Supergirl Supergirl Season 1 Episode 5 - "Livewire" MAJOR SPOILERS

[kedrell]

Nitpick time! Did anyone else think they kinda rushed Livewire's power development? Only seconds after she realizes she can shoot electricity, she already realizes she can travel as raw electricity through electric cables.

Oh hell yes! But, you know...network TV.

 

[herolee10]

 

[Hunter Rider]

Good episode, I really liked the scenes between Alex and Eliza, I thought Chyler was terrific in her performance. It was also good to see Cat step out from being a caricature and become a real person, the scene with her and Kara after Livewire's first attack was really good.

Liverwire was a perfect translation in terms of the personality and the way her powers were brought to life, hopefully we see her again with a pixie cut and a new costume. The fights between her and Supergirl were well handled.

The new plot arc dropped in regarding Daddy Danvers is a good one and should add a nice mystery element, I enjoyed the flashbacks.

Poor Winn, the dude isn't just in the friend zone he's the Mayor of the place. It's gonna be interesting to see what happens when his pops shows up.

 

[superboy13]

Dean Cain, still the master of Superman shirt rips.

 

[chamber-music]

The showrunners should get Teri Hatcher to guest star as someone.

I thought that the effects for Livewire's "dematerializing" were really good overall.

I thought they were good as well

"Witty as a Youtube comment." LOL Cat Grant!

That was a good line

 

[STARMAN]

A better episode.

 

[DigificWriter]

Best episode so far, and one that didn't really suffer, IMO, from being aired out of sequence.

I have never seen the 1984 Supergirl movie or Helen Slater's guest tenure on Smallville, but did know who she is, so her recurring role in the series is exciting for me less because of nostalgia and more because of what her character's presence brings to the table in terms of narrative development, and I really liked the way they used her.

She played off of both Chyler and Melissa very, very well, and my favorite scene was when she and Alex have their 'truce' chat. For all of the 'pricklyness' of their interactions through a lot of the episode, it's easy to see that Eliza does love both Kara and Alex equally, even if she seemed to be far harder on Alex than she was on Kara.

I mentioned this elsewhere, but Kara uses the terms "adoptive" and "foster" almost interchangeably, and it's clear that she recognizes, appreciates, and loves Eliza for the ways in which she (and presumably Jeremiah as well) took care of her, so there's no disrespect being meant by her use of those terms.

Cat Grant continues to be one of my favorite parts of the show, and I love that her relationship with Kara is slowly evolving and changing. She does clearly care about Kara and her other employees, even if the way she that demonstrates said feelings isn't all that pleasant.

I don't know about anyone else, but I loved Livewire's look here and can't wait to see if/when she returns. I somehow missed her taunting of Supergirl during their third confrontation, but still loved the way they went at it. The effects during those sequences were great, and both the actors and stunt performers did an excellent job.

I have no idea where they're going with Hank Henshaw's character, but I like that Eliza doesn't have the highest opinion of him or his motives after losing her husband to the DEO, and that her feelings have been passed on to Alex and Kara, because it adds new layers of intrigue and nuance to their own working relationship with him.

It usually bugs me when things are aired out of sequence, but given the reasons for doing so in this case, it's understandable, and there really wasn't anything in the episode that was too jarring as a result of airing this episode this week instead of the one that precedes it.

 

[famicommander]

Another very good episode. Probably my favorite so far. No blurry Superman, no constant harping of feminist undertones, no "this is my story" whining.

 

[Robert_Anthony]

best episode so far, and one that didn't really suffer, imo, from being aired out of sequence.

ditto!

 

[Nathan]

Now they just need to improve the action. Supergirl vs Livewire was already an improvement over the Supergirl vs Reactron fight, but it could still be better. Even on a TV Budget, I think we can have some Man of Steel level action. Maybe not with the same quality, but they should be able to reach the level of intensity. And the fight against Livewire could have used some lightning fast action from both combatants.

This DBZ Fan Movie pulled off some stunning action, with only a budget of $7000. At least according to IMDB.

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So if fans with a tiny budget are able to deliver that quality of action, you'd think a TV show, that supposedly has one of the biggest budgets among the current superhero TV shows, could do more than have their actors awkwardly swinging theirs fists.

I really see no reason why we can't have action closer to this on the show. Not asking for Superman vs Zod level of action, but anything that Faora did should be doable.

 

[Sithborg]

I think you underestimate the costs of those scenes. Adding in scenes of those quality into all the episodes (currently, 13, potentially 22), would quickly add up. And overall, the show won't have close to a the budget of MOS.

 

[Nathan]

I'll be honest that I have no idea of much any of this would cost. All I can do is look at other shows and Fan Movies as reference, knowing that they have a much smaller budget, yet are able to deliver action that is far more exciting.

I think they could probably already improve much, just by getting better stunt coordinators and editors. So the action might not be any grander, but at least wouldn't look as sloppy.

I mean, come on, watch this Fight Previz. How big do you expect the budget was here? You just need to know how to film and edit your stuff, and how to convincingly throw a punch.

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[HaplessHenchman]

Really enjoyed this episode. In fact, it is the first one I've given a 10/10.

- The effects for Livewire looked very good to me.
- Cat's character took a big step forward.
- The mystery of Dr. Danvers' death adds another intriguing story line. Is he really even dead?

 

[Guard82]

Very cool episode. I loved Livewire, she was an awesome villain. And I loved the character development for Cat Grant. She had a great portrayal in this episode.

The relationship between Alex and Eliza was nicely done, and Kara was excellent as always. Also the mystery about Henshaw and Dr. Danvers sounds intriguing.

 

[Kelly]

Ratings ticked up this episode, which bodes well considering the switcheroo, etc....next episode "might" see the hit, since I am hearing many will DVR, or watch the next episode on itunes, or Amazon since it is out of sequence. I hope not...but that is a possibility.

 

[Cybermaxis]

I think you underestimate the costs of those scenes. Adding in scenes of those quality into all the episodes (currently, 13, potentially 22), would quickly add up. And overall, the show won't have close to a the budget of MOS.

Not just cost but time also. That DBZ fan film I've read took 2 years to make. A TV episode takes a week or two (I think?).

Although I could see something somewhat close to that DBZ fan film as a season finale if they budget carefully and started work early.

 

[X Knight]

so this ep was an improvement over the last ep.

 

[The Caped Knight]

this episode surprised me as it was better than i was expecting. The character of Livewire basically took nods from her debut in Superman: The Animated Series which was nice to see.

Also Dean Cain & Helen Slater were used perfectly as the Danvers.

Cat sheds her mask as the heartless boss to reveal a bit of humanity unexpected and appreciated.

Jimmy & Lucy subplot interesting

Winn gets shafted, oh brings back the old smallville days with Chloe liking clark but he only has eyes for lana and Kara wants jimmy.

D.D.O. henshaw, I guess now it's clear Alex's requirement was because of her father.

 

[Lencho01]

Yeah, I laughed at that.

 

[The Caped Knight]

ROFL! yes you do.

 

[Boy Scout]

• How did the DEO capture the alien in the cold opening in the first place if they couldn't recapture him?
• Supergirl vs. the alien prisoner was very fun to watch. When the action is good on this show, it's good.
• "He was tough." "She." "Oh...respect!"
• Cat and Leslie's first confrontation had me smiling from ear-to-ear.
• Didn't Kara say in the pilot that she wasn't sure if she could fly? Why would she think that if she was able to do so at 13?
• So...Leslie knows the full extent of, and how to control, her powers right off the bat? I know it's a staple of the genre, but it's always annoyed me how fast humans are able to adapt to their extraordinary abilities without training or experimentation.
• I don't know if it's normal for foster children, but I thought it was a little weird that Kara would acknowledge Alex as her sister, but always make it clear to whoever was listening that her foster mother was not her "real" mother.
• Why did little Kara and Alex walk through the front door instead of going back in through the window?
• "What fresh incompetence is this?"
• A lot of Livewire's lines were just cringeworthy.
• Flockhart's dramatic acting could use some improvement.
• Sometimes it's really obvious that they're holding Benoist up by a harness.
• "[Livewire] can kill you." Huh? Based on what?
• So...the mean girl line? It was just as stupid and out-of-place as I thought it would be.
• Here's a very special message brought to you by Supergirl: be nice!

It was an okay episode. 6/10. I'm starting to get bored of the relationship drama.

 

[haephestus]

Good, but not great.

I enjoyed it, but I almost felt that the creation and reveal of Livewire deserved a double episode. It felt a little random and rushed the way it was presented. Which is odd, since I'm re-watching the animated Superman TV series and they introduced Livewire in only 20 minutes.

It also seemed to me that the father's "death" was some kind of last minute addition to the ongoing plot. It seemed a little odd that Kara never mentioned losing both her natural parents AND her adoptive father. Of course, it also seemed odd that neither Kara or Alex mentioned either parent until this episode.

It was certainly enjoyable. And I don't know whether it is deliberate or not, but I like the references to creating a better society and to providing more positive and enjoyable media. That's exactly what Supergirl does and I think it is a good thing.

 

[metaphysician]

It reminded me of Linda Park masquerading as Dr. Light along with Barry in the last episode of Flash.

The difference, of course, being that Linda was *supposed* to come off terribly cheesy.

I'm trying to give Supergirl slack, but while the writing isn't Arrow s3 bad, its not exactly promising. The fact that they've introduced a minimum of two human supervillains, without even a hint of a human superhero in *12 years*, does not thrill me.

 

[Kelly]

• How did the DEO capture the alien in the cold opening in the first place if they couldn't recapture him?
• Supergirl vs. the alien prisoner was very fun to watch. When the action is good on this show, it's good.
• "He was tough." "She." "Oh...respect!"
• Cat and Leslie's first confrontation had me smiling from ear-to-ear.
• Didn't Kara say in the pilot that she wasn't sure if she could fly? Why would she think that if she was able to do so at 13?
• So...Leslie knows the full extent of, and how to control, her powers right off the bat? I know it's a staple of the genre, but it's always annoyed me how fast humans are able to adapt to their extraordinary abilities without training or experimentation.
• I don't know if it's normal for foster children, but I thought it was a little weird that Kara would acknowledge Alex as her sister, but always make it clear to whoever was listening that her foster mother was not her "real" mother.
• Why did little Kara and Alex walk through the front door instead of going back in through the window?
• "What fresh incompetence is this?"
• A lot of Livewire's lines were just cringeworthy.
• Flockhart's dramatic acting could use some improvement.
• Sometimes it's really obvious that they're holding Benoist up by a harness.
• "[Livewire] can kill you." Huh? Based on what?
• So...the mean girl line? It was just as stupid and out-of-place as I thought it would be.
• Here's a very special message brought to you by Supergirl: be nice!

It was an okay episode. 6/10. I'm starting to get bored of the relationship drama.

As far as your question, didn't she say she wasn't sure she could fly. She actually said, "I can fly, at least I think I can....I haven't done it in years"...

As far as the relationship drama and getting bored of it, well....this probably isn't a series for you.

 

[zenith16]

no, I'm re-reading it to make sure, and I meant what I said the first time. If they were airing the one that was supposed to come after this one next week, then they'd be airing in the proper order. The episode airing next week is the one that was SUPPOSED to air BEFORE the one that aired tonight. It will be episode 4, and tonight's was episode 5. Ergo, next week's was supposed to come first. Which is exactly the same situation you're talking about, just worded differently. But thanks for trying to set me straight.

it's all good it was late last night and I was confused on the before part, Any way. but as I said, I got what you meant regardless