S01.E07: Human For A Day

[Kromm]

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.

I can get viewers missing it. But how could the people who work on the show?  Someone had to make a deliberate decision to have her change outfits for that scene.  The reason it sucks so bad is PRECISELY because it's something they had to go out of their way to shoot doing it that specific way--something that (for those who DO notice) hurts any vestige of believability the episode may have had left after the REST of the stupid shit we saw this time around.

[sjohnson]

Winn has a problem being around Cat, as the episode clearly showed. And he had a problem at Thanksgiving, and he had more problem at game night. And he wasn't out of control. And Kara asks for and gets more from Winn than just help for her sister...which is a damn peculiar way to talk about risking jail for hacking a government agency.

 

It seems to me that when you have to spout bull about what's on screen you're reading something into the show that coming from you. I get you think Winn is pathetic, but why is that enraging? You're not Winn, and you don't have to identify with him. Identify with James and the problem is solved.

 

Supergirl is the lead, and the character issue is what ignoring Winn's feeling means. What does she want from him? Why did she tell him she was Supergirl? Is Supergirl a friend to Winn? Is Kara Danvers? 

 

Should he ditch her? 

[william0102]

It makes me angry because they're marketing the show towards girls. Young girls, twenty-somethings, teens, however you want to look at it, the show is sending the impression that Winn's behavior is okay, that he just has feelings for Kara, so it's all right for him to hurt her feelings.

 

It's misogynistic and reinforces male entitlement. Kara shouldn't feel bad that he's hurt over a hug, but they're making it out that it's her fault. She's to blame for Winn's feelings- how many girls already think that a boy likes them when they 'tease' her? How many teens don't talk to other guys cuz it makes their boyfriend mad? And if you want to go for extreme cases that his character reinforces, then it's a girl's fault for how she dressed if a guy attacked/or raped her; it's a wife/girlfriend's fault for not cooking/not cleaning/talking to another guy and "making" their boyfriend jealous when he hits them.

If their big thing is all about girl power, and women are just as strong as men, then they shouldn't have a character like Winn, because imo it complete negates all of that positivity they want to say they're showing.

Edited to add: Yes Winn should put on his big boy pants and realize he's only around because he wants to sleep with her/likes being part of a superhero team. No one asked him to make them a command center. Better yet, he should have backed off the first time she turned him down and realized he wasn't going to get to sleep with her.

Edited December 8, 2015 by william0102

[Skeeter22]

I think both male characters have serious issues. Winn is a Nice Guy, which needs to be fixed. James exists only to be hot and mansplain Kara's powers to her because he's besties with Superman. Somehow that makes him more of an authority on her powers than Kara herself. Hopefully they'll figure out how to use these characters before the first season is finished. The show has a lot of potential, but needs to be retooled a bit.

[xaxat]

Really shitty of J'onn to make Alex promise to keep his secret from Kara. Jeremiah loved Kara (sacrificing his family life in order to save her) like a daughter and she is a Danvers to both Alex and Eliza. Alex is in an awful spot now knowing the truth about his death. (Something I'm sure will come up in a future plot.)

 

Winn, you're no longer in high school. Suck it up and deal.

[kitmerlot1213]

I really liked the scenes where Kara stopped the looters--the moment when the camera panned down to her broken arm and you could see her hand shaking was really well done.  Kara was able to talk the bad guys down and I liked that we could see how determined she was to help, even though she was afraid.

 

And I don't think it's that James is an authority, only that he knows all of Clark's quirky names for their powers.  I like that the show is having Kara figure things out on her own because she is really the only one who can.

 

Re:  Winn, I don't think it's so much that the show is blaming Kara for hurting Winn, but more examples of Kara being awkward when it comes to romance and human relationships.  She thinks of Winn as a friend and not romantically but he won't admit that there's no hope, so they're still friends but Kara is a kind person so of course she feels bad that Winn's upset, so she reaches out as a friend again. It's very much a Catch-22.  The only way to end it would be for Kara or Winn to end the friendship and that's probably not going to happen.

[slowpoked]

I'm still very much enjoying the show. Like some have said, I love that Supergirl loves being a hero and is excited about saving the world. I was worried they were going angstu superhero, like everyone else, with the last episode, but they went back to the direction I enjoy the most. I loved it when Supergirl said "These past few weeks has been the best time of my life," acknowledging that having these powers are cool. She genuinely loves being the superhero and was disappointed that she had to suppress her powers for so long, unlike most superheros who feel like it's such a burden to save the world. If it's such a burden, then don't do it.

 

Plus MB just sells the role perfectly. She's the perfect combination of adorable and cute and cheesy and earnest. 

[Gregg247]

For a massive earthquake that decimated many of the high-rise buildings in town, it seems to have completely missed hitting the local power company.  I thought it was weird that all these injured people were laying in the streets in pain while Kara and Jimmy walked back to work, rode the elevator up to their offices, and continued working in their air-conditioned space.  Even when a gas line exploded upstairs (!), work continued on as usual.

 

Later that night, Supergirl flew over the well-lit city.  National City is certainly resilient!

 

I liked how those elevator cables that are made to hold up a 5000 pound elevator snapped when a 180 pound guy was hanging on to them.  Elevators on TV shows are the most deadly form of transportation known to man!

[pete]

Why does Super girl have to lift up one leg  a bit when she is just floating around?  

 

Anyway Kara was a bit to whiny for me tonight, so her and Winn would be perfect for each other.  And Winn you walked in a hug not a full on orgy. 

 

I thought tonight showed the lack of acting range for Benoist.  She still is ok but sometimes some dramatic stuff is off for me.

Edited December 8, 2015 by pete

[AudienceofOne]

For a massive earthquake that decimated many of the high-rise buildings in town, it seems to have completely missed hitting the local power company.  I thought it was weird that all these injured people were laying in the streets in pain while Kara and Jimmy walked back to work, rode the elevator up to their offices, and continued working in their air-conditioned space.  Even when a gas line exploded upstairs (!), work continued on as usual.

 

Later that night, Supergirl flew over the well-lit city.  National City is certainly resilient!

 

But it was a major disaster! Cat Grant said so!

 

In retrospect, the absolute worst thing about this episode (and it had a lot of contenders, trust me) was what happened after the disaster when Cat was in the offices and the monitors came back on.

 

Kara: I feel so helpless, I want to do something

James: What do you want to do?

Kara: I want to go down and stop Maxwell Lord from saying mean things about me.

 

Sure, Kara, your PR is literally the most important thing going on right now. You go yell at Maxwell for being a meany. Make sure you're super nice when you step over the dead bodies on your way.

 

SUPERHERO!!

[Delphi]

I liked this one, I'll say it. Martian Manhunter is rad, I figured but it's still rad. I liked Alex fighting Jemm. I enjoyed Kara being weak for a few days. I think each episode gets a bit stronger. I just hope Alex and Jon don't keep Kara in the dark too long.

[StaceyNotStacie]

I liked this episode, especially the reveal at the end.  Don't really care for the "triangle" between Witt, Kara, and James.  I like her friendship with both men, but don't care for the triangle.  

 

I was a bit surprised when Kara met Maxwell Lord and didn't refer to herself as Alex's sister since he and Alex seem to have a friendship.

[random chance]

It makes me angry because they're marketing the show towards girls. Young girls, twenty-somethings, teens, however you want to look at it, the show is sending the impression that Winn's behavior is okay, that he just has feelings for Kara, so it's all right for him to hurt her feelings.

 

It's misogynistic and reinforces male entitlement. Kara shouldn't feel bad that he's hurt over a hug, but they're making it out that it's her fault. She's to blame for Winn's feelings- how many girls already think that a boy likes them when they 'tease' her? How many teens don't talk to other guys cuz it makes their boyfriend mad? And if you want to go for extreme cases that his character reinforces, then it's a girl's fault for how she dressed if a guy attacked/or raped her; it's a wife/girlfriend's fault for not cooking/not cleaning/talking to another guy and "making" their boyfriend jealous when he hits them.

I could not agree more. I know from personal experience that someone constantly sighing and being "disappointed" and "hurt" and "only thinking of what's best for you" is in fact manipulating you. If you're saying "I'm sorry" to anyone several times a day, you are not the problem - they are. She's Supergirl, she doesn't answer to him.

[cynic]

I'm hoping the show is building up to Winn snapping and becoming a full on villain. His entitlement and emotional manipulation of Kara has gone too far for me to be able to view him as a potential love interest. At this point, I'm not sure I could continue viewing him as even a friend unless he has a massive epiphany about his crappy behavior. I don't advocate anyone taking advantage of someone else's feelings, but I don't see Kara doing that. She tries to be considerate of his feelings and clearly values him as a friend (hence the holiday invitation). I don't think she would ask anything of him that she wouldn't ask any other close friend who is in on her secret, especially one that seems to be so eager to be in the superhero inner circle. He, on the other hand, seems to only be doing these things in hopes of winning her favor and gets bitter when that doesn't work. If the powers that be want this to be a viable live triangle, they're writing it wrong.

Otoh, if they're turning Winn into a villain, good job! Lots of shows like this would make the villain a obviously horrible person, even if they're hiding it from the people on the show. It's refreshing to have a show acknowledge that someone cute and seemingly nice and a friend to you can still be a horrible person.

[morakot]

James, though, should not be messing her around - he's not unaware of her crush, he's recommitting to a new relationship, and he's still collecting his adoration from Kara whenever he can. Maybe it's a reaction to his own hero worship of the "Big Guy", but it's a selfish move on his part. It's not the typical behavior of a "nice guy" (Winn's stuck in that trope) but it's still not an attractive trait. A nice smile and firm abs do not make up for lying to both the women in your life.

 

ETA: Comments on James's behavior with Kara have to come from someone who has witnessed it. Alex is busy and pre-occupied and not always present at Catco to see it. I can see why Winn's comments can be seen as manipulative and jealous but they are also true -- James is in a relationship with someone who is moving in with him and is not free either to flirt or be flirted with.

Edited December 8, 2015 by morakot

[CabotCove]

Super awesome episode!

 

That Martian Manhunter reveal OMFG!, did not see it coming. I so wanted to believe it was Cyborg Superman. Well played show and hats off to those who saw it a mile away.

 

Im liking the Kara/James chemistry,  so loved that they were given more interaction this episode, aboard the Karolsen ship. Cat still make me cringe mostly, but she has an interesting chemistry with Supergirl. I don't hate Winn, he can be a nice guy but he is very efficient in his work. He is a good ally for Supergirl and the operation. Alex was a badass in this episode.

 

The show is pulling all the stops lately , last week there was Red tornado, General lane, Lucy and now Martian Manhunter. DC really is being generous.  People who left, hope they return, the show seems to have found its stride.  

 

Im looking forward to the return of Aunt Astra for next episode. 

Edited December 8, 2015 by WildcardC

[CabotCove]

Kara shouldn't feel bad that he's hurt over a hug, but they're making it out that it's her fault.

 

I think Winn was "disappointed" in Kara because Lucy is in the picture. Sure there is a part of him that is angry that Kara likes James and not him, but he has never acted like that before and always keeps  it to himself. Sure he overrated but  I think he felt he had to tell a friend, that they don't want to be the reason a couple  (James/Lucy) broke up. 

 

In fairness, John Jones (Henshaw) also has magic costume powers.

 

J'onn J'onzz. 

Edited December 8, 2015 by WildcardC

[MarkHB]

I was disappointed that they made Jemm a villain.  Traditionally, he was a hero, and since there was some history between the Martians and Saturnians (hinted at in Jemm's first scene) there could have been some story potential there.  But there was no "misunderstood" card to play the way they wrote this one - Jemm was just plain evil - plus they did something like that with the MM story itself.

[AudienceofOne]

I think Winn was "disappointed" in Kara because Lucy is in the picture. Sure there is a part of him that is angry that Kara likes James and not him, but he has never acted like that before and always keeps  it to himself. Sure he overrated but  I think he felt he had to tell a friend, that they don't want to be the reason a couple  (James/Lucy) broke up. 

The whole "you're above us" thing just smacked of a post-hoc rationalisation he's devised for why she wasn't interested in him. Pursuing James when he's in a relationship pops that particular delusional bubble. She's not "above mortal man" but just not interested in him.

 

And this is my biggest problem for how this character has been used so far. He's introduced to us in the first episode as "guy at work who keeps hitting on her" so when she reveals her secret to him, I couldn't understand why. Now he's apparently her "best friend" but they've literally never shown us that. All we've seen is "guy at work who knows her secret and keeps hitting on her".  She didn't even know his family circumstances.

 

Now I actually had a friend when I was in my early-20s who started sleeping with a woman in a relationship and I was FURIOUS at his lack of ethics. We had a serious fight about it I was so mad. So if they hadn't portrayed Winn this way, I could see his viewpoint in this. But since he is just "guy who hits on her", then he's not angry at her lack of ethics. He's mad because his little "why she isn't' interested in me" thought bubble has been popped.

[statsgirl]

I have two questions:

 

Did Maxwell Lord say that he finished medical school in a year (eyeroll) or that he was in medical school for a year  (also eyeroll because many schools don't let you near real people in the first year) ?

 

Do we know how long Derwin Tatum (Lucy) is on the show for?  Is she now permanent cast?

[Chicago Redshirt]

James, though, should not be messing her around - he's not unaware of her crush, he's recommitting to a new relationship, and he's still collecting his adoration from Kara whenever he can. Maybe it's a reaction to his own hero worship of the "Big Guy", but it's a selfish move on his part. It's not the typical behavior of a "nice guy" (Winn's stuck in that trope) but it's still not an attractive trait. A nice smile and firm abs do not make up for lying to both the women in your life.

 

ETA: Comments on James's behavior with Kara have to come from someone who has witnessed it. Alex is busy and pre-occupied and not always present at Catco to see it. I can see why Winn's comments can be seen as manipulative and jealous but they are also true -- James is in a relationship with someone who is moving in with him and is not free either to flirt or be flirted with.

 

I'm not sure where you get that Jimmy is aware of Kara's feelings towards him. If anything, he very well may have interpreted Kara's advice to reconcile with Lucy as evidence that she doesn't have feelings for him. Because normally outside the realm of TV/movies, who would tell someone they have a crush on to go back with their ex?

 

Also, I don't think that Jimmy has gotten to the "messing around" stage with Kara. They had a nice, emotional moment and they hugged. Jimmy did play it (for the first time that I can recall) like "Hey this ain't half-bad." But if you take out the swelling Music of Young Romance, it wasn't at all incriminating. 

 

He certainly hasn't gotten to the point of lying to either Kara or Lucy as far as I can see (I mean, except for keeping the Kara=SG secret).

 

I think Winn was "disappointed" in Kara because Lucy is in the picture. Sure there is a part of him that is angry that Kara likes James and not him, but he has never acted like that before and always keeps  it to himself. Sure he overrated but  I think he felt he had to tell a friend, that they don't want to be the reason a couple  (James/Lucy) broke up. 

 

Winn has been pretty blatant about his feelings for Kara, explicitly saying in the pilot something to the effect of "Oh so you're gay. That's why you won't go out with me." So I don't know how he "always keeps it to himself."

 

The whole "you're above us" thing just smacked of a post-hoc rationalisation he's devised for why she wasn't interested in him. Pursuing James when he's in a relationship pops that particular delusional bubble. She's not "above mortal man" but just not interested in him.

 

And this is my biggest problem for how this character has been used so far. He's introduced to us in the first episode as "guy at work who keeps hitting on her" so when she reveals her secret to him, I couldn't understand why. Now he's apparently her "best friend" but they've literally never shown us that. All we've seen is "guy at work who knows her secret and keeps hitting on her".  She didn't even know his family circumstances.

 

Unfortunately, Winn may well be Kara's best friend outside of Alex by default. She literally only has one other friend as far as we've seen in Jimmy, and Jimmy is in the love interest zone, and she's only known him for several weeks. 

 

We don't know how long Kara has been working at Catco, but given that Kara is supposed to be 24 or so (IIRC), let's say for discussion's sake that she has been there for 2-3 years, and Winn has been there about the same amount of time. That's potentially decent grounds for a friendship. Too bad the show hasn't done enough to show it. (I mean, the game night thing was terrible, as I would expect someone who regularly plays games with friends to not get shut out at Charades/Password/Taboo).

Did Maxwell Lord say that he finished medical school in a year (eyeroll) or that he was in medical school for a year  (also eyeroll because many schools don't let you near real people in the first year) ?

 

Yup, he said he finished medical school in a year. I don't roll my eyes at that, because he is being portrayed as a libertarian supergenius. 

[Chaos Theory]

Honestly the show could get rid of both Winn and James and it wouldnt effect my enjoyment of the show. Heck it would actually increase it. But then the show does need males...I guess.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[william0102]

I've wondered a couple times why Kara doesn't have friends in the office, let alone from school. I mean she's just so sweet, how does she not have more friends?

If they got rid of Winn and James, I would be fine with that. And if they had to keep one guy for a love triangle, then keep James and Lucy. Winn is more replaceable in my opinion since James works at Catco with Kara, and Alex can be their computer/research person with her DEO status. Getting rid of one or both guys though would give them more time to focus on the DEO storyside and make that better. Which might actually be a good thing with the MM reveal and Alex (probably) keeping it a secret. This was another secret we don't need considering it seemed like they are going for a love connection between Maxwell and Alex. Maybe they won't though since Alex knows the truth about her dad now, and that takes away the dead parent connection?

[sinkwriter]

 

Next time take the labels off of your judgy-pants before you wear them to work, Winn.

 

Seriously. She's allowed to accept a hug of comfort during a difficult moment, Winn. You know, like when your arm's been broken and you've witnessed a death you couldn't stop and you've all been part of a scary earthquake... sheesh.

 

 

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

 

HAAAA! *raises hand* That was me! I mean, I didn't have an issue with the John part, because he pronounced it kind of all fancy-like (like "Zhahn"), but the Jones part made me pause and quirk my head like, "Did he just say 'Jones'? Really? Huh..." Kind of lacking in power. I mean, the only thing less dramatic would have been Smith. *GRIN*  No offense to anyone whose last name is Jones or Smith.

 

After I finished laughing, I did figure it was part of something comic book-related that I haven't read.

Edited December 9, 2015 by sinkwriter

[AudienceofOne]

Seriously. She's allowed to accept a hug of comfort during a difficult moment, Winn. You know, like when your arm's been broken and you've witnessed a death you couldn't stop and you've all been part of a scary earthquake... sheesh.

 

 

And... also it was just a hug. With one arm. On account of the other being broken for the first time in her life.

 

Basically, this episode just sucked.

[morakot]

I'm not sure where you get that Jimmy is aware of Kara's feelings towards him. If anything, he very well may have interpreted Kara's advice to reconcile with Lucy as evidence that she doesn't have feelings for him. Because normally outside the realm of TV/movies, who would tell someone they have a crush on to go back with their ex?

 

I'm pretty sure he knows she has a crush on him (his facial expression during the hug makes it clear to me that he does).I don't think the crush is mutual -- as far as he's concerned, she's Superman's little cousin that he's looking after -- James is a man with a man's relationship. But here's this bouncy superhero who gets tongue-tied and awkward in his presence -- and the ego boost of a Kara-crush is more than a little addictive.

[CabotCove]

Winn has been pretty blatant about his feelings for Kara, explicitly saying in the pilot something to the effect of "Oh so you're gay. That's why you won't go out with me." So I don't know how he "always keeps it to himself."

 

Yeah  I think Kara knows that Winn has romantic feelings for her since the pilot. He did ask her out.

 

What I meant by "always keeps it to himself." is how he feels about Kara/James getting closer. He doesnt let it show that he is upset that Kara likes James instead, well until this episode. And thats only when it was affecting someone other than him, Lucy Lane too.

[Chicago Redshirt]

People's mileage will vary -- I saw his expression during the hug more as Jimmy first seeing Kara as someone he's interested in.

 

But what I was wondering was evidence before the hug that Jimmy knew Kara liked him.

 

It's not like Kara is articulate in her civilian ID but just gets tongue-tied around Jimmy. She is almost always tongue-tied as Kara and actually a fair bit as Supergirl.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I've wondered a couple times why Kara doesn't have friends in the office, let alone from school. I mean she's just so sweet, how does she not have more friends?

If they got rid of Winn and James, I would be fine with that. And if they had to keep one guy for a love triangle, then keep James and Lucy. Winn is more replaceable in my opinion since James works at Catco with Kara, and Alex can be their computer/research person with her DEO status. Getting rid of one or both guys though would give them more time to focus on the DEO storyside and make that better. Which might actually be a good thing with the MM reveal and Alex (probably) keeping it a secret. This was another secret we don't need considering it seemed like they are going for a love connection between Maxwell and Alex. Maybe they won't though since Alex knows the truth about her dad now, and that takes away the dead parent connection?

 

One of the things I would like to see the show try for in the back set of episodes or next season is more worldbuilding. For instance, it would be nice to have some of the random extras at Catco have names, jobs, hopes, dreams and be more than just mute human window dressing. It would be good to know more about Kara between the time when Superman dropped her off at the Danvers and we see her at Catco. 

 

For instance, we don't even know for sure if she has a college degree. Or friends from back in the day. Or why she decided to start wearing glasses she clearly doesn't need. Or why she felt not able to be normal. Or what she did to try to feel normal.

[cynic]

I really want to know why she decided to work for Cat as her assistant. Is she trying to work her way into something? Did she think this would be her in into journalism? Why is she willing to take so much abuse? Surely, there are better jobs unless this one has particular advantages.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I think in one of the eps Kara said some combination of respect for Cat plus wanting to make a difference prompted her to take the job. But that just doesn't make sense. Even without using her abilities, there are probably millions of ways she could help that would be more effective than being Cat's assistant.

 

Heck, even if she opted to just be a reporter like Clark, she could make more of a difference.

 

And even if she was naive about the job originally, it should be apparent now that she can do better.

[william0102]

They did cut something about the glasses- apparently Jeremiah taught her to focus/filter out all the stuff she picks up with her powers. I don't particularly understand what glasses has to do with that, but yeah they did apparently cut out why she wears glasses. I think they should have left it in, just gives her more context. 

The fact that Kara has a paying job for someone like Cat, I think it's safe to assume she went to college. You don't just get a job as an assistant nowadays. You intern in college and hope you can turn that into a job like an assistant once you have your degree. So Kara's probably known of Cat since at least her last year of college. But what did she go to college for? Was it journalism, business? Does she literally want to follow Cat's career path or what? They could have thrown in a line at any point in the first episode when Alex was telling her she shouldn't use her powers, that she should just keep working towards x job.

[Kromm]

Why does Super girl have to lift up one leg  a bit when she is just floating around?  

The answer might be "to look Super Cute", except I also think that because she's actually on a harness and not actually floating that sometimes she might be more comfortable in certain positions.

[miracole]

Plus MB just sells the role perfectly. She's the perfect combination of adorable and cute and cheesy and earnest.

Her portrayal of Kara reminds me so much of how Mamie Gummer portrayed a character Emily on A CW show called Emily Owens MD that it's actually a little jarring.

[NorthstarATL]

The Martian Manhunter reveal really was cool, and I've never even been a particular fan of the character (I began reading comics when J'onn was removed from the JLA because the new writer didn't feel that he brought enough to the table), so that's saying something. Hated the rest of the episode, other than Cat's role. I'd love for the second season, if there is one, to have Cat allow that she knows her assistant is Supergirl, and delve more into a partnership between them. Maybe parallel Alex wanting Supergirl more involved with the DEO vs. Cat acting as a "manager/promoter" of sorts for a more public image?

I'm not a big fan of the triangle (quadrangle?), but that's mostly because I favor Supergirl's weirder suitors. I had to laugh at the scene where Kara breaks her arm and JimmyJames quickly removes his shirt, as we've all been trained to do in CPR! And then Rim Schott and his obsessiveness definitely gave indications that he is headed in a "bad" direction.

Good thing this isn't on Netflix, or he'd be Sextoy Man!

  And I don't care HOW fast Supergirl is...the first costume change was Kara (with one arm!), and the second supposedly was the result of an adrenaline rush from seeing her true love in mortal peril,  and instinct would not include a costume change.

  

I wonder if we'lll get a Jeremiah reappearance, with a white Martian taking his place?

[AudienceofOne]

Her portrayal of Kara reminds me so much of how Mamie Gummer portrayed a character Emily on A CW show called Emily Owens MD that it's actually a little jarring.

She's just Felicity with superpowers. Chloe Sullivan officially has a lot to answer for.

[legaleagle53]

They did cut something about the glasses- apparently Jeremiah taught her to focus/filter out all the stuff she picks up with her powers. I don't particularly understand what glasses has to do with that, but yeah they did apparently cut out why she wears glasses. I think they should have left it in, just gives her more context. 

 

The glasses are made of a special material that puts a damper on her vision powers to help her avoid sensory overload.  That's why she always has to remove them in order to use her heat vision or x-ray vision, for example. 

[MarkHB]

Seriously. She's allowed to accept a hug of comfort during a difficult moment, Winn. You know, like when your arm's been broken and you've witnessed a death you couldn't stop and you've all been part of a scary earthquake... sheesh.

 

 

HAAAA! *raises hand* That was me! I mean, I didn't have an issue with the John part, because he pronounced it kind of all fancy-like (like "Zhahn"), but the Jones part made me pause and quirk my head like, "Did he just say 'Jones'? Really? Huh..." Kind of lacking in power. I mean, the only thing less dramatic would have been Smith. *GRIN*  No offense to anyone whose last name is Jones or Smith.

 

After I finished laughing, I did figure it was part of something comic book-related that I haven't read.

 

His name is J'onn J'onzz; when he used a secret identity during the Silver Age, it was John Jones.

[sinkwriter]

I figured there had to be a fancier way to spell it, because otherwise "Jones" is a pretty general name to give to an alien being, from Mars or elsewhere. Still... it's pretty funny.

[Chicago Redshirt]

For a massive earthquake that decimated many of the high-rise buildings in town, it seems to have completely missed hitting the local power company.  I thought it was weird that all these injured people were laying in the streets in pain while Kara and Jimmy walked back to work, rode the elevator up to their offices, and continued working in their air-conditioned space.  Even when a gas line exploded upstairs (!), work continued on as usual.

 

Later that night, Supergirl flew over the well-lit city.  National City is certainly resilient!

 

Kara invited Winn over to help her eat food in her fridge because her power was out and she wanted to do it before it spoiled.

 

Taking her at her word, there is at least one pocket of National City without its power.

 

I will fanwank that Catco as a big important and well-funded company has its own emergency generator, as do some of the other major buildings in National City, and also that National City's power company prioritized restoring power to such buildings.

 

I will say the things Supergirl helped save seemed odd. Like as far as we know, there had been no earthquakes since early on in the episode and there was just the one explosion. Yet the school bus was apparently perched precariously. It doesn't much make sense that whatever explosion affected the Catco building would have had the far-reaching effect of destroying the highway the schoolbus was on, and it doesn't make sense that it was perched that way for long, or that the driver would have gotten the bus in that position had the highway been destroyed. Also, shouldn't some adult told the children to get out of the emergency exit door in back? As for the skyscraper that she blew out the fire, does National City FD just suck? 

Edited b/c Winn and Jimmy are two different people

Edited December 9, 2015 by Chicago Redshirt

[legaleagle53]

Kara invited Jimmy over to help her eat food in her fridge because her power was out and she wanted to do it before it spoiled.

 

Taking her at her word, there is at least one pocket of National City without its power.

 

I will fanwank that Catco as a big important and well-funded company has its own emergency generator, as do some of the other major buildings in National City, and also that National City's power company prioritized restoring power to such buildings.

 

I will say the things Supergirl helped save seemed odd. Like as far as we know, there had been no earthquakes since early on in the episode and there was just the one explosion. Yet the school bus was apparently perched precariously. It doesn't much make sense that whatever explosion affected the Catco building would have had the far-reaching effect of destroying the highway the schoolbus was on, and it doesn't make sense that it was perched that way for long, or that the driver would have gotten the bus in that position had the highway been destroyed. Also, shouldn't some adult told the children to get out of the emergency exit door in back? As for the skyscraper that she blew out the fire, does National City FD just suck? 

 

Those are certainly valid points.  According to the narrative, more than 48 hours had passed since Kara lost her powers (she was told that whenever it happened to Superman, he had them back within 48 hours at the latest, and everyone who knew about it was concerned that she was beyond that time frame and still hadn't recovered her powers).  So that skyscraper remained on fire for two days?  It should have burned to the ground by the time Kara had her powers back, and that school bus should have plummeted to its destruction long before then.

 

Oh, and by the way, it was Winn whom Kara invited over to help her eat her food, not Jimmy.  His pointed rebuff of her invitation is what finally clued her in to the fact that he was pissed off with her about Jimmy.

 

Speaking of which, I can identify with Winn and his utter frustration with Kara.  It's not easy for him to see the object of his affection throw herself at a man who (a) is already in a relationship that he has made clear he wants to try to make work and (b) does not appear to return her feelings toward him, while she herself evidently doesn't even know -- or care -- that Winn exists.  It's easy to say that he should just man up, accept that he'll always be "Mr. Cellophane" to her (Chicago reference for those who get it), let go, and move on.  But how easy is that for him to actually do when he sees her every day at work and, in fact, works right next to her (I did love the way Kara subtly chided Cat about not even knowing who Winn was when she said that he had the desk next to hers "which you walk by every single day.")?

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

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

[tennisgurl]

Seeing Martian Manhunter actually makes up for Winn being a total asshole to poor Kara. Its a damn hug, dude. She wasn't making out with him on the desk. I hug my friends all the time, male and female, and I certainly don`t want to sleep with all of them. 

[Winston Wolfe]

 

I think both male characters have serious issues. Winn is a Nice Guy, which needs to be fixed. James exists only to be hot and mansplain Kara's powers to her because he's besties with Superman. Somehow that makes him more of an authority on her powers than Kara herself. Hopefully they'll figure out how to use these characters before the first season is finished. The show has a lot of potential, but needs to be retooled a bit.

I co-sign on almost everything in this post.  Both male leads could disappear tomorrow and it would only increase my enjoyment of this show.  One thing I'd love to see disappear both in pop culture and in real life is the "nice guy" trope.  Always cringe when I read or hear it.  Kinda makes us guys who sincerely try to be decent human beings (maybe with some issues) feel...I don't know...disingenuous somehow.  Only the J'onn J'onzz revelation kept this from being a totally "meh" episode for me.  Can't wait until circumstances force MM to reveal himself to Kara, as we all know they will.

[KirkB]

I seem to remember reading an interview with someone doing a movie or show where there was a lot of flying, saying something about certain positions with the legs making the harness more comfortable or bearable. That's probably why MB holds her leg like that.

 

When Hank was confirmed to be the Martian Manhunter instead of Cyborg Superman, I thought it might be a nice twist if Dean Cain came back as the cyborg instead. Then HE would be Cyborg Superman, technically.

[Dobian]

Where this show shines is in the scene with Supergirl and the looter. You almost never see these cartoon superheros handle situations in a purely human way, it's all about their super powers.

 

The Hank reveal you could see coming from a mile away, but it was still a pretty good moment.

 

I agree that it's a bit sexist how Kara relies on James so much to understand her super powers.  She's had them for twelve years, even if she kept them under wraps.  It's not like she just woke up with them one day.

 

Winn getting jeaous because Kara got hugged by James and then reprimanding her for it was just all kinds of stupid.  Especially Kara apologizing for it.  This show is developing a disturbing pattern of males acting like assholes toward Kara/Supergirl (like the jerk who almost ran over the kids last week), but she is the one who is supposed to apologize for it.

 

The show fails in its depiction of major events.  You have this big earthquake and it seems like the entire city is dependent on Supergirl, Maxwell, and Cat to cope with the situation.  What exactly is this media conglomerate that Cat runs anyway?  It seems like a combination of TMZ, Us Magazine, shock radio, and traffic reports.  Whenever there is a big news event in the real world (like the recent So Cal shootings), the very first report isn't some inspirational editorial, it's a breaking news report on a dozen channels with reporters on the scene.  This show makes it look like two people control the entire media and everyone is dependent on them for information.  And of course the city is helpless without superhero support for normal disaster situations, forget that they have police and fire departments, state and Federal disaster relief, etc.

 

When Supergirl got her powers back and saved James, how did she suddenly change into her Supergirl outfit?  Keep it real like when she saved the airplane, when there's no time she does her hero bit in plain clothes.  I know they were going for the visual impact of "Supergirl is back!", but still.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Dobian

[legaleagle53]

When Supergirl got her powers back and saved James, how did she suddenly change into her Supergirl outfit?  Keep it real like when she saved the airplane, when there's no time she does her hero bit in plain clothes.  I know they were going for the visual impact of "Supergirl is back!", but still.

 

It's called super-speed.  Kara can move at at least Mach 2 (and probably even at the speed of light itself), which means that it would only take her a fraction of a second to change outfits and still have plenty of time to save James or do whatever else she needs to do after she's switched identities.  The only reason she saved the plane in her civvies was that her existence as Supergirl hadn't yet been revealed and Winn hadn't designed her costume yet, so there was nothing for her to change into.  It had nothing to do with having no time to change before she saved the plane.

[Dobian]

It's called super-speed.  Kara can move at at least Mach 2 (and probably even at the speed of light itself), which means that it would only take her a fraction of a second to change outfits and still have plenty of time to save James or do whatever else she needs to do after she's switched identities.  The only reason she saved the plane in her civvies was that her existence as Supergirl hadn't yet been revealed and Winn hadn't designed her costume yet, so there was nothing for her to change into.  It had nothing to do with having no time to change before she saved the plane.

 

Right, I get that she didn't have her Supergirl outfit yet with the plane, but I still liked how she was dressed in a way made the scene feel more real.  It has never been established (on the show anyway) that she can travel at the speed of light.  There is an enormous difference between the speed of sound and the speed of light, but sure she could get to him in less than a second at the speed of sound.  The problem is the speed is related to how fast she can travel aerodynamically, not how fast she can physically manipulate things (like changing clothes).  It seems that whenever Superman ever does things besides fly around, he is doing them in normal time, even when he rips his shirt off to reveal his outfit underneath.  And in her panic to catch James in time, why would she think it necessary to change her outfit first?  I would think that would be the last thing on her mind.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Dobian

[Chicago Redshirt]

You know, with the benefit of hindsight, they should have made Winn a reporter who happens to have mad hacking skillz rather than an IT guy. Not only will there be only rare opportunities for Winn's IT background to have any storytelling relevance, but also it would make sense in terms of where he is placed in Catco. There is no reason why Rando IT guy's office is next to the publisher's and the publisher's assistant. It would make sense that a reporter might be near them, though. The main thing that Winn contributes so far is hacking expertise and tech support in setting up the Fortress of Togetheritude (which, have they used it since he put it together?). But he could have done that as someone who's just savvy with computers.

[legaleagle53]

Right, I get that she didn't have her Supergirl outfit yet with the plane, but I still liked how she was dressed in a way made the scene feel more real.  It has never been established (on the show anyway) that she can travel at the speed of light.

 

Not yet, anyway.  That's why I said "probably."  If she's already gone from merely breaking the sound barrier to moving at Mach 2, there's no telling what her maximum speed limit is yet, although given what we know now about how she burns out when she has pushed herself too far, I would expect that moving at speeds closer to the speed of light would probably do just as extreme a number on her as her battle with Red Tornado did, so she probably would avoid moving that fast as much as possible.