Supergirl introduces its new Guardian
Kelly Olsen suits up as National City's latest superhero in an episode about the weight of racial trauma
TV Reviews Supergirl
Another week, another episode of Supergirl with wonderful
intentions and imperfect execution. Like a lot of entries in the back half
of Supergirl’s sixth and final season, “Blind Spots” has a distinctly “very
special” episode quality to it. Kelly’s official debut as Guardian is tied to a
broader story about systemic racism, white fragility, and the importance of true
allyship in the face of the dispiriting exhaustion of oppression. All fantastic
issues for the show to be exploring, for sure—especially given how white its
feminism was for its first few seasons. The problem is that Supergirl’s
sixth season is struggling to figure out how to frame these important
issues in a way that doesn’t just feel like a PSA. And while “Blind
Spots” has some compellingly original ideas and powerful metaphorical images—like a rich white councilwoman
literally draining the lifeforce from the people of color in her
district—they fight for screentime with the show’s more didactic impulses.
The bulk of “Blind Spots” is centered around the collapse of the Ormfell
apartment building two episodes ago, which the Super Friends largely brushed past
in their rush to figure out a way to stop Nyxly. It turns out Kelly was one of the first
people on the scene, however. And after literally pulling poor little Joey from
the rumble, she’s horrified to see the lack of resources available at the local
hospital in the Heights. In an obvious parallel for the Covid pandemic, respirators
and nurses are in short supply for desperate community members, even as privileged
people like Councilwoman Rankin are able to get personalized care and expensive
trial drugs in wealthy areas. It’s a brutally honest portrait of the twin evils of underfunding and medical racism. And the inequality is almost too
much for Kelly to bear, especially when her Super Friends are too distracted by
big picture problems with Nyxly to take the time to back her up.
The thing is, that message would ring a lot truer
if this season hadn’t dedicated so much time to showing Kara serving as Orlando’s
advocate in such a direct and personal way. If the point of this episode were
to shine a light on the way white allies can be committed to fighting racial
injustice one second only to get distracted by a different social problem the
next, that would be a pointed, timely message. But instead “Blind
Spots” has Kara and Alex experience some moments of racial reckoning
101 that just don’t feel entirely true for where they’re at in the series. I’m all for
highlighting the blind spots and flaws of the Danvers sisters. But in the
scenes where they inelegantly but earnestly express their guilt, confusion, and
desire to help, they feel more like generic white women avatars than the characters
we’ve seen grow and mature in matters of allyship over the past six years.
Indeed, “Blind Spots” is at its best when it leans into the
specificity of its characters, rather than trying to deliver broader social
commentary. Azie Tesfai (who also co-wrote the episode) gets some standout
acting moments as Kelly struggles to keep her usually carefully controlled
emotions in check. You can feel her pain build up each time her small, human
concerns are brushed aside for some big picture superheroing. And she has lovely chemistry
with David Ramsey (who also directed the episode) as John Diggle rounds out his
Arrowverse tour with a stop in National City. While it definitely feels like a
role that was conceived for James and awkwardly grafted onto Dig, “Blind Spots”
finds some nice moments of connection for Kelly and Diggle—from their shared
military backgrounds to their shared experiences with racial trauma. Not to mention their shared experiences working with white superheroes who don’t always listen to their points of view without proof.
Similarly, I always appreciate when Supergirl has J’onn
grapple with his experience as a Martian who’s spent most of his time on Earth
living as a Black man. And having Brainy offer some 31st century perspective
was also a welcome use of the specificity of the show’s setup. (Although, oof,
the idea that things are still bad that far into the future is pretty bleak.) The
moment Andrea explains that what happens in the Heights isn’t newsworthy for
CatCo’s demographic beyond its impact on the city’s traffic is brutal in how
tossed off it is. And the closest this episode comes to finding specificity in
Kara’s story is in the idea that she was more willing to fight for alien rights
back in season four because she felt a personal connection to that
struggle in a way she doesn’t with racism.
As for Kelly’s climatic debut as Guardian, it’s… fine? Or at least on
par with the effects and action of the rest of the season—which is to say, not
particularly impressive. I’m not sure I needed Kelly to become a literal superhero
this late into the show’s run, especially when it could’ve been fascinating
to see her lead the same battle for social justice from a civilian point of
view. But there’s a certain degree of rolling with the punches I’ve learned to
do with that kind of stuff on these CW superhero shows. And at least the scene where Brainy excitedly shows off
his costume ideas is fun. (Although I actually found it harder to accept
that Orlando couldn’t recognize Kelly in a mask than the fact that National City
can’t recognize Kara once she takes her glasses off.)
Still, when I think back on “Blind Spots” the scene I’ll
remember most won’t be Kelly in her Guardian costume deflecting 5th Dimensional
Energy from a rooftop. It’ll be the final sequence where Kelly, in a head
scarf and “Say Her Name” t-shirt, gently guides Alex towards what she needs from
her: Love and support without the expectation that she be able unpack and communicate
everything she’s feeling for the benefit of someone else. Of all the teaching
moments “Blind Spots” tries to deliver, that’s the one that feels most personal,
original, and directly applicable as a communication template for the show’s audience—whether
they’re in Kelly’s shoes or Alex’s.
Stray observations
- Orlando becoming the Height’s next councilman is a great endpoint
for his arc! I hope the show follows through on that idea. Jhaleil Swaby has
been a wonderful addition to the back half of the season. - It’s subtle, but I like the way this episode positions Nia
as a more naturally intuitive ally than either Alex or Kara—perhaps because she
has her own experience with marginalization. (I also loves when she stops Brainy from
delivering another vegetable PSA to the newly healed hospital patients.) - The scene of Rankin bribing a fellow councilwoman with
stacks of magic cash felt very Wonder Woman 1984. - Apparently the DEO desert facility still exists! So I guess destroying
that one building didn’t actually destroy an entire government agency! - It’s nice that Diggle gives Black Lightning’s Jefferson Pierce a shout-out as
he references the importance of having heroes for the people, not just to the
people. - I’ll have to leave it to more well-versed Arrowverse/Green Lantern fans to figure out what exactly was going on with Diggle in that department. But Brainy sure gives a knowing look when Dig delivers the line, “Worlds await.”
98 Comments
This makes a much stronger case for Kelly being Guardian than it ever did for James. Her costume is better too, mostly because her ensemble is navy & gold. I also like her helmet’s slight Phantom Of The Paradise vibe.
In a year where covid kiboshed the annual Beeboverse crossover, kudos to Diggle for being one-man Post-Crisis continuity glue! If only he’d made it onto Black Lightning too! At least he got to quote Jefferson Pierce.
When Lena hastily leaves Newfoundland without taking the grimoire, her mother’s friend has it posted so it arrives in National City before her.
Her costume is better too, mostly because her ensemble is navy & gold. I also like her helmet’s slight Phantom Of The Paradise vibe. Seriously, that costume was on point! I really liked the braids, though much like I did with Curtis on Arrow, I’ll probably be questioning how she gets her hair braided so quick
I can’t tell if the braids are supposed to be real or not in-universe, Kelly doesn’t seem to have the length and volume of hair for those braids. I thought it was supposed to be like the Batwoman cowl with a built-in wig to obfuscate her identity.
I thought it was supposed to be like the Batwoman cowl with a built-in wig to obfuscate her identity.
Very good point, I hadn’t thought of that
Yeah, that took me right out of the show. Canada Post is not that fast. I live in Michigan and I can’t even get mail from Windsor that quickly.
Magic mail. A Hogwarts Owl rushed the book over.
You said that about “Hogwarts Owl”, and this was what I pictured, Bob Funch!
Goddamn I love Phantom of the Paradise! I know what I’m watching this weekend.
Dig didn’t appear on Black Lightning? Wow, wasted opportunity! Feels like the first place for him to go on his After-Arrow world tour.
Man, what a crapsack world a building collapses and it doesn’t even make the evening news. I suppose that’s par for a superhero universe where various degrees of destruction happen regularly, but still…Indeed, “Blind Spots” is at its best when it leans into the specificity of its characters, rather than trying to deliver broader social commentary.This is a good summation of my problem with the episode. Kara stands there taking the “How to be an ally” speech we’ve seen posted so many times on IG, FB, TikTok. The problem is that speech is fine for you or me, but Kara is in a position of power and there’s probably a very specific list of things she could be doing better. It does come off as Kara nodding “OK, right, be a better ally. Yep. Got it.” then she flies off again after the battle is won. I’ve liked seeing David Ramsey again across all the shows, though outside of The Flash most of his appearances feel grafted in like some comic book editorial mandate for character x to make an appearance. I’d like to think the look Brainy gives him at the end is a hint that Brainy already knows what his future holds.Nia also felt weirdly shoehorned in with very little dialogue, like they knew she needed to be there for the big group shot but didn’t know what to do with her otherwise.
– So, the message of the episode is fine, but the crux of the episode is built on the fact that CatCo, apparently the only local news in National City, not only cannot cover more than one story, but decides to devote more coverage to traffic than AN ENTIRE APARTMENT BUILDING COLLAPSING OVERNIGHT. We’ll ignore that the building would have been in the news due to the councilwoman anyway, it hasn’t been THAT long since a different apartment building actually DID collapse in the middle of the night and every single news outlet covered it for about a week and a half. No fucking wonder Iris is kicking CatCo’s ass in views all by herself.- As someone who has had breathing problems in the past, watching Joey walk into the hospital made be cringe. Either Orlando or Kelly should have been carrying him or put him in a wheelchair. Forcing someone who can’t breathe to walk is NOT helping.- I’m sure this was due to COVID limiting how many extras could be on set, but the show did a really poor job at showing what an overflowing ER would really look like. Chicago Med this wasn’t.- We were told a few episodes ago that Joey can’t control his powers and they tend to go crazy whenever he is agitated or upset. Why were his powers not freaking out at the hospital? Are he and his brother no longer aliens? And why didn’t Kelly/Orlando take Joey to another hospital when it was obvious they weren’t getting immediate care?- The Guardian helmet looks fine from the side, but really stupid from the front. Also, how did she teleport from the top of the hospital to the ground after beating the councilwoman?- Man, Dig was SO wasted here. Maybe he’ll somehow show up in Stargirl. – I actually thought the show was being decent since it came back from hiatus, but man, this episode was so bad. Not helped by how great Stargirl was just before it. I know I shouldn’t judge it based on those early logic holes, but they took me right out of the episode.
This. I hope the show ends with Jimmy getting the reigns to CatCo.
Jimmy who had the reigns during seasons 2-4? No thanks.
I’ll take him over Andrea click bait Rojas any day of the week. Who knows maybe growing metal arms and bulking up made him a better manager. XD
He already had the reins and he did fuck-all with them.
I’m sure this was due to COVID limiting how many extras could be on set, but the show did a really poor job at showing what an overflowing ER would really look like. It’s kind of sad that between COVID, 9/11, the Florida condo collapse and any other number of horrors, we can all look this disaster scene and go “Nope, hospital’s not overflowing enough. Not enough chaos. Not enough smoke at the disaster site. Not enough rubble. Not enough sirens…”
I would have the same complaint regardless. My mother used to be an ER nurse back in the 90’s. I’ve seen first hand how busy an overflowing ER is.
This week’s Stargirl was atrocious too. They are all starting to act so stupid. They have been told nearly 100 times that Eclipso preys on the darkness in your heart, makes you ser things, and screws with your head. Yet the only thing they really question is the one thing that is probably true, which is Dr. McNider talking to Beth. Beth’s reaction to uolanda’s confession was atrocious, and they should really just kick Beth off the team.And maybe don’t leave the pieces of a mystical, demon prison lightly wrapped in a rag on your desk?
Presumably, the building collapsing is no longer news, because it was swiftly followed by a giant cat attack, and then a giant dragon attack.
If Dig does a guest spot on Stargirl, which I thought is on another universe, that would be impressive.
Orlando becoming the Height’s next councilman is a great endpoint for his arc! I hope the show follows through on that idea. Jhaleil Swaby has been a wonderful addition to the back half of the season.
He really has been. Jhaleil just has enough of that kinda “Aww gosh shucks” charisma around him that he’s been very compelling
Yeah I suppose if the councilwoman who wants to demolish the low income housing project suddenly turns into a supervillain then you have good excuse to turn Kelly into Guardian and just easy mode through all the rest of the stuff.
It’s Guardian, it’s always Guardian that’s the problem, it’s always been Guardian. Everything about this story was good until you hit superhero stuff, at which point it just went sliding off the rails. Because honestly, everything that Kelly said about being a hero for her people, in this instance would have a lot more impact if Kelly just went in as Kelly. A normal person fighting for the people who doesn’t need a suit and shield to help people. Because that’s where she’s going to be doing most of her fighting, as Kelly dealing with the civilian end of things (And frankly who the hell is she supposed to be fighting as Guardian? The cops? The land developers? They’re not all going to be supervillains)
Nice to see Diggle again, for one last time. I don’t know what the whole point of his “story arc” throughout all these guest appearances was but it was nice to see him again.
Mostly Diggle’s appearances have been a Green Lantern tease, but it has been nice to also have him show the shared universe post-Crisis.
Dig’s whole deal might still culminate in The Flash’s big crossover event. Maybe? Seems like the place for it, anyway.
I don’t think Dig’s green ring story is really continuing in a meaningful way. I firmly believe David just wanted to direct episodes, but the execs only gave him the gig if he’d agree to guest-star too.
I have a feeling that he’s going to be in the HBO Max GL show and they’re just waiting for the official announcement any day.
Yeah, he wasn’t even playing Diggle on Legends. Not sure how that’s supposed to be part of any arc for the character.
To some degree the Arrowverse shot itself in the foot on this one when it took the fan speculation and started leaning into it hard with the numerous references. Diggle was never meant to be Stewart, and DC/WB never cleared Green Lantern for use in the Arrowverse. So now it’s become a weird dance of how much they can continue this storyline and keep fans hooked without actually pulling the trigger.
This whole arc is also impacted by Stargirl introducing a new GL. I do not think they are going to want more than one on at a time
I am boggled why the show is making a new hero with 8 eps left to go.And, I’m sorry, it’s so bad. Guardian 1.0 was bad. Guardian 2.0 is still bad. It’s *so* forced.Also, I guess Brainy put dreads and threads into her helmet? And that ending bit, with the books? I mean, Supergirl’s never been subtle, but come on…
I am boggled why the show is making a new hero with 8 eps left to go.Two heroes if you count this Lena magic powers arc!
See, that I can understand. Lena has never really been able to fight at the front line and she’s been just as important a character to the series as J’onn and Alex are. Sure, it’s really convenient that Lena finds out she has magical powers JUST when Supergirl is facing a Big Bad with super magical powers of her own, but at least she’ll be able to contribute more to that plot than Guardian could.
I don’t think Lena needs to be on the front lines. She’s always been able to contribute to saving the day without being an action character. If the writers really wanted her to be out there with the team more often there were better ways to do it. Some people had issues with Alex becoming a superhero but it made sense that she would want that after leaving the DEO. This Lena development just feels out of nowhere to me.
None of this shit makes any sense in the context of a show that is ending in eight episodes. None of it. It’s actually a pretty unique train wreck, come to think of it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show that knew it was ending, ostensibly on its own terms and with fair warning, be so utterly brazen about writing as though it’s not ending.
I mean… the woman *literally* built an artificial sun just a few episodes ago. Her superpower has always been science. Shoving her into a magical plotline just because they needed someone with magic powers to fight Nyxly is just sloppy.
I mean, it’s Supergirl. Of course the plot is done sloppily.
Not only that, it’s a deeply stereotypical “magical Irish nature powers” plotline too. They made Lena’s mother Irish (or Newfoundland Irish now?) I think as a nod to Katie McGrath and her wandering accent, but they just couldn’t resist going the whole hog and having her be descended from benevolent Celtic nature witches too.
I am boggled why the show is making a new hero with 8 eps left to go.Given that season 6 was an “agreed upon” ending for the series and not the natural end like Arrow, I think this was planned early on and the showrunners are just carrying through. Also Kelly’s been firmly established since season 4, the Guardian persona since season 2, and there were hints during Crisis Kelly might take up the shield. I would be more annoyed if they were dropping in a brand new character.
“Given that season 6 was an “agreed upon” ending for the series and not the natural end like Arrow, I think this was planned early on and the showrunners are just carrying through.” It does feel like the writers are doing stories they came up with when they thought the show might last 7 seasons.
Every week, I think this show can’t get any worse, and yet every episode somehow brings new horrors. The show was trending on my Twitter timeline, so I looked at the posts and was dumbstruck to find people who not only can’t see past the piss-poor acting and (somehow) even worse writing, but who kvell over every inept moment.As you say, good on the show for wanting to at least mention these issues, but they’re handling them with all the subtlety of a semi truck through a plate glass window. There’s no subtext, there’s no nuance, there’s just people talking, characters making stupid decisions, and cliches left and right. Anyone who didn’t see that “hold me” finale coming down Broadway needs to get out more.
If Diggle is making this grand tour to set up his own Green Lantern show I really hope he takes Brainy and Nia along. Brainy would be a good fit, and I just want to see more of him and Nia.
Saving the day with barely-explained blue magic hoodoo that does whatever the plot needs it to? Hey, that’s Dreamer’s thing!
F you Andrea. F you.
Andrea even more than the councilwoman or Nyxly maybe will end up being the real villain of the final season
I don’t know what the writers are doing with her. She hasn’t done one damn thing to redeem her shitty, yellow journalism and now racist b.s.
Andrea is so awful that I don’t even really accept that she is genuinely Lena’s friend, though I have no reason to distrust this other than that I just don’t
almost every time they do a journalism it’s a race between Kara and her bosses to see who can be crappiest at it.
Kara has the right motivations but still nieve. Andrea is a freaking elitist click bait hungry jerk.
First of all, I’ll straight up say I enjoyed the hell out of this episode. Was it as subtle as that shot of Between the World and Me and White Fragility on Alex and Kelly’s coffee table? Yes, but I find that earnestness endearing. They let Azie Tesfai vent and she delivered, and I’m really glad the show found space in its last season for this performance because it was, I think, one of the best in the show’s run. What this episode reminded me of more than anything was the trans rights episode last season(I think? What is time?). It also had Kara fill the role of clueless cis white feminist. Both episodes were similarly blunt force trauma earnest, and both really lived and died on the strength of the central performance.Could’ve used a bit more concrete info on Dig’s whole arc, but whatever, I suspect nobody really wanted to say one way or another to keep their powder dry for anything that might be coming down the pike.
People also tend to forget that kids and teens are a huge part of this show’s viewership. They need those in your face messages about tolerance more than anyone.
Yeah – same with “Doctor Who” (some folks have complained about unsubtle messaging there the last couple years too.)
This was not remotely about tolerance. It came off terrible and didn’t teach anyone anything. The things she said to the superhero group when she first got pisaed at them were utterly ridiculous
When I first saw STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES’s episode “Let This Be Your Last Battlefield” in High School or college, I was deeply impressed by the message about race hate. Now I look at it and think it’s cartoonishly blunt, and wonder that Fred Freiberger was so cheap that all they could afford was extra White and Black foundation to make Bele and Lokai “alien”?But the fact remains the underlying message stuck with me over forty years later, which speaks to the episode having a far better effect than noticing Frank Gorshin and Lou Antonio looked like mirror-image mimes.
I think Azi did a pretty good job for a debuting co-writer. Her character became a bit more three-dimensional and the rest of the cast was written convincingly as well. Sure it was brick-subtle at points but no more so than any other SG episode.
Going full-progressive rarely helps fantasy shows (see Dr Who and Bright) – I think the logical-dissonance gets too much when we’re being asked to take this shit seriously, or being asked to reframe social issues as fantasy.
counterpoint: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Let_That_Be_Your_Last_Battlefield_(episode)
More counterpoints,
https://dcau.fandom.com/wiki/The_Last_Resort
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Bell_Riots
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Far_Beyond_the_Stars_(episode)
And one of the oldest ones from DC comics themselves:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044091/Bottom line it can be done well with great writing and directing. This episode wasn’t a full on failure like the Saved by the Bell drugs episode but it was a noble effort.
I don’t really know BB at all, and I’m not sure that ST:TOS:LTBYLB stands up as well as you think (it would certainly be mocked if it came out now).Which brings us to DS9, and I fully agree that, as far as working progressive ideas into a fantasy TV show go, it was one of the best and most consistent.I’d say that, apart from the consistently great writing, four things saved it:
1. Sisko means they avoid the trap of white saviour on racism-is-bad episodes
2. They tended to explore issues rather than solve them3. They didn’t patronise the audience by explaining, e.g., that there’s this thing called racism and how it’s really, really bad.4. Just because you’re on the side of the angels, it doesn’t mean you have to be one (and visa-versa re devils).Aside from that, I’m being a little facetious, but flip each of those points around to its opposite, and that’s poor Jodie’s run on Dr Who…Meandering on… one of the aspects of DS9 that I loved was its treatment of the Ferengi, who on one level “deserved” everyone’s suspicion and contempt, and there was no attempt to sugar-coat them or their culture.
The TOS episode at the time went far and above what other American shows were doing, but yeah very blunt.
I consider that ep one of the most meaningful and think of it often. Not because of the racism allegory but because of the ending. The idea that people will burn everything down around them because they can’t move beyond their hatred and then spend the rest of their lives in a futile battle they’ve both already lost feels kind of evergreen.
Wow, the Guardian looks great. It’s staggering how much Jack Kirby has influenced modern pop culture and yet, so few people know who he is or have bought Disney/Marvel’s necessary corporate narrative to dismiss him as just “an artist”- Kirby created the Guardian in the forties, he crafted Arrow’s origin story, he created the New Gods (of which Star Wars ripped off/was based on), and was the primary creative force for most of the MCU, which Stan Lee took credit on. It’s interesting that Kirby’s influence even touches these DC shows.
… thus, the “eat your vegetables” callback.There was a lot of “yes, this! … but on the other hand,“ Example: The “Say her name” shirt = yes! But then … “whoa, was Breonna Taylor murdered in the Arrowverse too?”* … that’s fucked up. I give the show points for totally going-for-it though. Last week and this week were a definite Part One & Part Two. Orlando took a second last week and gave a fraction of his monologue directly into camera. The moment was just about the right length, though; enough, anyway, to say “Did that just happen?” Did Kelly do the same this week? Just a fraction?*answer: yes, she got killed in the Arrowverse too. She died in all the ‘verses. It’s a lot to digest. I feel like I got my broccoli, carrots, and brussel sprouts too.
Once again, the execution was so poor that the show shouldn’t have tried. This back-half of the season has been unwatchable as it’s been consumed by these attempts at progressive messaging. Superhero shows can deliver these types of messages, but they need to be done well, and Supergirl isn’t doing that. It’s a shame to waste the final episodes in this way.
The messaging would work better if the writing were subtler (“I been readin’ about you. How you work for the blue skins … and how on a planet someplace you helped out the orange skins … and you done considerable for the purple skins! Only there’s skins you never bothered with — the black skins! I want to know … how come?! Answer me that, Mr. Green Lantern!”*) and the acting better. But the showrunners would rather slap us in the face with a concrete-filled glove.(*For the record, I don’t consider that subtle.)
Not subtle at all, but it worked a lot better than this. Maybe because it was art instead of television, but it did work better. I think if they just did that exact scene on the show it wouldn’t work as well.
Councilwoman Karen was a good villain, not nearly as sympathetic as Nyxly. She inadvertently killed her assistant for a sandwich, and was happy about it!
This episode was so heavy-handed, I would not have been surprised in the slightest if the councilwoman’s name was actually revealed to be Karen. The show has been pretty bad about reflecting real life the last few years, but this season has been ghastly. Where in the hell is Lex?!
As far as I’m concerned, it’s about 6 more episodes of Nyxly and then Lex is going to be the series finale big bad. or at least he damn well should. And then show up on Superman & Lois S2e1 opener, licking his wounds from the butt kicking Kara is sure to give him but another scheme starting in Smallville with his old friend that nerdy Clark Kent. Or he’s President Lex. But, yes, more Lex is basically at the back of my head every episode since the hiatus.
To say it was on the nose with the white woman stealing the black people’s energy is an insult to noses everywhere. I mean wow they even did the bootstraps line for anyone who still somehow had managed to dodge all the other anvils raining from on high.
First line of the review nailed it. Dig the morals, but man that execution.
I don’t really sympathize with Nyxly. Sure, she tried to overthrow her dad, and got sent to The Phantom Zone(s) for her trouble, but would she have been a better ruler of the 5th Dimension? Hell, most times in our OWN dimension, governments get overthrown more often than not by someone WORSE!
I go back on forth on whether I am sympathetic to Nyxley or not. I do think she has legitimate grievances, but she can get pretty murder-y
This is bad. Kelly is so underdeveloped as a character- you make her into a full fledged updated hero with like 5 episodes to go in the series? REALLY? Nice to see Dig again and get the sense he’s about to put on the ring. Brainy should have said something like “Its always the brightest day when you’re around John!”I still can’t believe this magic plotline is how they are choosing to end the show. Nary a mention of Clark from Dig. I wonder if Kara will have to go to the 5th Dimension to rule or something and it’ll have the effect of mindwiping people? Seems dumb but this show has done worse…
J’onn feeling more Martian than human yet keeping the face of “a Black man” on purpose was a subtle acknowledgement of British David Harewood portraying a Black American.But when remembering that the face he chose was based on a *specific* individual, namely the high-ranking DEO official Hank Henshaw, J’onn’s solidarity in understanding oppression loses something. Not to mention the whole White Martian/Green Martian race war…
Please don’t try to apply logic to this show. It’ll fall apart from the pressure. (Also going unsaid, why J’onn is still wearing Henshaw’s face rather than his own. He’s out as a Martian, the people who hate aliens are also likely to hate black people, and there’s no — dare I say it? — logical reason for him not to be himself, especially if he’s going to wear his Martian clothes.)
Because the Martian make-up is expensive and time-consuming to put on and take off.
It gets worse when you remember that the main two avatars of black suffering over the last couple of episodes are also aliens.
All the stuff Brainy added to the Guardian costume to hide Kelly’s identity are pretty useless if the mole on her lip is still noticeable. There’s no way Orlando would have not noticed that.Also, what exactly was the reason for having the Councilwoman arrested? It’s not that she didn’t commit numerous egregious crimes and deserved it. Most of them, like the bribe or killing her aide for a sandwich, the SuperFriends didn’t know about (& I doubt the other Councilwoman who took the cash was gonna fess up). The fight was pretty much a she said, she said situation. And really, what proof did they have that she was knowingly killing everyone whenever she used her magical powers? How do you explain that one?
She did stand in a public street and openly rant about her plans to destroy the city, and then proceed to blast the heroes with mystic energy. Assuming anyone recorded that …
Sheesh, I guess Kara didn’t learn anything from watching The Wire.
So anyway, here’s the joke: Kelly tears into Supergirl for her “blind spots,” Supergirl gets a stunned look on her face for five seconds and then agrees completely, and then fucks off to Africa and Asia to help hundreds of millions of people who are way worse off than the two brothers she was literally just helping a week ago. Kelly never hears from her again, because Supergirl’s too busy helping the people who need it most. Then the world ends because she was also too busy to manage her own lane properly. Oops.
Kara’s well-established as a well-meaning dum-dum, so I’m not going to go the extra mile and ask that she drops the big truth bombs on Kelly about alien superbeings getting their hands really dirty with human politics. But J’onn could have, for sure. Where’s that line between “helping” and “ruling?” How slippery is the slope from “hey I’m Supergirl and I think you should help out the less fortunate” to “All hail Supergirl, First Comrade of the Global Proletariat, may all the capitalist pig-dogs tremble in fear as they breathe their last?”And now that we’re asking questions, here’s another one for y’all: why isn’t Supergirl dedicating the majority of her week to ending child sex slavery by hunting down the traffickers and shoving them all into deep, dark holes somewhere in Siberia? That’s a little suspicious, don’t you think? She clearly has the power to make big changes for the better all around the world, and in ways that pretty much everybody would publicly agree are total-win scenarios. Despite that, she seems inordinately focused on a few pet projects here and there. She was a government stooge for several years, oblivious to rampant abuses of alien prisoners.What I’m saying is: do we know that the Fortress of Solitude doesn’t have a secret child-sex-slave-dungeon basement? I’m just asking the question.
Here’s another sealion to keep you company, ghoastie….
Yes, I know you were being sarcastic, and pointing out the dilemma that superhero comics always have — if you have such amazing great powers and abilities, why are you just foiling bank robberies and rescuing that klutz Jimmy Olsen/Lois Lane who keeps falling off buildings? Why aren’t you ending the threat of nuclear war/world hunger/sex trafficking?
Because as you said, how slippery is that slope?
As an aside, there’s a famous children’s book called The Box of Delights featuring various powerful magical spells and items… which the villain uses to rob bits of jewellery from country houses…
Well sure, I’m “just” pointing it out again, but in context, it’s an explanation for why these types of Very Special Episodes don’t work, and, ironically, why they fail particularly hard when they try to grapple with down-to-earth issues like, say, the lack of affordable housing and other assistance for black ex-cons.Kelly says it herself: there’s always going to be another supervillain. But, because nobody on the Superfriends is allowed to tell a hard truth (and jesus, especially not during a Very Special Episode,) that becomes the lampshaded elephant in the room that everybody just ignores for the remainder of the episode.Kelly, I get that you’re hurting, but all those people “suffering today” will be FUCKING DEAD TOMORROW if the supervillain-thwarting-capable team doesn’t do their fucking job. And how much heavy lifting is Supergirl supposed to do in addition to that job? At what point do other people need to step up too? Again – extra-meaningful because Kara is a superpowered alien. Turning into a global dictator (sorry, sorry, philosopher king, because that’s where it will stop, totally,) is only one of the weird and ugly paths that kind of story can take. Another one is that Supergirl metaphorically, or even literally, cuts herself up and feeds herself to the poor while all the asshole humans guarantee that her martyrdom will become meaningless in a decade or less.
Well, one positive I can think of about this episode, at least the Guardian colour scheme is more like the original comic instead of Dark Knight with a shield and motorcycle helmet that Jimmy started with. I’ll give it that.
I wouldn’t mind a bad season, it can happen to every show, but this is the last one! And it is so frustrating.
First of all, I am tired of poor written/developed characters consuming time from Supergirl, a show that used to be about Supergirl.
Is it Melissa’s maternity leave? Has Melissa got tired and demanded less screen time? I dunno. The thing is through the seasons we keep seeing her less and the bad writing does not help.
Personally I find the whole Kelly ark boring. Nia’s too. They could have been very interesting, but they are just messengers, they are there to deliver various social messages about our frakked up era.
Maybe the American audience needs this, but it is not well made and it does not make good TV.
You know what episode made me feel shaken to the core about today’s racial issues and economical inequality? The Covid one from “The Good Fight”. That was disturbing, and the black hero didn’t even have to wear a “say her name” t-shirt.
p.s.
So what is the message of the show?
The people should try to change things and fight for their rights, like Orlando trying to be a councilman?
Or that the people can do sh1t and they always need a hero to do everything for them, like Supergirl and the “Guardian”?
I thought Supergirl being stuck in the Phantom Zone AND the gap between season halves WAS the maternity leave. Also, as I’m typing this, I’m watching Melissa Benoist on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and she just said her son is 14 months old now. How long ago did they record this show?!
Marvel comics readers may be familiar with the concept of the Cancerverse where physical death was abolished.I think Dig is headed to the same universe as Matt Ryan Constantine. The Cancelverse.
“Cancerverse”? The one that Mar-Vell relocated himself to at the end of “What If’ #14? Yeah, that’s a deep cut …
This is a different Cancerverse with its own Avengers. It would’ve been awesome if they’d spun it out of the issue you talked about’s cancerverse though.https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Earth-10011
-Anyone else find it funny how Kelly complained about the sightlines on her initial helmet, and then they eyeholes on the new one looked like they were just as bad? They could have at least given us another helmet POV shot to show that she had a bigger field of view. Also, the new helmet looks comically oversized on her head, and seems like the slightest movement would knock it off. It doesn’t even have a chinstrap or anything.-So they arrested the councilwoman, but what are they going to charge her with, exactly? Draining people’s life forces with 5th Dimensional magic? Good luck proving that in court. And why is it that good guys always have to go through intense training to master their powers and skills, but bad guys master their powers instantly?-Since when does Alex’s wrist gizmo let her shoot energy blasts to move objects? I thought it was just for summoning random sci-fi weapons.-”Im not sure I needed Kelly to become a literal superhero this late into the show’s run, especially when it could’ve been fascinating to see her lead the same battle for social justice from a civilian point of view.” THANK YOU. Why does this show always insist on turning EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER into a superhero? All of the Arrowverse shows are guilty of this to some extent, but this one seems like the worst offender. A few episodes back, when Kelly was talking about how the experience with the shitty foster lady inspired her to want to do more, I was hoping she meant as a social worker working for the community, but no, she meant putting on a costume and punching people. It’s like when Jimmy decided the best way for him to fight injustice was to put on a costume and punch people, rather than using his position as the new CEO of a huge multimedia empire to expose more systemic injustice than a superhero ever could. And don’t even get me started on this “Lena is a witch” shit. And lest we forget, Winn became a costumed hero after traveling to the future, too. Even ANDREA has magical shadow powers. It’s like the show thinks people can’t make a difference unless they put on a costume or have powers.
This show is really going out swinging on what they wanted this show to be and damn the naysayers. Ham fisted progressive stories that drove away millions? Too bad..here you go again! Eat your vegetables. (the one clever thing they have done with the PSA storyline is lampshade this, so they know what they are doing and do not care) Hated Guardian? Eat your vegetables! Here is it again! Hate the too many characters..here is another hero with eight episodes left! And we will throw in a Diggle cameo which is..weird. Of all the characters they could bring in from the arrowverse for a late series appearance..diggle? How about Barry?One could almost admire their bull headedness…if it wasn’t done so poorly
I’ve faithfully watched every episode of “Supergirl”, I’ve gotten through the odd cringeworthy scene, but this episode had shoveled so much slop shortly past the halfway point that I had to shut it off.The episode wants to point out that society doesn’t take care of the dispossessed / oppressed, and it leads to a deepening spiral of neglect and hopelessness. And that is a valuable message! But what is the episode using as its examples of an unresponsive system … ? Nurses overwhelmed by a disaster and they can’t drop everything to attend to little Jimmy or whatever (who by the way is an alien and I’m not sure they’d even know how to treat him). Supergirl and friends trying to stop a fifth dimensional imp with the sort of power to destroy a decent chunk of this universe. Oh what heartless monsters because they won’t put Kelly’s personal attachments above all that!And really, once again, I think Kelly is the center of the problem. The show tries so hard to make her the most awesomest being on earth that even the unfailingly altruistic Kara Zor-El is a cruel heartless beast by comparison.This is the social commentary of feelings, which is not the same thing as compassion. Supergirl’s first priority has to be stopping the imp; that’s the only sane thing she can possibly do. Although knowing how this show works, it’s probably going to turn out that Kelly’s priorities happen to be the key to stopping Nyxly. Fortunately I won’t watch to the end of the episode so I won’t have to roll my eyes over it.Green Lantern got mentioned, so let’s go there for a second. There’s a famous sequence from the early 1970s, where an old beaten-up black man asks Green Lantern what he’s ever done for black people. And maybe he has a point that there is always more that a hero can do. However, by that point in Hal Jordan’s career, he’d saved the entire universe more than a couple times, protected the earth from destruction / invasions multiple times, and overall taken on a lot of big-ticket stuff that kept earth a generally habitable place. Making like he’s not doing his job because he has focused on the things best suited for a Green Lantern, is perhaps not the most insightful criticism.Sometime later — probably roughly GL 148 plus or minus an issue, early 80s — Green Lantern once refused to save an alien world from destruction because he was too focused on drama closer to home. Green Lantern eventually bothered to fly in and save that world, but the comic was pretty emphatic that he was wrong to put his own personal attachments over the lives of billions. It’s not a complicated moral on this story: there aren’t many people who can do something about planetary-scale threats, so when such a threat shows up, that’s where those people have to be focused. Are you listening, Kelly?
So there was a whole story arc about Orlando not being able to find a home to take Joey to. And then the home collapses. And I spent the episode waiting for one of the superheroes to notice that yet again Orlando and Joey don’t have a place to live. They ended the episode and Orlando and Joey are still homeless. Orlando even brought it up in the last 5 minutes again and they just ignored him! Also how will he run for city council if he doesn’t have an address to prove residence in the district! The original issue was how will Orlando get ANY job to support him and Joey with an address and they just ended the episode without a resolution after the only place available crumbled before their eyes. Every few minutes we checked in on them: still homeless. still homeless! still homeless!!!A whole story arc about hopeless homelessness for ex-cons and their families and they ended the show with all those people still being homeless, not being able to afford anywhere else, and no one addressing that after swearing they would help them and support them and a whole set of speeches about what the opportunity to live inside the Ormfell would mean if they could and what it would mean if they couldn’t. wth?!?
Orland and Joey are also aliens, right? Aliens with powers? I almost forgot that, and this show seems to totally forget they are.
If it wasn’t possible before now to agree with what’s being said but still zone out from HOW it’s delivered, I found a way. I heard all of this last year on the news, and I’m thinking “Yeah, I get it, now suit up and hit something! This is a superhero show, not Award-Bait Prestige Drama.”Nice of Dig to namedrop Jefferson “Black Lightning” Pierce like that, but I can’t remember if they met on that show.I’m not a fan of Kelly’s Guardian costume. I mean, the braids? That stick out from under her helmet? Each one of those may as well say “Pull here!” to any enemy who fights dirty. And they’re not her real hair anyway?I get what they’re trying to do with Orlando, but he came as very flat to me in his performance. More like a 2-D caricature than a fully fleshed-out, believable person. Also, he and his brother are aliens with powers, right? I’m flashing back to Season 4 where most aliens don’t have cool powers.SO, according to Brainy, humans in the 31st Century will still be racist, but to aliens as more and more of the universe is explored. By that logic, aliens are also xenophobic to each other (ex: White Martians v. Green Martians, the Daxamites).
Writing for this show has always been terrible