I hope everybody had a good break, I apologize for not doing what I had planned, but it took longer than I had expected. Expect something special next week when we have another short break! I did accomplish getting my second Supergirl themed tattoo though, this one directly related to the show:
The NC surrounding the tattoo is from the comic Bitch Planet by veteran Supergirl scribe Kelly Sue DeConnick. For more information on the meaning of that symbol, I highly recommend the comic, or for cliff notes you can look here: http://www.themarysue.com/bitch-planet-tattoos/
I’m extremely happy with this tattoo, and think it represents me in a way none of my other tattoos could ever. That said, lets move on to the actual episode!
Armen VFX does it again with an amazing scene to open the episode. The plane interrupting the fight and the crater they make at the end is just beauty to me.
Director Danvers made me so happy. Of course she was the logical choice to fill in, and she did so admirably, until a certain someone showed up. More on that later.
The first scene with Kara and Astra again showed me the Kara I’ve loved for decades. The compassion she has for everyone around her has never been more evident than when she said, “All life is bonded by blood.” Kara cares about everyone, bar nobody. That’s part of what makes her so amazing in my eyes, part of the many things about her that I aspire to be.
The Krypton flashback showed so much more of the Astra and Alura dynamic. Alura has moved back away from the Sterling Gates Alura, and as much as I love those comics, I feel that this is one thing that I would like to remain a bit more separate. I like that this scene tied right back to Kara and Astra and shows us that they do in fact share that compassion, Kara just seems better at putting it to use.
I love that Jimmy is kind of playing the Lois Lane role in this episode. Jimmy Olsen, man of action! “The media doesn’t exist to make people like you feel comfortable, Max,” is such a good line. James Olsen, I think I love you.
Kara getting so flustered at Cat coming in was so gosh darn adorable.
I smiled so much at the two references to cities in which Kara has lived in the comics in this episode. The first was the food truck in Chicago, a city that Kara called home in her last Pre-Crisis series, written by Paul Kupperberg. The second, which elicited an authentic Corinne Squee™ was the reference to Midvale. I loved it so much. Midvale for those of you who don’t know, was the town that Superman left Kara in the Silver Age when he just ditched her at an orphanage. Silver Age Superman was a bit of a jerk.
Again Sam Lane is as perfect a representation of him as I could ever imagine seeing on TV. He’s so jarringly unlikeable and crass and every time I see him, I want to punch him in his stupid face. But that’s what I should feel towards that character, so good job show.
Torture was a big theme this episode. And it was telling who decided that it was an okay method to achieve what they wanted. Non. General Lane. Max Lord. All three of those scenes sent chills down my spine and did a great job of making me despise characters I already disliked all the more. Especially powerful was the scene with General Lane. “We’re better than this.” “We are. They aren’t.” Yeah, you just proved yourself wrong there, General. That scene made me so angry. So, so angry. I was literally breathing hard, and am in fact breathing hard again as I rewatch the episode.
Kara using her cape as a shield was so awesome, and makes for an incredibly iconic image.
I said it last night, and I’ll say it again. Peter Facinelli gives us the best live action Lex Luthor we have ever gotten, despite having a different name. He is everything I love and hate about Lex. It’s perfect.
The most powerful moment of the episode though, was Winn stopping Kara. Melissa’s emotions were so incredible in that scene. I know it won’t happen because this is a genre TV show, but I truly believe that Melissa deserves an Emmy nomination. James saying, “Even when things look the bleakest, heroes find a way,” was my favorite line of the episode, and gave me an itch I intend to scratch sometime soon. In the comics, a thing that happened recently that I can’t stand is that Kara was made into a Red Lantern, a group of characters who feed on their inner rage. And while Kara can have rage at times (evidenced here, and most notably in “Red Faced”), it’s not what defines her. Instead, the two emotions that define her are Hope and Compassion. Those emotions belong to the Blue and Indigo Lantern Corps respectively, and James made me want to sketch Kara as a Blue Lantern, the corps I always believed she belongs in. So that’s something that will probably happen soon. Kara using hope and inspiration in response to General Lane’s fear tactics was also such a cool moment.
The plot twist at the end, I called two weeks ago. I knew that Kara would wind up using J’onn to convince Cat that she is in fact not Supergirl. It’s a trope used over and over in the comics, and a role J’onn has performed for Clark on many occasions.
Yet another IM conversation with Clark, and yet more feelings from it.
The cold close tease at the end has me all the more excited for upcoming episodes, as I’m almost positive that’s going to wind up being Bizarrogirl. I’m also almost sure that Lord and Lane will wind up working together at some point this season.
See you all in two weeks for a TV recap, and hopefully in one with a comic review!
Corinne McCreery has been a fan of comic books for over twenty years, and a fan of Supergirl in particular for just about that long. Other comic characters near and dear to her heart are the members of the New Teen Titans (Especially Nightwing), Kitty Pryde and Roy Harper. Other non-comic related interests include water skiing and tattoos, of which she has five, three of which are comic related. One of the best days of her life came when she met Dean Cain, and was able to recreate the famous Crisis on Infinite Earths cover with the Man of Steel that she grew up with. Currently she lives in Oakland, CA; a transplant from South Dakota. You can find her online on tumblr at effyeahsupergirl or Twitter at @corimarie21, where you will likely find her live-tweeting the west coast airing of Supergirl every week.
