Supergirl: Ep2 “Stronger Together”

OK, not as thorough on my review as for the pilot, but a second episode that was stronger than the first. 

Training with the DEO. Good. That was a nice scene, showing her using her powers.

The Oil Tanker. Nice “getting used to the powers” thing, but unfair to Kara with the leak coming from the bow of the boat. Ripping off the front would have been bad enough.

The Lord guy references that since Superman came to town, there’s a sequence of bad guys causing major property damage in Metropolis. OK, borrowing from Man of Steel/Dawn of Justice.

Huh. Alex Danvers is a redhead (or has red highlights). Nice.

Content meeting. Cat is still a hard-ass. This sets up some of the pressure later. Then “reading glasses and a good slouch” sets up the same line as Superman Returns, as Cyclops notes how Clark and Superman look alike, and then he and Lois laugh it off. 

Reasonable “moment” between James and Kara. “Really good pep talk.” 

Alien monster-face scared my 6yo, but not too much. “It scared me. Um. Whew.” Worrying about bleach and fertilizer base. Ooo. A Kryptonian flashback. Military guild. The “heart of a hero” line is a bit in contrast to something that comes later, but I like that they’re emphasizing that Kara had 13 years on Krypton with a reasonable wealth of experience. 

OK, “prove you can take ’em down without getting killed.” Turns into a training montage with a convenient kryponite radiation emitter set to 18%. That’s not a good call by the show’s writers – the DEO can weaponize Kryptonite into a broad beam, then Lex Luthor or some other super-genius can take out Superman/Supergirl in one blast. 

Cat and Kara and “calm the hell down” and get into things slowly. Ham-handed, but Cat’s line about big responsibility requiring time, training, and working hard with practice actually rang true. “Work twice as hard, etc” God I hope they don’t do this every episode. Reasonable scene between the two men, but I’ve got 5 bucks on James, because there’s zero appealing about Winn.

And now we have Bug Boy and what seems like at least two Kyptonians . . . and Kara’s aunt makes an appearance. 

Practice heroics. “Mad sewing skills.” Nice shotgun stop at the robbery. Too much geek from Winn, and a “kitten” up a tree. Great facial expression from Melissa.

Alex: you revealed your secret! Supergirl: Deal with it. I like this – it cements that the “team from the start” is the new way. Good exposition on the sisters. 

Back to the DEO. Goodness gracioius, DNA built on chlorine? PLEASE read GURPS Space. You know, it wouldn’t take much consultation (five to fifteen minutes with someone like me would do it) to fix all of those issues fairly easily.  

Backbones could be Si or C to have the plausible number of bonds, at least. 

“Uses Cl in metabolism” would explain why they have to EAT it. 

Something not from this episode, but a crutch I’m tired of:

“This doesn’t correspond to anything on the periodic chart!” (Predator 2 had this one, and I’ve seen it before over and over). 

that could be replaced with at least one technobabble phrase such as “I would have no idea how to blend these elements into an alloy to begin with! And the only limitation I can see from the perfection of the structure comes from my instruments! It’s like every atom was placed in this entire piece, by hand (except no hand is that precise, and our thermodynamic models say it’s impossible!”

It’s a common flaw, and it’s lazy. Very lazy.

Pressure on James to get an interview of Supergirl out of Superman. Do it or you’re fired. Heavy handed, but in character. Not a compelling character, but in character. 

The trap goes awry. Fires crystalline shards. Captures Alex (I don’t fault this – there are only so many principle actors available). 

Kara and James – “I’ll do the interview.” Some interesting insight to the Krypton in this series. “Be my own man” turned into “on Krypton, it’s no shame to accept help.”

The “S” means “Stronger Together,” apparently (rather than Hope). “I don’t want to be a hero like him.” OK,, the differntiation starts. I’m not sure I like the group hug characterization of Kryptonians, but they get to define it. 

I was reminded in another forum of the Roman symbol of authority: the fasces. An axe surrounded by a bundle of sticks – each weak individually, but capable together of delivering conquest and inspiring strength. If that’s what they’re going for, I’m all in.

Kara’s pissed at the DEO boss. “Do you have a family?” “I did.” That explains a lot. Nice.

They formalize Alura’s sister, Astra. General Astra. Her goal is to “save you all.”

See . . . as soon as Kara hears Alex say “Supergirl,” she rockets off. That explains the overuse of Superman as pronoun.

Astra fights Kara in Episode 2. Hrm. I’d have waited. 

She was a prisoner on Fort Rozz . . . and a conflict over what the truth of Krypton was. For “being a hero, trying to save our world.” Hrm. I wonder if Jor-El or Zod was on that same faction.

Nice joint manipulaton by Alex for the win.

Pretty good superfight and wire work for a TV show, and a lot of Kara getting her butt kicked, then a reversal . . . and cold breath from Astra. And a Kryptonite knife from Director Henshaw. Nice move – no one fails to duck so much as a cocky Kryptonian. 

And there’s the request for training for Kara like I asked for last review. Nice.

Parents got mentioned again – but they still don’t talk about them in the present tense. And Alex worked up a Jedi Holoron (Kryptonian memory matrix?) for plot exposition in the future. I like how the supergirl golden belt is echoed in Aluras outfit – because it’s something of Krypton she’d have been familiar with. 

And we have glowing red eyes from Henshaw. Again, that’s pretty bold for the second episode.

Astra doesn’t know bout Kryptonite either. And there’s a mysterious male voice that Astra seems to feel the need to explain herself to . . . perhaps it is Zod. Though Braniac might be a better guess. 

“Your interview with Supergirl has already started.” This was fantastic. Kara puts Cat off her guard by flying to the top of a mountain or cliff, conducting the interview while she’s flying, and in the dark. Game, set, and match to Kara.

My daughter picked up on several of the devices:

• She noted the repeated uses of “Stronger togehter” and “heart of a hero” to set the themes
• The aliens were pretty scary
• She predicted that Henshaw’s family was killed (when I asked if Henshaw had any family, she said ‘not anymore’) and he was replaced by a robot or alien
• She initially thought that he got his red eyes from the bug-creature, and Alex was an alien too

Very much improved over the pilot. The second episode had much better pacing, though I worry they’re blowing the reveals too early. The Astra-Kara fight, Director Henshaw’s eyes, and the mysterious ober-general.