As I watch the episode:
"Last night, I helped a family assemble their IKEA table."
A free medical exam from super-power experts, and all Siobhan can do is complain. She's the type of person who, if Oprah gave her a new car, would b---- about the color. In a previous life, she was the princess who pouted and raged at the universe because Cleopatra got to be queen. Wow, she's annoying! Still hot, but amazingly annoying.
The DEO is feeling kind of like a country club, where people can just walk in. Clearly it's not, but it feels like it. I almost expect them to have a front desk. This is not a complaint, just an observation.
Siobhan is alone in a corridor, sees Livewire, and learns all she needs to know while witnessing a few seconds of conversation. Contrived, but also clever in that it accomplishes a lot and moves the story along quickly without being too unbelievable. (The guard standing behind Siobhan takes forever to step forward and usher her along. Maybe he took a few extra moments to admire the view? I would have. That's why I would make a terrible guard.)
As much as I adore the character of Cat Grant and her crazy relationship with Kara, I'm getting tired of the roller coaster. Which Cat will show up this week? Is it:
A. The Cat who loathes Kara?
B. The Cat who only wants to have a professional relationship with Kara so no one gets hurt?
C. The motherly Cat who wants to counsel Kara about her love life?
D. The Cat who refuses to eat anything but salad, skim milk, and green tea?
E. The Cat who gorges on cupcakes?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnd it's (drumroll)....C and E.
Seriously, what happened? Weren't we angry at Kara for breaking Adam's heart? Weren't we only going to be professional with each other? I get that relationships are fluid, dysfunctional, and many things are unspoken. I'm not saying it's unrealistic. It's just tiresome, like trying to keep up with a child on a sugar high, or following a car whose driver can't make up his mind which lane he wants to be in.
The cupcake conversation is uncomfortable. I'll just fast-forward through it. Ah, much better.
"Before you know it, he'll be docked in your port." Whoops. Didn't fast-forward far enough.
Siobhan is obviously having a medical problem while walking down the sidewalk. No one stops to offer help. I can only conclude one thing: the other people on the sidewalk know her.
Siobhan shows up at CatCo in an altered state, shoves Winn, and blows Kara out the window. Nicely done. Isn't this the comic-booky, superhero version of an office coworker going on a shooting rampage?
Out of all the millions of people in National City, the ex-co-worker who hates Kara just happens to be the one with supernatural powers.
That moment when you hate someone and she turns out to be Supergirl. Siobhan just can't catch a break.
Some guy in a red suit shows up. Never seen him before.
Barry takes Kara into the countryside, which was necessary for them to have a conversation alone. Plot reason: Barry is now so fast that he can't fully control his speed.
Barry starts to touch Kara's chest to put out the fire, then pulls back. Kara takes off her clothes and throws them on him. Nope. No sexual innuendo here.
At this moment, Kara is dealing with two shocking things: the attack from Siobhan and the existence of the Flash. She leaves Barry immediately to go back to CatCo to make sure everyone else is safe, which is the correct decision. So why change her mind seconds later and go back down to have a conversation with Barry? For all she knows, Cat is falling to her death at that very moment, but Kara stops to chat. (If she used her supervision to see that everyone was okay, that would have been much better, more in character, and would only have taken an extra three seconds. #Storytelling)
It is a fun conversation, though. "The who, now?"
Barry has no reason to know whether Supergirl is a hero or a villain, although she seems nice and her suit looks really heroic. He assumes right away that she's someone he can ask for help. I'm mostly good with it, but the writer in me wants this addressed, even if it's indirectly.
And this is where the episode becomes an old-fashioned comic book not that that's a bad thing. Barry meets Kara and the team (and lets set aside James's jealousy for the moment). Excitement. Mushiness. Instant trust. It's a refreshing change from the horrendous
let's-be-superheroes-who-fight-each-other trope, but it's the opposite extreme. This is just fun marshmallow hooey for the viewers to fangeek over. And it's probably what most of the viewers wanted.
"Been there. It sucks."
Melissa Benoist reacting to the ice cream cone in her hand:
"Yes!" She. Is. Adorable!
Just mail her the Emmy now. Seriously.
"Kira. You're alive."
Cat's comment about a CW show, then her comment about the Flash's name.
Watching this conversation again, I'm even more convinced that Cat knows Kara is Supergirl.
More awkward love advice from Cat to Kara.
"The curse is triggered when someone wrongs you." Siobhan has made it to what looks like her late 20s without anyone wronging her before? Good grief, what kind of sheltered life has she led?
Siobhan and her aunt just talk about killing people like they're discussing what they had for breakfast. What a lovely family.
Siobhan doesn't seem too upset over the prospect of losing her soul.
Looking at Livewire's cell, let's ask the question which has bugged all of us all season long: How does a DEO prisoner use the bathroom?
Bernie Sanders and hot yoga. I don't get it.
"National City may have lost faith in Supergirl, but I haven't. And you shouldn't either." Yes. The look Cat gives Kara seals it for me. I'll freely admit it if I'm wrong, but Cat knows Kara is Supergirl.
"And once they're both back in custody, I promise that we will do everything in our power to get you back home." They're already doing everything in their power to get Barry back home, so that's an odd promise.
What's the empty warehouse Livewire goes to, where Siobhan is expecting her? Is that the place Livewire and Cat arranged to meet in the earlier episode? I don't recognize it. And why doesn't Livewire go straight to CatCo after getting out?
James's jealousy, and his constant denial, is a drag. But the conversation in which he and Lucy lay things to rest is kind of nice.
Barry really should have known better than to try a lightning attack on a creature of living electricity. But it was fun to see.
"Meet Silver Banshee." Dramatic appearance by Silver Banshee. So very comic-booky. Kind of cringeworthy. But this episode has already claimed that territory and claimed it with pride. Comic-booky is what everyone wanted and it's what we've got. It ain't Shakespeare, but it's fun.
The obligatory conversation in which Barry gives Kara advice. Predictable, but nice.
Cat calls Winn by his actual name! Amazing!
I had to Google "Norma Rae," so now I get the joke. Cute.
I'll say one thing for Cat being in mortal danger only makes her up the attitude. I love the weary look on Livewire's face:
I've made a dramatic entrance and she knows I want to kill her, and she still won't shut up!
Winn's attempt to stop Siobhan is good, but that scene desperately needs some cutaway shots of Cat and Livewire watching them! I'm dying to see the looks on their faces. Livewire was probably rolling her eyes, and there were so many ways Calista could have played that scene. Those looks would have spoken volumes about their characters. Big wasted opportunity.
Siobhan says to Winn, "I'm good as is." Those are the same words Livewire said to Supergirl the first time they fought.
"Hello, Red & Blue." Livewire is such a fun villain. Her evil cackle is great!
There's not really much of a plot reason for Livewire to keep Cat alive. She could go after Supergirl later any time.
Love the dramatic two-shot of Supergirl flying and the Flash running.
On the one hand, Cat's begging shows that she is vulnerable after all, and the fact that she cares about her boys more than herself is absolutely on target with her character. On the other hand, her begging is jarring since it differs so dramatically from the superior attitude she had earlier. I'm not sure what to make of that. It didn't feel right, somehow.
For a few seconds, Livewire looks sympathetic and genuinely moved by Cat's words. Brit Morgan produces a really beautiful moment there, acting through the make-up. Nicely done.
"Let's settle this like women. What? There's more of you guys here than me." A great line, showing that real men aren't afraid of acknowledging and respecting strong women.
I want to chastise all the people of National City who stand there and watch a superfight like a bunch of dipwads instead of running to safety, but I would totally do the same thing.
"What took you so long?" Cat is just super cool. Supergirl throws Cat off a balcony; Siobhan blows Kara out a window; Cat's handcuffed to a park bench. Whatever. It's all good. Bring me a latte.
Siobhan has super strength? Didn't see that coming, but that makes her more interesting.
Supergirl is standing directly in front of Cat when Siobhan spins Supergirl around and decks her. But when they cut to the long-distance shot, Cat and the bench are nowhere in sight.
Livewire defeats Barry, then just leaves him there unharmed? I guess she was eager to get back to fighting Supergirl.
"I
hate helicopters!"
I love the townspeople's reactions when they realize what Supergirl is doing for them (because I'm a sentimental old fussbudget and I want them to love Supergirl). What I don't love is the fact that the director felt he needed a bunch of dialogue (voiceover dialogue, no less) from the townspeople to reinforce what's happening. Remove the dialogue, let the looks on the people's faces and their actions tell the story
by themselves, and this scene becomes
so much more powerful! This is a major disappointment. It's the typical Hollywood style of assuming the audience is stupid and bashing them over the head with the story. For me, it ruins what would have been a beautiful scene.
Before I watched the episode, I said to myself, "Well, they won't use water a second time to defeat Livewire. They'll want to do something new. I wonder how they'll do it." Boy, I got that wrong but I'm so glad I did! I
love the firemen saving Supergirl, just like she saved them! Way to go, writers! Restore my faith in your storytelling abilities! That was brilliant, and beautifully sentimental! I love the way this scene shows that members of a community can come together and care which
does happen in real life. Pardon me, I think I'm gonna cry for a moment.
Okay. I'm back.
Siobhan accidentally gets taken out by Livewire's electricity. That's awfully convenient, but she would have been quickly defeated on her own, anyway, so it's no biggie.
"Thanks to Barry, the National City Police Department has a way to lock up metahumans." Um...okay. That takes serious money and time to build that kind of equipment, but he just jury-rigged something in a jiffy? Eh.
What stops Livewire or Silver Banshee from telling the whole world where the DEO is? (For that matter, what stops Indigo from telling Non where the DEO is? Indigo and Livewire have both been there electronically.)
Cat claims she knew Barry was the Flash all along, then boasts to Kara how she can spot the extraordinary pretending to be a nobody. Oh, man. More teasing. The writers are setting up something incredible between Kara and Cat in the final two episodes. I can't wait to see what they do!
That was not a race. But Kara and Barry's final conversation is sweet. We even get a super hug!
Kara and James are finally about to get their act together, despite the fact that Kara is more awkward than a 7th-grader at a school dance. But then James turns into a zombie. For a few moments, I seriously thought they were doing the superkiss mind-wipe thing. But no, it's a cliffhanger!
It was so fun to see Livewire back. She and Silver Banshee make a great team. If this show lasts for a long time, I hope these two make a comeback, perhaps even have a bitter breakup, then get back together again, like a dysfunctional couple. There's a lot of potential there.
The Flash's presence was fun. It was a way for the writers, the actors, and the fans to geek out, and most of us had a great time. The story was what it needed to be to fit Barry's presence into National City for a day. But if we're talking only about narrative, the Flash did absolutely nothing. All the techno-wizardry he did could have been done by Winn; he didn't advance the storyline in any way another character couldn't have; and he was a non-factor in both battles. The camaraderie and sentimentality between Kara and Barry was for the viewers, and I mostly liked it, but it was a little too much for me because they only knew each other for a day.
More than anything, this episode was a one-off fun diversion. Hardly anything had to do with the season story arc. It was nice, but I wouldn't want every episode to be like this.
Chyler Leigh and Dave Harewood were completely absent from the episode.
I guess that will make their return all the more dramatic.
I give it 8 out of 10.
t: Barry and Kara for the win
