S01.E11: Strange Visitor From Another Planet

[Tara Ariano]

Hank is confronted by his painful past when a member of the alien race that wiped out his people kidnaps Senator Miranda Crane. Meanwhile, Cat's estranged son arrives in National City.

[statsgirl]

Sneak peek with Cat, Lucy and Jimmy and extended promo

 

http://www.spoilertv.com/2016/01/supergirl-episode-111-strange-visitor_19.html

 

ETA:  article on Blake Jenner and Melissa Benoist and meet-cute clip of Kara and Adam meeting:

http://www.etonline.com/tv/180657_supergirl_melissa_benoist_blake_jenner_exclusive_sneak_peek/

Edited January 23, 2016 by statsgirl

[SimoneS]

I thought this was a very good episode. I enjoyed it a lot. The Kara, Adam, Cat scenes were very well done. Kara has great chemistry with Adam. The triangle or quadrangle should be with Lucy, James, Kara, and Adam. Good plot development by the writers. I hope he becomes a regular.

I also liked Hank seeking his revenge and learning more about him. Although the Holocaust inspired back story was a bit much.

How come Martians have human names?

[Big Mother]

the Adam and Kara chemistry was a bit much I think, since they are an actual real life couple. there was a lot of rubber-band-smiles and twinkly eyes that were clearly the actors' chemistry and not the characters'. But it was very cute.

 

This is the first episode in which I was left very confused. I don't know which Senator Crane was the real one and which one was the  shapeshifted one. And what was Hank doing? Trying to commit suicide? Once the last white martian was down, why did he still want to die with him? Did he really want to leave the Danvers girls vulnerable? And the whole DEO? And Did he kill the White Martian? this needs a rewatch, or a podcast, for me to fully understand what I saw.

 

Some great, great acting though.

[Artsda]

I loved the Kara/Adam/Kat, Kat/Adam, and Kara/Adam scenes. It probably could be because they're married in real life now but their chemistry is so great. Better than when they were dating as characters on Glee. 

 

Not enough Winn though, I missed seeing more of him. I think Jimmy and Winn should be swapped. Less Jimmy, more Winn.

[Writing Wrongs]

I hope Winn moves beyond the treating Kara like shit because she doesn't feel the same way thing.

 

Next week looks cool.

[SimoneS]

I didn't know that lead actress is married to the guy who plays Adam. Usually I find that married or dating couples don't translate their chemistry on screen so kudos to them for making it work so well. I still doubt that James and Kara is ever happening so I will take Adam over Winn any day.

[secnarf]

I thought this was a very good episode. I enjoyed it a lot. The Kara, Adam, Cat scenes were very well done. Kara has great chemistry with Adam. The triangle or quadrangle should be with Lucy, James, Kara, and Adam. Good plot development by the writers. I hope he becomes a regular.

I also liked Hank seeking his revenge and learning more about him. Although the Holocaust inspired back story was a bit much.

How come Martians have human names?

I wondered exactly the same about the names! Maybe they have odd spellings to make up for it, like J'onn J'onzz.

 

I also agree that the Holocaust bit was pretty heavy-handed.

 

I was completely prepared to hate the idea of Kara dating Cat's son before this episode, but it was done much better than I expected. I liked the whole storyline, although I have a hard time believing Kara had the guts to send that letter to Adam.

[thuganomics85]

Hmm... still need to think about it some more, but this might have been my favorite episode yet, and I noticed it was one were both Winn and Jimmy were in the background for most of it.  I'm starting to think that their characters really are not needed.  I'm way more invested in Kara's relationship with Alex, Hank's backstory, and even Cat now.

 

It was pretty obvious they were setting it up for Kara to date Adam, even if I didn't already know he was being played by Melissa Benoist's real-life husband.  Hey, if this works, maybe all the actors can get their acting spouses a role.  Mehcad Brooks can ask Serinda Swan to play villain of a week or another love interest, if/when Jimmy/Lucy finally fall apart.  And finale time, Calista Flockhart can get Harrison Ford to cameo as Perry White or something!

 

Having the anti-alien/superhero Senator played by the actress who played Simone on Heroes, amused me very much.

 

The final scene with Kara and Alex eating ice cream might have been more fun, if it was more then likely that Maxwell was probably spying in on that scene as well.

 

David Harewood was on fire in this episode, and I loved most of the stuff involving Hank and his tragic backstory, although I think them blatantly making it look like the Holocaust with Martians, did go way beyond on the nose and into "I get it!" territory.  Subtle is not the show's strong suite, I admit.  Also continue to enjoy the Hank/Alex scenes, and Chyler Leigh is more then holding her own.

 

Calista was actually pretty good with selling Cat's awkwardness around Adam. I definitely grown to like her performance and the character compared to the pilot.

[statsgirl]

I'm fully on board with Harrison Ford coming on to play Cat's frenemy Perry White.  That would be hysterical.

 

I was really impressed with Callista Flockhart's acting this episode.  When Cat let herself actually feel instead of perform, you could see a lot of vulnerability there.

 

I'm glad they gave J'onn/Harewood an episode showcasing the character. I've had enough of romantic pentacles for a while.

[Xenith22]

So Winn as future villain is looking more likely is it not?

I had really hoped that we read into that conversation too much last week, but nope it appears he really did give Kara a total douche ultimatum of date me or we can't be friends anymore.   He appeared to maybe soften from that approach at the end elevator scene...but now Kara is going to start dating Adam...which means she is moving on from pining for James to someone else that she just met that is not Winn.  I'm a bit worried that he may not take that so well...

----

 

What is it with this show and characters behaving extremely stupid?   I mean Hank telling the White Martian he was onto her...jeeeeeezus.  I mean how freaking stupid can you get?  Wait until you lure he into a trap or you have a dozen guns trained on her or something before doing that.  Aaaaargh.  It absolutely is 100% his fault that his agents died.

 

At least the way events were portrayed...where apparently the evil white martian was noble enough to not use telepathy to violate anyone by reading any minds?  I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt that White Martians may not have telepathy....and then they had to go and take that away by having her have a telepathic conversation.   So I have no rational explanation why the white martian apparently never tries to read Hank or Alex or anyone to find out what they know about the green martian instead of just asking and hope the secret government organization would willingly confess to her where it was hiding a martian?

 

I feel like I should also ask how did the white martian even know the green martian was connected to the DEO?  I mean Hank did not use his powers at the DEO....he used then at Max Lord's building?  So shouldn't she have been investigating Lord instead of the DEO as employing the martian?  

 

Finally I feel it should be noted that the editing was awful for the scene of the abduction of the senator.  We see the white martian cut off the senators escape and (spit?) acid/goo on the senator's two bodyguards with the senator right between them.  Note that behind them we can see the fleeing masses, and that the martian is in front of them with the garage behind her.  Seconds later Hank arrives gun trained on the martian who roars at him.  Behind the martian we see the garage entrance again...no senator.  Flashback time...and when we come back there is the senator standing behind the martian watching as he hurls a car.  How did she get there?   There is no way she ran past the martian (why would anyone in there right mind run towards the giant alien trying to kill you), and had the martian grabbed her I highly doubt he would have gently set the senator down away behind her (still conscious and on her feet) so she could roar at the crowd.   Just sloppy editing of warping her location so that they could allow the martian to grab her quickly for the plot.

 

As much as the shirt rip is iconic...don't elevators in major buildings almost always have cameras?   Seems like there had to have been a better place to change... And besides that if you are trying to get somewhere quickly...why change on the elevator?  I mean the doors closed and then what...was she then not stuck waiting on the elevator to slowly make its way down to the lobby?

 

Why did the white martian revert to the form of the senator when knocked out at the end...that's not her natural form.  In fact the first time she used that form was likely earlier that day.  Made no sense.

 

Finally on the no sense front...the senator changing her tune at the end of the episode to pro-alien.  Let's see...an evil white martian attacks her rally, and abducts her.  The martian zooms into the garage moments before Kara is even on the scene.  The martian stashes the senator somewhere in the garage (probably unconscious otherwise someone may have heard her screaming at some point during the day).  Later after being exposed the martian comes back and moves the the senator into the sewers across town where Hank Henshaw of the DEO finds her.   Help me out here...where does Supergirl save her that she would logically change her tune?   It was a human (as far as she can tell) that rescued her....it was an alien that almost killed her, killed her bodyguards, and injured how many innocent by-standards.   She never even lays eyes on Supergirl?  Sure Supergirl later apprehended the martian, but it's not really any different than all the other aliens/supervillains that Supergirl (and Superman for that matter) have fought and apprehended where this should have been a startling revelation to the senator that this is what they do?   Really I am kind of hoping that she was secretly contacted by Max to change her public opinion while working on some kind of private anti-alien initiative with him.

 

So much love for the little Lucy/Cat moment at the conference table..."that's not how it works".  Poor Lucy may be reconsidering her employment decision already :P

Edited January 26, 2016 by Xenith22

[miracole]

I'm glad they gave J'onn/Harewood an episode showcasing the character.

 

Also continue to enjoy the Hank/Alex scenes, and Chyler Leigh is more then holding her own.

 

J'onn/Hank is my favorite character on this show so I loved all the screen time he got and I really enjoyed Harewood's acting involving his backstory. I'm also loving he and Alex's dynamic right now. Her stepping in front of him to protect him from the white martian bought the feels.  I love their chemistry and once again I'm sure I shouldn't be seeing this but  I'm glad she didn't hug him when he was talking about daughters like Kara did because I totally ship those two in a more than friendship way.

 

As much as I enjoyed his story line I totally think he should have killed the White Martian. Also wouldn't him staying shape shifted as Hank be him using his powers like all of the time.  

[Perfect Xero]

the Adam and Kara chemistry was a bit much I think, since they are an actual real life couple. there was a lot of rubber-band-smiles and twinkly eyes that were clearly the actors' chemistry and not the characters'. But it was very cute.

 

This is the first episode in which I was left very confused. I don't know which Senator Crane was the real one and which one was the  shapeshifted one. And what was Hank doing? Trying to commit suicide? Once the last white martian was down, why did he still want to die with him? Did he really want to leave the Danvers girls vulnerable? And the whole DEO? And Did he kill the White Martian? this needs a rewatch, or a podcast, for me to fully understand what I saw.

 

Unless I missed something, Hank wasn't trying to commit suicide, it was a feint to open the WM up to an attack from Supergirl. After they beat the WM, he was going to kill the WM rather than arresting her (him?), which is why he cuffed Kara, but she talked him down.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Finally this show lived up to its potential! Supergirl and Kara were reasonably mature, forceful, empathetic, yet still adorkable. J'onn got to show a lot of range. Cat got some deepening. Alex was, as always, awesome. And Jimmy, Lucy and Winn were minimized. I didn't notice any plotholes. No one acted stupid.

More, please.

 

This is the first episode in which I was left very confused. I don't know which Senator Crane was the real one and which one was the  shapeshifted one. And what was Hank doing? Trying to commit suicide? Once the last white martian was down, why did he still want to die with him? Did he really want to leave the Danvers girls vulnerable? And the whole DEO? And Did he kill the White Martian? this needs a rewatch, or a podcast, for me to fully understand what I saw.

 

The real senator started the rally. The White Martian snatched her and took her place prior to being "saved" by Supergirl. When it fled, it lured Alex into a trap while the real Senator got found by J'onn. We see her at the end crediting Supergirl with her rescue. (Which is weird since SG didn't directly rescue her.)

 

Fake Senator telepaths to meet in the desert. J'onn was playing possum to allow Supergirl to get the first licks in. J'onn used the K-cuffs to try to neutralize SG and allow him to kill the White Martian in cold blood. But SG talked him out of it. 

What is it with this show and characters behaving extremely stupid?   I mean Hank telling the White Martian he was onto her...jeeeeeezus.  I mean how freaking stupid can you get?  Wait until you lure he into a trap or you have a dozen guns trained on her or something before doing that.  Aaaaargh.  It absolutely is 100% his fault that his agents died.

 

At least the way events were portrayed...where apparently the evil white martian was noble enough to not use telepathy to violate anyone by reading any minds?  I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt that White Martians may not have telepathy....and then they had to go and take that away by having her have a telepathic conversation.   So I have no rational explanation why the white martian apparently never tries to read Hank or Alex or anyone to find out what they know about the green martian instead of just asking and hope the secret government organization would willingly confess to her where it was hiding a martian?

 

I feel like I should also ask how did the white martian even know the green martian was connected to the DEO?  I mean Hank did not use his powers at the DEO....he used then at Max Lord's building?  So shouldn't she have been investigating Lord instead of the DEO as employing the martian?  

 

It unfortunately a time-worn trope of the bad guy also being stupid and tipping their hand by revealing something they could not possibly know unless they were the bad guy. And the good guy acting too quickly. I'll forgive that.

 

My take was that the WM knew exactly who JJ was and that he was the Green Martian. She was just f---ing around with him.

 

JJ used his powers at the DEO when he was fighting J'emm, so I would say that probably got the WM onto his scent first, actually.

[lion10]

I loved this episode though it was so sad.  The actor playing Hank Henshaw did such a great job portraying J'onn's sadness and rage.  The White Martian was terrifying just as I remember them being.  One of the first Justice League Unlimited episodes I watched was the one where the White Martians invaded Earth and I still remember how creepy they were.  The chemistry between Kara and Adam was very noticeable and I liked his interactions with her and Cat.  This show did just fine with very little James and Winn.  I feel like Winn's overreacting to Kara not liking him.  I know he's scared he'll snap just like his dad, but still.  Speaking of which, I got a kick out of seeing Conrad Grayson playing the Toyman.

[Artsda]

It was pretty obvious they were setting it up for Kara to date Adam, even if I didn't already know he was being played by Melissa Benoist's real-life husband.  Hey, if this works, maybe all the actors can get their acting spouses a role.  Mehcad Brooks can ask Serinda Swan to play villain of a week or another love interest, if/when Jimmy/Lucy finally fall apart.  And finale time, Calista Flockhart can get Harrison Ford to cameo as Perry White or something!

You forgot the best one, Lucy would then get to date a character played by Channing Tatum. 

Edited January 26, 2016 by Artsda

[twoods]

This episode was definitely emotional- I got testy eyed through a lot of scenes, especially Hank/Alex and Adam/Kat. Loved that they continue to flesh out Hank the past few episodes, and him thinking that the girls were daughters to him was so sweet (tearing up again).

Love Adam and there was definitely chemistry there. Glad to see her not pining over James and hope this continues. Hope this doesn't tip Winn to the dark side.

[AudienceofOne]

Godwin's Law

[Humbugged]

 

 

It was pretty obvious they were setting it up for Kara to date Adam, even if I didn't already know he was being played by Melissa Benoist's real-life husband.  Hey, if this works, maybe all the actors can get their acting spouses a role.  Mehcad Brooks can ask Serinda Swan to play villain of a week or another love interest, if/when Jimmy/Lucy finally fall apart.  And finale time, Calista Flockhart can get Harrison Ford to cameo as Perry White or something!

 

Chyler and her husband Nathan West have been in a bunch of stuff together as well

[Winston Wolfe]

 

I also agree that the Holocaust bit was pretty heavy-handed.

Hmm.  I saw White Martian-Green Martian more as an allegory on America's racial history.  But that might have been even more heavy-handed.  Much as I love Kara/SG/Melissa, I'm all about the MM these days, and very happy David Harewood had a chance to shine.  Much as I liked Phil Morris's take on the MM in Smallville, not sure he could have delivered the same emotional performance DH did.  All-in-all, a powerful episode.  This show, despite its freshman lapses, keeps getting better and better.

 

Edited to Add: Forgot about the holocaust images as other posters have pointed out.  But the White-Green Martian thing hit me viscerally.  And as a person of color, I'm aware that there were/are some factions out there wishing the same outcome for us melanin-rich folks.  Sorry to get so political here.

Edited January 26, 2016 by Winston Wolfe

[Big Mother]

WOW. Now I'm REALLY confused. I thought Hank had killed the White Martian and was about to jump into the flames because he said "take me to my people" - he was tired of being a survivor and wanted to go to his children. I thought that he didnt want to fight WM as Jon bc then he would have to give up his identity as Hank. I didn';t know that the moral question was simply wehther he should KILL WM - wasnt that the goal? Aren't horrible criminals shot in battle sometiems? What's the point of arresting WM - does the DEO have life-in-prison jails for enemy aliens? Killer aliens like WM can always escape, dont they have to be killed? Wow am I confused. I hope the afterbuzz podcast will shed some light.

[Big Mother]

Okay I rewatched part of the episode now and the story is clear.

and i just caught the tail end of it. WOW. that is a game -changer. There are more shapeshifting White martians out there? and one of them is pretending to be Supergirl? This is going to be really really crazy. Exactly how many White martians are there out there? How will anyone believe the real Supergirl? wow.

[legaleagle53]

So Winn as future villain is looking more likely is it not?

 

Why, just because he initially snubbed her when she tried to engage in small talk with him?  How easy would it be for you to engage in small talk with someone who had just permanently friend-zoned you because she didn't want the dynamic of your platonic relationship to change?  

 

As Alex reminded Kara, Winn's emotional wounds are still raw, and Winn needs some time and space to heal before he can move on and accept that Kara simply doesn't want to go there with him.  That's why she needs to keep her distance until he's ready to make peace with her, as was shown in their last exchange.  He'll eventually come around, but as Alex said (and Kara understands), he needs to do it on his own terms -- and he needs time and space in order to do it.

[kitmerlot1213]

I enjoyed the crap out of this episode!  I liked Kara's moments with Cat and Adam and how she helped them to start talking and building a famial relationship. I also thought Adam was completely adorable (Benoist and Jenner's married chemistry is apparent for all to see) and I liked that he saw how awesome Kara was and how much did I love his pointing out that Cat was calling her "Kiera?"  That made me laugh :)

 

I liked getting Hank's backstory but his personal tragedies were laid on a bit thick (the holocaust imagery was really over the top--isn't it enough that the White Martians attacked the Green Martians but then they had to be burned alive as well and he had to listen to his family die?) but I did like his moments with Kara and Alex and it is completely in Kara's personality to hug someone being so emotional. 

 

Neither Winn or James had that much to do and I found that I didn't miss them that much.  Kara could have her romance with Adam, dealing with Cat as her boss and working with Alex/Hank/the DEO while dealing with villains and Maxwell Lord and the show would be awesome.

Edited January 26, 2016 by kitmerlot1213

[Primetimer]

An alien invader mars Henshaw's calm exterior.

Read the story

[mommalib]

Why is everybody around here so hard on Winn? Honestly I feel for the guy.

[Jediknight]

Mehcad Brooks can ask Serinda Swan to play villain of a week or another love interest, if/when Jimmy/Lucy finally fall apart.

Maybe she could be Zatanna again.

 

You forgot the best one, Lucy would then get to date a character played by Channing Tatum. 

No, he'd have to be Superman again.  And Jonah Hill could be fanboy Green Lantern who only annoys Superman again.

 

I liked the episode.

[Chicago Redshirt]

and i just caught the tail end of it. WOW. that is a game -changer. There are more shapeshifting White martians out there? and one of them is pretending to be Supergirl? This is going to be really really crazy. Exactly how many White martians are there out there? How will anyone believe the real Supergirl? wow.

The previews make it clear that the fake Supergirl is a creation of Max Lord and has nothing to do with the White Martians.

The White Martian we saw in this episode claimed there were millions of them. Of course, it could be (and most likely is) lying.

 

Why, just because he initially snubbed her when she tried to engage in small talk with him?  How easy would it be for you to engage in small talk with someone who had just permanently friend-zoned you because she didn't want the dynamic of your platonic relationship to change?  

 

Pretty darn easy, because I am not a passive-aggressive punk and I have a greater emotional range than a toddler.

 

Why is everybody around here so hard on Winn? Honestly I feel for the guy.

 

I would say that it's probably not an uncommon experience for a guy to have romantic/sexual feelings for a woman who doesn't feel that way. That's no excuse for the backbiting, freezing out that Winn has done prior to and since the reveal of his feelings.

[KirkB]

I feel like I should also ask how did the white martian even know the green martian was connected to the DEO?  I mean Hank did not use his powers at the DEO....he used then at Max Lord's building?  So shouldn't she have been investigating Lord instead of the DEO as employing the martian?

 

 

That's a good question, actually. She was somewhere on Earth I presume (unless their telepathy is interplanetary) and detected a green martians mental signature, so to speak. Maybe she traced it to National City but wasn't sure to go from there. Her plan was to find and kill the green. How, I wonder, does impersonating a bigoted human senator (who she kept alive for some reason) get her to J'onn? And how did she know about the DEO? When she told Hank he had a mole did she somehow know the green was there or was she just saying that for...reasons? 

[DavidJSnyder]

I wondered exactly the same about the names! Maybe they have odd spellings to make up for it, like J'onn J'onzz.

 

DC Universe-wise the daughter who sounded like Kim is spelled K'hym.   I think the other name might be a show invention.

[lion10]

When the senator was talking about how Supergirl changed her perception of aliens, I could picture Superman watching the speech at home and thinking "Well ain't that some shit."

[cambridgeguy]

 

The White Martian we saw in this episode claimed there were millions of them. Of course, it could be (and most likely is) lying.

If she(?) wasn't lying then presumably there's no easy way to get from Mars to Earth.  It would not take many martians to completely overwhelm the Supercousins and wipe out most of the planet's population, especially since there's no Justice League to stop them. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

DC Universe-wise the daughter who sounded like Kim is spelled K'hym.   I think the other name might be a show invention.

I am hoping J'onn has a still-living singer-songwriter daughter, Noh'ra J'onzz. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

That's a good question, actually. She was somewhere on Earth I presume (unless their telepathy is interplanetary) and detected a green martians mental signature, so to speak. Maybe she traced it to National City but wasn't sure to go from there. Her plan was to find and kill the green. How, I wonder, does impersonating a bigoted human senator (who she kept alive for some reason) get her to J'onn? And how did she know about the DEO? When she told Hank he had a mole did she somehow know the green was there or was she just saying that for...reasons? 

There's any number of ways she could know of the DEO's existence -- from her personal encounters with them, from other aliens, from mind-reading bureaucrats or using whatever advanced Martian tech to study Earth.

 

Once she knows of the DEO's existence, and has reason to suspect that the green martian's within the DEO (either as an operative or a prisoner), the plan makes some sense as executed.

Attacking the senator and taking her place is going to prompt the DEO to take her to a place of safety. It's most likely to be DEO HQ. At a minimum, she gets direct access to DEO minds to read about the existence of the Green Martian.

 

My take was that at the time she was interacting with Hank, she knew darn well that he was the Green Martian and was just playing cat-and-mouse with him.

[Lady Calypso]

The previews make it clear that the fake Supergirl is a creation of Max Lord and has nothing to do with the White Martians.

The White Martian we saw in this episode claimed there were millions of them. Of course, it could be (and most likely is) lying.

 

 

Pretty darn easy, because I am not a passive-aggressive punk and I have a greater emotional range than a toddler.

 

I would say that it's probably not an uncommon experience for a guy to have romantic/sexual feelings for a woman who doesn't feel that way. That's no excuse for the backbiting, freezing out that Winn has done prior to and since the reveal of his feelings.

 

Possibly, but I also don't think Winn is the worst person in the world for wanting space for more than a few days. Sure, I'm not a fan of Winn that much. Him and Kara have no chemistry whatsoever, and I like Jeremy Jordan, but he is not doing a good job in portraying Winn as in love with Kara. There were also those episodes where he was being a passive-aggressive little shit about Kara/Jimmy. But he did just get rejected by Kara, his best friend. He put his heart on the line, and he failed. Believable chemistry or not, that's going to sting. I mean, he did tell her in the elevator that he just needed some time. I think this episode showed that he can't get over things that quickly (look at his relationship with his dad, for example; can you blame him?). Maybe, by the next episode, he'll be kinder toward Kara but it's now a changed relationship. 

 

For the rest of the episode, I liked it a lot. It is definitely the strongest episode I've seen in a while. The Kara/Cat/Adam scenes were all great. I think this is the first time I've felt serious chemistry with Kara and any other guy. Kara/Jimmy has fizzled out since the pilot for me, and Kara/Winn...well, yeah.... I guess it helps that Melissa and Blake Jenner are a real life married couple, but still. I know Adam won't be a long term thing, but I like them together so far. Plus, Blake Jenner is a pretty decent actor and I think he held up against Calista Flockhart pretty good. 

 

The Martian portion was good too. I like JJ quite a bit, and I also like Alex. Supergirl took somewhat of a backseat, but she/Kara was also there to provide support this time around. I liked it. 

[Kromm]

Kim and Kanye? Say what?

That's not even funny!

[Chicago Redshirt]

Nothing wrong with Winn wanting time and space. There is something wrong with being unwilling to even say hi, IMO.

 

Kromm, I think the other daughter was whatever the Martian spelling for "Tanya," rather than Kanye. 

Edited January 26, 2016 by Chicago Redshirt

[Skeeter22]

I actually don't blame Winn for not wanting to speak to Kara at the moment. She clearly doesn't respect people's boundaries at all. What she did to Cat was really terrible, and she never seemed to accept that it was wrong. I thought what she did was really manipulative and self-centered. In this instance, her "helping" seemed more about satisfying her own emotional needs than really caring about Cat.

[VCRTracking]

Damn those Martian flashbacks were just....I'm tearing up thinking about it.  And David Harewood's performance was incredible as was Chyler Leigh's.

 

Blake Jenner looks a lot like a young Matt Dillon. I was expecting him to say "We gotta do it for Johnny man! We gotta do it for Johnny!"(or more appropo for the ep "We gotta do it for J'onny!")

Edited January 26, 2016 by VCRTracking

[Chicago Redshirt]

I would say that a) Winn's unwillingness to speak to Kara has nothing to do with Cat/Adam b) Kara did exhibit some self-awareness that what she did was, in her words, potentially illegal and insane c) Kara clearly was trying to patch up the Cat/Adam rift not just for her own emotional needs but because she cares for and respects Cat and wanted to help her get to a better place. 

[AudienceofOne]

Kim and TANYA

[Katydid]

I think the problem with Winn is that we're expecting him to deal with the Kara situation in a way someone who is much more emotionally mature than he seems to be would.  I'm not sure we can expect Winn to "act his age" given that he seems incredibly emotionally stunted.  And for me it's easier to see why that is now that we've seen that he pretty much lost his sense of security when his dad went crazy when he was still so young.  They've played it like Kara is the only person who has provided any security for him, so I can see why he has so much invested in her.  Of course that's way too much of  burden to put on one person to meet all your emotional needs, but I see how it could happen given the circumstances. And last week when she was comforting him and saying how much he meant to her, all while he was in such a vulnerable place....I can see why he just went for it and is now having a hard time processing her rejection.  Plus it's just plain awkward being around a friend right after something like that has gone down, even if you're not simultaneously recovering from a visit from a crazy daddy who just tried to manipulate you into killing someone. 

 

I will say that I'm shocked that the show didn't "go there" by having Winn walk in just in time to see Adam ask Kara out.  I was cringing waiting for it, I was that sure it was going to happen.  I wonder if she will try to hide it from him, with him of course finding out and being pissed.   I guess I wasn't as impressed with the Kara/Adam pairing as others.  I can't praise them for their chemistry because it doesn't really show any acting skill for a married couple to "pretend" to like each other.  I think I've said this before, but I'm generally not a fan of real life couples playing love interests.  I might be more impressed if they were playing something that didn't involve simply flirting with their spouse. 

[xaxat]

As you all have noted, lots of good stuff in this episode, but I wanted to put in a vote for ". . . and who they eat!" 

 

It made me laugh.

[AudienceofOne]

Why is everybody around here so hard on Winn? Honestly I feel for the guy.

 

If you'd just watched the last episode and this one you'd be wondering. But the showrunners have failed in Winn's characterization from the beginning. I suspect because he's going to end up the villain but it demonstrates again these showrunners are either very inexperienced or a little juvenile.

 

Kara keeps calling him her "best friend" but we have literally never seen this on screen. He was introduced as "guy from work who keeps hassling her to go out with him". They obviously wanted to lay the groundwork for the inevitable mental break that would come from Kara's continued rejection, but it made her "he's my best friend" statement come out of left field. He's been possessive, passive-aggressive and even bitchy about Kara's relationships with other people and has rarely displayed any "best friend" qualities I've seen.

 

Last episode was actually the strongest episode this show has done because it finally made his character more than Kara's secret stalker and provided us with a psychological base for his instability. What the writers had to do was be more nuanced in their portrayal of him upfront so that we could buy both these things - best friend and unstable.

 

But they simply don't have the skills. Grant remains the single best character on the show for this reason because she's the one person they've managed to make three-dimensional. She is many things and none of those things contradict each other.

 

Having said that, some of the writing in this episode was like a bad episode of Dr Phil or something.

[roomtorome]

For the second episode in a row, I am still amazed Cat has made zero mention (nor as Kara) of her knowledge of Kara being Supergirl.  Not even a wink and a nod - I find it odd they have Cat find out then completely ignore that she did - I'm sure it will come up at some point but there's been no change in demeanor or anything - just weird.  If I found out an employee of mine (or, anyone I know) is an alien, I wouldn't continue on exactly as before - I would have questions!  And, loads of them - 

[Kromm]

For the second episode in a row, I am still amazed Cat has made zero mention (nor as Kara) of her knowledge of Kara being Supergirl.  Not even a wink and a nod - I find it odd they have Cat find out then completely ignore that she did - I'm sure it will come up at some point but there's been no change in demeanor or anything - just weird.  If I found out an employee of mine (or, anyone I know) is an alien, I wouldn't continue on exactly as before - I would have questions!  And, loads of them -

Did you miss the entire episode about this?

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/36647-s01e09-blood-bonds/

[secnarf]

For the second episode in a row, I am still amazed Cat has made zero mention (nor as Kara) of her knowledge of Kara being Supergirl.  Not even a wink and a nod - I find it odd they have Cat find out then completely ignore that she did - I'm sure it will come up at some point but there's been no change in demeanor or anything - just weird.  If I found out an employee of mine (or, anyone I know) is an alien, I wouldn't continue on exactly as before - I would have questions!  And, loads of them - 

As was pointed out in the last episode thread, they used Hank to shape-shift into SG and had "SG" and Kara in a room together with Cat. Cat either no longer thinks Kara is Supergirl, or is pretending to no longer think Kara is Supergirl. It seems as though you missed the first episode back from the winter break.

Edited January 26, 2016 by secnarf

[Lantern7]

I forgot until I read the AVClub review: does anybody else hear "dome" and think of the Legion of Doom-style prison in Kingdom Come? Or is it just me?

[statsgirl]

Andrew Kreisburg said in an interview recently (I think it was with Kevin Smith) that Arrow and Supergirl needed to develop from their original plan for the show while The Flash was basically the same in the season 1 finale as it was in the pilot episode.  (Arrow was originally intended to be on a Vampire Diaries model with Oliver/Laurel/Tommy as the basis.)  I wonder what changes they are making to Superman because this episode showed that there is too much to mine and it gets messy if they keep doing it.

 

In the opening episodes, Supergirl's team seemed to be Winn and James. Now she's more involved with the DEO and  her team is Alex and Hank.  I think this is a better idea but this episode showed that there's no need for both Winn and James to be her sounding board at Catco.

J'onn/Hank is my favorite character on this show so I loved all the screen time he got and I really enjoyed Harewood's acting involving his backstory. I'm also loving he and Alex's dynamic right now. Her stepping in front of him to protect him from the white martian bought the feels.  I love their chemistry and once again I'm sure I shouldn't be seeing this but  I'm glad she didn't hug him when he was talking about daughters like Kara did because I totally ship those two in a more than friendship way.

 

As much as I enjoyed his story line I totally think he should have killed the White Martian.

I agree with both these things. Sometimes there are things so evil they can't be redeemed and if keeping them in prison is going to risk them getting out and being evil again, then it's too dangerous not to kill them.

 

I wonder if they're toying with the idea to do Alex/Hank in the future.  While he's like a father to Supergirl, including the hug, it's a much more equal, adult relationship with Alex.

Edited January 27, 2016 by statsgirl

[roomtorome]

Kromm:  oh - I missed something I guess.  The last thing I recall before the break between episodes was Cat saying she knew Kara was Supergirl - maybe I was half asleep or something.  

 

Thanks