#supergirl season 5a

[leighlew3]

Hi Leigh, hope you are doing well!

Maybe you have answered this question before: how would you have written the Supergirl reveal to Lena?

You still have the elements of it being so late in series and that Lena actually already knows.

I wonder how a good writer would approach this because in the show it was an actual train wreck- Lena wanting to expose Supergirl’s identity at the Pulitzer party before Kara actually said it?! So out of character. And all that stuff after? So stupid.

Anyway thanks for answering this question :)

Hi! Hangin' in there, thank you. 🤗

Well, it depends on what point the launch off was.

Let's say she learns via Lex, just like in the show (rather than rewrite the whole damn series in this post, haha).

Just thinking on the fly, here goes... I woulda just had her reeling, feeling betrayed, and isolating rather than putting on a front.

Kara doesn't understand what's happening, but wonders if maybe Lena is secretly angry with her for killing Lex (remember, Kara believed she took him down in that final fight at the end of S4). This is hammered in further after Alex plants the seed that, evil or not, Lex was still Lena's brother, and so some level of sadness is likely to still exist there. She advises Kara to give Lena time and space.

Kara, further worried by Lena's worsening isolation and mood, ignores her sister's advice and makes efforts to connect, but increasingly senses the distance and her guilt grows.

Meanwhile Lena -- between finding out the truth that Kara is Supergirl in such a terrible way, while also hiding that she killed Lex (to protect Kara, ironically) truly spirals and starts to think that Kara perhaps never was truly her friend at all, only using her to be able to eventually take down Lex. A means to an end. Feeling like that's all she's ever been to anybody, including her "best friend" who meant the world to her, Lena becomes darker and more cold, sure -- but never takes those ridiculous 'villainous' actions of any kind.

Alex pulls a typical Alex move and starts to suspect that Lena's isolation and darker vibes could mean trouble as "She is a Luthor." and she's worried she'll carry Lex's torch now that he's gone, and her isolation means she's up to something. Kara of course doesn't buy it -- much like in the show, defending Lena, rebelling against the notion.

After ramping the tension throughout Season 5A on these fronts, a dramatic series of events eventually leads Kara to go to Lena and try to have a much needed conversation. Lena thinks she's perhaps finally going to confess, and she allows herself to feel hopeful again -- alas that hope is dashed, when instead Kara simply apologizes for killing Lex (so she thinks she did), and not realizing how much doing so would cause Lena pain. Lena finds this ironic, Kara's concern for her pain, considering she's lied to her all this time and still won't be open with her. Lena then decides that if nothing else, she won't lie.

She tells Kara that Lex died at HER hand, not Kara's.

Kara is shocked. She's pulled away by an emergency before they can discuss this further. And thus, Kara now believes Lena's distance and darkness is driven by guilt over killing her own brother, and Kara now feels more guilty than ever that she went through that, and that she continues to keep Lena in the dark, even though Lena opened up to her. As we approach mid-season, the two have several 'almost' moments where it seems Kara might actually confess her identity. And we make it clear that she wants to. But the more she sees how hurt Lena is about having to kill Lex, to protect her no less, the worse she feels and the more she's terrified to tell Lena her secret, believing that Lena's done so much for her, meanwhile all she's done -- is lie. It wrecks Kara. And her anger issues start to rise up again, and that comes out a lot in Crisis crossover (in which our world's Lex is NOT yet present again btw), which is of increasing concern to everybody.

Post Crisis, in which Lena and Kara work together to save everybody even though they can barely even look at each other, we have these two idiots with their secrets, both struggling tremendously -- Kara with her anger and guilt, and Lena with her sadness and pain. And both with their regrets. And the rest of the group is noticing these tensions, between missions / various genre adventures.

It ramps up, until finally, shit hits the fan in a 100th episode. Lena is held hostage by someone threatening to kill her if Supergirl doesn't reveal her identity (similar to how it was in the show, but without the Mxy stuff, or at least using it better) -- Kara is fully willing to reveal herself to save Lena. She prepares to do just that, and even goes to the press conference, but just before she has to do it, her friends find a way to save Lena without the reveal needing to happen. But Kara is also nearly killed in the battle. The closest she's ever come to dying.

In the aftermath, Lena has now seen how far Kara would go to protect her -- both in terms of being willing to give up her life AND reveal her identity to the world. Lena of course forgives Kara (quietly, to herself) and decides to let Kara have her secret, even if it means they both pretend the other doesn't know, silly as it it. Alas, what she doesn't expect, at the end of the episode --

Kara reveals her identity to Lena (at Kara's place after everyone else goes home). Turns out almost losing her life made her realize she didn't want to die a coward and a liar on this front. And also, Lena not knowing put her at worse risk than knowing. And she deserves to know, so she can protect herself. So Kara can better protect her.

After/during her confession, Lena sheds a tear, and Kara starts to profusely apologize, thinking Lena is devastated by the revelation. But Lena confesses that it's tears of relief, because she's already known. She was just wondering if Kara would ever trust her enough to tell her the truth. Kara is shocked to know Lena knew, grateful she's kept the secret for her, and heartbroken to know she learned it from Lex, before killing him. She also makes it clear she didn't keep it from her because she didn't trust her, it was never about that. It was simply the belief that not telling her protected her somehow. But now she's seen that was foolish, in this case. Realizing now they've both been dumb and their secrets have done nothing but cause each other, and themselves, so much pain -- they agree: no more secrets.

And they hug it out -- because besties! Just gals being pals right?!

*eye roll*

Then the rest of 5B becomes all about Lex popping up alive, and being furious that Lena and Kara are closer than ever, and that his attempt to destroy their relatio- I mean "friendship" failed. And he comes at them harder than ever, with Lillian's help. And so on. And by the end of S5, in an epic battle, Lex is finally stopped and captured once and for all and hauled off to prison, but not before sending Kara to the phantom zone.

Lena is devastated, as she and Kara only recently had all cards on the table and were growing closer than ever, so S6A then becomes all about the super friends trying to find Kara in the Phantom Zone (with a LOT less cheesy stupidity, and a lot more focus on Kara's traumas and torture while in the PZ rather than any dumb filler crap with her dad being alive -- perhaps she sees him, but it's just a cruel illusion).

Meanwhile, Lena, at wits end, visits Lex in prison, hoping to get information out of him as to where and how they can find Kara in the PZ. But he taunts her, plays games with her, etc until finally, she tells him goodbye for good. He doesn't believe she'll be able to stay away forever, especially as long as he knows how to find Kara. But she finally sees through it all, basically tells him he's full of shit, that he has no idea how to reach Kara in the PZ, he's a liar, always has been, and his power over her is gone. She vows to find Kara on her own and to never be anything like him, as he's selfish and cruel and insane. And she finally walks away from him. And he can't believe it.

Now that she's found her inner strength, Lena is able to think more clearly, less out of anger and desperation, and thus she, Alex and the Superfriends eventually embark on an action-packed retrieval of Kara in the Phantom Zone, ultimately saving her in the mid-season finale.

The final half of the final season (6B) focuses on Kara's deep traumas experienced/re-lived in the phantom zone, as she struggles with doing her job as "perfect" Supergirl while mentally screwed up. No one really notices but Lena, because Kara hides it well. Alex is just happy her sister is back, busy planning a wedding, focusing on vigilante work, etc. And the Superfriends have lots of other issues to focus on as well. But Lena sees Kara's struggles because she knows a thing or two about trauma, and she's there for her. Especially after Alex and Kelly get married with a few episodes to go and Kara doesn't want to burden her sister, who is finally so happy.

The final episodes feature Kara facing her demons, internal and external (as villains from past seasons pop up to haunt her, as it turns out the events post Crisis brought them into this universe, and now they've come after her, and they've all got to take them down).

In the end, the show wraps up with Kara finding a level of peace she never had before, having faced the past and all she's gone through and lost, in great part thanks to having Lena by her side.

And the show ends focused on Kara, for an episode called KARA. Not focused on Lex, nor the supporting characters, not on shoe-horned cameos, nor other bs. But Kara herself, and her journey, her healing from a lifetime of loss and trauma, her relationships to her family and friends, and rediscovering that which is always going to rest deep within her soul, even if it gets a little lost sometimes...

Her unbreakable sense of HOPE.

The End.

#supergirl #supercorp #kara danvers #kara zor-el #lena luthor #supergirl cw #sgcw #season 4 - 6 rewrite #headcanon

[supergay-supergirl]

i fixed supergirl season 5 (part 1/3)

hi i'm back on my supergirl bullshit :) anyway my episode by episode notes for how supergirl season 5A could/should have gone is below the cut, enjoy

(the rest will be in another post, this got way too long)

Overall Themes

Season 5 is about facing reality and accepting grief and pain. This is already done well in 5B imo but it could have been even more central to the plot (see plot)

Emotionally Lena is in a terrible horrible no good very bad place right now. They executed this pretty well in the show but I think they should have scrapped Lex and Rama Khan / most of Leviathan and made her the primary villain.

Kara has to learn to forgive herself for keeping a secret she was forced to keep. They also did this pretty well huh maybe season 5 had good themes after all

Overall theme of forgiveness, of self and of others. This ties into the previous themes; you need to face your grief and forgive in order to move on.

Note on CGI

Real talk here the CGI is the one thing that I have no defense of

It's dependent on budget so there probably wasn't much they could have done but. hhh

Anyway imagine all of these things with like season 2 level CGI

Episodes

*important changes in bold.

5x01: Event Horizon

Original rating: 7/10

Absolutely love the cold open. Perfect. Change nothing

Instead of the confusing restrictive contract thing, the crew stays at CatCo because they still believe in it. A small amount of blackballing can be involved.

Kara and Lena scenes are good

Fight scene with Midnight: They don't know Malefic exists yet so there isn't that much you can do with action. But definitely a roll call style fight scene that showcases each character's powers in their most iconic way (Dreamer gets a dream pun, Guardian does his shield slide move, etc.)

And maybe let Supergirl do the sonic boom clap thing, just for kicks

Malefic doesn't tell J'onn he's his brother right away. Like Lena, he wants to hurt the person who hurt him while avoiding direct confrontation with those feelings or that person.

5x02: Stranger Beside Me

Original rating: 5/10

Cold open on William, talking to someone about Andrea and Russell Rogers. We start to get hints of his true integrity; he's kind to his source and willing to show his vulnerability to earn their trust.

Also he should be less annoying in general

Malefic releases some other villain from the Phantom Zone to kill J'onn. Brief villain of the week run ensues.

Lena is continuing to develop Non Nocere, but she's having science problems, as she often does. Perhaps intersperse some clips of Lex from S4 or childhood, showing her emotional volatility.

Leave Eve out of the picture for now

Kelly and J'onn figure out that J'onn is missing memories. J'onn thinks his mind was wiped by someone, but Kelly notes that his brain activity matches that of someone who's repressed trauma.

5x03: Blurred Lines (Ancestral Memory)

Original rating: 4/10

Split this episode in half and stretch it over two episodes. Move James's goodbye to episode 5.

Kara and Lena stuff is good

Malefic releases the Aurafacian from the Phantom Zone in a continued villain of the week fashion.

Nia and J'onn access J'onn's repressed memories. They realize that Malefic (1) exists and (2) is behind all this. J'onn considers reaching out, but he can't find the courage.

The Super Friends defeat the Aurafacian, but Rip Roar kills her before they can take her in.

Fight scene with Malefic: He continually turns into and/or mind controls each of them so that there's very little actual fighting (think DEO scene in human for a day)

Also I think it should be called ancestral memory

Closing scene: William finds an exhausted Russell after the attack. He tries to reason with him, but Russell speeds away.

Closing image: Frustrated at his delegates' failures, Malefic decides to take things into his own hands.

5x04: In Plain Sight

Original rating: 6/10

Cue Sean Astin and temporary Kelly superpowers

Lena works with the DEO to create the modified Phantom Zone projector

They manage to corner Malefic using temporary Kelly superpowers. Right when they're about to hit him with the Phantom Zone projector, J'onn calls out for them to stop—Malefic is worth saving, and one needs to face their past, not lock it away—but Lena sets it off anyway, imprisoning Malefic.

Meanwhile, Kara follows William while he investigates Gemma Cooper (prev. Margot), Eve's white-haired connection to Leviathan. He reveals that he's investigating the disappearance of his friend Russell, which he believes is related to Andrea.

None of the Elena Torres stuff. This is solidly a B plot

He tells her that he was only acting so annoying because Andrea only trusts people who act for their own predictable self-interests (hinting at a deeper backstory for Andrea). However, he got into journalism because he isn't afraid to face the truth. Kara relates.

Kara and Lena talk about what happened with Malefic. Lena asserts that she was right, echoing her words to Lex; Malefic is a bad person, and the world will never be safe with him in it. We see how the events of the past few months have radicalized her mindset. The only way to save humanity is to control it.

5x05: Dangerous Liaisons

Original rating: 4/10

Put James's goodbye here. We can still do the date-aversary and trauma stuff with Kelly in Calvintown.

Wracked with guilt, J'onn tries to reach out psychically to Malefic, but he can't reach him. He thinks it's because Malefic is in the Phantom Zone, but it's actually because Lena has used her data from the previous episode to block J'onn's Q-wave frequencies while she experiments with Malefic's Q-waves.

Big showdown with Rip Roar over the geyser

Fight scene with Rip Roar: Supergirl faces him alone, trying not to hurt him and instead to reason with him. When she says William's name, he hesitates long enough for her to catch him.

Closing scene: At the DEO, William talks to Russell, appealing to their close friendship. When William asks who did this to him (implying Andrea), Russell says one word: "Leviathan."

5x06: Confidence Women

Original rating: 8/10

I highkey love this episode, wouldn't change much about it

Previously on Supergirl: lots of longing looks between Andrea and Lena. But neither of them have the mental or emotional well being to actually talk to the other.

I think overall the adult plot could have been organized better. Spend less time on Acrata and focus instead on Russell, Leviathan, and the general turmoil in Andrea's life.

Draw clear parallels to Lena and Kara's relationship

Canon Rojascorp optional but encouraged

5x07: Tremors (mid-season finale)

Original rating: 7/10

Get rid of Rama Khan. Literally just delete him

Having been told by Kara about William's investigation, Lena follows the clues to Eve. Eve tries to apologize, but Lena won't engage and kidnaps her instead.

The Super Friends research Leviathan. Supergirl goes to the Fortress to gather more information.

Meanwhile, J'onn gets wind that Malefic is still on Earth.

Fortress scene good

Intercut with the Fortress scene, J'onn tracks Malefic and realizes that Lena's been keeping him prisoner. The two pairs speak in parallel as they finally air their grievances. J'onn and Malefic are able to forgive and make up, but Lena and Kara can't.

The reference in my head is why stay / a promise from Next to Normal

I think they kind of did this but not as deliberately

parts 2 and 3 to come!

#supergirl #cw supergirl #script doctor #superspeaks #kara danvers #lena luthor #supergirl season 5 #supergirl season 5a #supergirl meta #supergirl script doctor #andrea rojas #william dey #j'onn j'onzz #kelly olsen #supergirl cw #long post #my content

[captaincartervalues]

Kara: Lena, I’m sorry -

Lena: IT’S TOO LATE TO APOLOGIIIIIZZZEEE! IT’S TOO LAAAAATEE.

#supercorp season 5A #its too laaaatee #til its not #bc we all know they gon make up #and make out #supergirl #lena luthor #kara danvers #supercorp #katie mcgrath #melissa benoist

[searidings]

Oh dear, the 5x06 hug is peak enemies-to-lovers realising / exploiting tension whilst still in the enemy phase. I know folks ignore villain-ish Lena in 5a, but that was e-x-c-e-l-l-e-n-t. (She's hurt & horny, who are we to judge?) For like 1 nanosecond, the writers did well. Lena's 100% aware of her own and Kara's feelings by that point.

if anything they didn't lean into the hurt horniness enough! where was the we don't have a friendship supergirl, i don't think about you while i'm doing it season 3-esque overtly sexy energy? where were the crackling exchanges, the charged conversations? where were the longing looks that were part furious, part desperate, whole horny?

where was the inevitable screaming match when all the tension bubbled over that ended with lena so furious and heartbroken that she tries to pick a physical fight with kara, who of course won't ever raise a hand to her? where was lena red-faced and screaming, shoving kara (who graciously allows herself to be shoved) up against the nearest wall and pinning her there? where was both of them breathing hard, their faces inches apart, lena's eyes fixed on kara's mouth as she pants against her, her voice barely more than a hiss as they trade barbed jabs back and forth? WHERE WAS THEIR ANGRY HATE KISS THAT MORPHED INTO A TEARY I'M-NOT-ANGRY-I'M-SAD-KISS THAT MORPHED INTO AN I-NEVER-STOPPED-LOVING-YOU KISS THAT MORPHED INTO THEM RIPPING EACH OTHER'S CLOTHES OFF? we truly could have had it all this is fine im fine

#got a little carried away with this one lads #but we were promised enemies to lovers and so far we've only received like 20% of that at best #AND I WANT MORE #anon you're right they did well for like 0.1 seconds and like fools we got our hopes up only to be let down again #will we ever learn? and by we i mean me and the answer is no :) #anyways yeah. yeah #hope you're having a great day #asks #anonymous

[karadluthor]

6x05 review:

Okay so I’m going to start off by saying that “this episode was an unnecessary mess” and “seeing brainia, baby danvers sisters, and a younger cat grant was amazing” are two statements that can coexist.

Here’s the thing.. if they had done an episode like this LAST season (instead of the episodes when Winn showed up and basically all of 5b being the lex show) and shown what was different for the superfriends post-crisis, this episode would have been one of the best episodes of the series.

Because truly Jesse and Nicole are so great together. I wanted to see Nia specifically having more screentime. And what I love most about Brainia is that their romantic relationship isn’t the only aspect of their relationship. They are so healthy and good together, and I genuinely loved seeing them in this episode.

The actresses who play young Kara and young Alex are perfectly cast and have the range to embody what we love in Mel’s Kara and Chy’s Alex.

And retconning Kenny back into existence was a good move in my opinion because his death was unnecessary to begin with. (If they kill him again next week, I won’t be surprised because my expectations are super low.) I’ve seen several others saying this, and I’ve said it before but they have really dug themselves an even bigger supercorp hole after this episode. If Kara ends up single at the end of the series, then what was the point of ever putting her in a romantic relationship whatsoever except to say, “she has to sacrifice a love life for the greater good.” which is actually just really unfortunate considering every other lead hero on the CW has been allowed an endgame love interest. They also paralleled supercorp to K/K several times in this episode with “i feel like i can do anything” and we know Kara goes to NCU so both her and Lena left LIs behind to move to NC.. so they could meet each other... that’s destiny and soulmatism right there.

All of that being said, it was literally like the writers in this episode just had someone write down a bunch of random blurbs and drew pieces of paper from a hat to add to this episode like I was genuinely confused. And again, that’s why it would have been better to have this episode back in s5 because we have no idea at this point, on the final season, what crisis actually did to the timeline we saw from s1-5a, and thus aren’t invested in this plot line in this final season.

Overall I give the episode a 7/10 because Brainia and the young Danvers sisters made it enjoyable, even if it was a big ole mess.

p.s.: @ cwsg stop trying to use all of your supergirl ad dollars to fund s&l. there have always been so many commercials but dear god, this season is so much worse. you’re not giving the viewers who have stayed with you for over 5 seasons now enough time to wrap up your series, and you’re clearly not spending the money on supergirl itself. your shitty cgi told on you.

#supercorp #supergirl spoilers

[dragonmp93]

It will be never not funny that the reveal from Superman & Lois that screws up the Supergirl timeline is the fairly minor and rather mundane "Morgan Edge never tries to buy CatCo, and instead buys the Daily Planet", destroying the whole chain of events from season 3 to 5A; while the big twist that the whole season spent setting up about Edge would have absolutely no effect at all on the events of Supergirl S3, because even if he could have had the upper hand against Kara, the DEO, the Martians, the Legion, and even Lexosuit, Edge still would have got his ass kicked by either Sam's World killer powers or by Lena's inventions anyways.

#supergirl #supercorp #lena luthor #katie mcgrath #the cw supergirl #the cw #supergirl cw

[buddha-in-disguise]

I've been around fandoms for several decades now. Both before the internet, through the earliest days of internet fandom, to the present day.

I can genuinely say, the way Supergirl treats its fans, especially the LGBTQ or BIPOC fans as a whole, has been the worst by some margin. Particularly in regards Supercorp in terms of queerbaiting.

Whether those involved in the production of Supergirl want to admit it or not, Supergirl as it stands has been queerbaiting a large portion of the audience. Without a doubt, in terms of a ship, the largest core group of fans there is for Supercorp, and by some margin.

Have there been some fans who have taken things too far? Absolutely. And every good SC fan I know recognise and understand this, and constantly say this.

Yet somehow, an entire fandom gets tarred with the same brush continually.

But worse still, when anyone tries to address the queerbaiting that has gone on with someone who works on the show, other than the women in general, Jon Cryer (who could teach those BTS of SG a lot on how to engage with fans on SM, and not piss off swathes of fans), and Jesse, there are few instances I can think of where it then hasn't resulted in SC fans getting dumped on, or called delusional, or basically saying it isn't there.

Here's the thing.

As LGBTQ fans, the majority of us - especially the older ones like myself - know exactly what queerbaiting is. How do you think it even became recognised as a problem?

Because we called media out on it. The LGBTQ audiences defined it, via our experiences. So we know exactly what queerbaiting is thank you. We don't need to be told it isn't there or isn't something going on - because we are the ones who wrote up the damn definition!

In all my years of fandoms, never have I seen queerbaiting on the scale Supergirl use. Season 5 - especially 5a - brought the queerbaiting to a whole new level.

So many of us now dread S6, because S5 was so bad in a multitude of ways for the LGBTQ audience, including but not exclusively Supercorp queerbaiting.

And I don't speak for all SC fans, but I do see a lot like me are caught in a conundrum. We all love the majority of the cast. Particularly the women. Sure we all have favourites, but also as a whole, the female cast is loved and respected.

Here's my dilemma. I want to support the female cast. Hell I was a Chyler, Katie and Azie fan long before Supergirl, and have grown to love Melissa, Andrea and Nicole particularly. Nicole as a transgender women especially holds a place dear to us. I will support them all beyond Supergirl.

As S6 will begin filming, I want nothing more than to show them I love, support and care for them. But then I'm at the point where I want to just tell the show to go jump, because they've sucked all the enjoyment I had out of it for me. When you actually dread what the next week might bring, that is not what any show should be about. Yet here I find myself dreading what the show might bring.

I also am questioning do The CW even care about Supergirl any more, especially as they finally got Superman, which they've coveted for years, and made no secret of it.

They seem to forget that Supergirl and Superman have two pretty distinct fans. I like Superman, but I love Supergirl. I'm also just a little bit done with all the iterations of Superman we've had on screen.

Supergirl has always struggled on the social media side of fan engagement as well. Not once have I seen a showrunner actively engage with the audience. Or at least, if they have it was a long time ago. The current showrunners definitely haven't. Hell, one doesn't even have a SM account.

But even if a showrunner or others involved in the show don't engage, when others do, it becomes a nightmare. The last 6 or 7 hours are a case in point.

Again, yes some fans take it too far where Supercorp is involved. Yet, once again, rather than just stepping away, a writer got embroiled into something that didn't need to happen, because they gave out conflicting tweets on replies to fans over Supercorp, and then began blocking fans who were polite and respectful and did absolutely nothing to warrant a block.

Then they also liked a post that called SC fans dicks.

Yet somehow again, we are all the bad guys.

I've no doubt that they felt overwhelmed on how the reactions went. I truly do. But I really don't understand why anyone doesn't just step back. Put out a polite post saying it's all getting a bit too much, and they need to disengage. I think each and every decent fan would understand and respect that. I know I would.

But here's the thing.

Ultimately the writer shouldn't be in that position of trying to answer fans on it all. Nor should they dismiss fans who say it is queerbaiting, if they're not LGBTQ themselves.

The problem is Supergirl social media is so lacking, it places a higher burden on writers and others instead. That is on the show. Entirely.

I also have to question just how diverse is the writers room? Having a number of women, if they are White and cis, when you have a cast of characters who are LGBTQ and/or Black or POC, is not having a good diverse writers room. And it shows.

If you say there is no queerbaiting, but not LGBTQ, you need to stop trying to redefine what is accepted queerbaiting.

If someone says it is a gay agenda, you need to stop with that, because that is homophobic. End of. That's no different that being racist if you write it is a Black agenda.

Supergirl put themselves in this position.

I've had family watch Supergirl with no preconceptions on characters suddenly say: I see something between Kara and Lena. Are they together? And being astounded when not only do they realise they're not together, that they actually have 4 seasons of this and counting.

This has come from straight family. Or my very gay, very into men brother in law.

If others see it who aren't involved as Supercorp fans, who might even be straight - that is queerbaiting.

But here's the thing. It shouldn't need us to say others see it too. If a large segment of audience see it, say it is there, pull out receipts to show why they are saying that time and again, that should be enough.

Yet it isn't.

As much as it pains me - I sense now The CW has Superman, they're going to let Supergirl go by end of S6. I'd be more surprised if they announce a 7th season than not.

Whatever decisions on the shows future they might be making, one thing is clear.

If they don't allow Supercorp to develop, and don't get rid of whatever homophobic block is going on for the show, Supergirl will be left with a legacy of being probably the worst example on queerbaiting your audience ever.

The 100 are still panned to this day over Clexa by LGBTQ fans.

Supergirl still have a chance, a choice to pull it around.

Sadly I doubt that will happen.

In the meantime, I'm stuck on wanting to stop watching the show, but wanting desperately to support the cast. That's the conundrum many of us now face.

The legacy Supergirl will leave is not going to be about empowering women if they don't change significantly for S6.

It will be how they queerbaited, how they dismissed the only full cast Black woman, worse still, who played an LGBTQ role. How they dismissed the LGBTQ as a whole.

Those are legacies that will not die away for LGBTQ fans. The CW in general has tainted itself with the LGBTQ audience in more than one show.

What a mess.

And it really wouldn't take much to avoid all of this. That's what is so disappointing. It is an easy fix.

Apologies for any typos/mistakes as I'm posting unedited.

#supergirl #kara danvers #lgbtq #katie mcgrath #melissa benoist #supercorp #chyler leigh #lena luthor #alex danvers #azie tesfai #kelly olsen #nia nal #nicole maines #queerbaiting

[shipping1addict]

I haven't really touched on the season premiere and my theories yet, so I guess I'll start now.

For the plot itself, there are already a lot of assumptions. So I'm gonna focus on why the majority is really here: supercorp. Especially the deal with William and how his overall character arc seems to have shifted(?)

Because, well, the scene at the end of 6x01 where Nia tells Andrea and him that Kara was onto a new story with Cat and "if she could've called him, she would've" has me a little torn.

The fact that Kara didn't mention William or has shown any concerns towards him leads me to belive that she doesn't have any interests in him. That and the obvious fail of date last season - with everyone pressing her to agree to.

But we know that he doesn't let go so easily when his friends are in trouble - or if there is a story to unveil- like we saw in 5A, where he literally followed Kara even when she was Supergirl in action. So he could start investigating and find things out that shouldn't concern him in the slightest.

Which would make him one of the superfriends. And would draw him even closer to Kara romantically - even though this would be an unrequited crush (at least it seems that way).

Also Nia's comment "If she could've called, she would've". I mean. It was probably to let him feel better and/or would actually be the truth.

When Kara left for Argo, she had a whole good bye party at Catco. So I doubt she would just vanish without a word, if she truly was to get on an assignment. - it doesn't even matter. As we know, an assignment is not the real reason she's gone.

But still it's... I don't know. I have my doubts that they would truly cut this story arc.

There are a lot of indicators, that they won't go down the "wara"/"superdey" whaterver- route. The lack of chemistry and fandom support are our best bets. And it's not just us supercorps. Karamels don't want superdey to happen either.

Maybe they set this side plot "pressing Kara to date again" up, so she acknowledges in the end, that she doesn't need a relationship- that she doesn't need somebody to define her.

The message this show started out with.

I know we're a clowning with our theory, that this story arc is there for her to realise that she truly wants Lena. That she has feeling for her. And I guess even Karamels take the same route just with Mono.

But if we're talking realism, it's probably the "single" route. Because 1. It would be a compromise with all the Ship Wars and 2. We sometimes forget that the show is not about relationships. At least not like that.

It's about feminism and positive messaging. And yes. A positive LGBT+ representation with the lead role as part of it would be an opportunity to prove that, but like I said: the initial message was that Kara is her own person and doesn't need someone to define her.

_________

Wow that was a lot. And my thoughts were all over the place.

But in conclusion: the scene with William in 6x01 could be interpreted either way. Or it could be a mix of both and I just predicted his whole season 6 arc, who knows.

#supergirl #supercorp

[afterglowlws]

Hi there! I like supercorp content but gave up on Supergirl in season 3. What were you alluding to when you said a romantic boundary has been crossed?

Hi! Sorry if this is super long winded but I have so many feelings about it still 😭😂

I think there’s been several things throughout each season that were really romantic, but something about the entirety of season 5 was just different. It was the most romantically framed they’ve ever been; the romantic music, the outfit choices, the Clois parallels, the parallels to other canon couples, the romantic tropes, etc. You’ve had all that in previous seasons as well, but this season established them as soulmates on top of it all. It established that they can’t live without each other, and that they don’t want to either.

Seeing the way Kara was desperate to apologize and get Lena back was already walking the line, but I think there were a few different things that ended up completely crossing it. The first thing is their willingness to bend their morals for each other. We have Kara, who absolutely swore to never kill no matter how evil the person was. Kara, who swore to never choose a singular person over saving thousands/millions/billions of people. Season 5 starts with Kara thinking she killed Lex (and trying again upon seeing him alive during Crisis), and she is 100% okay with this because she knows Lena is safer because of it. We also see Kara once again risk the world and all of her friends lives to save Lena. We saw this briefly in 3x05 when she was willing to let the city’s water supply get poisioned rather than drop Lena. But in season 5A she was willing to put the entire world at risk rather than inflict any harm on her. And then again in 5x13 where she got all her friends killed in AU because she revealed her identity to the world to save Lena. Revealing her identity for Lena, in and of itself, is super romantic to me. And then we have Lena, who straight up killed her brother to keep Kara safe. I also find it interesting that Kara went against Alex’s direct order and broke a federal law to steal Lex’s journals for Lena because “a friend like you has no boundaries.” That line was just...an interesting choice, especially when you parallel it to when Lena told James that a season or two ago.

Another thing is all of 5x13, which was the AU episode where Mxy took Kara through all the different timelines. That episode established them as soulmates. Established that Kara can’t live without Lena, and that Lena is heartless without Kara. This part is up for interpretation but to me, Lena’s heart was symbolic of Kara’s kryptonite being Lena not loving her. The show itself kind of backs that claim with all of their ‘stronger together, weaker apart’ posts. But anyway, in the Metallo Lena AU she started blasting Kara with kryptonite. Kara doesn’t try to fight back, run away, or even move...she just lays there and says ‘I won’t fight you Lena.’ That same ‘evil’ Lena had tears in her eyes when she saw Kara, even though she had no clue who she was, because they’re that connected across any version of reality. I could write a whole essay about the Metallo AU alone, but there’s just one more timeline I want to quickly highlight. I found it extremely interesting that Kara’s ideal timeline was when her and Lena were ‘partners’ from the beginning. They had a whole cult of followers praising the pairing of a Luthor and a Super. Kara was bothered by her cult following in the past, but being praised for her partnership with Lena was ideal to her. Lena working alongside her was ideal to her. A world where Lena was her #1 and none of her ex’s seemed to exist..was what she wanted. I think it’s telling.

The last thing is actually a deleted scene, but I have to say that had they kept it...it would’ve been very hard to explain from a platonic standpoint. There was a deleted scene from 5x07 where Kara insisted on Lena staying in a DEO safe house for her protection, and Lena told her that she wanted to fight alongside her because she’s not a damsel in a tower. The damsel in distress trope is probably one of the oldest romantic tropes in the book. Kara said it to MonHell, Iris said it to Barry, etc. There are other non deleted scenes that are just as telling as this one, but this scene in particular still just has me screaming into the void so I had to mention it lol.

Like I said I could write an entire essay with all the romantic evidence in season 5 alone, but I’ll stop here for now because I’m sure this was way more than you bargained for 😅😅

#supercorp #supergirl #lena luthor #kara danvers #kara x lena #lgbt #wlw #supercorp endgame

[villanelle-wlwship]

Okay but IF supercorp are indeed “just friends” their whole storyline doesnt make sense at all?

- James, Winn, Alex, Jonn and Kelly(??) know Kara is SG... WHY is lena the ONLY ONE being attacked and thrown into court (100th ep) if she knew beforehand that Kara is SG. HOW would other people even know she would know that Kara is SG?? She befriended KARA not supergirl.

If you look at lois and clark. Everyone knew lois was supermans love interest and that made her a target. Because if you could get to lois, you could hurt superman. But Lena just being a friend to KARA doesnt give other people any reason to attack lena for her knowing who supergirl is. In fact they made it very clear that Kara is her hero, not supergirl. So that whole storyline didnt make any sense.

- Second IF THEY ARE JUST FRIENDS. Why is lena the ONLY ONE supergirl bridal carries like that? She bridal carried Kelly once, but she holded her in a very in-fact- friendly way. And Why is lena always the damsel in distress?

- if they are indeed JUST FRIENDS, why is Lena only relevant for the “superfriends” if she is in good terms with Kara? And why isnt she just as hurt about her “friends” lying to her for YEARS. And why are Lena and Jonn not in the same position as Lena and Kara in this moment because HE LIED TO HER FOR YEARS about being a martian?!

- 5A..wtf was that?! It was literally a fckng love story with romantic music, romantic scenes, parallels with kelly/alex with russel/andrea.. like 🤷🏻‍♀️ WHY and WHAT was that? Buying Lena lunch from three different countries because she wants her lunch “to be perfect”.. this whole part of the season made me SO excited and it was absolutely the FIRST time they had me believe they would make them canon.. the picture scene, seriously???????? WHAT WAS THAT? i was screaming, my whole timeline was screaming... i never believed they would go there for a second until 5A I WAS HAPPY WITH MY FANFICS FANART and inside jokes with the fandom!!

And then it all exploded in 5B.. like honestly? Why WRITE 5A like THAT????? WHY? I HONESTLY want some answers because i think a lot of people are hurt, frustrated and done because of all of this and then getting blocked and attacked and hated on by other viewers, the crew and the cast.

If they had invested in the whole william/ kara thing from the start of 5A and never gave us this much MAINtext because it fckng was, between supercorp. It would have hurt less and I personally could have lived with it, if the season was greatly written because i love Kara Danvers, I love the Danvers Sisters, I love Kelly, i love the friendship between Nia and Kara, i love Brainy i love everything about that. But they honestly destroyed everything? So for season six IF IM EVEN GOING TO WATCH (dont think so) but i HOPE we get:

- Danvers sisters as main storyline like season one.

- Alex / Kelly a decent well written love story

- Bring the alex wanted to be a mother storyline back?

- give kelly her own story as a therapist helping Kara, Lena, and Alex

- Make Catco relevant again, Nia and Kara being the journalist team and show us growth for Nia as a reporter maybe even winning a pulitzer at the end of the season. And let her use her powers (dreaming the future) to make great stories for Catco?? Andrea being the CEO would be cool

- turn William into a villian i think that could work because his story was useless in season 5.

- Make lena our strong female empowerment CEO again, i loved her so so much and they destroyed her whole character for the sake of drama!

And finally MAKE THE SHOW ABOUT SUPERGIRL AGAIN!! let her be the hero again fighting villains, lena providing her suits and weapons and shit.

And last but not least STOP.WITH.THE.QUEERBAIT!

#supercorp #lena luthor #kara danvers

[luulapants]

Digging into the Teen Wolf credits

So I fell into a bit of a rabbit hole researching the shift in writing and directing credits in Teen Wolf, trying to find some explanations for the lack of continuity, whiplash change of directions on storylines, and the messiness of the later seasons. A lot of people (myself included) tend to focus on casting issues and Jeff Davis as the be-all-end-all of these issues, but here are a few interesting things I’ve put together:

1. Waning involvement from the original producers/directors - 

Russell Mulcahy was a producer/exec on all 100 episodes and directed 39 episodes, including every season finale and all but one season premier (5a). He was a big-shot music video director in the ‘80s. According to his Wikipedia, “Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans.”

Tim Andrew came on as a supervising producer and progressed to executive producer, holding a producing credit for all 100 episodes. He directed 35 episodes, including some of fan-favorite suspense episodes like Night School, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, and Riddled.

While their producer credits stayed steady, it’s the director credits that interest me. Between the two of them, they directed 75% of S1, 100% of S2, 83% and 75% of 3a and 3b. S4, it drops to 58%. Back up to 70% and 90% for 5a and 5b, then plummeting to 60% for all of S6. It’s worth noting that S4 is the first season where we start to notice that whiplash effect, not really sure what characters’ motivations are. In one episode, the focus seems to be family financial drama, and then we forget about that and focus on Lydia’s powers. Then the focus is assassins, then Kate Argent - and what the hell is up with Peter?

It’s hard to say for sure, but one could draw the conclusion that the decline in director credits from Andrew and Mulcahy also suggest a decline in interest from them in maintaining the show’s storylines.

In fact, in 5b and season 6, you see a third long-time producer, Joseph Genier, step in to direct a few episodes: the rather sloppy Maid of Gevaudan, Blitzkrieg, and Genotype. We can’t give him too hard a time over it, since his only other directing experience ever was a 2016 Netflix horror movie The Secrets of Emily Blair, shitty even by Netflix standards. He also has some late-season writing credits, but we’ll get to that later.

2. The curious case of Angela Harvey - 

In order to understand the writing on TW, you need to know Angela Harvey. She climbed the ranks from personal assistant to writers’ assistant, then, starting in 3a, staff writer.

A staff writer is a salaried, stable figure in the writing department, who works with what is often a rotating door of producers and head writers. They’re usually not the “ideas” person and don’t get the final say, but they help the head writer work through the story and stay on track. Most larger shows have a whole team of staff writers. TW never had more than one at a time.

Shortly after her promotion to staff writer, Harvey got her first full writing credit for Frayed, which is a controversial episode! It’s both praised and detested for the non-linear storyline, the sometimes confusing flashbacks, and Allison’s emotional hallucination of her mother.

After that, she went back to staff writer and was a rock for the show for all of S3 and 4. In S4, she got full writing credit for I.E.D. and Time of Death. Both got mixed reviews on-par with the rest of the muddled mess of S4, but I will note one thing: the human factor. I.E.D., for me, was the first episode that really gave a more rounded picture of Liam, who until that time felt very much like a new puppy coming in to replace our favorite old dogs that went to live on the big farm in the sky.

S5, Harvey gets a promotion to ‘story editor,’ which is pretty much just a title and pay promotion. She wrote A Novel Approach and Strange Frequencies, two more mixed-bag sort of episodes with some golden moments and some crippling larger-story issues. Then she writes the slightly stronger The Sword and the Spirit and... 

Gone. She vanishes from the credits for the rest of season 5. I haven’t been able to find any specific explanations, but I did find a rather telling quote from her in an article about how black writers get hired but not promoted in TV:  “I repeated staff writer four times,” she said.

Harvey then returns for 6x2 with a shiny new title: executive story editor. I can only draw one conclusion from this sequence of events, which is a contract dispute. Harvey demanded a promotion (as she should have, given her longevity on the show!), was denied, and walked off. The show floundered in her absence and begged her back with the new title.

She got full writer credits for two more episodes for S6 but left the show for good after the second, After Images.

To me, it seems clear that they had a strong, stable voice in Angela, but her commitment to the project waned as she realized that the show had no commitment to her. She may not have been the strongest head writer, but she was an essential core, a beating heart of the show. Her contributions were undervalued and, ultimately, the show suffered because of it.

3. The rotating door of writers - 

It’s not unusual for head writers to come and go on shows. Then again, most shows have a stable core in the writers’ room to host those head writers. TW had Jeff Davis, who has frequently been acknowledged to be overly hands-on with the writing (even in episodes he did not take writing credit for), and a single staff writer: Angela Harvey and, before her, Andy Cochran (who was staff writer for S2).

S1 did not have a staff writer, but that was because Jeff had a very firm grip on the story and also because there were only four writers other than Jeff Davis (and the original Teen Wolf movie writers). Interestingly, none of those 4 writers ever returned to the show after S1. This would become a theme for TW writers.

Jeff kept even tighter control on S2, writing 8 of 12 episodes with the help of Cochran. Other than them, there were four other writers, two of whom were a writing team.

Jeff wrote 15 of 24 S3 episodes and brought in 6 new writers and one S2 writer, Christian Taylor who also produced and directed. Of the new writers, only Ian Stokes, who wrote The Fox and the Wolf would become a regular writer afterward (though Alyssa Clark did write two more episodes in S4). Stokes wrote three S4 episodes and three for 5a.

Jeff wrote 6 of 12 episodes in S4, 5 of 10 in 5a, 4 of 10 in 5b, and then did not write again until the series finale.

Starting in Season 4, the writing credits are all over the place. Most writers come in for a single episode and never again. The few notable exceptions are:

Eric Wallace, a later seasons producer

Will Wallace (not sure if related) who was a writers’ assistant that seems to have been randomly granted writing credit for 5a’s Ouroboros, despite having no other writing credits to his name previously. He got writing credit for 4 other episodes in S5 and S6, plus a random staff writer credit for 6a’s Ghosted. 

Lindsay Sturman, a lalter seasons producer who now writes and produces for Supergirl. 

And producer Joseph Genier who, as he had been allowed to direct later seasons with no previous directing credits, was also allowed head writer credit with no previous writing credits.

What can we divine from this? Chaos, honestly. An inability to resist the uninformed and careless whims of the producers. The lack of lower-level writing staff, who are usually the ones there to give stability and cohesion to the story, meant that every new writer brought in new and contradictory ideas of what the story was about and where it should go. Looking at these credits, I can’t tell if the problem was that everyone wanted to write and writing spots were being given as thank-yous in exchange for producers laying down money or if they had such a difficult time finding quality writers willing to work in that environment that producers had no choice but to step in and write as well as they could given a lack of resources.

4. The vanishing first assistant director - 

Compared to the other issues, this one seems minor. However, it seems like TW gave up on the position of ‘first assistant director’ at some point. This position is essentially the right hand of the director, making sure that set runs smoothly and the director has everything they need. 

James J.D. Taylor held the position for 50 episodes, including all but 4 episodes in S1-3a. In the first 3, Jeffrey January filled in. For the fourth, Eric Sherman, who would come to be Taylor’s backup, it seems. For 3b and the first half of S4, Sherman and Taylor traded off every other episode. Taylor tried his hand at directing for S4′s Monstrous, at which point Sherman started trading off episodes with Matt Rawls.

Taylor went back to first assistant director for S5, but intermittently and with no backup for his position. 8 of 20 episodes in 5a had no first assistant director. Taylor directed 6x2 and was first assistant for 6x4 and 6x5, but 17 of 20 episodes of S6 had no first assistant. 

Sure, there were second assistant and second second assistants, but it seems very odd to neglect such a pivotal position. What is especially baffling is that 6b had first-time directors Tyler Posey, Linden Ashby, and Joseph Genier all working without a first assistant director. To me, this speaks to staffing issues and difficulty organizing a show that was clearly on its last legs.

In summary -

Where the early seasons had focused attention and investment from the original core producers, directors, and the show runner, clearly their attention and care for the project waned over time. They failed to promote the show’s most valuable workers and failed to bring in lower-level staff to do the grunt work in the writers’ room. Instead, they pulled in more and more higher level executives, who tend to have lofty ideas about where a show goes but no willingness to dig into the nitty gritty details. Film schools could make a study of Teen Wolf: “How to run a show into the ground.”

#teen wolf #teen wolf meta #tv industry #screenwriting

[templedragon]

Supergirl 5x19 Immortal Kombat

When #BoycottSupergirl trended after the compulsory heterosexuality of 5x11, episode 5x18 was being filmed. The show had the opportunity to rewrite this episode, and episode 20. To think that this is the best parts of two episodes combined after rewrites is tiresome. The show will never get better with the current show runners. I joined in 4B because of the momentum with Supercorp as screen chemistry that strong is rare. I binged all four seasons before watching season five in real time. The patterns I’ve noticed are: The first few episodes are good, and the last few episodes are good, and there is this huge chasm of stagnation inbetween Priority of development is given to new characters over existing ones Priority is given to men over women Tokenism (the Trans episode was timed for the GLAAD awards rather than International Women’s Day) Surface treatment and hand waving of important plot and character moments Seasonal themes and episode plots are met by writing out of character

Add to that the choice to spend money on Kara’s wardrobe rather than the CGI this season, focusing on plot rather than character, lying about the season’s focus, and we have the mess that is season five. I thought season two was the worst, but this surpasses it. It’s no wonder the audience has left in droves and the demo dropped. They tried to kill Supercorp and it killed the show in the process.

So it turns out that Brainy could have saved the day without Lex. He could have called The Legion from the future to get information about Leviathan, tweaked the immortality code, found the secret Leviathan base and stuffed them in a bottle on his own. Back in 5x10 I thought Lady Brainy had shown him a vision of her world being torn apart by Leviathan which is why he was dedicated to using Lex to stop that happening and distancing himself from his friends. But it turns out that Brainy just did it because she said so without any evidence. This is the plot convenience of making Lex relevant and paralleling experiences between him and Lena by working with Lex thinking it’s for the greater good but it turning out to be wrong path.

The additional Leviathan members hinted at in 5A show up and they are all Earth and Kryptonite element benders. There is a big boss they all answer to that is yet to turn up. Lex is (presumably) repeating his 4B antics by using alien life force to power his anti-Argo cannon because he really hates Superman. Apparently 4 billion people on Earth Prime want to escape reality because they miss loved ones. Absolutely none of the other Earth Prime heroes volunteer to help out, even though their call signal is at the Tower and M’gann came from another planet.

Alex’s latest where the heck did that come from is being a vigilante with Mission Impossible ninja skills. So much for wanting a desk job so she could be a parent. Do they remember her being a qualified medical doctor? Wouldn’t healing people’s bodies be a nice compliment to Kelly healing people’s minds? What happened to Kelly being traumatised over losing her previous girlfriend to combat suddenly (seducing) championing a normal human to be in dangerous situations without back up? Why did Kara scream like a banshee seeing Alex’s new suit when her big message this episode was about protecting those she loves? Isn’t J’onn equally concerned about her freelancing when he’s supposed to be protecting her too in a fatherly way rather than developing nanotechnology costume skills? Why did Alex go for a hood and 1980s eyeshadow rather than image inducer tech to completely disguise who she is?

It’s lovely to see M’gann still here, but in a season where the focus has been on nostalgia rather on progress due to the 100th milestone, once again her relevance is questionable. What has M’gann done that’s 1) mattered and 2) couldn’t have been done by someone else? She came in record speed with a hydrogen bomb to stop the sun eater a few episodes ago, and I’m expected to believe that Lex predicted that rather than having a hydrogen bomb at the DEO so he could be the hero? J’onn can apparently send telepathic insults to draw Leviathan out, so the fruitless searching for seismic activity was a waste of everyone’s time. M’gann so far has brought up the romance parallels that were canon in 5A and haphazardly applied in 5B. She says J’onn is a gossip about personal lives, gives Nia romantic advice about Brainy, and gets a passionate kiss. Remember those in 5A, when Nia told Brainy not to hold back, when Alex told Kelly that she felt like home? Three instances of people overcoming major issues (planetary distance, fear of hurting people, and fear of being hurt) and the titular character gets… a handshake.

William gets kidnapped, tries to appeal to Eve being a nice person and gets shot in the chest. This scene reminded me of the first time Lena and Mon-El met in season two, and how useless the male was in any situation. Kara’s first instinct here was to send William to a normal hospital via an ambulance, when previously Kara flew Lena plain-clothed to the DEO for Alex to heal her. She could have taken him to the Tower as J’onn appears to be able to do anything the plot requires (heal the wound, wipe his memory, job done). Somehow the guy doesn’t go into shock when Supergirl heat visions his wound closed (that includes his lungs). He says Kara told him being kidnapped means you’re on the right path. This episode tries to convince you that Kara is about protecting people, yet is happy for Alex to be a vigilante and drops pearls of wisdom about kidnapping to her work colleagues… I have no idea why William is this open with Supergirl when she’s never asked for his help doing anything. He’s also fixated on Kara and ignorant of Kelly as he’s concerned about Kara’s wellbeing when kidnapped but not Kelly’s even though the latter is who he’s been investigating Lex and Leviathan with. Come to think about it, I don’t know why he’s in National City if he came to investigate Lex, as Metropolis is his domain. At any rate, it’s Lena who escorts him and Eve away from danger rather than Supergirl worrying about him.

Both Kara and Lena are quick to forgive Eve of her previous Earth 38 life. Remember in 5x10 Lena did an Internet search to catch up with Earth Prime and it was all about her working with Supergirl? Did it not occur to her to research Eve? Why haven’t we seen Kara looking up the differences between Earths, for all the assumptions she’s making about people’s past?

Acrata’s finally been called into service by Leviathan, for all of five minutes before the power of friendship and the protection that comes with it took over. Kara also remembers she has powers (heat vision, sonic clap, super hearing, hope speeches, Lena’s love).

The show is still putting Kara and Lena through oddly specific parallels, to the detriment of continuity and growth. In 5x01 to 5x10 when Kara thought she had Lena’s forgiveness, she tried to romantically pursue her. Here, Lena does the same, whether it’s reaching for her hand to hurry her from the bus (they really, really missed the opportunity for “I flew here on a bus”), to her smile when they accidentally make eye contact, or her jealousy at hearing Kara say an unfamiliar man’s name with concern before Eve is mentioned, to her instinctual cover for Supergirl when William goes to phone Kara, for her making a reference to Kasnia (you know, flirt on a plane for hours), to offering a hand for a shake to take down Lex again. I love the speed at which Lena can built an anti-Kryptonite suit, when Non-Nocere took so long. I also love the speed at which Lena could get Kara into Obsidian North for the Unity Festival and duplicate Supergirl to talk to everyone when really she was talking about Lena. I love that Kara should have been able to hear Lena defending her to Andrea in the real world, because Alex and Kelly could hear each other in a previous episode. If you thought Lena protected ‘human’ Kara before the identity reveal, somehow she throws herself into danger to protect Kryptonian Kara even more. She didn’t leave Kara’s side once this episode.

No matter how the writer’s try to frame stuff with inconsistent writing, it always sounds romantic between Kara and Lena. This episode Kara tries to make it sound like keeping her identity secret was an isolated mistake and not one that involved Lena’s biggest issue (betrayal) and using a romantic relationship to break into private property in season three. It wasn’t the secret that was the issue, but sustaining the friendship that is the issue. There are key apologies still missing for Kara’s redemption arc, no matter how much they make it seem like Lena overreacted.  It’s uncomfortable to watch Lena as an abuse survivor semi-joke that Kara can yell at her as she deserves it. The Kara that believes in hope, help and compassion for all would never have let her choose Lex without reminding her that she killed him so he wasn’t a threat to the world. She wouldn’t let her best friend internalise abuse by asking for it from people that claim to care. But this isn’t Kara, this is an arbitrary parallel experience to 5x08 where Lena mentioned everything Kara did wrong. If the show believed in organic growth, Kara would remember 5x01 where she admitted to being selfish to keep the identity secret because she was afraid to lose her. Kara would also remember the 100th episode where in every reality Lena knew she came around eventually to help save the day. This reality is no different. They also paralleled Nia shutting Brainy out thinking it was hindering her with Kara shutting Lena out thinking it wouldn’t go well.

Until there are new show runners, this show will fail to reach its amazing potential. However, if you want to watch a show with a female lead and majority female cast with diverse body shapes and skin colours, where everyone’s unique ability is utilised and every character has drive rather than waiting to be involved, where lgbtqia+ representation exists without it being questioned, where the titular character gets the most agency and the other characters offer parallel experiences in a way that’s true to character, organic relationship development and sympathy for everyone’s motivation, well-paced seasonal plot and overarching plot for the entire show, the lead romance being integral to saving the day, where the show runners openly own what they have done and draw fanart themselves – watch She-Ra and the Princesses of Power on Netflix. We all love buff blonde women that get superpowers because they are from another planet, and their misunderstood girlfriends.

#supergirl #supercorp #dansen #brainia #episode review #season 5 #kara danvers #lena luthor #alex danvers #kelly olsen #brainy 5 #nia nal #j'onn j'onzz #m'gann m'orzz #lex luthor #leviathan #representation matters #she ra #she ra princesses of power #spop

[artbysupergirl]

Anyone else think about this? If the Supergirl writers actually had the guts to fuck the institution and make Kara and Lena canon, it would be so revolutionary. In the beginning, they always stressed how this was not the typical "Luthor and Super" story. It was going to be different from Lex and Clark. That having two women would make it so much more layered. What could possibly make a bigger statement than validating Supercorp? Given the way Season 4B and 5A have progressed, I have been pleasantly surprised that basically everything we Supercorp fans wanted has come to pass. It would only be a natural progression at this point to have Kara and Lena both realize that they are, in fact, soulmates. Maybe the angst is the truck that finally paves the way to the idyllic truth. Think about it...

#lena luthor #supergirl #katie mcgrath #melissa benoist #kara danvers #supercorp #kara and lena #kara zol el #supercorp endgame #supergirl theory #crisis on infinite earths #soulmates #karlena #meltie #supercorp canon #a luthor and a super #musings

[captaincartervalues]

Honestly I can’t believe we’re at the last 2 episodes of Supergirl because like what the fuck has even happened this season?

A whole lot of nothing. It feels like almost every episode was a waste and did nothing to advance the plot or develop the characters whatsoever.

It doesn’t even feel like we’re watching a conclusion that’s being rushed because they didn’t even properly set up a climax to begin with.

Who even is leviathan and what are they really doing? Couldn’t tell you.

What does Lex actually want besides torturing Lena? Have no idea.

What is Brainy really doing besides the one time he wrote some code and all the times he’s lied to his friends? Zero clue.

What is Lena doing? The exact same thing she did in 5A except with an extra helping of emotional and psychological abuse.

What is Nia doing? No one knows because we don’t even see her.

What is Jonn doing? Don’t know and honestly don’t care because nothing is better than the same repetitive Martian plots like half of 5A was wasted on.

What is Alex doing now that she’s out of the DEO? Couldn’t tell you.

What’s Kelly doing at Obsidian? Idk but it’s not therapy that’s for sure.

What’s Andrea deal with Leviathan or Lena or Obsidian or Catco or the fact that she discovered she has powers now? Beats me.

Who really is William and what’s he doing? Being a no homo exposition dump and that’s literally it.

Why is Lillian even working with Lex when she already has a cush new life? Who the fuck knows.

This season is just a whole lot of loose threads, pointless plot-lines, random events, and empty exchanges. But mostly it’s a whole lotta

nothing

#mxy tape or vr bullshit this plot #bc nothing has really happened anyway #wasted season #and they cant even blame corona bc there was only supposed to be one additional ep anyway #supergirl #hannah rants

[mikereads]

What S5 of Supergirl should have focused on.

I wanted to post this before the season finale, just because it may have a good finale that doesn’t make up for all the mistakes the show made along the way, especially the ones that could have been easily fixed with some proper storytelling that not only pleases the fans but better suits the story your trying to tell. 

1. Kara and Nias friendship/ mentor ship. This season preferably 5B is somewhat focusing on Kara trying to catch Lex. Get proof on him that proves he is not what he seems to be. One of the ways she is doing this is through journalism. Instead of having Kara work with William she should have worked with Nia and here’s why. Not only does it make sense but it would improve the plot the only thing William has is a bad feeling about Lex and as good as that can be think of Nia who not only has the same feeling but knows he’s bad because she has her memories from Earth 38 while to back that up while on the other hand William does not. It’s a wild goose chase with him he doesn’t know what he’s looking for but Nia does. I mean just think that through who would make more sense for Kara to work with Someone who simply has a biased gut feeling that he’s bad because of what happened to his friend vs someone who has all of her memories and knows he is bad so she simply knows what to look for and can investigate what Lex changed comparing her new vs old memories. Its logistically makes more sense to use Nia. As important as diversity is and as much as the show should value its woman more above all that it just makes sense. When they first introduced Nia they implied they wanted them to have a similar relationship to Supercat this time reversed having Kara be the mentor which is great. It can show how much Kara has grown since season 1. Last season they started to do that but that’s been mainly dropped since 4B and its a real shame. They could have a similar type relationship if the show focused on them more but if they don’t then they won’t be able to because it won’t have the same amount dept. They’re showing vs telling but then again the show has been having a big problem with that lately with many characters/aspects of the show. 

Also hes not even a good reporter/journalist Lex said he has been spoon feeding William all his info. It’s such a joke the show tried to amp him up as being such a good reporter yet he’s awful heck Winn could have done a better job at reporting. 

2. Karas past/ trauma 

Kara has been through so much this past season and it isn’t even finished yet. The fall out of her relationship with Lena. Lex rising to power once again and lastly LOSING HER ENTIRE PLANET AND FAMILY once again! The show really hasn’t discussed/ tackled Karas trauma/ past since s3 and even then it was only briefly and contained to one episode arcs vs in s1 when it was dispersed throughout the entire season. With everything that has happened this would have been a perfect season to do that and go back to its roots of S1 but in true Supergirl fashion they didn’t. So far has contained Kara only mentioning her past when it comes to Hope speeches which even those are rare now a days. Since crisis ended I think Kara has only mentioned it twice if at all and that’s when week of the villains forced her to (other Brainy bottling his earth). Kara has lost everyone once again in s1 it was Karas main mission to make sure that wouldn’t happen again she would save earth like she couldn’t save Krypton at whatever means necessary. Then in crisis she wasn’t able to do that and despite everything she did she wasn’t able to do so and lost everyone. Her sister her moms her friends everyone. She succeeded in getting everyone back but it shouldn’t be dismissed that she lost everyone yet it is. 5B should have heavily focused on this through the main of the week plotlines/ through her relationships with her friends and family. Like Melissa wants this finally should have been the season where Kara goes to therapy. Like I genuinely don’t get this show Kara lost everyone yet its barely mentioned Kara and Alex only share one scene discussing it and that was during the crossover in the legends episode it wasn’t even an episode of Supergirl that did it (big sigh) when another show does better things with your characters then you do that’s a problem. She lost her mom Eliza yet they have shared no scenes well none outside the funeral which had nothing to do with her and was another example of them not letting her grieve. Its so unrealistic that Kara wouldn’t have flown to Midvale the minute she was able to do to give Eliza the biggest hug it doesn’t matter if Eliza wouldn’t have her memories Kara would (the actress returned this season so she was clearly available to shoot more scenes yet didn’t because this is supergirl after all). Sidenote can they have Kara call Eliza mom more often like having her call her mom doesn’t make Alura her mom anyless she can have two moms because she actually does I know mind blowing. She lost her mom Alura twice yet they refuse to mention outside of a line or two that’s there more so to move along the plot. This has been a problem ever since they had her return in s3 but Kara has so many unresolved feelings and now she’s lost her twice and yet they still refuse so address it which is not only frustrating but sad for Kara as a character. She should be able to address these feelings about how she’s mad at her/ how she felt abandoned by her and still love her a the same time. Them showing Kara be mad at her doesn’t mean she loves her anyless and would be more healthy in the long run yet they won’t do it. 

3. Lenas past, ptsd, and her mother. 

They have been teasing for years whether not not Lena would turn truly evil but hinting at things over and over again and even though everything Lena has done proved the opposite it was still a lingering question. This was supposed to be the season that finally tackled this subject headon and show where Lena would land now knowing Kara/ Supergirl’s secret. I’m not upset Lena did questionable things going into this season I knew they would do so more then ever and from 5x01 that was adamant and I think it was very important to finally do for her character going forward to finally confirm that Lena was good/isn’t Lex. If they wanted to show and contrast how different Lena is from the Luthors there is so many others ways to do that, by just letting Lena be Lena is one of them. You’ve have been writing her that way for 4 YEARS, don’t change that by trying to make the show more interesting by adding “drama” you began to ruin it and an amazing character. That being said the way the show executed that was very poorly 5A was okay but 5B like it did with a lot of things was ultimately the down fall for this season. They’re first big mistake being Non-nocere. Now seeing 5x18 I get its overall idea and reason for being there but it still only should have been a side plot that was around for 4 to 5 episodes tops in the beginning of the season. It also really proves that it was never truly there for Lena it was a plotline made for Lex and to show just how manipulative he can be over which is so frustrating because once again they throw their main women characters to the side to help the men which are guest/minor. It was dragged on to long and stayed way past its prime to the point where it was unenjoyable even Katies amazing acting skills can only carry a bad plot line for so long. Non-nocere should have been there to help Lenas plot line not the other way around. It should have revolved around her story but not be her entire plot line for the season. I think them just going over Lenas trauma, abuse, neglect and abandonment issues would have been enough and a much more effective storyline then Non-nocere but if they wanted to use it then I think they should have atleast called back to Lenas past storylines. When Lena found about what Jack was doing with Biomax she was not only disgusted but terrified her feelings on that wouldn’t have changed so instead of it being nearly implied it should have been mentioned and it should have been one of the things that helped her realize how bad it was sooner. Her getting over the lo0se of Non-nocere and how she feels as though she failed once again would have been much better than the actual story of her using non-nocere itself. She was so afraid in season two that her feelings would get the best of her “I am very, very afraid of the person I might be”. This should have been explored way more and lastly instead of them only focusing on her mom for one episode for the plot (the medallion) it should have been a recurring storyline all season. Not only that she misses her but how her death affects her and how she puts her mom up on a pedestal because she never really knew her only what she remembers about her which isn’t a lot. The guilt she feels over her death etc. If they wanted to use it to move the plot forward they easily could have done that. There was a fan theory Lena’s mom was not only alive but behind Leviathan and that would have been so interesting. Here’s a woman she’s held up to such high standards all her life it would be interesting to see the effects of that. That maybe her mom wasn’t who she believed she was to be and that combined with Karas betrayal could have launched her going to the “dark side”. Also I love Katie and I love seeing more of her on my screen but they really couldn’t find another actress to play her mom or better yet not use a shitty wig. A wig isn’t gonna change anything we all know its Katie. It’s fine you used her many shows use there actors for multiple parts the wig was so unnecessary especially when it’s that bad (thank god Katie could pull off any look, ugly outfits and party city wigs included). Using her to play the mom wasn’t bad and would make a lot of sense as to why Lillian hates her so much she’s a spitting image of her mom. It doesn’t excuse the abuse Lena was a child but it makes sense. I mean she did say Lena looked so much like her etc. Then again shitty wigs are the least of their problems, fix your storylines above all else. 

Bonus: You know your fan favorite couple is Lena and Kara and since this is supposed to be a season about their relationship just lean all in don’t tease and then not have them interact for 5 episodes in a row it’s frustrating. 

This post is becoming a little too long so I may make a part 2 because I sure have a lot more to say. 

#supergirl #kara danvers #alura zor el #Nia Nal #eliza danvers #alex danvers #lena luthor #supergirl cw #supercorp #long post

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

How would you fix the mess that was s5?

Okay, this thought exercise essentially follows the pattern provided by canon, and my goal was restructure things with as little change to the canon elements as possible. For ease of reading, let’s break this up into Pre and Post Crisis:

Pre-Crisis

The main Season 5a arc would be Obsidian North and the VR tech. Kelly and Andrea would feature most heavily after Supergirl in this arc, as Kelly is our way into Obsidian North, and would start off as the VR’s biggest supporter, but then swiftly shift to investigator mode when she becomes the first person to notice its flaws. Andrea would first pose as a villain in trying to dissuade the investigation, but would eventually become an ally when she finally believes Kelly that something is amiss. The whole “trapped in VR” arc would build and peak before Crisis.

Meanwhile, Lena’s active contribution to the first half of the season would be Hope, with the reveal tension a running thread throughout. As she relies more and more on the AI, she pulls further and further away from Kara. She does lie about her forgiveness, but not as a cover for Non Nocere, but just as a human reaction to avoiding conflict and hiding her hurt. Despite the forgiveness Lena claims to have, Kara senses the distance, but either doesn’t put it together, or simply can’t bring herself to address it (this is later shown to be a mistake). 

Throughout 5a, Kara is also struggling to come to terms with the new CatCo. Not only does she not understand the nature of digital journalism, but she has to contend with blatant animosity from William Dey. He only starts being nice when he overhears Kara and Nia talking about Kara’s friendship with Lena (he intends to use Kara to get close to Lena). 

Nia is the one who covers for Kara the most, and ends up taking the majority of the fluff and buzzfeed type quizzes and lists. She’s the one who comes out and asks Andrea why she’s focusing so much on the clicks, and gets the lesson about digital media-- which is then conveyed to Kara in a student-becomes-the-master moment.

Alex is somewhat of a background figure in 5a, getting a few key moments in which she tries to help using the DEO, but her involvement only seems to worsen each situation they enter. She reconnects with J’onn for advice, but doesn’t get any real guidance before the Crisis happens. 

My version of the Crisis event would change as well, but since Crisis doesn’t really have anything to do with the overall season except to reset everything when we come back, I’ll skip that for now.

Post Crisis

Alex’s role at the DEO kicks up a notch as she chafes under her corporate overlord. She has more red tape to follow, and has to answer for every i she dots and every t she crosses, all for a man she can’t bring herself to trust. She eventually quits, and when she joins up with J’onn’s PI firm, she learns that the DEO is the boogeyman of the new reality. They smash up homes and abscond with aliens-- except that it’s all stuff that Alex participated in before the reality reset too, so… turns out the DEO isn’t the good guy with a badge that she always believed herself to be.

Kara resumes the abruptly shifted dynamic with William Dey, but they have a shared mission to take down Lex Luthor, so agrees to work with him. She eventually realizes this is a mistake when William tries to use Lena to get to Lex, and uses Kara to do it. Eventually, it comes out that there are two Lexes, the original bad!Lex and the new good!Lex. 

For Lena, her entire world is turned upside down by the reset, as it puts her brother back in control of LuthorCorp, and appears to be a good person, while Lillian seems to truly love her. Lex doesn’t seem to remember anything about the previous reality. In fact, he seems like a whole new Lex. Which he is-- the old Lex has survived, yes, but is not the man sitting on top of this new world. Bad!Lex operates from the shadows, suffering from entropic cascade failure, and connects with Leviathan in an attempt to survive.

Lena has to battle with her inner demons about having killed Lex, a new family who seems to love her as much as they DIDN’T in the previous reality, and the fact that Kara is telling her that no matter how innocent he acts, this Lex HAS to be the old Lex because Lex turned himself into paragon and thereby helped rewrite reality. Which means she’s forced to choose between a friend who has lied to her before, and the brother she’s always wanted to have. 

When Lena finds out about bad!Lex having survived, she tells the good!Lex about it-- because she knows that the bad!Lex will kill the new one in order to survive. When he hears the news, good!Lex grins at her with a “good thing I’ve got the world’s smartest person on my side.” They work together to take down bad!Lex. Lex is kind, supportive, and smiles a lot; it’s the dynamic Lena always wanted, and she cherishes every minute of it.

Kara is a little put off by Lena’s choice to trust good!Lex, until she sees them together. She and Lena eventually come together for a heart to heart, where Kara truly apologizes for hurting Lena, and Lena has gotten enough love from good!Lex to accept the apology and offer forgiveness. The Leviathan picks up again when it’s learned that bad!Lex has teamed up with them. Similar to canon, this is when we learn about Lena and Andrea’s backstory, and about the medallion of Acrata. It is discovered that Lena’s mother used to be part of Leviathan, and was killed for leaving them. When the medallion finally comes to her as its rightful owner, she uses it to destroy Leviathan and avenge her mother. Bad!Lex is destroyed in the process.

At the end of the season, good!Lex steps down from LuthorCorp and hands the reins back to Lena, knowing how much good she did with the company in the old reality. He says he wants to get back to working on some of his own passion projects, and to take some time to do some soul searching, relax for the first time since Lionel died. 

The very last scene is of good!Lex walking into a dark chamber and flipping on a single light to reveal Jeremiah Danvers chained and alone in his cell. Good!Lex crouches down and looks him in the eye.

“Now, tell me everything you know about Supergirl.”