S02.E09: Supergirl Lives

[legaleagle53]

16 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Kara probably shouldn't have lost her powers instantly (she still has them at night so she has some stored solar energy) but I guess there wasn't time to show a gradual loss.

That's not why she still has her powers at night.  The reason she does is that the solar rays from Earth's yellow sun are powerful enough to penetrate even the earth's core, so she, Superman, and Mon-El retain their powers even after the sun has set.

The reason Kara and Mon-El immediately lost their powers on the Slavers' Moon is that that world has a red sun, so there was no yellow solar radiation to give Kara and Mon-El their powers.  Red solar radiation doesn't actually nullify the powers of a Kryptonian or a Daxamite; it simply can't provide them in the first place.

[ahisma]

Quote

Did anyone think the little thing with the blanket at the end was an improv by Chris Wood and a genuine laugh by Melissa and they just kept rolling?  Seemed that way to me.

That whole scene felt so real/natural that I felt like it was Melissa and Chris almost more than Kara and Mon-el. And they are adorable.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Where did the transmatter portal come from ?  It appeared to be controlled by humans from the Earth-side, but they certainly didn't build it.
Did someone from Slaver's moon crash on Earth (I'm seriously beginning to suspect that Earth is some kind of alien magnet) and MacGyver it from local parts ?

Plus, who programmed it to connect to the Slaver's Moon portal in the first place ?

Why did Kara destroy the control panel when she returned ?  That may stop people from leaving from Earth, but I doubt it will stop others from showing up ... like Roulette.  Roulette's presence in this episode was a waste of time.

Leaving Wynn alone and unprotected by the portal was just all kinds of stupid.

Since when does Maggie have walk in privileges at the DEO ?  Because Alex didn't seem to know she was coming to the DEO.

How did Lizzie get caught by the alien ?  Everyone else already made it through the portal -- did Lizzie stop for some sightseeing or to pick up a souvenir on the way to the portal ?  That was just poorly done, like Supergirl would have lost track of her -- since they were new besties.

So was Mon-el REALLY stuck in a time-slowing nebula for 25 years or so ?  Because not one but two different alien species know of him after all this time -- and that's just in this episode.

While Slaver's Moon has 3 moons, what were those bright spotlights in the sky at night ?  One was in the same shot as the moons, and one was behind Wynn.

[MarkHB]

5 hours ago, Cranberry said:

The Dominator actually bowed to him. If he's not the prince, I'll eat all the hats.

It occurred to me that using the Dominator in this instance actually made sense; they're a caste-driven society (the larger the red dot on their head, the higher their rank), and so it would be natural to them to defer to royalty.

[ottoDbusdriver]

12 minutes ago, MarkHB said:

It occurred to me that using the Dominator in this instance actually made sense; they're a caste-driven society (the larger the red dot on their head, the higher their rank), and so it would be natural to them to defer to royalty.

Then again, maybe the Dominators in Supergirl's universe (Earth 38, is it ?) aren't quite so dominant if they are subservient to the Daxxomites (that are all supposed to be wiped out for the last 25+ years after Krypton assploded), and have a different name -- maybe the Sycophants.  Or maybe the Dominator was just being sarcastic.   Can Dominators roll their eyes ?  :)

[Chicago Redshirt]

25 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Where did the transmatter portal come from ?  It appeared to be controlled by humans from the Earth-side, but they certainly didn't build it.
Did someone from Slaver's moon crash on Earth (I'm seriously beginning to suspect that Earth is some kind of alien magnet) and MacGyver it from local parts ?

Plus, who programmed it to connect to the Slaver's Moon portal in the first place ?

Why did Kara destroy the control panel when she returned ?  That may stop people from leaving from Earth, but I doubt it will stop others from showing up ... like Roulette.  Roulette's presence in this episode was a waste of time.

Leaving Wynn alone and unprotected by the portal was just all kinds of stupid.

Since when does Maggie have walk in privileges at the DEO ?  Because Alex didn't seem to know she was coming to the DEO.

How did Lizzie get caught by the alien ?  Everyone else already made it through the portal -- did Lizzie stop for some sightseeing or to pick up a souvenir on the way to the portal ?  That was just poorly done, like Supergirl would have lost track of her -- since they were new besties.

So was Mon-el REALLY stuck in a time-slowing nebula for 25 years or so ?  Because not one but two different alien species know of him after all this time -- and that's just in this episode.

While Slaver's Moon has 3 moons, what were those bright spotlights in the sky at night ?  One was in the same shot as the moons, and one was behind Wynn.

Roulette expositioned that one of the aliens she had in her fights told her about Slaver's Moon and that she then opened up Earth as a market for the Slavers. (She said she did that because Supergirl broke up her operation. But that doesn't really make sense because she had friends in high places that got her freed, and nothing stopped her from resuming with the fights.) While she didn't give specifics, I am operating under the assumption that Roulette was somehow able to establish communications with the Slavers and then built the Earth Stargate with instructions from them. 

The doctor was not human. He repeated Mon-El's slip about "Paris City." and showed his alien face during at least one point. 

I think it's a fair assumption that if the Earth Stargate isn't working properly, people can't use it from the other gate(s). I'm assuming that rather than just being a control panel, it probably in part powers the gate.

[Dobian]

A good episode except for Alex's manufactured relationship drama.  The show can't keep dipping into that well where Alex goes nuts, and then provides a bunch of exposition later about how kids made fun of Kara on her birthday and Alex has had deep emotional issues about it ever since.

I also hope the show doesn't go down that tired road where  Alex will ditch Maggie down the road because "it's just too dangerous to be close to me", or Maggie gets killed by an alien so that we can have several episodes of Alex going to a dark place, and only Kara can save her from herself.

[Tara Ariano]

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

Supergirl Faces Kevin And Hell

The DC Universe welcomes a guest director who's a true Comic Book Man -- and so does Jeff Alexander.

[tennisgurl]

This was a pretty engaging episode, with its biggest problem being that they felt the need to add in about 300 different storylines and character arcs, and the Alex romance drama was a little sloppy. Oh, and James kind of sucks. But, we got lots of Kara doing more than being Mon Els life coach, Danvers sisters love, and Roulette, who I think is a really fun villain. It was a set up episode for the rest of the season, so I`ll cut them some slack.

Again, James and his plot kind of sucks. I guess I`m glad that they finally decided to give the poor guy something to do, but why did he have to be this? He is so obvious about being Guardian "That Guardian guy sure is awesome right? I bet he's handsome under that mask too!", he doesn't really seem to do much that Supergirl couldn't do already, and he was a huge dick to Wynn. If I remember right, Wynn thought this was all a stupid idea and wanted nothing to do with this, and is only helping James so he doesn't get his ass killed. Yeah he's more ok with it now, but still. And then he expects Wynn to help him take down an armed thief hand to hand, than acts all surprised he was freaked out by almost getting shot? Dude! Can Wynn get a better plot? I like his DEO stuff, and I continue to want to see him and Lena. They can bond over having evil family members!

Yeah, because no one in the American press is interested in the disappearance of a pretty young middle class seeming blond girl. I did think it was sweet how much Kara wanted to help the girl and her mom. The thing I always do love about this show is how much Kara cares about people, both the people in her life, and random strangers.

I am alright with Mon El in general, and I think the actor does a good job, but I am rolling my eyes at how obvious the Kara/Mon El thing is. We get it show, they're going to be a thing, just move along!

Roulette isn't really a galaxy destroying uber villain, but I really enjoy when she shows up. I love her evil designer clothes, and her reactions to Kara. Like, when Kara was all "how can you treat people like coffee that can be bought and sold?!" and she is just like "because it gets me money and jewelry. That's how human trafficking works. Duh." I enjoy complexity in some of my villains, but I am fine with having a few bad guys who are just evil, greedy assholes.

Every time we see the alien bar, I expect to hear the Cantina Band song from Star Wars. And when they were calling the red sky place Slavers Moon, I kept expecting Dany from Game of Thrones to show up and start liberating people. And Maggie and Alex are cute. No more manufactured drama needed!

Edited January 25, 2017 by tennisgurl

[iMonrey]

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Kara probably shouldn't have lost her powers instantly (she still has them at night so she has some stored solar energy) but I guess there wasn't time to show a gradual loss.

I wondered about that as well, but she specifically said her powers come from the radiation of a yellow sun - so presumably, said radiation is present on earth at all times regardless of whether or not she's on the side of the planet facing the sun, or if she's indoors, or if it's a cloudy day. Still, I would have expected a somewhat gradual loss of her powers if she were to be instantly transported to a planet without a yellow sun's radiation, even if those gradual steps came quickly. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

15 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

The doctor was not human. He repeated Mon-El's slip about "Paris City." and showed his alien face during at least one point.

He isn't human, but I thought he was being sarcastic about "Paris City," as if he knew they weren't who they said they were.

[kalamac]

I saw this on tumblr, and it made me think of all the "who knows and who doesn't" talk that goes on here.

[BkWurm1]

Quote

So was Mon-el REALLY stuck in a time-slowing nebula for 25 years or so ?  Because not one but two different alien species know of him after all this time -- and that's just in this episode.

Well, he did send out a message when he first woke up.  Maybe that's why they are looking for him.  Also, maybe his people knew he'd be in the nebula that long. 

 

[teenj12]

Speaking of Mon-El, what is his superhero name gonna be? I think in the comics it was something like Valor, but honestly they should just have him be Superboy. Simpler, and makes more sense.

[PatternRec]

I thought it was a fun episode. I've given up nitpicking anything I don't like about the show and just kind of enjoy it for what it is. 

Best line of the episode? "Start the car!" (even though Mon El probs wouldn't have known to say that)

Edited January 26, 2017 by PatternRec

[legaleagle53]

5 hours ago, teenj12 said:

Speaking of Mon-El, what is his superhero name gonna be? I think in the comics it was something like Valor, but honestly they should just have him be Superboy. Simpler, and makes more sense.

Except that that name was already taken by Superman in his teen years.  Mon-El's at least 26 physically, and if you think that some people had trouble with a 25-year-old Kara being referred to as "Supergirl" -- Kara herself objected to the name originally, remember? -- just imagine how much more they'd snicker at a grown man calling himself "Superboy."

[teenj12]

38 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

Except that that name was already taken by Superman in his teen years.  Mon-El's at least 26 physically, and if you think that some people had trouble with a 25-year-old Kara being referred to as "Supergirl" -- Kara herself objected to the name originally, remember? -- just imagine how much more they'd snicker at a grown man calling himself "Superboy."

Yes, I remember the controversy (both in and out show) about the Supergirl name, and I personally agree that Kara should be called Superwoman. But what's done is done. And when was it said that Superman took that name in his teen years on this show? If you're talking comics, then Connor Kent went on to use the name after Clark. It's not impossible for something similar to happen here. 

[Sake614]

I'm going to need Melissa to stop with the exaggerated facial expressions if this show wants me to keep me around. And I'm not even sure that's enough to do it.  

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 1/24/2017 at 11:47 AM, Lady Calypso said:

 

At this point, they should just have Jimmy move back to National City. They really can't make him work on this show, so it'll be better to ship him back off to Superman. 

I think you mean that Jimmy should move back to Metropolis, since he's currently in National City, and Supes lives in Metropolis. ?

On 1/24/2017 at 2:02 PM, Starfish35 said:

Yeah that didn't make sense.  Nothing really about James' story makes sense anymore. 

It's because he's jealous. That's the only thing that makes sense to me.

And excuuuuuse me, but there is only ONE person who is called or referred to as "Chief" and that is Perry White.? This show, or rather, these asshats who run this show need to jus fucking STOP, with stealing from Superman and Batman plots/characters on Arrow.

And Monel is just annoying me now with his constant whining about why Kara shouldn't help people, because no powers, as if that's what defines her.  It's rooted inside her-this wanting to help people, not because of her powers, but inspite of them. Yes, it helps that she has them, but their not the reason for it, if that makes sense.

[Lady Calypso]

1 minute ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I think you mean that Jimmy should move back to Metropolis, since he's currently in National City, and Supes lives in Metropolis. ?

Ooops! Yes, yes that is what I meant! 

[Chicago Redshirt]

8 hours ago, teenj12 said:

Yes, I remember the controversy (both in and out show) about the Supergirl name, and I personally agree that Kara should be called Superwoman. But what's done is done. And when was it said that Superman took that name in his teen years on this show? If you're talking comics, then Connor Kent went on to use the name after Clark. It's not impossible for something similar to happen here. 

But Conner had the appearance of a teen and was biologically only a few years old at most. It makes sense to call him a boy.

Side note: I haven't been reading DC Comics closely, but now in the main continuity there is a Superboy who is the biological offspring of Clark and Lois. 

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

[teenj12]

1 minute ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

But Conner had the appearance of a teen and was biologically only a few years old at most. It makes sense to call him a boy.

Side note: I haven't been reading DC Comics closely, but now in the main continuity there is a Superboy who is the biological offspring of Clark and Lois. 

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

The only reason I started thinking they might just make Mon-El Superboy is because his powers are incredibly similar to Superboy from the comics and what I witnessed of the Young Justice cartoon. No heat vision, no flight, no cold breath, weaker strength than Superman (just like Mon-El is weaker than Supergirl). But Mon-El from the comics has the same abilities as Clark and Kara. I guess that doesn't mean he'll get the name, but I found the similarities to be interesting (and deliberate). 

Cool tidbit btw. I've heard good things about the New 52.

[sskrill]

Agreed, this episode was a bit much.

Mon-El - I like him but I agree that Kara often seems like his mom, not his potential girlfriend.  One thing that bugs me about him (and this is petty) is his on-again-off-again mastery of the English language.  He doesn't know the word President but he knows what the phrase "betwixt and between" means?  He seems good for comedy relief though. 

James - I like Mehcad but this character, as well as Guardian, is useless.  

Winn - I never liked him as Kara's suitor but I really like his new role, and I love his dynamic with Alex ("Dude, I was terrified").

Alex/Maggie - Love them and the chemistry between Chy and Floriana but this relationship needs to calm the hell down.  Alex and her afterglow cracked me up "Do you think everybody can tell?"  A blind person could tell.  As far as their personalities, Alex needs to learn to control her anxiety, and Maggie has a shockingly low emotional IQ.  I think if they settle down they could compliment each other quite nicely though.  I wish they had played a bit with Maggie not knowing who Supergirl was, but it's realistic that Maggie would have picked up on why Alex had such a meltdown. 

I miss Cat, and I miss Kara's relationship with Lena, although I find it weird that Melissa really only seems to have chemistry with the other female characters.  Her relationships with Adam, James, Winn, and Mon-El have all been duds.  I'm glad they salvaged her and Winn as friends though.

I didn't get why the portal on Slavers Moon was out in the middle of nowhere.  If they went to the trouble to build the "Murder Castle (as Mon-El called it) why put the portal out in the desert? 

Favorite lines:  "Oh I got dibs."  "This planet sucks."  "We're not going to Murder Castle."

[legaleagle53]

6 hours ago, sskrill said:

I didn't get why the portal on Slavers Moon was out in the middle of nowhere.  If they went to the trouble to build the "Murder Castle (as Mon-El called it) why put the portal out in the desert? 

Favorite lines:  "Oh I got dibs."  "This planet sucks."  "We're not going to Murder Castle."

It's interesting that Mon-El called it "Murder Castle," since Earth actually HAD a "Murder Castle" at one point in its history.  That's what H. H. Holmes' hotel in Chicago was called, as it was expressly built as an elaborate, inescapable death trap for his murder victims (he was America's first serial killer, even though that term hadn't been coined yet in Holmes' time, the early 1890s).  I wonder how Mon-El knew about that term; is he a fan of Timeless (which just aired an episode about the Murder Castle and its use during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair), or has he been reading Devil in the White City?

[Chicago Redshirt]

I think Kara/Melissa definitely has chemistry with J'onn/David, and had chemistry with Kal as well. Similarly, I think there has been decent chemistry between her and basically all the male characters in the cross-over. I think it may come down to their inability to write a decent romance for her made the potential romantic pairings awkward, more than anything else. When you can't really spark chemistry with your real-life husband who is also an actor, then you have to turn to the writing to blame.

Re: Murder Castle, I'd assume that he just made it up without any knowledge of the Holmes Murder Castle. I'm from Chicago and even read Devil in the White City, but needed prompting to make the connection to Holmes.

Re: New 52, at this point it's over. I don't think it was particularly well received. I think it's now with a label called "Rebirth," where they got to reboot stuff that didn't work from the New 52 and experiment with new stuff like Superboy.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

5 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

It's interesting that Mon-El called it "Murder Castle," since Earth actually HAD a "Murder Castle" at one point in its history.  That's what H. H. Holmes' hotel in Chicago was called, as it was expressly built as an elaborate, inescapable death trap for his murder victims (he was America's first serial killer, even though that term hadn't been coined yet in Holmes' time, the early 1890s).  I wonder how Mon-El knew about that term; is he a fan of Timeless (which just aired an episode about the Murder Castle and its use during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair), or has he been reading Devil in the White City?

Or the last Sherlock episode, "The Final Problem"?

From the PTV recap (not really a spoiler, but just in case):

Spoiler

...Oh. His favorite room is the mortuary. And he's super-creepy about it, even namechecking another famous Holmes: one H.H. Holmes, a serial killer who did his dirtiest work during the 1893 World's Fair. (Note: If you have not read it, I highly recommend The Devil In The White City, a book by Erik Larson about this bizarre and shocking case. It is fascinating and reads like a novel.)

[stealinghome]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I think Kara/Melissa definitely has chemistry with J'onn/David, and had chemistry with Kal as well. Similarly, I think there has been decent chemistry between her and basically all the male characters in the cross-over. I think it may come down to their inability to write a decent romance for her made the potential romantic pairings awkward, more than anything else. When you can't really spark chemistry with your real-life husband who is also an actor, then you have to turn to the writing to blame.

Yeah, I have to say that I think the writing is more to blame here. Way back at the beginning of S1, Kara and James had chemistry, but poor writing killed it. I don't think Kara and Mon-El have much chemistry, but I also think that's because she's spent most of S2 acting more like his mother or bossy older sister than his love interest, and if that story had been written better, it's possible I'd view them as sparking more. But the writers made a total hash of the storyline (and of Mon-El's character, tbh) in their rush to, well, rush the storyline.

[Last Time Lord]

Catching on on the show, via DVR, and considering the stuff with Mon-El and the Highlights magazine, could Mon-El's future hero name be Gallant?

[John Potts]

Definitely agree this ep should have been a two parter: Kara & Mon-El find the (conveniently) crashed shuttle and rescues the girl. They get her back to the portal and send her through - Mon-El says, "Sure be glad to get out of this place!" Kara "We're not leaving - until we've freed every slave on the planet!" DUN-DUN-DAAH! (To be Continued...). Not only does it allow you to build the mystique of the supposedly inescapable world that a gang of unpowered prisoners can escape in 5 minutes, it allows you to reuse that pricey CGI! But at least it WAS Kara-centric rather than making her a bit-player in her own show.

On ‎24‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 7:06 AM, Lady Calypso said:

I loved that Winn got pissed at Jimmy and rightfully so.

Too right! I didn't have a problem with how one of the crooks got away to threaten Winn but Jimmy really should have sprinted up to check if Winn was OK (HE doesn't have a bulletproof suit!). Though I'm impressed at Jimmy's time management skills: he not only runs Catco, has an active nightlife as The Guardian, he has time to write up stories too! And Winn needs to learn not to Showboat when he makes a takedown: he TWICE got caught off guard when he was celebrating taking down the bad guy only for him to recover.

On ‎24‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 2:37 AM, statsgirl said:

"Why isn't Winn saying they should take The Guardian for extra muscle?"

That made NO sense to me: they set up a situation where all the "supers" the DEO has access too were unable to help - this was the perfect opportunity for The Guardian to step in since (presumably) his suit would be equally effective.

On ‎24‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 5:11 AM, Miss Dee said:

madly Monotheistic

Actually I found that annoying - just because the dominant religions in the US are monotheistic, doesn't mean they all are. There are about 2 million Hindus in the US alone (admittedly, probably mostly immigrants from the Indian Subcontinent which clearly neither Kara nor Mon-El are), not to mention they could be Neo-Pagans (or something similar) who have Polytheistic beliefs. And there are 6 Paris Cities in the US, too (though they're probably called "City of Paris" rather than "Paris City"). Kara needs to do more "Yes, and" rather than instantly shoot down her partner in lies!

[legaleagle53]

24 minutes ago, John Potts said:

Actually I found that annoying - just because the dominant religions in the US are monotheistic, doesn't mean they all are. There are about 2 million Hindus in the US alone (admittedly, probably mostly immigrants from the Indian Subcontinent which clearly neither Kara nor Mon-El are), not to mention they could be Neo-Pagans (or something similar) who have Polytheistic beliefs. 

I don't know about Daxamites, but Kryptonians are monotheistic.  Their god's name is Rao.  I think Kara's even said his name at least once on the show.

[AudienceofOne]

Ah, Supergirl. So good and so bloody awful all at the same time. I like how gleeful it can be but that glee can overwhelm the show. Or maybe considering the cast it's the GLEE overwhelming the show. 

I do like Mon-El though. I really think he brings a nice dynamic.