Well I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday. Our favorite superheroes had a brief break then it’s back to fighting evil and seeking justice!
Supergirl
(1.05) How Does She Do It?
Well officially this is episode 1.04, it was supposed to have aired previously but they swapped it with “Livewire” in light of the Paris tragedy. Luckily it doesn’t throw things off too much.
So what did Supergirl have to do during the time other heroes had off? Save a train of course! This episode also cements that the show is going with the full-on villain version of Maxwell Lord (which actually didn’t exist until much later in the comics). Though this time he has gone full on Lex Luthor to Supergirl. Not that much like the original Max Lord but… *shrug*
The kid Kara had to watch over wasn’t too bad, though I’m torn. We didn’t get to see much of him except the usual cliche, “picked on loner” that these shows go with for children characters (either that or “complete disrespectful rebel”), and that might have been a good thing since child actors usually suck. On the other hand, it would have been nice to see more of Kara’s & even Wynn’s nurturing side. We hear that they did a lot of things but didn’t really see much of it. Heck Knox is apparently also a single parent with a probably struggling child so there could have been more parallels between him & Kara and their kids. I would have preferred more of that than Kara’s complaining about the friend zone when in any world she would not lack for dating prospects. (Actually maybe they’ll do something interesting with the conundrum that she could probably get a date easier in her uniform than civilian outfits.)
Oh and there’s more going on with Hank Henshaw. Some say the cyborg superman, some say martian manhunter. I’m starting to think both… (by the original becoming cysupes and then being replaced by J’onn J’onzz) Between him, evil Auntie and Max, the show’s starting to juggle a lot of potential villains.
Final Grade: A fun but otherwise standard outing gives this one a C+.
(1.06) Red Faced
Oh Red Tornado… normally a hero, turned villain today.
This was a very… up and down episode. The idea that superheroes like Superman and Girl can’t loose control is one not unknown, but surprisingly not often touched on (yet certainly explains the Fortress of Solitude). That Kara has to find new ways of dealing with stress? Good! That’s interesting. Cat’s brief speech about the double standards of anger? Baffling. As long as I’ve worked anger has been looked down on by employees, and sometimes the double standard seemed the other way (then again, maybe my perspective was skewed). I mean the episode starts off with two guys road raging at each other and SHOWS very clearly that rage isn’t seen as acceptable to civilized people no matter WHAT their sex or skin tone. Unless somehow the two guys were let go after reckless endangerment (which I highly doubt).
I was also disappointed that Wynn didn’t reveal as knowing more about Kara than perhaps either of them realized. The game night was a chance to show some real depth and complexity to the (currently flat) love rhombus. Though how Lucy didn’t realize Kara was supergirl after Wynn screwed up that badly is another example of this episode’s baffling missteps.
BUT I do like the continued depth of Cat & making her… 3 dimensional even if she’s still a total bitch. It’s not always easy to pull off a character that might good, or have good traits, and still be not nice.
And it tickles my meta-funny bone when Max Lord, this show’s Lex Luthor, seems to be setting up to dating Kara’s adopted relative, when Lex Luthor for a time in the comics ended up dating Supergirl (Superman’s adopted relative).
BUT the continued strawmanning of General Lane when we know there are evil kryptonians out there was just stupid. I mean it was just 4 episodes ago they fought! Why is Supergirl getting offended when… her freakin’ AUNT WANTS TO KILL PEOPLE! Come on, show, if you want to have continuity, you’ve got to do a better job.
Final Grade: If the show had made up its mind & executed its themes better, it would have earned more than a C-.
iZombie
(2.08) the Hurt Stalker
Well color me somewhat surprised they made the crazy stalker person a woman this time since the usual trend is for the loser nerd type. Otherwise it was a standard episode all around (which makes it far better than a lot of stuff out there). Ravi was good, we got to learn more about Babineaux. Something’s up with the SuperMax. If the regular stuff made regular zombies, is the rager stuff going to make running, rage zombies? Instead, I want to highlight 2 things they did really well this episode.
1) Taking advantage of the world building. Liv is in jail! She’s running low on food! Good stuff that’s entertaining (heck it could have been an entire episode on its own). Even better, it all flows logically. Liv eats brain. Doesn’t like how brain makes her so she cuts back on its portions. Less portions is a problem when she’s cut off from the regular brain supply. It’s just… yes! This is what I’m always on about! Rational actions by the characters leading to problematic situations. Heck I even like that we got a sense of Liv fighting the brain’s influence this time.
2) I know how there’s things about guys and “chick-flick moments.” See, the secret is, we don’t necessarily mind them, but there has to be something substantial behind them. Keeping a secret from your girl because… you’re trying to save your pride, that’s stupid. Keeping a secret from your girl because you’re involved in the illegal activity of hunting down her kind only because she’ll be targeted immediately if you don’t – ok, THAT’S a reason. Pushing away the love of your life because of something you saw for 3 seconds and won’t listen to any explanation? Stupid. Pushing away the love of your life because you’re inflicted with a horrible disease that you can’t risk spreading to him (or worse)? Ok, THAT’S a reason. Heck Major’s got a bit of a stalker himself with “Rita,” and it works here since he can’t really cut her out of his life with the hold her Daddy’s company has on him as well as what she knows of his extra-legal activity. And that’s why I like this show. Yeah it may have its drama & chick-flick moments, but you know what? They work hard and earn every single one of those. So bravo, iZombie. Bra-VO.
Food Note: Celery & peanut butter. No theme spotted by me. Are stalkers known for being health nuts?
Final Grade: solid A.
Flash
(2.08) Legends of Today
Hey… wait a minute… this was a crossover with Arrow wasn’t it? You know what that means?
My boss is unleashed! Crossover review time! (coming next)
