Supergirl: Ahimsa
November 7, 2018 2:07 PM - Season 4, Episode 4 - Subscribe
Alex asks Lena and Brainiac to team up and help Supergirl; J'onn discovers new ways to help his fellow aliens after running into Manchester Black.
I knew last episode that we'd see Fiona's fiance when David Ajala was in the photo, he's got enough recognition. But isn't he supposed to have telekinetic powers? Lol at "excuse me, soccer hooligan". So this is how Manchester Black going to be an anti-hero?
It was jarring to hear Alex trying to pulling rank on Supergirl. And then even weirder to hear the President telling her to confine Supergirl. But damn that bit with the final warning was hard to hear. At least they reconciled in the same episode.
It's great that this new dynamic hasn't changed the relationship between J'onn and Alex. Their scenes still have this father-daughter chemistry that works well.
I love it when shows like this just get right at how you feel about the situation. When Brainy is getting emotional and Lena's teaching him to box up his feelings and then just get to the science, it's like the campaign volunteers for this midterm.
I don't see why Guardian needed to go out there. And what happened to the strike force that Alex ordered? I didn't see any of them fighting Kopy.
MORE BEEBO!
poorVicky Fiona :(
I knew last episode that we'd see Fiona's fiance when David Ajala was in the photo, he's got enough recognition. But isn't he supposed to have telekinetic powers? Lol at "excuse me, soccer hooligan". So this is how Manchester Black going to be an anti-hero?
It was jarring to hear Alex trying to pulling rank on Supergirl. And then even weirder to hear the President telling her to confine Supergirl. But damn that bit with the final warning was hard to hear. At least they reconciled in the same episode.
It's great that this new dynamic hasn't changed the relationship between J'onn and Alex. Their scenes still have this father-daughter chemistry that works well.
I love it when shows like this just get right at how you feel about the situation. When Brainy is getting emotional and Lena's teaching him to box up his feelings and then just get to the science, it's like the campaign volunteers for this midterm.
I don't see why Guardian needed to go out there. And what happened to the strike force that Alex ordered? I didn't see any of them fighting Kopy.
MORE BEEBO!
poor
and he's pretty good (the actor I mean)
posted by numaner at 4:51 PM on November 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by numaner at 4:51 PM on November 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
I don't know whether I should be posting this or not, but I really do not like the character of Nia.
I give the show full credit for bringing on a trans actor and depicting a trans character. And let's award it 10 bonus points for showing young women that they can be strong at work and stick up for their beliefs. Yeah, that's a good thing.
But heaven forbid any of the young viewers take Nia's behaviour as an example of how to act in the workplace. I mean that's a loss of about 100 points right there. She has no respect for authority or the chain of command. She's pushy and obnoxious and preachy and self-righteous and seems to think she's the only person in the world who has given any thought or consideration to any of the situations National City is experiencing. The way she wanders in and just starts lecturing James is unbelievable. She'd be fired in a hot instant in the working world.
I like the fact that she was presented as a character who had deep and complex feelings about situations, and I like using her as a role model for young viewers, but rather than doing something such as challenging the other intern for the fashion magazine article (last episode or the episode before that) by stating her take on the assignment, and presenting her argument as to why her approach would be better, or at the very least complementary, she just rolled over to let the other intern have it because she wanted it so much. So the lesson there for young girls is to put aside your own feelings or desires if somebody else wants something you're interested in. That's not the best message to send, to be honest.
And rather than stick up for yourself in an appropriate venue (an editorial story meeting, where ideas and perspectives should be flowing freely), she starts instructing her boss to take all sorts of actions that could have serious and dangerous consequences--things that she has never considered or doesn't understand. This is just dumb.
I realize this is partly done because they have no idea what to do with James, so they're looking to recreate the Cat-Kara mentor-mentee relationship, but this is a completely different dynamic, and it's not one that is working well.
posted by sardonyx at 6:05 PM on November 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
I give the show full credit for bringing on a trans actor and depicting a trans character. And let's award it 10 bonus points for showing young women that they can be strong at work and stick up for their beliefs. Yeah, that's a good thing.
But heaven forbid any of the young viewers take Nia's behaviour as an example of how to act in the workplace. I mean that's a loss of about 100 points right there. She has no respect for authority or the chain of command. She's pushy and obnoxious and preachy and self-righteous and seems to think she's the only person in the world who has given any thought or consideration to any of the situations National City is experiencing. The way she wanders in and just starts lecturing James is unbelievable. She'd be fired in a hot instant in the working world.
I like the fact that she was presented as a character who had deep and complex feelings about situations, and I like using her as a role model for young viewers, but rather than doing something such as challenging the other intern for the fashion magazine article (last episode or the episode before that) by stating her take on the assignment, and presenting her argument as to why her approach would be better, or at the very least complementary, she just rolled over to let the other intern have it because she wanted it so much. So the lesson there for young girls is to put aside your own feelings or desires if somebody else wants something you're interested in. That's not the best message to send, to be honest.
And rather than stick up for yourself in an appropriate venue (an editorial story meeting, where ideas and perspectives should be flowing freely), she starts instructing her boss to take all sorts of actions that could have serious and dangerous consequences--things that she has never considered or doesn't understand. This is just dumb.
I realize this is partly done because they have no idea what to do with James, so they're looking to recreate the Cat-Kara mentor-mentee relationship, but this is a completely different dynamic, and it's not one that is working well.
posted by sardonyx at 6:05 PM on November 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
The whole aliens as a metaphor for racism and xenophobia is being done much better over on The Gifted. Supergirl's writing is just incredibly bad.
posted by runcibleshaw at 6:24 PM on November 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by runcibleshaw at 6:24 PM on November 7, 2018 [4 favorites]
I think they're adding in too much flavoring on natural dialogs that such villains would have, it feels awkward. But it's inconsistent. The background on Ben Lockwood last episode was done well, I thought, showing how an extremist can come about. The language used was realistic and nuanced, with Sam Witwer able to convey the necessary emotions.
posted by numaner at 10:31 PM on November 7, 2018
posted by numaner at 10:31 PM on November 7, 2018
She has no respect for authority or the chain of command. She's pushy and obnoxious and preachy and self-righteous and seems to think she's the only person in the world who has given any thought or consideration to any of the situations National City is experiencing. The way she wanders in and just starts lecturing James is unbelievable.
I find that a very believable part about her character, though. Hell, I did it myself, my first week on my first real job. Interns (and recent graduates) are dumb. Which is why we continue to have interns, so we can take all that energy and ambition and booksmarts and train them to point it in the right direction before they get themselves killed.
Check out www.askamanager.com sometime for more intern horror stories than you can shake a stick at.
posted by Mogur at 12:43 PM on November 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
I find that a very believable part about her character, though. Hell, I did it myself, my first week on my first real job. Interns (and recent graduates) are dumb. Which is why we continue to have interns, so we can take all that energy and ambition and booksmarts and train them to point it in the right direction before they get themselves killed.
Check out www.askamanager.com sometime for more intern horror stories than you can shake a stick at.
posted by Mogur at 12:43 PM on November 8, 2018 [3 favorites]
Late to the game, as I always am with the CW DCverse since I wait 'til they come out on Netflix, so usually I don't comment much on the threads (much as I love them being here to read), but I have to say, when the Colonel came in talking about Alex disobeying direct orders, I really wanted her to respond with something along the lines of "Just to be clear, did you mean the order to protect the public and make them feel safe, which POTUS should thank me for following? Or the order to detain Supergirl, an American citizen, against her will and with no writ of habeus corpus, which POTUS should thank me for not following given its clearly unconstitutional nature?"
posted by solotoro at 7:04 PM on June 21, 2019
posted by solotoro at 7:04 PM on June 21, 2019
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posted by Samizdata at 3:28 PM on November 7, 2018