Gooood afternoon, friends and shippers. In this week’s episode of Supergirl, Maggie was MIA and Alex spent 99% of the time off-screen knife throwing, but despite that it was a solid episode with some really great storylines because the focus was on Kara and her feelings, skills, and ethos.
We start the episode with some classic Supergirl flying shots. She zips into the DEO, ready for anything, but there is literally nothing going wrong in National City today; Alex says it’s almost like there’s something in the water. (Wait…was that a gay joke?) Kara adorably asks if that in itself is something she can fix, but J’onn tells her to take the day and enjoy it.
So Kara tries making a souffle and fails…a lot. Guess she’s not good at EVERYTHING, our favorite Kryptonian. Lena comes over unannounced — you know, like friends do, totally normal — and invites her last-minute to a press conference because her ex invited her and he’s her kryptonite. Kara says she always has Lena’s back (to which Lena responds, “You’re my favorite”) and off they go, with Kara artfully dodging a question about what HER kryptonite is.
“I’m sorry did you say your EX? Right cool sure just checking I feel neutral about this news.”
Just kidding, it’s not eloquent at all. She just goes “uhhhh” and barely doesn’t say “literally kryptonite.”
They go to the press conference where Ravi from iZombie and Jiya from Timeless are presenting about nanobots that can heal wounds and Lena is all excited; her ex, actually named Jack on this show, figured out the solution to the project they had been working on before she came to National City to head up L Corp.
After the conference, Lena introduces Kara to Jack as one of the best reporters in National City, eliciting the most adorkable laugh and head dip from Kara.
Snapper is telling her she’s not even a reporter and Lena calls her the best and MY HEART
Then, despite the mixedness of the messages, Kara sees Lena’s “I’d like to be alone with my ex” face and excuses herself.
Before she gets all the way outside, a man stops her and says he has some inside info and to meet him alone in the dark in his car, which she does as only a girl of steel would/could.
He’s telling her about how he thinks Jack’s company faked the human trials and that the project shouldn’t be released to the public yet when a swarm of nanobots appears and makes the car go boom. Kara is obviously fine, but horrified she couldn’t save the man sitting a foot away from her.
“She’s living in a world, and it’s on fire. Filled with catastrophe, but she knows she can fly away.”
Jack goes to Lena’s office to ask her to dinner, and reminisces about their time together. She eventually agrees to go to dinner with him, and frankly I can’t hate the way he makes her smile.
Oh, by the way, the B-plot this episode was about WinnGuardian, and it was pretty adorable (minus one scene where Lyra went a little banana pancakes). Basically Winn wanted Lyra to be part of their little team, and James thought her a little too quick to violence; eventually they all kissed and made up and became a crime-fighting trio.
Kara tries to take the story to Snapper but he has his own lead and doesn’t need his fired reporter on the beat. So Supergirl follows Snapper and listens in as he talks to a guy who was supposedly part of the human trial. Said guy admits he only went in and signed a piece of paper— no trialing ensued. Right after he admits this, that familiar swarm of nanobots zooms in and Supergirl saves Snapper but the witness turns to dust. Supergirl freezes the nanobots just long enough to get Snapper to safety, and slumps home, sad she lost another citizen.
When she gets there, Mon-El is waiting with a message from Lena (apparently her cell phone doesn’t fit in her Super suit). Lena wanted Kara to talk her out of going out with Jack, but since Kara wasn’t there to give her a better offer, she went off to dinner. So Kara, determined to get to the bottom of this nanobot problem, drags Mon-El as a cover and goes to the restaurant.
Lena appreciates the gesture, but tells Kara she doesn’t need the rescue anymore. Kara says that’s what friends are for, and Lena seems to appreciate the gesture.
HOW DOES A PERSON SIT SEXILY. SHE’S JUST SITTING. HOW.
Jack and Lena have a nice moment where he tells her how missing her is what helped him figure out the nanobot issue they had been having and Lena’s eyes light up with nerdy delight and it’s wonderful. Lena asks Kara to leave and so she does, but not before Mon-El swipes Jack’s security badge.
They take advantage of Jack’s being distracted by the very distracting Lena Luthor and sneak into his office, where they find an empty Human Trials folder and a video of Jack injecting himself with the nanobots.
He IS the nanobot swarm.
Jack excuses himself abruptly, and swarms back to the office but the alien duo gets out just in time.
Kara takes this new information right to Lena.
Kara trying to soak up Lena’s smile before giving her news she knows will wipe it away.
It’s very obvious in her precious little face that Kara hates having to be the bearer of this bad news, but also knows it will dampen the blow to hear it from her, so she tells Lena everything she learned about Jack and his nanobots. Lena is upset, but, to her credit, believes Kara and doesn’t shoot the messenger. Instead she promises she won’t confront Jack, but does so without meeting Kara’s eyes. Kara leaves her to be alone with this difficult news.
My note for this scene was, “They’re standing so effing close to each other.”
Kara goes to give Snapper the information she unearthed and says she’s handing it over to CatCo instead of putting it up on KaraDanvers.com because getting the truth to the most people is more important to her than getting the scoop. Snapper is still pretty rude to her but she’s been hit with harder punches. So she just thanks him for all he’s taught her and leaves.
This is not the first time Kara has been counted out undeservedly.
Lena does exactly what she promised Kara she wouldn’t do and goes to confront Jack about the human trials and murdering people by turning into a swarm of nanobots. The genuine look of shock and confusion on his sweet, sweet face tells her all she needs to know: Jack isn’t lying. He has no idea, because he’s not the one in control of his own swarm. His right-hand woman, Beth, is.
The bad ones are always so DAMN GOOD LOOKING.
Beth confesses that Jack wanted to end the project when it became clear that the nanobots took away free will, but Beth didn’t think that was anything to be stopped by. Pesky ethics never got in her way. They then have a great exchange where Beth says, “It’s true what they say, behind every strong man is a woman” and Lena responds that she wouldn’t know because, “I’ve never stood behind a man.” Just lovely, truly.
Another truly fascinating thing is that Lena realizes with a calm coolness that Beth is only revealing herself to be the big bad that she is because she plans on killing Lena. Lena is not fazed by this in the slightest. But when Beth laughs this off and says actually she wants to turn Lena into a nanobot swarm of her own and take control of L Corp, Lena’s face falls to fear and worry. She’s not afraid of dying, but she doesn’t want to see the company she worked so hard to build separate from the Luthor name devolve into nefarious plots once again.
But before Beth can shatter Lena into a billion beautiful bits, Supergirl comes in and saves her, not for the first time, surely not for the last.
Supergirl offers Lena an out, but Lena has a better idea: Let’s work together. So Lena runs to the computer while Supergirl fights, but Supergirl is soon overtaken by the swarm and I’m not going to lie to you I had some mildly traumatic My Girl flashbacks. (Thankfully Kara can see just fine without her glasses.)
Anyway, it’s up to Lena now, so she stomps on Beth’s earpiece she was using to control the nanobots and hacks into the mainframe. There’s a beat where Beth points out that shutting down the nanobots would kill Jack, but not saving Supergirl is not a question for Lena. She apologizes to Jack, who encourages her to do it, and do it she does.
“How curious, a person who came from a less-than-ideal upbringing who didn’t have to be taught how to do what’s Good and Right.”
Cut to Lena, sitting in her office, mourning the loss of an old flame and a project that was important to her – she literally was trying to cure cancer. Kara comes by to visit, embarrassed by the single pot of flowers she brought, knowing nothing truly heals the wound of loss. But Lena appreciates that she came by at all.
Lena admits that right now she’s numb, and angry, but she feels like maybe once that dies down, she might be scared. Scared of how loss will affect her, scared of becoming more like her Luthor roots each day. But Kara promises that Lena won’t lose her, and just like she wouldn’t let her fall off the edge of the building, she wouldn’t let her fall of the edge of sanity either. (She didn’t say that directly because Kara still doesn’t know if Lena knows she’s Supergirl, though I suspect she does, but it was the same general gist.)
Kara says, “I will always be your friend and I will always protect you,” putting her arm around Lena and holding her tight.
“Nothin’s gonna harm you, not while I’m around.”
And at first I found myself asking: are they making Kara and Lena say “friend” more than any reasonable person would need to say “friend” to their friend just to remind us that they’re not in love despite all the signs saying otherwise? And maybe so. But also another reason struck me: Kara keeps saying versions of, “That’s what friends are for.” “I’m your friend, of course I’ll…” etc. And as much as I think part of that is for our benefit, I think a lot of it is for theirs. Kara has never really had a true friend. She has Alex, but that’s her sister, so that’s different. She has Winn and James but some romantic things have left a tiny scar on their friendships, even the unrequited ones.
Sure, as their friendships grow and strengthen, it will become barely noticeable, but it will never be gone. (This is not to say you can’t be friends with someone who is also a gender you are attracted to, or to say you cannot be friends with specific people you were attracted to or who were attracted to you. I’m just saying, in Kara’s case with these two people, the situations were sticky, and I’m not sure we’re clean of the residue yet.) She has J’onn, but that’s more of a father figure relationship.
But Lena is different. Lena is a woman trying to do good, trying to make a name for herself to spite and/or in spite of her family’s legacy. She’s someone who has struggled with who she is and her place in this world, and who has suffered loss after loss in the process. She is Kara.
So maybe Kara tells Lena what friends are for to remind us that they’re just friends. But maybe she says it to remind Lena that they ARE friends. Really and truly. And maybe that’s exactly what they both need.
And maybe it IS just a coincidence that Melissa Benoist and Katie McGrath have so much chemistry they’re practically a periodic table.
ANYWAY in the less mushy side of National City — wait, no, I lied, it’s totally mushy, just a different kind of mushy — Kara brings Snapper a danish and in return he shows her that he included her in the byline for the story about Jack and his nanobots. He says, “You did good, Danvers,” and even though he was a butt for the entire episode, my heart swelled up with pride for our favorite star reporter.
Meanwhile across town, someone shows up in Lena’s office with a business proposition that surely will not end well for anyone.
MOM-EL I THOUGHT WE SENT YOU HOME
Next week’s episode is called, “Alex” and I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so…scared.
Do we think sitting sexily is a skill one can acquire or just an innate character trait that can only be admired?
Katie McGrath is my kryptonite.
I may or may not have yelled that exact thing at my TV last night…
Katie McGrath is MY HERO.
Despite the horrible lack of Alex and Maggie, I did rather enjoy this episode. Mon-Frat Boy was only in it a little bit, and only as the helpful, comedic side kick which is something I enjoy of his character. While I am SuperCorp trash, I liked Jack. He seemed like a nice fella and god dammit Lena Luther is a good person and deserves to be happy. I predict there will be a lot of flailing and squeeing next week, lord knows I’ve already made a good start on that.
I can’t believe you toooootaly glossed over the utterly beautiful way Lena decked that psycho Beth with a perfectly delivered “Did I mention I was a Luthor?” And that smirk while she said it! Ooh I got the most delicious shivers. Lena’s got one heck of a right hook – Beth went DOWN and she went down HARD. *blissful sigh* THEN when she elbowed Beth in the throat? *dies* Lena’s got skills and daaaaayum!
This was an almost perfect episode. There was minimal Blandsome which yay! But ugh, WhineGuardian. Why are they still holding onto this stupid storyline? And Kara got her job back! FINALLY. The last scene with Rhea filled with dread though. God Lena, don’t go over to the dark. They (probably) don’t have cookies.
I had far to much fun just yelling ‘NANOGENES’ randomly throughout this episode.
NANOGENES
Someone’s been watching Big Hero 6 and apart from me I guess that someone is the writers
Mom-El was rocking that strange blazer and power bitch hair, I liked it.
This episode reminded me of season 1…aka it was good, and about kara and badass ladies. I mean, I’m obviously trash for Alex but this was much better than I expected. And Lena’s sassy lines kicking the shit out of Evil Lady – so very Buffy, I loved it.
Although, of course, in every scene with Lena/Kara I feel like Kathy Geiss from 30 Rock just yelling KISSKISSKISS at the TV.
I see what you did there.
(Saved By The Bell reference)
“And maybe it IS just a coincidence that Melissa Benoist and Katie McGrath have so much chemistry they’re practically a periodic table.”
Genius, Valerie Anne, genius!
It truly was. I may or may not have laughed/snorted my tea so loud I woke up my cat.
Priceless.
I have been MIA from the Supergirl recaps for a while (and Autostraddle in general) but I’m back! And what an episode to return for! I loved every minute of Ace Reporter. I was honestly nervous about this episode and kept wondering how Mon-Hell would ruin it. But he didn’t and I couldn’t be happier. I laughed, I swooned, I was on the edge of my seat. The only thing that could have made the episode better was more Alex. But we’ll get plenty of that next week :)
What did irk me was the number of people I saw referring to this episode as filler. What’s up with that? This episode feels like the set up for the final episodes. How can that be filler?
So one thing I noticed because I watch everything with subtitles: when Kara and Lena are walking to their seats at the press conference, Kara says to Lena “You look great!” Just a delight.
Also I like comedic relief Mon-El. If they used him like this instead of making him an arrogant lying douchebag who takes up way too much screen time, then I could get behind their relationship. I’d still want Kara to be with Lena, but at least I’d get why Kara would be with him.
Also, Katie McGrath literally has chemistry with everyone. I’m sure we’ll be shipping her and Rhea after a few scenes together.
I totally agree! I was shocked that I kind of liked Mon-El this episode? Or at least didn’t mind him. Dude totally has comedy chops, they should let him be goofy way more often, like with the “mixologist” bit from last month (or whenever that was?? feels like this show has been off our tv for YEARS) and the manbro ID-card-stealing hug this ep.
Yes Mon-El in this episode was the perfect amount/type of Mon-El for me. I can get down with Kara having a goofy side-kick.
“Katie McGrath literally has chemistry with everyone. I’m sure we’ll be shipping her and Rhea after a few scenes together.”
LOL! [Funny cuz it’s true.]
Seriously though. She has a talent for basically undressing everyone she meets with her eyes. It makes me all tingly :D
That said, there’s more to SuperCorp than Katie McGrath’s spectacular bedroom eyes, which is why I can’t imagine shipping Lena with anyone else. Kara, despite being an alien, brings out Lena’s human side, which is so important. And Lena seems to transport Kara right back to middle school – I half-expect Kara to start slipping Lena love notes. It’s really sweet.
1. I for sure think they’re trying to double down on ‘this is not a romance’ with Kara/Lena which – whatever. NOTHING CAN STOP US JUST LET US HAVE THE SUBTEXT PLEASE. Also, Melissa Benoist seems to be shipping Supercorp the hardest of all based on her acting to which I want to say hi Melissa we support you keep it up you are doing amazing God bless and much love to you and Katie McGrath’s lingering eye contact and constant lip biting. We salute you.
2. While Jack Spheer was neat and all that was underdeveloped and I think would’ve played better as a lingering story. Wish it had been a b-plot for an episode or two prior so it would’ve packed more emotional punch (a point I keep coming consistently back to about this show, so clearly a more general problem).
3. The Lyra stuff this week was disturbing to me. I…. are they just incapable of writing romance beyond ‘in which one party is a sentient Red Flag’? Sanvers seems to indicate they’re not. DUMP HER WINN she IS violent and the fit she threw in the bar was kind of textbook ‘time to dump dump dump and get away’ IMO
4. I like everything about Snapper Carr except his tone of voice I don’t understand that Acting Choice. But what he says is consistently sensible and Ian Gomez has a delightful grouchy face.
5. Reporter Kara is back on so I guess….. Lena Luthor will have many more family members and exes and former classmates who have gotten way into Murder since last they spoke? I’m excited to how they’re gonna fold her into the Superfamily is what I’m saying. SO SAD FOREVER about how she’s just super casual about being murdered – a casualness borne out of experience :(
It would have been great with more build-up. I think the emotional effect it had on me was largely because of the actor. I fucking love Ravi on iZombie, so it comes natural for me to care about someone else with his face (and glorious beard).
I just wanted to say that I didn’t read this. That I haven’t read any of the comments.
That this is almost physically painful, but I’m watching the show on Friday with friends.
Lesbian friends.
Middle aged lesbian friends.
There will be some new organic lemonade or politically correct vegan Coca Cola of some sort.
My friend’s wife will be making some kind of pig in the blanket or self made pizza or ice cream, some new recipe I’ll be the willing victim for, my friend is going to show me some pics from a concert she went to this week and I’ll bring some popcorn and then, after catching up on our ordinary lives, we’ll watch this episode and we will laugh and laugh.
Thanks to that preview clip I already know which jokes I’m going to make “Oh, come along on this ambivalent non date thing for ah, emotional support! Here, hold my hand! For emotional support!” I’ll tell a story about my imaginary boyfriend Martin from Texas who has served me well since the tender age of sixteen to ward off unwanted advances (“I’m sorry, I can’t have ice cream with you. I have a boyfriend.His name is Martin and he’s from Texas.”)
We will laugh and laugh sitting there with our pigs in blankets, organically farmed and possibly gluten free, at the comical aspect of someone very gay/bi pretending to be straight including a side parted, too smooth boy toy with a British accent, so as not to appear interested in the female lead she’s undressing with her eyes every time she looks at her.
We will laugh, having been there, trying to pretend to be straight and miserably failing.
We will laugh, because it really is unintentionally funny, someone pretending to not be something in a crude and obvious way.
I’ll laugh, but in reality, I will want to throw things.
Really, Supergirl? Et,tu?
You see, I can laugh about this, but somewhere there will be some kid wondering if what she/they is/are sensing is off or wrong.
Dammit shows, you have a responsibility not to effing straight wash your f**** characters.
So, and now I’ve got my temper all up and the ep is probably nothing like the preview clip at all.
Argh, I hate pms.
Have a goodnight everyone.
I just wanted to say I am re-watching season 1 with middle-aged lesbians every Thursday and it’s wonderful.
Also I kind of love these sub-textual ships, this lingering chemistry between characters, but I am disappointed that Lena Luthor had to be given a boyfriend (though he seems like a very nice boyfriend if one must have one of those, unlike Certain Other Boyfriends I Could Name on this show) – it doesn’t have to be text, but this Compulsory Heterosexuality thing is annoying. Compulsory Heterosexuality, why must you plague us with your presence.
BUT AGAIN enjoy the Middle Aged Lesbian Viewing Party those are the best and totally worth waiting a few days for :)
(Thankfully Kara can see just fine without her glasses.)
WOW VAL WAS THIS NECESSARY
on another note, I love these two, they’re friends who are finding their footing, who are learning to be more open and vulnerable and strong around each other. I can’t wait to see what comes of it in season 3.
On another note, I’d like to have one (01) episode with Lena where someone isn’t trying to kill her/control her/hurt her okthanksbye
Ok, the author brought out a real modern comic book problem.
Phones and where to keep them. And not just for supergirl but any villain or hero. Now Batman can just engineer his suit into a telephone just like Iron man but any one else is kinda screwed. Even in a perfect world where you end up with a good phone and decent service wherever you are, Its still difficult to keep it from getting damaged during a fight. And if you fight a Kryptonian as a villain you need a strong phone case and one that is lead lined so they don’t spy on your texts while you are fighting. These are important questions for writers.
My immediate thought was “no, she keeps her phone in a compartment in the top of her boot, of course.” But then I remembered – no, that’s fan fiction canon, not show canon. Just because every fan fiction writer has adopted that doesn’t mean it’s true for the show.
Unlike Glee, where fan fiction canon just got folded into the show on the regular.
After this conversation, I’m remembering Season 1…didn’t she answer her cell phone when Cat called while she was flying? Using the same bluetooth situation she uses to call into the DEO? did she decide that wasn’t a viable option this time around?
Loved how you managed to suppress all the dudes from the screencaps.
I didn’t notice this until you pointed it out! The only one I wish was there is Jack. Rahul Kohli has a nice face.
Although this was Sanvers-less, I really enjoyed an episode that was about Kara that DID NOT revolve around her relationship with White Toast Boy. This has been missing most of the 2nd half of the season- Kara figuring out her place in this life, figuring out how to be a reporter (but she maaaaybe still needs to work on those journalistic ethics, methinks.)
Of course, the writers made up for the lack Kara’s problematic relationship by transferring it to Winn and Lyra. NOT COOL, WRITERS.
When Lyra lost her shit for no reason I was like ‘REALLY WRITERS, REALLY?! THIS AGAIN?!?!’ at my screen.
Just whyyyyyyyy it’s not any nicer to watch in this iteration either. Winn deserves better.
I know people loved all of the Supercorp but I couldn’t help but feel super queerbaited especially given the absence of Sanvers. Anyone else feel that way?
Not really, since the show has a tendency of keeping a few characters out of the story every week, so i guess it was just their turn to get cut.
It seems pretty likely to me that Lena is going to end up blaming Supergirl for Jack’s death (with some prompting from Mom-El), and that when she finally realizes that Kara is SG, that’s going to be the moment she goes Full Luthor. She might ultimately pull back from the brink… Or not.
If they’re intention was to make the Supercorp shippers uncomfortable with all thar “friend” statements they succeeded, cause I got really uncomfortable hearing the “friend” emphasis all the time and in almost every conversation Lena and Kara had.
Although I didn’t expect any romance between them, this felt like some sort of annoying reminder that they won’t pursue this plot and it bothered me.
I felt for Lena because I truly like her and she deserves to have a plot development of her own. And I was glad that the Blandsome focus was redirected to something more pleasent and brief this time.
Can’t wait for the next episode!
They are friend. Saying friend nothing wrong with it. It just your mind don’t want to hear it. When you still have the chance to hear them call friend, cherish it. Next season may not be friend anymore. Next time will be enemy.
So I haven’t watched this episode yet and thus am the least qualified person to speak on this subject, but: I feel like we (the community, especially in the comments) are starting to throw around the term “queerbaiting” in a way that diminishes its meaning.
I don’t think queerbaiting is two characters having chemistry and being close to each other. There are plenty of close female friendships like that on TV, which is great! It’s when creators start getting wink-wink-nudge-nudge about it; when they explicitly or very very heavily imply that queer content WILL happen between two characters — that’s when it becomes a problem. That’s why it’s called “baiting” — because they are stringing along audiences who have a genuine reason to believe that something might actually happen between the characters, while all along the creators aren’t planning that at all.
Like I said, I haven’t seen this episode yet, and I haven’t followed every interview with the creators. So maybe they are actually making implicit or explicit promises of a queer relationship with Kara and Lena that they don’t intend to follow through on. But it seems to me like we’ve started calling out queerbaiting when it’s just great chemistry. I am on team “why can’t everyone be gay?” but it just diminishes the power of the term when we lobby it against a show that has one of the best queer female protagonists currently on TV, that has showed a willingness to defy queer tropes, just because we’d love for the Lena/Kara relationship to be queer as well.
/more than two cents
This is a really good point. I feel like great examples of queerbaiting are something like Faking It or (from what I’ve seen from the internet but full disclosure I haven’t actually watched) Riverdale, where a ton of the marketing is BASED on the fact of two “straight” characters kissing, in a way that implies that something will come out of it. They actively work to bring in queer viewers based on something that is basically a lie, and then often have the gall to straight-up say in interviews “they’re just friends, we’ve made that so clear, just because we showed a queer lady kiss a million times in promos doesn’t mean you should have EXPECTED something.” I see Lena/Kara as more something that’s always been written as a great friendship, but where the actors have amazing chemistry — more like Leslie & Ann on Parks & Rec, or Kalinda & Alicia on The Good Wife, or Abbi and Ilana on Broad City. In all of these examples there are definitely throw-away “jokes” that people could consider queerbaiting, like people assuming they’re a couple, or Ilana joking about wanting to make out with Abbi/getting upset when someone else does. And if any of these characters had actually kissed at any point, I would have yelled “FINALLY” at the tv. I think it’s totally possible for any long-running joke like this to move into the realm of queerbaiting, but I also think that it can be a super realistic and funny thing that happens in real-life super-close female friendships, and it can also be super fun and great. Especially when a show DOES have real queer reps, I feel like I can ~trust the show and tend to resent it less (P&R never really did, but Broad City and The Good Wife get a pass for me for this reason).
This ended up being way longer than I expected, sorry! I don’t want to discount anyone who feels queerbaited by a show, but I do agree with you that there is a spectrum and, perhaps because we’ve been burned so often, we tend to be super sensitive and perhaps call out things that don’t need to be? And I’d hope that people would acknowledge that showing a promo where 2 characters are having a little comforting friend hug on the couch isn’t nearly on the same level as what other shows have done with actual, intentional queerbaiting.
Good points. I really don’t think the show is stringing anyone along with overt hints that Kara & Lena will ever be a couple (they both have male love interests, for one thing). And I think the distinction between a show manipulating their audience and writing a female friendship that part of the audience really wants to see as romantic is important to bear in mind.
So let me get this straight, there was no crime in the city for Supergirl to thwart but enough crime that kept the Guardian squad busy night after night?
Now that Lyra’s shady background has been revealed I have to say, I still don’t like her.
Valerie, I agree with you about Kara and Lena, neither have a “girl” friend and their friendship is much needed. Though I am curious if Lena will side with Raya. Every time Lena seems good there is a twist that makes you question it.
Side note was Mon-El reading Harry Potter when Kara came home before they went to the restaurant?
This episode was such a breath of fresh air – it really felt like season 1 again! What I mean by that was that it centred on Kara, and her feelings, and her story; it was all about the badass ladies on the show, even the villain of the week; “I’ve never stood behind a man” felt like such a season 1 Cat Grant line my heart physically ached I missed her so much; and best of all, Mon-El was relegating to a comic relief character who’s only role in the episode was to support Kara and help her engage in shenanigans.This might be the most I’ve liked Mon-El ever. This was the PERFECT amount of him for one episode, the perfect amount of focus on him, the perfect use for his character. If he had been like THIS all season, I would never have had a problem with him!
The only misstep in the episode I think was the Lyra thing. It felt REALLY out of character to me. Yes, we knew she used to be a criminal, but as Winn said, she was coerced. And yes, we’ve seen her fighting, but that was only when she was physically threatened. We’ve NEVER seen her get violent without provocation or wail on someone like she did on that teenager, and we’ve NEVER seen her freak out like she did on Winn at the bar. It also seemed completely unnecessary – drama just for the sake of drama – since they ended up letting her back into the vigilante club at the end of the episode anyway. There were SO many different ways the writers could have handled her conversation with Winn at the bar than the way they chose. I seriously doubt that “Lyra is a violent maniac” is going to be a plot point that ever gets revisited, but I’ll be super disappointed if it does. Isn’t this show beyond the “bitches be crazy!” trope?
Yes, yes, yes! Yes to the focus on Kara, yes to this being the right way to use Mon-El, and yes yes yes to the terrible Lyra plot. It was so scrambled and so sexist. (And, actually, someone being overly violent is an excellent reason for them not to be in the vigilante or law enforcement line of work, which is true of Alex, too.)
I just wish warner bros would make a real fictional blog out of karadanvers.com
Was it just me, or did anyone else see that earbud in Beth’s ear and a) IMMEDIATELY know she was a bad guy, and b) make Cyberman comments at the screen? Because yeah.
I pegged her as the true villain almost immidiately. But for me it wasn’t the earbud, but for her comment to Jack that he should really go speak with the shareholders. Right there I pegged her for a person who couldn’t give a damn about a product/invention being dangerous just as long as you can make money off of it.
“Right there I pegged her for a person who couldn’t give a damn about a product/invention being dangerous just as long as you can make money off of it.”
So the epitome of the modern-day capitalist villains that we struggle against daily? ;) It hurts because it’s true. :(
In this case, it was clear that we dealt with a person that was fine with making money out of an unsafe product, but that doesn’t apply to all companies/inventors. Almost every inventor of course wants to make money out of their inventions, but most of them actually want people to benefit from them, (a win-win situation,) not to get hurt by them.
Watched this episode with my super straight male best friend who spend the whole episode screaming “thats like fried green tomatoes” at the screen. I personaly ship them as friends because… they are so good at that xd. Also I recon that the “we are friends” is mentioned that often because she is a luther and after beeing the perfect woman she ist.. has to go to the dark side at some point at this show… great recap, looking forward to it every week :-)
I have a conflict here.. On one hand Kara/Lena chemistry is over the top and in any show the couch scene would have been a kiss scene if the couple was a man and a woman. On the other hand it is so good to see real friendship between two women, without gelosy or fighting orver a boy..
I just think that we are lucky to have Alex/Maggie, but the chemistry of Kara/Lena is really rare and it is a waste not to use it..
Honestly, as much of a huge flashing neon ‘no homo’ sign this episode was, stuffing down hetero-romance down our throats at both the ‘A and B’ storylines, it was a goddamn great episode, with writing that is about 10 levels above the rest of the season, and some turns that I actually did not expect for once. Even Mon-el was bearable (a reminder of the awesome sibling like relationship Kara and him could have had, if the CW didn’t have to force any attractive white heteros together.)
I really liked Jack’s character, and while I am a ride or die supercorp shipper, I think his moments with Lena were quite sweet, and his end quite tragic.
I really wish all the eps of the season were like this good, because let’s be honest, 85% of the eps this season couldn’t hold a coherent plot all the way through, if the writer’s life depended on it.
Strong female friendships that don’t revolve around men are wonderful. In my mind/emotinally there’s very little distinction between “slow burn will they or won’t they” on the order of Bones or X-Files (to use heteronormative examples, in the context of networks/producers seeming to be forced to operate in the het-norm world) and intimate, romantic friendships that may never take the “sex” step. But perhaps that’s my simpatico with the ace community showing?
It does get dull/rage-inducing to have less-sparking, problematic relationships shoved down our throats as some sort of end-all-be-all (looking back at you Once Upon a Time). Or to have dudes come in and take up all the screen time.
I share the frustration of wasted chemistry and double-standard where if a het couple had the chemistry they’d run with a romantic storyline (though these situations follow established plans usually, too; Dawson’s Creek could have had Joey end up with Dawson despite her chemistry with Pacey, but the showrunner has stated that he made a choice to scrap his plans based on how stuff played out on-screen…not everyone will do that), but I can’t bring myself to hate the subtext because I love a slow burn.
I guess there’s room for activism and demanding better in my world, as well as delicious subtext.
Huh. I hesitated reading the recap this week, because I thought this ep was so (unexpectedly for a Lena ep) so mediocre (I literally found myself looking at my watch several times during the ep).
Only that final K&L (I really don’t like the “SuperCorp” designation) hug on the couch at the end saved it for me at the end (and am intrigued by the reappearance of “Mom-El” *snort*). Well, takes all kinds—really looking forward to “Alex” next week (but that promo of her in the water tank—Eeek!)
Next week’s episode is called, “Alex” and I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so…scared.
Titles like that almost never bode well for the named character. I swear, though, if they pull another Lexi with Chyler Leigh there will be riots. #keepthelesbiansalive2kforever
Supercorp only exists because Katie McGrath has a very sensual charisma and Melissa is also a charismatic actor. But, as the script goes, replace “friend” with “sister” and Kara talks to her the same way she talks to Alex.
And where normally I would just enjoy subtext anyway, I can’t let myself have fun with this one because there’s enough talk of queerbaiting that I can already imagine the meltdown when the show puts a nail in their relationship. Which seems inevitable to me because Katie McGrath is far too talented to go without other opportunities. So unless they make her a regular on a show that already has too many cast members, she’s not ours forever.
And I’m just not looking forward to the toxicity.
Well, they DID upgrade Katie McGrath to series regular for Season 3. So we won’t be getting rid of her any time soon.