"Supergirl" on CBS (now on The CW)*

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by HGN2001, Oct 27, 2015.

  1. Melissa was a perfect choice for Kara and Supergirl. It's hard imagining anyone else in the role now other than her or Helen Slater.
     
    Walt likes this.
  2. Blimpboy

    Blimpboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Walton, KY
    I think most agree that Melissa is well suited for the role. The general feeling is that the people around her in the show are not interesting anymore. You need strong interaction to maintain audience interest. I feel that the show is weakest in that aspect of storytelling. The plots are fine for the most part, the characters aren't anymore. At least for me.
     
  3. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    Episode 2 of Season 3... wow! Finally some real character even if brought out by the psycho-active robber woman... after all, Kara is someone who witnessed her entire home planet going boom with her family on it while trapped in a tiny space pod. Loved tonight's episode. Only weak point is why would psycho-active woman want paper money so bad to rob so many banks? That is a pretty mundane motivation. The mother and daughter sub-story was well done too, and how it dovetails together at the end when she shows up at CatCo (that was her right?).

    Anyway, possibly the earliest super character I read more than one comic book of and I'm really liking the show now, with this episode they've made Supergirl a better character.
     
    lightbulb and FritzL like this.
  4. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    I think DC has had plenty of opportunities to revamp Supergirl. She is, like Wonder Woman, more of a property of potential to the company, than a character living out a compelling story. It's time to let one of these versions just incubate, and let the chips fall where they may. But no, for me the major "crisis on infinite earths" is, that every time they crash a few of 'em together, they just shake out the same old characters ("but, now they're wearing plaid - and in a barbershop quartet!", or something), complete with a maxi-mini-series cross-title continuity with new boyfriends and super-cats to be named later. "Beppo! You take the backup story in Action!" "You got it, boss!" "Jimmy Olson, you're in charge of the all-new Doom Patrol!" "Ohhh, I am SO on it...!" "Hey Mort, what about me...?" "Bat-Mite, I got just the assignment for you - you're gonna be the first victim of the Joker-Luthor team-up in World's (Not So) Finest!" "Awww, geee...again...?!"

    I'm probably an hour or so away from seeing Ep 2, but so far it's been two whole seasons, and I have more idea who Kara is, than Supergirl...and Kara's supposed to be the 'made-up' one! So this is why the supporting characters don't work for me: THEY have personalities and stories that serve the stories, but the main character seems to be there for the dual purpose of getting punched in the Super-gut in Segemt 2, or the Segemt 3 "Life is hard, and stuff" pout with her glasses on. Perhaps they should just change the name of the show to Cute People Problems, and make it a sitcom they can pitch to an ABC comedy block. She can have a "magic monitor" to squeeze both Cat Grant and Lena Luthor advice scenes into an episode (and oh, the hijinks when the takes the wrong advice intended for her other identity, and hilarity ensues!); double bonus - you only have to work in Winn when the monitor glitches, in his new role as....Super Tech Consult!

    And please - this season, instead of giving Supergirl something to do...give her someone to BE?
     
    beccabear67 and Blimpboy like this.
  5. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    Well, one of the breaking points for me even buying any superhero comics was when they had Supergirl's dead body paraded across a couple covers (after Phoenix and Elektra at Marvel), the Crisis 'event'. I understand they brought her back as a robot or something for awhile and then I lost track of what they did in the comics. I had a lot of the '60s to early '70s ones and then just saw the character when she was in Legion Of Super-Heroes. Maybe they had women writers as with Wonder Woman? Thinking of which, Trina Robbins did a comic called Go Girl that was more in the spirit of Supergirl comics I'd like to have seen, the Supergirls I liked best were by an artist named Kurt Schaffenberger who had worked on the Marvel (Shazam) Family before, including Mary Marvel who was what Supergirl was. Not sure of the writer.

    Oh well, better late than never as I'm really liking Season Three so far, not that there aren't a lot of loose ends to iron out.
     
    lightbulb likes this.
  6. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    Really interesting premise for the most recent episode... a religion of sorts forming around Supergirl because she 'saves' people. Saw part of it and someone got themselves caught in a fire so she might show up and save them... and then they bowed down in the street in 'worship' after. Creepy! If this has turned up in a comic it's one I never saw, except for the bat-fans vigilante gang in the original Frank Miller Dark Knight books who dressed like him sort of.
     
    lightbulb likes this.
  7. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    Quite possibly the best episode of the entire series! Exploring the old questions of the religious implications of Superman/girl. The scene where Olsen shared his 1st encounter with Superman was his best. It also revealed something I'd never heard in all my years reading the mags, about Kara's deeply Kryptonian religious beliefs, something Clark can't possibly share with her since he was raised here. Somehow it makes her seem more Kryptonian, and more alien than her famous cousin. The little girl singing was lovely and the possibility of some trouble in paradise for the girlfriends also made the episode enjoyable!;)
     
    tommy-thewho likes this.
  8. Luvtemps

    Luvtemps Forum Resident

    Location:
    P.G.County,Md.
    Kill it with krptonite already.
     
  9. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Does certainly seem pretty diabolical - a foe who doesn't believe he's the problem, confounding a crimefighter with the same sort of logic we ourselves haven't figured out how to defeat yet. It has indeed been a third-rail sort of plotline that surely would have come up if these characters were in the real world. Two generations ago, such a notion in a "children's book" would have never been approved. Makes me wonder, is The CW really stupid enough to think they wouldn't reap the whirlwind for this, or if they're just closer in-tune with the zeitgeist than we assume?
     
    tommy-thewho likes this.
  10. The New 52 relaunch in the comics tried to play up Kara's more alien background than Clark, having grown up for years on Krypton. I think the character works best as a teenager. Supergirl being a young adult on the show introduces a different set of challenges since they have to worry about her romantic life and career.
     
  11. will_b_free

    will_b_free Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2017
  12. Kreisberg as producer has been all over the Arrowverse Blu-ray sets on featurettes. He was one of the key people to actually ground the characters in DC lore and considered one of the main creative forces on these shows when they were going good.

    My guess is that Berlanti and crew could tolerate his behavior when Arrow and Supergirl were big hits, but Supergirl's disastrous ratings fall gave them the room to finally fire him. I wonder if he was the producer romantically linked to Katie Cassidy (Laurel on Arrow).
     
  13. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member Thread Starter

    In two days, it should be "Patch Tuesday" for November.
     
  14. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    Alright, be still my beatin' heart! They just showed Mon-El rockin' the red & blues!;)
     
  15. Blimpboy

    Blimpboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Walton, KY
    Thanks for the tip. I was ready to quit watching after last week. This might be interesting enough to watch one more time.
     
  16. tommy-thewho

    tommy-thewho Senior Member

    Location:
    detroit, mi
    Loved the Karaoke scenes.

    Nice to see them loosening up some.
     
  17. Blimpboy

    Blimpboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Walton, KY
    That's precisely why I gave on on that episode. It was boring. Most of the show is boring. I fast forward thru most of them. Seems like I watch about 20 minutes per week now. Every time Alex starts to look sad and cry, I'm out. Why is she such a wimp? She was better character in season 1. Maybe even the emotionally stronger of the two sisters. Why the big change?
     
    Keith V and OneChance like this.
  18. OneChance

    OneChance Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    The reason I gave up on The Flash was mainly because of all the "I'll talk to him" special conversations. Unfortunately, this latest episode of Supergirl had a few of its own "special" conversations. Someone, usually the main character, gets upset and stomps off, someone says "I'll talk to her" and queue the "special" conversation, then all is good. It's a trope, and really lazy writing and poor character development.

    And I'm with Blimpboy on Alex crying all the time. She's supposed to be a badass federal agent. Why is she crying in nearly every episode? Reminds me of Sydney Bristow in Alias. If she wasn't kicking ass, she was crying. Do the writers just think, "Hey, it's a female character. Women cry a lot, right? Let's write that in in every episode."
     
    Paper Wizard and Blimpboy like this.
  19. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    To give the character something to do that girls could relate to. Can't be all punching and recoiling now, can it.
     
  20. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    No. They are told that is the case, usually by people wearing nicer suits than them.
     
  21. Blimpboy

    Blimpboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Walton, KY
    I want 90 percent cool stuff and 10 percent soap opera in a super hero show. Supergirl has become 90 percent soap.
     
  22. Blimpboy

    Blimpboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Walton, KY
    Heroes are supposed to be something to aspire to. That's what makes them super. I can appreciate relateable situations, but not responses. Escapism TV should aspire to do more than the mundane.
     
    F_C_FRANKLIN likes this.
  23. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Actually, what I'm saying is, a television writer wants to try to give a character at least one charactaristic/complication that a certain sector of your target audience can relate to. Okay, maybe not as many people relate to a young lady trying to get over a girl. BUT, they CAN relate to not wanting to get yourself back into the game because you had a bad breakup. Now; who can possibly relate to a female Krytonian with powers that were originally invented as America's own Ubermensch (I'm guessin', not a lot of you...); but, who can't relate to a person constantly facing challenges for the first time at that age, and learning just how hard you have to try to overcome them; THAT's the winning plot of our heroine. Because it's relatable.

    I'd say, that's how Marvel kicked DC's a** in the 1960's - Peter Parker still got allergies, but Superman could do freakin' ANYthing...if not for that damn red kryptonite...

    They gave Martian Manhunter a dad. They gave Mon-El a love triangle. They gave Wynnn...ummm, they gave Wynn, ahhhh...actually, he's just a deus ex machina here (or, as Julia Stempel would have called him, "The Expository Fairy", flitting in to explain or push the plot forward, then flit back out again)...

    ...think it't time for another story meeting...
     
  24. Blimpboy

    Blimpboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Walton, KY
    I have no problem with those issues being a part of the show. It's the execution that stinks. Show after show the same topic of conversation. No one is learning, growing or moving on. It's become a two season pity party for Alex. I'm tired of it.
     
  25. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Point being, the use of the character is the hook for the show. Yet the intended audience for the show doesn't hold the main character in such reverence as, say, a 60-year comic fan like me might. Your target demo responds to these plot points because these are things that happen in thair own lives. The producers have found tensions between some of the plotlines that are more universal than whether Kara is brave enough to give Streky a bath because that's the only thing that could scratch her...or why she's faced with 5 Kryptonian "world-killers" from her home planet...and it hasn't even occurred to her she has another fellow alien 1.5 nonseconds away, that also may have a vested interest in protecting his world. from such a global threat.

    "Hey, is somebody gonna, I dunno, text Clark or something...?"

    "Maybe later; my sister needs me - wine coolers all around!"

    And I bet the target demographic is probably pretty satisfied with that.
     

Share This Page

molar-endocrine