MAJOR SPOILERS: The Pilot

[kedrell]

It's not the twin part that bothered me. It's that she's basically a rule 63 version of general Zod. How original. Why does her big bad villain even need to be another Kryptonian? And a rule 63 Lex Luthor wouldn't be much welcome either, IMO. I can already see possibilities for just such a thing being set up with her 'sister'. She's already got the right name and I'm sure that's no coincidence. Now I know very little of Supergirl or her mythos other than it being extremely convoluted. Maybe she doesn't have a good rogue's gallery. Well then aren't there loads of all-purpose villains floating around the DCU? Surely there must be some good ones available. Or flat out just make up new ones. I'm sure the audience won't mind at all.

 

[Steyin]

This was a good pilot. Better than Arrow's but not as good as Flash's. If they treat this show like they have done with the Flash it will do very well.

 

[Holy Slapper]

Better pilot than I expected from the trailer. Action scenes and special FX were already better than in Smallville. In fact I'd say this felt more "Superman like" than Man Of Steel. Definitely room for improvement in some areas though.

 

[dhandler01]

It seems to me that Superman has yet to go public on his origin. Some know but the average joe not so much.

I am halfway through and I dig the pilot so far. I especially find it funny Kara drinks Johnny Walker Blue...interesting choice

 

[HaplessHenchman]

After viewing the 6+ minute trailer I had serious reservations about this show, especially the rom-com elements in the first half. However, after viewing the pilot, I can honestly say that those concerns have been alleviated.

The Good:

- Melissa Benoist. She was great! I don't know any other way to put it. Perfect casting in my opinion.
- The airplane rescue. Surprised they went this big on TV. I appreciated it.
- all the acting was great. Everyone from Calista Flockhart to Mechad Brooks did great. No problems whatsoever with it.
- Glad they did not focus on the rom-com elements too much in the pilot. Although I realize they could have individual episodes in the future devoted to this angle.

The Concerns:

- I'm still not sure how they are going to handle the Superman issue in this show. If a Kryptonian prison crash landed on earth a decade ago and SM was clearly around and active as a crime fighter, why didn't he take care of them? Am I supposed to believe he just let them go? Plus, where is he now? Too many questions left unanswered in regards to him.
- I agree with those that wished the "big bad" was going to be a male. I don't think just because the show is female centered, that the main villain has to be also.

 

[dhandler01]

Just finished it...some parts are rough but overall I enjoyed it a lot. Jimmy and Kara work great together and I like Henshaw. The villains are interesting too.

I loved this exchange:

Wynn: So the Superfriends are back?
Kara: We arent calling ourselves that!



If CBS gives this room to breathe it could do quite well.

 

[Human Torch]

The thing is,they've tried to make the "big bad" a personal villain to Kara. Arrow had Tommy's dad, Flash had his own mentor. Kara having her Aunt seems par for the course for the opening season baddie. To me anyway.

 

[dhandler01]

After viewing the 6+ minute trailer I had serious reservations about this show, especially the rom-com elements in the first half. However, after viewing the pilot, I can honestly say that those concerns have been alleviated.

The Good:

- Melissa Benoist. She was great! I don't know any other way to put it. Perfect casting in my opinion.
- The airplane rescue. Surprised they went this big on TV. I appreciated it.
- all the acting was great. Everyone from Calista Flockhart to Mechad Brooks did great. No problems whatsoever with it.
- Glad they did not focus on the rom-com elements too much in the pilot. Although I realize they could have individual episodes in the future devoted to this angle.

The Concerns:

- I'm still not sure how they are going to handle the Superman issue in this show. If a Kryptonian prison crash landed on earth a decade ago and SM was clearly around and active as a crime fighter, why didn't he take care of them? Am I supposed to believe he just let them go? Plus, where is he now? Too many questions left unanswered in regards to him.
- I agree with those that wished the "big bad" was going to be a male. I don't think just because the show is female centered, that the main villain has to be also.

While I agree about having a male, fact is if it was going to be a Kryptonian the choices werent very big. Zod would be lame so why not have the Twin of Kara's mom who can totally screw with her head?

I think the Superman issue will be covered later on... I also think he shows up later in some capacity.

 

[Kelly]

I'm not understanding why the "big-bad" has to be male...

Seems to me dhandler 01 stated that her Aunt is going to totally screw with her head, family is huge to her, and to have to go against family...family that looks exactly like her mother? That goes so much further than..."big bad".

 

[Human Torch]

I'm not understanding why the "big-bad" has to be male...

Seems to me dhandler 01 stated that her Aunt is going to totally screw with her head, family is huge to her, and to have to go against family...family that looks exactly like her mother? That goes so much further than..."big bad".

Yep, I agree. It's going to be interesting to see how she deals with a villain who basically looks like her mother.

 

[haephestus]

I really enjoyed it. I wish it had been a little longer. There was a LOT of plot and I think the pilot could have used a little expansion.

My major quibble was how they dealt with Superman. It was nice that they introduced him from the beginning with him finding Kara when she landed on Earth and also finding a foster family for her (although I wonder what happened to the Kents). But, they otherwise dealt with him in a very odd way.

It almost seemed as though after dropping Kara with the Danvers, Superman disappeared from Kara's life. That's not very Supermanly of him. And from the way Cat spoke, it almost seemed as though Superman confined his heroics to Metropolis instead of the world. That would also not be very Supermanly of him. Finally, there are supposedly hundreds (or thousands) of evil, super-powered aliens who have been running all over the world for the past 15 odd years and Superman hasn't bothered to round them up and imprison them in the Fortress of Solitude or try to rehabilitate them or otherwise deal with them? That's definitely not very Supermanly of him.

At this stage, I'm kind of hoping that they quickly write Superman out of the series by stating that with Supergirl now on the scene and capable of protecting Earth, Superman is going into outer space to aid some far off galaxy or something. Otherwise, it's going to be really difficult to believe that Superman consistently refuses to provide any assistance or guidance to Kara on her new superheroics. Sure, I can understand Clark believing that Kara needs to find her own way, but I don't buy Clark just abandoning Kara.

I also think that Team Kara needs a little fleshing out and bringing together. I don't want to see most of her scenes take place in the dark, dull "secret base". I hope that Wynn, James and Alex together form Team Kara and help her from Kara's apartment or from some empty office in the CatCo building or something else. I have no interest in seeing Henshaw belittle, insult and blame Kara on a weekly basis for her to receive her missions.

If they have to keep the secret base, then I want to see an expanded support team for Kara at the base. At least one or two other people who admire and support Kara to offset the Henshaw character.

I would also like to see them add a super-powered mentor who can train Kara in physical combat. Kind of like a later season JLU Martian Manhunter role. An alien who has opted out of being a hero, but is willing to lend a hand by training new heroes.

Other than those aspects, I thought the pilot was thoroughly enjoyable. I really hope that they maintain the same high quality of SFX for the action scenes and the same number of action scenes. I definitely hope they drop some of the more obnoxious and heavy-handed "girl power" elements, particularly all of the sexism directed at Kara from various characters (including the villain Vartox, even though his general was revealed to be female).

 

[X Knight]

I, too, wonder about Superman and the whole alien prison crashing on Earth thing.

it does raise questions as to why he hasn't done anything about it yet.

You can't have large scale alien crisis without Superman getting involved somehow. How they handle Superman going forward will probably be the trickiest aspect of the show.

also, I agree, the more light hearted/heroic "tone" of this would have worked for a Superman film.

as for the big bad being Kara's evil aunt, I have no problem with it. they're already messing with the mythos. plus, if the villain had been General Zod, then you can bet there would be people crying foul that the show is merely reusing Superman characters.

 

[dhandler01]

Well it would help the whole "girl power" thing they have...but the fact that Alura's Evil Twin rules over evil powerful men trying to rule Earth will alleviate that

Seeing Kara's reaction to the holo of her mom is key...she misses her family and her mom most of all. If General Auntie Evil plays it right she could have Kara eating out of her hand like Zod did on Smallville. It could get real dark and twisted!

As I said the Superman thing will probably be explained later on. They basically just name dropped him here to give her credentials for her power and name. It does seem the organization doesnt trust or like Kal so maybe they are keeping him away...

 

[haephestus]

I'm not understanding why the "big-bad" has to be male...

Seems to me dhandler 01 stated that her Aunt is going to totally screw with her head, family is huge to her, and to have to go against family...family that looks exactly like her mother? That goes so much further than..."big bad".

I agree. I think it more comes down to the development of the villain, as opposed to their gender, to determine how enjoyable they are. My favourite Buffy villains were probably Angelus and Glorificus (Glory). One male and one female. Angelus didn't work because he was male and Glory didn't fail because she was female. They both worked because they were interesting and had unique connections with Buffy.

Similarly, my favourite Xena villains were Callisto and Caesar. Again, one female and one male. They worked because they were complex, interesting villains, especially Callisto.

I think they definitely plan to mess with Kara's head by forcing her to eventually battle her "mother". Family is extremely important to Kara, whether biological or adopted/foster, and having to face-off against her Aunt will be a major issue for her. Sure, it could have been her uncle, but having to physically hurt her "mother" is obviously something they want Kara to struggle with. And my making it "personal", they give Kara an excuse not to call Superman for help because she wants to deal with it herself (as illogical as that may be).

 

[X Knight]

Well it would help the whole "girl power" thing they have...but the fact that Alura's Evil Twin rules over evil powerful men trying to rule Earth will alleviate that

Seeing Kara's reaction to the holo of her mom is key...she misses her family and her mom most of all. If General Auntie Evil plays it right she could have Kara eating out of her hand like Zod did on Smallville. It could get real dark and twisted!

As I said the Superman thing will probably be explained later on. They basically just name dropped him here to give her credentials for her power and name. It does seem the organization doesnt trust or like Kal so maybe they are keeping him away...

yeah. good points.

also, there's one tried and true way to get Superman out of the picture for a really long time.

Lois just has to tell him she's pregnant. And Superman will be all like " Oh Look!! Krypton's remains!! Bye!"

Boom!! 5+ year absence.

 

[dhandler01]

yeah. good points.

also, there's one tried and true way to get Superman out of the picture for a really long time.

Lois just has to tell him she's pregnant. And Superman will be all like " Oh Look!! Krypton's remains!! Bye!"

Boom!! 5+ year absence.

 

[Steelsheen]

thanks for creating this thread Mods! so much easier to discuss without always having to worry if something is spoilerish or not

anyways, i'll repost my just-watched reaction here:

ok i just finished it.... only had a one viewing so far though so my reaction can still change

overall, it feels like a pilot they show at pitch meetings where its quite rough and still needs more polishing. in some character segments and fight/ action segments it works really well and the viewer is drawn into the story, but then theres too many segments in between that just takes you right out. so basically my first assessment to this is that it's disjointed. it feels like its either a 2 hour ep butchered down to 1 hour or they need to reshoot certain scenes because it feels staged. its supposed to flow from one narrative to the next, and not a stop and go, hit one story beat and then the next story beat etc

the technical side of this production does superbly though, the cinematography and VFX works well enough for tv, so does music and all the other sound effects, and of course the costume works pretty well onscreen.​

for some reason i couldnt bring myself to watch it again, so thats not boding too well as a pilot (read: theres a lack of pull to this story) so if Berlanti and gang wants to tweak some things with this pilot they better do it now to make the November airdate.

 

[Ita-KalEl]

I hope that there is not a "Superman misteriously disappeared some years ago" escamotage...it would be so depressing and quite pathetic.

 

[Mikelus]

Maybe she doesn't have a good rogue's gallery. Well then aren't there loads of all-purpose villains floating around the DCU? Surely there must be some good ones available. Or flat out just make up new ones. I'm sure the audience won't mind at all.

No, she doesn't. Berlanti & co are not good creating new villains, they love using Batman's rogues for Arrow, so they will use Superman's and other DC villains for Supergirl.

Another potential negative is the crime of the week formula they're going to use:

CBS entertainment chairman Nina Tassler:

“There will be [crime] cases, but what [executive producers] Ali Adler and Greg Berlanti pitched was a real series arc for her,” she said. “The beauty of it is now with shows like Good Wife and Madam Secretary, you can have serialized story elements woven into a case of the week. She’s a crime solver, so she’s going to have to solve a crime. She’s going to get a bad guy.”

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/01/12/supergirl

We'll see if the cases to solve are interesting enough or as weak as Smallville's were for the most part.

On her aunt as the big bad, I don't think she'll be as good as Merlyn, Deathstroke, Reverse Flash or Ra's, just a feeling.

It would've been better if Clark had given the cape to Kara himself, more epic and emotional. James being Superman's speaker is going to get old, if they can't use Superman, then don't, but you don't want viewers asking where is Superman, why he doesn't help Kara, why he doesn't talk to her in person, why this, why that... They should write him out as soon as possible, unless they intend to cast someone for the role, but the writers can't keep making BS excuses to explain his absence, it makes him a terrible cousin.

 

[Hulk1968]

Just saw it myself and was pleasantly surprised how good it was.
I wouldn't expect anything less that from the writers and producers of The Flash.

Since this is just the first episode and it won't actually air on TV for 6 months, it would take some time (like 3 or 4 episodes) for the show to find its legs, if you will.

They could change a lot and improve on the obvious plot-holes (which others have mentioned) and will only get better over time.

Loved Melissa Benoist as Kara / Supergirl, as well as the main, supporting cast. The special effects and fight scenes were very well-done and left me wanting more. (Seriously, I have to wait 6 more months for episode 2? *sigh*) The only thing that bothered me was the female big-bad, but like the Flash, it follows a similar trope of having a mentor (or in this case, a relative) as her nemesis.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

 

[HaplessHenchman]

While I agree about having a male, fact is if it was going to be a Kryptonian the choices werent very big. Zod would be lame so why not have the Twin of Kara's mom who can totally screw with her head?

I think the Superman issue will be covered later on... I also think he shows up later in some capacity.

My only problem with the female general was that I saw it coming from a mile away. When Vartox was in his truck talking to the other villain and he said "The General was coming", the first person I thought of was Zod. Of course, I then realized that there was no way that was going to happen. The next thing I thought of was "Well, this is Super"girl" so they will probably give her a female "big bad" and make the General a woman."

To be fair, I did not see the Kara's aunt angle coming.

I just thought the "female big bad" it was a little forced. I'm not saying they can't make it an interesting story. In fact, I'm sure they will with her being a relative. Plus, she must be a bad ass if she has to keep all those other criminals in line.

On another topic, is it possible that they could change some things before the first episode airs? Possible make the pilot two hours instead of just one? I would be happy if they just added some more explanation as to where SM is and what has he been doing.

 

[mocomic]

I can cure couple issues. Kal-el avoided Kara to protect her from those prisoners. Just because general public doesn't know about prison ship does necessarily imply apathy. Did the Vartox deal make the news, I don't remember that?

 

[Kelly]

Wynn talks about the headlines on the blog he posts on right at the end, but that is all that is heard or shown.

 

[Seb]

It's kind of funny to me that Kara having a female villain is a big deal. It's not like women are rare, having a female villain should be about as much of a big deal as having a male villain. In all the comic book shows that have been on for the past three years (starting with Arrow's rebirthing of the genre), and in all the comic book movies this millenium I can think of, there have been two female big bads, and that was on Agents of Shield and TDKR. Surely that's the thing to complain about, not that this show has a female villain.

Now, if we manage to get to season three of this show, and the big bad is female for the third time running, then maybe we could claim that it's a problem, but as it is, is this really an issue right now?

N.B. We have had female secondary villains, my point was specifically about the mastermind.

 

[metaphysician]

It is *potentially* problematic, as it plays into the cliche of "heroines only get to fight other women". However, its not like the other way around doesn't play into other sexist cliches. I call it a wash.