S02.E21: Resist

[The Crazed Spruce]

Quote

Supergirl struggles to decide whether or not to obey the president's orders regarding Rhea's latest actions; Cat Grant returns to National City.

[bettername2come]

They're just going to brainwash Superman two finales in a row?!

[StarBrand]

Quote

They're just going to brainwash Superman two finales in a row?!

It would seem that way...although I suspect there's more to it than that...

[Primal Slayer]

Overall it was an ok episode. It was nice seeing Cat again but they went overboard with the constant name dropping references and having her keep up the better then this act the entire time. Her speech rallying the troops was THE WORST, like "oh hey its Cat Grant! She totally inspires me to rise and fight the good fight!" I hate it when they do that on this show. 

I wish they hadn't wasted their time and ours on the lame arranged marriage plot, it got us no where but I'm surprised they didn't follow through with it just to add cheap drama for Kara/Mon-El.

It's weird that the DEO was fairly useless during an alien invasion seeing as their own slogan is "we keep the Earth safe from aliens!"

Lillian was on her A-game and if they keep writing her like this, I'll gladly take more!

The Cat/Rhea/President scene was as enjoyable as it was cringe worthy lol. I'm hoping we get to see the Pres. in action in the finale.

The Guardian/Cat was funny but would've been funnier if they just acknowledged that Cat does indeed know that it is Kara as Supergirl and she just keeps up with it to entertain herself. Which leads to Lena....if she doesn't know that Kara is Supergirl....lord give me strength. 

7 minutes ago, bettername2come said:

They're just going to brainwash Superman two finales in a row?!

Was he brainwashed off screen last year?

[StarBrand]

Having Cat Grant back alone raises this a tad above your average episode, cliched speeches notwithstanding. I liked the pep talk between Kara and Cat. Those have been sorely missed this season. She figured out James in 2 seconds, which has to mean she knows Kara is Supergirl-and given CF's limited availability, they should clear that up sooner rather than later-can't afford to pussyfoot anymore.

Edited May 16, 2017 by StarBrand

[quarks]

So that was fun. As Cat Grant said, SHE'S BACK!

1. This show is so much better with Cat Grant in it.

2. Top scene: Cat Grant, Rhea and the President all trying to outchew each other's scenery.  So, ok, Cat Grant's explanation for exactly how she ended up on Air Force One at the appropriate moment wasn't all that probable, but I laughed.

3. So Supergirl only bothered to save Cat Grant, and not everyone else who was presumably on Air Force One?  

4. Definitely could have done without the arranged marriage plot. I mean, come on, your planet's been blown up. Are the remaining Daxams really going to be all that worried about whether or not your son went through a proper marriage ceremony with the genetic donor of his cloned child? Well, apparently not all that worried, given that Rhea let Cat Grant interrupt the ceremony before it was finished. I mean, nice for letting us know that Lena would rather marry Mon-El than let sick little children get blown up, but really, what a waste of screentime. 

5. James was actually useful! I'm as surprised as you are. And Cat Grant recognized him immediately. Much less surprising, but they did play that well.

6. So, Lena now knows that "Mark" is Mon-El. Is she planning on mentioning this to Kara? And what else does she need to figure out that Kara is Supergirl at this point?

7. I know I already said this, but this show is so much better with Cat Grant in it. 

[Lady Calypso]

I also thought it was just ok. I love Callista's return and still think Cat Grant is great, but Callista definitely played Cat differently this time around. She was softer, less commanding in most of her scenes, and even though her dialogue matched with the Cat we know from season 1, I do feel like the acting was different. Maybe that was to signify the change Cat went through this whole year she was away, which is a smart acting choice. It really helped strengthen Cat's point about love being more important than power. 

And honestly, I didn't know how badly I needed Winn/Cat scenes until we got them. From the moment Winn hugged Cat to their scene at Catco, I was entertained by them immensely. 

Also, yet again, James appears in about three scenes total. 

I definitely missed Kara/Cat scenes. I'm tired of the Does Cat Know thing that they're toying around with. Either she knows or she doesn't, but if she doesn't know, then she's an idiot. It's not really funny anymore, especially with Cat not appearing much anymore. I just hope that Cat isn't killed off next episode. I don't know if Cat will just leave again, and I don't know if Callista is actually going to want to return in a series regular role, let alone a more frequent recurring one. But if she has to just leave again to continue finding herself, then that's better than her being dead. 

So, I honestly would have just left Rhea up there to die with her ship. Kara literally caused their weapon to be destroyed before it could be used. It's not her fault for not knowing, but Kara didn't know WHEN Alex would fire. She had no idea if she was going to survive. At least she was smart enough to clone Cyborg's device to get them back. But yeah, I was ok with Kara admitting that she was selfish. I mean, I personally agree with that just as much as I agree with Cat telling her it was human. 

I hope Lena doesn't get mad about Kara being Supergirl. I think Lillian will be wrong about it, and it would be a nice twist if Lena already knew and laughed at her mother for thinking she would turn on either. 

[Primal Slayer]

1 minute ago, quarks said:

4. Definitely could have done without the arranged marriage plot. I mean, come on, your planet's been blown up. Are the remaining Daxams really going to be all that worried about whether or not your son went through a proper marriage ceremony with the genetic donor of his cloned child? Well, apparently not all that worried, given that Rhea let Cat Grant interrupt the ceremony before it was finished. I mean, nice for letting us know that Lena would rather marry Mon-El than let sick little children get blown up, but really, what a waste of screentime. 

Rheas plot would've been so much better and interesting if she were interested in corrupting Kara against humans and having her mate with Mon-El. Why would you care about a Daxam/Human baby when you could have a Daxam/Kryptonian baby? It would give you better genetics!

[StarBrand]

Quote

I hope Lena doesn't get mad about Kara being Supergirl. I think Lillian will be wrong about it, and it would be a nice twist if Lena already knew and laughed at her mother for thinking she would turn on either. 

I think it would be far too predictable for Lena to get mad at Kara just for not telling her she's Supergirl. Supergirl has saved her life many times. I imagine she'd say "you know, you coulda told me you were an alien, I'm not my Mom you know..."

Quote

but Callista definitely played Cat differently this time around

Yeah, I noticed that too...which, as you said, would be attributed to her year of soul-searching.

And I REALLY hope that Cat's inner peace doesn't mean she'll be offed in the finale. Do not do that writers, you will have a fullscale revolt on your hands...

[shantown]

Since Catco was destroyed in the last episode and the DEO was seemingly destroyed in this one... will we be ditching both next year? Hanging out at the "secret" alien bar more since that was the meetup point? Maybe the DEO will go underground again, both literally and figuratively. 

[Primal Slayer]

I wish the DEO was gone but it'll be back and clean as ever! Same with Catco.

[quarks]

15 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

Rheas plot would've been so much better and interesting if she were interested in corrupting Kara against humans and having her mate with Mon-El. Why would you care about a Daxam/Human baby when you could have a Daxam/Kryptonian baby? It would give you better genetics!

Rhea said something or other about needing a human/Daxam hybrid now that the Daxams were ruling the world, which whatever, but that still doesn't explain why she needed a marriage ceremony, or why the marriage ceremony couldn't have waited a few more weeks until the Daxams were further along with the conquest.

I guess we're meant to think that Rhea is just so against Kara at this point that she won't even consider a Daxam/Kryptonian baby, since at least in theory she should be easily able to take over Kara's mind, since she took over Superman's. I also don't think this is something the show really wants any of us to think about too hard.

[UNOSEZ]

Oh snap... James and Kara spoke to each other... She actually showed concern for the guy she was goo goo gaa gaa for all last season... Sure it lasted like 8 seconds but that's progress... I woulda been cool if the baby coulda been made right away... That woulda really created some drama... Not sure what the point if the wedding was/is unless its explained in the finale... 

[nightwing877]

46 minutes ago, StarBrand said:

Having Cat Grant back alone raises this a tad above your average episode, cliched speeches notwithstanding. I liked the pep talk between Kara and Cat. Those have been sorely missed this season. She figured out James in 2 seconds, which has to mean she knows Kara is Supergirl-and given CF's limited availability, they should clear that up sooner rather than later-can't afford to pussyfoot anymore.

I am under the impression show knows, and is just keep up appearances. I do truly want it confirmed though, even if she does just to the audience and not Kara herself.

I also thought it was just ok. I love Callista's return and still think Cat Grant is great, but Callista definitely played Cat differently this time around. She was softer, less commanding in most of her scenes, and even though her dialogue matched with the Cat we know from season 1, I do feel like the acting was different. Maybe that was to signify the change Cat went through this whole year she was away, which is a smart acting choice. It really helped strengthen Cat's point about love being more important than power. 

And honestly, I didn't know how badly I needed Winn/Cat scenes until we got them. From the moment Winn hugged Cat to their scene at Catco, I was entertained by them immensely. 

Also, yet again, James appears in about three scenes total. 

I definitely missed Kara/Cat scenes. I'm tired of the Does Cat Know thing that they're toying around with. Either she knows or she doesn't, but if she doesn't know, then she's an idiot. It's not really funny anymore, especially with Cat not appearing much anymore. I just hope that Cat isn't killed off next episode. I don't know if Cat will just leave again, and I don't know if Callista is actually going to want to return in a series regular role, let alone a more frequent recurring one. But if she has to just leave again to continue finding herself, then that's better than her being dead. 

Maybe Cat has changed since we last saw her, and I am glad. Good to see her out of the office, and more involved.

I hope Cat doesn't die, I would rather she just leave again to find herself. But I would love if she was more recurring, even if they spread out say 10 episodes across the entire series, and filming all her scenes in a week for 2-3 episodes at a time.

 

27 minutes ago, shantown said:

Since Catco was destroyed in the last episode and the DEO was seemingly destroyed in this one... will we be ditching both next year? Hanging out at the "secret" alien bar more since that was the meetup point? Maybe the DEO will go underground again, both literally and figuratively. 

DEO will just be re-done for season 3 and brand new. Catco, I am not sure. Maybe they will rest that office, and relaunch it later if they feel the need too. 

Edited May 16, 2017 by nightwing877

[Lantern7]

Why can't we have Cat full time? Right . . . dramatic effect. And she figured out that James was Guardian from his eyes. Kara didn't even think of that.

Am I nuts for thinking Lena was kinda hot in Space Princess garb? I mean, Rhea is still a bitch, and she doesn't read forums like this, so it doesn't occur to her that Lena might be into Kara. Perhaps even more than Mon.

I hate to think how Bhutan will deal with the tourists. And the thinly-veiled political messages were a little too much for me. Plus side: President Olivia is a Durlan! We can call her President Chameleon! The downside with that is that this show would get the Legion of Superheroes, and they would be more awesome meeting the "Legends."

[mtlchick]

Quote

but Callista definitely played Cat differently this time around

She did, even with her speaking pattern.  She was still Cat in her words, but her voice sounded...less clipped? A smidge more relaxed? But as lame as the scene was, you still had a one time Wonder Woman, a one time Lois Lane and the former Ally McBeal in the same scene.  Retro girl power for the win!

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, Primal Slayer said:

I wish they hadn't wasted their time and ours on the lame arranged marriage plot, it got us no where but I'm surprised they didn't follow through with it just to add cheap drama for Kara/Mon-El.

It's weird that the DEO was fairly useless during an alien invasion seeing as their own slogan is "we keep the Earth safe from aliens!"

...

Was he brainwashed off screen last year?

It got us Katie McGrath in that red dress....Rowr!

To be fair, preparing for a zillion ships yielding near-unstoppable aliens is pretty hard to do.  I like Cat giving them shade for being full of fail.

Superman was brainwashed sort of on-screen, sort of off. It was before they'd cast the current actor. The plot was the Kryptonians had created a brainwashing machine that hypnotized humans into being part of a massive hive mind that would then be used to solve Earth's environmental and other problems. (Which of course made no sense because a single Kryptonian could probably do that if one intended to, let alone the dozen or so that were part of the evil army). Anyway, Superman came to save the day, but then got hyp-mo-tized also. The reason we were given was that he'd grown up on Earth, making his brain waves human. 

So onscreen, I think we got a swoosh of his cape and then his boots. And then he was comatose and we got more boots in the DEO infirmary until this season where we got actual Superman/Clark for hot moments. 

I am looking forward to when he snaps out of this, and he's like, "What happened to my Fortress? Kara, you got some 'splaining to do!"

Edited May 16, 2017 by Chicago Redshirt

[rtms77]

Liked the ep, though the almost wedding was cliche with the ceremony standing in for the villain speech. I m guessing Cadmus has yet another secret weapon to hurt the Daximites. Lillian has been preparing for this scenario, she is not just retrieving her daughter and leaving the scene. 

As for superman and the apparent brainwashing, I think Rhea has yet another ace up her sleeve and that's the Dominators. Remember they easily took over Kara and had her fighting against her friends. Which makes me wonder why Rhea did not deploy them earlier and subdue the leaders etc of the various govt.

Neat potential Easter egg, Lena's black dress looked very close/similar to what Morgana wore in the last season of Merlin. Of course Katie McGrath played that character.

Glad to see that the president was not hostile to supergirl, but I too got the feeling that she wanted revenge and not peace.

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, bettername2come said:

They're just going to brainwash Superman two finales in a row?!

Eh? Superman didn't show up until this season, so I'm not sure where this is coming from?

I know the political messages were heavy handed and not at all subtle ("resist," "make the America world great again," etc.), But I did snort out a laugh at President Wonder Woman's "I'm sure you have questions" about her being an alien, and Cat just saying (paraphrasing) 'Please tell me you're at least a Democrat." before fading to black and commercial.

I just can't figure out why Kara continues to think she can reach Rhea and convince her not to be EVUHL. Well this at least was her last attempt and it being a twisted "third time's the charm."???

Now why, why would Lena get mad and hate Kara if/when she learns she's Supergirl? It's not at all the same thing as Pete Ross finding out Clark was an alien on Smallville.? And when Lex learned Clark's sekrit, he didn't hate him, either. But I suppose that's what Lillian must delude herself into believing.

Rhea knows that Clark and Kara are cousins-so it wouldn't have been a sekrit revealing if Kara had called him Kal. So why did she call him Superman?

And as much as I loved seeing Lois, Rhea has no layers, and is nothing but a caricature of a villain. All she needed was a moustache that she could twirl.?? I'm sure Teri is having a ball with this, but I would have liked more seriousness and gravitas.

ETA: Ah! Hivemind! Forgot that Supes told Kara that was why he couldn't help last season. Thanks @Chicago Redshirt!

Edited May 16, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, quarks said:

Rhea said something or other about needing a human/Daxam hybrid now that the Daxams were ruling the world, which whatever, but that still doesn't explain why she needed a marriage ceremony, or why the marriage ceremony couldn't have waited a few more weeks until the Daxams were further along with the conquest.

I guess we're meant to think that Rhea is just so against Kara at this point that she won't even consider a Daxam/Kryptonian baby, since at least in theory she should be easily able to take over Kara's mind, since she took over Superman's. I also don't think this is something the show really wants any of us to think about too hard.

I don't think it was so much about a biological mix of human and Daxamite DNA, but more of a "Game of Thrones" merger of Earth and Daxam. Rhea even basically aid, once the ceremony was over the two of them could rot in their cells for all she cared.

But if the marriage was mainly to score a propaganda victory, seems like they should have made it way more lavish. 

[NatalieEGH]

I hate to say it but the current arc of Supergirl is very very predictable.  It is an updated version of H. G. Wells "War of the Worlds".  The main differences I see are the Daxamites are the Martians, and the element lead is the germs. 

Earth would be among the last planets a Daxamite would consider colonizing.  Living in a space ship colony like on Battlestar Galactic makes more since for them than invading earth for colonization.  The humans of the series have the perfect weapons to use against the Daxamites and the planet is the best fortress.  Sure Daxamites can conquer Earth but never colonize it.

The abundance of lead in the Earth's crust may only be .00099% but there is a lot of crust.  It is 4.5x more common than tin or arsenic.  It is in almost all the soil though concentration in some locations are extremely high allowing for mining.  Around the refineries and mines the atmospheric content is much higher.  The race is especially sensitive to the element Lead.  Lead is in the atmosphere as one of the pollutants.  Most houses built before the 1970's (I cannot remember the year) still have lead paint under the current paint.  Lead is also found in most of the water of the planet. 

For a Daxamite, the planet Earth is toxic.  Mon-El of the Legion of Superheroes was kept in the Phantom Zone for two millennia because he was shot by a gun and poisoned.  It was not until Brainiac V discovered a way to cure lead poisoning that Mon-El could leave.  As Mon-El pointed out a lead bullet will kill any Daxamite.  Mon-El might be cute, but his relationship with Supergirl is doomed as long as he is on Earth.  Either he will die or he will be forced to leave. 

The only way a Daxamite would be safe on the Earth is to live in special enclosures.  The all items brought in would have to be purified.  If they stepped out they would need special suits to protect them and upon re-entry to the enclosure would have to be scrubbed almost to an atomic scale. 

The Daxamites would not even want the planet destroyed.  That would just scatter the lead.  Much better that it remain concentrated in one area that they can mark as a place to avoid.  That does not mean they might not out of spite want to sterilize the planet but it might be hard to convince everyone that they want to exterminate a race or group of races as there are a lot of space aliens living on Earth, just because their highly autocratic and cruel queen is upset with them.  I say cruel because who were most of the slaves on Daxam, I think Daxamites, of course maybe only elite and their retainers escaped Daxam's destruction which would make then more supportive.

[thuganomics85]

I see CW DC villains seem to have a weird obsession with forcing their children into arranged marriages.  Although, Rhea's wasn't as disturbing as Ra's simply because at least it was to the gender her child is attracted to (poor Nyssa), but still creepy none the less (plus, I'm sure she got a kick out of it being to Kara's new BFF.)  Glad Cat's speech stop that at least.  Although, I hope Lena doesn't throw away that dress because, damn, Katie McGrath was looking gorgeous in it (and tonight in general.)  Although, the black dress she was wearing really made her look like Morgana...

Cat's back!  I agree that she seemed a bit softer compared to the norm, but I can go with her keeping her normal behavior in check due to the whole invasion.  Plus, she still had her general Catisms, like humble-bragging about how she hangs with the Dalia Lama or how she negotiated a truce between Taylor Swift and Kanye West (now, that's a super power!)  And I loved her disgust over what James did to her office.  Enjoyed her scenes with "Winston", although her knowing James was the Guardian really makes me think she has to know Kara is Supergirl.

Not sure what to make of the President.  I think she's sincere and is mainly good, but I worry that her need for revenge could cause problems further down the line.  I especially see her giving Alex hell for hesitating.

Maggie with a shotgun.... yep, I can totally see why she and Alex are meant to be together!

I get it is in Kara's nature to help, but staying behind to try and "talk down" Rhea really comes off like an excuse just to keep the suspense going.

J'onn's still out of commission, but Dave Harewood at least got down the half-robot mask as Original Hank again!

Lillian is a chilling, scary, anti-alien bigot, but Brenda Strong is still fucking awesome!  Although, I worry that her claim that Lena will resent Kara once she finds out the truth, will end up being true.

So, the big cliffhanger going into the finale is that Superman is somehow being controlled by Rhea?

[Chicago Redshirt]

10 minutes ago, NatalieEGH said:

I hate to say it but the current arc of Supergirl is very very predictable.  It is an updated version of H. G. Wells "War of the Worlds".  The main differences I see are the Daxamites are the Martians, and the element lead is the germs. 

Earth would be among the last planets a Daxamite would consider colonizing.  Living in a space ship colony like on Battlestar Galactic makes more since for them than invading earth for colonization.  The humans of the series have the perfect weapons to use against the Daxamites and the planet is the best fortress.  Sure Daxamites can conquer Earth but never colonize it.

The abundance of lead in the Earth's crust may only be .00099% but there is a lot of crust.  It is 4.5x more common than tin or arsenic.  It is in almost all the soil though concentration in some locations are extremely high allowing for mining.  Around the refineries and mines the atmospheric content is much higher.  The race is especially sensitive to the element Lead.  Lead is in the atmosphere as one of the pollutants.  Most houses built before the 1970's (I cannot remember the year) still have lead paint under the current paint.  Lead is also found in most of the water of the planet. 

For a Daxamite, the planet Earth is toxic.  Mon-El of the Legion of Superheroes was kept in the Phantom Zone for two millennia because he was shot by a gun and poisoned.  It was not until Brainiac V discovered a way to cure lead poisoning that Mon-El could leave.  As Mon-El pointed out a lead bullet will kill any Daxamite.  Mon-El might be cute, but his relationship with Supergirl is doomed as long as he is on Earth.  Either he will die or he will be forced to leave. 

The only way a Daxamite would be safe on the Earth is to live in special enclosures.  The all items brought in would have to be purified.  If they stepped out they would need special suits to protect them and upon re-entry to the enclosure would have to be scrubbed almost to an atomic scale. 

The Daxamites would not even want the planet destroyed.  That would just scatter the lead.  Much better that it remain concentrated in one area that they can mark as a place to avoid.  That does not mean they might not out of spite want to sterilize the planet but it might be hard to convince everyone that they want to exterminate a race or group of races as there are a lot of space aliens living on Earth, just because their highly autocratic and cruel queen is upset with them.  I say cruel because who were most of the slaves on Daxam, I think Daxamites, of course maybe only elite and their retainers escaped Daxam's destruction which would make then more supportive.

Seems like the effect of lead on Daxamites is less pronounced than the effect of Kryptonite on Kryptonians, at least in the Supergirlverse. At least, Mon-El has not shown any adverse effects from exposure to the amounts of lead in the atmosphere, lead paint, lead pencils, etc etc. Even the Daxamites who got sprayed by Jimmy with lead didn't seem to be crippled by it the way Supes/SG would be if they inhaled Kryptonite dust.

Of course, one would think that they would be just as killable elsewhere by lead. But on Earth, they each have superstrength, speed, jumping ability and high-level invulnerability to non-lead substances, which seems like it would more than compensate.  

7 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

Cat's back!  I agree that she seemed a bit softer compared to the norm, but I can go with her keeping her normal behavior in check due to the whole invasion.  Plus, she still had her general Catisms, like humble-bragging about how she hangs with the Dalia Lama or how she negotiated a truce between Taylor Swift and Kanye West (now, that's a super power!)  And I loved her disgust over what James did to her office.  Enjoyed her scenes with "Winston", although her knowing James was the Guardian really makes me think she has to know Kara is Supergirl.

Not sure what to make of the President.  I think she's sincere and is mainly good, but I worry that her need for revenge could cause problems further down the line.  I especially see her giving Alex hell for hesitating.

I think Cat actually called Winn by his actual name, Winslow, and not Winston. Cat did have a point about how James was wrong to go AWOL during what had to be one of the biggest stories in human history. I would like to think that would pave the way for having Cat stick around in a once-every-couple of episodes capacity.

Again, I hate to seem cold-blooded, but if it's a choice between blowing up my loved ones and letting aliens establish a beachhead for global domination, bye-bye, loved ones. I'd love it for one show to -- if not have characters be as cold-blooded as me, at least make it seem like it's a dilemma and not the obvious choice to put the fate of two people over a whole city and possibly all of humanity.

And I also would like if they did not act like these relationships are end-all, be-all. At the end of the day, Kara has known Lena for about a year on the outside, and has been dating Mon-El for about 5-6 months.  

[Lantern7]

44 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

@Chicago RedshirtEh? Superman didn't show up until this season, so I'm not sure where this is coming from?

Last season: "Shit! Myriad is in effect, and the populace is under Kryptionian mind control!" "Hey, it's cool. We won't need Supergirl! Here comes the big guy!!!" "Aaaaaaaaaaand he's grounded and under mental control." "Dang. And how come we couldn't see his face? Like he was a CGI character that hadn't been casted yet."

[VCRTracking]

Oh Cat how I've missed you!

Damn, that was a cool twist. I wondered where the heck Superman was when the invasion had gone down and honestly forgotten about him until the end.

Lena in that Daxamite wedding dress. Damn.

Awesome episode.

Edited May 16, 2017 by VCRTracking

[GHScorpiosRule]

9 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Last season: "Shit! Myriad is in effect, and the populace is under Kryptionian mind control!" "Hey, it's cool. We won't need Supergirl! Here comes the big guy!!!" "Aaaaaaaaaaand he's grounded and under mental control." "Dang. And how come we couldn't see his face? Like he was a CGI character that hadn't been casted yet."

I really wish they could fix the quoting bug on this site. My question was to @bettername2come, and I was thanking @Chicago Redshirt for answering my question about when last season Supes was also brainwashed.

[Dovega]

Cat Grant was so much fun. I missed her and I had no idea how much until this episode. Of course I loved all Cat and Supergirl moments and the moments with Winn were so cute.

Those first scenes with Alex and Maggie fighting the Daxamites looked pretty cool and I loved the imagery of people rebelling against the Daxamites but that part didn't feel earned in this episode.

The arranged marriage plot was so stupid. The worst part of the episode. I felt like Katie McGrath looked annoyed in those scenes and Chris Wood was just flat all episode long, especially in his last scene with Kara. I did like Lillian going in to save Lena though, it's interesting that she does seem to care for her daughter after all.

Teri Hatcher is a fun villain and she is definitely having fun in the role so I don't mind that Rhea has no depth at all. I expected more from Superman than being so easily mind controlled. Again.

I liked the president. There's something odd about Lynda Carter's delivery but somehow it works for her character. I enjoyed seeing her push Alex to do her job and Alex's conflicting feelings over Kara. Chyler Leigh is such a good actress.

Cat and Lena have to know Kara is Supergirl. Right? It makes no sense if they don't.

It also makes no sense for Kara to try to reason with Rhea. Honey, there's no reason to try if even her son is not interested.

[sskrill]

I didn't know how much I missed Cat.  Her scenes with Winn were great.

I must be the only one who thinks red is not Katie's color.

Kara going to get Rhea to surrender was irritating.  Kara is really kind of working my nerves this season.  She's so immature and almost constantly making bad choices.  She is not someone I would hang out with.  

Alex on the other hand ... always with the badassery.  Jumping off the balcony while firing .. thats my girl.

Edited May 16, 2017 by sskrill

[Artsda]

Loved Cat being back. Her critique of what James had done to her office was great, how he hasn't ruined her empire I have no clue.

Supergirl told Cat her boyfriend was on the ship. That's a big mistake unless Supergirl knows Cat knows she's Kara. What's the point of telling Cat the truth, but acting the opposite in front of Lena?

[bmoore4026]

President Linda Carter turns out to be an alien!  And a Durlan, at that.  Thankfully, she doesn't look like the gross squid faced true form Durlans but sadly wasn't the orange skinned little antennae Chameleon Boy Durlan :(

[tofutan]

@Artsda Considering that Cat has never met "Mike" or heard of the alien prince, why would that be giving anything away at this point? All she knows that there's some dude up there who is Supergirl's boyfriend. Could be one of the guards or a random prisoner for all Cat knows. 

@NatalieEGH Lead clearly has less of an effect on Daxamites than in the comics. Remember, Mon-El got shot in the leg by Lillian earlier in the season and it didn't have any lasting effect, it was more like a normal wound. You can still kill a Daxamite if you shoot them in the head, but it doesn't seem to longterm poison or take away their powers the way it's with Kryptonite and the Kryptonians. After all, Rhea apparently was running around with a lead dagger, the one she killed her husband with, without a problem. While Kara starts getting woozy if somebody only gets close to her with a Kryptonite dagger. 

I can't really blame the Daxamites for wanting to live on an actual planet with like trees and lakes and all that jazz rather than go all Battlestar Galactica. And there is some sense that they would want to take over earth considering they have superpowers here, something that wouldn't be the case on some other planet. (of course, they could just find a different planet with a yellow sun, like the one that Mon-El wanted to run off to). 

I'm sad that they'll probably kill Rhea at the end of this, she's so hammy, I would have loved if they just locked her up, so there was a chance they could use her again in the future. 

My question is: if Rhea can blow up buildings from orbit (like she threatened to do with the hospital), why didn't she just carpet bomb CatCo rather than sending like 3 dudes there? 

Edited May 16, 2017 by tofutan

[Winston Wolfe]

43 minutes ago, sskrill said:

I must be the only one who thinks red is not Katie's color.

That dress makes me want to propose to Katie.

[Perfect Xero]

So, President Wonder Woman was flying a 747 straight at a fleet of alien war ships and mouthing off about it to the alien leader, getting her staff, crew, and support pilots killed. That's ... not the sort of thing that would make me glad that I voted for someone.

[Dobian]

Okay, Cat can look at Guardian for two seconds and know it's James because she can see his eyes, but she worked with Kara and SAW HER WHOLE FACE FOR A WHOLE YEAR and couldn't figure out she was Supergirl!!!

Edited May 16, 2017 by Dobian

[Trini]

Oh, Cat knows. SHE KNOWS.

And I don't know if Lena knows about Kara being Supergirl, but now she knows that Kara is dating the Daxamite prince!

Props to the costume/wardrobe departments -- I really liked the Daxamite dresses.

Kinda hate how they took J'onn out of commission. I hope he plays a part in the finale.

[Bats27]

Rhea & Cat trading verbal barbs was amazing. If there was ever a 'feminist' episode, this was it. The Cat Grant "presidential" message to National City & to "Tiara Woman", poking fun at Trump ("Promising to make our world great again", empty promises), Alex being awesome, and the overall message of "Resist", was well done, and right on the nose.. And Lena in that red dress though!

Thanks James
It's Guardian
Oh Honey, I can see your eyes right through the slit ... next time, lose the mask & try wearing glasses

Also I'm glad that President Wonder Woman isn't a villain after all.        

[Dobian]

39 minutes ago, Perfect Xero said:

So, President Wonder Woman was flying a 747 straight at a fleet of alien war ships and mouthing off about it to the alien leader, getting her staff, crew, and support pilots killed. That's ... not the sort of thing that would make me glad that I voted for someone.

This episode was so full of all kinds of dumb I couldn't keep track.  And even if President Carter's (!) jumbo jet made it through the gauntlet to the mother ship, what was she going to do, wave out the window?  When the writing is this bad, you can't even suspend disbelief anymore to make it work, you just have to treat it as pure camp.  I have to remind myself this is a CW superhero show, if I want to watch a superhero show that's kind of intelligent, I need to skip over to the Netflix Marvel shows.

[TeapotDiva]

5 hours ago, Primal Slayer said:

It was nice seeing Cat again but they went overboard with the constant name dropping references and having her keep up the better then this act the entire time. Her speech rallying the troops was THE WORST, like "oh hey its Cat Grant! She totally inspires me to rise and fight the good fight!" I hate it when they do that on this show. 

I was agreeing with you about Cat, but then I realized:  She's OPRAH!  Head of her own media empire!  Friend of the famous!  Inspiring us to live our best lives!  I also was wondering why a video of Cat Grant would inspire the masses, but when you substitute Oprah . . . .

Edited May 16, 2017 by TeapotDiva

[BkWurm1]

12 minutes ago, Bats27 said:

Rhea & Cat trading verbal barbs was amazing. If there was ever a 'feminist' episode, this was it. The Cat Grant "presidential" message to National City & to "Tiara Woman", poking fun at Trump ("Promising to make our world great again", empty promises), Alex being awesome, and the overall message of "Resist", was well done, and right on the nose.. And Lena in that red dress though!

Thanks James
It's Guardian
Oh Honey, I can see your eyes right through the slit ... next time, lose the mask & try wearing glasses

Also I'm glad that President Wonder Woman isn't a villain after all.        

Me too.  So much.  I had been hoping she wasn't.  

This episode really shouldn't have worked.  It's had a ton of flaws like how easily all of the DEO was routed, a lot of cheese, and was probably too politically pointed (oh well, lol) but I just ate it all up.  And as fruitless as flying to confront the evil alien invader clearly was, I loved the way Lynda Carter delivered her speech.  It reminded me of the "Get off my plane" moment in Airforce One.  Wished she had something to back it up other than the assumption they wouldn't just shoot her down, but still loved the moment.  TH and CF were equally fun as well.  Toss in BS and I was just so happy with every performance.  

I was thrilled with how much CF we got int the episode.  I'd kept my hopes low.  Also had to laugh with how they used James.  

I know Kara has to be more than just her powers but it is annoying that her need to try ruined the big plan.  Now, the big plan may have always been DOA since Supes' job to blow it up may have always been keyed to when it was about to be fired.  He probably had ways to figure that out. So I'll use that as head canon to let her off the hook I guess.

Otherwise, the episode went by far too fast.  Can't wait for next week.  

13 minutes ago, TeapotDiva said:

I was agreeing with you about Cat, but then I realized:  She's OPRAH!  Friend of the famous!  Inspiring us to live our best lives!  I also was wondering why a video of Cat Grant would inspire the masses, but when you substitute Oprah . . . .

Hee!  

[LolaRuns]

I assumed the president just planned to land in National City and meet up with the DEO, not go directly to the alien ship. 

I know what the politics of the show are, but is anybody kinda bothered that now everybody is complicit in the president hiding that she is an alien. Yeah, it shouldn't matter to voters that she's an alien, but one assumed, it would still affect the voting the decisions of people anyway. So it seems kinda dishonest to hide that from the general populace. Who knows if people would have voted for her, even if the Supergirl universe maybe doesn't have a "must be born in the US" rule. 

[vb68]

Thank god for Calista Flockhart. I always thought her line deliveries were the best thing about the show, and they were again. She just makes it so much fun. Talking about Kanye and Taylor Swift like alien Queen has any clue.

Cat Grant for President.

[AudienceofOne]

Another Berlanti show, another villain whose motivation is crazy.  Because apparently real characterisation is just too hard. Surely he could have managed to write this amazing (female) villain as an amoral and Machiavellian product of an elitist and exploitative race - which is how she was introduced. And now it's just "Mama's cray cray" and we have female characters delivering ridiculous - borderline childish - "Grrl Power!" speeches during a fricking alien invasion. This show continues to be convinced it's feminist or something while being consistently embarrassing for feminism.

No idea why Supergirl didn't just say "I'm going to the ship to try to rescue Mon-El and Lena. Get the ray working and fire it when ready" at about the 15 minute mark. But if she did, we wouldn't have had 20 meaningless minutes of her hemming and hawing and standing around the bar wondering what to do - again - while the world is burning around her.

I'm reminded that this is the great hero who was baking a few weeks ago because she "didn't have anything to do". If this show is supposed to be about Millennial superheroes then, congratulations! She's the most cliched millennial to ever millennial.

On the bright side, every scene with Winn and Cat was wonderful. Mon-El and Lena managed to get through their scenes with the perfect combination of eye rolling and somber resignation. Alex was quality again. And while I find the actress who plays Maggie painfully awful, I do like the way the show treats their relationship. Teri Hatcher was fantastic as Rhea last week: all charisma and seductive menace. This weeks she's just crazy. It's a serious step down.

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, AudienceofOne said:

No idea why Supergirl didn't just say "I'm going to the ship to try to rescue Mon-El and Lena. Get the ray working and fire it when ready" at about the 15 minute mark. But if she did, we wouldn't have had 20 meaningless minutes of her hemming and hawing and standing around the bar wondering what to do - again - while the world is burning around her.

I'm reminded that this is the great hero who was baking a few weeks ago because she "didn't have anything to do". If this show is supposed to be about Millennial superheroes then, congratulations! She's the most cliched millennial to ever millennial.

Supergirl couldn't do a direct assault because the mothership  (double meaning, since it's Rhea's) has Kryptonite cannons. That was mentioned in this episode, and IIRC, the mothership a few episodes back beat Kara back pretty easily, and that was when Rhea wasn't actively trying to kill her.

Of course, that doesn't mean that she couldn't have worked on taking on the invasion force. When James and Maggie are like, "We're going to get out there and see what we can do" I'm surprised that they didn't think to take the mostly invulnerable alien along. Or that she didn't decide on her own to eliminate at least some of the non-motherships.

Maybe I'm projecting, but I can't imagine a show centering about Superman having an alien invasion on this scale and him doing pretty much f- all for the first part of it because the aliens have Lois and Jimmy (or whoever).

I'm also surprised that Rhea didn't load up at least some of her troops with Kryptonite weapons in case Supergirl did something.

Kryptonite weapons are the sort of problem that Kara and the DEO should have a workaround for. For instance, the Kryptonians from last season had anti-K shielding, which the DEO adapted and somehow made worse such that it would only survive a few hits from Metallo. 

Another thing that occurs to me now: the whole "We're trapped on the mothership! Lillian left us here to die!" drama doesn't really make sense because a) the ship is presumably equipped with the same transporter device that the rest of them had and b) even assuming that they couldn't work such a device, Supergirl could tear a hole in the side of the ship and fly them back to Earth in about 15 seconds (10 of which would be used finding spacesuits if the needed them).

[ottoDbusdriver]

9 hours ago, Primal Slayer said:

The Guardian/Cat was funny but would've been funnier if they just acknowledged that Cat does indeed know that it is Kara as Supergirl and she just keeps up with it to entertain herself. Which leads to Lena....if she doesn't know that Kara is Supergirl....lord give me strength. 

 

5 hours ago, Dobian said:

Okay, Cat can look at Guardian for two seconds and know it's James because she can see his eyes, but she worked with Kara and SAW HER WHOLE FACE FOR A WHOLE YEAR and couldn't figure out she was Supergirl!!!

 

9 hours ago, StarBrand said:

Having Cat Grant back alone raises this a tad above your average episode, cliched speeches notwithstanding. I liked the pep talk between Kara and Cat. Those have been sorely missed this season. She figured out James in 2 seconds, which has to mean she knows Kara is Supergirl-and given CF's limited availability, they should clear that up sooner rather than later-can't afford to pussyfoot anymore.

Plus, Supergirl kept referring to Cat as "Miss Grant", just like Kara does, and she kept referring to their frequent chats and advice which Kara did but Supergirl did NOT.  And Cat explained to Supergirl why she left Catco -- why would 'Supergirl' even care why Cat left Catco, but Kara would certainly care ?

She has to know.

7 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

It got us Katie McGrath in that red dress....Rowr!

Grrrrr indeed

So, did Superman destroy the positron cannon ?  Because the beam that destroyed it was blue, and Superman's (and Supergirl's) heat vision are red.

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Plus, Supergirl kept referring to Cat as "Miss Grant", just like Kara does, and she kept referring to their frequent chats and advice which Kara did but Supergirl did NOT.  And Cat explained to Supergirl why she left Catco -- why would 'Supergirl' even care why Cat left Catco, but Kara would certainly care ?

She has to know.

Grrrrr indeed

So, did Superman destroy the positron cannon ?  Because the beam that destroyed it was blue, and Superman's (and Supergirl's) heat vision are red.

I think that Cat has to know too. But Supergirl seems like the type to refer to most people formally, and Kat did give Supergirl pep talks at least a couple of times. (It is hard to keep track of pep talks on a Berlanti show, I know. :)) Cat is vain enough to think that everyone might care why she does what she does. But in this specific context, telling Supergirl why she left Catco was part of winding up to the Importance! Of! Love!

Superman did destroy the cannon. In comics and cartoons, heat vision is typically portrayed as red. But in the Supergirlverse, it is blue. For example, see below:

 

[LolaRuns]

Quote

Supergirl could tear a hole in the side of the ship and fly them back to Earth in about 15 seconds (10 of which would be used finding spacesuits if the needed them).

That's where presumably the Kryptonite cannons would come into effect. Also, the ship is surrounded by a shield (Lillian Luthor mentioned that the Daxamites upgraded the ship since the last time Supergirl invaded the ship). But yes, Mon-El should really know how to work those transporters (the shiny colorful ones the Daxamites use themselves). Then again, he was in a coma for 35 years, so in theory the technology could have changed. But then again, he had no problem using their weapons. 

Quote

She just makes it so much fun. Talking about Kanye and Taylor Swift like alien Queen has any clue.

There has never been any consistency to what the "fresh off the boat" aliens know and don't know. Rhea knows what a telemarketer ist and can fake a backstory about going to the same university as Lena, but she doesn't know what/who the president of the US and that they don't literally rule earth? Same with Mon-El asking Eliza what "science" is, when his mother apparently is a scientist of some sort too. 

Edited May 16, 2017 by LolaRuns

[UNOSEZ]

I thought a good way to have cat kill a few birds with one stone would have been when Kara said her boyfriend is up there.. Is if cat had said... Oh that's where James is... It woulda finally proved what everyone suspects... That she knows Kara is supes and it woulda given Kara a chance to explain what exactly happened between her and James... Seeing as neither Winn or Alex seemed to care enough.. And Cat is the type to be blunt and ask her the tough questions and get to the truth... Ah well still one episode left maybe we'll get answers or closure then. 

[KirkB]

The ending brings up several questions for me. Rhea apparently has access to some sort of technology that allows her to control Kryptonians. Fair enough. But how did she even get access to Superman to use it on him? And why by all the Daxamite gods did she not use it on Kara? The Kryptonian who is right there in National City and, as far as she is concerned, turned her own son against her?

Welcome back, Cat. You've been missed. I am a little concerned though. Unless CF has changed her mind she is only here temporarily, which means Cat is either going to leave again, or die.

Hi Jimmy. Bye Jimmy.

DH looks kind of uncomfortable as Henshaw. That thing on his face doesn't appear to fit very well.

If Kara and Kal are going to fight, even if Kara wins a lot of people will say it's only because Supes was being mind controlled.

Edited May 16, 2017 by KirkB

[Dobian]

2 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

 

 

Plus, Supergirl kept referring to Cat as "Miss Grant", just like Kara does, and she kept referring to their frequent chats and advice which Kara did but Supergirl did NOT.  And Cat explained to Supergirl why she left Catco -- why would 'Supergirl' even care why Cat left Catco, but Kara would certainly care ?

She has to know.

The problem with it is that Cat doesn't have super perception, if she knows then everyone in that office figured it out.  By showing Cat figuring out Guardian so quickly when most of his face was covered, it just drew attention to how easy it is to see through these "disguises".  Then in the same episode we have Supergirl talking to Lillian about how she knows about her alter ego but Lena doesn't, so Lena can look Kara and Supergirl right in the face and not recognize they're one in the same, but Cat can?  That either makes Lena look dumb, or the show just can't get it straight if it's easy or not to make the connection.

Edited May 16, 2017 by Dobian

[LolaRuns]

I was very surprised that the president turned out to be a good guy. Rhea having all the right gadgets would make a lot more sense if she had help and insider information. 

I mean Rhea just showed up a few weeks ago, presumably expected her son to come along, then was fought by Supergirl and a Martian. Okay, so she knows she's up against a Martian. So how does she so quickly get access to specific anti-Martian tech? Does she just have all that lying around? 

I could see Rhea getting a kick out of Supergirl being killed by her own cousin or maybe she went with Superman because she thinks he's stronger? But this would make a lot more sense if she had help somehow. Maybe from the next season's big bad?