S03.E02: Triggers

[The Crazed Spruce]

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A thief who has psychic powers attacks National City, immobilizing victims by tapping into their worst fears; James and Lena are at an impasse; Samantha starts her new job at L-Corp.

[opus]

Most importantly tonight, definitely band over DJ.

[cambridgeguy]

Supergirl - Psi caught me off guard the first time but I won't let that happen again.

Anyone with an iota of tactical sense - OK, so that means you're going to use your superspeed to zip in and knock her out before she has a chance to use her power on you, right?

Supergirl - Nope, I still plan on talking to her.

It's too bad they don't have access to the entire DCU because this would have been the perfect time for a Yellow Lantern.

Also, having your new boss wandering around the workplace doesn't strike me as something that would reduce workplace anxiety.  I also think we just saw the reason for a future Maggie/Alex breakup.  You can't be a viable couple if you disagree about wanting kids.

Edited October 17, 2017 by cambridgeguy

[kdm07]

Before I say anything else, I have to get this off my chest: is no one going to ask why there's a massive hole from the elevator shaft to the roof of Catco?! No one at all?!

Okay back to more normal stuff:

- Kara & Alex are back to being sisters who share things (and significant screen time) again and I loved it. They've always been the heart of the show and as long as they keep that status quo, I'll be a happy watcher.

- Kara. you have super speed and laser beam eyes. Just knock out the bad lady out before she has a chance to wham you with her psychic smoke. No need for all the banter.

- Alex & Maggie are gonna hit a serious bump in their relationship. The kids talk is always where TV drama comes in and they've already started dropping the anvils for it.

- James has no idea who he's up against does he? He thinks he's dealing with Lena Luthor, Kara's friend, but that's a completely different side to the one that's Lena Luthor, CEO of a massive, global corporation.

- I know the show is making Lena be dumb by still not knowing that Kara is Supergirl but they can't keep that up all season can they? She's her boss now who's going to be in the office every day. she's going to notice that Kara is conspicuously absent from work whenever Supergirl is flying around National City saving people...right?

- Ruby purposefully put herself in harm's way just to prove her mom has super powers. Why do they make TV kids so aggravating?

- Hi, Yael Grobglas! Nice to see you being evil on another show lol.

- Band or DJ? DJ if I'm familiar with the DJ otherwise, a band.

Edited October 17, 2017 by kdm07

[Lady Calypso]

So, I know the episode had its issues. But I thought this was much better than the premiere for me. There's just still something that's missing for me. 

First off, I gotta praise the Alex/Kara scenes. Their scene in the middle of the episode, followed by their scene during the final fight with Psi, was the best sisters scene since season one, easily. Season two basically gave the middle finger to the Danvers sisters talking about each other; their few scenes together last season were pretty much all about their love interests (besides Alex's coming out episode) so I absolutely fell in love with them talking about Kara and her insecurities and her past. Also, movie night is back! That made me grin harder than anything else. The showrunners listened! And hopefully that's not the only movie night scene of the season, because then I'll have to put this show back on the bottom of my list of Arrowverse shows.

Also, Kara/Winn got a scene! Jesus H Christ, that didn't seem so hard to do, right writers? And James/Kara got another scene together! What is this change from last season, where Kara was allergic to everyone not named Mon-El? 

As much as I did kind of roll my eyes at Kara's real fear being realized, I appreciate that it was held off for as long as possible and Kara still got to talk about a real fear of hers; just because it wasn't her ultimate fear in the end, it doesn't mean that it wasn't a real fear of hers. I am going to just assume that Psi took the most recent fear of Kara's, and since she's still hurting, it overpowered her Krypton fear. 

Kara/Lena's scenes were pretty good. I appreciate that Lena did get to tell Kara how unprofessional she was being. It's kind of what could have happened with Cat back in season 1. I love that Kara ended up apologizing because she does realize how suspicious it is to just bolt from work every two minutes. 

Ok, so....I was on James' side a little bit with his Lena issue. Like it or not, he is a major part of Catco now. He does run it, which means Lena does have to consult with him on certain things. Staff meetings is pretty much one of the few things she should be keeping him in the loop on. She obviously bought Catco which means she's his boss and can do what she wants, but common courtesy is letting James in on meetings that affect his job. I think they're going to have to smooth out some issues there. 

The worst part of the episode was the Reign/Sam and her daughter Ruby storyline. Ruby is such an idiot teenager. I appreciate that she explained why she did what she did at the end, but that was just stupid, and it took away from the episode a bit. I don't mind Sam being integrated into the show with her growing powers and origin story here, but I just felt like it was pointless, even if it was more of a character growth. With Sam running L Corp, though, that might help ease Sam into the show with the other main characters. Also, less Ruby, please. Don't kill the kid off like I expect them to, but just keep her at a distance.

Yeah, I see that Alex/Maggie having differing feelings on a very important thing that they need to be on the same page for? Yeah, their wedding is going to be bumpy.

Overall, I actually found myself loving Psi. Yael Grobglas is just phenomenal as Psi. Having only seen her as Petra/Anezka on Jane the Virgin, I loved seeing a completely different side with this character. I'll look forward to her inevitable return, whether that's this season or next. 

[quarks]

8 minutes ago, kdm07 said:

Before I say anything else, I have to get this off my chest: is no one going to ask why there's a massive hole from the elevator shaft to the roof of Catco?! No one at all?!

 

I seriously came over here to complain about that EXACT SAME THING.

Come on, show. I'm handwaving a lot, and I get that Catco gets attacked a lot and James is probably used to smoothing things over, but a new CEO arrives and a hole just HAPPENS to appear in the roof and NOBODY is going to question this? NOBODY?

[Primal Slayer]

Psi was such a fun villain! I want her to come back and do some more damage.

It felt like it was a long time coming (1 week) but so glad that all of this finally got Kara to let down her walls and just let it out. Seeing her deal with her fears felt was very refreshing for some reason.

The kid already made me dislike her by putting herself in danger just to try to out her mom as a potential superhero. 

I was happy that Lena wasn't having any of Kara's disappearing acts but I have a feeling it wont last beyond this episode.

[Lady Calypso]

10 minutes ago, kdm07 said:

Before I say anything else, I have to get this off my chest: is no one going to ask why there's a massive hole from the elevator shaft to the roof of Catco?! No one at all?!

 

I kind of wanted Lena to comment on the hole in the ceiling to Kara at the end of the episode, only to have Kara stammer something about Supergirl visiting Catco. 

But honestly, I just assume the first thought about anything weird like that is Supergirl, especially since everyone at Catco knows that Supergirl frequently has visited Catco in the past. 

[kdm07]

8 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

I kind of wanted Lena to comment on the hole in the ceiling to Kara at the end of the episode, only to have Kara stammer something about Supergirl visiting Catco. 

But honestly, I just assume the first thought about anything weird like that is Supergirl, especially since everyone at Catco knows that Supergirl frequently has visited Catco in the past. 

But...why would Supergirl bust a hole in the roof when she could easily use a window since she's a frequent visitor? On top of that, they have a new boss....how is this not picked up by anyone especially the new boss who's pretty much going everywhere to learn about the company? It honestly bugged me from the minute it happened until the episode ended. This isn't like a small continuity error of a character having a jacket in one scene and then without it in the next, it's a massive hole that has probably stopped the elevator from working and created a nice big draft coming into Catco. How is no one bringing this up?!

(Sorry for the rant but it's such a big thing to completely overskip and it's gonna bug me for awhile lol. It's also probably happened before but tonight was the first time I've really noticed it).

Edited October 17, 2017 by kdm07

[mtlchick]

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Before I say anything else, I have to get this off my chest: is no one going to ask why there's a massive hole from the elevator shaft to the roof of Catco?! No one at all?!

"I decided to create a skylight..through the elevator shaft, of course."  

I did find the episode wonky in parts: Sam and Ruby were just there for me.  But other parts like Lena finally advising Kara "We're friends, but as of right now, I AM your boss so start following along" and James reminding Lena "You own the joint, but I actually RUN it for you" were good scenes.  No need to discuss the scenes with the sisters since they are always the standout for me. i

Edited October 17, 2017 by mtlchick

[Oreo2234]

I liked this episode much better than last weeks. The moments between Kara and Alex were great. They do seem to be listening to the complaints about the lack of meaningful scenes between them last season. 

I don't entirely buy that workaholic Alex who has a highly dangerous and time consuming job would want kids. Sam is alright so far but Ruby was irritating this episode.

Spoiler

I hope they don't have Alex adopt her when Sam goes bad. We don't need kids on this show, especially this annoying kid. 

I really enjoyed Yael Grobglas as the Psy (she's great on Jane the Virgin too) and the effects surrounding her powers were pretty good. I hope she returns. 

Edited October 17, 2017 by Oreo2234

[tennisgurl]

Honestly, they should just open up a full on reversible sky light in the ceiling. Supergirl hops in and out of there all the time anyway, it seems more convenient than leaving behind a giant, gaping hole. 

Lena in boos mode is pretty cool to see, and I think it adds an interesting new dynamic to the Catco stuff. If they insist on keeping Catco, they might as well make it interesting. Kames is also WAY more interesting and likable when he`s being James Olson: Reporter, instead of James Olson: Crappy Superhero. 

Yael Grobglas is so awesome, and I loved Psi. She was a really cool villain, and I hope she pops up again. I think there is more potential there. 

Nice Alex/Kara scenes this week. I was never a big Mon-El/Kara hater, but I have to say, its nice to have Kara sharing scenes with more of the cast. 

[KirkB]

I liked Psi (BTW, is it Psy or Psi? Winn said it was shortened from psychological, but the psionics...) as a villain, and Kara overcoming her fear was great. But man, did it have to come down to Mon-El, again? First he was the one who helped her wake up and now he's the source of her greatest fear? I mean, seriously, her home was destroyed in front of her eyes, and she was trapped in a pod for fifteen+ years, but the thing that scares her the most is the fact she lost her boyfriend? I'm not sure whether to be annoyed or insulted.

Keep up the Kara/Alex scenes though show, and I may be able to forgive a lot.

Yeah, this kids thing is going to be a problem, isn't it?

Speaking of kids, while I get what Ruby thought she was trying to prove, that was a really stupid thing to do. Especially for someone her age. Maybe if she was like six or something.

I know National City probably has some really good insurance, what with the constant alien attacks, but punching a hole through a roof and trashing an elevator is going to be expensive to fix, even for Lena. At this point I don't quite understand why Kara doesn't tell Lena (the only important person left in her life who DOESN'T know) she's Supergirl. It would make everything easier for both of them, even if it would be a strain on their friendship.

Edited October 17, 2017 by KirkB

[Primal Slayer]

10 minutes ago, KirkB said:

I liked Psi (BTW, is it Psy or Psi? Winn said it was shortened from psychological, but the psionics...) as a villain,

It's Psi. They listed it on her profile when Winn pulled her up.

[Lantern7]

Okay episode, though it strained in several places. I'm kinda wanting Ruby to get hurt really bad now. It's okay because she's a fictional child, right?  This is real life, child, not Unbreakable. Yeah, I know, but work with me . . .

Damn, Melissa can sell fear. Ditto on Supergirl not dealing with Psi in a swift manner. While I'm at it . . . Psi? If you've put the whammy on somebody three times and she keeps coming after you? RUN. Thanks to the edtiors for the final act with her trussed up. Otherwise, I would've guess that Kara headbutted her nose clear into the back of her head. Oh, and thanks for overselling Psi by having J'onn incapacitated from a distance.

ETA: In light of the subplot: why not have Psy play the wedding? I reckon "Gangham Style" would render Kryptonians and Martians powerless.

[tofutan]

I don't know what's riding the writers putting Lena and James in more scenes together, those two are clearly the weakest actors of the show by far. I think it was a huge mistake to give Lena a full cast member contract. She clearly works much better as a character who is brought in when she's actually necessary and has something useful to do. Sam running CatCo on her behalf while Lena stays at L-Corp would have felt way more realistic. 

And I will say it, James being Guardian was way more interesting for him as a character than what he's been doing this season so far. 

I really enjoyed Psi and I hope we get to see her again. It would be interesting if they get her out of captivity and tried to use her against some other villain. 

Melissa's acting was really good in this episode, outside of the "stumbling" movement whenever she gets hit by a psychic blast. 

Good moment for Winn. 

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 their few scenes together last season were pretty much all about their love interests (besides Alex's coming out episode) so I absolutely fell in love with them talking about Kara and her insecurities and her past. 

They had the scenes where Alex didn't want Kara to move in with Superman. They had the scene in the spaceship that had nothing to do with love interests. They had stuff about Jeremiah. They had that super boring shapeshifter at the DEO episode that was about Kara/Alex issues. Alex having to decide whether to shoot down the ship with Kara inside had nothing to do with love interest either. The show absolutely tried to periodically include sister scenes in season 2. And if both of them have love interests, why shouldn't they talk about that, since that is something that is going on in their lives? 

Is it more of a focus this season? Yeah, that's what they said. But the writers clearly still cared in season 2 as well to always make sure Kara and Alex got something. 

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Also, Kara/Winn got a scene! Jesus H Christ, that didn't seem so hard to do, right writers? And James/Kara got another scene together! What is this change from last season, where Kara was allergic to everyone not named Mon-El? 

Winn/Kara/James had an entire storyline about them hiding Guardian from her. 

I also remember quality Kara/J'onn scenes in season 2. I remember really enjoying Kara's presence in J'onn/M'gann. 

Edited October 17, 2017 by tofutan

[tennisgurl]

Not sure what the deal with Sam and Ruby is, or what they have to do with anything. I guess its being tied into Lena's story, and Sam does have powers, but I dont really get what its supposed to do for the show exactly. Dont we have enough characters and subplots? Or is this going to make up for all the time spent with Mon-El last season? And Ruby is already an annoying kid. I would buy the whole "put myself in danger so mom can save me" thing if she wasn't an older kid, and the execution wasn't so half assed. It was like a really lame version of that scene in Unbreakable where Bruce Willases kid almost shots him to prove that Bruce has super powers. 

[secnarf]

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

The worst part of the episode was the Reign/Sam and her daughter Ruby storyline. Ruby is such an idiot teenager. I appreciate that she explained why she did what she did at the end, but that was just stupid, and it took away from the episode a bit. I don't mind Sam being integrated into the show with her growing powers and origin story here, but I just felt like it was pointless, even if it was more of a character growth. With Sam running L Corp, though, that might help ease Sam into the show with the other main characters. Also, less Ruby, please. Don't kill the kid off like I expect them to, but just keep her at a distance.

I hated Ruby's storyline in this episode. It made me fairly convinced that she will die, in a way that will complete the Reign "origin" story.

I did enjoy this episode though - but I'm not sure how I feel about the return of M'Gann at this point and potentially having J'onn disappear to Mars.

[Lady Calypso]

14 minutes ago, tofutan said:

They had the scenes where Alex didn't want Kara to move in with Superman. They had the scene in the spaceship that had nothing to do with love interests. They had stuff about Jeremiah. They had that super boring shapeshifter at the DEO episode that was about Kara/Alex issues. Alex having to decide whether to shoot down the ship with Kara inside had nothing to do with love interest either. The show absolutely tried to periodically include sister scenes in season 2. And if both of them have love interests, why shouldn't they talk about that, since that is something that is going on in their lives? 

Is it more of a focus this season? Yeah, that's what they said. But the writers clearly still cared in season 2 as well to always make sure Kara and Alex got something. 

Not as many scenes as there were in season one. Season one had them interacting every single episode. Season two had them interact way less than that, and most of the time, it was about Maggie or Mon-El. That's not to say they didn't share some scenes together, but just not enough. There was a very noticeable drop in the sister scenes, especially when it came to closing out the episodes; suddenly, they were transferring those sister scenes to Kara/Mon-El. 

That's what made the first season special, after all. They weren't afraid to have females interact and have it be about them. Of course, that didn't mean they didn't not talk about guys every so often, but there was a better balance that they lost in season 2.

This episode really proved that they can get back to a better balance. 

18 minutes ago, tofutan said:

Winn/Kara/James had an entire storyline about them hiding Guardian from her. 

Well, Winn/James had a storyline about Guardian. Kara had one episode to find out, get pissy, but then she never really talked about it with them except for a few episodes later. They barely shared scenes together as friends. 

Again, just comparing it to season 1, they dropped the ball on their friendship and had James/Winn talk about Kara occasionally, but they never actually had a scene with all three of them about Guardian. They really only had maybe one episode, and then they started to get back on track near the end of the season with that friends night. 

But Kara/Winn having friends scenes last season? I think I can only count on one hand the scenes they shared without other people around. 

Which is why I like that they're getting back on track this season. 

[KirkB]

8 minutes ago, secnarf said:

I did enjoy this episode though - but I'm not sure how I feel about the return of M'Gann at this point and potentially having J'onn disappear to Mars.

Speaking of M'Gann, was it just me or did she look really weird in that scene?

 

11 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Not sure what the deal with Sam and Ruby is, or what they have to do with anything. I guess its being tied into Lena's story, and Sam does have powers, but I dont really get what its supposed to do for the show exactly. Dont we have enough characters and subplots?

See, I keep wondering the same thing. I know the presumption (if not knowledge, I avoid outright spoilers) is she's somehow going to be the villain, but if so this is a really odd start for a bad guy. Then again, if I had a kid like Ruby, I might turn evil too.  :)

[tofutan]

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Not as many scenes as there were in season one. 

"Less than season 1" is not the same as the writers giving the relationship the finger. Alex and Kara were CLEARLY much better treated than let's say Kara and James. The writers went out of their way to give them episodes dedicated to them, like the Alex episode, like the shapeshifter episode, like the episode where Alex ends up on a spaceship. Stuff like Alex having to decide whether to shoot the canon at the ship with Kara inside clearly felt like something that was written in specifically just so Alex could have sister angst. 

I'm not debating the numbers that there was less than season 1. I just deeply disagree with the idea that the writers gave the relationship the finger, they clearly put in effort to still get in Kara/Alex scenes periodically, despite what else was going on. Clearly much better treatment than what some other relationships got. 

And as I noted it's very easy to list plenty of Kara/Alex interaction in season 2 that wasn't about romantic love. Not that I agree that scenes about romantic love shouldn't count. 

For example, I really enjoyed the season in season 2 where Alex talks about what Kara was like as a teenager to make a point about how Kara shouldn't try to make Mon-El work at CatCo. It still tied in with the romance story, but to me it was still a good sister moment that gave us insight into them. Or here in this episode where Kara opens up to Alex about fearing that Mon-El is dead and Alex telling her that she's sure that he's alive. That scene was also connected to Mon-El, but does that really keep it from being a strong sister scene? 

Alex in essence didn't have a real romance in season 1, so it makes sense that she didn't have much to talk about in that regard. But I argue that it fleshed Alex out as a character that she got a romance and that he life wasn't just about Kara all the time. Because Alex sacrificing her life for Kara and centering her life around Kara is neither cute nor heart warming, it's just unhealthy. To me what Maggie added above all in season 2 was somebody who was all about Alex and NOT about Kara first and Alex second. 

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 They barely shared scenes together as friends. 

You didn't specify as friends. You indicated that Kara was allergic to having scenes with other people, but she clearly had scenes with other people. 

[BkWurm1]

The hole in the roof not being mentioned again is a plot hole but I'll let it slide this week since I really enjoyed the rest of the episode.  Last week was a rough episode.  It was hard to root for Kara when she was acting like that but this week, they touched on really all the same beats but handled it so much better.  Kara still feels like her life as Kara is a failure and only Supergirl is working.  She still feels like she should be stronger and better than what one would expect from humans when she was certain she had to have been whammied in the elevator rather than having a panic attack, but it came off as her just being wrong as opposed to being some kind of Kryptonian Supremisist.  And it was clear last week as well that she was afraid that Mon-el was dead but this week, they actually made me feel her fear and pain and guilt.  

The performances were great but I also have to credit the pacing and the direction.  The scenes were allowed the time to breathe.  The whole episode was.  I even enjoyed Ruby and her mom.  Ruby was an idiot but she's a teenager and Iris West pretty much did the EXACT same thing last week on the Flash (only Barry was practically in a padded cell when she decided to surrender herself to danger)  

Lena was a good added tension but still sympathetic.  Jimmy having issues was realistic as was Lena exerting control.  Neither came off badly.  Everyone at the DEO was competent and they remembered that J'onn was also psychic.  Of course no one thought to just dart Petra but I'm used to that kind of thing so I won't get hung up on the easy take down options.  They did a great job of letting us into Kara's mind. 

Really, a stellar episode as long as you are ok with no one mentioning why the elevator is out of order.  

Edited October 17, 2017 by BkWurm1

[immortalfrieza]

2 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Supergirl - Psi caught me off guard the first time but I won't let that happen again.

Anyone with an iota of tactical sense - OK, so that means you're going to use your superspeed to zip in and knock her out before she has a chance to use her power on you, right?

Supergirl - Nope, I still plan on talking to her.

Yep, that was my exact thought every time Kara came across Wammy Girl after the first. It's one of those idiotic superhero things one has to learn to get used to, 99 times out of a 100 if the superhero actually used the power appropriate to the situation and used them intelligently most plots wouldn't last past the first few pages/5 minutes, so they don't to fill time. Barry on Flash does the same sort of thing a lot too, and even Oliver gets on that every so often. The worst thing is that they didn't even have to DO that particular stupid action, just have Whammy Girl whammy her once during the first encounter and then have her catatonic for most of the episode would have allowed for most if not all the same plot points.

2 hours ago, kdm07 said:

Before I say anything else, I have to get this off my chest: is no one going to ask why there's a massive hole from the elevator shaft to the roof of Catco?! No one at all?!

I could have at least handwaved that as James and the DEO covering for her... if it weren't for the fact that the following scene makes it clear that Kara never even told anybody about it except Winn.

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- Alex & Maggie are gonna hit a serious bump in their relationship. The kids talk is always where TV drama comes in and they've already started dropping the anvils for it.

Yep. It's almost as though TV thinks relationships are entirely about having kids or something, it's not as though plenty of couples never have children and are perfectly happy, if not happier without them.

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

So, I know the episode had its issues. But I thought this was much better than the premiere for me.

 

Seconded. This is what I think the premiere SHOULD have been like, Mon-El basically a nonpresence in Kara's life now, but her head is still a little screwed up from the whole thing.

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Ok, so....I was on James' side a little bit with his Lena issue. Like it or not, he is a major part of Catco now. He does run it, which means Lena does have to consult with him on certain things. Staff meetings is pretty much one of the few things she should be keeping him in the loop on. She obviously bought Catco which means she's his boss and can do what she wants, but common courtesy is letting James in on meetings that affect his job. I think they're going to have to smooth out some issues there. 

Oh, I was on James' side entirely, it's also nice to see an episode where he actually seems to have something to do too. Lena just swooped in and took over James' whole job without even informing him in advance of what she was intending to do including cutting him out on things that should directly involve him, and James should be the one she's running things through before anyone else. It's clear that Lena was stepping on James' toes during the whole episode while also being completely oblivious to the fact that she's doing that and that James would have a problem with it, there's a little bit of the trademark Luthor obliviousness in her after all I guess.

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The worst part of the episode was the Reign/Sam and her daughter Ruby storyline. Ruby is such an idiot teenager. I appreciate that she explained why she did what she did at the end, but that was just stupid, and it took away from the episode a bit. I don't mind Sam being integrated into the show with her growing powers and origin story here, but I just felt like it was pointless, even if it was more of a character growth. With Sam running L Corp, though, that might help ease Sam into the show with the other main characters. Also, less Ruby, please. Don't kill the kid off like I expect them to, but just keep her at a distance.

Yeah, they're going to need to knock that kind of stuff off with the kid or she's really going to start to grate on everybody's nerves VERY quickly.

[ottoDbusdriver]

2 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

The worst part of the episode was the Reign/Sam and her daughter Ruby storyline. Ruby is such an idiot teenager. I appreciate that she explained why she did what she did at the end, but that was just stupid, and it took away from the episode a bit. I don't mind Sam being integrated into the show with her growing powers and origin story here, but I just felt like it was pointless, even if it was more of a character growth. With Sam running L Corp, though, that might help ease Sam into the show with the other main characters. Also, less Ruby, please. Don't kill the kid off like I expect them to, but just keep her at a distance.

This episode felt more like the Sam and Ruby show, with special guest star Supergirl.  My mommy has superpowers and I'm going to prove it by getting her to save me from danger each and every week. Enough already (and it's only been 2 episodes), there was so little A plot it felt like the B plot was being forced.
 

1 minute ago, immortalfrieza said:

Yeah, they're going to need to knock that kind of stuff off with the kid or she's really going to start to grate on everybody's nerves VERY quickly.

Too late, already grated on my nerves.

And since when do psychic powers actually manifest like a strong wind -- Psi ain't no Jean Grey -- at no point in the any of the bank robberies was Psi knocking stuff around with her mind.
 

[Trini]

So the introductory voiceover by Kara is gone now. Well, I never thought the show needed it; especially after Season 1.

It was weird to have that C-plot with Sam/Ruby mostly isolated from the rest of the cast. I know they wanted the reveal that she was connected to the everyone else at the end, but if I didn't already know about her from info over the hiatus, it would be even more odd.

They could have done more with Lena/James and their work conflict. ::siiiiiigh:: Anyway, do not tease me with Lena/James (romantically) and not go there, show!

Well, they kinda wasted J'onn here. The only person on the team with psychic powers only tries once and that's it? Yeah, yeah, I know we had to have Supergirl overcome her fear and all -- but still.

Did like that we got Kara/Winn and Kara/Alex scenes.

Melissa did great showing/expressing her fears. I thought the callback to her being sent away from Krypton was good, ... but then they made it about Mon-El. That was a fear too, but the first one would have been enough. So I guess even though he's not around right now, we still keep hearing about him.

And yeah, Supergirl should have been using her super speed against Psi; don't pick up the Flash's bad habits!

As for band vs. DJ -- Sorry, it comes down to whichever is cheaper for me. :)

[BkWurm1]

2 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

This episode felt more like the Sam and Ruby show, with special guest star Supergirl.  My mommy has superpowers and I'm going to prove it by getting her to save me from danger each and every week. Enough already (and it's only been 2 episodes), there was so little A plot it felt like the B plot was being forced.

I think until something happens to trigger her again, the daughter will cease to do that.  They almost got squished if not for Supergirl.  So I think Ruby believes her mom now.  And points for the show not having Sam actually hiding powers.  I was afraid that was what the crowbar scene was going to be.  I like it better that she doesn't know either.  

Also, Ruby is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much better than what we have with William on Arrow that my tolerance level is probably a lot higher. 

2 minutes ago, Trini said:

As for band vs. DJ -- Sorry, it comes down to whichever is cheaper for me. :)

Team DJ

[statsgirl]

I can accept the hole in the roof of the elevator more easily than I can accept:

1.  Sam has a workbench with tools in her house? She doesn't look like the type to make furniture on the side.

2.  Lena gave her job at L-Corp to a young woman who is a recent hire and is hanging out at Catco all the time.  We've been given to think that L-Corp is way way bigger and more diverse than the media company of Catco.  Why would she give her company to a new person to run?

[twoods]

Ruby bugs. A lot. She punches a girl in the face and then ignores her mom. She needs to be gone now.

I miss the James and Kara friendship from season one. At least they haven't ignored Kara and Wynn and Alex. 

So glad that Lena chewed Kara out for not doing her job. 

J'onn better not go back to Mars for good.

Edited October 17, 2017 by twoods

[sskrill]

Alex putting the fear of god into Wynn without a word.  Loved the resulting talk between Alex and Kara.

DJ.

[BkWurm1]

33 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

I can accept the hole in the roof of the elevator more easily than I can accept:

1.  Sam has a workbench with tools in her house? She doesn't look like the type to make furniture on the side.

2.  Lena gave her job at L-Corp to a young woman who is a recent hire and is hanging out at Catco all the time.  We've been given to think that L-Corp is way way bigger and more diverse than the media company of Catco.  Why would she give her company to a new person to run?

3

I'm assuming there might have been a dead husband/boyfriend.  But otherwise, sure, why not.  Let it be Sam's workshop for fixing stuff around the house.  

[johnar]

Is Ruby 1/2 Kryptonian?

Edited October 17, 2017 by johnar

[TV Anonymous]

1 hour ago, statsgirl said:

I can accept the hole in the roof of the elevator more easily than I can accept:

2.  Lena gave her job at L-Corp to a young woman who is a recent hire and is hanging out at Catco all the time.  We've been given to think that L-Corp is way way bigger and more diverse than the media company of Catco.  Why would she give her company to a new person to run?

Young age does not really matter nowadays, it seems. She might have been a CEO of a major tech company. Odette Annable is just the same age as Mark Zuckerberg. Recent hire also does not matter. She could have been hired specifically for this role, after her stellar performance in the said tech company.

[TV Anonymous]

The villain is a meta human? They have a STAR Labs that exploded and exposed people to dark matter and negative energy in that universe? 

As for the broken elevator and roof, maybe we can handwaive that Supergirl has the power to put them back together, à la Fantastic Beast?

[thuganomics85]

Better then last week, even if it is still lacking the lighter charm that I enjoyed with this show, but dear god, the Sam/Ruby stuff was dreadful.  I think I was more bored with them then even Oliver/William on Arrow.  Ruby is just obnoxious and unlikable and while I enjoyed Odette Annable in The Astronauts' Wives Club, she simply isn't strong enough to carry this at all.  Hopefully her running Luther Corp for Lena (a bit random but whatever) will tone down the family scenes and have her interact more with everyone else, because this shit is going to get tiring.  Also, I know they keep bringing her up as single mother to make her come off like she's at a disadvantage, but she clearly is doing fine because that is a sweet house they are living in.

Decent "meta of the week", although since I never saw Jane the Virgin, I really am not that invested in the Psy actress, who I thought was fine, but not all that special (basically a bargain Scarlet Johansson to me.)  Melissa Benoist was great though.  But of course, it all ends with Mon-El.  Mon-El is love.  Mon-El is life. Can't wait for the big crossover, where Oliver, Barry, and the Legends spend twenty minutes all "Where's Mon-El?!  Why isn't he here?!  We have to find him!!!  We can't go on without Mon-El!!!"

Oh, Alex and Maggie are so doomed.  They really didn't talk about children before this?  This is bad.  And, really, way to keep things professional by arguing about getting a DJ or band in the middle of headquarters.  Then again, considering all the silly drama J'onn has let happen at this place, I guess no one really cares.

Lena going into boss mode on Kara was great.  Someone needs to call her out when she's being a jerk.  I did think it was rude of her though to keep leaving James out of things.  Even if she's in charge now, he's been decent to her, so at least extend him the courtesy.  Can't believe I'm actually taking his side for once.

Winn is easily becoming the best thing about this season so far.

M'gann!  Can't wait to see what will come out of this!

[DigitalCount]

2 hours ago, immortalfrieza said:

Yep. It's almost as though TV thinks relationships are entirely about having kids or something, it's not as though plenty of couples never have children and are perfectly happy, if not happier without them.

While I largely agree, I think the issue that they're going for is that Alex and Maggie are not on the same page regarding children. If both people want children it's fine, and if both don't want children it's fine, but when one wants them and the other doesn't, it can be a recipe for disaster. It's probably the quickest dealbreaker I can think of for either position.

I was expecting a closeup on that crowbar later to reveal Sam's fingerprints embedded in the metal, but I think they're going to go slower with it if there's something there (which there certainly appears to be). 

[tofutan]

1 hour ago, TV Anonymous said:

Young age does not really matter nowadays, it seems. She might have been a CEO of a major tech company. Odette Annable is just the same age as Mark Zuckerberg. Recent hire also does not matter. She could have been hired specifically for this role, after her stellar performance in the said tech company.

Then why would she be so impressed by her new job? 

Quote

Well, they kinda wasted J'onn here. The only person on the team with psychic powers only tries once and that's it? 

I totally expected them to do a scene where he sees fire since this is traditional fear in the comics and cartoons. 

I think they are making a mistake in giving us too little foreshadowing for why we should care about the Sam/Ruby plot at all, especially since they didn't pick up on the jumpscare from the premiere, why not at least do some throwaway line about her having nightmares or maybe use Psi to also show us Sam's fear and have it actually be something weird and alien rather than just losing her daughter. I also wish they had given her a more layered personality rather than just (so far) generic nice person. 

Quote

Lena going into boss mode on Kara was great.  

Lena in boss mode was not remotely credible. She just seems like a creampuff even when she tries to do that with Kara. And that was one unfortunate blouse. I wanted a proper "between bosses" conversation between James and Lena. Or alternatively a funny scene where James has to find a way to cover up for the huge hole Kara left in the elevator. He already looked a bit moon-ey eyed over Lena in the little scene in the end. Why? Just because she's working late? 

Edited October 17, 2017 by tofutan

[HunterHunted]

4 hours ago, secnarf said:

I hated Ruby's storyline in this episode. It made me fairly convinced that she will die, in a way that will complete the Reign "origin" story.

I don't want to root for a child's death, but Ruby is cartoonishly dumb. She needs to be a solid 5 years younger to pull off that level of naivete. 

Lena was obnoxious cutting James out of the meetings. It makes no sense. L Corp makes things and CatCo is a media company. Just because you successfully run a company doesn't mean you can successfully run any company. Michael Dell doesn't necessarily have the skills to run Huffington Post.

[tofutan]

I don't buy for a second that Supergirl the tv show would ever actually kill a child. I predict more a crying, screaming Ruby pleading for her mommy to stop scaring her once she goes evil. 

But let's be honest, if it hadn't been for the various "meta" advertising, like announcing the casting of Reign/the "Make it Reign", would anything in the show really point towards Sam turning evil at this point? Just because she dreams of zombies and has superpowers? Okay, I guess there is the scene with the pod from last season, but based on the "text" of season 3 so far she comes across more like she should be a character who Supergirl helps out and then sends on her way, rather than somebody we should get excited for. 

[Dovega]

I forgot this show was back last week but I caught this episode and I actually enjoyed it. I could do without Mon El ending up being Kara's issue but I liked what they showed with Kara's pod fkying out of Krypton and the destruction she saw. Probably thinking about her family, friends and all the people she knew dying horribly. Poor Kara. I loved the praying in Kryptonian. Since Erica Durance (!!!) appears to be Kara's mom now I hope they explore more of life on Krypton.

Seeing Kara and Alex together again was also fantastic. I missed them so much. That quality for a scene between them was missing for a long time.

So Lena bought Catco and is probably now taking over in the same style she probably did with L Corp and she and James will butt heads. Hey, James has a storyline! Go James. But I like Lena so I hope this all ends well. It's just weird that she doesn't have an office and is hovering around the building all day but I liked the scene when she wouldn't let Kara put on an attitude on her and when she told Eve that she could use the elevator. 

I loved seeing Kara and Winn together having scenes again, that was so nice. And Winn and Alex's scenes are also fantastic. And Kara and Maggie! Kara had scenes with so many characters! That was the best.

Alex and Maggie were cute but there's gonna be trouble in paradise. Wanting children vs not wanting them is more complex than band vs dj.

Reign was fine as a character but her daughter was so annoying. I could do without the kid.

All in all I really liked most of the episode.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Psi, why rob banks in National City with Supergirl (and Martian Manhunter) protecting it, when you can scare the crap out of people in basically any city but there and Metropolis and not have to face superpowered opposition? For that matter, after you've successfully robbed one bank, what's the need to rob two or three more in the next couple of days?

Comic book Psi apparently was both a telekinetic and a telepath, so I don't have an issue with her psionic blasts having a visual/physical aspect to them.

People have already covered the Supergirl not using her abilities to take down , and a little J'onn's ongoing inability to help. The most powerful person on the planet gets taken down all too easily every single time. But this is a situation where a large amount of DEO regulars could have taken her out with tranq guns.

Lena spent $750 million on CatCo. Not sure if that's a lot or a little. For a real-world contrast, Jeff Bezos spent $250 million on the Washington Post, but the Post was much smaller and less successful than CatCo is supposed to be. 

We went from Lena encouraging Kara to stay at CatCo because she knows nothing about running a newspaper to her throwing elbows at James and telling Kara her behavior was unacceptable. Which, in fairness, it was. I really think that Kara should take Lena out for lunch and reveal that she is Supergirl. 

[BooBear]

45 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

People have already covered the Supergirl not using her abilities to take down , and a little J'onn's ongoing inability to help. The most powerful person on the planet gets taken down all too easily every single time. But this is a situation where a large amount of DEO regulars could have taken her out with tranq guns.

I know. But I have to accept this show has to dumb everyone down a little to have a plot at all. All Supergirl needed to do was sneak up behind her and knock her out... umm... super speed? Just saying. 

Enjoy that they brought Lena over to Cat Co. Good use of her. I enjoyed that Lena finally acted less like giddy school girl and more like a real adult where Kara was concerned. I think her speech probably did the most to snap Kara out of her funk. James is SOOOO much improved as the editor of Cat co. Writers get rid of guardian.  But it is also just another massive anvil that Kara doesn't do reporting well and shouldn't be doing it at all. I did think it was funny that Ruby wondered if Supergirl worked. Odd that no reporter ever thinks of these things. 

Kara and Wynn need to have more scenes together. They were friends first. 

The casting of Psi was a little problematic. They do look a lot alike.  The poor actress had very little to do. 

I don't know what to make of the new character and her child. I am sure they are setting something up but not sure I care.  I think I might just like the character alone without integration into the super plot. 

[JapMo]

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Decent "meta of the week", although since I never saw Jane the Virgin, I really am not that invested in the Psy actress, who I thought was fine, but not all that special (basically a bargain Scarlet Johansson to me.)  Melissa Benoist was great though.  But of course, it all ends with Mon-El.  Mon-El is love.  Mon-El is life. Can't wait for the big crossover, where Oliver, Barry, and the Legends spend twenty minutes all "Where's Mon-El?!  Why isn't he here?!  We have to find him!!!  We can't go on without Mon-El!!!"

In two full episodes the guy was on less than a minute and said exactly two words.  I don't understand how anyone would be upset about that.

Speaking of words, I've got three.......ditch the kid.

It looks like Winn has been reduced to a snarky smartass. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 hours ago, JapMo said:

Speaking of words, I've got three.......ditch the kid.

This. Annoying little twit. I need to rewatch as I was busy doing other stuff while the show was on, but will say Melissa did really good work and I absolutely loved the scene where she broke and thought she'd killed Mon-El, and Alex brought her back from that.

An annoying thing, and I don't know if it was a direction choice or Melissa's, but when Lena was talking to her, and Kara kept lowering her head, messing with her glasses, and it was OBVIOUS she was lying, was it to show what a bad liar Kara is? I just wanted to reach into my teevee and just shake her.

With Samantha, I'm getting some very strong Davis Bloome vibes. He started out as a good person--a paramedic, and shortly into his arc, we learned who he was. Well, I was spoiled and knew who he would eventually become. My fellow Smallville* watchers know of whom I speak.

I did laugh at the diddy J'onn did before saying a DJ was the way to go. Especially the "get jiggy with it!" And now that song is in my head.

* @BkWurm1!

Edited October 17, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[tofutan]

Didn't they more go with the tragic love stuff with Davis to some extent? I think that did a decent job of tying him to the canvas, even though he wasn't really my fave. 

On one hand I like that Sam's arc will likely be more about her daughter with how heavily they are featuring her, but I'm not convinced that her just being a nice person and a pal to Kara really gives us enough reason to be invested in her. IMO she needs a better "hook" to tie her into the show. That's why I would have preferred if she had been introduced as a CatCo employee, that would have been a natural way for her to interact with Kara and James and they could have introduced her as FINALLY the first person who is actually a good reporter and who does a good job caring about the truth. That would have made her instantly useful too as a character, she could have mentored Kara in actual reporter stuff (rather than Cat's general media and life lesson stuff) and she could have been the first one Kara can truly bond with over her writing. 

[JapMo]

18 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

An annoying thing, and I don't know if it was a direction choice or Melissa's, but when Lena was talking to her, and Kara kept lowering her head, messing with her glasses, and it was OBVIOUS she was lying, was it to show what a bad liar Kara is? I just wanted to reach into my teevee and just shake her.

I liked that part only because I really liked what they did with her hair.  Kind of a French twist but more height at the top.  Other than that, it was distracting how much she kept moving around in her chair and touching her glasses.   

 

16 minutes ago, tofutan said:

On one hand I like that Sam's arc will likely be more about her daughter with how heavily they are featuring her, but I'm not convinced that her just being a nice person and a pal to Kara really gives us enough reason to be invested in her. IMO she needs a better "hook" to tie her into the show.

They are telegraphing pretty heavily that Alex and Ruby are going to be involved in some way, and I'm not really happy about that, but it is early.  However, early or not, after two episodes there should be something interesting about Sam/Reign, and I don't see it.  They should have, and I was sure they were going to, have Sam bend that crowbar at the end of the show, because she kind of made sure Ruby wasn't nearby when she did it, which said to me she is aware she has some powers.   But they didn't do that, which I consider a missed opportunity.

[HunterHunted]

10 hours ago, johnar said:

Is Ruby 1/2 Kryptonian?

I suspect she might not even be flesh and bone. She might be an android who is programmed to represent a person who is important to Reign and trigger the Reign transformation and destruction.

[DeathQuaker]

Regarding the elevator shaft, I'm just fanoning that Lena (quietly) knows Kara is Supergirl and (quietly) had the elevator shaft and roof fixed with her magical amounts of money and genius to protect Kara's secret.

I too am irked by the references to Mon-El, who made me tune out most of last season, BUT... I liked the way her trauma from leaving Krypton tied into her fears for Mon-El... it wasn't simply that she lost him, but her fear was that she effectively put him through the same terrible experience she herself lived. That's a very character appropriate fear for her to have, tying into her life experiences and general compassion as well as particular relationship with that character. I also loved that Alex was the one to snap her out of it, and my personal takeaway was ultimately how important the sisters are to each other.

(Since we have a Jane the Virgin actress on this episode [and Yael Grobglas is a great actress, though I felt Supergirl didn't give her much to do except stare malevolently], I also feel free to segue into a comment I read on Twitter: there's a theory that that Jane, in introducing its new male love interest by having two narrators fight over his importance to the story in relation to the female lead, was in fact mocking Supergirl for having way too much focus on Mon-El.)

They are broadcasting the inevitable demise of Sanvers a little too anviliciously. But naivete aside, Alex continues to be MVP in most scenes she's in. LOVED her cowing Wynn into telling her everything by simply glaring at him. (Speaking of malevolent staring.)

I thought the child was foolish, but I don't mind the actress; writing/direction seemed to let that aspect of the story down a bit. I am interested in Sam's development, and am glad to see in a TV universe that tends to rush things, they might be doing a somewhat slow burn with her character development and development of powers, so she will be less of a cookie cutter antagonist (I think she's going to become an antagonist, but I could be wrong).

Really miss the superhero show recaps on this site. It was a lot of why I came here. There are far fewer recaps these days, and more podcasts, and I don't listen to podcasts (I have a mild auditory processing disorder that makes that not the best form of entertainment for me to seek out). I'm presuming they either lost the writers, or can't afford to pay them. A shame.

Edited October 17, 2017 by DeathQuaker
fixed a formatting issue

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, tofutan said:

Didn't they more go with the tragic love stuff with Davis to some extent? I think that did a decent job of tying him to the canvas, even though he wasn't really my fave. 

Not until halfway through the season, and then he was all demon stalker on Chloe and he kept her with him to contain the beast. Chloe did it to protect Clark. It was an absolute CLUSTERFUCK.

[tofutan]

Quote

Regarding the elevator shaft, I'm just fanoning that Lena (quietly) knows Kara is Supergirl

This has been denied over and over and over again by Katie McGrath in interviews. As far as Katie is concerned, yes Lena really is that blind. 

Edited October 17, 2017 by tofutan

[KirkB]

3 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Not until halfway through the season, and then he was all demon stalker on Chloe and he kept her with him to contain the beast. Chloe did it to protect Clark. It was an absolute CLUSTERFUCK.

Oh it was definitely a clusterfuck to be sure, especially since they spent most of the season showing us Davis was seemingly innocent and was trying to contain or destroy the beast, then once the beast was removed Davis himself turned out to still be a monster. Which went counter to everything that had come before and ultimately made his whole character arc pointless.

13 minutes ago, DeathQuaker said:

I too am irked by the references to Mon-El, who made me tune out most of last season, BUT... I liked the way her trauma from leaving Krypton tied into her fears for Mon-El... it wasn't simply that she lost him, but her fear was that she effectively put him through the same terrible experience she herself lived. That's a very character appropriate fear for her to have, tying into her life experiences and general compassion as well as particular relationship with that character. I also loved that Alex was the one to snap her out of it, and my personal takeaway was ultimately how important the sisters are to each other.

You mean the same terrible experience Mon-El himself had already been through? He, like Kara, was stuck in a pod for over a decade when Krypton was destroyed. If the show wanted Kara's fear to not be her own experiences but the fact she had 'killed' Mon-El, why wouldn't she be more focused on the fact she was the one who hit the button and filled the atmosphere with lead in the first place. She was the one who made it impossible for Mon-El to be with her, and she had no way of knowing if sending him off in the pod would even save his life since she couldn't be sure he hadn't been too exposed already. Alex made a point earlier in the episode of Kara having bouts of claustrophobia before, which makes since considering what she'd been through. That should have been enough for Psi to prey on, at least IMO.