S04.E10: Suspicious Minds

[Trini]

Quote

Colonel Haley (April Parker Jones) is upset after Supergirl responds to a distress call from a Navy ship that turned out to be a deadly alien attack. Colonel Haley reclaims the site as DEO territory and demands that Supergirl step aside. After Supergirl refuses to be told what to do, Haley refocuses her energy on finding out Supergirl's true identity and begins to interrogate all DEO agents, including Alex. Meanwhile, Brainiac-5 tries to persuade Nia to embrace her superpowers but she misinterprets his motives.

Rachel Talalay directed the episode written by Maria Maggenti & Gabriel Llanas

Airdate: 1/20/19.

[RandomWatcher]

This was Supergirl's One More Day

[bettername2come]

Only 5 agents know Kara's identity? Have we seen any of those people before? They couldn't have at least brought back Agent Vasquez for this one? So Alex just had a phone conversation with Kara and that that's not what got her caught? She just coincidentally gets caught at the same moment because one of the agents caved? Colonel Haley got what she deserved threatening a superhero in front of her overprotective big sister immediately after hero saves her. How stupid can you be?

Melissa and Chyler did good work when Kara found out Alex would have to forget she's Supergirl. They have great chemistry. It's going to be so sad to see her forget. So much of their story is her protecting her secret and their bonding over flight and crime fighting. I hate what that's going to be like for them, but I'm hoping it makes for good TV.

Brainy looking all sad as he held up two rolls of cash out to J'onn was adorable and perhaps the greatest work Jesse Rath has ever done.

[cambridgeguy]

Alex isn't going to realize Supergirl looks and sounds exactly like her sister?  Obviously it wouldn't work if they made Alex forget she had a sister period but this doesn't make sense.  The only explanation is that the mindwipe is also going to leave Alex with permanent brain damage.

The President and Haley are doing a fantastic job of really pissing off the most powerful superhero on Earth.  She also used to be and might still be the most popular (or second most popular) hero.  Brilliant strategy guys!

Edited January 21, 2019 by cambridgeguy

[Oreo2234]

I can't believe I actually predicted this plot twist. I was hoping I was wrong about it. This whole" Alex is mind wiped" plot better not last long. She now can't properly remember 90% of her scenes of the show and its ethically kinda of a terrible thing to do her even if she wants it.  Lena not knowing Kara is Supergirl is dumb enough but Alex not knowing now is rage inducing. At least Lena has never known and huge chunk of her memories and identity isn't linked to it.  Even with Alex's explicit memories of Kara as Supergirl erased she should still be able to figure out. 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Oreo2234

[Winston Wolfe]

18 minutes ago, Oreo2234 said:

She now can't properly remember 90% of her scenes of the show and its ethically kinda of a terrible thing to do her even if she wants it. 

Much as I liked this episode, it still had too much of an "Identity Crisis" (a DC comics mini-series) feel to it.  J'onn I feel should have struggled much more about mind-wiping Haley, plus he, Alex, Kara and especially Brainy should all be smart enough to see all the ways this might possibly go wrong.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Winston Wolfe

[tennisgurl]

Its really not a great idea for them to focus a whole story on Kara's secret identity, when Kara being Supergirl is so freaking obvious, that its basically been a running joke among fans since the very first episode. I mean, its like someone took the "Shes got glasses, and a ponytail!" joke from Not Another Teen Movie, and made a whole dramatic story about it! "Gee, who could Supergirl be? She obviously cant be the sister of the agent that is clearly hiding Supergirls identity who is ALSO a tall skinny blond haired blue eyes model who happens to have all the same friends and allys as Supergirl and looks exactly like her except with glasses and has only been seen together that one time! Thats just madness!" It would really be hilarious if, even after the mindwipe, Alex knows who she is instantly, because obviously she knows her own sister! Just having her contacts in and her hair down wont change how she looks!

The mindwipe is a pretty good source of drama though, and Melissa and Chyler did a great job at their last scene before Alex got her memories erased. Although, I do wonder how much memory they would have had to have changed. Does Alex now think that Kara was adopted through a normal adoption agency after her normal parents died in some normal way? Does she not even know Kara is adopted, and think they have the same biological parents? Hopefully they get past this soon.

They are going harder and harder on Haley and the government being evil, huh? They're all about five seconds away from twirling their mustaches as they tie alien puppies to railroad tracks or something. Maybe pissing off the person who has saved the Earth about a billion times who also has ridiculous levels of superpowers isnt the smartest idea? I bet Russian Supergirl doesent have to take this shit! Looking forward to the "yeah we treated you like garbage, tried to blackmail you, and threatened you and your loved ones out of pure racism...but could you bail us out of whatever new threat is coming at us?" phone call. Did Linda Carter president just pick a closet asshole as her VP to get the pro assholes on board her ticket? 

Kind of like finding a bunch of aliens, torturing them forever, and then trying to have them killed for no reason, wasn't the best idea ever. You mean these killing machines you tortured forever then betrayed at the first opportunity were pissed? Who would have guessed?! If you want someone to be loyal, maybe dont be awful to them all of the time? I did like that the scary aliens actually weren't monsters, but more victims, and the alien killing itself because it was so afraid of going to the DEO was pretty brutal as far as GCI deaths go. Its also another pretty big plot to dump on us, that really seems like it should be a bigger deal, and kind of just moved on from. 

Brainey had a lot of good comic relief stuff, and he and Nia were fun together. I mean, Nia is going to be a superhero eventually, but I can get why she would be a bit gun shy. And getting more of Braineys backstory was interesting, I wonder if she ever get to meet his supervillain family? 

Edited January 26, 2019 by tennisgurl

[Winston Wolfe]

28 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Its really not a great idea for them to focus a whole story on Kara's secret identity, when Kara being Supergirl is so freaking obvious, that its basically been a running joke among fans since the very first episode. I mean, its like someone took the "Shes got glass, and a ponytail!" joke from Not Another Teen Movie, and made a whole dramatic story about it! "Gee, who could Supergirl be? She obviously cant be the sister of the agent that is clearly hiding Supergirls identity who is ALSO a tall skinny blond haired blue eyes model who happens to have all the same friends and allys as Supergirl and looks exactly like her except with glasses and has only been seen together that one time! Thats just madness!" It would really be hilarious if, even after the mindwipe, Alex knows who she is instantly, because obviously she knows her own sister! Just having her contacts in and her hair down wont change how she looks!

I picked up a recent Supergirl comic - in that universe Kara does wear a brunette wig with a different hairstyle.  That could almost work for me - women can change their hair coloring and style and look like entirely different people sometimes.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Winston Wolfe

[Diapason Untuned]

14 minutes ago, Winston Wolfe said:

 J'onn I feel should have struggled much more about mind-wiping Haley, plus he, Alex, Kara and especially Brainy should all be smart enough to see all the ways this might possibly go wrong.

Considering how horrible Haley is, I can't say I blame him for not feeling any doubt. 

[Pepper the Cat]

I think Supergirl and Alex should have just pushed Haley into the same cell as the alien. Problem solved.

[ottoDbusdriver]

So, couldn't Supergirl just steal the truthseeker ??  How many of these things can they possibly have ?

As for the Moraes (I'm not sure how that is spelled), were they just invisible to visible light or all EM spectrums and that's why Kara could see a shimmer only in the x-ray spectrum. Because that seems kind of a random natural defense -- why would you need to cloak in the x-ray or gamma spectrums ?

Here's a thought -- they can't fly, so how about putting down crushed lightbulb glass everywhere (a la the first Mission Impossible movie). Or here's a thought, how about actual cables blocking the entrances, and covering the cables with superglue so when they tried to break through the cables the cables stuck to them.  There's lots of ways to detect invisible beings -- and they seemed to come up short in the idea dept.  Mist ?? The mist apparently do anything.

And were the Moraes also electricians, because when they cut the power they only cut the power to some circuits that included the laser grid leaving numerous displays working.

And why would hermetically sealing the DEO headquarters serve any purpose ?  These weren't gas monsters that were attacking them, so making the office air tight didn't really serve a purpose.

Edited January 21, 2019 by ottoDbusdriver

[Writing Wrongs]

16 minutes ago, Pepper the Cat said:

I think Supergirl and Alex should have just pushed Haley into the same cell as the alien. Problem solved.

They should've just let it kill her. What a bitch she is. 

I fast forward through a lot of this show. Do they not know about Brainy being an alien?

Edited January 21, 2019 by Writing Wrongs

[Lady Calypso]

4 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

So, couldn't Supergirl just steal the truthseeker ??

Additional question: why not temporarily mind-wipe Alex and company until the truthseeker stuff is done with, and then give them their memories back? I assume Haley isn't going to waste time in interrogating every single agent forever and that the interrogations will likely only last a week, at most. Once Haley interrogates everyone and finds out they don't know anything, why would she bother interrogating them again if this creature is that powerful and can't be tricked? I get the emotion behind the last ten minutes, and I know memory wiping is dangerous to begin with, but they never brought up this point so I assume we're supposed to assume it's going to be a long-term thing until Haley and the President give up their quest to find Supergirl's identity. I know Alex mentioned that even if she tricked the truthseeker that she'd still have to be careful but...again, back to the point about them using the truthseeker for months or years. I assume the truthseeker is a rare thing where they wouldn't waste their resources on Supergirl. 

Alex will likely have permanent effects of the mind-wipe anyway, since she has decades of memories to be altered or wiped completely. So I do get the point about the mind-wipe needing to be permanent. Alex's mind is going to be altered significantly so there has to be consequences to that. 

I don't really get why Haley doesn't suspect Alex knows Supergirl's identity, anyway. She knows Alex and Supergirl have been in constant contact so wouldn't she have her followed? 

I do like Brainy and maybe it's because there's been some time from the hiatus, but I've become disappointed again that he's just Winn's replacement. Meanwhile, we get stuck with the boring love story that is James/Lena. Though I've grown to like James, I've gotten increasingly annoyed with James/Lena as a couple. Does he know that she's been experimenting on people? Or did that not come across in her confession to him?  

[Winston Wolfe]

7 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

Alex will likely have permanent effects of the mind-wipe anyway, since she has decades of memories to be altered or wiped completely. So I do get the point about the mind-wipe needing to be permanent. Alex's mind is going to be altered significantly so there has to be consequences to that. 

That would be a nice twist to all the mind-wiping that goes on in the Super-hero universe.  Both J'onn (here) and Batman (in Identity Crisis) were correct in saying that the mind-wipes, particularly when done without the subject's knowledge or permission, are a violation of sorts.  I do find it interesting that despite Kara's usual high-moral-ground stance that she too seemed to have no objections whatsoever to Haley being mind-wiped.  Ultimately, they are going to have to find a more effective and lasting way of dealing with SG's secret ID.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Winston Wolfe

[Oreo2234]

I have to say that I agree with Haley lifting the ban on lethal weapons. A para-military organization having a no-kill policy is stupid and I'm annoyed with how they've made Alex's morality exactly as super idealistic as Kara's when she used to be more pragmatic. This is the same Alex who stabbed and shot Nazis in the face last year,killed Astra, beat a prisoner for information, detonated bombs all over that Cadmus base etc. I find it more interesting to have a protagonist who somewhat contrasts with Kara while still being basically good.

Quote

I do find it interesting that despite Kara's usual high-moral-ground stance that she too seemed to have no objections whatsoever to Haley being mind-wiped.

And still didn't take much convincing for her to let Alex go through with it despite the decades of memory erased/altered and possible permanent negative effects. The more I think about it the more Kara comes across as cowardly for letting her go through with it. And its pretty terrible of J'onn who has been previously unwilling to do far less violating things to far worse people because he opposed going into people's  minds. The show is probably going to gloss over the serious moral implications and/or Kara and J'onn's culpability for the consequences. 

Edited January 21, 2019 by Oreo2234

[Lantern7]

Me: I'm glad the Arrowverse is back! I've been getting by on The Gifted, and they do not give two shits about nuance.

[one hour later]

Me: WOW. Totally forgot about Supergirl. I mean . . . DAMN.

Oh, for the day where all Kara needed was a wig and robot doubles hiding in hollowed-out trees. The idea that Supergirl would be "among us" seems dumb. Dumber would be seeing Alex be close with Supergirl, seeing Alex with her adopted sister, and not putting two and two together. I know . . . .it's stupid because WE know, and that glasses and a change in vocal inflection wouldn't be as effective in real life . . . or so we tell ourselves. Haley just comes off as a dumbass in additional to being a bitch. I mean, I get people not liking and/or being scared of aliens to the point where Agent Liberty would look good, but the writers basically drop anvils from the top of the Empire State Building. And she had to interrogate people to get that information. And now, because J'onn poked her mind (hey, the story got written into a corner, and it's not like they was some sort of plotdevicism in storage), she's using what might be a Starro to spread even more paranoia.

Thinking about it, maybe Supergirl is the weak link of the Arrowverse. Or maybe I'm just mad Legends of Tomorrow isn't coming back right away.

Brainy is still growing on me. I mean, the hair is somewhat copied from Cisco, and I'm convinced his vocal patterns are partially based off Barack Obama (dragging out the first syllable of a sentence), but he's an oddly lovable doofus. Trying to "hire" J'onn, suggesting costume ideas for Nia, accidentally forgetting Kara and Supergirl were the same person . . . Jesse Rath was on fire.

During the first fight scene with the invisible aliens . . . when Red Shirt DEO Guy was on the hood of his own speeding car, was an alien basically driving it? Just a random observation.

Also feeling bad for J'onn. Knowing this show, he'll probably be asked to alter minds some more until he snaps and quits the main gang. Alex volunteering? Curveball. Nice plot twist, but I don't think the degree of difficulty is worth it. I'm also amused only six grunts knew the secret. I thought everyone knew except for recent hires and temps.

Oh, right, Other Supergirl is still around. Is this season 22 episodes long? I can see a dozen episodes being enough time to throw her in with Haley, Liberty and all the other crap . . . or we could be getting teased from 2019-20.

[Kromm]

What a cut-rate Amanda Waller wanna-be this Colonel Haley character is.

[ketose]

1 hour ago, Winston Wolfe said:

I picked up a recent Supergirl comic - in that universe Kara does wear a brunette wig with a different hairstyle.  That could almost work for me - women can change their hair coloring and style and look like entirely different people sometimes.

She had a Brunette wig in the Supergirl movie from the 80's.

 

56 minutes ago, Writing Wrongs said:

They should've just let it kill her. What a bitch she is. 

I fast forward through a lot of this show. Do they not know about Brainy being an alien?

This is giving me Flash flashbacks from last season. There is basically no downside and all upside to killing Haley, since the writers have made her so one-dimensionally evil. At least John (J'onn) should have wiped out most of her memories and skills so she could be removed from the DEO. It's so stupid to make someone so completely worthy of killing because you know the hero won't kill them. Of course, Supergirl can't really kill anyone, but they've done it on Arrow and Oliver used to kill people just for seeing him use his fighting skills.

The dumbness was strong in this episode. Plus, how much of Alex's brain is gone? Does she remember Kara's superpowers that are entirely identical to Supergirl's? She's known Kara since she was a teenager. Maybe she'll forget coming out, too. Then we can see that all over again. 

[Trini]

😭  Aww, man! they can't ruin one of the few good relationships on the show! And how would that even work? There would be huge chunks missing since Alex has known about Kara's powers since she was a teen. Too many things between Supergirl and Kara have been intertwined.

Great job by melissa and Chyler; I was tearing up with their scenes at the end. I have to believe that J'onn maybe could just suppress the memories, or they can be returned; because it's too much of a loss if it's permanent.

Agreed that J'onn deciding to mindwipe Haley should have taken longer or been more of a struggle.

Other things:

So how much does Nia know about Brainy, exactly? I skipped several episodes. I know she knows he's an alien, but does she know that's he from the future and works for the DEO? His connection to Supergirl? Because it would be odd for him to be discussing costumes and teaming up with Supergirl, right?

1 hour ago, Writing Wrongs said:

... Do they not know about Brainy being an alien?

 

I need this question answered, also. It seems like the DEO should know, but it's unclear.

So -- that's a HUGE "office" for J'onn's start-up. (I think it's the Alien Dive Bar set repurposed.) Last season he barely had any possessions in a tiny apartment because he didn't have a life outside of the DEO; but now he has an entire library? It's great that he has his own set, but why so big? In any case, looking forward to more J'onn J'onzz: PI stories.

Pleasantly surprised by the by the James/Lena subplot. Yay! They're back together! But Lena's superpowers plot isn't going to end well; I just know it.

Reminder of Russian(?) Supergirl! Not much new info with that.

Nice little reference to the crossover.

 

2 hours ago, RandomWatcher said:

This was Supergirl's One More Day

Tell me more!

Edited January 21, 2019 by Trini

[Trini]

Also, I was glad that there was confirmation that at least several DEO agents knew that Kara Danvers = Supergirl. It would have been dumb to pretend otherwise (even though the whole base should know).

[Oreo2234]

It's too bad Vasquez wasn't there. She seemed like the most likely person to know about Kara. 

[jay741982]

God Agent Haley is such a bitch! Cant stand her and the scenes with Kara and Alex at the end?:😭 Agent Haley deserved that punch from Alex and Alex should've just quit instead of getting very dangerous mind wipe 

[opus]

If I were Kara, I would have Alex write a note explaining the mind wipe and how she agreed to it,so when she inevitably finds out I’m Supergirl again, I can give it to her, and she won’t be super pissed at me for not telling her her whole life.

[Winston Wolfe]

9 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Brainy is still growing on me. I mean, the hair is somewhat copied from Cisco, and I'm convinced his vocal patterns are partially based off Barack Obama (dragging out the first syllable of a sentence), but he's an oddly lovable doofus.

The Barack Obama comparison is really insightful.  BO really does have a way of drawing out the first syllable of every sentence - plus adding an abrupt vocal inflection at the end as a form of punctuation.  I did find Jesse Rath's delivery a bit more stilted and clipped than in the past though.

10 hours ago, Oreo2234 said:

And still didn't take much convincing for her to let Alex go through with it despite the decades of memory erased/altered and possible permanent negative effects. The more I think about it the more Kara comes across as cowardly for letting her go through with it. And its pretty terrible of J'onn who has been previously unwilling to do far less violating things to far worse people because he opposed going into people's  minds. The show is probably going to gloss over the serious moral implications and/or Kara and J'onn's culpability for the consequences. 

Does anyone else remember the first mind-wipe J'onn did of a baddie (or morally ambiguous character) about two seasons ago?  IIRC correctly, J'onn accidentally erased more of the guy's memories than he had to.  I guess the implication is that he's become much more skilled at it, but it's still possible that mistakes could be made.

10 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I assume Haley isn't going to waste time in interrogating every single agent forever and that the interrogations will likely only last a week, at most. Once Haley interrogates everyone and finds out they don't know anything, why would she bother interrogating them again if this creature is that powerful and can't be tricked?

Thing is, it's been played like Kara's Secret ID is an open secret at the DEO.  I can't believe only five people there know about it.  Also, remember how when J'onn found out Kara and Mon-El were dating and he sent them to HR to complete paperwork?  That being the case, wouldn't Pam from HR know Kara's secret and wouldn't there also be corresponding documentation?  So many plot holes here.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Winston Wolfe

[mxc90]

Well at least they have acknowledged there are other DEO agents that knows Supergirl/Kara. The number seemed small, it should have been the entire building (except Haley). 

Why does J'onn have Alex's background check and confidential DEO files?

A little hypocritical for Supergirl to call Haley "self-righteous"!

After General Tan was pulled from the car, how did the car turn to the left and not drive straight? Cadillac must have developed some new technology.

What a surprise, the first person that professed loyalty is the first to break under pressure to Haley after a few minutes of questioning. Somewhere Joe Pesci is shaking is head!

Alex knocking out Haley was beautiful!

Couldn't J'onn return Alex's memory after her questioning?

Edited January 21, 2019 by mxc90

[mommalib]

I was hoping they wouldn't make Haley a clear cut villain, I thought she would be more grey area. Ii'm not a fan of her getting knocked out by Alex either nor am I a fan of Kara/Supergirl's hypocrisy. Here you have a black woman in a position of authority and she's getting smacked down figuratively and literally.  Only thing I liked was James and Lena conversation but I know they are probably gonna have some bumps in the road in the future, I hope they make it.

Edited January 21, 2019 by mommalib

[cambridgeguy]

12 hours ago, Oreo2234 said:

The more I think about it the more Kara comes across as cowardly for letting her go through with it. And its pretty terrible of J'onn who has been previously unwilling to do far less violating things to far worse people because he opposed going into people's  minds. The show is probably going to gloss over the serious moral implications and/or Kara and J'onn's culpability for the consequences. 

What's the alternative?  If she pulls a Tony Stark (or Oliver Queen, I guess) then she can never be a civilian again and all of her family/friends will have a giant bullseye on their backs.  She was stupid for being so cavalier with her secret identity in the first place but coming out now means she might as well buy a tombstone for Alex and Eliza.  I'd say Jeremiah too but the show has forgotten that he exists.

It's also clear that Haley's real reason for wanting to know her identity is not about the idea that nobody should be above the law.  Instead it's because she wants to control Supergirl and can't do so via the chain of command.

[shantown]

Usually Supergirl goes for a more inspiring story - I would have loved to see that everyone at the DEO except Haley knew who Supergirl was but they all rose up together to defy Haley's demands. J'onn could still mindwipe her (and be more conflicted about), and it's finally acknowledged that yes, Kara's identity is an open secret. This was just.... ugh. Is Alex going to know Kara has powers but not wonder about this Supergirl person who suddenly can do everything her sister can? It just all seems so ridiculous.

I also would rather have kept the alien bar as a place for J'onn to get information (like Willy's bar on Buffy!) rather than him having this huge ass office. Is he the only one that's going to hang out there? Is Nia going to work out of that as a base? Is Supergirl now? It would be such a waste for that whole place for just one character/storyline. 

[Trini]

1 hour ago, shantown said:

I also would rather have kept the alien bar as a place for J'onn to get information (like Willy's bar on Buffy!) rather than him having this huge ass office. Is he the only one that's going to hang out there? Is Nia going to work out of that as a base? Is Supergirl now? It would be such a waste for that whole place for just one character/storyline. 

I didn't think about this before, but this is probably the reason. It's the new base of operations since J'onn and Supergirl are out of the DEO. That office is still huge, though.

[mxc90]

17 hours ago, bettername2come said:

Only 5 agents know Kara's identity? Have we seen any of those people before?

It would have been funny if the each agent stood up and confessed to telling a friend at the nail salon, the FedEx guy, the pizza delivery driver, the bookie, and the bartender.

One agent is not sure if telling Alexa counts.

Edited January 21, 2019 by mxc90

[sarkygal]

Forgive the shallow. What in the hell is going on with Chyler’s hair? I couldn’t tell if it was a horrible cheap wig or just a cheap rinse. I’d like to say i was invested in the plot this episode but I was too distracted by the bad hair. 

[MarkHB]

I'd have to guess it's whatever rinse they used, because her hair is so short on one side that trying to make a wig like that to cover her regular hair would, I think, be bulging like crazy.

[silverstream]

I'm still not sure what Alex actually wants to accomplish by remaining at the DEO. Either Haley is the only one who's evil now that the other two are dead, in which case getting rid of her should be easy enough (just report what she's doing to someone higher up in the chain of command), or, as seems to be what they're going for, "the government" is evil, in which case "just" getting rid of Haley is not going to do much.

Did they confirm that the programme that turned children into assassins via torture was sanctioned from higher up? Because that is just vile beyond belief and somebody should definitely blow the whistle on that. Do we know what section of the government Haley worked in before she took over the DEO? I find it weird that she's suddenly pulling dangerous aliens out of her pocket left and right. (First the invisible assassins, then the truthreader that apparently didn't come from the DEO.)

Either way, completely erasing that Kara has superpowers/is an alien from Alex' mind could potentially backfire horribly on them - what's to say Haley doesn't get her on board with her agenda? And if they've only mindwiped that Kara is Supergirl, not that Kara has superpowers, then Alex still has a sister who is an alien, and I can't see Haley being happy about that (and not investigating said sister closer once she finds out).

On a less serious note, it's very strange that Hank seems to have all the records about the DEO's going's-on in the last couple of years, and not, you know, the DEO. You'd think Pam from HR would have raised some security issues when he just walked out of there with agents' confidential files.

[tennisgurl]

You know, I've said this before, but the way they use the whole "aliens walk among us" plot has been really disappointing to me. The whole season, and several plots over the last season or two, have been about aliens being integrated into human society, and yet...we know almost nothing about what this actually means for people. One of my favorite things they did last year was the religious cult that worshipped Krytonians, which I thought was really cool, but what about other religions? Are there aliens who are joining any major world religions, or are they building their own temples for their own faiths? Can aliens get off work for their own religious holidays? Do they have Social Security numbers? Are there alien actors, musicians, or writers that are showing up on TV shows or movies? Do kids shows teach tolerance by having the human kids make friends with a new neighboring alien family? Do hipsters dress up like aliens and get accused of cultural appropriation? Do aliens open up trendy places to eat based on their native cuisine? Are sports managers desperately trying to sign alien players who natural abilities make them amazing players? How many aliens are even around, and how long have they been here? And what is going on the universe that is making all of these aliens show up here anyway?! For all that we have spent time talking about the hate groups and talking heads, what does having a bunch of aliens around actually mean for culture and society? I feel like we still dont know!

But instead, we get a rather paint by the numbers "aliens as oppressed minority/immigrants" metaphor we have all seen a hundred zillions times before, and done better and more interestingly. I get that they want to do that story, and its not a bad idea in theory, but I wish that, instead of that, we could mic it up beyond "evil government tortures and experiments on aliens" or "aliens are metaphor with the subtlety of a hammer to the face", both of which we have seen a million times. I mean, you can have those as the major plots, but couldn't some of the other stuff happen on the periphery, or for one episode arcs? And they can focus on all the good things that immigrant groups bring to a society, instead of just focusing on how they apparently only bring political instability and property damage? If anything, that would make their points even stronger than just having straw man villains to beat on. The Supergirl universe has the potential to really set itself apart from the main Arrowverse universe where the rest of the shows take place, and they really dont do much to show how different of a place it is, the way that they could. 

[Chyromaniac]

Uh oh- looks like Col. Umbridge got Agent Cho Chang to spill the beans about Supergirls Army  in the Interrogation Room of Requirement...

Edited January 22, 2019 by Chyromaniac

[angora]

I rolled my eyes every time Haley barked, "THAT'S AN ORDER!" to Supergirl when Supergirl had been FIRED from the DEO.  You can kick her out or you can (try to) order her around, but you very definitely can't do both.

Wiping "Kara = Supergirl" from Alex's mind can go so wrong in so many ways.  Yeah, those last scenes between Kara and Alex were affecting, but there's no way this isn't gonna backfire six ways to Sunday.

Co-sign the need to know whether Haley knows Brainy is an alien.  My mind says she has to, both because it's probably in a file somewhere and because she's spent more than half an hour with him, but he never comes up when she's being all bristly and distrustful about aliens, and you'd think he would if she knew.  What's going on with that?  It feels sloppy, and even as I worry about what Haley might do to Brainy, I still want this detail clarified.

Speaking of Brainy, how much do I love that he now has actual "little boxes" in his mind?  He really took Lena's advice to heart!  Really liked his side-plot with Nia - funny, and I've been enjoying this slow build to Nia becoming a hero.

I'm okay with J'onn's office being so big 'cause I like the look of it, and I agree it would make a good new base of operations for him, Kara, and maybe Nia in the future.

[Trini]

29 minutes ago, angora said:

Co-sign the need to know whether Haley knows Brainy is an alien.  My mind says she has to, both because it's probably in a file somewhere and because she's spent more than half an hour with him, but he never comes up when she's being all bristly and distrustful about aliens, and you'd think he would if she knew.  What's going on with that?  It feels sloppy, and even as I worry about what Haley might do to Brainy, I still want this detail clarified.

Even if she doesn't like aliens, Haley's still willing to work with them - or more accurately, have them work for her - so maybe she does know Brainy is an alien? Agreed, it's annoyingly sloppy. But maybe they'll address it like the 'secret' identity thing with Kara.
 

32 minutes ago, angora said:

I'm okay with J'onn's office being so big 'cause I like the look of it, and I agree it would make a good new base of operations for him, Kara, and maybe Nia in the future.

It looks great -- it just doesn't look like a P.I. office. Does he really need a balcony and all those books?

[bros402]

2 hours ago, Trini said:

It looks great -- it just doesn't look like a P.I. office. Does he really need a balcony and all those books?

Where else are you to have deep thoughts and deep talks if not a balcony?

[AnimeMania]

I was sure the Morae were going to to kill Haley, right after she finds out Supergirl's secret identity, but before she can tell anybody else. That is always what happens when the evil guy finds out the superhero's secret identity, that or they lose the memory.

[Humbugged]

18 hours ago, sarkygal said:

Forgive the shallow. What in the hell is going on with Chyler’s hair? I couldn’t tell if it was a horrible cheap wig or just a cheap rinse. I’d like to say i was invested in the plot this episode but I was too distracted by the bad hair. 

 

17 hours ago, MarkHB said:

I'd have to guess it's whatever rinse they used, because her hair is so short on one side that trying to make a wig like that to cover her regular hair would, I think, be bulging like crazy.

It's just her real hair with the asymmetric half of her bob slicked back .Between the end of filming the last season and Clexicon she had it cut like that (and it was slicked back like this at some of her other convention appearances over the summer ).

As for the colour she has been dying various shades of red since the day she left Grey's .

It seems to be a thing with her and there was a fuss on Grey's when she decided to go blond and it was a funky color when she first got it done as they over colored it so her natural hair would grow in underneath it by later in the season and the make up people had awful time doing her  .

It is always hard to remember that even though she is most recognized as a brunette she is a natural blonde (much like Pauley Perrette it has been that color so long people don't realize)

[slowpoked]

God, I'm just glad Agent of Liberty is done. I'm SO ready for Russian Supergirl.

If I were Alex, I would have punched Haley right on the cargo ship when she was giving orders to stand down to an independent contractor.

Is the Lena/James storyline going to eventually lead into James being Lena's lab rat for her human superpower experiment?

Poor Nia - all that make-up and nice dress only for Brainy to give her a binder. I love Brainy though! I enjoy all his scenes, the actor is quite good.

[RobertDeSneero]

I can't wait for the scene where mind-wiped Alex confides to her sister Kara that she has a lesbian crush on that hot alien Supergirl.

[ketose]

56 minutes ago, RobertDeSneero said:

I can't wait for the scene where mind-wiped Alex confides to her sister Kara that she has a lesbian crush on that hot alien Supergirl.

And Kara thought Cat drooling over her cousin was weird.

[Lantern7]

1 hour ago, RobertDeSneero said:

I can't wait for the scene where mind-wiped Alex confides to her sister Kara that she has a lesbian crush on that hot alien Supergirl.

I want to go to there. "What's wrong, Kara?" "J'onn . . . Alex just told me she crushes on Supergirl." "And you have 'I want to die' running in a loop in your brain." "Yeah, I- . . . wait, I thought you couldn't read my mind." "Educated guess."

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, I knew it was never going to happen, but I was rooting for Alex to take one of those new lethal guns, shoot Haley dead, and call it a day.  I am so over the character.  She is so one dimensional, moronic, and poorly written, and while April Parker Jones is a capable enough actress (I've seen her in numerous things), she is just so one-note here.  This whole thing is just a drag.  Although, I really, really want to know how this new President was even President Linda Carter's VP, because their ideology and methods are so different.  I have to think she never liked him, but needed him to get swing state votes or something.

But, anyway, Haley isn't dead, but instead gets her memory wiped by J'onn after finding out Kara's identity, but now J'onn has to wipe the memory of the DEO agents who know Kara's identity, in order for it not to happen again (I guess they couldn't get the Vasquez actress back, because I would think she would know Kara's identity.  Must be too busy with her S.H.I.E.L.D buddies instead!)  And that includes, yep: Alex!  Chyler Leigh and Melissa Benoist sold everything as always, but I was wondering why a) again, Kara didn't at least attempt a "I have no secret identity on Earth.  I'm just Kara Zor-El from Krypton and when I'm not saving everyone's sorry asses, I'm just chilling like a villain!" and b) why does Alex feel like she needs to stick with the DEO, since they're only behind ARGUS at being the dumbest and lamest agencies in the CW D.C. Universe.

James is playing the supportive boyfriend for now, but he is so unnerved by Lena's attempts to give powers to humans.  This is not going to end well!

Despite some obvious pratfalls, I continue to enjoy Brainy and am charmed over the idea of a potential Brainy/Nia pairing.  Equally intrigued over Nia possibly suiting up and being a hero.

Hope Russian Supergirl gets here soon.  And it will never happen, but I would so love it if on this Earth, Anatoly ends up being in the Russian military.  The world needs more Anatoly!  

[Rushmoras]

Ugh, I wanna see the Kasnian Supergirl versus Supergirl, not this stupid identity crisis. Gee, I wonder, who is Supergirl. Could it be that blond chick that looks like her, hangs out sometimes at the DEO and is Alex sister? Wow, what a doozie. At least Reign wore a mask and had a voice change. What's everyone's excuse for being stupid as a log?

Also, yeah, I wonder, how knowing who is Supergirl will put in danger her friends and family more than they are already are? And, 99 percent of her friends and family can take care off themselves quite easily. The only one in danger could be the adoptive mom, but even then Kara could just light-speed to her rescue. I was waiting for Kara to punch the lights off the Amanda Waller's wannabee, but I guess Alex would do as well. So, why the mind wiping is so damn necessary?

Also, also, it's actually funny, that Heiley thought that she could order Kara around just because she found out that she's Supergirl. I mean, yeah, she's lucky that Kara is such a goodie goodie two-shoes, if I was in her stead, probably would have thrown Heilley in to space (or in any other way indiscriminately offed her) and explained to anyone interested, that I was busy stopping those Moraes to know what happened to the colonel.

And why Alex can't quit? Because after colonels and Presidents past interactions on vid comms etc.., I'd say that the enemy is not only colonel, but the Government as well. So, what she's going to accomplish even, if she does defeat Heilley. They will just send another Amanda Waller in her stead. And, with a wiped mind, how will Alex know what she is fighting for at the DEO? Protection of SG identity? Nah.

Also, how can Alex be court-marshalled, if she is a civilian (I'm assuming, don't know the real law in USA, but I'm basing this on Daniel Jackson's character in StarGate SG-1)?

Edited January 23, 2019 by Rushmoras

[iMonrey]

Quote

Its really not a great idea for them to focus a whole story on Kara's secret identity, when Kara being Supergirl is so freaking obvious, that its basically been a running joke among fans since the very first episode. I mean, its like someone took the "Shes got glass, and a ponytail!" joke from Not Another Teen Movie, and made a whole dramatic story about it! "Gee, who could Supergirl be? She obviously cant be the sister of the agent that is clearly hiding Supergirls identity who is ALSO a tall skinny blond haired blue eyes model who happens to have all the same friends and allys as Supergirl and looks exactly like her except with glasses and has only been seen together that one time! Thats just madness!" It would really be hilarious if, even after the mindwipe, Alex knows who she is instantly, because obviously she knows her own sister! Just having her contacts in and her hair down wont change how she looks!

There are really only 2 options here: they drop all reference to Supergirl's "secret identity" or else they explain why nobody can see that, clearly, Kara is Supergirl. The latter is easy enough to deal with: they can just come up with some techno-babble about her glasses hypnotizing people or some such. Then at least we would have an explanation for why the characters on this show cannot see what is laughably obvious. Instead, they choose to ignore it. That would be fine if they weren't drawing attention to it like they are now.

Bad move.

[ketose]

Superman and Supergirl are the heroes that wear a "mask" in their non-hero form. It's logical for people to speculate about who's behind Spider-Man or Batman's mask, but it's somehow just a given that the supers wear some disguise when they're not being super and it really isn't. If the DEO can't deal with not having total control over Supergirl then they'd better put a Kryptonite bullet in her because pissing her off could turn out incredibly bad.

[MarkHB]

17 hours ago, Rushmoras said:

Also, how can Alex be court-marshalled, if she is a civilian (I'm assuming, don't know the real law in USA, but I'm basing this on Daniel Jackson's character in StarGate SG-1)?

No, AFAIK courts-martial are the exclusive province of the military (anyone who has served, feel free to correct me).  I suppose we have to infer that the DEO is actually a black ops section of the military.  I don't know if there are really plainclothes units like that (and if I did I'm guessing someone would have to kill me), but it's convenient for creating drama.

[bros402]

3 hours ago, MarkHB said:

No, AFAIK courts-martial are the exclusive province of the military (anyone who has served, feel free to correct me).  I suppose we have to infer that the DEO is actually a black ops section of the military.  I don't know if there are really plainclothes units like that (and if I did I'm guessing someone would have to kill me), but it's convenient for creating drama.

I mean the DoD has civilian employees - but they can't be court-martialed - the Colonel or w/e her rank is was saying she wanted the President to press Supergirl into service - which would make an excellent and very interesting fictional court case - as far as I know, the president cannot force anyone into service. Now, if he got Congress to declare a draft... maybe he could draft Supergirl, but then it would need to be proven that she is a US citizen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courts-martial_of_the_United_States - nope, civilians cannot be court martialed in the US (they apparently can in other countries - but only when civilian courts are nonfunctional - I guess in the case of something like a rebellion?)