Supergirl faces nuclear war in her own quest for peace
The show homages Superman IV while introducing a new generation to the Super Friends
TV Reviews Supergirl
Welp, the last thing I expected to be crying about on this lovely autumnal evening was Supergirl warmly telling her new alien niece, “I was adopted too.” One thing the past few seasons of Supergirl have done really well is to reframe the Super Friends as a found family. And adding sweet little Esme into the mix drills that point home. When Alex becomes a mom overnight, that means Kara becomes an instant aunt and J’onn gets to inherit the title of Space Grandad. Though I suspect the sweet, bubbly opening scene of Esme meeting her new extended family is the sort of thing that could be just a touch too saccharine for some viewers, it really hit home for me. The ’90s Star Trek shows all found a way to squeeze a kid in there at some point, and working from that model, it’s fitting that Supergirl does too.
In fact, I found the Esme stuff to be the most successful element of “Hope For Tomorrow.” Though it’s a little weird that Kelly and Alex leap into motherhood without any discussion of how this ratchets up the seriousness of their own relationship (they only just moved in together earlier this season!), for the most part the Esme throughline delivers a nice blend of domestic drama with a sci-fi twist. The fact that Esme is an alien with the ability to mimic other alien’s powers is a pretty big otherworldly challenge for Alex and Kelly to help her face. But, on the other hand, so much of their struggle to adjust to their newfound role as parents is universally relatable—for biological and adoptive parents alike.
As for the rest of the episode, it’s… fine? It’s probably the weakest installment of the “Totem Saga” yet, although it’s not without its merits—just more in the setup than the payoff. This hour is devoted to the Totem of Hope, which is locked within a “Hand of the Flower” statue that sits at The Hague as a symbol of peace. Unlike the past two totems, this one is immovable until you pass its gauntlet, which demands that its wielder “inspire a hope that burns longer and brighter than the sun.” Since Nyxly correctly identifies that she’s never going to beat Supergirl at the whole “hope” thing, she decides she’d be smarter to try to leverage the totem away after the fact. That leaves poor Kara struggling to figure out how she can give the world more hope than she already has—especially with Kaznia and Corto Maltese on the brink of nuclear war.
Who and what now, you might ask? While “Hope For Tomorrow” cuts back on the deadening technobabble, it replaces it with some heretofore unmentioned geopolitics. If the Kaznia/Corto Maltese conflict had been a major runner throughout the season, this episode could’ve served as an effective climax for it. Alas, along with the reveal that Kara is “forbidden from interfering in human history,” it’s an episodic roadblock that kind of comes out of nowhere. Just who is forbidding her? And why has this never come up before?
It’s actually a shame that it hasn’t. The idea that there’s a difference between stopping a supervillain and influencing the self-determination of independent nation states is one of the many fascinating ethical dilemmas introduced in an appreciably talky script from Emilio Ortega Aldrich & Nicki Holcomb (with a story by Robert Rovner). But it’s too big of an idea to introduce this late into the show’s run, especially when it’s really just there so that Kara can eventually decide to go against it by throwing both country’s nuclear weapons into the sun.
Perhaps that’s because this episode seems to have been designed first and foremost as an homage to Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, in which Christopher Reeve’s Superman similarly decides to throw the world’s supply of nuclear warheads into the sun. Here, however, the moment Kara makes the same choice is rushed and underwhelming, especially because she isn’t even the one to take the weapons into space herself. She has J’onn and Brainy take care of that while she swoops back down to claim the Totem of Hope, which apparently had a very specific image of what hope looks like.
Indeed, one of the big struggles of this episode is that it fails to articulate and interrogate the concept of hope. Though I was actually really intrigued by the idea that Kara might be able to inspire more hope as a reporter than she does as a superhero, that fascinating idea is quickly dropped in favor of more conventional superhero antics—the same with the underdeveloped thread of J’onn serving as a calming force during the heated-by-magic peace talks. (It’s the closest he’s come to having a storyline in ages!) Instead, there’s a lot about the ending of this episode that feels fairly rote, from Lena struggling to master yet another spell to William briefly being kidnapped by Nyxly to serve as her leverage. Even the way William just grabs the Totem of Courage from Nyxly feels a little too convenient—especially after the fascinating moment Kara failed to pass its gauntlet two episodes ago.
To its credit, “Hope For Tomorrow” ultimately ends in a more interesting place than I was expecting. Even with all three active totems in hand, Kara decides that the most effective way to stop Nyxly is to destroy one of them and prevent the imp princess from ever having the chance to complete the AllStone. Banking on their ability to inspire optimism, she and the team decide that the Totem of Hope is the one they can afford to sacrifice. So we do at least get to see Kara throw something into the sun, as she tosses away the totem and seemingly upends the quest narrative this latter portion of the season has been built around.
Of course, the fact that Nyxly ultimately gets a protective suit from her “secret admirer” suggests the battle is far from over. But I appreciate Supergirl’s willingness to shake up the expected formula a bit, even in an episode that’s just a touch too formulaic elsewhere. Still, when I think back on “Hope For Tomorrow,” I suspect it wouldn’t be the Totem of Hope stuff I’ll remember. It’ll be the moments the Super Friends welcome a new generation into their midst—and inspire a different kind of hope along the way.
Stray observations
- Heads up: While the promo notes that there are five episodes of Supergirl left, the show will actually only be on for four more weeks as the finale is a two-hour special. It’s set to air November 9th.
- I’m fascinated by the choice to commit to Brainy being green full-time in the show’s final run of episodes. Why now?
- Truly, the opening scene of Alex painting the mural and Kara bringing the toys and Esme shaking J’onn’s hand was just so damn cute!!! Also pairing Brainy with a kid is such a good dynamic that I can’t believe the show hasn’t thought to do it before!
- There’s also such good adult drama to the way Alex idealizes her mom’s relationship with Kara, only for Kelly to remind her that Kara and Eliza had their own growing pains too. Alex and Kelly make for a really strong couple in this episode.
- Love that Kara has a soft spot for Kaznia.
- “I guess hope does trump fear.”
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Just tremendous that Esme figured out Kara is Supergirl immediately upon meeting the latter. Can’t pull anything on that girl.
-Awwwwwwwww Space Grandpa J’onn and Aunt Kara. And it’s been a while since we’ve seen nervous babbling Alex <3 But it’s too big of an idea to introduce this late into the show’s run, especially when it’s really just there so that Kara can eventually decide to go against it by throwing both country’s nuclear weapons into the sun.YEP. Imagine if this came up once or twice a season, or even mattered during the arc when Lex was doing all his Kaznia/Red Daughter manipulation-Baking is really the direction they should’ve taken William’s character in the first place. I think he probably turned up too late and with no romantic chemistry for him to ever make sense with Kara, but I sometimes wonder what would have happened if CW-Supergirl had introduced an intended LI who was actually nice and honest from the start.-Well this totem gave a straightforward description of its challenge...dammit Kara you’re supposed to inspire a lasting hope for peace here at the peace talks, not fly off to punch things!-LOL ESME KNOWS AFTER LENA FAILED TO NOTICE FOR LIKE FOUR YEARS?-Maybe take it a little slower with the poor kid’s powers? Actually, this is a really Alex way to fuck up for the first time as a parent. She’s terminally Extra, so of course she overestimates how much/how soon they can help Esme with her powers and stresses her out as a result.There’s also such good adult drama to the way Alex idealizes her mom’s relationship with Kara, only for Kelly to remind her that Kara and Eliza had their own growing pains too. Alex and Kelly make for a really strong couple in this episode.Agree, Kelly’s great here. If you had told me during the original Alex-wants-kids arc that I would love the episode where she gets a kid because they handled it so well, I would never have believed you. They did a really great job setting up Kelly’s empathy and connection to Esme, so the insta-parents plot really works well with what we already knew Alex wanted.-NO EVEN LENA’S IRISH/NEWFIE ASS SAYS “NUCULAR”-Did they just nuke the sun-The paragon of hope destroys the hope totem? That could be interesting.
Liked for “IRISH – NEWFIE ASS”
To be fair, Esme can sense people’s powers. That gives her a major advantage over Lena.
True about the advantage, but I still cackled about it.
Oh yeah, Esme just straight up saying she knows Kara is supergirl was funny.
The moment Esme met Kara, I was wondering how long it take for her to imitate Kara’s powers and if it would be played for humor or be an issue. Same with keeping everyone’s identities a secret. Her immediately recognizing that Kara and Supergirl have the same powers and are the same person was actually adorable.
SUPER adorable. I had to pause the tape because I was laughing so much. A great moment.
The dumbest part of Alex pushing Esme so hard with her powers is they chose the worst Supergirl power possible for her to practice with. They could have let her do something fun like try to levitate a little or pick up something heavy, but instead they chose the power most likely to overwhelm her senses.
But wait until Brainy tells Esme to “ eat her vegetables “.
I honestly can’t find anything brief to say about this episode, because it was jam-packed, rushed, and just completely out of control. One comment would beget another. Everything would be contextualized, again, by the fact that there’s only five episodes left.So, I dunno, I’ll pick one thing at random:
The “human history” thing was just a badly written line. There’s nothing to read into. There’s no time travel callback, no hex on Kara from a Sphinx Of The Sacred Timeline, nothing like that. Some writer just thought that “human history” was a fair way to say “humanity’s path going forward.”Narrator: it was not.Here’s my snark for the week: jesus, writers. At least give us a one-second easter-egg flash of the second-date U-Haul before skipping all the way to the fifth-date adoption! And I must object to the lack of frumpy matching outfits, which very clearly would have been purchased on either the third or fourth. And no vegetable garden? Come ON.
A different show – one not so completely guileless in its pro-social positivity – might’ve caught some mad shit for that lazy lesbian accelerationism.
Weird lesbian jokes aside: Alex and Kelly have been together two years. Starting a family now might be fast in real life, but not particularly by TV standards.
honestly, for thirtysomething lesbians, the weird part is less trying to adopt a kid after two years and more that the process would…not be instantaneous from there.
The “human history” line is lifted straight from Jor-El’s teachings in the first Superman film.https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/e1ea7313-65d4-4494-84b9-84e50730998d
Yes, but that’s not part of this show.
Since when has Kara followed the Prime Directive? Stupid Captain Kara Archer following bullshit rules that don’t exist.I laughed pretty hard at Hope Totem being at the Hague. I guarantee you you will never find hope there.Also can Andrea make up her fucking mind? Is Kara supposed to be reporting on the Super Friends or not? Like what am I supposed to think about this character? Is she supposed to be a hard ass boss or a complete buffoon who doesn’t know what she’s doing.Was the kid that Kara saved supposed to be the same one Red Daughter Supergirl befriended? You know the one Lex tried to have killed to motivate her and whose death Otis faked and then we never addressed the kid again?
Was the kid that Kara saved supposed to be the same one Red Daughter
Supergirl befriended? You know the one Lex tried to have killed to
motivate her and whose death Otis faked and then we never addressed the kid again?Dang, that would have been an awesome call back!
it would have been but i don’t think that was him. believe me i had the same thought. they really just let red daughter die without knowing he was still alive and until last night’s episode they gave no indication kara has red daughter’s memories
I vote for complete buffoon. She had no background in news before buying Catco. I don’t even know why she bothered to steal that and only that from her father. The whole Catco plot this season has been a mess and a waste.
Why does Supergirl still need a spacesuit Post-Crisis but her cousin doesn’t?It’s strange that Kaznia & Corto Maltese would be at war given how geographically distant they are. Why do such small nations have such large nuclear arsenals too?Destoying the Hope totem which will surely backfire on the world.
Clearly Kara will have to sacrifice herself to become the new Hope Totem.
Would make sense given how S & L has played out. Supergirl “dies” to restore hope and a now powerless Kara saves people through her journalism.
No I think Kara’s just going to go away all together. Whether it’s going to be dying or being wiped from existence or something else remains to be seen.
I think the real takeaway is that Kaznia and Corto Maltese clearly get their missiles from the same arms dealer.
I got a laugh out of that. No “Hey There!” or “From Kaznia with Love” painted on the sides either. ‘shame.
Remember that Kasnia also had an aircraft carrier despite being landlocked.
Is there any thought going into this show anymore? It’s always been the same damn character beats over and over with no development of subtlety, but the stench of “playing out the string” has never been stronger. Case in point: I guess J’onn in his Martian outfit might be uncomfortable for the negotiators, but did he really have to attend the peace talks in his casual Friday outfit? I no longer care about these characters, the acting gets less involved every week as the plotting gets lazier, and it reminds me of nothing so much as a baseball team 25 games out in August, knowing that while they still have to play, their hearts are never going to be in it.
That ending bit with the “secret admirer” got an audible “Oooo!” from me. I had completely forgotten Lex Luthor was still in play since the trial wrapped earlier in the season. Glad to know the show hasn’t lost its ability to surprise.Yeah, this episode seemed to lean heavily into viewers being familiar with the Chris Reeve films and the “forbidden to interfere with human history” edict. I kind of lost the plot on how Kara became worthy; Compared to the gauntlet’s cryptic trial hints prior, this one felt pedestrian.Why does Esme’s bedroom have French doors? That bugged me to no end. I could understand if Alex and Kelly converted some spare room into a bedroom, but the set looks like it was designed to be a bedroom first. One of those minor things where the show would feel more lived-in if you could tell it was a converted room with furniture piled to the side instead of a fully decorated kids room.
The doors on the bedrooms in Alex and Kelly’s apartment are weird. They have glass that’s frosted but still a little transparent. It’s a bad set design choice.
I want to know where that danged bedroom even came from. Have I just not noticed another doorway before?
“Didn’t this used to be a studio apartment? Is the marital bed still in the living room and clearly visible from the kitchen?” These were the main questions in my mind.
I was going to mention that as well but was so thrown by the extra bedroom just being there that I didn’t trust I was misremembering it.
I’ve been looking at a lot of houses lately, something I do when bored. I am frequently surprised at how many bedrooms have French doors. Madness.
French doors work for a dining room but not for a bedroom. I don’t get this trend.
Helicopter parents.
The apartment I lived in for 19 years after college had four sets of french doors. When I lived with my ex, our bedroom, dining room, kitchen and the office all had french doors. When I reconfigured the rooms to have a roommate, the roomate’s room had french doors (had been the office) with curtains and I swapped what had been the bedroom into the living room – not because of the doors, but because you had to walk through it to get to the other bedroom. That living room served as a guest room for visitors as well (pull out couch). I think the only thing that was ever weird was the door from the kitchen letting me see anyone sleeping on the couch. Oh, and it trained the cat to be really, really nosy because she was used to being able to see into all by two rooms right at eye level. Lots of open floor plan, studio-alcove apartments are converted with some odd door choices. The French doors let in the light from any windows in the room and preserve the more open feeling that loft and studio spaces might be designed to have. In this case, french doors make sense if installed in the wide opening of what were functionally alcoves because you need the double door design for the width. Otherwise, you get something that looks like closets gone wrong.
– The mural looks like M’gann, yet we haven’t seen nor heard from her once since the return from hiatus. I am assuming COVID, but IIRC, the only mention was that she was looking after National City while everyone else went into the Phantom Zone. – Why Superman 4? WHY!?- This isn’t the first time this has happened on this show, but did the writers really forget that Brainy said there were a set of Totems on every world? Is there any reason why Nyxly can’t grab another Totem of Hope from another planet and use that?- There was nothing specifically wrong about the Esme stuff, but I am invested so little in Alex/Kelly (and find them to be two of the more annoying characters on the show) that it largely made me roll my eyes instead of bring charmed. – If I were either of those countries, or frankly, any UN country, I’d be utterly pissed at what Supergirl did. Superman 4 at least they all gave them up willingly. What Supergirl did should have created a huge national incident. Which, I guess would be good for CatCo given how much Andrea loves negative news. Speaking of which…- Fuck you Andrea. Again.- How exactly did William know that the red crystal was the Courage Totem? He has no idea what the magic dampening cuff looks like, nor that the extra bit held the Totem.- Remind me, does Lena still have her personal wealth after leaving L-Corp, or did Lex somehow freeze her assets? I’m just curious about what Lena plans to do for a day job. – Speaking of, nice to see that Lex isn’t forgotten. Hopefully he makes another appearance soon.
I wonder if they will address what happened to M’gann before the season is over? Is she still in National City? She can’t still be patrolling the city now. That explanation works for a temporary absence but if she’s not returning before the end of the season why not say she isn’t in town or on earth?“There was nothing specifically wrong about the Esme stuff, but I am invested so little in Alex/Kelly (and find them to be two of the more annoying characters on the show) that it largely made me roll my eyes instead of bring charmed.”I love Alex but they rushed the build up to Alex/Kelly and largely skipped over the honeymoon phase and what we do see of them is lame. They half-assed this relationship yet expect us to care about them as a couple. Andrea continues to be the worst character on the show. Sometimes its like they want us to sympathize with her but then they write her as so dislikeable. “Remind me, does Lena still have her personal wealth after leaving L-Corp, or did Lex somehow freeze her assets? I’m just curious about what Lena plans to do for a day job.”I don’t know if we will find out if any of the Superfriends outside of Kara, Nia and Kelly still has a day job.
rushing alex’s romantic relationships is really the only way they know how to tell that story. remember she proposed to maggie in the same season they first met
The better question is why Superman IV and no Jon Cryer?
I had the same thought as well, cause a snarky Lex Luthor/Jon Cryer comment about Supergirl stealing a country’s nukes would have been a beautiful thing. I’m betting on another unfortunate COVID protocol issue.
If Lex is the secret admirer, he might snark about it next week.
– This isn’t the first time this has happened on this show, but did the writers really forget that Brainy said there were a set of Totems on every world? Is there any reason why Nyxly can’t grab another Totem of Hope from another planet and use that?This is such a good point! Her partner in crime has a space ship. She could bugger off to a planet with no superheroes and pick up a set with ease. Makes the whole plot into nonsense.
Lots of excellent points here. Not the least of which: Supergirl makes a very specific choice to completely disarm two sovereign nation-states. Granted, their use of nuclear weapons was PROVING to be reckless and a clear and present danger, but Kara’s actions here send one message, and the boundaries of her actions send another, louder one: every other nuclear power with a weapons program is allowed to keep it. It is only slightly less thorny that both the nations in question are made up DCU nations. We can still assume that on Kara’s earth, like on ours, the United States has nukes, Russia has nukes, and nations like Iran and North Korea are working on having nukes. Kara decides to intervene on the issue of nuclear war, but unlike the post-Donnerverse Kal-El, she makes a very specific decision about who doesn’t get to have them, and a de facto decision about who does. This is the most reckless thing about Kara’s actions on this episode, and why ultimately, I feel Kara’s solution is inferior to the one made in Superman IV, for all that movie’s problems.
Yeah, let’s destroy the physical manifestation of all hope on Earth, THERE’S NO WAY THAT COULD EVER BACKFIRE CATASTROPHICALLY.
F you Andrea. Kara should have let her soft land into those tvs before catching her.
“Though it’s a little weird that Kelly and Alex leap into motherhood without any discussion of how this ratchets up the seriousness of their own relationship (they only just moved in together earlier this season!),”That’s a problem I have with this storyline. The writers seemed to feel that Alex’s very common desire to be a mother required a storyline about it before the show was done. It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t really make sense at this point in her life or in her relationship with Kelly for her to become a mother.
I thought the way Kelly even introduced the idea of adopting Esme to be very manipulative. I mean, she brought Alex to meet Esme without any discussion in advance and brought up the idea of fostering her in front of her. I mean, it’s not surprising that Alex would be on board but to drop it without even a discussion and force Alex to decide with Esme right there is not cool.
Considering that Alex wanting kids is the reason she broke up with Maggie, I’m sure that Alex talked about wanting a child all the time when she’s with Kelly.
they needed to have alex adopt since they have been skirting around the issue since she broke up with maggie back in season three. to not even have alex on the road to adoption after all this time made me feel like she broke up with maggie for nothing
I don’t agree with that. Alex breaking up with Maggie over wanting kids someday didn’t mean that she needed to have a child ASAP or before the show ended. They could have ended the show with Alex and Kelly engaged or married and planning to have children in the future.
even just having alex on the road to adoption is enough for me so the fact they have esme now is even better
Speedrunning Quest for Peace was certainly a decision. But then again they’ve riffed on every other Reeve Superman film so I guess they felt they couldn’t leave one out? They absolutely could’ve left this one out,Poor Mitch, he’s about to get tossed aside in favor of Nyxly’s new boy toy.
I feel like Mitch is setup as a love interest for Nyxly? Like after she’s defeated by Kara, he’ll go “Well I’ll still be here to support you” and that’ll be her happy ending. Either that or he’s actually another Imp in disguise for an 11th hour swerve.
Spoilers for future episodesLex and Nyxly are going to hook up, sorry Mitch.
I still don’t know what the Totem of Courage wanted from Kara. I was honestly expecting the climax of the season to revolve around Kara revisiting that Trial and doing it right, depriving Nyxly of one of the totems at the last moment, but I guess instead William grabs it, nbd.Maybe it meant for her to ‘have the Courage to be vulnerable’, like Nyxly, so perhaps she should have not tried to hide true identity from the beginning?
I thought it was going to be the courage to let Alex die to save her secret. I expected dark and twisted from that totem, I guess.
Except the show just last season said Kara was right to hide her identity. So to now turn around and take the opposite tack seems really, uh, odd.
All this talk of hope, and Supergirl is just taking it all away from Nyxly. How would she like it if her own hope was crushed in return:Who will pay the price for her interference? Alex? J’onn? William? Nya? Brainy? Lena?Will any of the Super Friends suffer and break like Tim Drake did in Return of the Joker? Will they be forced to share such secrets with Nyxly:
“Secret admirer” great, awesome, we’re gonna get some more Lex Luthor thank god. I dunno, the Esme stuff just feels forced, like so many of Alex’s stories. Chyler has been amazing, but the writing and plotting have often been terrible, so I’ve never been able to care about them. Maybe they can make the landing stick, but it’s hard.
I love Alex but after season 3 the showrunners didn’t seem to be able to give her a decent arc.
I think Brainy is going green full time because William is embedded with the Super Friends. Maybe to throw William off from Brainy’s secret identity? Does Brainy even have a secret identity?
At least they finally gave us something to understand how William was able to survive being undercover with a drug cartel. Convenient or not, it was a pretty slick move. Now let’s see how long it takes for him to notice that everyone close to Kara is a Super Friend. Hell, the cub reporter he works with and who gave him a freaking tip about the Super Friends is dating Brainy who, I ask again, does he even have a secret identity?
Brainy in theory shouldn’t have any secret identity William would be aware of, unless Nia has brought him to the office before? I do like the green as a bit of extra production value; ever since post Crisis I keep waiting for J’onn to go into Martian form again, but he has the battle suit now so they’ve cut that expense away.
Except he was inexplicably had his Martian head when he and Kara first arrived at the Hague, before turning human again. I wonder if there was a VFX mix-up.
OK I thought I saw that, and then it was gone just as quickly, so I thought I had imagined it. Interesting.
i know brainy went non green to hide the fact he was an alien before but the show never gave him a secret identity. not like everyone else
I assume the “Brainy and Dreamy are dating” piece would not be hard for William to pick up on while embedded. So, if Brainy is also dating Nia… who is your Super Friends contact…that might be cutting it a bit close. Alex has a cover story that absolves Kara of direct tie in specifically because of her DEO past. I think the question is if William has ever been to game night? Because then the risks are more likely.
I agree that the adoption storyline carried more weight than the totem stuff. It’s getting harder, for me at least, to keep track of which totem is where, which totem does what, who has which powers and so on. Rule of funny: Supergirl’s secret identity is outed immediately by a little kid. Also funny dialogue from the panicked heroes, ‘that’s a private matter, okay, honey?’ Too bad Lena wasn’t there to get a reaction shot from her as well.The wham shot of the Lex-O suit at the end indicates (I hope) that we will be moving past the exhausting exposition and into more battle scenes. And how did Lex know where to send it? Brainy has been looking for Mitch’s ship for weeks with no success.
I liked Esme meeting Lena & saying “you’re pretty!” Yes, yes she is. Nice for someone on the show to notice! I love Alex & it was hard to see her screw up parenting so hard after how much she wanted it. Makes sense she would be trying too hard initially though & I’m sure she will do better. Kara throwing hope into the sun is kind of how I feel about this show ending
the moment esme told lena she was pretty was instantly the hightlight of the episode for me
Destroying any totem was always going to be bad, but maybe think about all of them as options instead of just the ones currently activated. Like, destroying destiny could just give us free will, maybe? Also, Nia is still going after dreams, right?
with even one destroyed there’s no reason to go after any of them now
The only thing I have to say about this show now is whoever this little girl is playing Esme has put it in her mind she’s going to be the most adorable little ray of sunshine and angst on the CW. Jesus Christ she’s adorable!
I am almost positive that the watch given to Nyxly will allow her to turn back time and grab the Hope totem back (because why else would they destroy the Hope Totem and write it off if that didn’t destroy Nyxly?).I wonder how many episodes we will see Lex for? I also doubt he will be killed even by the finale so we probably will see him locked up in the tower or something.This week’s character who is in dream world is Nia. Does that mean next week will be a duo with either Alex/Kelly taking Esme to the forest somewhere?
Is there some background try for this show to keep going without Kara. Rename it “Superfriends” or something?
Still having trouble appreciating the saccharine antics of Alex and Kelly. Here’s why their efforts with Esme fell flat with me: I was a kid who didn’t feel exactly “secure” growing up, and if adults came to me all smiles and big promises, I wouldn’t believe a word of it. Alex and Kelly seem to think children are stupid and you can overcome early trauma just by big promises, which in the real world wouldn’t work, but since this show has decided that Kelly and Alex can do no wrong, it works out to be a flawless strategy. I would have been a lot happier if they’d made just a little progress with Esme, but acknowledged there was still a way to go. I could have actually started to like Kelly / Alex.Wait, Kelly plus Alex equals … Kelex? Can we get the original Kelex back please?J’onn and the diplomats … I would have liked to see J’onn talk them past some of their fears, maybe make a little progress and show us once again why he’s the wise pater familias. But the show didn’t want to go there.
“Love that Kara has a soft spot for Kaznia.” the line would make more sense if they gave any indication at all that kara has red daughter’s memories which they haven’t up to this point
Supergirl’s writing room has been struck by almost lethal quantity of stupidity.
They can’t cope with the “weight” of a final season? I dunno, but nothing seems to make sense anymore.
From Kara’s speech about not allowed to interfere with human history or something (huh??), to destroying the totem of hope (and the whole confusing totem’s saga) and the completely unrealistic story of adopting little alien Esme by two parents who are both superheroes.
Writer’s stupidity also hit hard all “superfriends” ‘s characters who apparently were busy finding Esme too cute to think that none of them with powers should be even standing next to her (I am not even going to expect some relatively reasonable person to ask Alex and Kelly about the logistics of raising a child with super power while both of them being busy saving the world).
Supergirl is still my fav arrowverse show (although the Legends are catching up), but this season is a big failure and a big waste of the acting talent involved.
I am not even going to expect some relatively reasonable person to ask Alex and Kelly about the logistics of raising a child with super power while both of them being busy saving the worldSuperman and Lois manage it. It’s not going to happen but I kind of want a reference to Clark and Lois giving Alex/Kelly and Barry/Iris tips on raising kids with powers.
Well I have my objections for Superman and Lois’ family, but that’s another topic. Still, Superman is a superhero with super powers and Lois is a reporter, not a vigilante.
So the adoption thing reminds me of something I saw on my (so far) only pilgrimage to the Super Museum in Metropolis IL. In a display case, kind of stuffed in with other knickknacks, is a bumper sticker from what has to be the 60s or 70s, from some New Jersey foster care service, with a drawing of Superman and the caption: “SUPERMAN HAD FOSTER PARENTS”. And goddamn if it didn’t make me well up right there. I need to believe that some foster kid was feeling like shit, saw that sticker on someone’s car, and felt better. It had to have happened at least once, right?
Almost done
I was really confused by the timeline between this episode and the previous one. This one starts with Kelly and Alex talking about how they have adopted* Esme and they list all of the steps they had to go through and they say “6 months”. Does this mean it’s been 6 months since the previous episode? Or that it will take 6 months for the adoption to be completed? At first I thought they had done a 6-month time skip to explain how A&K had gone from deciding to adopt Esme in the previous episode to having her move in with them in this one.But everything in the Totem storyline indicates this episode takes place only a few days later – William’s article has just been published, and they talk about the previous totem as if that just happened. So this was very confusing.Also, I’m pretty sure there’s no way an un-wed couple would be able to foster/adopt a child *this* quickly – which is why I was so sure there had been a time skip.
When William grabbed the totem from Nxly, I was sure this was going to be the show’s way to give him powers and have him join the Superfriends.