Supergirl

[Hermit]

Ratings continue to fall. A shame, I still enjoy the show even if they getting a bit heavy with the idiot ball (Seriously? James is giving Clark's name out like that now?).

 

Supergirl does have a few moments where her pride gets pricked and she handles it less than maturely in one scene, imo. I think some would disagree. However, it is a very human reaction so I'm not offended etc. She's still trying very hard to prove herself after all.

 

And, by the end of it, she does through a victory that may have needed the help of others, but more on terms she could accept. 

 

Enter Lucy Lane, and a romantic triangle of sorts.

Maybe 2 triangles, since you can tell that this was pitched first as CW show.

 

And for a guy who only gets to talk through texts, Clark is a class act

[zslane]

I was writing my thoughts of the episode while I was watching it, but scrapped it when I realized that a lot of my issues could be explained by the notion that Supergirl is like a Champions character being played by a total Champions newbie. Someone who doesn't fully grasp the combat mechanics yet and has no tactical experience to draw from. In that sense she's no dumber than every first-time Champions player I've ever come across.

 

Of course, that doesn't excuse the horrible wire work they employ for her hovering and landing shots. OMG it's awful.

 

I do wish she would stop referring to her family crest as an "S". It's not an "S". She even went to pains to explain that in the pilot.

 

And I'm still waiting for them to explain what her costume is made of (not the cape). It appears to be as invulnerable as she is.

 

The romantic triangle they are setting up feels trite and cliched, but that's to be expected given the sort of show this wants to be.

 

I do like the theme they are building upon that Supergirl can accomplish things that Superman can't by virtue of working with a team. However, I feel that Superman ought to know (and benefit) from teamwork as well, but this show doesn't operate in the DCU where there is this thing called the Justice League. It is in a universe where there are only two superheroes on the planet, and one of them just got started two weeks ago.

 

Nevertheless, I just don't buy that Superman couldn't defeat that lame villain, Reactron. Are you kidding me?

 

The best thing about the show continues to be Melissa Benoist. At this point I watch it just to see her radiantly cheerful take on the character. Everything else, except perhaps for Jimmy, er, James Olsen, is pretty weak sauce.

[Starlord]

Nevertheless, I just don't buy that Superman couldn't defeat that lame villain, Reactron. Are you kidding me?

 

Well if he uses his powers as poorly as he is often written, I can believe it.

 

I could start with just his speed alone only being used to get places and never in a fight.

[Ranxerox]

Well if he uses his powers as poorly as he is often written, I can believe it.

 

I could start with just his speed alone only being used to get places and never in a fight.

 

Hey he bought it as a multipower and not an elemental control.  It not his fault; when you can do everything, you have to save points where you can.  

[Pattern Ghost]

Watched the latest one tonight. I want to like it, but I think I'm going to have to wait for a new creative team to be put in before I can manage to. These writers are freaking idiots.

 

We finished the second season of The 100 last night. That show does "girl power" 1,000,000X better than Supergirl. It does it by creating well-rounded female characters with agency. It doesn't do it by hitting us over the head repeatedly with trite dialog.

 

Taken as a chick flick . . . it still sucks. There's just no story there worth looking at, and what they have is weakened by crap dialog. The romantic, familial and professional relationships are all insipid.

 

As a superhero show? Internal logic need not apply. How in the hell does a car door stop Blasty Guy's blasts? They're strong enough to knock out a Kryptonian, yet she blocks them with a flimsy sheet metal car door. His armor/gadget thing is strong enough to take being punched and thrown around by Supergirl, but the car door damages it. That one may have been the most glaring thing, but there's plenty of the same variety of stupid going around.

 

I'll keep watching it because of Melissa Benoist, and because my wife thinks it's OK*, but I hope it improves. At least they got the main character casting right.

 

 

 

*My wife isn't a comic fan, so maybe they're doing something right, and I'm just not the target audience.

[Ternaugh]

*My wife isn't a comic fan, so maybe they're doing something right, and I'm just not the target audience.

 

You aren't the target audience. Females under 49, and especially Females under 35 are.

[Pattern Ghost]

You aren't the target audience. Females under 49, and especially Females under 35 are.

 

Yeah, but they seem to be assuming that females are idiots. I've seen a lot better entertainment aimed at the same segment.

[Hermit]

I will agree that Melissa Benoist is the best thing about the show

[zslane]

The sinking ratings suggest that either (a) the audience CBS thinks exists for this kind of show doesn't, and/or ( the weak writing is failing to impress whatever audience does exist for it.

 

Even if there was a major change in the creative team, we wouldn't see its effects until after episode 9. I will wait until after that to deliver an I Told You So.

[Armitage]

 

 

 How in the hell does a car door stop Blasty Guy's blasts? They're strong enough to knock out a Kryptonian, yet she blocks them with a flimsy sheet metal car door.

 

 

 

They were NND Blasts.  Debilitating against living tissue but ineffective against inanimate objects. 

[Clonus]

They were NND Blasts.  Debilitating against living tissue but ineffective against inanimate objects. 

 

Which isn't actually all that unreasonable for hard radiation blasts.  He wasn't pounding Supergirl and Superman.  He was poisoning them.  

[Ternaugh]

The sinking ratings suggest that either (a) the audience CBS thinks exists for this kind of show doesn't, and/or ( the weak writing is failing to impress whatever audience does exist for it.

 

Even if there was a major change in the creative team, we wouldn't see its effects until after episode 9. I will wait until after that to deliver an I Told You So.

 

Saw in comments for an article that the ratings for 50+ are actually quite solid--but that's the demographic most likely to watch CBS anyway

[sinanju]

Saw in comments for an article that the ratings for 50+ are actually quite solid--but that's the demographic most likely to watch CBS anyway

 

Sadly, I"m in that demographic now. Oh, god, I'm a CBS target.  I will continue watching the show, mostly because Melissa Benoist is charming, and because I have a high tolerance for dumb if it gets me my superhero fix*. But my wife, who was also interested initially, has lost interest after the most recent episode. She just finds it boring.

 

*As a general rule, I value smart writing and intelligent characters above most other things, and will suffer through wooden acting, flimsy sets, cheap props and cheesy dialogue if the characters are clever (even if their words aren't) and genre-savvy. Usually. In this case, the neither the writing nor the characters are particularly clever, but I'm still willing to watch. Case in point: if *I* were Supergirl (i.e., nearly invulnerable but with no real fighting experience) my go-to plan when confronting a supervillain would be--fly up at superspeed, grab him, and then fly AWAY--up and out over the sea would be good--to prevent collateral damage, injuries or deaths of bystanders, or the possibility of taking hostages. But that's just me. (And Iron Maiden, who--here's a shock--behaves just that way when I write her.)

[Andrew_A]

Sadly, I"m in that demographic now. Oh, god, I'm a CBS target.  I will continue watching the show, mostly because Melissa Benoist is charming, and because I have a high tolerance for dumb if it gets me my superhero fix*. But my wife, who was also interested initially, has lost interest after the most recent episode. She just finds it boring.

 

*As a general rule, I value smart writing and intelligent characters above most other things, and will suffer through wooden acting, flimsy sets, cheap props and cheesy dialogue if the characters are clever (even if their words aren't) and genre-savvy. Usually. In this case, the neither the writing nor the characters are particularly clever, but I'm still willing to watch. Case in point: if *I* were Supergirl (i.e., nearly invulnerable but with no real fighting experience) my go-to plan when confronting a supervillain would be--fly up at superspeed, grab him, and then fly AWAY--up and out over the sea would be good--to prevent collateral damage, injuries or deaths of bystanders, or the possibility of taking hostages. But that's just me. (And Iron Maiden, who--here's a shock--behaves just that way when I write her.)

 

Good plan and, sadly, not filmable on a weekly TV show budget.

[Pattern Ghost]

Which isn't actually all that unreasonable for hard radiation blasts.  He wasn't pounding Supergirl and Superman.  He was poisoning them.  

 

Yeah . . . no. The very first blast of the fight sends her flying, as do subsequent blasts that she's aware of. (Including the one that sends her flying into the car that she grabs the door off of.) That's more than enough force to hammer a car door. No No Prize for you. (And not just because it's a DC property.)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cdybx0Rl2M

[薔薇語]

Ratings continue to fall. A shame, I still enjoy the show even if they getting a bit heavy with the idiot ball (Seriously? James is giving Clark's name out like that now?).

 

 

And that was when I paused the show and then clicked the close tab button. I will not be viewing this show anymore. 

 

Seriously, the prize winning journalist who has apparently kept Clark's secret for so long just slips up like that? 

 

The obvious love triangle being formed is passe at best. And worse yet, it is happening in half the time I predicted before. Does that make me an optimist or this show just that terrible? 

 

Anyway, maybe in a year or so when this whole season is done I will pick back up from episode three, but I am not confident. Especially if this show doesn't even manage to get a second season. 

 

SOAR. 

[Hermit]

well, it doesn't help it that it's time slot is competing with Gotham. Slapping down something meant to draw DC fans against something already drawing DC fans doesn't strike me as a smart choice for placement

[pinecone]

Well, I am willing to be kind...in a Champions game she'd use the whole car...but budgets, so just a door...

[zslane]

In this day and age, the "competing time slot" excuse just doesn't hold water. With so many folks time-shifting with their DVRs, there are no obstacles to catching every superhero show on tv right now.

 

Re: Combat n00b - when I was a Champions n00b back in '83, hardly anyone took the time to give me advice on how to best manage my Phases, my END, my tactical position, etc. I had to learn by watching more experienced players, and by eating villain blasts until I figured it out (which actually didn't take long since I was a long-time wargamer and found the HERO combat system quite intuitive). But Supergirl has a military organization backing her. They should be training her much harder than they are. I just don't get the sense that they take the "alien threat" posed by the Fort Rozz crash very seriously.

 

The X-Men have the Danger Room. Supergirl has the DEO. Two weeks of high-intensity combat training would have yielded a very different outcome in her first encounter with Reactron. But the show wants to keep splitting her time between her job at CatCo and her mission as Supergirl. While I understand the Lifetime Channel-esque, primetime-tv thinking behind that approach, it really undermines how seriously we take her as The World's Second Superhero. The writers keep hitting poor Kara with the dumb stick, and I think they are going to lose lots of viewers every week as a result.

[Starlord]

http://www.superherohype.com/news/358709-cbs-postpones-supergirl-episode-4-following-paris-terrorist-attacks#/slide/1

 

Postponing an episode due to the Paris attacks.  Personally, I never get these moves as I have a brain and understand one has nothing to do with the other but understand they want to avoid the inevitable hyper politically correct complaining and criticism.

[Christopher R Taylor]

I watched a couple.  I wasn't impressed really.  She's cute and I like the moments she does something heroic, but for the most part its just not very well written or interesting.  And she's frankly not a very good actress.  When she tries to do naive midwestern she just comes across as someone poorly reading her lines.  There are too many "what the??" moments like telling random worker buddy all about her secret and him somehow being able to whip up 15 costumes including one made out of special molecular material within a few hours was just pushing the limits of my ability to suspend disbelief.

[zslane]

Apparently we're expected to suspend not just disbelief, but all common sense and rationality because superpowers. Just like on The Flash. Feh.

[Clonus]

I watched a couple.  I wasn't impressed really.  She's cute and I like the moments she does something heroic, but for the most part its just not very well written or interesting.  And she's frankly not a very good actress.  When she tries to do naive midwestern she just comes across as someone poorly reading her lines.  There are too many "what the??" moments like telling random worker buddy all about her secret and him somehow being able to whip up 15 costumes including one made out of special molecular material within a few hours was just pushing the limits of my ability to suspend disbelief.

 

I actually assumed that happened over the course of a month.  

[薔薇語]

I actually assumed that happened over the course of a month.

Why? Everything in that scene seemed to encourage a continuity of action. Otherwise we have to assume that her sister, the baddies, her boss, and James all just waited around for a month without a story relevant peep about supergirl. And since it is drawing heavily from the clothing change trope, which uses a continuity of action as part of its set up, we have have every reason to assume that happens in one day at the longest.

 

 

So what convinced you otherwise on that?

 

Soar.

[Clonus]

Why? Everything in that scene seemed to encourage a continuity of action. Otherwise we have to assume that her sister, the baddies, her boss, and James all just waited around for a month without a story relevant peep about supergirl. And since it is drawing heavily from the clothing change trope, which uses a continuity of action as part of its set up, we have have every reason to assume that happens in one day at the longest.

 

 

So what convinced you otherwise on that?

 

Soar.

 

Too much happened.  Creating costumes, field testing them in multiple major crimes.  It was a time passing montage and I'm accustomed those covering a month or so.  At the moment I'm thinking at least a week.