D.C.'s Supergirl (tv series)

[Laspector]

I just watch it for her legs!

 

[JediG60racer]

So, not being a reader of this particular comic... was I supposed to be impressed when Hank Henshaw very dramatically says, "I am John Johns." or Shawn Johns. Hard to tell what he was saying. ?

For viewers of the show like me who are starting fresh with this whole storyline, it was a very lackluster moment.

- - - Updated - - -

Made me think of Buckaroo Banzai. So he's John Johns... are we going to be introduced to John Bigboote next?

 

[The Mad Professor]

So, not being a reader of this particular comic... was I supposed to be impressed when Hank Henshaw very dramatically says, "I am John Johns." or Shawn Johns. Hard to tell what he was saying. ?

For viewers of the show like me who are starting fresh with this whole storyline, it was a very lackluster moment.

- - - Updated - - -

Made me think of Buckaroo Banzai. So he's John Johns... are we going to be introduced to John Bigboote next?

You must not read ANY DC comics or ever watched anything involving the Justice League.

That's J'onn J'onzz, also known as the Martian Manhunter, a founding member of the Justice League and one of the most powerful heroes in the DC verse.

 

[Solo4114]

catching up on some backlogged superigirl episodes.

I WANT to like supergirl, but there are just little things that just bug me...


I guess because this is a girl power show apparently, now the president is a woman too? I about groaned at that line.
I realize that superman is powerful and people are fearful of her power, but it just seems wrong that they would get so bent out of shape at her breaking a jerk car drivers hand after saving a bunch of kids. especially after he tried to punch her. of course, she could have just stood there and absorbed it. but being new, a reactionary move shouldn't have been so big a deal with superman probably having done the same thing.


lets see what else red faced has to throw at us.

so, she looses control because her would be boy friend is with a dick of a girlfriend? isn't that kind of like two steps forward, two steps back for a girl power show?

brow rubbing....

- clarks not angry because he's a man? at least they didn't say white man....whoops,,,wait a minute, there goes jimmy saying 'black men arn't encouraged to get angry in public... sigh.

So, two things. First, she didn't get pissed because her crush is with an obnoxious girl (who, it turns out, isn't actually obnoxious but has a seriously obnoxious dad). She got pissed because pretty much everything was going wrong for her that episode, and she was being criticized left and right, then was attacked by a poorly designed android (seriously -- self-preservation function = threaten innocents with death? Someone needs a lesson in Aasimov's laws of robotics...), and was blamed for all of it when it was the ******* colonel and the idiot scientist who endangered the city.

Second, it's not a "girl power" show. It's a show about a girl who's powerful. You might even say she's SUPER powerful.



I mean, yes, the show has some feminist messages in it, but they're hardly what I'd consider obnoxious feminist messages, and there's nothing that I can think of that promotes anything feminist at the expense of any of the male characters or men in general.

I mean, dude, it's the 21st century. They're doing a show about Supergirl. What'd you expect?

And, to be honest, I think it's a good thing. What's wrong with having a show that little girls can watch where the STAR of the show (not supporting cast) is a woman? And what's wrong with her boss being a woman?

Initially, I think the show sort of struggled with the characterization of both Kara and Cat, but at this point, I think they're handling it pretty well. Cat's generally-a-jerk-to-everyone attitude is maintained, but we're getting to learn that there's more to her than just that, and that (to some extent) her behavior is more a front. I think they also struggled with figuring out how exactly they'd get the feminist side of things across. The first episode was perhaps a little too on-the-nose about it (with the whole "I'm a girl. You're a girl. She's a girl. What's wrong with being a girl?" thing), but my objection to that was that it was weak writing, rather than that there's something wrong with the show taking any time to be feminist. Frankly, I think it'd be deeply, deeply weird if you had a show in the 21st century about Supergirl that somehow wasn't feminist.

In the last episode, they said Superman doesn't kill. Apparently, they've never read the comics and sure didn't watch the last movie. Superman kills plenty.

I mean, yeah, Superman kills, but generally speaking, he doesn't kill when he doesn't absolutely have to. I think his reputation for not killing comes mostly from the fact that he doesn't just freaking vaporize muggers with his heat vision, and instead just destroys their firearms and ties them up with, like, a metal pole or flies them directly to jail.

I also took that line as kind of a dig at Man of Steel (which it deserved because it was a bad movie).

I don't care what tone you are going for, blatantly ignoring reality is foolish. Superman kills. If they don't want to acknowledge that, fine, just don't bring it up. What I honestly don't like about the series are the blatant feminist messages. It's one thing to be feminist, it's another to continually beat people over the head with it. That just makes it obnoxious.

I think you can reasonably expect that the show is going to continue to be feminist and not bother hiding that fact. I think it's fair to criticize how it gets across feminist messages, but I'd say that about any "message" that any show is trying to get across. The problem comes not from the content of the message, but in its delivery and the degree to which that delivery breaks the fourth wall or seems like the authors putting words in their characters mouths, rather than the characters speaking naturally.

Much of the time, I think the show does well at having its characters speak naturally, given the situations they're in. Sometimes, the situations seem a little too engineered, or the words are a little too "meta," but I'd have the same criticism if they were talking about, like, the rich-poor gap or drug use or vaccinations. On balance, the show's been pretty good about this stuff, I think, but when it stumbles, it's pretty obvious. That, however, is not unique to this show, nor even to this production team (because Arrow and The Flash both do this too sometimes).

So, not being a reader of this particular comic... was I supposed to be impressed when Hank Henshaw very dramatically says, "I am John Johns." or Shawn Johns. Hard to tell what he was saying. ?

For viewers of the show like me who are starting fresh with this whole storyline, it was a very lackluster moment.

- - - Updated - - -

Made me think of Buckaroo Banzai. So he's John Johns... are we going to be introduced to John Bigboote next?

You must not read ANY DC comics or ever watched anything involving the Justice League.

That's J'onn J'onzz, also known as the Martian Manhunter, a founding member of the Justice League and one of the most powerful heroes in the DC verse.

Yeah, Martian Manhunter is a seriously tough dude. He rivals Superman in his power (except for his achilles heel being fire). I thought it was really cool to include him.


On the whole, the Berlantiverse has been pretty damn good about incorporating comics elements faithfully, or at least in a way that is internally consistent.

 

[KrangPrime]

Second, it's not a "girl power" show. It's a show about a girl who's powerful. You might even say she's SUPER powerful.

I mean, dude, it's the 21st century. They're doing a show about Supergirl. What'd you expect?

And, to be honest, I think it's a good thing. What's wrong with having a show that little girls can watch where the STAR of the show (not supporting cast) is a woman? And what's wrong with her boss being a woman?
deeply weird if you had a show in the 21st century about Supergirl that somehow wasn't feminist.

I'll let the joke slide ;o).

I never said there was anything wrong with her boss being a woman, and her being the star of the show. I just thought the president of the united states also being a woman was a little groan worthy. especially after some of the messages already being brought up (like i'm a girl, you're a girl, what's wrong with being a girl?) If the messages where not there, and they just focused on the characters and the super girl universe... I wouldn't have minded it.

I actually like the character of supergirl. especially in the superman animated series. they even found a way to make that goofy power girl design and character work well in the show. But this show....I have a feeling it's going to be a little like smallville. love hate. I like some things they are doing with it, not so keen on other things.

And, if you go by the tone of this show, versus, say, the tone of Agent Carter, I just like the few episodes I've seen of Agent Carter better. I especially love how she hands it to all the jerks she works with by getting ahead of them one step after another rather than going on speeches.....and they do it all without messages. at least going by the memory of the ones I've seen. I'm so backlogged on stuff to watch, i havn't gotten around to finishing season 1 yet.

Supergirl just has a vibe to it like there is a person in charge of a message side of the show, and a person in charge of the comic book side, to make sure one doesn't over take the other in order to keep it current.

I'll probably keep with it till season 1 finale....but after that..I'll see how the reviews for season 2 are before deciding to give it another chance.

 

[Solo4114]

Like I said, I don't have a problem with the message itself, but the delivery can be a bit awkward at times. That said, I'd rather there be an awkward delivery in an otherwise entertaining show, than that there be nothing at all. Not that "nothing at all" is the only other option, of course. I'd rather they do more effective delivery. And I do agree that Agent Carter does a great job by letting the character's actions and competence speak for itself, rather than getting preachy. Still, Agent Carter is set in a different time, when people weren't really preaching about that sort of thing anyway. I think having modern characters in a modern setting engaging in what's actually a fairly modern conversation is perfectly fine. It's mostly just what the precise circumstances are of that conversation that I think can be a bit ham-fisted sometimes. If it's not your thing, then hey, it's not your thing. There are plenty of shows where I watch and I say "Meh. Just not for me." Even ones I want to like. I guess I'm just saying that I don't think the show is doing something bad or wrong by doing this. It may not be everyone's preferred approach, but that's ok. I don't know about you, but there is so much good TV out there nowadays that I'm perfectly fine saying "Ok. This one just ain't for me" and leaving it at that.

 

[Treadwell]

Although I knew who MM was from watching the DC animated shows, I have to agree the scene was not newbie friendly.

 

[Laspector]

Although I knew who MM was from watching the DC animated shows, I have to agree the scene was not newbie friendly.

Yeah, gotta agree with that. I also know who MM is but to someone who doesn't and sees some guy turn into an alien and says his name is "John Jones"......maybe a little more explanation would be better.

 

[Solo4114]

Although I knew who MM was from watching the DC animated shows, I have to agree the scene was not newbie friendly.

Oh, that's totally fair. It was entirely designed for existing fans. Anyone else would be like "Uh....great. So what?"

 

[JediG60racer]

You must not read ANY DC comics or ever watched anything involving the Justice League.

That's J'onn J'onzz, also known as the Martian Manhunter, a founding member of the Justice League and one of the most powerful heroes in the DC verse.

I read Batman when I was little, watched Superfriends and Justice League of America cartoons (don't remember Jon Jon being in that), read Frank Miller's Dark Knight graphic novel when I was in middle school. I'm more of a Marvel reader, so yeah. No clue about the DC characters. Frankly I know Zan and Jaina the wondertwins better than this character.
So as a completely fresh viewer, it was pretty flat for me.

 

[Solo4114]

He'll get more interesting, I expect.

 

[Primrodo]

My 7 year old daughter squeed for Manhunter when he turned around. I was spoiled before we watched and was able to see her reaction.

 

[KrangPrime]

I looked on some fan sites for some info about the few episodes I havn't seen yet. I think I predicted hank was manhunter earlier on....other folks seem to think he was someone else.
Reading online, some thought he was a character called 'cyborg superman'. a human cyborg who somehow gets infected with supermans dna.

glad that's not the case. seems like a stupid idea for a character, especially when you have the cooler idea of cyborg running about. would make cyborg useless if he ever appeared on the show.

 

[The Mad Professor]

I looked on some fan sites for some info about the few episodes I havn't seen yet. I think I predicted hank was manhunter earlier on....other folks seem to think he was someone else.
Reading online, some thought he was a character called 'cyborg superman'. a human cyborg who somehow gets infected with supermans dna.

glad that's not the case. seems like a stupid idea for a character, especially when you have the cooler idea of cyborg running about. would make cyborg useless if he ever appeared on the show.

Well, it was a red herring. In the DC universe, Hank Henshaw IS Cyborg Superman and is part of the Sinestro Corps. Additionally, the Hank we see is not the real Hank. He died, and MM took his place to reform the DEO and to protect Alex and Kara because Jeremiah Danvers sacrificed his life to save Manhunter.

I predict that we will see the real Hank return all cyborged out, making him Cyborg Superman. I'm betting they use Jeremiah's body and Hank's brain to 1) differentiate MM and CS on screen, and 2) to really screw with the girls' heads. Plus, given that it's Dean Cain, seeing him as even a fake Superman again will be a nice little homage to the past.

 

[Wes R]

I agree, it would be neat to see Cain in the costume again.

 

[KrangPrime]

hostile take over was the first episode I liked start to finish.

I like the actors playing jimmy olsen and whin, but every single time I see them, I feel like they got the characters switched. it's just so off putting. I want to root for the kid who looks more like jimmy olsen, but I have to remind myself it's not jimmy olsen. oy.

It's nice to see Kat was one of the few humans to easily see through an admitedly weak identity for both kara and clark. it's good to see they are evolving her character a little more to be a tad more likeable. I never got the calista flockheart fan bug, but doesn't do a bad job here.

and in the entire episode, only one social justice comment 'white male privilege'. when they do that less, the show becomes more fun.

interesting to see their take on non. I think this was the first time he's actually intelligent. most of the time he is a mute brute, is he not?

 

[AJTaliesen]

hostile take over was the first episode I liked start to finish.

I like the actors playing jimmy olsen and whin, but every single time I see them, I feel like they got the characters switched. it's just so off putting. I want to root for the kid who looks more like jimmy olsen, but I have to remind myself it's not jimmy olsen. oy.

yeah...I try not to think about that too much or it will bother me. The switch itself doesn't bother me so much as the annoying empty headed-ness required to think that it would be a clever idea. 'Look! We switched the names! Isn't that clever?" But what actually is bothersome about it is knowing that there probably are a lot of people out there thinking "Wow! They switched the names! How clever!" In the end though, it's not that clever for the same reason that it shouldn't really bother me too much: the fact that it changes absolutely nothing.

 

[The Mad Professor]

hostile take over was the first episode I liked start to finish.

I like the actors playing jimmy olsen and whin, but every single time I see them, I feel like they got the characters switched. it's just so off putting. I want to root for the kid who looks more like jimmy olsen, but I have to remind myself it's not jimmy olsen. oy.

It's nice to see Kat was one of the few humans to easily see through an admitedly weak identity for both kara and clark. it's good to see they are evolving her character a little more to be a tad more likeable. I never got the calista flockheart fan bug, but doesn't do a bad job here.

and in the entire episode, only one social justice comment 'white male privilege'. when they do that less, the show becomes more fun.

interesting to see their take on non. I think this was the first time he's actually intelligent. most of the time he is a mute brute, is he not?

Considering that Non was created for the Richard Donner films and later ported into the comics in 2007, yes, this is a new version of him.

 

[Probe Droid]

hostile take over was the first episode I liked start to finish.

Hey, me too! The powers behind the show seem to be combing out the tangles and figuring what works/doesn't. Still not digging Jimmy Olsen and the other office geek's ability to easily hack into the most high-end security systems is a stretch, but if you can accept that this little cutie pie is a flying alien then I guess ya just gotta go with it.

 

[Solo4114]

Hey, me too! The powers behind the show seem to be combing out the tangles and figuring what works/doesn't. Still not digging Jimmy Olsen and the other office geek's ability to easily hack into the most high-end security systems is a stretch, but if you can accept that this little cutie pie is a flying alien then I guess ya just gotta go with it.

That's kind of how the Berlanti productions have all gone. They start out...eh...ok-ish, but steadily improve.