S02.E08: Medusa

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

A superhero crossover event begins with Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon from "The Flash" seeking Kara's help with an alien invasion; at the same time, Eliza comes to town to celebrate Thanksgiving with her daughters, which seems like the perfect opportunity for Alex to come out to her mother. Meanwhile, Winn and James consider telling Kara the truth about the Guardian; and Kara wants to team up with Lena Luthor to combat a deadly virus unleashed by CADMUS.

[stealinghome]

More to come, but: squeeeeeeeeeeeeee Alex/Maggie! Excited for them, though is it bad that I'm kind of bummed they didn't really do the slow burn thing? But: eeeeeeeeee! Go Maggie! And Alex!

[Guest]

I'm not sure that this was the best use of a crossover event.  If your show is leading off the block you should do two things:

1) If the crossover is barely evident, then do the best episode you are capable of while you've got the eyeballs on the show to get some new viewers. It wasn't awful but it was kind of boring.  I don't think there was anything happening that would get enough interest to bring much of the new/lapsed audience back again

2) If you are launching a cross over event to battle an invading alien horde.  Then perhaps the worse possible episode idea for the lead out show might be creating an alien killing virus that is engineered to make Kryptonians and humans immune because that makes the whole thing a waste of time unless....morons get amnesia and forget to consult the scientists before they Earth jump.  Who believes that they bring the virus to the version of Earth with no aliens except the invading horde? 

[Lantern7]

This was a prelude. It was nice, with Lena turning against her mother, Mon and J'onn getting "cured," and some sweet Maglex action. But this was a "zero issue" to a three-issue miniseries.

Once again . . . I'm okay with the real Henshaw being a Big Bad, I'm good with the upgrades, but "Cyborg Superman" cannot be a thing. It just can't.

And no movement on James as Guardian. Probably for the best. I bet he'd mesh well with the Team Arrow newbies.

ETA: Was anybody else expecting the big threat to come from Earth-Supegirl, since it's teeming with aliens? Or am I bring racist?

[statsgirl]

Alex/Winn/James, and then interrupted by Mon El at Thanksgiving was all kinds of embarrassing. 

Kara and Mon El were like 12 year olds blushing and crushing on each other. Please, show, leave Kara romance-free.

Will Mon El die was the least suspenseful plot ever.  Did anyone think he would?

Lena and her mom conflicts was the best part.  Nice swerve that she's adopted.

Edited November 29, 2016 by statsgirl

[phoenics]

Okay I'm upset.  I intentionally have been avoiding this show because of the abrupt way they ended James/Kara (and the oh so obvious Mon-El replacement) and I ONLY watch because the ep description has Barry/Cisco prominently featured and I get sucker punched with the Mon-El/Kara romance which I really didn't want to see because my principles (and the bad taste left in my mouth) won't let me.

I really like Superman but not enough to watch Supergirl in hopes of seeing Superman after what they did.

The Alex/Maggie thing was sweet, but as soon as I realized Cisco was gonna struggle with opening the breach all episode until the end, I muted the tv and worked on something for my job.

Oh and was that spit between Mon-El and Kara as they kissed?  Why yes, yes it was.  To me, they have the SAME chemistry she and Jimmy had in the beginning - minus the spit.  And that was the longest closed mouth kiss in creation AND then they stole the "let's forget a kiss happened" story that we've seen on Flash a million times.

I won't be back or fooled by "Crossover kick off!" ever again until they do something to earn back my respect after that Zack/Lisa hacked James/Kara ending.

Edited November 29, 2016 by phoenics

[GHScorpiosRule]

13 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

 

Lena and her mom conflicts was the best part.  Nice swerve that she's adopted.

I'm pretty sure we learned that she was adopted when the season started.

[cambridgeguy]

I guess Superman was off world during this crisis involving a Kryptonian virus stolen from his Fortress of Solitude?  A crisis that unfolded over at least a day so there was plenty of time to call him over.

Looks like Barry and Cisco are going to be on the outs for a while.

[Guest]

Was Mama Luther running CADMUS or just a cog in the wheel?  I was just wondering if there was still a reason for Jeremiah to be in hiding or whatever.

[stealinghome]

Have to agree that this episode was kind of weird, in that it was solid but completely lacked the urgency/sense of heightened stakes that you’d expected a midseason finale to have. Last week felt way more like a midseason finale in that respect. I agree with @ParadoxLost that I’m not sure this episode gained the show many new fans if anyone tuned in for the crossover. So, fine as a regular episode, but disappointing as a midseason finale.

Also disappointing? That was an absurdly easy reset of the show for the season’s second half—like I can’t BELIEVE that they solved J’onn’s White Martian problem just like that! What a waste of storytelling potential! What the hell! They dicked around for like four episodes between the opener and last week, and then they just rushed through everything they had let simmer this half-season. And did we really just neuter Cadmus that easily (even if just temporarily)? Why were they only in like 4 episodes this half-season, then? What a letdown. It feels like the writers don’t know what they want to do right now. Like they’re flailing around. Cadmus was so exciting last season and so, so lame this season. What is the pacing here? What is the vision? Gah. Right now it feels like they felt like they had to do Cadmus because it was mentioned last season, but weren't actually interested in it at all. Grar.

On the plus side: Alex/Maggie getting together! I thought for sure, after Alex stitched Maggie up, that we were going to get pining!Maggie for a while (she looked disappointed after Alex’s speech). I kind of wanted that, can’t lie, but I also won’t say no to Maggie constantly knocking on Alex’s door and giving her big feels speeches. Chyler Leigh and Floriana Lima really do have great chemistry. I wonder what obstacles they’ll have in 2B, because we all know they can’t have smooth sailing.

I love that the show is keeping Lena a gray hat and I was legitimately guessing about her allegiance almost up until the end, but her turn on Supergirl was a little crazy. “You say my mother is a supervillain…which she totally is…so you hate me and we can’t be friends!” Yeah, okay. As with everything else, I feel like this story beat was premature/rushed. I’m just not invested in the Kara/Lena relationship as I should be for that to be a Big Thing. I DID love that first Lena/Lillian scene, though. Talk about crackling with tension. (Also, mommy issues galore? Alex and Lena are MFEO, sorry Maggie!)

J’onn and Kara’s balcony scene was wonderful, especially if you ignore the contrivance of J’onn telling no one about his White Martian problem. I’m really glad the show rediscovered how awesome those two are together. They are so poignant as the last survivors of their worlds.

Alex stealing the rum from the freezer made me LOL, and I liked the running gag of her hangover at the DEO. Poor Alex.

Danvers sisters protectiveness. “My ALIEN sister is not leaving this place until we figure out the virus that only targets ALIENS.” Love love love them.

Kara’s FACE when Zor-El popped up. I was a little over Kara’s righteous indignation about the bio-virus, but I do enjoy (in the painful way) how Kara looks whenever she sees pieces of home, especially unexpected ones.

Poor Kalex!!!

Barry and Kara are just adorable together. Little fluffy balls of puppy dog sunshine! That was the most S1 Kara has seemed in ages and I loved it.

The bad: I liked Alex and Eliza’s scene in isolation, but it felt perfunctory/rushed and I’m not sure it tracks with what we saw from them last season. CL and Helen Slater gave it their all, but.

See above for all the contrived rushedness and pacing problems. I have no clue what 2B will be about and that’s not a good thing IMO.

The ugly: There are no words for how much I don’t care that some creepy-looking aliens are coming for Mon-El. Give him to them, PLEASE. I didn’t hate the kiss but it just made me roll my eyes. Kara and Mon-El are JUST starting to work as friends (I got a kick out of their jail Monopoly match), but the kiss was so rushed and Mon-El sucking up to Eliza to look good to Kara just makes him look sleazy in my book--like a player. They would have worked MUCH better with a much longer slow burn. Side note, Chris Wood has the best acting job in the world…he gets to be comatose for like half his scenes!

Really, Kara’s superhearing couldn’t hear Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber discussing telling Kara about the Guardian stuff (which I SO DID NOT MISS AT ALL) from like thirty feet away? REALLY? Come ON. This episode showed yet again how superfluous anyone outside the Kara/Alex/J'onn trifecta really is...but especially James and Winn. Oh, and Sleeping Beautiful Mon-El.

Kara ran away from Cyborg Superman for Maggie at L Corp? REALLY? I mean, we know Kara knows Alex hearts Maggie and would be upset if she died, but still.

[benteen]

Quote

Once again . . . I'm okay with the real Henshaw being a Big Bad, I'm good with the upgrades, but "Cyborg Superman" cannot be a thing. It just can't.

Hank deserves to be laughed at every single time he says that.

Good episode though an odd choice to lead off the crossover and to make a midseason episode.

[Lady Calypso]

It's funny when even with Jimmy's Guardian arc they REALLY don't know what to do without it. He appeared in the first five minutes to spill his secret, got yelled at by tipsy Alex, and then completely disappeared for the rest of the episode. That goes to show how useful Jimmy is, which is no wonder why they're trying so hard with his arc. Without it, he's not really needed in the episode. While Winn still had some use in the episode even if he wasn't seen that much. Without the Guardian arc, Winn still is part of the plot. 

I knew that Lena was going to play her mom like a fiddle. There's no way she goes from being upset at Supergirl for accusing her mom of being part of CADMUS to willingly joining her. I knew she probably had to switch out the virus, although they almost got me for a second before she turned the key. 

I knew Mon-El and Kara were going to be a thing, and I should have expected it to happen sooner rather than later. But that kiss? So awkward. All I could see was a weird clashing of the noses and Chris Wood weirdly sucking on Melissa Benoist's upper lip for a few seconds with virtually nothing going on. It's like they kissed and then froze the moment for a few seconds. It was just...urg, nothing there. They're ok when they banter, but their actual sexual chemistry just isn't there when they kissed. 

This episode was a little more Supergirl/Kara centric than the last few, at least. We got a family secrets being revealed scene, J'onn giving a pep talk to Kara, and we got some good fight scenes without all the guys busting in to save the day. 

The Alex/Maggie kiss? Fantastic. That's a much better kiss than the other one this episode from Mon-El and Kara. I really felt their chemistry. I'm glad Alex is finally comfortable with herself, and I'm super happy her mom knew and got to tell her how proud she is of her. 

There were a few rushed scenes, but I guess it's because they had a lot to cover. 

Well, show? I don't think you did the crossover right. Sure, Cisco's breach managed to save Supergirl that one time, but to get this audience invested in the other shows, maybe incorporate them earlier? Hopefully they can get the next set of crossovers better. 

[mtlchick]

I didn't even realize that this was the mid season finale until I was seeing websites posting their recaps.  As a few said, no real sense of urgency or something that make you say "I need to wait HOW LONG until I find out?!" We had some nice developments with Maggie/Alex (Malex?) and J'Ohnn back to himself.  Plus it was nice to see Helen Slater again. And the Luthors at war is going to be interesting.  But that's it until Barry and Cisco came crashing through. 

Meanwhile Cyborg can go melt himself.  OVER IT!

 

Overall, I didn't hate it.   But it was a big meh considering how important the cross over is this week. 

[secnarf]

1 hour ago, statsgirl said:

Lena and her mom conflicts was the best part.  Nice swerve that she's adopted.

They've mentioned she's adopted several times already - I don't think it was ever a surprise.

J'onn being cured so quickly and 'magically' was very anticlimactic and made the whole storyline feel like a waste. I feel similar about Mon-El's cure, but less so since it was only a one-episode story to begin with. Speaking of Mon-El, I really don't want him to be around long-term. I feel like I could tolerate him better if I knew there was an end date on his character. Chris Wood is adorable, I just don't like the character and really don't want Kara to have a love interest right now.

I am both happy Alex and Maggie got together and also mildly annoyed they didn't continue with the slow burn and let them be friends for a few more episodes.

Lena playing her mom was incredibly predictable.

Could have done with less James, though. His one scene was ridiculous.

[thuganomics85]

So, it wasn't so much a crossover episode, but a midseason finale and a beginning of a crossover.  Basically, this episode seem to be wrapping up the current big stories at the moment (or finding a solid way to put them on pause), and then Barry and Cisco show up all "Help us, Supergirl!  You are our only hope!"  Whatever it is, I'm sure it will end up being Barry's fault!  Kidding aside, even in that brief moment, Melissa Benoist and Grant Gustin just brighten up the screen when they are together.

Anyway, so Cadmus/Lillian's plan was to use Supergirl's blood to gain access to some kind of anti-alien virus, that Kara's dad had created incase Krypton was ever invaded, and turned it into a weapon for herself, to rid the planet of humans.  It would have worked too... had it not been for her meddling kid!  I had a suspect Lena was playing her, but I was still glad when it was revealed that Lena set her up.  I hope they avoid ever making her fully bad and keep her a shades of grey character.  Oh, and make Katie McGrath a regular, because she's awesome and I want her around for a while.  I do hope this isn't it for Lillian either, since I was enjoying the frosty tension between Brenda Strong and McGrath.  I would not want to be in the middle of them, if a fight ever broke out!

I'm all for Dave Harewood getting to perform double duty, but anytime Hank yells that he is Cyborg Superman, it just makes him come off like some weird fanboy, who always dreamed of being Superman, but cooler.  Which I'm pretty sure does not describe the real Hank Henshaw, at all.

It was obvious that Mon-El was never going to die, so that was a waste.  And, of course, it leads to him finally kissing her, but not remembering due to his condition.  But now Kara knows he does, in fact, "want to mate with her."  I would ask how in the hell did she not see the obvious signs, but as much as I love Kara, she never really was good at picking up blatant clues from others.

Maggie gets shot, and decides that live is short and she should quit messing around and just kiss the girl, I see.  A bit of a cliche, but Chyler Leigh and Floriana Lima still have great chemistry, but whatever.  Of course, this being The CW (or television in general), we'll see how long it actually lasts.

J'onn is already cured?  Talk about rushing through things!

I almost feel bad over how insignificant Jimmy was for this entire episode.  They really seem to be at a loss over how to have him factor in more, when he isn't off doing his stupid Guardian crap.

Looking for the rest of the week, and seeing Kara get to interact with the rest of the DC gang.  Am at the very least looking forward to how she contrasts compared to the moody Oliver, and how she and Captain Sara Lance will play off one another!  And what in the hell would she think teaming up along side someone like Mick "Heatwave" Rory?! 

[prospazzinator]

2 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

It was obvious that Mon-El was never going to die, so that was a waste.  And, of course, it leads to him finally kissing her, but not remembering due to his condition.  

Oh. I totally thought Mon-El remembered and was just pretending he didn't. I think it was that look he gave her as she was walking away. Or maybe he was just constipated.

I only watched this episode for the crossover, which ended up being .68 seconds. Nothing I saw makes me want to pick up watching this show again.

[quarks]

Mixed episode.

Good things:

1. Yay, Alex and Maggie. I really liked the awkwardness of their last scene, too, plus Alex admitting that she was going to be giving Maggie all sorts of drama in the future. Looking forward to seeing where this is going.

2. Cisco firmly noting that he and Barry aren't friends. Yay for consistency. I was assuming that the shows were just going to forget consistency this week for the big team-up, so, again, YAY.

3. Loved the parallels between Lena and Kara both finding out about the misdeeds of their parents.

4. Best scene in the episode: Jonn and Kara on the balcony.

Questionable things:

1. Wouldn't this sort of situation - an organization taking out aliens - be the exact sort of situation where a human vigilante in a supersuit - like, say, Guardian - would be useful?  Especially as a lead-in to, say, someone on this show having to interact with vigilantes and a couple of people in superpowered suits the very next night?  So where was James after the failure of Thanksgiving dinner?

2. After her initial conversation with her mother, I was completely expecting Lena to stay on the side of good - at least for this episode - which made her later confrontation scene with Supergirl just not work for me, since it felt less like an actual scene and more a "let's get the audience to think that Lena is going evil and then shock them when she doesn't go evil!" which all led to me not being, well, shocked. 

3. That said, I'm not exactly against them, but I'd probably be feeling Kara and Mon-El more if Kara and Lena weren't so much more interesting to watch together. And if Supergirl hadn't repeated Flash's stunt of "Kiss? What kiss?" And at least over on Flash, Iris genuinely didn't remember the other timelines - something that doesn't seem to be going on with Mon-El here.

4. Nice of you to play your mother like that, Lena, but also, kinda mean to all of the aliens that thought they were about to die.

5. Although, that said, how did the aliens know that the red stuff coming down from the sky was targeted at them? Alien premonitions? Did the DEO issue some sort of ALIEN VIRUS alert?

6. Shouldn't Superman have some sort of alert system to let him know when other people hop into the Fortress of Solitude?

7. What does Kara tell CatCo about her many absences? Is James covering up for her? That would have been more interesting than the pre-Thanksgiving thing.

8. And on a related note, a) why does the DEO have a Monopoly board just hanging around, and b) if the answer to this is "they collect board games," why didn't Kara pick a better board game, one less likely to result in strangling the other player?  (Monopoly is very dangerous, everyone.)

Bad things:

1. Have we forgotten that Kara has superhearing, show, and thus can presumably hear conversations taking place in the SAME ROOM where she is, without anything blocking the sound?

2.  Wow, that Martian Manhunter Turns Into an Evil Alien plot really went nowhere much faster than we all expected, didn't it? 

3. I don't like Cyborg Superman. There. I said it. And I don't get why, if he hates aliens, he's using a version of a name associated with an alien.

4. Show, I realize you're hoping I'll overlook this sort of thing, but maybe, just maybe, putting a fight scene in one of Arrow's favorite alleyways just TWO EPISODES before Supergirl flies into Arrow was not the brightest move.

5. Speaking of which, I have to agree with others here: Given that Barry and Cisco are specifically coming over to ask Kara to help them wipe out ALIENS, maybe this wasn't the best episode to introduce a virus that can WIPE OUT ALL ALIENS, since the clear solution here is to have Kara hand over that virus to Barry along with some nice apple pie and the hope that he has a lovely Thanksgiving.

6. Then again, the whole crossover thing seemed really tacked on - just the brief bit at the beginning to let us know Barry was showing up, and, then, well, Barry and Cisco showing up.  

[AzureOwl]

Does anyone have any guesses about who the aliens looking for Mon-El are? 

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I'm pretty sure we learned that she was adopted when the season started.

If Papa Luthor is anything like Lionel from Smallville I think it would be a good bet that Lena is his own out-of-wedlock biological kid and he went through the farce of adopting her so he could raise her. It would explain why Lilian doesn't seem to even like her. 

[TDT]

Damn missed the episode,though i did catch the last few minutes where Barry and Cisco appeared..

So i wonder will this crossover also make use of each show's supporting characters(i.e the normal human ones)..? i assume that in tomorrow's Flash episode,Iris and Joe will be around for,say,one scene each

[stealinghome]

Quote

Oh. I totally thought Mon-El remembered and was just pretending he didn't. I think it was that look he gave her as she was walking away. Or maybe he was just constipated.

Nah, I'm with you--I thought it was clear he remembered and was just too chickenshit to say anything. That look back screamed it.

Why, oh why, do the writers suck so hard at writing Kara's love life? And double why, oh why do they insist on making it such a big part of the show when they suck so hard at writing it?

[ottoDbusdriver]

59 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

I didn't even realize that this was the mid season finale until I was seeing websites posting their recaps.  As a few said, no real sense of urgency or something that make you say "I need to wait HOW LONG until I find out?!" We had some nice developments with Maggie/Alex (Malex?) and J'Ohnn back to himself.  Plus it was nice to see Helen Slater again. And the Luthors at war is going to be interesting.  But that's it until Barry and Cisco came crashing through. 

Meanwhile Cyborg can go melt himself.  OVER IT!

 

Overall, I didn't hate it.   But it was a big meh considering how important the cross over is this week. 

Is real!Hank/Cyborg also part ninja ?  Because this is the 2nd time when people were clearly all standing around a fallen real!Hank/Cyborg and he just up and disappears like a fart in the wind.

So, is M'Gann dead too ?  Is that also the end of the alien bar -- you know, since all the regulars are dead ?

Here's my question about the virus -- since it killed any non-Kryptonian alien, wouldn't humans be considered non-Kryptonian ?  The Medusa virus was developed WAY BEFORE humans were encountered by Kryptonians.  And how did Cadmus know about Medusa, or the Fortress of Solitude in the first place ?

 

[buckboard]

OttoDbusdriver, that was my thought, too.  Shouldn't Earthlings be considered aliens to Kryptonians?

Poor Alex struggling to come out to her mother, while it was her mother practically grabbing her by the collar and pulling her out of the closet.   Good for you, Eliza.

Edited November 29, 2016 by buckboard

[legaleagle53]

Nothing to see here, folks.

Edited November 29, 2016 by legaleagle53

[MarkHB]

14 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

So, is M'Gann dead too ?  Is that also the end of the alien bar -- you know, since all the regulars are dead ?

I think she's still in the jail cell at the DEO.

Re: the virus, I think Cadmus reengineered it to not attack humans,

One thing I will say about this episode, at least the "Zor-El created Medusa" storyline actually put Kara front and center!

[rtms77]

57 minutes ago, AzureOwl said:

Does anyone have any guesses about who the aliens looking for Mon-El are? 

If Papa Luthor is anything like Lionel from Smallville I think it would be a good bet that Lena is his own out-of-wedlock biological kid and he went through the farce of adopting her so he could raise her. It would explain why Lilian doesn't seem to even like her. 

Lillian did say Lena was her father's favorite while Lex was Lillians. That would make a lot of sense and I would bet just may be reveled down the road. It would explain why Lillian has never been nice or loving to Lena, seeing her always as the insult to her marriage. Lex I bet figured it out early and clearly until recently accepted Lena as is and grew to love her in his limited way.

So I hope this means Lena is friends again with Supergirl because that whole reason is the fastest and dumbest reason to turn evil. "You insult my mother who I know is bad so  now I hate you too". It was rushed and fake sounding and had no background at all.

[ottoDbusdriver]

16 minutes ago, MarkHB said:

I think she's still in the jail cell at the DEO.

I completely forgot about that -- who knows, maybe she had a daypass to go to work.  :)

[Last Time Lord]

I think my favorite moment of the episode was Mon-El telling Eliza that Kara told him Eliza was a great scientist, which was immediately followed with him asking Eliza what exactly science is.

[Lantern7]

"Mom, I'm gay." "Alex? Honey? Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhh." Okay, it's not in keeping with this show's tone, but that would've been hysterical.

[MarkHB]

My favorite moment (at least the one that's not totally shallow) was the bit of business with Alex and her drink before dinner (Kara took away her beer and put it in the fridge, Alex waited until Kara wasn't watching, went to the fridge, and grabbed the fifth of bourbon that was next to her beer and walked off with that instead).  Neat little background piece!

[stealinghome]

I also loved Alex and Winn's oh so dubious reactions to Kara's (adorable) "GUYS! I can be sneaky when I want to be! Really!" protestations. Hee. It's moments like that that really make this show stand out.

Quote

Poor Alex struggling to come out to her mother, while it was her mother practically grabbing her by the collar and pulling her out of the closet.   Good for you, Eliza.

This made me cackle. So true!

[legaleagle53]

38 minutes ago, buckboard said:

Poor Alex struggling to come out to her mother, while it was her mother practically grabbing her by the collar and pulling her out of the closet.   Good for you, Eliza.

Indeed.  My mother's reaction was basically the same as Eliza's.  But like Alex, I was nervous about coming out to her.  Not because I was afraid she would reject me -- I knew that would never happen -- but because I was afraid she'd blame herself for it, which is why when I told her, I made a point of emphasizing that it had nothing to do with the way she had raised me, that it was just who and what I'd always been.

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

I'm all for Dave Harewood getting to perform double duty, but anytime Hank yells that he is Cyborg Superman, it just makes him come off like some weird fanboy, who always dreamed of being Superman, but cooler.  Which I'm pretty sure does not describe the real Hank Henshaw, at all.

 

1 hour ago, quarks said:

Mixed episode. ...

Questionable things:

1. Wouldn't this sort of situation - an organization taking out aliens - be the exact sort of situation where a human vigilante in a supersuit - like, say, Guardian - would be useful?  Especially as a lead-in to, say, someone on this show having to interact with vigilantes and a couple of people in superpowered suits the very next night?  So where was James after the failure of Thanksgiving dinner?

5. Although, that said, how did the aliens know that the red stuff coming down from the sky was targeted at them? Alien premonitions? Did the DEO issue some sort of ALIEN VIRUS alert?

6. Shouldn't Superman have some sort of alert system to let him know when other people hop into the Fortress of Solitude?

7. What does Kara tell CatCo about her many absences? Is James covering up for her? That would have been more interesting than the pre-Thanksgiving thing.

8. And on a related note, a) why does the DEO have a Monopoly board just hanging around, and b) if the answer to this is "they collect board games," why didn't Kara pick a better board game, one less likely to result in strangling the other player?  (Monopoly is very dangerous, everyone.)

 

I think that "weird fanboy" is probably an accurate description of the comic book Hank Henshaw.

I don't think the aliens knew that what was coming from the sky was supposed to be death for them. They just were looking up and saw a strange sight. That's why alien teen chick was putting it on alien Instagram or whatever, seemingly clueless that she should be choking as her insides liquefied or whatever.

Yes, Superman should have greater security for the Fortress. He should also know when someone blows up his robot real good. One would also think calling on him when there's a plot afoot to murder every alien on the planet, using information stolen from his fortress.

Speaking of which, screw the writers for calling it "Medusa" instead of making up some Kryptonian myth or some random word like last season's Project Myriad. Also, how is it that Henshaw/Cadmus could possibly have found out about this specific project?

Re: Kara's absences, last season she had no excuses as she was the personal assistant to a hugely demanding boss. At least this season in her reporter guise, she has a reason for being out and about, like her cuz. And also presumably like her cuz, she will be able to buy some goodwill by getting scoops. In this case, given her exclusive all-access pass to Lena, she should be able to get a cracking story about how Lena turned on her own mother and foiled a plot to murder untold numbers of aliens living among them.

One of the things that hadn't really ported over from the first season was that Kara had a board game night. So it could be that Kara was responsible for Monopoly. Or Winn, who was a participant in the board game night we saw and the son of a villain named Toyman, might have brought it. And as part of his latent E-VIL, he could have specifically brought one that inspired fights. :) 
 

1 hour ago, stealinghome said:

Why, oh why, do the writers suck so hard at writing Kara's love life? And double why, oh why do they insist on making it such a big part of the show when they suck so hard at writing it?

To be fair, if there has been a superhero show that was actually good at writing romance besides Lois and Clark, I'm drawing a blank. Smallville, Gotham, Heroes, all the other Berlantiverse shows, No Ordinary Family, The Cape, Birds of Prey, and on and on...I don't think there have been realistic, chemistry-laden, sexy, intelligent relationships in any of them.

[yellowfred]

So, they definitely wrapped up more plots tonight than I thought they would.  I'm kind of sad that the implications of J'onn possibly turning into a White Martian were put so far to the backburner, especially since that's apparently the end of that story.  While I kind of wish that they'd given Maggie and Alex at least one episode of trying to be friends, I'm not gonna argue with where they ended up (though, I'd really thought that Alex was going to be the one to get badly injured).

I really enjoyed the Kara/Lena stuff this episode.  I do think Lena was genuinely upset when Supergirl told her that her mother was the head of Cadmus.  Like, it's one thing to know that you're mother is awful in a family setting; it's another thing to hear that she might actually be evil on a more global scale.  

I think, if I hadn't already been unenthused about the prospect of Kara and Mon-El getting together, that kiss would have gotten me there.  It made me wish that I'd watched a lower def version so that I wouldn't have to see that trail of spittle between their mouths quite so clearly.  I'm pretty sure that he's pretending not to remember the kiss because he realizes that it was awful and should never happen again, but he wanted to save face.

I agree that this was not the best way to kick off the crossover.  For one thing, kicking off a storyline about stopping an alien invasion with an episode focusing on the moral failings of people who see themselves as stopping alien invasions is probably not setting the best tone for what's to come.

[Lantern7]

Quote

Why, oh why, do the writers suck so hard at writing Kara's love life? And double why, oh why do they insist on making it such a big part of the show when they suck so hard at writing it?

I'd ship Barry & Kara. They're so dorky alone, and they would be unbelievably adorkable together. If Barrlicity is off the table for now, I can get behind Karry. Barra?

[prospazzinator]

7 minutes ago, yellowfred said:

I think, if I hadn't already been unenthused abeout the prospect of Kara and Mon-El getting together, that kiss would have gotten me there.  It made me wish that I'd watched a lower def version so that I wouldn't have to see that trail of spittle between their mouths quite so clearly.  I'm pretty sure that he's pretending not to remember the kiss because he realizes that it was awful and should never happen again, but he wanted to save face.

 

Yeah, that spit trail was pretty gross. The whole kiss scene was just weird. No thanks, show.

[legaleagle53]

14 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

I'd ship Barry & Kara. They're so dorky alone, and they would be unbelievably adorkable together. If Barrlicity is off the table for now, I can get behind Karry. Barra?

Where would that leave Iris, though?

[Dobian]

Pretty much the highlight of the episode for me was Thanksgiving dinner, Winn and James are all, let's tell Kara who the Guardian is, and Alex is all, you're not wrecking my Thanksgiving dinner with this Guardian crap, everyone hates the Guardian, the Guardian sucks.  Expressing the opinion of millions of viewers.  LOL.

[Jediknight]

I don't ship, but I'm board with Barry and Kara.

Said it last week, and I'll say it again, Alex and Winn have great sibling chemistry.

I love that Lena so far is on Supergirl's side.  Please keep it up, don't have her be evil.  Have her be a good Luthor, that at random times will help out the DEO.  She and Winn can come up with awesome gadgets to protect Earth.

[kdm07]

- When you have Kara & Lena together and then force feed me Kara & Mon-El, I can't help but draw comparisons. Right now. there's no competition on which pairing has the better chemistry. Whoever's writing the Kara/Lena scenes needs to be transferred over to writing Kara/Mon-El for me to ever accept this silly romance.

- No Guardian. Cool with that.

- Alex got the girl!

- I'm looking forward to the Kara/Oliver and Kara/Sara interactions during the crossover weeks. Kara's optimism against Oliver's brooding should be hilarious.

[Latverian Diplomat]

2 hours ago, quarks said:

 

1. Have we forgotten that Kara has superhearing, show, and thus can presumably hear conversations taking place in the SAME ROOM where she is, without anything blocking the sound?

 

 

3 hours ago, stealinghome said:

 

Really, Kara’s superhearing couldn’t hear Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber discussing telling Kara about the Guardian stuff (which I SO DID NOT MISS AT ALL) from like thirty feet away? REALLY? Come ON. This episode showed yet again how superfluous anyone outside the Kara/Alex/J'onn trifecta really is...but especially James and Winn. Oh, and Sleeping Beautiful Mon-El.

 

I don't see this as a problem. Super-hearing is pretty well established as a power that Kryptonians have to actively choose to use. It's not on all the time. Otherwise, they'd go nuts (in fact, there is at least one Superman comic where depriving Superman of control over his Super-hearing was part of an attack on him). And Kara being Kara she's respectful of her friends' privacy. Being across the room, or half a city away, they still have to rely on Kara's ethics to ever have a private conversation.

A few other comments.

They really shouldn't let Henshaw escape so easily. The last getaway was particularly egregious.

Agree with others that this  episode probably tried to do too much.

I'm no expert on coming out drama, but I was a little disappointed that when Alex said she thought her mom wanted her to have a normal life, mom's reply wasn't that being a lesbian is a perfectly normal life.

I was expecting more of the crossover main plot, but hopefully Kara will play a big role on the other shows. To the extent that the crossover is meant to promote Supergirl Supergirl to the CW, her appearances on the other shows might actually be where that work gets done. (Though last I looked Supergirl was the 2nd best ratings performer of the four shows.)

[Jediknight]

52 minutes ago, kdm07 said:

- I'm looking forward to the Kara/Oliver and Kara/Sara interactions during the crossover weeks. Kara's optimism against Oliver's brooding should be hilarious.

What about Mick's reaction to dealing with Ray and Kara's optimism?

[Dobian]

51 minutes ago, kdm07 said:

- When you have Kara & Lena together and then force feed me Kara & Mon-El, I can't help but draw comparisons. Right now. there's no competition on which pairing has the better chemistry. Whoever's writing the Kara/Lena scenes needs to be transferred over to writing Kara/Mon-El for me to ever accept this silly romance.

Yeah I have to agree, Kara and Lena is really dynamic while her and Mon El is like a teen romance in a bad Disney sitcom.

[BkWurm1]

1 hour ago, Latverian Diplomat said:

I'm no expert on coming out drama, but I was a little disappointed that when Alex said she thought her mom wanted her to have a normal life, mom's reply wasn't that being a lesbian is a perfectly normal life

Don't know if it makes a big difference, but she never said "normal", she only said "regular" life.  I do think they were trying to convey it as "typical" but without the negative connotations, clearly with middling results.

3 hours ago, Last Time Lord said:

I think my favorite moment of the episode was Mon-El telling Eliza that Kara told him Eliza was a great scientist, which was immediately followed with him asking Eliza what exactly science is.

Yeah, I think I like Mon-el best when he's the clueless alien.  That said, I did like how now that he's interested in Kara, he's pretty much totally intimidated and shy about the whole thing.  Winning over her mother was a nice, safe, indirect way to further his cause, but nope, they saw through that and he freaked.  I do prefer that if there is going to be a romance that he's not pushy and arrogant about it.  He seems pretty aware that he's not good enough for Kara (or at least she wouldn't be interested)

As for the kiss, I thought the timing and the lean in was good, but the actual kiss looked like a dry, chaste (if long) press of lips but ended in a gross line of spit and I honestly got lost for a moment trying to figure out how they managed to do both, lol.   

I agree that he does remember, but now that he was no longer dying, pretended he didn't.  It's not like Kara was acting like she was that interested.   

2 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Where would that leave Iris, though?

Well someone needs to show up and still give Barry his weekly pep talk and Supergirl will be too busy saving the world to do it.  

Edited November 29, 2016 by BkWurm1

[stealinghome]

15 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Don't know if it makes a big difference, but she never said "normal", she only said "regular" life.  I do think they were trying to convey it as "typical" but without the negative connotations, clearly with middling results.

...

As for the kiss, I thought the timing and the lean in was good, but the actual kiss looked like a dry, chaste (if long) press of lips but ended in a gross line of spit and I honestly got lost for a moment trying to figure out how they to do both, lol. 

Yeah, I wasn't wild about the way the show framed Eliza's comments, but I do think the writing was trying to acknowledge that being gay isn't normative while still saying that it's 500% okay. It's just that they weren't particularly graceful/eloquent about it. 

Re: the Kara/Mon-El kiss, I also am like, why the hell didn't they re-shoot the kiss and/or use another take?? Surely SOMEONE noticed the spit at some point.

[BkWurm1]

39 minutes ago, Jediknight said:

What about Mick's reaction to dealing with Ray and Kara's optimism?

Well you said it, Heatwave is already used to dealing with Ray.  Kara might be an optimistic girl scout but she also can shoot fiery lasers out of her eyes.  Respect!

1 hour ago, Latverian Diplomat said:

I was expecting more of the crossover main plot, but hopefully Kara will play a big role on the other shows. To the extent that the crossover is meant to promote Supergirl Supergirl to the CW, her appearances on the other shows might actually be where that work gets done. (Though last I looked Supergirl was the 2nd best ratings performer of the four shows.)

 The show runners since they announced the crossover have been open that it was really just a three episode crossover that simply kicked off at the end of Supergirl, but as the actual event approached, the CW dived in and promoted it as a four show/night event. I hope that misdirection doesn't annoy viewers too much.

 It does sound like Kara will be a big part of the crossover (as big as can be expected with this big of a cast of characters) so I don't know why TPTB didn't do more to use the episode to entice the other show's audiences into returning.  

At the very least they should have written in a mention of Barry's last visit.  The portal almost opening was nice, but I wish they could have had Barry and CIsco actually do something in the episode.  This just felt like any old episode of Supergirl with a short tacked on end scene.  They didn't even talk about the portals on the show,  These people would talk about them!!  

I get why they didn't try to write a four part Aliens vs Heroes story.  Three parts was complicated enough, but why couldn't they have let just Barry and Cisco hang over in Supergirl land for a while before they left?  I know there is a specific Flash/Supergirl crossover still coming, but why wouldn't they do more than a cameo now? I mean, I knew it was only going to be a cameo, but seeing it play out just made it a more puzzling choice.  

10 minutes ago, stealinghome said:

Re: the Kara/Mon-El kiss, I also am like, why the hell didn't they re-shoot the kiss and/or use another take?? Surely SOMEONE noticed the spit at some point.

Or maybe they added it later in post to sex it up?  ;p

Edited November 29, 2016 by BkWurm1

[regularlyleaded]

Jeebus Cripes. Jimmy and Winn are invited as guests to the Danvers' family Thanksgiving where Alex, as one of the hosts, tells them not to bring up the Guardian stuff because she has things she needs to say at the dinner first, so what do Jimmy and Winn do at dinner? Exactly what Alex asked them not to do! Way to be complete jerks, guys. I see this Guardian ego trip is working wonders for you both as people. *SMH*

4 hours ago, stealinghome said:

Why, oh why, do the writers suck so hard at writing Kara's love life? And double why, oh why do they insist on making it such a big part of the show when they suck so hard at writing it?

Heh, well, speaking for myself I like Kara and Mon-El and I like how it's being written. I don't claim it's perfect, but well, it works for me and I'm here for more. I will say, though, that I have questions. 

Kara's conversation with Mon-El while they were playing Monopoly when she was awkwardly asking him if he had feelings for her, was awkward to me in the way that newborn foals trying to find their footing are awkward. It made Kara seem younger and more timid than the impression I came away with last season, particularly if you consider her interactions with Adam Foster (or even Jimmy). Now it could be that the writer(s) that wrote Kara like that last season left with Cat Grant, or it could be because the writers are trying to explore  her romantic dynamic with Mon-El differently from how they attempted last season's romances. Personally, I'm hoping it's a case of the latter because I think in that case there are some interesting aspects of Kara that could be explored. For example, has Kara ever had a serious relationship? My impression is that she's dated, but there doesn't seem to have been anyone serious at any point. Does being an alien and being raised Kryptonian for almost half her life make things awkward for her in a way that she hasn't figured out how to deal with? Does the prospect of a serious relationship make her timid and awkward, like she was two left feet, and perhaps she's the one who bails on relationships if they get too serious, or is she bold and goes for it? If it's still true that the show this season is trying to explore who Kara is (rather than her figuring out the Supergirl side of her life) these are aspects of her that they could explore within the context of a romance and which I would find interesting. Will the show go there? I don't know. I'm basically throwing these questions out into the universe hoping that the show decides to explore that side of Kara at some point...or any side, really.

 

4 hours ago, MarkHB said:

One thing I will say about this episode, at least the "Zor-El created Medusa" storyline actually put Kara front and center!

Absolutely. I need so much for there to be a story for Kara that  I will take anything the writers give me, so I'm holding on - tooth and nail - to what they gave us in this episode.

I watch this show for Kara, so I think as far this episode goes the writers finally threw something my way. To be honest, when you don't watch for Jimmy & Winn's Guardian stuff, or for Alex's coming out & romance with Maggie and are kind of take it or leave it with J'onn and M'gann, but instead you do watch for Kara's story, well then, even with all it's flaws, this episode felt like a gift (to me). And considering this was the winter finale, it actually gave me something to look forward to watching when the show returns. 

Final Items:

• The scene of Kara when she saw Zor-El at the Fortress was a nice touch. Melissa always does a great job, even with brief moments like this, where she conveys just how much almost overwhelming emotion Kara is pushing down and away whenever dealing with the memory of her parents. 
• Kara and J'onn's scenes together continue to be highlights for me thus far this season.
• YAS! Lena is still not Luthor Evil! Keep it up, Show. Katie McGrath is so great to watch in this role and as such, I propose that you give us more Lena and less Guardian, Show. Call me, I have suggestions. ;)
• Pfft. Sure they've "arrested" Lillian Luthor (we'll see how long that lasts), but you'll never make me believe this is the last of Cadmus, Show. NEVER!
• Mon-El's misunderstanding of Earth customs and lingo continues to be a fun source of amusement for me.

Edited November 29, 2016 by regularlyleaded

[StarBrand]

Well, a lot of things seemed to get tied up in a nice little bow, huh?

James appeared in only five minutes, but managed to look like a complete douche the whole time. Alex wanted to tell everyone about being gay, and wasn't going to have James upstaging it. James pushing himself in to go first in "I'm thankful for ...." conversation makes him look even more of an asshole afterwards. That's exactly why Alex was peeved at him, as she should have been. She eventually did come out to Mom (and I agree it felt a little shoehorned in, but I let it slide). As I expected, Eliza pretty much (a) already knew, and (b) was completely OK with it. Alex, your Mon adopted an alien, interacts with others like it's no thing-you probably have the most open-minded Mom on the planet.

J'ohns white martian problem got solved really quickly, didn't it?

Poor Kara...the more she finds out about her family, she gets answers she doesn't like.

I was almost a half hour into things before Maggie showed up, and I was wondering if the show would dare to NOT show any Sanvers. Then there was that DEO scene with Alex sewing Maggie up, and then I thought "alright, that's that for this week". Then Maggie showed up at Alex's doorstep, and I'm like "OK, here we go then.." I guess a brush with possible death would be enough to make Maggie jump past the whole "friends" thing. Alex will probably have the goofiest smile the next time she shows up at the DEO....and everyone will know why..*L*

Edited November 29, 2016 by StarBrand

[Cranberry]

8 hours ago, mtlchick said:

We had some nice developments with Maggie/Alex (Malex?)

"Sanvers" seems to be the popular choice (and the one the actors are embracing).

[johntfs]

11 hours ago, stealinghome said:

I love that the show is keeping Lena a gray hat and I was legitimately guessing about her allegiance almost up until the end, but her turn on Supergirl was a little crazy. “You say my mother is a supervillain…which she totally is…so you hate me and we can’t be friends!” Yeah, okay. As with everything else, I feel like this story beat was premature/rushed. I’m just not invested in the Kara/Lena relationship as I should be for that to be a Big Thing. I DID love that first Lena/Lillian scene, though. Talk about crackling with tension. (Also, mommy issues galore? Alex and Lena are MFEO, sorry Maggie!)

Supergirl had just come into her office and announced "Your mother is a crazy genocidal terrorist, just like your brother was a crazy genocidal terrorist."  Lena's allowed to react badly to that.  After Supergirl left, Lena thought about it and then did the right thing.  The real hero in this is Lena, for neutralizing the virus and putting the head of CADMUS in prison (briefly, we all know she's going to escape). 

As for Cyborg Superman, yes, it's silly but it was also a thing from the comics.

As the 12-year oldish kiss, Kara has often struck me as 12 Going on 24.

[StarBrand]

Little things I liked this episode;

1. Alex sneaking more alcohol out of the fridge after having her beer taken away.

2. Drunk Alex stumbling back into her chair after getting her coming out speech interrupted.

3. Wynn and Alex looking skeptically at Kara, for insisting she can be "sneaky".

4. When Alex lets Maggie in and apologizes for her pajama attire, and Maggie remarks "it's cute, actually."