S03.E04: The Faithful

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 minutes ago, JapMo said:

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. 

Well, one thing that wasn't clear is if the cult has absolutely dissolved in the face of Supergirl's being less than omnipotent, or if someone has stepped up to replace Chad Lowe, or what is going on.

Come to think of it, it seems weird that the soil sample had Kryptonite in it. Across most Superman/girl canon, Kryptonite was caused by the explosion of Krypton. So if the probe was launched prior to the explosion, as it  essentially had to be, the soil samples wouldn't have had the chance to turn to Kryptonite.

Anyway, I could see people reacting to a life-changing experience as the cultists did. 

I would imagine that the religion angle will factor into the second half of the season, as

Reign seems to have been created by a bunch of believers on Krypton.

[statsgirl]

I'm reminded of when Alex was first attracted to Maggie and Maggie told her that she didn't date lesbians who have just come out because it doesn't last.  Alex's over-the-top tears during the concert when we've never been shown that she is dying to have children suggests that Maggie was right.

13 hours ago, rtms77 said:

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.

I think they're trying to make us have sympathy for her before she goes all evil.  But the show's writing has never been subtle enough for that.

13 hours ago, CletusMusashi said:

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

A problem that all the Arrowverse shows have is that they've got 23 episodes to fill each season and one Big Bad isn't going to last that long.  Starting the build-up after the midseason finale seems to work (e.g. Malcolm Merlyn on Arrow s1); starting at the beginning of the season often fizzles out by the May finale (e.g. Ra's al Ghul, or Mon El for many of us).  Arrow is trying to solve the problem this year by having multiple Big Bads; we'll see how it works.

I agree that Reign needs to start moving but if it does, I doubt there will be enough to fill the season.

6 hours 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.

With a cast this large, not every character can be front and centre in every episode. J'onn had an episode that was about him and while he was a supporting character in the next episode, I think he's already had more to do in the first four episodes than he had all last season.  I know James is more relevant than he was last season, and Kara and Alex are finally getting some real sister.

I really liked the Girls Night in this episode.  The team socializing is something I enjoyed in the first season but they dropped it last season. I'm glad it's back.

The first few episodes need to set up what's going to happen in the next 19 and I think the show has been doing a good job of that.  Lena has her own foe in Morgan and new possibilities at Catco which is finally back.  J'onn has his pacifist father to deal with, Alex has broader horizons than just her relationship with Maggie, and James is finally in the position s2 should have put him in, genuinely running Catco and mentoring Kara.  And Kara is dealing with balancing her super powers with her human feelings and figuring out who she is. And then there is Samantha/Reign which ties in to this episode if @Chicago Redshirt is right.  All this is in contrast to season 2 where the only season-long plots were Kara/Mon El and Alex/Maggie.  It feels like they learned from last year's mistakes.

[JapMo]

12 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

and James is finally in the position s2 should have put him in, genuinely running Catco and mentoring Kara. 

Where are you seeing that James is genuinely running Catco?  I saw a glimmer in the first episode of this season, but nothing since.  He still wants to play superhero...most heads of major corporations are on 24/7, connected in some way to their company.  James would be a terrible mentor for Kara.  He couldn't be unbiased, as was evident when Snapper would tell her the truth about her journalistic talent and she'd run to James for sympathy. 

Is it good enough to see a character hanging around a lot and in and out of scenes very fast but essentially not being used, as Winn and to a little lesser extent James have been this season?  We're already through 4 episodes...shouldn't a crumb of storyline have been introduced for one of them already? 

[statsgirl]

James was sitting at an actual high-powered city meeting in the first episode this season.  That's already better than last season when Snapper consistently undermined him and James practically had to ask Snapper's permission to do anything.  It's ridiculous that Snapper fired Kara because she was blogging about a storythat he refused to let her write for the paper.  (At the end of the episode, Kara told Mon El that all she needs is him and her blog so I blame the Mon El arc for that.)

In terms of James mentoring Kara, I was thinking of the scene in this episode when he helped her to understand the motivations of the cult.  The show is called Supergirl, every other character is secondary to her.  (Or should be -- Mon El, I'm looking at you again.)

I'm not a fan of The Guardian but at least it gave James something to do in a season where he had nothing else.  As for the time, this is the Arrowverse.  Oliver Queen was first CEO of QC and later mayor of Star City by day and the Green Arrow by night; Ray Palmer was head of his huge company and still building The Atom suit and flying around fighting crime.

[JapMo]

On 11/1/2017 at 3:06 PM, statsgirl said:

(At the end of the episode, Kara told Mon El that all she needs is him and her blog so I blame the Mon El arc for that.)

Gasp....she loves someone and basically told him he's the most important thing in her life.  And her blog.  The horror!

[JapMo]

On 10/31/2017 at 7:15 PM, Court said:

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

Court, I think I'm going to hate that little brat as much as some people on this site hate Mon-El.  

[piperkat]

On 11/2/2017 at 3:31 PM, JapMo said:

Court, I think I'm going to hate that little brat as much as some people on this site hate Mon-El.  

It's like the new Trolley Problem: You are on a out-of-control spaceship, and you can either stay on course and mangle Mon-El, or throw a switch and run over Ruby. Which will you choose? :) 

[JapMo]

22 hours ago, piperkat said:

It's like the new Trolley Problem: You are on a out-of-control spaceship, and you can either stay on course and mangle Mon-El, or throw a switch and run over Ruby. Which will you choose? :) 

Keep Mon-El!!!  

Ruby can use her musical talent (eye roll) to pay for medical expenses.

[MarkHB]

On 11/1/2017 at 3:31 PM, JapMo said:

Where are you seeing that James is genuinely running Catco? 

I listen to a podcast that is convinced that he lives there, and has a bed hidden under the desk in Cat's office.

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 11/3/2017 at 4:47 PM, piperkat said:

It's like the new Trolley Problem: You are on a out-of-control spaceship, and you can either stay on course and mangle Mon-El, or throw a switch and run over Ruby. Which will you choose? :) 

Porque no los dos? :)

[legaleagle53]

8 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Porque no los dos? :)

¡Porque esa no es la pregunta! (Because that's not the question!) :-P

[quarks]

A few years back, on this very site, but over on the Arrow forum, the possibility - certainty - of having a "Hallelujah" montage was brought up, with for once, all posters responding in horrified unison: "NO!"

....naturally it shows up on Supergirl.

Speaking of irritations: Ruby. Kid, so far you have almost gotten yourself killed in order to try to prove that your mother is a superhero. Now, you're getting to hang out in her office while she works - something very few kids get to do. And when a crisis comes up, what do you do? Whine about your song. I'd probably be more accepting of this storyline if the kid was a bit younger, but 10 or so is about when many kids are trying to prove how grownup and independent they are.   Ruby's old enough to be going for this independence - we even saw it in an earlier episode - and she's been told how important this job is for her mother. It's only been about three weeks, kid. If she continues neglecting your songs for three months, let's talk - but given that she not only showed up to your concert but dragged her boss and a couple of friends along, you're not being all that neglected here.

I'd probably also be a bit more accepting of this storyline if, in this same episode, I hadn't just seen Samantha take off without any warning for a girl's night out with complete strangers, presumably leaving Ruby alone with a babysitter that evening. That went unremarked, but the working late at a job that is keeping the kid fed/clothed/etc. is causing this huge guilt trip?  So, working mother = bad; hanging out with friends mother = perfectly good?

To be clear, I don't have a problem with Samantha taking a night away from the kids to hang out with friends - I think that's necessary for her own mental health. I just wasn't thrilled with the way this was framed within this episode.

[xander874]

So the device Chad Lowe had - was that the Omegahedron like in the Supergirl movie? Not sure if that is part of comic canon or just a nod to the movie. It's a terrible film, but one I like a lot.

[tofutan]

I thought the badguy was kinda creepy and cool. I liked getting a bit of a throwback to the various "smaller" saves Kara has made. I liked learning more about Kryptonian religion. I really enjoyed James and Kara having a conversation about it, but I was really weirded out by James talking so borderline religiously about Kara and Clark when the rest of the episode was about how uncomfortable Kara was with the cult worshipping her. 

[MarkHB]

On 11/7/2017 at 10:06 AM, xander874 said:

So the device Chad Lowe had - was that the Omegahedron like in the Supergirl movie? Not sure if that is part of comic canon or just a nod to the movie. It's a terrible film, but one I like a lot.

I think they called it a Betahedron... definitely a nod to the film.

[jay741982]

On 11/2/2017 at 5:25 PM, JapMo said:

Gasp....she loves someone and basically told him he's the most important thing in her life.  And her blog.  The horror!

When she has people in her life who have been there longer than her Insta Tru WUV show eater boyfriend yeah that line was bad the show made it seem that all that was important was a guy she knew only a few months over her sister family and Friends 

Edited November 11, 2017 by jay741982

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 11/6/2017 at 11:36 AM, quarks said:

I'd probably also be a bit more accepting of this storyline if, in this same episode, I hadn't just seen Samantha take off without any warning for a girl's night out with complete strangers, presumably leaving Ruby alone with a babysitter that evening. That went unremarked, but the working late at a job that is keeping the kid fed/clothed/etc. is causing this huge guilt trip?  So, working mother = bad; hanging out with friends mother = perfectly good?

To be clear, I don't have a problem with Samantha taking a night away from the kids to hang out with friends - I think that's necessary for her own mental health. I just wasn't thrilled with the way this was framed within this episode.

I noticed that too.  I thought she'd say that after her recent "abandonment" of Ruby art the office, she wouldn't want to leave her at home for a night out.  Perhaps the get-together started after Ruby went to bed? (with a babysitter there, of course.)

Also, if they had a nanny, Sam could still drop Ruby off at school most mornings, and the nanny could pick her up, and then Ruby could video chat with Sam to briefly discuss her day, if Sam's not otherwise occupied.  No big deal.

Finally, why was the arsonist at the stadium with the rest of the cultists?  Shouldn't he have still been in jail?  I would have thought that his bail would have been fairly high, considering that he admitted he set the fire.  I wouldn't be surprised if some fire fighters were hurt-we saw them blown back by an explosion.

[AudienceofOne]

On 01/11/2017 at 3:54 PM, rtms77 said:

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.

I had this problem as soon as the character was introduced. Ruby's upset that Mummy has a job now and then we find out that her job is taking over from Lena. What unemployed single mother suddenly gets that position? So she's clearly been working in high-powered jobs until now. It's possible she took leave when Ruby's Dad left (died/portalled to his home planet/went into stasis/no clue but they're leaving it vague for a reason) and is getting back into the workforce again. That's fine. But taking over an entire company? Yeah, no.

Edited November 24, 2017 by AudienceofOne

[Trini]

On 11/24/2017 at 6:20 PM, AudienceofOne said:

... It's possible she took leave when Ruby's Dad left (died/portalled to his home planet/went into stasis/no clue but they're leaving it vague for a reason) ...

It is weird that they're being so vague about the father; but now I'm assuming he'll be the writers backup plan for when they need one later this season.