Supergirl SEASON 6, EPISODE 8: "Welcome Back, Kara!” (SPOILERS)

[Brierrose]

Since nobody else did this I will.

Official description:

“SUPER FRIENDS REUNITED! – As Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and Zor-El (guest star Jason Behr) make their return to National City, they are determined to keep the Phantom Zone behind them and enjoy being superheroes together. Unfortunately, their overzealous efforts backfire, creating a whole new threat to National City. The episode was directed by Armen V. Kevorkian and written by Dana Horgan & Jay Faerber (#608). Original airdate 8/24/2021.”

 

[Web-Head]

That's much more like the Supergirl I know! A somewhat strong start to 6B but a little boring at times too. I feel like some of the editing was off here as well.

Oh well, a fun little episode. Nice to have Melissa really back too

 

[flickchick85]

Had to work tonight and miss the airing, so thanks to @Brierrose for starting the thread. Yeah this was the real season premiere to me. Not amazing, but a solid start. Just nice to have Kara actually back in the fold again. That last scene with Alex in particular was great.

Random, but the flying shots in this ep looked worse than ever before, imo. I can't believe this episode was directed by the former head VFX guy because those choices of angles for those VFX shots? Yikes.

I was both amused by and appreciated how quickly they friend-zoned Kara/William. Glad we don't have to worry about them wasting anymore screentime in these final episodes on that "romance." I also appreciate that while they've made this Zor-El far too nice and normal for my liking, he proved here that deep down he's still some version of the mad scientist of Krypton he often is in the comics, lol. I was also worried that too much of this final season would be focused on him, so I'm glad to see that doesn't look to be case.

 

[Dr.]

Random, but the flying shots in this ep looked worse than ever before, imo. I can't believe this episode was directed by the former head VFX guy because those choices of angles for those VFX shots? Yikes.

Actually... In the crashing satellite sequence, I thought the wide-angle shots of Kara and Zor flying were impressive. Almost certainly, these were CG animations. But the figures looked smooth and naturalistic (e.g., limb movement, cape flapping). And the overall lighting was likewise good. In prior efforts, as I recall, such scenes tended to look stiff, robotic or otherwise “fake” — or else "super speed" and/or “blurring” SFX were used to disguise the flaws. But here, the CG was conspicuously better.

However!... the closer shots of the actual actors (against green screen, presumably) were awkwardly framed and photographically “grainy” and washed out. Those, I grant you, were poor.

*

Seems like Supergirl is embracing its own internal continuity — with no effort to match anything going on in Superman & Lois. Thus, the reference to Argo City and the particular configuration of the FOS. But at least Kara mentioned her cousin.

 

[Flash525]

Kara returns from the phantom zone, and Clark can't even be bothered to check in.

 

[Web-Head]

Kara returns from the phantom zone, and Clark can't even be bothered to check in.

Meh. We all know why, especially with Covid restrictions. Same thing with the Avengers - why didn't Iron Man call the Avengers in Iron Man 3? Etc, etc.

 

[Sithborg]

They really had to reference Central City Strong, didn't they? Sure, connectiveness is fun, but did you really have to reference the worse episode this whole damn arrowverse put out?

Anyway, nice to see Kara back with everyone, getting back to the full strength of the series. Getting friendzoned by William was great though.

 

[Flash525]

Meh. We all know why, especially with Covid restrictions. Same thing with the Avengers - why didn't Iron Man call the Avengers in Iron Man 3? Etc, etc.

He could've sent a text.

Stark was probably too proud and/or arrogant, plus IM3 happened in a shorter period of time.

 

[Dark Raven]

This show is starting to look like something from the Sci Fi channel. I don't like the watch tower set. It has this dark and dingy feel to it.

Didn't think it was a very interesting story either about pollution. Also how would Kellex turn into a trash monster that's able to walk?

Did Jason Behr's voice sound like that in Roswell? It sounds more British now.

 

[Brierrose]

I watched this episode semi-live on Tuesday then again on Wednesday, I normally never rewatch like that, then work got busy and I haven’t been able to write my thoughts out until now.

I thought the opening was funny, the way everyone looked at Nia to answer Brainy. Yes, Nia as his SO that’s on you.

The scene where Kara woke up remind me of when she woke up in season ones “Falling”, Alex was by her side both times. Great Rao the acting in this scene and the finale one, it would be a crime against acting if Melissa and Chyler don’t work together on something again. No mention of phantoms especially in a Star Wars prequel, I agree.

I liked that Zor-El wanting to reunite with Alura was put out there right away but it made sense to me that he would want to spend some time with Kara on Earth first. I appreciated the daughter/father dynamic they had, not once did Zor-El treat Kara like a child even though that might have been understandable since she was the last time he saw her. Yet, he was still her dad and recognized how she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Zor-El had good intentions with Oscar but disregarded the scientific rule to test first. I thought for a split second he wouldn’t listen about stopping Oscar when Alex told him he had to help or step aside. At least the trash monster stayed on one piece so Kara could throw it into the sun.

Yes, she was understanding about Kara’s absence but Andrea is a horrible boss. Cat was smart enough to figure out Kara is Supergirl but Andrea’s not a reporter and not as smart as Cat. The whole who are the super friends thing will be used for comedy in CatCo and possibly William figuring it out and keeping it to himself.

Before the news that Alex/Sentinel is going to be in the Flash “event” episodes I had a horrible thought that all the talk of Alex always being there for Kara and Kara not wanting to be alone was foreshadowing Alex’s death.

In the end I think Zor-El took just the right amount of space. I’m very glad it appears they will continue to have Kara processing her trauma. It’s very true that while going through a traumatic thing we just put aside our feelings to get through it. It’s only afterwards we can sometimes take the time we need to process it.

Looks like they set up the next episode with Kelly working with social services as well as S6E10 with Nyxly messing with Nia’s head. I do hope we get to see Lena going back to where she was born, which I’m sure is Ireland.