Supergirl: Livewire
November 17, 2015 2:41 PM - Season 1, Episode 4 - Subscribe

Kara’s Thanksgiving may be ruined when she suspects her foster mother, Dr. Danvers, who is coming to town, disapproves of her new role as a superhero. Also, when an accident transforms a volatile CatCo employee into the villainous Livewire, she targets Cat and Supergirl.

Just in case anyone wasn't aware of it, this episode was actually intended to be the fifth episode, but was switched with what was intended to be the fourth. There may be slight discontinuities in this -- I suspect it's mostly the developments in James's relationship with his ex.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich (19 comments total)
 
I liked this one pretty well.

Random thoughts:
* I miss Lori Petty's Livewire from the DCAU, but the new one was all right. Her appearance on Cat's wall o' flatscreens was a particularly good moment.

* It's good to see Cat developing into more than a reject from The Devil Wears Prada. She had a couple moments of genuine heroism here, and that was nice.

* The Ghostbusters reference was good. Benoist continues to be great as Supergirl. I'm glad Livewire didn't fall for it, though.

* The family stuff was laid on a little thick, but this still felt less clunky than the first couple of episodes.

* Glad they're continuing to move the Henshaw thing along. I'm still terribly curious where they're going with that.
posted by mordax at 4:21 PM on November 17, 2015


I'm all in for the sisterhood thing and those notes always work for me. I got choked up at the young sisters flying scene.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 4:30 PM on November 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


I got choked up at the young sisters flying scene.

Yeah. I'm really glad they put that in - gives excellent context to how those two interact now.
posted by mordax at 4:33 PM on November 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


I love that Jay Jackson has apparently found his niche playing newscasters, but I can't un-hear Perd Hapley, so everything he says seems like it should be Perd line but isn't. I guess you could say his lines have the cadence of a joke.
posted by axiom at 5:32 PM on November 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


Really liked the episode. Despite the fact that an entity who was powerful enough to kill Supergirl (and by extension Superman) was defeated by spraying her with what amounted to a garden hose.

When your achilles heel is water you know you've got problems.

So the Danvers' sisters like Homeland and Orphan Black. If they give Hannibal a shout-out I will be in love.
posted by Justinian at 5:45 PM on November 17, 2015


I like the evolution we're seeing in Cat's character. Still an asshole control freak, but realizing her powers might be better used for good.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 6:02 PM on November 17, 2015


I am really liking Cat, actually. She showed some moments of humanity, admitted to why she acts like she does, how she was wrong with Leslie, her brief moment 'of trying to annoy Leslie enough to wake up, her actually giving a shit for a second about Kara's parents, her briefly considering higher-toned news for a second or two.... she's a perverse mentor, but I'm enjoying her.

And Livewire was fun.

(Seriously still bugs me that Cat can't figure out who she is, during face to face conversations all the time with "both" ladies, though....)

Less enjoyable was Supermom perpetually picking at Alex and then transferring it to Kara. Ugh, uncomfortable.

I was surprised that Dadvers was dead. Dang. Oh, and whose fault was that? Mr. Lasereyes, our boss. Ruh-roh.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:50 PM on November 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


So National City is Los Angeles in the same way that Metropolis and Gotham are NYC, right? Can someone explain why a Los Angeles analogue would be named National City? I don't get it.
posted by Justinian at 7:25 PM on November 17, 2015


When your achilles heel is water you know you've got problems.

In all fairness, that's been Livewire's deal since her first appearance.

(Also, it mirrors Superman's construction a bit: he's basically a physical god, so he's got a bullshit weakness so he can still fight lesser opponents. Livewire is a credible threat to him, but she's also not supposed to be an A-Lister like Darkseid, so her weakness is even more bullshit than his.)
posted by mordax at 9:01 PM on November 17, 2015


I was surprised that Dadvers was dead. Dang. Oh, and whose fault was that? Mr. Lasereyes, our boss. Ruh-roh.

I will bet the lives of kittens that he's not really dead.
posted by Naberius at 10:20 PM on November 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


I can't un-hear Perd Hapley

The character is listed on IMDB as "Male Newscaster." Until they give him a name, my headcanon is that Perd Hapley has moved to National City.

"The story of Supergirl's latest rescue is that she saved someone."
posted by MrBadExample at 10:34 PM on November 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


(Seriously still bugs me that Cat can't figure out who she is, during face to face conversations all the time with "both" ladies, though....)

Unless she figured it out when they first met and she's just playing along in order to learn more about her. I think that's a possibility.
posted by homunculus at 10:43 PM on November 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


That's what I'm hoping. At some point an emergency will force Cat to address Kara directly as Supergirl. And when Kara expresses surprises she is met with some form of, "I knew because I'm not an idiot."
posted by Justinian at 3:17 AM on November 18, 2015 [3 favorites]


I wish that was the case, but Cat seems too "I say every thought that comes out of my mouth" to keep a secret like that if she'd figured it out.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:58 PM on November 18, 2015


Is it just me, or does an episode of TV where pretty much every conversation is women talking to other women seem incredibly refreshing and a move in the right direction?
posted by OHenryPacey at 8:11 AM on November 19, 2015 [4 favorites]


I'm trying to think of a conversation in Supergirl that would pass a Mirror Universe Bechdel Test (two men with names talk to each other about something other than a woman) and I'm coming up empty.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:29 AM on November 19, 2015 [3 favorites]


"Is it just me, or does an episode of TV where pretty much every conversation is women talking to other women seem incredibly refreshing and a move in the right direction?"

It's not that there aren't some shows which do pass the Bechdel Test, but that a comics or even a genre show does so is notable. I'm beside myself with anticipation for Jessica Jones, but I doubt it will pass the test.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:37 PM on November 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


So National City is Los Angeles in the same way that Metropolis and Gotham are NYC, right? Can someone explain why a Los Angeles analogue would be named National City? I don't get it.

I accidentally have a semi-relevant answer: Wikipedia says National City is named after several of DC Comics' old names: National Periodical Publications, National Allied Publications, and National Comics.

I say accidentally because my original goal was to note that despite the (canonical, I think?) interpretation of Metropolis/Gotham as NYC by day/night, my headcanon is that Metropolis is Chicago. (Trying to look up the analogues for the CW DC show cities tells me what I should already know: comic continuity is complicated. Speculation welcome!)
posted by jdherg at 9:51 PM on November 30, 2015


Maybe it's just me, but I swear Olsen kept saying he was taking Lucy Lane to "Ohi" for the weekend. (As a 20+ year Ohio resident, not hearing a final 'o' was really weird.) At the very end Cara asks how "wine country" was, which I guess clarified things, but it was too late - I'd already spent the episode having the "FINISH THE WORD, JIMMY OLSEN!" twitches.
posted by soundguy99 at 9:44 PM on December 17, 2015


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