Supergirl Season 4, Episode 7: "Rather the Fallen Angel" (SPOILERS)

[flickchick85]

Episode Description:

CHAD LOWE DIRECTS— James (Mehcad Brooks) falls in deeper with the Children of Liberty in his efforts to meet Agent Liberty (Sam Witwer). Meanwhile, Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and Manchester Black (guest star David Ajala) follow a lead on Agent Liberty’s location, but things take a dark turn. Lena (Katie McGrath) kicks off her first set of trials. Chad Lowe directed the episode written by Dana Horgan & Katie Rose Rogers (#407). Original airdate 11/25/2018.

Intrigued by what Lena's "trials" could be about, and looking forward to seeing the Supergirl/Manchester dynamic.

 

[vantheman77]

I can picture the Poison song, Mama's Fallen Angel playing throughout the episode!!

 

[Dr.]

English lit trivia :

“I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed.”

… is a line from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The monster is addressing Victor Frankenstein (his creator) and declares an affinity to Satan - who he sees as a more sympathetic figure than God.

Exactly who (if anyone) occupies these roles in Supergirl remains to be seen…

(Extra trivia: Shelley never gave her monster a name. But unofficially, he’s sometimes referred to as “Adam.”)

 

[flickchick85]

Promo:

 

[vantheman77]

I hope this is not a James Olsen-heavy episode.

I look forward to seeing Supergirl and Manchester Black teaming up more.

 

[Dark Raven]

Yeah, we don't want to see too much of Olsen.

There should be an alternate Earth version of Jimmy that looks like Winn.

 

[flickchick85]

I just noticed Witwer is doing a bit of a voice as Agent Liberty when conversing with James. Nice touch, considering Lockwood and James have met.

 

[flickchick85]

Finally, a proper Elseworlds trailer.

 

[NotNickFury]

Lena calling herself a bad person might be the honest and correct thing she's ever said.

 

[flickchick85]

English lit trivia :

“I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam; but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed.”

… is a line from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The monster is addressing Victor Frankenstein (his creator) and declares an affinity to Satan - who he sees as a more sympathetic figure than God.

Exactly who (if anyone) occupies these roles in Supergirl remains to be seen…

(Extra trivia: Shelley never gave her monster a name. But unofficially, he’s sometimes referred to as “Adam.”)

So that's why they went with Adam for her test subject, lol.

 

[flickchick85]

Jeez, I wasn't even really invested in the battle for Manchester's soul since I knew where it was going, but when David Harewood cries, I cry.

 

[NotNickFury]

Hopefully they keep Black going down this dark path. Makes for compelling drama.

 

[flickchick85]

Yeah so far I do like this approach to the character.

 

[vantheman77]

If one read the comics, Manchester is being the villain we know. I have a feeling he must of had past battles with Superman.

I don’t think Supergirl and Martian Manhunter will ever trust Manchester again from this point forward.

Also this episode is about true colors pertaining James, Lena, Manchester, and Rom.

Good episode.

 

[Primal Slayer]

This whole Agent Liberty storyline and Manchester storyline is boring to me.

 

[flickchick85]

I'm actually surprised at how much I'm digging it. They really seem like something Team Supergirl is woefully ill-equipped to fight. Something she can't punch, and a rousing speech or two can't fix. I'm genuinely intrigued to see how this plays out, especially with the looming complications of Red Daughter (and Manchester's superpowers/growth as a threat) approaching.

 

[SSAV]

I am liking all the storylines so far especially the past couple of episodes.

I liked how Kara figured out both that Manchester Black could be behind the agents' killing as well as what is happening with the rod and where it is happening. And that she mostly saved herself with some Manchester help.

I'd have liked a little more Alex, but okay.

I continue to like J'onn's storyline too. And Lena's story is also very interesting to me these days. (This season more than any other past season).

I didn't know Manchester Black was actually a villain so both his betraying of Kara and his treatment of J'onn surprised me; especially the way he treated J'onn. That felt like needless cruelty rather than pragmatism.

I would love to see how things go from here and how Kara and team Supergirl solves everything by the end of the season. I hope they keep up the stories.

 

[Dr.]

So that's why they went with Adam for her test subject, lol.

Another nod (I assume): “Shelley” island. Unless... this isn't said island's first appearance. I don't recall if it's been seen/mentioned before...

 

[BH/HHH]

• That scene where Agent Liberty met James was fantastic.
• Why subject 0031? Or was it 0331? Anyway seemed a strange number.
• Supergirl teaming with Manchester was awesome.
• I’m really enjoying this James subplot with the Children of Liberty. It’s the best thing they’ve ever done with the character on this show.
• Nice twist with Manchester Black and the Children of Liberty.
• Manchester beating down the Children of Liberty was great.
• With the pop song at the end I was like is this an episode of Smallville? Haha
• I think Manchester knows who Agent Liberty is.

All in all a very good episode again. This could ultimately end to been my favourite season of the show.


Little side note here more based off the other episodes than this one but I definitely think that when Supergirl goes into the crossover that the reasons she goes to stay with Clark & Lois is because she’s losing the war with Liberty and also likely because she gets suspended or fired from the DEO.

 

[flickchick85]

Another nod (I assume): “Shelley” island. Unless... this isn't said island's first appearance. I don't recall if it's been seen/mentioned before...

Nope, I don't believe it has, so I think you're spot on with that reference, too.

 

[Thome216]

Never heard of Shelley Island before either, but I like its nod to Ellis Island. Manchester betraying Supergirl was super uncool, but fitting with his way of doing things. He's locked into getting his revenge on Lockwood and he knows that Supergirl and J'onn wouldn't back him when they find out how far he's already gone.To him, if they are not willing to do as he does then they are just getting in the way. And in this ep, they were just to be used as he needed.

I'm liking James in these eps. He's much better when he's not being Guardian, though I thought for sure that he was being played by Tom. Actually surprised that he wasn't, as that seemed like something they would do.

I liked Supergirl (as usual!) The scenes with her struggling against the dampening field was done really well, and her jumping/climbing the wall was great. Very WW. The imagery when Manchester destroyed the dampeners and she got her powers back, and she just floated away from the window sill was great. Just as good as when she was coming back down after the explosion went off. It also shows how Manchester doesn't care either way if his actions had killed her or not. Had James not seen her heat vision then she would have been dead by the time Manchester got outside again.

And Lena... Damn, I am really hoping that they DO NOT turn her bad. Flirt with it if they want, but keep her good. We have Lex coming to be the big bad Luther. Despite what she said about being bad, she has shown herself to be too good too many times before to switch it around now. Maybe Lex's arrival will help her to see a measure of evil and help to put herself in perspective.

I would also like them to resolve the issue between her and Supergirl, and in a good way.

 

[vantheman77]

I don’t think we’re going to see Manchester again for awhile after this episode.

 

[Brierrose]

I believe Kara punching handholds in the wall was a nod to the Wonder Woman movie, Diana did the same thing.

 

[shabadoo25]

The quality of this season has been high but I'm already tired of the Agents of Liberty stuff. Each ep feels a bit like treading water until the endgame which we know will come many weeks later.

 

[flickchick85]

Alright, so general thoughts on this episode: another strong one. The show's on a roll now, imo (@BH/HHH I think we're actually on the same page about a season of SG for once!).

-I liked the SG/Manchester dynamic, even if I knew them playing nice would be short-lived. I like how Manchester continues to walk the anti-hero line. I mean, he's obviously in the wrong, but he's also the only one actually getting anything done about the Children of Liberty so far, so it's easy to see his POV.

-You're telling me James' plan to go undercover in the CoL backfired and he just ended up being used by them to further bolster their cause, tarnish his rep and endanger other people?! *gasp* I'm shocked! Should've listened to your girlfriend when she tried to tell you how dumb this was, James. As annoyed as I am with his character though, at least he's finally being tied into the main plot in an organic way for once, which is a welcome change.

-Speaking of Lena, she isn't exactly making the best decisions herself right now either, lol. I will say the back-and-forth between her and Adam was definitely a highlight of the episode and I loved the way it played out though. I could use a little clarity on just how illegal these trials are that Lena's doing, because they haven't actually mentioned that aspect at all. I mean, obviously, there are protocols and approvals these things have to go through and in real life there's no way she'd get that approval for what she's doing and they certainly never would've jumped from those early stages to human trials so quickly, but...this isn't the real world, and I'm gonna need the show to explicitly tell me their legal status because even Eve didn't mention anything about that, and hypothetically, she's essentially testing a new cancer treatment, so it could possibly be legal within the world of the show. At least she's being upfront with her subjects about what she's doing and its potential consequences. That's...something, lol. I thought Katie McGrath's acting at the end was great, though - she just seemed so broken and...young, like a lost little kid, when James came to see her. Well-played, imo.

And Lena... Damn, I am really hoping that they DO NOT turn her bad. Flirt with it if they want, but keep her good. We have Lex coming to be the big bad Luther. Despite what she said about being bad, she has shown herself to be too good too many times before to switch it around now. Maybe Lex's arrival will help her to see a measure of evil and help to put herself in perspective.

I would also like them to resolve the issue between her and Supergirl, and in a good way.

This pretty much sums up the rest of my feelings about Lena at the moment. Except, does anyone else suspect that story about her mom's death wasn't just backstory and will come back in some way? Not sure how, I just feel like they may have been setting up something to do with her mom and we're gonna learn more about her this season.

-The little scene at the end right before J'onn showed up - Kara, Alex and Brainiac 5 having a movie night, with Brainy sitting 2-ft away from the TV taking notes - cracked me up. I need more of that dynamic, please.

-And yes, as I mentioned upthread, that J'onn scene with Kara totally got me choked up. Was not prepared for that. I'm actually enjoying J'onn's journey this season so far, which is rare.