Supergirl - season 3 (The CW) (1 Viewer)

[mattCR]

Yeah, the look at them as young teens was maybe one of my favorite episodes of the whole series.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Spoiler: Photos from the “Supergirl” episode of the “Crisis on Earth-X” four-way crossover event (Part 1)

The Wedding of Barry Allen and Iris West. Pictured (L-R): Candice Patton as Iris West, Grant Gustin as Barry Allen, Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon, Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers, Tom Cavanagh as Harry Wells

Don't you hate it when Nazi stormtroopers from another dimension ruin such a happy occasion?

Click here for photos from “Arrow”: “Crisis on Earth X, Part 2”
Click here for photos from “The Flash”: “Crisis on Earth X, Part 3”
Click here for photos from “Legends of Tomorrow”: “Crisis on Earth X, Part 4”

Given that the crossover this year is literally one 160-minute movie split into four parts, I really hope that they include the entire crossover in each of the season Blu-Rays.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Another really solid episode tonight. I was not looking forward to the return of Mon-El, since he was one of the things that bogged down the second season for me, but they're using him in a much more interesting way now.

When they introduced Superman last season, they introduced the idea that adults from Krypton age much more slowly than humans while sustained by a yellow sun. Given that Kryptonians and Daxamites had common evolutionary pressures, it makes sense that they would also age more slowly while sustained a yellow sun.

That paved the way for tonight's big reveal, that Mon-El was gone not for seven months but for seven years. And he's done a lot of living in that time. His immaturity is gone; he is responsible and focused. He also has a beautiful wife, Imra Ardeen, and one gets the impression that their marriage has lasted far longer than Mon-El's courtship with Kara.

Some of the tidbits he dropped point to something else. We learn that he has spent the better part of a decade in the 31st century. In the comics Imra Ardeen is the superhero Saturn Girl, with vast mental abilities. Saturn Girl is one of the founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, the 31st century's Justice League.

I'm loving the stuff with J'onn and his father. They're wisely keeping it to only a small handful of short scenes per episode, but they're doing a lot with a little.

I continue to be really fascinated by Sam's journey. They did a great job of mirroring her journey in this episode to Clark's journey in Superman: The Movie, with some unnerving contrasts. Sam too was found in a field and raised by the people who found her, while her spaceship collected dust in a barn. But unlike the warm and loving Kents, her adoptive mother was calculating and emotionally distant. When she needed support, she was cast out on her own. Like Clark, a mysterious crystal that came with her spaceship took her on a journey halfway across the world. But whereas his journey took him to the cold frigid north, her journey took her to the middle of the desert -- "led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Inside, Clark found his father waiting for her. Inside, Sam finds her creator waiting for her too. But this woman cannot be called a parent. Clark left his fortress as Superman. Sam leaves her fortress as something else.

It was particularly interesting that Ruby is confirmed by to be Sam's biological daughter, and that her conception was not foreseen by the Kryptonian scientists that engineered the world killers. I'm fascinated to see where that goes.

Next week, these ongoing storylines take a break as Kara hops over to Earth-1 for the Wedding of Barry Allen and Iris West. An extended trailer:

 

[Matt Hough]

I know nothing of the backstory from the comics, but from the moment Mon-El tried to tell Kara something in bed and she wouldn't let him talk, I KNEW he was going to spring a wife on her, and I felt that revelation was dragged on excruciatingly long.

The father and son storyline certainly laid the groundwork for some hopefully interesting future stories.

Sam's story had contrasting parallels to Clark's story; any fan of the Superman origin stories would have noticed that immediately. Looks like there's going to be great trouble ahead from her.

 

[Hanson]

Knowing the Legion of Superheroes was going to show up, I was convinced that Mon-El was really Chameleon Boy. If you watch it like that, it still works (up until the reveal, of course). I assumed an injured and out of sight Saturn Girl gave him the quick skinny after scanning Kara, but he doesn't know enough to have a meaningful conversation with her. That's what I took from him reticence. I forgot that Mon-El was a part of the Legion of Superheroes in the comics.

I think the name Reign works better when you see it printed than when you hear it. When the hologram intoned, "It is time for you to become REIGN!", I imagined Sam exploding into a cloud of water drops, even though I knew who Reign was. Could you imagine if you were watching and didn't? It would totally sound like, "It is time for you to become RAIN!"

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

They promised that this would be a true four-way crossover and based on the first half tonight they definitely didn't undersell it. Each episode is branded with a "Crisis on Earth-X" title card, so you have to pay attention to the credits/timeslot to even know which series you're watching. The level of integration and ambition is beyond anything these shows have done before. I'm enjoying this far more than Justice League, even though it doesn't have a tenth of the budget and the strain shows at times on screen.

After a brief couple scenes on Earth-38, the "Supergirl" episode spent the majority of its runtime on Earth-1. The big event being the (interrupted) wedding of Barry Allen and Iris West. I really loved that all of the characters from all four shows brought their baggage with them, so the scenes were full of life and each pairing had a full plate, the way real weddings are.

And a great nod to the history of superheroes on television casting William Katt as the officiant presiding over the wedding at the church.

I'm intrigued by Jessica Parker Kennedy popping up as the really enthusiastic catering waitress at the wedding, who seemed to be inexplicably in awe of Barry Allen. She got the "Special Appearance by" credit that's usually reserved for Neal McDonough on "Arrow" and "Legends of Tomorrow". She's from the CW family, having been a series regular on "The Secret Circle" before she got cast on "Black Sails". And she has a history with DC, having played the supervillain Plastique on "Smallville" once upon a time. My guess:

Spoiler: Speculation

Given her hint about Barry and Iris's legacy, and given that she's a biracial actress who looks a bit like both Grant Gustin and Candice Patton, my guess is that she's their daughter Dawn Allen and she'll be appearing again later on this season as a member of the Legion of Superheroes from the 30th Century.

Nice seeing Melissa Benoist get to exercise her pipes as Kara sings the song that Barry used to propose to Iris last season.

EDIT: Additional thoughts posted in the "Arrow" thread. Not sure where to post, since it all seems to flow together.

 

[David Weicker]

you alluded to it, but

Spoiler

Believe or not, they killed the Greatest American Hero

Very enjoyable start

 

[Bob Cashill]

Yeah, the look at them as young teens was maybe one of my favorite episodes of the whole series.

The 16-year-old actress who played the teen Kara, Izabela Vidovic, is also very good as the daughter in WONDER.

 

[JohnS]

Loved Supergirl's line "general, care to step outside" line from Superman II

 

[Sam Favate]

Two episodes into the crossover, and it's very good. What impresses me is that Stephen Amell and Melissa Benoist are the strongest leads of any of the shows.

 

[NeilO]

I've been enjoying the crossover so far - still haven't seen the last part. The one puzzle I have with this how did they know Kara would be on Earth-1 at this time? If the first objective (as seen in later parts) is to get Kara, why didn't they attack her on Earth-38? Maybe that is explained later.

I did like the Dominator - "that's so last year."

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The high school level melodrama between Kara and Mon-El bogged this one down a bit for me.

And the latest attempt at pairing Jimmy off with someone is about as successful as all of the prior attempts. (Which is to say, not at all)

Loved that J'onn is a Hall & Oates fan.

I continue to appreciate the way that the show is utilizing Chad Lowe's character. I find every one of those scenes interesting.

I think Alex gave Kara exactly the wrong advice. Reign is cold and alien. To prevail, Supergirl is going to need to be warm and human.

The climactic battle was definitely worth the price of admission. The show continues to polish its technical craft. That was 95 percent of the way to Superman II. Getting that close in eight days instead of three years is pretty remarkable, even accounting for the vast advances in visual effects technology since 1980.

I think Ruby is about to have the worst Christmas ever.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

Wasn't Jimmy Olsen killed at the very beginning of the episode?

 

[NeilO]

I think Alex gave Kara exactly the wrong advice. Reign is cold and alien. To prevail, Supergirl is going to need to going to need to be warm and human. ....
I think Ruby is about to have the worst Christmas ever.

I agree. Just think about all of the collateral damage that was occurring. It don't think we saw any deaths, but there was a ton of damage.

Ruby has to be to be the key to defeating Reign. Supergirl needs to deprogram Reign,

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Wasn't Jimmy Olsen killed at the very beginning of the episode?

That was Jimmy's Earth-X doppelganger, on Earth-X.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yeah, the constant Kara-Mon-El/wife situations made me roll my eyes several times during the hour. They were so clumsily written and obviously manipulative to put Kara into situations where her misery was accentuated.

[sigh] Kara beaten to a pulp while the enemy doesn't sustain a scratch. There was a depressingly familiar ring to the DC other superhero confrontations with enemies.

And, just for the record, I want to state I am NOT a fan of these co-called "fall finales" which end on perilous cliffhangers for our major characters. (Supergirl is only one of many now adopting this already cliched motif.) It was bad enough when shows ended their entire seasons with these danger-filled, melodramatic cliffhangers as if fans wouldn't hang around for the next season without some reason to bring them back, but now we're subjected in many shows to this TWICE a year, and it's infuriating,

 

[Richard V]

Am sooooo tired of the Kara/Mon-El thing. Alex has moved on, Mon-El moved on, yet Kara is still moping and whining. I know how painful lost love is, but come on now. This narrative needs to conclude, it is dragging down the pacing of the show.

 

[Hanson]

Some of the tidbits he dropped point to something else. We learn that he has spent the better part of a decade in the 31st century. In the comics Imra Ardeen is the superhero Saturn Girl, with vast mental abilities. Saturn Girl is one of the founding members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, the 31st century's Justice League.

They still haven't shown Imra's powers, other than being superhumanly attractive. And since Mon-El is from the 31st Century, doesn't he already know about the outcome of the Kara-Reign fight? Or did all of those historical records get wiped out by the 31st Century? There was this moment when he grabbed Kara before the fight and I though he was going to tell her, and maybe that's they way the scene was supposed to come off? Hard to tell -- the acting, apart from the consistently great Benoist and Harewood, is pretty uneven overall.

 

[NeilO]

Mon-El is from the 31st Century, doesn't he already know about the outcome of the Kara-Reign fight? Or did all of those historical records get wiped out by the 31st Century?

After realizing that he would not be able to easily travel back to the 21st century, I can't imagine that he didn't try to find out what happened to Supergirl. The question is whether it is his tales of Supergirl that inspired the Legion or whether they already knew (I can't recall the dialogue). If it was his tales then I guess the historical record was lost.

 

[Gary Seven]

I do have one question I have been meaning to ask about a previous episode...why would a teenage Kara need glasses? She is not Supergirl yet and has no need for a "secret identity". And more recent, why did Kara not see under Reign's mask? Lead lined? Didn't look like it. It was an ok episode. For the amount of power Reign and Supergirl have, there WOULD be much more destruction than was shown. One of the reasons I like MOS... a much more realistic depiction of what would happen when two beings of such immense power meet and do battle. Since Mon-el is from the future, would they not already know the outcome of Supergirl's fate? Would they not already know the threat of Reign?