while he lashes out like a child who doesn't get what he wants. But she shouldn't have to tell him because it's beyond obvious how uncomfortable she gets when he does this crap. He only cares about her being Supergirl because that makes her even hotter to him, as evidenced by how he tried to dress her during the costume creation montage. He acted like a brat when he found out that James knew Kara was Supergirl. Does he even see her as a friend? I mean he completely failed at giving her clues at game night even though they work together every day. If the writers are trying to show him as a selfish douche, and everything that's wrong with entitled white guys, then good job show.

Kara is not only the better friend, but a better person. I really, really dislike him, but he was just unbelievably rage-inducing this episode.

[sjohnson]

"Her mistake is not telling him straight out that she doesn't like him romantically..." I don't see how any understandings that skip over this make any sense. As I remember she's never uncomfortable asking for his help. 

 

As far as the encounter between James and Supergirl goes, the bottom line is whether it would have happened with Lucy in the room. I don't think so.

Edited December 8, 2015 by sjohnson

[KirkB]

Really it would be none of Winn's business if Kara and James had been having sex when he wandered in. Neither of them would be cheating on him. Just because he's the one who'd like to be having sex with Kara doesn't mean he's in any position to get snippy at her.

I imagine Superman didn't stop by because of what happened with Reactron. He's not going to show up again unless Kara specifically asks him to. That, or I suppose he could have been busy. Kara protects National City. I think he's looking out for everywhere else.

Lord's face when Supergirl flew by was interesting. He seemed...not angry, exactly. Disappointed? I'm not sure what the right adjective is.

Clark's clothes were usually bulky enough to hide most of his suit, with the exceptions of the cape and the boots, so he could conceivably be wearing it all the time even when he has lost his powers. Kara doesn't really have that option so she must keep hers stored somewhere. And getting in and out of it without super speed, especially with a broken arm, would make for an amusing montage.

As for Kara being surprised about Astra, well auntie, we haven't seen you for a couple of months. I think all of us had kind of half forgotten about you.

[statsgirl]

I both blame and absolve Kara, Winn and James in the triangle. I do however blame the writing and the EPs love of stupid triangles.  Why not wait for a few episodes before pushing the Kara/James stuff?  I want character development on my superhero shows but not stupid manufactured drama for the sake of soapiness.

 

As far as the encounter between James and Supergirl goes, the bottom line is whether it would have happened with Lucy in the room. I don't think so.

I thought it was between James and Kara but no, it wouldn't have happened if Lucy were in the room because both James and Kara would have felt awkward. (I first said Lucy too but she seems kind of oblivious to nuance like criticizing Supergirl in front of James.)  Even if Kara's and James' feelings towards each other were entirely platonic, given at what stage the Lucy/James relationship is, he wouldn't have hugged anyone.

 

EDIT - Ugh. Bad news. I looked it up here. The "Asshole writer" in question is unfortunately some loose conglomeration of people. So unfortunately that spread the blame and DOES go back to making them all look incompetent.

Berlanti and Kreisberg go over the scripts when they're not too busy with their other shows but this episode was written by Ted Sullivan, who taught creative writing has written a few episodes for Revenge and Rizzoli and Isles as well as How Does She Do It? for Supergirl, and Yahlin Chang who used to write for Newsweek magazine. 

 

The quick change in the elevator shaft was stupid to many of us but most viewers wouldn't have noticed.  It's the sort of thing that gets missed on these shows. Nowhere near as bad as when The Atom electrocuted Roy and both Ray and Oliver left as Roy was twitching in a pool of water.

[william0102]

"Her mistake is not telling him straight out that she doesn't like him romantically..." I don't see how any understandings that skip over this make any sense. As I remember she's never uncomfortable asking for his help. 

 

As far as the encounter between James and Supergirl goes, the bottom line is whether it would have happened with Lucy in the room. I don't think so.

Asking Winn for help about her sister does not mean she owes him, it means she treats him like a friend.

Guys who hang around trying to do stuff because it makes them feel better and to try to get into a girl's pants are pathetic. Winn has no problem being around other women, he can read cat enough to know how to interact with her, he was polite to Lucy at game night- he has enough ability to read tense situations and people that he has tried to be the buffer for thanksgiving- but he shouldn't have to control himself around Kara? That's bull. He's selfish and wants Kara, then throws tantrums when his feelings are hurt over nothing. Men like him are why women act like Kara, always trying to save "his" feelings, when really she should just realize that he's not that good of a friend and ditch him.