Supergirl (television series)

[mr friendly guy]

Seen the first episode and thought lets make a thread for this new series.

First I like to point out, people are saying Supergirl is really hot. No, no don't take my word for it. Jeb Bush said so. I have no idea why someone would ask a presidential candidate, a superhero question, but there you go.

Jokes aside it seems an ok episode. The villain seems to share a similar name to Superman villain Vartox, but is more like the Legion of Superhero villain Persuader. I sure hope they don't go down the route of "villain of the week," with each villain dying after an episode because that would suck.

There are a few things which bug me, ie how quickly Henshaw decided to let Supergirl stop the villains instead of insisting his department handles it. On reflection though, it would have most probably bored me if we have to spend time for Supergirl to convince Henshaw to let her help.

Overall, seems an ok first episode and is enough for me to watch a few more.

[The Romulan Republic]

Nothing really terrible about it, but it seemed formulaic, and Spoiler

I felt they wrapped up the split between Supergirl and her sister rather fast (though the episode as a whole felt rather slow).

The approach to gender/sexism issues, meanwhile, seems rather half-assed and muddled, like they're doing it because its obligatory and trying not to take any strong positions rather than seriously exploring those issues.

But to be fair, lots of great shows have had weak starts. And I do like how Clark had a clear presence in the show without dominating it.

But I can't help asking: how many unconnected continuities is DC going to create? Because this seems to have no ties to other DC shows, or to the DC film universe.

Edited to add spoiler warning.

[Tsyroc]

I thought the pilot was okay but not great.

Most of the best scenes were shown in the trailer. I think it will be better in the future because I think they have some good characters (and cast) that could have some good interactions. I'm not so sure about the super hero stuff though. FX wise it looked decent for TV. Sometimes it was great and sometimes not so great. I kind of like that her heat vision has a bit of a blue tint to it instead of the read that Zod and Superman had in Man of Steel. It's just a little different and maybe a little closer to Ultra Boy's (LoSH) flash vision.
Spoiler

The premise of having a Kryptonian prison fall out of the phantom zone after Kara's ship came through is an interesting idea. It's a bit similar to some of what has happened in the stories in the comics and in animation but having it be a big prison ship is a little different. I do wonder if there are normally guards on that thing and how often do they trade shifts if their tour of duty is in the phantom zone (a place where time doesn't pass).

I do think that based on the description of how it worked that the villain's axe was very much like that of the Persuader. Something atomicy....

Kara's aunt being set up as the main villain for the season it seems. I like to call her Lady Zod, but that's just me.

Isn't Hank Henshaw the name of the guy who eventually becomes the Cyborg Superman?



A couple of things.

I noticed that Kara Danvers, at least to start, is a bit like Silver Age Clark Kent in how mousey she is. In her case it seems to be how she is and not as much as a put on as Clark's was. I got the impression that might change as she gets more confident but we'll have to wait and see.

I was a little put off about how out of the way they seemed to go to keep mentioning Kara's mother with nothing said and little shown of her father. Granted Superman and Supergirl's mothers have tended to get short shrifted but this seemed on the verge of going too far the other way.

Dean Cain and Helen Slater as Kara's foster parents for anyone who didn't catch that. I doubt we'll get many flashbacks but I wouldn't mind having the characters speak about Kara having to adapt, both physically and mentally, to living on Earth. Talk about shocks upon shocks. Family and civilization gone. Job to do (take care of Kal-El) gone. Living on some weird backwoods low tech planet, and having to deal with the physical changes. There's a lot more there I'd be interested in seeing instead of a villain of the week.

[Themightytom]

I found the positivity in it refreshing. it did move to quickly as a function of it's time frame, so maybe they will be more paced in future episodes where they don't have to shoot all the "This is my origin, these are my friends, this is my life, this is a provocative character for later, this is what started it, this is public reaction, this is my uniform making montage, this is my hilarious miscue, this is my set back this is my moment of doubt, this is my family, and this is me win, but ooo here is foreshadowing, and this is me flying off!"

I mean it's out of the way now. I like the themes of positive role models for women, because I don't think there are enough, I like the possible dynamics I see being set up. The "Somehow I made it to Earth!" Seems like an obvious seed to be explored later, as well as the Hank Henshaw role, and Kara's Aunt. I...think that kara's mother being a judge is a cop out, they could have just used Jor El, and given Kara's mom her OWN identity, I'm guessing Dean Caine is a scientist because otherwise Jor El is no longer the guy who all by himself discovered Krypton was doomed. I am not 100% on how Kara could leave Krypton but her parents couldn't, especially if they have a spaceship full of intergalactic criminals, from different races, the Kryptonians must have got around somehow? Unless there was a failed invasion of some kind but now I am doing the writers work for them.

[Bedlam]

Isn't Hank Henshaw the name of the guy who eventually becomes the Cyborg Superman?

Yes it is.

[Kojiro]

I haven't seen the first episode, but I did see the pilot a while back. Are they the same fundamentally or is the first episode all new stuff?

[Batman]

Um-there 'was' no pilot. The first episode was the start of the series. Are you perhaps talking about the trailer?

[Batman]

Still no S shield on the cape and the red-on-blue chest shield irritates me. Still, they got her in uniform in the very opening episode, something Smallville didn't manage to do in 10 fucking years. Dean Cain and Helen Slater as her foster parents was a nice nod to the fans, even if they only had cameos (so far), and I think this was the first time I've seen blue heat vision. And what what that with the 'get close enough to do her thing'? The whole point of heat vision is that it's a ranged weapon.
So Zod is a woman this time around (let's face it, how many 'other' people called General who hate the El family survived the destruction of Krypton?)

[The Romulan Republic]

Hmm... Does Supergirl have no good foes of her own, if she has to borrow one of Superman's?

[Batman]

Can't think of one. Kara's always kind of been Superman Mk II.

[Simon_Jester]

Yes.

They're very closely associated, so anyone who's an enemy of one is typically an enemy of the other.

Plus, from a Doylist perspective, Supergirl has the same set of powers as Superman, so there just aren't a lot of entities in the DC Universe who can go toe-to-toe with her in combat and match her other abilities. It's a lot more plausible for her to go up against other members of the large Superman rogues' gallery, than to invent an entirely separate set of high-powered villains.

[The Romulan Republic]

If you bring out a major-league threat like Zod, I can't see Superman sitting on the sidelines. But bring him in and he's likely to end up overshadowing Kara on her own show if they're not careful. That could be a problem down the line.

Edit: And if they do have Kara take centre-stage, it could be problematic as well. Superman is more experienced and the more iconic hero (both in and out of the show). So the question could become "Why is he playing second fiddle?". Its a tricky issue.

I can think of at least a couple possible ways out though:

1. Have the villain be someone Kara has more experience dealing with. They might be going this route.
2. Have Superman be otherwise occupied. Maybe make it a global threat and have a line about how Superman is busy holding down the fort in Metropolis or something like that.

[Batman]

I would like to point out that the female General that apparently is Kara's aunt has so far 'not' been identified as Zod, that's merely my speculation.
And in DC, having Clark be otherwise busy to the extent Kara has to handle Zod is child's play. He's busy fighting the Anti-Monitor, Imperiex, Darkseid, Brainiac, DC is lousy with threats that make a lone renegade Kryptonian look pretty minor by comparison (especially if they're as low power as Kara).

[Kojiro]

Um-there 'was' no pilot. The first episode was the start of the series. Are you perhaps talking about the trailer?

I'm just trying to work out if what I've seen is the same as what's being discussed here. I'll assume so.

I do find the worry over how the world will react a little off. They basically spell out that Superman is the classic beloved hero. If he's accepted, she'll have no problems. But this is where his absence is conspicuous- you'd expect him to come forward and say 'Hey, this is my cousin, please treat her as you would me.' I would get it if he was of dubious standing but that doesn't seem to be the case.

And yeah, having her come in, full costume and power set right off the bat is nice but it's going to be Flash 2.0 where the writers have to come up with some reason she can't just curb stomp the enemy every week. And I totally don't buy that anyone who can go toe to toe with a Kryptonian is remotely scared of a anything carried by a chopper, let alone some woman with a 9mm rappelling out of it. Meh.

Also the way those dudes shot her out of the air, at that height, means we should *never* see them miss another shot.

2. Have Superman be otherwise occupied. Maybe make it a global threat and have a line about how Superman is busy holding down the fort in Metropolis or something like that.

That's gonna get real old real fast.

[Batman]

They also say a lot of people are scared of Clark, they just don't come out and say so openly. And since the guy is at least sporadically smart, he might have figured it would have been better to have people find out they can trust Kara on their own.
As for Clark not being available for backup, they're likely just going to ignore it, but we're talking Clark. Unless you want to argue the rest of the tights brigade are around how do you know he's not semi-permanently away saving star cluster XYZ now his cousin is on the job here on Earth?

[The Romulan Republic]

Um-there 'was' no pilot. The first episode was the start of the series. Are you perhaps talking about the trailer?

I'm just trying to work out if what I've seen is the same as what's being discussed here. I'll assume so.

I do find the worry over how the world will react a little off. They basically spell out that Superman is the classic beloved hero. If he's accepted, she'll have no problems. But this is where his absence is conspicuous- you'd expect him to come forward and say 'Hey, this is my cousin, please treat her as you would me.' I would get it if he was of dubious standing but that doesn't seem to be the case.

And yeah, having her come in, full costume and power set right off the bat is nice but it's going to be Flash 2.0 where the writers have to come up with some reason she can't just curb stomp the enemy every week. And I totally don't buy that anyone who can go toe to toe with a Kryptonian is remotely scared of a anything carried by a chopper, let alone some woman with a 9mm rappelling out of it. Meh.

Also the way those dudes shot her out of the air, at that height, means we should *never* see them miss another shot.

2. Have Superman be otherwise occupied. Maybe make it a global threat and have a line about how Superman is busy holding down the fort in Metropolis or something like that.

That's gonna get real old real fast.

Well, when you think about it, it makes sense. Their's always going to be more than one area where their's trouble at a time, and they don't appear to yet have any other superheroes on Earth in this series, or at least I don't recall any others being mentioned yet. Two people for a planet... they're going to be spread rather thin.

[Batman]

Especially as we're NOT talking Silver Age level. Kara was actually unsure she'd be bulletproof.

[Kojiro]

They also say a lot of people are scared of Clark, they just don't come out and say so openly. And since the guy is at least sporadically smart, he might have figured it would have been better to have people find out they can trust Kara on their own.

I would think that the reveal of another Kryptonian going unacknowledged by him would be more concern for alarm. If people are scared of him they'll be terrified of her. At least he has a proven heroic record to fall back on. Basically he'd have to comment one way or another.

As for Clark not being available for backup, they're likely just going to ignore it, but we're talking Clark. Unless you want to argue the rest of the tights brigade are around how do you know he's not semi-permanently away saving star cluster XYZ now his cousin is on the job here on Earth?

Well mostly because Earth is his home. It'd be like having a Nightwing series set in Gotham and just saying that Batman is permanently off saving random other city now Nightwing is on the job.

In short the writers are going to ask us to accept the idea that there's a threat(s) so great it poses a challenge to a Kryptonian yet the backup is never, ever called in. Even though said backup could be there in minutes at the most. When people's lives are on the line heroes shouldn't be fucking around trying to go solo. I'm not saying that Superman should show up for every single event- obviously he's got shit to do- but there's only so many Kryptonian level threats he can pass on. Sooner or late we have to see him, even if it's just in a season finale cliffhanger. And maybe we will.

[Batman]

They also say a lot of people are scared of Clark, they just don't come out and say so openly. And since the guy is at least sporadically smart, he might have figured it would have been better to have people find out they can trust Kara on their own.

I would think that the reveal of another Kryptonian going unacknowledged by him would be more concern for alarm. If people are scared of him they'll be terrified of her. At least he has a proven heroic record to fall back on. Basically he'd have to comment one way or another.

And we're all of one episode in, half of which Kara spent not wanting to be Supergirl. When, exactly, do you think he should've made that announcement. even assuming he was actually available?

As for Clark not being available for backup, they're likely just going to ignore it, but we're talking Clark. Unless you want to argue the rest of the tights brigade are around how do you know he's not semi-permanently away saving star cluster XYZ now his cousin is on the job here on Earth?

Well mostly because Earth is his home. It'd be like having a Nightwing series set in Gotham and just saying that Batman is permanently off saving random other city now Nightwing is on the job.

Except I've stuck to Gotham pretty much all my life while Clark has worked the entire fucking cosmos.

In short the writers are going to ask us to accept the idea that there's a threat(s) so great it poses a challenge to a Kryptonian yet the backup is never, ever called in. Even though said backup could be there in minutes at the most. When people's lives are on the line heroes shouldn't be fucking around trying to go solo. I'm not saying that Superman should show up for every single event- obviously he's got shit to do- but there's only so many Kryptonian level threats he can pass on. Sooner or late we have to see him, even if it's just in a season finale cliffhanger. And maybe we will.

This isn't the comics. 'Kryptonian-level threat' is obviously a lot less impressive than it used to be in print. How do you know Clark is mere minutes way? I've yet to see Kara use superspeed.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, she can fly, at least.

But yeah, Kryptonians don't seem that powerful in this show. The villain who almost killed Kara ran from a helicopter firing fairly weak missiles, the government guys were able to capture her (admittedly with an ambush and Kryptonite, as I recall), and she had difficulty saving the plane (though that might be due to inexperience).

I honestly think that, based on what we've seen, that Marvel movies Iron Man, for example, could take her.

[Kojiro]

When, exactly, do you think he should've made that announcement. even assuming he was actually available?

I would think pretty much immediately. For a start people will wonder 'Did he know about her?' and 'Why didn't he say something?' and of course 'Why was he hiding her?'. Granted he's got reasonable answers but he still has to give them- silence isn't going to help anything.

Except I've stuck to Gotham pretty much all my life while Clark has worked the entire fucking cosmos.

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't 'the entire fucking cosmos' include National City? Also they say a few times that Clark is fucking around in Metropolis. And Batman doesn't travel? Ever?

How do you know Clark is mere minutes way? I've yet to see Kara use superspeed.

Oh come on. It is really unreasonable to assume that Superman can get around the planet extremely fast?

[dragon]

couple of things the hologram was seriously non interactive compared to the Jor-el in Man of Steel. Hell Siri is more interactive.
Also why are all the aliens that are not kryptonians just as strong when on earth.
Plus I think the government agency needs to teach her how to fight.

[Tsyroc]

Um-there 'was' no pilot. The first episode was the start of the series. Are you perhaps talking about the trailer?

I called it "Pilot" because that's the title it is given in iTunes. A lot of shows have their first episodes labeled that way. I just assume that the pilot did well enough in the work up phase that they just went with it when they went to series.

[hunter5]

My wife and I were not really impressed with it. It might get better but for a first episode it felt weak.

[Batman]

Except I've stuck to Gotham pretty much all my life while Clark has worked the entire fucking cosmos.

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't 'the entire fucking cosmos' include National City? Also they say a few times that Clark is fucking around in Metropolis. And Batman doesn't travel? Ever?

National City (and who came up with that?) is also a very 'tiny' part of the cosmos. Maybe the Big Guy's busy elsewhere, especially now he knows his cousin is on the job.
Sure I travel. But only when dealing with problems that affect Gotham. I don't try to fix every problem everywhere the way Clark does.

How do you know Clark is mere minutes way? I've yet to see Kara use superspeed.

Oh come on. It is really unreasonable to assume that Superman can get around the planet extremely fast?

Oh they're going to introduce superspeed soon enough I'm sure, (though along with heat vision that does seem to be a rather underused power in their TV incarnations), but a) you don't know what level of superspeed we're talking about (for all we know in this universe Kryptonians are barely transonic) and b) even if we assume comics-level speed how do you know he's not busy fighting a hurricane in the Carribean or something?