S03.E04: The Faithful

[The Crazed Spruce]

Quote

Kara investigates a new group that has a mysterious connection to Supergirl; Samantha feels like she's letting Ruby down; J'onn confesses an old secret.

[bettername2come]

That girl from Medium needs to be in more stuff. She’s really talented and made her crazy cult following character seem believable. Then again, I've always enjoyed her work, so I'm entirely biased. And James got to talk to Kara! I don't even like Jimmy that much, but it's ridiculous how they just dropped him for the most part after the first season.

Did they add a new effect to the kryptonite? I don’t remember Kara’s eyes glowing green before when exposed to it. 

Yay! They're done dragging out the Alex wants kids so will break up with Maggie storyline. Except that she still has to actually break up her so probably one more ep.

[GHScorpiosRule]

NOT “HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!”

 

And how old is Ruby again? 5? I wanted to reach into my teevee and shake her when she whined “nooooooooo” when Mommy had to actually work.???

Edited October 31, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[bmoore4026]

Oh, Ruby, honey, is that the best your voice can do?

[Oreo2234]

Alex wanting a kid in the somewhat distant future is alright but a kid on the show (which I think they are hinting at) is just going to limit her storyline possibilities and further erase the edgier side of her personality. 

I'm liking the Sam story so far, the last scene was creepy and I'm excited to see what else was in the pod. 

Chad Lowe was good. Better than your standard villain of the week. 

[tennisgurl]

Ruby really does come off as much younger than she actually is, doesn't she? She looks around 11 or 12, shouldn't she be fine with having time away from her mom? At least on Arrow, they're kind of writing the stupid new kid on the show as an actual moody pre teen now, and not a five year old anymore. What is up with Arrowverse shows adding "cute" kids this season? I swear to Ra, if they add a stupid cute kid to Legends of Tomorrow...

Anyway, I actually did think this was an interesting episode, and I thought the idea of a cult developing around Supergirl was a pretty solid idea. Its a nice bit of world building that the show often ignores, and I think it makes sense. While Kara might have a scientific explanation for why she can do things she can do, to many people, its a miracle, and miracles tend to inspire both fear and awe in people. We`ve seen the fear, it was interesting to see the awe, even in this unhealthy way. The head cult guy was also a pretty good actor, he was quite believable as a True Believer who was going off the deep end, only to be more or less pulled back. I liked that they went with this kind of "villain" instead of the usual "alien or robot or obvious political allegory shows up, cackles, and gets beat up by Kara" to shake things up. 

At least the Sam story is heating up. That last scene was legitimately rather creepy. 

I was also really amused by the fact that the crazy cult guy is the ONE PERSON in this city who apparently has 20/20 vision, and can obviously tell that Kara is Supergirl. I mean, I know its a standard part of the mythology, so I just accept that those glasses are basically a face shield, but this guy just pointing out that "duh of course your Supergirl" was hilarious. 

[wevel]

1 minute ago, tennisgurl said:

I was also really amused by the fact that the crazy cult guy is the ONE PERSON in this city who apparently has 20/20 vision, and can obviously tell that Kara is Supergirl. I mean, I know its a standard part of the mythology, so I just accept that those glasses are basically a face shield, but this guy just pointing out that "duh of course your Supergirl" was hilarious. 

Because he *looked into her eyes*.  Yeah, for a brief moment, at night, from a tiny plane window, during an extreme-stress event!!  But suuuuure, Mr. Montgomery ...

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 minute ago, tennisgurl said:

The head cult guy was also a pretty good actor, 

That was Chad Lowe, baby brother of Rob Lowe. And yeah, he is a good actor. Better than his brother.

[tennisgurl]

Just now, GHScorpiosRule said:

That was Chad Lowe, baby brother of Rob Lowe. And yeah, he is a good actor. Better than his brother.

Wow really? I had no clue, but, yeah, I totally see the resemblance now. He really is a good actor, I hope his character shows up again. 

[Miss Dee]

CHAD LOWE!!! *smacks head* I knew I recognized him!

Count me in as really liking the ideas in this one. I appreciate that they showed both the comfort faith can bring and the ways religion can be dreadfully perverted. Which means I think it was a good choice that Chad Lowe was misguided rather than malicious; it made for a different kind of villain. And I appreciate that Supergirl couldn't save the day under those circumstances; had it not been for the efforts of lowly humans, 15,000 people would have died, including Supergirl.

39 minutes ago, bmoore4026 said:

Oh, Ruby, honey, is that the best your voice can do?

Actually I appreciate that her voice was typical for a solo at a school concert, rather than her coming off like a young Charlotte Church or Jackie Evanco. I've heard hundreds of those kids; the verisimilitude was on point.

32 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I swear to Ra, if they add a stupid cute kid to Legends of Tomorrow...

Well, this week's episode might be particularly ill-timed for you. ? Although I would describe him as more naive than stupid....

Edited October 31, 2017 by Miss Dee

[mxc90]

Before Coville brought up Rao, should Kara have been immediately skeptical from the first meeting? If the a group came together  just to discuss their experience of being saved by her or give testimonial of Supergirl. She should be somewhat flattered. Am I missing something? 

How would Colville know where to find Krypton artifacts before the government could get their hands on them?

There was a good chance Sam would have lived her life not knowing her true identity and so called destiny to reign. Her people didn't do a good job in the planning stage. All that is happening to her now is a result from Kara's actions.

[Lantern7]

Interesting episode. DC did stuff about a cult forming around Superman when Action Comics went weekly. I think two years and change would be enough time for something like that to happen with Kara. And yeah, that's a weird problem to fight, especially when Koresh Lowe recognized her with the glasses on (hey, disbelief suspended over here). She could have sold the lie for a few more seconds. "You worship Rao? Like, the tomato sauce?"

At least the Samantha story is lurching forwards, and that Lena is an understanding boss. For now, anyway. I mean, she's more "good" than Lex was in Smallville, but I know something will happen to make her more grey.  And I feel bad for Samantha, looking into a mirror and turning into the dumbass "Dark Universe" lady mummy.

Also feeling bad for Alex. Maggie isn't the bad guy, but Alex's buttons are getting smacked, repeatedly. When she was in tears in the school, I was kinda expecting her to tell Kara that she was pregnant. I blame The Flash and last week's episode, because I know there is no legit way the writers could have done that with Alex.

On 10/28/2017 at 7:54 PM, The Crazed Spruce said:

Quote

 J'onn confesses an old secret.

????? Not @The Crazed Spruce, but the solicitation. I saw D'addy at the end, but that was about it.

[tennisgurl]

14 minutes ago, Miss Dee said:

Well, this week's episode might be particularly ill-timed for you. ? Although I would describe him as more naive than stupid....

I think that one should be fine, it doesn't really count if its a little kid version of a main character! Plus, little Ray is already adorable :) 

[Chicago Redshirt]

20 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

How would Colville know where to find Krypton artifacts before the government could get their hands on them?

Yeah, I really can't fanwank or suspend disbelief that a down-and-out attorney somehow turned Indiana Jones managed to find a Kryptonian artifact that the DEO, Superman, Luthor and various of his enemies failed to find. 

[VCRTracking]

In the cold open I was expecting Chad Lowe to be drunkenly complain to the guy sitting next to him "She didn't even thank me when she won the Oscar for Boys Don't Cry!"

I can't go on the Supergirl tag in Tumblr anymore. They don't even talk about what the plot of the latest episode is. It's dominated by Lena and Supercorp posts.

Edited October 31, 2017 by VCRTracking

[ottoDbusdriver]

Way too much Ruby screentime in this episode.  And when she wasn't on-screen, people were talking about Ruby.  Ugh !!
Ruby is quickly turning into Poochie from the Simpsons.

Still no follow-up on Sam's powers yet.  And they really are playing Ruby as much younger than she appears, why exactly ?

Hate to say it, but I was kind of bored by this episode.

Were we supposed to recognize the person that Sam saw at the end ?

[rtms77]

Disturbing ep and surprised I haven’t heard of this sort of thing in the Superman comics, unless they are like Injustice etc. Chad Lowe is always entertaining and like his brother doesn’t seem to age, lol.

One little rant, stop making Katie McGrath/ Lena look so old with the hair buns and the old maid dresses etc. She looked so gorgeous at the girls get together with her hair down and the jacket. I m so glad that she is such friends with Kara and we are seeing Kara spend time with said friends after last season. And for once we didn’t get a mon el reference, woo hoo! 

I really have no sympathy for Alex and her self inflicted angst. This whole relationship and such has been so rushed and pushed on the audience, with Alex holding the producers sign in big letters proclaiming how smart and genius they are for doing the story. There is nothing holding this up and since the show didn’t lock down the other actress we are rushed into a break up that is cliche. Not to mention we might get saddled with a bratty kid next season who going to be the moodiest teen in the world. How is Alex going to be any different to Ruby than Sam is now being busy as she is.

Edited October 31, 2017 by rtms77

[Trini]

So this was Supergirl's take on religion? The ending with Sam/Reign saved this one for me. That arc is finally getting interesting.

So does Carl Lumbly get a credit if all his lines get cut?

3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

NOT “HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!”

So. Overused.

[TV Anonymous]

Hockey game in the arena, Leonard Cohen's song: the Canadianese is strong in this episode.

Does Ruby practice soccer on a workday morning? And CFO or not, who brings their children to the office the whole day? Does Ruby not go to school during the day? And really, asking her mother to practice song when she was obviously working? I really do not want children in my super hero shows - unless the children are super heroes / villains themselves, à la Gotham - not in Arrow, not here.

[thuganomics85]

Anytime Ruby appears on the screen, it just makes me take Maggie's side on the whole child issue.  Of course, in the show's universe, she is here to be both precious and precocious that she has Samantha wailing about how horrible of a mother she is (at least it lead to Lena's "Girlfriend, you haven't met bad mothers until you've met Miss Lillian Luthor!"), and Alex is finally been broken and admits out loud that she actually does want kids and this is likely an obstacle she and Maggie won't be able to overcome.  Chyler Leigh is selling it, but I am not looking forward to all the angst when they finally break-up.

Anyway, the "villain of the week" was actually pretty good.  I like the idea of people actually worshiping Supergirl as a god and how that can cause major issues like deliberately causing destruction and mayhem in order to be saved by her and be "proven."  Chad Lowe did a pretty great job at making his character not totally evil, but someone who let himself get corrupted by his religion.  Although when he was ranting about his ex at the beginning, I couldn't help but wonder if he was remember that time Hilary Swank infamously forgot to thank him at the Oscar.

So, Sam has a crazy-ass vision/hallucination where she is covered in tattoos and some creepy lady in a hood (played by Anjali Jay, who I know from shows like Continuum and iZombie) is scaring the shit out of her.  Yikes!

At least James got to make a big speech about the first time Superman saved him.  It must have felt weird for Mehcad Brooks when he saw he actually had this much dialogue for an episode!  On the other end, Carl Lumbly got paid to just pretend to pray!

Aww, why do you have to be a tease, show and have Morgan Edge doing shady stuff off-screen?!  I want Adrian Pasdar to deliver his high quality smart in person!  At least it looks like he'll be back next week.

[MadyGirl1987]

I thought this was a good episode. Especially the cult part. It makes sense that with all the aliens/ meta humans running around in the Flarrowverse, you would see it impacting how and what people believed. It’s always interesting to see the impact superheroes have on the lives of the average joe.

I really felt bad for Alex, and am glad she is not going to just give in and go along to get along when having a child is important to her. I do kinda wish Kara would have called her out on wanting kids and that she was giving up something she wanted because there was a look she gave when Alex and Maggie were talking about not having kids that made it seem like she knew something wasn’t kosher there.

[mxc90]

These writers are making James look foolish. He asks Winn if he wants to fight crime tonight and Winn quickly rejects the proposal due to no chatter on the police dispatch all day (as if crime can't happen at night). His next choice of activity is to go bowling and Winn accepts (sealed with a high five). Where did that commitment go to watch over the city and why is he dependent on Winn ?

Then he tells Kara this embarrassing story how Superman saved him from falling to his death after he tried to get the perfect picture of a fire from a tanker!

[AD35]

42 minutes ago, mxc90 said:

These writers are making James look foolish. He asks Winn if he wants to fight crime tonight and Winn quickly rejects the proposal due to no chatter on the police dispatch all day (as if crime can't happen at night). His next choice of activity is to go bowling and Winn accepts (sealed with a high five)

I don't blame Winn for taking a night off from fighting crime, less likely to get hurt or worse from bowling.  With the main story, it could only be told on this show (well maybe Legends in an alternate timeline).  No one is going to look up to Oliver/Diggle/Green Arrow to worship anytime soon.  And the Flash doesn't exactly inspired awe with his speed-based powers either.  On the other hand, who wouldn't with the power set Kara (and Kal-El) has.  It drove Lex Luthor to do some pretty serious stuff that got him prison time and this ep has someone going in the opposite direction.  Certainly and interesting idea to explore even if the execution left alot to be desired. Just where and how did Chad Lowe's cult leader get that Kryptonian artifact? From a yard sale?

Edited October 31, 2017 by AD35

[Chicago Redshirt]

8 minutes ago, rtms77 said:

Disturbing ep and surprised I haven’t heard of this sort of thing in the Superman comics, unless they are like Injustice etc.

Well, in some permeutation of the Supergirl comics, there was a non-Kara Supergirl who was an angel.

There was also an undercurrent in the latest Superman movie where people saw him as either a savior or a false prophet.

But this is the first time I've seen it be a focus, so that was interesting. 

24 minutes ago, AD35 said:

I don't blame Winn for taking a night off from fighting crime, less likely to get hurt or worse from bowling.  With the main story, it could only be told on this show (well maybe Legends in an alternate timeline).  No one is going to look up to Oliver/Diggle/Green Arrow to worship anytime soon.  And the Flash doesn't exactly inspired awe with his speed-based powers either.

Last season, there was the whole Cult of Savitar thing. Also, there is some correspondence between Flash and Mercury/Hermes. 

[Bats27]

Alex's super-love of children feels like it came out of nowhere this season.  I mean here was a woman who didn't even seem all that interested in dating until Maggie came along.  And now we're meant to buy that this is so important to her, that she and Maggie, who overcome multiple challenges last year in their relationship, cannot stay together if Maggie doesn't want kids?  Really?

 

It feels like a really blatant writing contrivance to break them up honestly.

[GHScorpiosRule]

7 hours ago, Trini said:

So. Overused.

And isn't it supposed to be about sex and not...faith?

[GHScorpiosRule]

13 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Wow really? I had no clue, but, yeah, I totally see the resemblance now. He really is a good actor, I hope his character shows up again. 

Yeah. I've loved him ever since he played a character who had AIDS on Life Goes On. And then he had a very short-lived sitcom, Spencer, I think? Before they recast him with a fugly, nerdy dude who was a loser, instead of a hot young teen. And he played a creepy, creepy rapist who had a creepy and incestuous relationship with his Mommy on an episode of L&O: SVU, where Original!Lois of the Big Screen Margot Kidder, played his creepy mama who had molested and raped him as a kid. I find him hotter than his brother, Rob, who is just too...pretty for my tastes.

Um, topic?

Okay, I'm not sure when Alex got her baby rabies* from, but that last scene, when she breaks down and tells Kara that she wants to be a Mommy, broke my heart. Chyler was so, so good.

I, too, would like to know how Coville got his hands on that Kryptonian beta thingamajig and access to Rao.

GAH. Am I to suffer seeing Durance's frozen face in practically every episode? 

I know it's a comic book world universe, but I was seriously side-eyeing Kara inviting a virtual stranger to a "Girls Night Out." Meaning Sam.

I think Kara released that Grim Reaper person who showed up at the end, when she dumped that beta thingie down below.

*term I stole got from the soap forums!

Edited October 31, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[cambridgeguy]

3 hours ago, mxc90 said:

Then he tells Kara this embarrassing story how Superman saved him from falling to his death after he tried to get the perfect picture of a fire from a tanker!

That might have been an intentional nod to Superman III. 

2 hours ago, Bats27 said:

It feels like a really blatant writing contrivance to break them up honestly.

That's what happens when you build them up at lightning speed and one half of the couple consequently leaves the show.  This is one of the few solutions where neither comes out of it looking like a bad person.  The other would be to kill Maggie but that would cause all sorts of real world backlash.

Someone needs to tell J'onn he's being wasted as mission control.  It's ironic since this is what happened to his animated counterpart on JLU but at least that became a plot point.

[VCRTracking]

14 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Ruby really does come off as much younger than she actually is, doesn't she? She looks around 11 or 12, shouldn't she be fine with having time away from her mom? At least on Arrow, they're kind of writing the stupid new kid on the show as an actual moody pre teen now, and not a five year old anymore. What is up with Arrowverse shows adding "cute" kids this season? I swear to Ra, if they add a stupid cute kid to Legends of Tomorrow...

It reminded me of Buffy when Dawn first showed up and was meant to be 12 but the actress they cast was 14, so she comes off as immature for her age.

[Iceman91]

Ruby is annoying wanting to be stuck with her mother all the time, doesn't she have friends or something?

Supergirl talking about kryptonian religion is something interesting that I'm not used to seeing in the superman universe, I like learning more about Krypton. Also interesting that after all these tears on our planet Kara continue to be so attached t her old beliefs and believe in Rao.

A cult for Supergirl was a good idea but I thought that the ending was weak and they could have passed more time on the cult itself and Kara interacting with Coville's followers. 

I agree that Alex's desire for kids is sudden but I can buy that an overprotective sister like Alex would want to relive what happened with Kara with her own kid. Chyler is giving everything to make it work and the writers don't have much of a choice anyway since they have to end the relationship between Maggie and Alex it's not the worst way to do it.

Sam's story finally take a step forward at the end and they want us to think that it's related to the underwater ship with the timing but I think the ship belong to 

Spoiler

the legion and it was Mon-El waking up

Once again they forgot that Jonn had powers, why would he send Alex on her bike when it's an emergency and he can fly faster?

[iMonrey]

The thing that bugged me was Supergirl telling Maggie "You have to go arrest this guy, he's encouraging people to put their own lives in danger" and Maggie is all "blah blah blah free speech." What I wanted Maggie to say - which should have been obvious - was "Uh, Supergirl? This cult worships you. You go talk to him." And then she does go talk to him, but as Kara, the reporter from Katco, instead of as Supergirl. I mean, WTF? If they worship you, and you want them to stop doing something, just go tell them so. Jeez. It's not rocket science.

[Miss Dee]

To me, Alex's desire for kids came up naturally. I wouldn't want her to go around constantly discussing her need to reproduce; who does that in real life? Only when she found herself in a relationship she saw as long term did it come up, which makes sense. Yes, they should have discussed it before the engagement, but Alex wouldn't have been the first person in a serious relationship to assume they were on the same page in that regard.

And while being a mother might not have been foremost in her mind all her life, having the option taken off the table for her probably brought into sharp focus how much she wanted the option to remain.

Chyler Leigh played it to the hilt.

Edited October 31, 2017 by Miss Dee

[statsgirl]

But Kara did talk to him, he recognized her as Supergirl, and he still didn't stop.

Sam, hire a damn housekeeper.  Lena is wrong, you're a lousy mother if you make your kid do her homework in your office and fall asleep on your couch. You're a Catco CFO, you've got the salary for it.

Alex, if you're willing to give up the person you love because being an aunt or a Big Sister isn't enough for you, you don't love her enough.

I loved how the cult leader still believed even after the stadium debacle.

If they had to go with a Leonard Cohen song, I wish they had picked Anthem.  "Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering, There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in."

That said, I'm really loving Mon El being gone so that there is room for other characters to have a role on the show.  Last week it was J'onn, this week Kara/Alex bonding and James and Winn actually got something to do.

[FortKnox]

Ok, it can't be just me but, did Erica Durance do something to her face? It looks botoxed to hell and back.

[UNOSEZ]

Holy Smit... James and Kara had a talk.. Amazing.. Still not the talk I wanted them to have since last season.. But I guess that's just not in the cards right now... Maybe when james' love interest pops up.. I love Sam... It's so sad that 1. Her kid is the worst.. 2.her baby daddy is MIA and 3. She's gonna become a villian... I know it's coming but I don't want it To... Nice way to Nerf jonn again... The show is expert at that... Can't wait for Maggie to be off the show.. With her fake Spanish self.. Let's get Alex a real life partner who's in for the long haul

[Court]

I like Sam but despise Ruby. I loved the episode except the parts that focused on Ruby. Ugh.

[sskrill]

3 hours ago, FortKnox said:

Ok, it can't be just me but, did Erica Durance do something to her face? It looks botoxed to hell and back.

You're not alone.  I used to watch that medical show she was on and I wasn't even sure that was her last night.

[scarynikki12]

3 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Sam, hire a damn housekeeper.  Lena is wrong, you're a lousy mother if you make your kid do her homework in your office and fall asleep on your couch. You're a Catco CFO, you've got the salary for it.

Houskeeper, nanny, or both.  I have co-workers and patients who have nannys.  None of these people are making the salary a CFO of a Luther company and they make it work just fine.  For important stuff like recitals, big games, etc., they're able to adjust the schedules and they're ready for emergencies, while the nanny is there for the day to day needs (doctor appointments, grocery shopping, supervising homework).  The kids are just fine.  I've met some of the nannys over the years and they are awesome, the kids adore them, and the parents freely talk about how their lives are better with them.  A former co-worker once described her daughter's shyness around strangers as follows: "you aren't my daddy, you aren't my mommy, and you aren't my Meagan (nanny) so I don't know if I can trust you".  This is just one more person for the family support team.

Hire a nanny Sam.  You have the resources and it doesn't make you a bad mother.  I know tv likes to perpetuate this myth but Ruby won't start thinking she has a replacement parent or that you no longer love her.  She'll have someone who can give her what she needs when you aren't there.  You have enough sense to accept a few relative strangers as surrogate aunts so why not hire someone who is trained and has experience in childcare?

[secnarf]

21 hours ago, mxc90 said:

Before Coville brought up Rao, should Kara have been immediately skeptical from the first meeting? If the a group came together  just to discuss their experience of being saved by her or give testimonial of Supergirl. She should be somewhat flattered. Am I missing something?

Kara only went to the meeting in the first place because the pamphlets they were using to advertise had Rao's symbol on them. She was suspicious/skeptical going in because of that - how would a bunch of humans know anything about Rao? And once she learned the truth, I can see how it is incredibly creepy for her.

8 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

It reminded me of Buffy when Dawn first showed up and was meant to be 12 but the actress they cast was 14, so she comes off as immature for her age.

She may have been intended to be 12, but she acted 8. Ugh.

[statsgirl]

15 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

Hire a nanny Sam.  You have the resources and it doesn't make you a bad mother.  I know tv likes to perpetuate this myth but Ruby won't start thinking she has a replacement parent or that you no longer love her.  She'll have someone who can give her what she needs when you aren't there.  You have enough sense to accept a few relative strangers as surrogate aunts so why not hire someone who is trained and has experience in childcare?

It seems to me to be a kind of reverse snobishness on TV. 

I grew up with a housekeeper because both my parents worked very long hours.  I had a nanny for my daughter when she was little who was much better at play and creativity than I was, and when I got home I didn't have to put my kid in front of the TV so I would have time to make dinner.   She also socialized my daughter because she had friends in the area who were also taking care of children and the group of children went to parties and music classes and played together.  After my daughter's nanny left to have children of her own, she remained a  friend we spent time with.  So yeah, Sam, put your mind at ease and hire someone.

[VCRTracking]

19 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

I grew up with a housekeeper because both my parents worked very long hours.  I had a nanny for my daughter when she was little who was much better at play and creativity than I was, and when I got home I didn't have to put my kid in front of the TV so I would have time to make dinner.   She also socialized my daughter because she had friends in the area who were also taking care of children and the group of children went to parties and music classes and played together.  After my daughter's nanny left to have children of her own, she remained a  friend we spent time with.  So yeah, Sam, put your mind at ease and hire someone.

And my mother worked and when had to do errands and she couldn't find a babysitter she had to drag me and my brothers around to places she had to go: the bank, women's clothes stores. We were bored and had to behave ourselves and she didn't want to keep looking out for us while she needed to be busy with grownup stuff. I would have much rather had a nanny taking us to park or wherever.

28 minutes ago, secnarf said:

She may have been intended to be 12, but she acted 8. Ugh.

Yeah she was ridiculously bratty.

[Cthulhudrew]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The thing that bugged me was Supergirl telling Maggie "You have to go arrest this guy, he's encouraging people to put their own lives in danger" and Maggie is all "blah blah blah free speech." What I wanted Maggie to say - which should have been obvious - was "Uh, Supergirl? This cult worships you. You go talk to him." 

What I'd have preferred is if Maggie hadn't been so callously (and uncharacteristically) dismissive of Supergirl's concerns about the cult. "Can't help, sorry. Leaving now." WTF?

[rtms77]

4 hours ago, statsgirl said:

It seems to me to be a kind of reverse snobishness on TV. 

I grew up with a housekeeper because both my parents worked very long hours.  I had a nanny for my daughter when she was little who was much better at play and creativity than I was, and when I got home I didn't have to put my kid in front of the TV so I would have time to make dinner.   She also socialized my daughter because she had friends in the area who were also taking care of children and the group of children went to parties and music classes and played together.  After my daughter's nanny left to have children of her own, she remained a  friend we spent time with.  So yeah, Sam, put your mind at ease and hire someone.

The problem is this show seems to be implying that somehow Sam is struggling financially even though we have seen that she apparently has had money for many years and now should be making a few hundred thousand a year. Yet they try to present her as a struggling single mom? It’s like they are confused about their story for her.

[CletusMusashi]

Obviously I'm not the target audience for Alex's maternal issues. My take on it was "Children are obnoxious and Maggie is hot as hell, do the math." But if it is gonna be a thing, I really struggle to believe that sitting through the musical recital of your sister's co-worker's completely untalented kid is going to be the final straw. Either let the whole thing just be a big philosophical difference that eventually hits critical mass on its own, or come up with a better "aren't children precious?" moment.

And the Reign storyline seriously needs a fast-forward button.

But besides all that, yeah, I enjoyed this week. Maybe this season will give us a good strong early streak before the inevitable return of Monorail.

Edited November 1, 2017 by CletusMusashi

[JoyGirl]

14 hours ago, Miss Dee said:

Chyler Leigh played it to the hilt.

I'd say she went past the hilt and a little over the top.  She was probably directed to be very emotional, but for the character Alex Danvers to completely break down like that in public...I didn't buy it.

[JoyGirl]

6 hours ago, CletusMusashi said:

But besides all that, yeah, I enjoyed this week. Maybe this season will give us a good strong early streak before the inevitable return of Monorail.

I'm looking forward to his return...anything but more Ruby.  Curiously though, I'm not seeing all the other characters getting much more to do since Mon-El is out of the picture.  And that's what so many were griping about all last year.  I know it was only episode 4, but we haven't really seen Kara at CatCo since episode 1.  Last episode to me is better off forgotten, as even though J'onn got a lot to do, he went back to being window dressing last night.  And his dad was on even less.  Winn and James were in and out of scenes a lot, and James had a big pointless scene about Superman saving him, but in the long run there has been no character development for either of them.  And it's disappointing to me that they even brought up the Guardian again.  Leave that dead puppy alone.  And after a great first episode for Lena, she's either MIA since then or propping up Sam and her daughter, which is so absurd for the head of a major corporation.  The only stories they seem to be focusing on right now are breaking up Maggie & Alex and the latter getting baby fever which is pointing directly at Ruby, and building up Reign, which should be further along than it is.  Lena watching her CFO (!!!) breaking down in tears about her wittle gurl being unhappy was soooooooooooo pathetically bad.  And then showing up at her recital?  OMG...what have they reduced her to?  No...sorry....now I'm convinced it wasn't more Mon-El that caused everyone else to move to the background.  He's out of the picture, and they are STILL in the background.

[Chicago Redshirt]

46 minutes ago, JoyGirl said:

I'm looking forward to his return...anything but more Ruby.  Curiously though, I'm not seeing all the other characters getting much more to do since Mon-El is out of the picture.  And that's what so many were griping about all last year.  I know it was only episode 4, but we haven't really seen Kara at CatCo since episode 1.  Last episode to me is better off forgotten, as even though J'onn got a lot to do, he went back to being window dressing last night.  And his dad was on even less.  Winn and James were in and out of scenes a lot, and James had a big pointless scene about Superman saving him, but in the long run there has been no character development for either of them.  And it's disappointing to me that they even brought up the Guardian again.  Leave that dead puppy alone.  And after a great first episode for Lena, she's either MIA since then or propping up Sam and her daughter, which is so absurd for the head of a major corporation.  The only stories they seem to be focusing on right now are breaking up Maggie & Alex and the latter getting baby fever which is pointing directly at Ruby, and building up Reign, which should be further along than it is.  Lena watching her CFO (!!!) breaking down in tears about her wittle gurl being unhappy was soooooooooooo pathetically bad.  And then showing up at her recital?  OMG...what have they reduced her to?  No...sorry....now I'm convinced it wasn't more Mon-El that caused everyone else to move to the background.  He's out of the picture, and they are STILL in the background.

Jimmy has had noticeably more screen time in most episodes this season on average than he did last season. 

But not to rehash old arguments, the main problem with Mon-El was that he even pushed Kara to the background. Kara was less about her own journey of self-discovery and more about a) her relationship to Mon-El and b) her trying to make him into a hero.

15 hours ago, statsgirl said:

But Kara did talk to him, he recognized her as Supergirl, and he still didn't stop.

Kara's lack of success in convincing the cult leader he should stop culting doesn't mean that it wasn't the right play (or at least a better play than trying to get the cops to do something).

I should say if she was going to come at it as Kara Danvers, mild-mannered reporter, she probably should have asked questions from Journalism 101 like how did this cult get started, how did Cult Leader find these Kryptonian artifacts, what are they planning to do, etc. And she could have always appeared as Supergirl to the whole congregation and been like, "I'm no god. Don't worship me."

[CletusMusashi]

2 hours ago, JoyGirl said:

I'd say she went past the hilt and a little over the top.  She was probably directed to be very emotional, but for the character Alex Danvers to completely break down like that in public...I didn't buy it.

If I had to sit through that whole recital, I would have cried too.

[Lady Calypso]

I am having an issue with Alex/Maggie's children issue, but I also see how it works. Alex wasn't thinking of having kids until she was faced with the dilemma that she might not get to have any with Maggie. Just like Maggie's entitled to not want kids, Alex is entitled to want kids. It would be like asking Maggie to give in to Alex wanting kids and to be a mom when she has no desire to. It's actually a realistic issue that isn't dealt with enough. Sometimes, people just don't want kids and that's ok. Plus, I think it was the best way to introduce their break-up, which I assume is happening soon, as they presented Maggie/Alex as being in love. So how do you break them up while making it realistic? I wish they didn't have to break them up, but I also have the notion that Alex shouldn't just marry the first woman she falls in love with. So, in that sense, it's a fine plot to do and they're doing it well. Chyler Leigh killed her last scene.

I just hope that it's not going to turn Alex into a kid-obsessed character for the rest of the series, where we'll see her suddenly start babysitting kids. She can still want kids but they don't have to force kids left and right into the cases. 

I did love girls night. I missed that part of the show, and having all the females come together was awesome. That's what they missed doing last season, so I'm super glad they brought it back. 

I liked the cult storyline a lot. I thought Chad Lowe did an excellent job portraying a crazy cult leader who was bad, but not a typical villain. He was more corrupted by his beliefs and that got people into trouble. He still ended up doing the right thing, but he still isn't a good guy. I also like that Winn and James got to have actual scenes that aren't standing in the background. Winn, in particular, got more scenes this episode than he has for the first three. I also loved James' talk to Kara. I think she needed a more neutral look on belief and faith. Plus, James/Kara scenes make me happy. They didn't work as well in season 1 because of the romantic subtext, and season 2 had....maybe two scenes? But this season, it's working well and I'm glad they're using James. Now, show, can you have a little more Winn? It's great that he got to go out with Kara and James to the cult meeting, but all he does now is play his part in cases. Is he still with his alien girlfriend? 

Ruby's a pretty annoying character. Oh, so your mom has a new job and works late. Like, you're ten or eleven years old. At least your mom isn't leaving you with nannies. I'm just annoyed with her whining. I get she's a kid, but if she hasn't learned that her mom can't always be there for her, then I don't know what to say. I thought Sam was trying to balance both her personal life and professional life, but eventually, she will have to choose. Maybe she should be hiring a nanny, but I get why she won't right now. She still thinks she can be SuperMom. 

But, with that last scene, I think that dream is going to be shattered.

[JapMo]

I thought this was a very strange episode.  The whole cult thing didn't actually have a lot of substance to it.  Were they bad, misguided, or just kooks?  To me it seemed like they were doing one of two things:  Talking about religion or something and trying to make a point, but I just don't know what it was (which is a good argument to stop bringing in politics or trying to send a message).  Or, #2 - This is going to factor in later in the season, and they were setting the foundation for it.  I say that because this seemed like a pretty flimsy story.  Best part, though, was when Chad Lowe nailed Kara as Supergirl.

Oh I've got such a bad feeling about Alex wanting to be a mother.  Bad in that the show is not going to write this well, and the Alex we know and love will become a shell that we barely recognize.