A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at our website: couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in January 2021, our DC Television Universe or DCTU Series panel – including moderator Chief Couch Potato Kylie, Hilary, Kyle, Spencer, Kristen, and Nick – reconvenes Around the Water Cooler for the twenty-ninth episode of our DCTU ongoing series. In this episode, the panel discusses Season 5 of the Arrowverse’s third spin-off, Supergirl. If you have not watched any of the DCTU/Arrowverse/CWVerse (through May 2020), be aware that there are MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), or our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/couchpotatoesunite. Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kels Rezmer Keyboard: Kels Rezmer Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “Supergirl” is a superhero action-adventure drama based on the DC Comics character Supergirl aka Kara Zor-El, created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, which airs on the CW, though it is currently on hiatus.
What: “Supergirl,” a series developed by Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti, and Andrew Kreisberg (the latter two having previously created Arrow and The Flash) and starring Melissa Benoist in the title role. This series is considered a spin-off from Arrow and is part of the so-called “Arrowverse,” recently rebranded the “CWVerse.” Supergirl is a costumed super-heroine who is the cousin to Superman and is one of the last surviving Kryptonians.
SYNOPSIS
Kara Zor-El (Benoist) was sent to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton as a 13-year-old by her parents Zor-El and Alura. Alura gave her instructions to protect her infant cousin Kal-El and informed her that she, like her cousin, would have extraordinary powers under Earth’s yellow sun. Kara’s spacecraft was knocked off course by a shock wave from Krypton’s explosion and forced into the Phantom Zone, where it stayed for 24 years. During this period, time stopped for Kara, and when the spacecraft eventually escaped the Phantom Zone, she still appeared to be a 13-year-old girl. By the time the spacecraft crash landed on Earth, Kal-El had grown up and become Superman. After helping her out of the craft, Superman took Kara to be adopted by his friends, the Danvers family. The series begins eleven years later, when the now 24-year-old Kara is learning to embrace her powers after previously hiding them.
When: Season 5 aired from October 6, 2019, to May 17, 2020, on the CW, with a total of 19 episodes (the season was cut short due to a production stoppage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic).
Where: The action is primarily set in the fictional National City, presumably a West Coast location in the DC Comics Universe.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the podcast episode covering Season 1 via the link below! It should be noted that CPU! Chief Couch Potato Kylie previously picked up this show during the 2015 Fall Preview, noting:
Pro: Melissa Benoist doesn’t offend me. As the erstwhile Marley on Glee, she’s actually the only [new] New Direction-er that didn’t annoy the pants off me. Pro: Dr. Lexie Gray (Chyler Leigh) plays Kara Zor-El’s adopted sister, and her departure was one of a series of missteps that paved my shark-jumping abandonment of Grey’s Anatomy. I missed her. I do believe the “adopted sister” motif deviates from the canon slightly, but then again, Supergirl does not enjoy the consistency of the threads underlying the Man of Steel’s long history. Pro: James “Jimmy” Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) is black. Hey, that doesn’t often happen. Pro: this is not Smallville’s version of the same character. I despised their take on Supergirl and the actress who played her. Con: this seems very teen drama relatively speaking; despite Kara being 24, according to the synopsis, Marley grows into her cape in her own version of Smallville? Could get very old very quickly and be a bit too derivative of the Superman tellings.Con: Ally McBeal herself (Calista Flockhart), post-face-lift and scary contacts, plays the editor. Con: who could they possibly stunt cast as cousin Kal-El, i.e. Supes the Man himself? Because they should stunt cast him, even though they’ve already said they won’t. I think they must (is that who Dean Cain is playing…someone freaking page Tom Welling already!? Or, Henry Cavill if one must). The pros outweigh the cons as far as adding it to my already miles long list, plus it’s a DC property, so I’m along for the ride. I just hope that the earnestness that Melissa Benoist brings to her roles renders her a convincing “Kara Zor-El.”
How – as in How’s It Going? – THOUGHTS
This is the twenty-ninth episode in CPU!’s DCTU series. Here are only the prior Supergirl episodes in the series; as we flush out seasons of all Arrowverse shows, older episodes will be searchable via the website – click the upper right dialog box in the header, the picture of the couch full of TV watchers. Listen to each episode here:
DCTU Series, Episode 5, “Supergirl,” Season 1
DCTU Series, Episode 8, “Supergirl,” Season 2
DCTU Series, Episode 16, “Supergirl,” Season 3
DCTU Series, Episode 21, “Supergirl,” Season 4
DCTU Series, Episode 23, “Crisis on Infinite Earths – LIVE!”
In our last DCTU episode, our cheeky and feisty DCTU panel – namely Kyle, Hilary, Spencer, Kristen, and Nick – continued addressing the most recent full seasons of each of the four “Arrowverse” series in order of the airing of each season finale by discussing the inaugural/first season of Batwoman. Tonight’s episode finds the panel returning to the Water Cooler for the fourth time this go-round to talk the fifth season of Supergirl, in the twenty-ninth episode of our DCTU series. The discussion herein heavily dissects the season-long focus on villainous organization “Leviathan” and the incorporation post-Crisis on Infinite Earths of Superman ultimate baddie Lex Luthor (guest: Jon Cryer) as well as his effect on the National City section of the Arrowverse/”Earth Prime” (post-Crisis). In fact, the panelists note that Supergirl maintained its several-season decline in overall quality, particularly in writing and in direction, to the point that the entire conversation and speculation over what will now be the final season, Season 6, in tonight’s podcast episode was largely deflated, as several panelists struggled to care or to stay invested in the “Girl of Steel” and her corner of this TV multiverse after multiple consecutive seasons of disappointing story progression and middling entertainment payoff ranging from genuine if sparse moments of excitement to profound stretches of dissatisfaction. This latest discussion is, therefore, spicy as always; however, the panelists, especially those devoted to the “Superman” and “Supergirl” DC annals, continue to deem this deterioration in quality and in story direction more than a little disappointing, even as panelists universally determined that the series improved, albeit slightly, from a far messier and more tedious fourth season. Unfortunately, this purported rebound does little to renew any single panelist’s faith in the show, especially that of the Superman/Supergirl devotees of the comic and other source material on the panel.
This particular episode was recorded in January 2021, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the penultimate Season 5 of Supergirl. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
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Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next Wednesday, a new panel gathers at the Water Cooler to begin a seven-part “Looking Back to Look Forward” series covering all television properties associated with all-time acclaimed neo-Western crime drama Breaking Bad, a highly requested show for Couch Potato-led discussion here at the podcast. In the first episode of the series, our new supersized panel begins with the show that started it all, featuring infamous characters now permeating the pop culture consciousness, namely Walter White, Jesse Pinkman, Saul Goodman, Mike Ehrmantraut, and Gus Fring. Stay tuned for Part One of our “Breaking Better Series,” wherein we ruminate upon the first three seasons of the critically acclaimed – say its name! – Breaking Bad. It all happens next week!
Questions, Impressions, and Future Considerations
Old Questions
1) REPEAT QUESTION: Will Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) be driven to evil impulses, either by her genetic link to Lionel or by her grooming from scorning adoptive mother Lillian (since, spoiler, Lena’s biological mother was a mistress of her father Lionel’s), as her brother Lex was?
REPEAT(ISH) ANSWER: This season, Lena flirts more with the evil side of the moral spectrum, propelled as she is by two primary impetuses: 1) her brother Lex (Cryer)manipulates her into believing that Supergirl is not to be trusted, which he first does by revealing Supergirl’s secret identity, i.e. Lena’s best friend Kara Danvers, to Lena and then continues by fanning the flame of Lena’s mistrust of Kara by constantly reminding Lena of this withheld truth; and 2) by aligning with Lex post-Crisis, in a world in which Lex is considered a hero, philanthropist, and an all-around good guy, and by working together on Lena’s lofty science. In Season 5, Lena focuses upon repurposing Q-waves, discovered when used by J’onn J’onzz’s (David Harewood) long-lost brother, which transmit thoughts and emotions; she attempts to manipulate them to quell evil and/or deceptive impulses in other human beings. Of course, this all translates into Lena becoming another cog in Lex’s machinations, but these developments spur a sizable rift between Kara and Lena throughout the season, with Lena contemplating actions against Kara that feel more like revenge for Kara’s “betrayal” of withholding her secret/not being honest with Lena more than anything else, while Kara wrestles with whether her friendship with Lena can be repaired, despite all the erstwhile secrecy. Naturally, by the end of the season, Lena begins to see that her heart has strayed too far toward the dark side and toward becoming a repeat of Lex’s pre-Crisis past (which she is able to recall post-Crisis), and she attempts to make amends with Kara in the end, as the two reconciled friends resolve to team up to stop Lex in this new Earth Prime world in the Season 5 finale. The panel is not here for the “melodramatic” ups and downs resulting from Lena’s perpetual perch upon the line of moral ambiguity, however. Listen to the podcast episode for reactions.
2) REPEAT QUESTION: Are they truly gearing to launch a new “Superman” television show with the potential and foretold return of Superman, as played by Tyler Hoechlin, and the casting of Lois Lane with Grimm alumna Elizabeth Tulloch, as the panel and the press have speculated and/or reported?
NEW ANSWER: Yes! The Supergirl “spinoff” Superman & Lois premieres on the CW on February 23, 2021, and stars Hoechlin and Tulloch in these respective roles – which means that our DCTU Series just picked up another show to cover. Our panel is so thrilled…maybe!
3) Will much of Supergirl’s fifth season, first half, be devoted to development toward the foretold, much ballyhooed, mid-season mega-crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths? And just how much?
ANSWER: Not as much as one might expect, given Supergirl’s comic-based involvement in said Crisis, and certainly far less than the pre-Crisis setup employed and depicted on The Flash and on Arrow. Hints and glimmers are dropped in episodes immediately preceding Supergirl’s entry into Crisis on Infinite Earths, but the show mostly ignores the impending Crisis until it officially starts. This probably has something to do with the fact that Supergirl and Superman exist on Earth-38, whereas the “Crisis” is triggered on Earth 1 by Harrison Wells doppelganger Nash Wells. Listen to the DCTU Series Panel’s Crisis on Infinite Earths analysis for details (linked above!).
4) How is it that J’onn J’onzz has a brother now? And why is he on Earth? Do the Supergirl writers even known the Martian Manhunter story?
ANSWER: It seems that the memory of J’onn’s brother was purged from J’onn’s mind by his father because his brother possessed a powerful sense of mind manipulation and control over those so-called Q-waves, in which Lena becomes highly interested – in fact, she abducts J’onn’s brother to mine those Q-waves and later works further on this science with Lex and with Eve Teschmacher (Andrea Brooks). J’onn’s brother believes that J’onn caused his exile in concert with their father and comes to Earth seeking his revenge. Our panel believes that the Supergirl writers think that it’s cute to rewrite the Martian Manhunter’s source story or something, as they seem to forget that J’onn is supposed to be one of the last remaining Martians. While there are not a lot of Martians left in the universe portrayed on the CW, there are more Martians than typically described in the comics and/or in other DC vehicles; thus, our panel proves frustrated with the ongoing inclusion of the Manhunter, as so often his story is repetitive, featuring the discovery of new not-dead/extinct Martians, and does little to advance the overarching plot of the series titled Supergirl. Listen to the podcast episode for rants on the subject.
5) Lex isn’t really dead – or dead for long – right? We predict that Lex will factor heavily in “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” since the Superman character seems to be the crossover focal point, what with all the stunt casting, like a certain erstwhile Smallville dreamboat Tom Welling.
ANSWER: Our panel’s prediction proves correct. In fact, the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) resurrects Lex, seeing a specific role for our favorite megalomaniacal super-genius in the aforementioned Crisis. Lex survives the “Crisis” and becomes a “good guy” in the collapsed multi-verse post-Crisis, or so he would have the world believe. Our panel thinks very highly of Cryer in this role, by the way.
6) How are they going to write Jimmy Olsen off the show, since Mehcad Brooks is rumored to be leaving it?
ANSWER: James “Jimmy” Olsen is removed from his position as CEO of CatCo when Andrea Rojas (Julie Gonzalo) and her related companies buy up the company from Lena Luthor. Only too happy to start disconnecting from his life in National City and to distance himself from his time as Guardian, no longer a secret to the National City citizens at large, James eventually accepts the role of editor of his small hometown newspaper, reporting on the trend of increasing local industrial corruption and crime. He seems content to downsize his life and is conveniently alive and offscreen, should his presence be required for Superman & Lois, though our panel is not excited to see him have a larger role on that show, either, since his James Olsen is nothing like the Jimmy Olsen so often depicted in the comics and in other DC sources. Listen to the podcast episode for protracted opinions on the fate of James “Jimmy” Olsen.
7) Why must Supergirl wear pants? Why is that the major promo focal point? This isn’t 1940, Supergirl writers and producers! Le sigh…
ANSWER: The pants are not flattering. Melissa made the skirt/tights combo rock much harder than her onscreen adoptive mom Helen Slater did with her bare legs in the 1984 Supergirl movie and did not need a caped onesie costume for any identifiable reason, especially since it’s not exactly chic. Our panel’s female contingent votes down the pants, which lack pockets and eliminate the thumb holes in the top half of the costume; we are also not a fan of Melissa’s bangs this season. Don’t fix what isn’t broken, Supergirl costume designers!
8) If Jimmy is bolting from National City, does that mean that Kara will become CEO of CatCo? Or, alternatively, will Lena take a more hands-on approach with the media empire she came to buy in a previous season?
ANSWER: Neither. Lena sells CatCo to Andrea, removing her hands altogether, while Andrea turns CatCo Media into a center for tabloid journalism and clickbait online listicles in another timely, on-the-nose commentary courtesy of Supergirl’s production team. This, of course, makes Kara hopping mad, complete with furrowed brow, pursed lips, and determined pluck. She does very little about it, however – I mean, herSupergirl activities distract from her day job an awful lot – but, somehow, she wins a Pulitzer Prize for a piece that she writes as part of this newly reformed CatCo conglomerate. It’s all very confusing, and this story thread perplexed our panel in an almost so-bad-you-have-to-laugh-at-it kind of way.
9) The panel tires of Alex’s (Chyler Leigh) personal life. Get her some success or some forward momentum. If she is going to date Jimmy’s sister Kelly (Azie Tesfai), then let it stick for awhile.
ANSWER: Alex stays with Kelly all of Season 5, but this stability doesn’t seem to provide her any sort of sustained happiness. Perhaps, she is clinically depressed…but the show has not taken on mental health and associated stigma as a social commentary subtext (so far). Alex is a sad sack for the entire fifth season, and it bummed our panel out, as it seems that Alex is always a sad sack and is never satisfied with what she has built or gained for herself. Love yourself, Alex! We can’t take much more of this!
10) Why was Brainy (Jesse Rath) so quick to revert back to his normal, nice self? It would have been interesting to see Brainiac-5 or Brainiac Prime become more of a factor over the course of the end of the season or as a seed for Season 5.
ANSWER: Something about love, maybe? As Brainy and Nia Nal aka Dreamer (Nicole Maines) start and end a relationship this season, perhaps Brainy rightly surmised that going full Brainiac probably doesn’t help with the ladies.
11) Are they going to give Martian Manhunter anything interesting to do? Please?
ANSWER: According to our panel, the Martian Manhunter storylines in Season 5 do not qualify as “interesting.” Listen to the podcast episode for details.
12) Can the show improve? The panel is struggling almost more with this show than with Arrow, since Arrow, at least, maintains a tone and seems to try, even if the storytelling is repetitive. Supergirl is literally all over the place, from tone to writing to direction, and the show’s lack of a solid storytelling through-line – particularly given the fact that it had to bring Lex Luthor on as an apparent correction of its most basic and most glaring faux-pas of past seasons – is rendering our panel full of the sadnesses.
ANSWER: The panel agrees that Season 5 managed a slight improvement over the dreadful mishmash of story spaghetti representing that which was Season 4; however, the emphasis here is on “slight.” The panel most enjoys the show when Lex Luthor appears; otherwise, every single story thread and/or character arc not directly involving Lex in Season 5 fell flat for our intrepid DCTU experts. Listen to the podcast episode for all of those details and amply passionate opinions.
New Questions
1) How and where can the show possibly end? The panel does not hold high hopes for a satisfying conclusion, given the trend of what has essentially been a downward slide in story quality and entertainment value since Season 2.
2) Will Supergirl appear on Superman & Lois? Will Superman appear on Supergirl? A foretold crossover between Supergirl and Batwoman was canned; does this mean that neither character will appear on the other’s series? Will there be any crossovers at all this coming season?
3) Will Alex finally decide that she is happy in her own skin? Will she marry Kelly?
4) Is Brainy really gone after his seeming self-sacrifice to help Kara, Nia, and the others escape Leviathan and wriggle out of Lex’s grasp in the Season 5 finale? Will we see the other surviving Brainiac beings spawned by the “Crisis,” who visited Brainy early in the show’s fifth season second half? Will they form or reform the primary Brainiac organism/system in Season 6?
5) What is Leviathan really? Why have Wonder Woman and Batman villains been smushed together to form this antagonistic force? How will this story resolve in the final season?
6) Someone give J’onn something more interesting to do! Also, is the romance (cringe) between J’onn and M’gann (guest: Sharon Leal) going to last? It’s not a favorite development for our panelists (so few developments are, though).
7) Is William Dey (Staz Nair) Kara’s “happily ever after?” Or, will Kara find someone else? Or, will the Klena shippers finally get their wish?
8) How will Kara and Lena take down Lex Luthor?
9) What will Dreamer’s end be? Will she somehow be sent to the future? Will she save Brainy? Will she do something interesting?
10) Will Kara survive the series?
PARTING SHOTS
Supergirl Season 5 improved upon previous seasons somewhat, according to our DCTU panel, but the improvement proved negligible and insufficient to restore our panelists’ initial enthusiasm for this series. Hearteningly, our panelists no longer see Supergirl as the worst of the existing TV universe and, instead, unanimously rank it as the third best of the current five Arrowverse shows on the network, the other four being The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, and Black Lightning; of course, without our panel’s scathing reviews of the latter two shows, Supergirl might not have been rated as high, relatively speaking. To wit, the panelists opined that the appearance and inclusion of Lex Luthor reinvigorated the show’s general energy, even as all panelists saw such a sizable use of the character as problematic, given that Luthor is not Supergirl’s main antagonist at any point in the comic history but her cousin’s. All panelists remain appreciative of Benoist’s portrayal of the “Girl of Steel,” owing to her winning charisma and “adorkable” pastiche and regard the departure of James “Jimmy” Olsen as a good call on the part of whomever made it. Yet, the panelists also have lost both interest in and patience with many of the arcs of the supporting characters, including Alex’s maudlin struggle to come to terms with her identity as a gay woman and with what she wants as a working female in today’s society; with the neutering of the Martian Manhunter character and the general confusion around how any Martian still survives apart from him; and with the supporting characters, particularly since so few of the original cast remain. Plus, the panel quickly reached consensus around the success of Leviathan as antagonist this season, in that every panelist observed this god-like force to be misplaced in this series and in the position of being Supergirl’s foe, especially since the writers devoted precious little organic story development toward selling the viewer on such an idea and did not convincingly establish why Lex would be interested in aligning himself with them, even if as a move in his never-ending gamesmanship.
Furthermore, the focus on romantic relationships on Supergirl continues to bog down and to stymie the show’s creative potential; unlike the other Arrowverse shows, romance remains a main, rather than a supporting, theme of this program, even if Kara is not involved, which becomes tedious and repetitive, at least in the opinions of all of our DCTU panelists. Thus, the panelists continue to question their trust in the storytelling and direction of the entire series, in light of the first two uneven (now in hindsight) seasons and because of the panel’s struggle with the subsequent three seasons, including Season 5. As a result, the panel is apprehensive about the now final upcoming season and whether the series can achieve any kind of satisfactory ending. Will the already over-extended producers and writers of the Arrowverse and of this show be able to recover from the various missteps taken within this specific property along the way, or will Supergirl‘s decline in quality and in story logic be so complete that it ends on a sour, distasteful note at the last? Ultimately, our panel hopes that Season 6 improves dramatically and achieves a fulfilling conclusion, though the panelists are not optimistic about such prospects. since they rightly predicted an end sooner rather than later for this Super chapter of the DC Television Universe.
LOOKING AHEAD
The CW renewed Supergirl for a sixth and final season in January 2020; a premiere date for this final season has not yet been announced, as production was postponed both by the COVID-19 pandemic and by Benoist’s real-life pregnancy. The DCTU podcast panel will next reconvene later this year to discuss the fifth season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, in Episode 30 (!) of our series. Further, the panel will next chat Supergirl at some point following its series finale! So, hold onto your capes until then, and stay tuned!
Who: The DC Television Universe or DCTU Series Panel – Kyle, Hilary, Spencer, Kristen, and Nick – plus Chief CP Kylie as moderator.
What: “Crisis on Infinte Earths,” the five-episode 2019-2020 Arrowverse crossover event melding cast members from “Arrow,” “The Flash,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” “Supergirl,” and “Batwoman,” the five shows that comprise the so-called “Arrowverse” on the CW, at least through the airing of “Crisis,” otherwise known as the DC (Comics) Television Universe or DCTU.
When: The “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover began on December 8, 2019, with Supergirl (8:00 PM) and concluded on January 14, 2020, with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (9:00 PM).
Where: The action is primarily set in the DC Comics Universe, specifically in Central City (The Flash), Star City (Arrow), Gotham City (Batwoman), on Earth-38 in National City (Supergirl), and throughout space, time, and the multiverse in keeping with the Legends of Tomorrow.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching each of these shows, listen to tonight’s episode and/or to our DCTU series in full by clicking the floating box at the top right of our website header, the picture of the couch full of TV watchers, to search for all of the prior DCTU series episodes. As for why we are covering this crossover separately, read on!
How – as in How Was It?
The Specially Formulated For Your Viewing Pleasure “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Crossover rating scale:
***** – HOLY SMOKES! This is the BEST. CROSSVER. EVER!!!!!
**** – Intriguing. Please make more, CW/Arrowverse producers. You get better each time, though you’re not perfect yet.
*** – It was fine/okay. Nothing special. There were parts I liked and parts I didn’t. Allow me to explain.
** – Meh. I was bored. Nice idea, but the execution left something to be desired.
* – Not your best, Arrowverse. Stop trying!
Crisis on Infinite Earths = 3.2, by average of the podcast panel.
SYNOPSIS
“Crisis on Infinite Earths,” inspired by the comic of the same name, continues plot lines established in the previous crossover, “Elseworlds.” The preceding episodes of Arrow Season 8 and much of The Flash Season 6 are a prelude to the crossover. In “Crisis,” the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) gathers Green Arrow (Stephen Amell), the Flash (Grant Gustin), Supergirl (Melissa Benoist), Batwoman (Ruby Rose), Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), and several others from throughout the multiverse to stop the Anti-Monitor (Garrett) from destroying reality. The crossover’s events result in the Arrowverse being rebooted, affecting all composite shows of the TV universe.
THOUGHTS
This is the twenty-third episode in CPU!’s DCTU series. Because we have reached double digits for this massive series, from here on out, we are only going to embed prior episodes from the immediately previous season at mid-season or only the previous episodes of the show in particular that we are covering if we are covering any of the series individually, which you can listen to for reference in advance of the current podcast episode. All of our episodes, however, are searchable here at the website or, for audio-only types, you can find our page at our file host, the Internet Archive (archive.org), which has all of our episodes compiled in one handy menu. It’s pretty nice, actually. If you feel so inclined, please also donate to the Archive, so garage podcasts like your humble CPU! can continue to thrive.
For now, here are the DCTU series episodes since the DCTU 2019 Mid-Season Roundup:
DCTU Series, Episode 17, the DCTU 2019 Mid-Season Roundup
DCTU Series, Episode 18, “Elseworlds”
DCTU Series, Episode 19, “Arrow,” Season7
DCTU Series, Episode 20, “The Flash,” Season 5
DCTU Series, Episode 21, “Supergirl,” Season4
DCTU Series, Episode 22, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” Season 4
Our cheeky and feisty DCTU panel, again this year, specially requested a separate discussion to dissect the five episode mega-crossover Arrowverse event entitled “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” Why, might you ask? Well, we might answer. Though the panel’s average reception to the latest Arrowverse crossover proved surprisingly lukewarm compared to crossovers past, the panel enjoyed at least the concept of the new crossover event, especially given the fact that the Arrowverse’s producers and writers never fail to jam-pack the crossovers with all of the DC Comic Universe goodness, including a number of highly nerdy Easter Eggs and pop culture references outside of comic books (DC or otherwise). The panelists additionally felt, yet again, that a separate recording was necessary to digest everything included in this special event; plus, given our globally quarantined status in light of the current Coronavirus Pandemic, and in light of the fact that we had a gift card to give away, the panelists also felt motivated to go Live…at least the only way we could in these, our current times! Our DCTU panelists, therefore, went LIVE on Facebook on April 30, 2020, to talk about their generally and unfortunately middling assessment of the latest crossover of casts from Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Batwoman, as some of our panelists genuinely exhibited more qualms overall with this crossover compared to last year’s entry, “Elseworlds,” and to several of the preceding crossover entries as well. Watch below or listen at our typical outlets, and let us know if you agree or disagree with our thoughts!
This particular CPU! episode was recorded – LIVE via Zoom and Facebook – in April 2020, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the “Crisis on Infinte Earths” crossover. Listen/watch at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our Apple/iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , find us on Google Play, or on Spotify (!) to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly – except this week! This week is special because this Thursday, Couch Potatoes Unite! ispleased to sponsor an encore presentation of an episode of a podcast on which Chief CP Kylie and frequent panelist Nick appeared on behalf of CPU! The podcast is called “Connect Grand Rapids;” the hosts, Rick and Brian, interviewed us about our podcast panelists’ recommended quarantine binge TV, as we fancy ourselves the local TV experts (naturally), and we were only too happy to oblige. Of course, the conversation didn’t stop at that topic – you’ll have to listen to find out how, but this also means that CPU! is providing you a rare two-episode week! Hey, it’s how we are filling our quarantine time. We’re also calling it even for late March, when we had to scramble as the pandemic began. Fair? Stay tuned!
Questions, Impressions, and Future Considerations
1) The predominant question arising from this crossover is what Earth Prime really looks like compared to the other Earths developing in the newly reconstituted multiverse. Does Earth Prime contain aspects of all of the Infinite Earths that were lost prior to Oliver Queen’s move to recreate the universe as Spectre? Are the Earth 2 characters that we’ve grown to love, such as Harry Wells (Tom Cavanaugh), Jessie Quick, and Laurel Lance’s (Katie Cassidy) Team Arrow, alive again? Are they on Earth Prime? Is Breecher alive again? Is he back the new Earth 19, or is he on Earth Prime? These are the unanswered questions…which we feel certain will unravel in some way on the remaining Arrowverse shows.
2) Does Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) retain his Vibe powers, or will he revert back to being an ordinary, non-meta human?
3) Are we left with only one Harrison Wells now, and is that Harrison Wells the Nash Wells we meet in The Flash Season 6? The panel would be disappointed to learn this news.
PARTING SHOTS
Our intrepid DCTU panel. almost unanimously but for Chief CP Kylie’s somewhat generous mood at the time of assessment, offered surprisingly middling, even lukewarm reviews of “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” especially compared to “Elseworlds” and to “Crisis on Earth-X,” the previous two crossover events. The general panel consensus noted that this latest special presentation proved far more uneven in terms of pacing and story plotting, with the first two hours, the Supergirl and Batwoman episodes, deemed by our panel to be the strongest of the lot; the middle two episodes, The Flash and Arrow chapters, faltering with shoddy continuity and a lack of sufficient plotting for major devices used to advance the story forward; and the whole affair ending adequately if somewhat anticlimactically in the Legends of Tomorrow segment. The panel was quick to note that the network and the Arrowverse’s various producers and show-runners spent a year (possibly) over-hyping this crossover, given its adaptation of a seminal set of events in DC Comics history, without paying closer attention to the plotting of not only the five episodes of the event itself but of the episodes of Arrow Season 8 and The Flash Season 6 that were devoted to setting up the “Crisis” story arc. In fact, panelist Kyle said it best: the creators and writers behind “Crisis” appeared to spend more time trying to secure stunt casts, awesome though they might have been, than they did actually crafting the chronology and continuity of the story events themselves, since this live action version of “Crisis” deviates from its comic source material dramatically. As a result, the panelists expressed a variety of mixed emotions about what they saw, though no one could mistake the cautious disappointment on display as the panel discussed the crossover in the episode (and you, gentle listener and viewer, can actually watch facial expressions this time).
On the other hand, the panel feels strongly, especially those panelists who have watched the five constituent shows beyond the crossover, that the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” treatment, including the collapse of the initial version of the multiverse, may do well to inject new and fresh energy into several of the Arrowverse shows, particularly Supergirl, which has struggled to galvanize around a convincingly plotted and paced story arc in recent seasons. In addition, the crossover further cements and legitimizes the presence of Batwoman, the rookie on the Arrowverse block, which has also unfolded via a somewhat disjointed beginning season, though all signs point to improvement, as described by the panelists who have watched more of the season beyond the midway point. As such, the panelists find themselves excited to continue to explore the shows comprising the Arrowverse, but for Arrow itself, which has since aired its series finale, and with the addition of Black Lightning, which has been folded into this television universe via the deft stroke of the multiverse compression as depicted in “Crisis.”
Furthermore, in their review of “Elseworlds” in 2019, our DCTU panel postulated that the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event would not be an exact copy of the major DC comics story of the same name. Because this prognostication became fact, our panelists are more reluctant to recommend “Crisis” to anyone who does not already love superhero/comic book adaptations, particularly from the DC universe. The panel believes that viewers who have tuned into previous crossovers will likely enjoy the plethora of new Easter Eggs as well as the cameo appearances by DC character actors from television and film past. The panel also surmises that Arrowverse and comic book fans will enjoy the nostalgia conjured up by the use of those Easter Eggs and cameos as well as the use of the story itself, given its importance to the DC Comics lexicon. Still, the panel strongly cautions that a potential viewer not expect to see a carbon copy of the comics story and to be aware that some segments of the five episodes feel bloated and consequentially fall flat while, at the same time, fail to properly introduce key character insertions as well as to appropriately flush out important plot points, such as the characters of Harbinger, Spectre, Pariah, and the ability of science-oriented characters like Ray Palmer (Routh) and Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) to develop large, novel pieces of technology in what seems like hours or even minutes. These underdeveloped elements left the panelists underwhelmed and, at times, especially if not already familiar with the original “Crisis” story, confused by the action and unfolding story that they were watching. To that end, if we were confused or caught off guard by these developments, we expect that casual and even some devoted and comic knowledgeable viewers would no doubt feel the same, which does not bode well for the overall success of “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” In fact, our panel would likely characterize this crossover as “barely successful” but still largely entertaining, given the ambitious concept and the efforts of the writers to cater to DC fans of all types.
LOOKING AHEAD
The five Arrowverse shows returned from their mid-season hiatuses as follows:
Batwoman: Sunday, January 19, 2020, 8:00 PM Supergirl: Sunday, January 19, 2020, 9:00 PM Arrow: Tuesday, January 21, 2020, 8:00 PM DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: (premiered) Tuesday, January 28, 2020, 9:00 PM. The Flash: Tuesday, February 4, 2020, 8:00 PM
In January 2020, the CW renewed all Arrowverse shows except for Arrow, which has since ended, for an additional season, all of which will likely premiere some time in fall 2020 and likely in or around October, if the trend from prior seasons holds (and based upon the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic). In the meantime, the DCTU podcast panel will next convene around the CPU! Water Cooler next week, and not live, to review and to recap Season 8, the final season, of Arrow as well as to Look Back at the show as a whole, now that all is said and done. Until then! Stay tuned!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in October 2019, our DC Television Universe or DCTU Series panel – including moderator Kylie, Hilary, Kyle, Spencer, Kristen, and Nick – reconvenes Around the Water Cooler for the twenty-first episode of our DCTU ongoing series. In this episode, the panel discusses Season 4 of the Arrowverse’s fourth spin-off, Supergirl. If you have not watched any of Supergirl, be aware that there are MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), or our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite). Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Executive Producer/Chief Couch Potato: Kylie C. Piette Associate Producers: Krista Pennington and Selene Rezmer
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Theme Song: Written by: Sarah Milbratz Singers: Sarah Milbratz, Amy McDaniel, Kelsey Sprague Keyboard: Kelsey Sprague Bass: Ian McDonough Guitar: Christian Somerville Engineer/Production: Kyle Aspinall/Christian Somerville
Who: “Supergirl” is a superhero action-adventure drama based on the DC Comics character Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, which currently airs on the CW, fall to spring Sundays at 9:00 PM.
What: “Supergirl,” a series developed by Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti, and Andrew Kreisberg (the latter two having previously created Arrow and The Flash) and starring Melissa Benoist in the title role. This series is considered a spin-off from Arrow and is part of the so-called “Arrowverse.” Supergirl is a costumed super-heroine who is the cousin to Superman and one of the last surviving Kryptonians.
SYNOPSIS
Kara Zor-El (Benoist) was sent to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton as a 13-year-old by her parents Zor-El and Alura. Alura gave her instructions to protect her infant cousin Kal-El, and informed her that she, like her cousin, would have extraordinary powers under Earth’s yellow sun. Kara’s spacecraft was knocked off course by a shock wave from Krypton’s explosion and forced into the Phantom Zone, where it stayed for 24 years. During this period, time stopped for Kara, and when the spacecraft eventually escaped the Phantom Zone, she still appeared to be a 13-year-old girl. By the time the spacecraft crash landed on Earth, Kal-El had grown up and become Superman. After helping her out of the craft, Superman took Kara to be adopted by his friends, the Danvers family. The series begins eleven years later, when the now 24-year-old Kara is learning to embrace her powers after previously hiding them.
When: Season 4 aired from October 14, 2018, to May 19, 2019, on the CW, with a total of 22 episodes.
Where: The action is primarily set in the fictional National City, presumably a West Coast location in the DC Comics Universe.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the podcast episode covering Season 1 via the link below! It should be noted that CPU! Chief Couch Potato Kylie previously picked up this show during the 2015 Fall Preview, noting:
Pro: Melissa Benoist doesn’t offend me. As the erstwhile Marley on Glee, she’s actually the only [new] New Direction-er that didn’t annoy the pants off me. Pro: Dr. Lexie Gray (Chyler Leigh) plays Kara Zor-El’s adopted sister, and her departure was one of a series of missteps that paved my shark-jumping abandonment of Grey’s Anatomy. I missed her. I do believe the “adopted sister” motif deviates from the canon slightly, but then again, Supergirl does not enjoy the consistency of the threads underlying the Man of Steel’s long history. Pro: James “Jimmy” Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) is black. Hey, that doesn’t often happen. Pro: this is not Smallville’s version of the same character. I despised their take on Supergirl and the actress who played her. Con: this seems very teen drama relatively speaking; despite Kara being 24, according to the synopsis, Marley grows into her cape in her own version of Smallville? Could get very old very quickly and be a bit too derivative of the Superman tellings.Con: Ally McBeal herself (Calista Flockhart), post-face-lift and scary contacts, plays the editor. Con: who could they possibly stunt cast as cousin Kal-El, i.e. Supes the Man himself? Because they should stunt cast him, even though they’ve already said they won’t. I think they must (is that who Dean Cain is playing…someone freaking page Tom Welling already!? Or, Henry Cavill if one must). The pros outweigh the cons as far as adding it to my already miles long list, plus it’s a DC property, so I’m along for the ride. I just hope that the earnestness that Melissa Benoist brings to her roles renders her a convincing “Kara Zor-El.”
How – as in How’s It Going? – THOUGHTS
This is the twenty-first episode in CPU!’s DCTU series. Here are only the prior Supergirl episodes in the series; as we flush out seasons of all Arrowverse shows, older episodes will be searchable via the website – click the upper right dialog box in the header, the picture of the couch full of TV watchers. Listen to each episode here:
DCTU Series, Episode 5, “Supergirl,” Season 1
DCTU Series, Episode 8, “Supergirl,” Season 2
DCTU Series, Episode 16, “Supergirl,” Season 3
DCTU Series, Episode 17, the DCTU Mid-Season Roundup, 2018-2019
In our last DCTU episode, our cheeky and feisty DCTU panel – namely Kyle, Hilary, Spencer, Kristen, and Nick – continued addressing the most recent full seasons of each of the four “Arrowverse” series in order of the airing of each season finale by discussing the fifth season of The Flash. Tonight’s episode finds the panel returning to the Water Cooler for the third time this go-round to talk the fourth season of Supergirl, in the twenty-first episode of our DCTU series. The discussion herein heavily dissects the season-long focus on villain Agent Liberty (Sam Witwer), on the surprising appearance of Superman ultimate baddie Lex Luthor (guest: Jon Cryer), and on how the National City section of the Arrowverse is faring as a whole. In fact, the panelists note that Supergirl, in terms of production, writing quality, and entertainment value, continued to deteriorate in overall production quality, particularly in writing and direction and so much so that the panel, again, spent a large amount of this discussion arguing over which property could be considered worse right now, in our would-be expert opinions: this spin-off version of the “Superman” universe or Arrow, which has not consistently been a draw for our DCTU panel for several seasons now. The discussion, therefore, is certainly spicy, as always, and may even be borderline harsh; however, the panelists, especially those devoted to the “Superman” and “Supergirl” side of DC, continue to find this deterioration in quality and in story direction to more than a little disappointing. Moderator and Chief CP Kylie, i.e. me, continues to consider this plummet in presentation as “soul crushing.” Hey, I really love the Superman/Supergirl legacy and mythos and am on the struggle bus when it comes to the current direction of Supergirl.
This particular episode was recorded in October 2019, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of Season 4 of Supergirl. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
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Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next week, a new panel gathers at the Water Cooler to begin a three-part Retrospective miniseries talking erstwhile CW comedy drama Jane the Virgin, a highly requested show for Couch Potato-led discussion here at the podcast. Stay tuned for the first part of said miniseries, when we ruminate upon the first two seasons of the critically acclaimed satire of telenovelas! Bueno!
Questions, Impressions, and Future Considerations
Old Questions
1) REPEAT QUESTION: Will Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) be driven to evil impulses, either by her genetic link to Lionel or by her grooming from scorning adoptive mother Lillian (since, spoiler, Lena’s biological mother was a mistress of her father Lionel’s), as her brother Lex was?
REPEAT(ISH) ANSWER: Though Lena still walks on the good side of the moral coin, she clearly displays the genetic ambition and need to control the powerful items and people around her, almost to the same ego-maniacal level of her brother. She is quick to learn how to fashion Kryptonite and to (SPOILER) apparently cure cancer that her brother Lex inflicted upon himself. She seems capable of quite a lot…but she is not evil. Yet.
2) REPEAT QUESTION: Will Supergirl ever visit her cousin Superman (guest: Tyler Hoechlin) in Metropolis and help him out? Will Superman appear next season? The panel enthusiastically votes yes – and sooner rather than later – to this eventuality.
NEW ANSWER: Clark Kent aka Superman appears in Season 4 in the Arrowverse crossover event entitled “Elseworlds.” Many events happen in worlds else than our own; look, not all jokes have to be grammatically correct! Listen to our “Elseworlds” review episode to find out what those are because they are mucho spoiler-ific (and you should know what they are by now if you are following the Arrowverse, gentle listener).
3) Are they truly gearing to launch a new “Superman” television show with the potential and foretold return of Superman, as played by Tyler Hoechlin, and the casting of Lois Lane with Grimm alumna Elizabeth Tulloch, as the panel and the press have speculated and/or reported?
ANSWER: No new pilots have yet been confirmed, but with seeds planted in “Elseworlds “and now with the appearance of Jon Cryer, who plays a stellar and universally praised (by our panel) Lex Luthor, our panel is even hungrier for the possibility of a “Superman” series or a series combining Superman and Supergirl, particularly since Supergirl has struggled to find a fundamental tone and plausible story direction for several seasons. Listen to the podcast episode for the panel’s various rants on the subject.
4) Is the Kara double that appears at the end of the season a “Bizarro” version of Supergirl? Or, is the show appropriating the “Red Sun” Elseworlds story originally attributed to Superman?
ANSWER: The answer is b). The show appropriated the “Red Sun” Elseworlds comic story by dubbing Kara’s Russian (more aptly, fictional country Kasnian) double “Red Daughter.” The panel is not here for it. Listen to the podcast episode for the panel’s one or two rants on the subject.
5) What is J’onn J’onzz (David Harewood) going to do now that he has stepped down from and has presumably left the DEO? Will the Martian Manhunter still feature on Supergirl at all? Is Mr. Harewood requesting a recurring status like his cast-mate, Jeremy Jordan?
ANSWER: J’onn seems a bit aimless in Season 4. He proposes that he will start a detective outfit, like the J’onn J’onzz of the comics, but he doesn’t get very far in his detecting. He mostly spends time chasing after Superman anti-hero Manchester Black and various alien entities threatened by the anti-alien racism of season B-villain Agent Liberty (Witwer). He does feature but in a strictly supporting character way, there as always to aid Kara and Alex (Chyler Leigh) but to otherwise be sidelined for much of the season, at least until Manchester gets saucy with his team of anti–hero allies, the Elite. So far, Mr. Harewood remains a show regular, but if the panelists were him, we would renegotiate our respective contracts….
6) Since James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) reveals to National City that he is Guardian, and since Winn has left the DEO to go to the future with Mon-El, will James still be Guardian? The panel rejects this potential future.
ANSWER: James aka “Jimmy” does not take up the Guardian mantle, except once or twice, in Season 4. And you know what? None of us missed it. It was an interesting idea, but it didn’t really work. Fortunately, others could become “Guardian,” if the Arrowverse producers and show-runners wanted to re-purpose that character, but having James Olsen, in all of his James-ness, do it never really sat well with any of the CPU! DCTU panelists.
7) Where is the relationship between James/Jimmy and Lena going? Will Lena become evil like her brother, Lex? Will we get to see Lex this coming season, in any form?
ANSWER: James/Jimmy and Lena make an honest romantic go of it for most of Season 4, but when Lena’s ambition drives her to use Harun-El on her brother Lex and to do some other shady business with that old black Kryptonite, Jimmy can’t go along for the ride. Lena still isn’t evil but continues to walk the line of moral ambiguity, leaving the CPU! DCTU panelists scratching heads in frustration and wondering whether the show is going to make a choice or leave her straddling that moral fence, forever in the shadow of either her brother/family or of her best friend’s secret identity, Supergirl. Of course, Lex does appear this season and drops the bombshell, which he somehow deduced of his own accord, to his sister: Kara is Supergirl (does this mean he knows that Clark is Superman?), and Lena is none too happy about the delayed honesty. Of course, that reveal is uncovered in the season finale, so we have Season 5 to see how that dynamic plays out. Thanks, Mr. Luthor. A pleasure, as always.
8) How is it that Lena learns to make Kryptonite and so fast? Will she make other colors of Kryptonite, since she reproduces the Black Kryptonite from Argo City in addition to the garden variety irradiated Green Kryptonite? What is she planning to do with the Black Kryptonite she makes at the end of Season 3?
ANSWER: While Lena seems to display multiple levels of genius, her rapid uncovering of the Black Kryptonite and other Kryptonite formulas is startling at best. She does engage in some morally querulous testing methods, but even then, unlocking the secrets of the synthesis of an irradiated hunk of blown up planet seems miraculous, even in this comics-based universe. She sticks with Black Kryptonite (rather than diverting to other colors, besides green of course) because she sees it as a cure-all: make humans super, and they will never suffer disease, injury, or possibly death and can also defend themselves against the barrage of alien onslaughts by which Earth 32 (or whatever number this is) seems besieged. Of course, her rush to scientific progress causes all sorts of collateral damage, including to her one-time boyfriend Jimmy and to Ben Lockwood aka Agent Liberty, both of whom inject the substance, gain super-abilities, and suffer coma-inducing and other side effects as a result of their rash decision-making and Lena’s somewhat faulty scientific methods.
9) Will Kara communicate with and/or visit her apparently alive mother Alura (Erica Durance) further? How?
ANSWER: No. Alura, as Erica Durance or otherwise, does not appear in Season 4. Methinks Kara needs a long-distance plan.
10) Since Brainy (aka Brainiac-5, Jesse Rath) decides to stay in the past and to help Supergirl and her friends, and since he alludes to “the evil one” of his AI “relatives,” will we see Brainiac Prime in Season 4? Is the Kara double a Brainiac creation? Is the Kara double Brainiac him/itself?
ANSWER: The Kara double, aka “Red Daughter,” is not a creation of Brainiac in any generation but of Lex Luthor and is, therefore, not a Brainiac generation herself. Listen to the podcast episode for details. Brainy, meanwhile, does have a momentary glitch when we see Brainiac Prime’s primary programming shine through for one brief, magical episode, but it doesn’t last very long and is rather anticlimactic when the other side of that whole situation manifests. Listen to the podcast episode for details.
11) Presuming that Livewire does not truly die but transforms into the all-electricity version of herself in Season 3, will we see her in this true form in Season 4?
ANSWER: No. Livewire does not appear in Season 4, which is kind of too bad. She’s electrifying!
12) Why is Lena Luthor truly experimenting with Black Kryptonite/Harun-El on Supergirl? What is she really hoping to accomplish?
ANSWER: As above, Lena wants to make humans super as a cure-all for human flaws, and, really, to make them able to defend against all of the super-powered aliens roaming the Earth. Listen to the podcast episode for details.
14) Will we see more of Clark Kent aka Superman (guest: Tyler Hoechlin) or Lois Lane (guest: Elizabeth Tulloch) on this show?
ANSWER: This question was posed during the Roundup, after “Elseworlds.” The answer, after the mid-season crossover “Elseworlds,” is not so far.
15) Just how many versions of Parasite are there in this universe?
ANSWER: So far: too many!
16) How much more of a factor will Ben Lockwood aka Agent Liberty be this season?
ANSWER: Ben is around the whole season, played like the fiddle he is by Lex Luthor. Listen to the podcast episode for details.
17) Why does Kara Danvers aka Supergirl even need the DEO? Superman isn’t employed…
ANSWER: Well, she doesn’t get her job back in Season 4’s back half, but Colonel Lauren Haley (April Parker Jones) does ultimately support her in the end. We say: Girl! Get yourself a consultancy contract, and call it a day.
18) Why should we care about Nia Nal aka Dreamer (Nicole Maines)?
ANSWER: Dreamer takes on a significant role substituting for Supergirl when Red Daughter does bad, no good things and makes Supergirl Public Enemy Number One in a largely predictable subplot that dies a quick death, owing to the machinations of megalomaniac Lex Luthor. Kara hides out as reporter about town, no Supergirl allowed, while Dreamer does the work of superhero for her. Unfortunately, the panel found the Dreamer character rather milquetoast, lacking overall character development, and some panelists took issue with the fact that she is championed as a “cause” rather than developed as an interesting side character with an unusual power. Listen to the podcast episode for various rants on the subject (there was much ranting all around, in fact).
New Questions
1) Will much of Supergirl’s fifth season, first half, be devoted to development toward the foretold, much ballyhooed, mid-season mega-crossover event, “Crisis on Infinite Earths?” And just how much?
2) How is that J’onn J’onzz has a brother now? And why is he on Earth? Do the Supergirl writers even known the Martian Manhunter story?
3) Lex isn’t really dead – or dead for long – right? We predict that Lex will factor heavily in “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” since the Superman character seems to be the crossover focal point, what with all the stunt casting, like a certain erstwhile Smallville dreamboat Tom Welling.
4) How are they going to write Jimmy Olsen off the show, since Mehcad Brooks is rumored to be leaving it?
5) Why must Supergirl wear pants? Why is that the major promo focal point? This isn’t 1940, Supergirl writers and producers! Le sigh…
6) If Jimmy is bolting from National City, does that mean Kara will become CEO of CatCo? Or, alternatively, will Lena take a more hands-on approach with the media empire she came to buy in a previous season?
7) The panel tires of Alex’s personal life. Get her some success or some forward momentum. If she is going to date Jimmy’s sister Kelly, then let it stick for awhile.
8) Why was Brainy so quick to revert back to his normal, nice self? It would have been interesting to see Brainiac-5 or Brainiac Prime become more of a factor over the course of the end of the season or as a seed for Season 5.
9) Are they going to give Martian Manhunter anything interesting to do? Please?
10) Can the show improve? The panel is struggling almost more with this show than with Arrow, since Arrow, at least, maintains a tone and seems to try, even if the storytelling is repetitive. Supergirl is literally all over the place, from tone to writing to direction, and the show’s lack of a solid storytelling through-line – particularly given the fact that it had to bring Lex Luthor on as an apparent correction of its most basic and most glaring faux-pas of past seasons – is rendering our panel full of the sadnesses.
PARTING SHOTS
Friends: Supergirl Season 4 even further lost the DCTU panel this go-round. While some panelists continue to believe that Arrow remains the worst of the Arrowverse four (not including Batwoman, as we are reflecting upon the season that was) on the CW, some of the other panelists, your main moderator and Chief CP included, regard Supergirl as having taken an even bigger, spectacular tumble in quality and in overall entertainment value, to the detriment of the entire series and more-so than the series from which it spun off. Though all panelists remain appreciative of Benoist’s portrayal of the “Girl of Steel,” owing to her winning charisma and “adorkable” pastiche, the panel is struggling far more with the need for the James/Jimmy Olsen character (though, fortunately, his tenure is near or at its end) and with many of the arcs of the supporting characters, including Alex’s maudlin struggle to come to terms with her identity as a gay woman and with what she wants as a working female in today’s society; with the neutering of the Martian Manhunter character and the general confusion around how any Martian still survives apart from him; and with the supporting characters apart from the original few in general.Plus, the panel quickly reached consensus around the success of Agent Liberty as a villain, in that every panelist thought he was a failure, through no fault of Witwer’s, but as a blunt-force hammering-type allegory of current sociopolitical events, depicted without nuance or actual depth and with as pedantic a bent as possible. As winning as Witwer always is in a “Superman” related property, the use of Agent Liberty struck the panel as far too on the nose, to the point that his presence wore thin and was quickly over-matched and overshadowed by Cryer’s impeccable Lex once he arrived on the scene. Plus, the story around Agent Liberty was poorly written and poorly directed, rendering the entirety of Season 4 into something that felt like a confusing, disjointed hodgepodge of too much story not properly interlaced, no matter how much the viewer is led to believe that Lex orchestrated it all from a Siberian prison cell.
Furthermore, the focus on romantic relationships on Supergirl, particularly, has only served to bog down and to stymie the show’s creative potential; unlike the other Arrowverse shows, romance remains a main, rather than a supporting, theme of this program, even if Kara is not involved, which becomes tedious and repetitive, at least in the opinions of all of our DCTU panelists. Thus, the panel overwhelmingly began, in this episode, to retract recommendations of Supergirl because Season 4 proved another veritable let-down, in all senses of that turn of phrase, leading the panel to question their trust in the storytelling and direction of the entire series, the first two uneven (now in hindsight) seasons included. Because of the panel’s struggle with Seasons 3 and 4, the panel is apprehensive about the future of Supergirl. Will the already over-extended producers and writers of the Arrowverse and particularly of this show see the missteps and recover, or will Supergirl continue to steadily decline in quality and in story logic as Arrow has consistently done since its own third season? Ultimately, so our panel opines, here’s hoping Season 5 improves dramatically, or Supergirl will find its “on the bubble” status more than burst when it comes time for the CW to continue this franchise at the end of the current TV season. Plus, the panel may just riot if your Chief CP induces them to continue watching seasons of similar quality, though many of them are predicting an end sooner rather than later for this Super chapter of the DC Television Universe.
LOOKING AHEAD
The fifth season of Supergirl premiered on Sunday, October 6, 2019, at 9:00 PM on the CW! The DCTU podcast panel will next reconvene – shortly, in fact – to discuss the fourth season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, in Episode 22 of our series. Further, the panel will next chat Supergirl in Summer 2019! What about our Mid-Season Roundup, you might ask? Well, we might answer. Since Arrow is ending, Batwoman is beginning, and Legends is not premiering until January, we are not doing a Mid-Season Round-Up of just The Flash and Supergirl this year, as we do not think doing so for just two of the shows would be worth it; however, Episode 23 will focus specifically upon our recap of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” come January 2020 or so! So, hold onto your capes until then, and stay tuned!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in February 2019, our DC Television Universe or DCTU panel – including moderator Kylie, Hilary, Kyle, Spencer, Kristen, and Nick – reconvenes Around the Water Cooler for the seventeenth episode of our DCTU ongoing series. The panel was also subjected to (now for) something kind of different but mostly the same here at CPU! We decided to check in with each other in advance of this season’s end, when we will visit each show’s current season in four episodes, one for each show, by rounding up our thoughts so far about all of the Arrowverse shows. We play games and aspire to reach our usual level of spiciness and hi-jinks! Our panelists talk about their current, sometimes cursory, assessment of the progress of Season 7 of Arrow, Season 5 of The Flash, and Season 4 of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl. If you have not watched any of the DCTU/Arrowverse to date, be aware that there are MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think, and/or if there are other shows you’re interested in CPU! covering, below; email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com; or check out our Guestbook at the website, our Facebook page, our Twitter (@cpupodcast), or our Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite). Until next time, until next episode…buh bye!
Editor: Kylie C. Piette Logo: Rebecca Wallace Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Who: The DC Television Universe or DCTU Series Panel – Kyle, Hilary, Spencer, Kristen, and Nick – plus Chief CP Kylie as moderator.
What: “Arrow,” “The Flash,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” and “Supergirl,” the four shows that comprise the so-called “Arrowverse” on the CW, otherwise known as the DC (Comics) Television Universe or DCTU.
When:
Arrow currently airs Mondays at 8:00 PM; Season 7 premiered on October 15, 2018.
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8:00 PM; Season 5 premiered on October 9, 2018.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow airs Mondays at 9:00 PM, though it is currently on hiatus; Season 4 premiered on October 22, 2018.
Supergirl airs Sundays at 8:00 PM; Season 4 premiered on October 14, 2018.
Where: The action is primarily set in the DC Comics Universe, specifically in Star City (Arrow), Central City (The Flash), National City (Supergirl), and throughout space and time (“Legends”).
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching each of these shows, listen to our DCTU series in full by clicking the floating box at the top right of our website header, the picture of the couch full of TV watchers, to search for all of the prior DCTU series episodes. As for why we are covering four shows at once (for now), read on!
How – as in How Busy Are We? – THOUGHTS
This is the seventeenth episode in CPU!’s DCTU series. Because we have reached double digits for this massive series, from here on out, we are only going to embed prior episodes from the immediately previous season at mid-season or only the previous episodes of the show in particular that we are covering if we covering any of the series individually, which you can listen to for reference in advance of the current podcast episode. All of our episodes, however, are searchable here at the website or, for audio-only types, you can find our page at our file host, the Internet Archive (archive.org), which has all of our episodes compiled in one handy menu. It’s pretty nice, actually. If you feel so inclined, please also donate to the Archive, so garage podcasts like your humble CPU! can continue to thrive. For now, here are the DCTU series episodes since the DCTU 2017 Mid-Season Roundup:
DCTU Series, Episode 11, the DCTU 2018 Mid-Season Roundup
DCTU Series, Episode 13, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” Season 3
DCTU Series, Episode 14, “Arrow,” Season 6
DCTU Series, Episode 15, “The Flash,” Season 4
DCTU Series, Episode 16, “Supergirl,” Season 3
In this episode, our cheeky and feisty and full and otherwise busy DCTU panel was subjected to (now for) something kind of differently but mostly the same. We decided to check in with each other in advance of this season’s end, when we will visit each show’s current season in four episodes, one for each show, by rounding up our thoughts so far about all of the Arrowverse shows. We play games and engage in additional snarky shenanigans, however, which reach our usual level of spiciness and hi-jinks, but you know me – I don’t want to oversell it!! Our panelists talk about their current, sometimes cursory, assessment of the progress of Season 7 of Arrow, Season 5 of The Flash, and Season 4 of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl. Give us a listen below, and let us know if you agree or disagree with our thoughts!
This particular CPU! episode was recorded in February 2019, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of the current seasons of all four Arrowverse shows. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , and/or find us on Google Play to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Next week, our DCTU panel returns to the CPU! water cooler for a special, bonus, specially recorded, specially requested episode during which we discuss the Arrowverse’s 2018 mega crossover television movie event, “Elseworlds,” for which we “saved” discussion about said crossover specifically for this specially special bonus episode, as you will hear advertised throughout tonight’s episode. Stay tuned!
Questions, Impressions, and Future Considerations
(New Questions Only; All Questions, New and Old, Will Be Addressed End of Season)
1) Echo Kellum, who plays Curtis Holt aka Mr. Terrific on Arrow, is leaving the cast in this next half season (remember: we do not discuss the next half, if that half has already started airing, in the Mid-Season Roundup). How is Mr. Terrific written off the show?
2) What is the point of the “flash forward” story line, and why are the Arrow writers introducing it so late in the game? Are they really so hard up for material? Is Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) really dead in this future? If not, where did she go, and what the hell is happening? Is this future on another Earth or on our Earth? Where is Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) in this future?
3) How will Oliver encounter the New Green Arrow (NGA), and what will he learn?
4) Why do we care about the Longbow Hunters? Aren’t they kind of lame?
5) What is Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash’s (currently played by Tom Cavanaugh) plan on The Flash? Why is he using Nora West-Allen aka XS (Jessica Parker Kennedy), Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and Iris West’s (Candice Patton) daughter from the future, for his evil? Or, is she working for him and why?
6) What is the little journal, containing presumably Speed Force writing, that Nora is carrying around with her?
7) How much longer will Orlin Dwyer aka Cicada (guest: Chris Klein) be a factor? The panel has some decidedly mixed reactions to him.
8) If Neron is the Big Bad on “Legends,” will we be meeting any Green Lanterns or related? How did John Constantine (Matt Ryan) piss him off?
9) What is Biff, er, Henry Heywood’s (guest: Tom Wilson) master plan? Capture magical fugitives…and then what? What is the top secret plan to which he keeps referring?
10) Why is Mona Wu (Ramona Young) a thing? What is her purpose? What is Gary’s purpose for that matter?
11) Will Nate Heywood aka Steel (Nick Zano) ever leave bureaucracy and rejoin the Waverider team?
12) Why is Desmond’s death a fixed point in time? Why is Neron, wearing Desmond’s face, interested in Hank Heywood?
13) Why is Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) truly experimenting with Black Kryptonite/Harun-El on Supergirl? What is she really hoping to accomplish?
14) Will we see more of Clark Kent aka Superman (guest: Tyler Hoechlin) or Lois Lane (guest: Elizabeth Tulloch) on this show?
15) Just how many versions of Parasite are there in this universe?
16) How much more of a factor will Ben Lockwood aka Agent Liberty (guest: Sam Witwer) be this season?
17) Why does Kara Danvers aka Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) even need the DEO? Superman isn’t employed…
18) Why should we care about Nia Nal aka Dreamer (Nicole Maines)?
PARTING SHOTS
The panel proves to be truly all over the place, when reacting to the Arrowverse’s current season, in the episode at hand; what the panelists are able to agree upon is that the Arrowverse is equally all over the place in terms of quality and watch-ability, which produces a panel discussion pockmarked by a decidedly reduced exhibition of enthusiasm. Half of the panel regards The Flash as the continued shining jewel of the multiverse, while the other half of the panel believes that Legends of Tomorrow has improved so masterfully, it is now the best of the four series. Half of the panel finds Arrow to continue to flounder at the bottom of the heap, despite being the show that started it all, while the other half of the panel cringes, with rising disappointment, at the plummet in quality that Supergirl has seemingly experienced this season. Notably, all members of the panel agree that the latter show has experienced a shockingly marked decline in entertainment value and in engagement, with a ham-fisted social allegory that clubs one over the head to the point of tedium and an apparent struggle to find new cohesion as cast members change and as, even, older characters transform and veer away dramatically from what they appeared to be in earlier seasons.
The panelists further enjoy the show about the Scarlet Speedster and the show about the non-legendary Legends most, believing that they boast consistently entertaining humor, tight ensemble casts, and an enjoyable and ingenuous addition in the character of Constantine. Similarly, the panelists, by and large, regard the show about the Emerald Archer to be marginally better this season compared to previous seasons, with less recycled story-lines and squandered story potential, but continue to struggle with the overall story direction and their personal disinterest in the story itself, having felt disengaged for several consecutive seasons. Plus, they are starting to worry at what the writers, producers, and network might try to do if Stephen Amell leaves the cast, believing that no version of Arrow can survive without him. More than ever, the panel has expressed growing dissatisfaction (if not outright resentment) at the thought of having to continue to watch both Arrow and Supergirl for this panel, even as the panelists look forward to what the second halves of The Flash and “Legends” seasons might bring to our collective viewing experiences.
LOOKING AHEAD
The four Arrowverse shows returned or will return from their mid-season hiatuses as follows:
The Flash: Tuesday, January 15, 2019, 8:00 PM Supergirl: Sunday, January 20, 2019, 8:00 PM Arrow: Monday, January 21, 2019, 8:00 PM DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Monday, April 1, 2019, 9:00 PM.
On January 31, 2019, the CW renewed all four Arrowverse shows for an additional season, all of which will likely premiere some time in fall 2019 and likely in or around October, if the trend from prior seasons holds. In the meantime, the DCTU podcast panel will next convene around the CPU! water cooler to discuss the 2018 mid-season crossover event “Elseworlds,” which will publish next week. Until then! Stay tuned!
A new podcast episode of Couch Potatoes Unite!, which is based on a blog of the same name hosted at couchpotatoesunite.wordpress.com. In this episode, recorded in October 2018, our DC Television Universe or DCTU panel – including moderator Kylie, Hilary, Kyle, Spencer, Kristen, and Nick – reconvenes Around the Water Cooler for the sixteenth episode of our DCTU ongoing series. In this episode, the panel discusses Season 3 of the Arrowverse’s final spin-off, Supergirl. If you have not watched any of Supergirl, be aware that there are MAJOR SPOILERS! Tell us what you think in the comments below and check out the blog and YouTube for other TV related discussions, in both podcast and blog format. Also, if there are other shows you’re interested in the blog covering, sound off below! Tell us what you like or don’t like. Keep the discussion going!
Editor: Kylie C. Piette
Logo: Rebecca Wallace
Marketing Graphic Artist: Krista Pennington
Who: “Supergirl” is a superhero action-adventure drama based on the DC Comics character Supergirl (Kara Zor-El), created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, which currently airs on the CW, fall to spring Sundays at 8:00 PM.
What: “Supergirl,” a series developed by Ali Adler, Greg Berlanti, and Andrew Kreisberg (the latter two having previously created Arrow and The Flash) and starring Melissa Benoist in the title role. This series is considered a spin-off from Arrow and is part of the so-called “Arrowverse.” Supergirl is a costumed super-heroine who is the cousin to Superman and one of the last surviving Kryptonians.
SYNOPSIS
Kara Zor-El (Benoist) was sent to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton as a 13-year-old by her parents Zor-El and Alura. Alura gave her instructions to protect her infant cousin Kal-El, and informed her that she, like her cousin, would have extraordinary powers under Earth’s yellow sun. Kara’s spacecraft was knocked off course by a shock wave from Krypton’s explosion and forced into the Phantom Zone, where it stayed for 24 years. During this period, time stopped for Kara, and when the spacecraft eventually escaped the Phantom Zone, she still appeared to be a 13-year-old girl. By the time the spacecraft crash landed on Earth, Kal-El had grown up and become Superman. After helping her out of the craft, Superman took Kara to be adopted by his friends, the Danvers family. The series begins eleven years later, when the now 24-year-old Kara is learning to embrace her powers after previously hiding them.
When: Season 3 aired from October 9, 2017, to June 18, 2018, on the CW.
Where: The action is primarily set in the fictional National City, presumably a West Coast location in the DC Comics Universe.
Why: To find out why individual podcast panelists started watching this show, listen to the podcast episode covering Season 1 via the link below! It should be noted that CPU! Chief Couch Potato Kylie previously picked up this show during the 2015 Fall Preview, noting:
Pro: Melissa Benoist doesn’t offend me. As the erstwhile Marley on Glee, she’s actually the only [new] New Direction-er that didn’t annoy the pants off me. Pro: Dr. Lexie Gray (Chyler Leigh) plays Kara Zor-El’s adopted sister, and her departure was one of a series of missteps that paved my shark-jumping abandonment of Grey’s Anatomy. I missed her. I do believe the “adopted sister” motif deviates from the canon slightly, but then again, Supergirl does not enjoy the consistency of the threads underlying the Man of Steel’s long history. Pro: James “Jimmy” Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) is black. Hey, that doesn’t often happen. Pro: this is not Smallville’s version of the same character. I despised their take on Supergirl and the actress who played her. Con: this seems very teen drama relatively speaking; despite Kara being 24, according to the synopsis, Marley grows into her cape in her own version of Smallville? Could get very old very quickly and be a bit too derivative of the Superman tellings.Con: Ally McBeal herself (Calista Flockhart), post-face-lift and scary contacts, plays the editor. Con: who could they possibly stunt cast as cousin Kal-El, i.e. Supes the Man himself? Because they should stunt cast him, even though they’ve already said they won’t. I think they must (is that who Dean Cain is playing…someone freaking page Tom Welling already!? Or, Henry Cavill if one must). The pros outweigh the cons as far as adding it to my already miles long list, plus it’s a DC property, so I’m along for the ride. I just hope that the earnestness that Melissa Benoist brings to her roles renders her a convincing “Kara Zor-El.”
How – as in How’s It Going? – THOUGHTS
This is the sixteenth episode in CPU!’s DCTU series. Here are only the prior Supergirl episodes in the series; as we flush out seasons of all Arrowverse shows, older episodes will be searchable via the website – click the upper right dialog box in the header, the picture of the couch full of TV watchers.Listen to each episode here:
DCTU Series, Episode 5, “Supergirl,” Season One
DCTU Series, Episode 8, “Supergirl,” Season Two
DCTU Series, Episode 11, the DCTU Mid-Season Roundup, 2017
In our last DCTU episode, our cheeky and feisty DCTU panel – namely Kyle, Hilary, Spencer, Kristen, and Nick – continued addressing the most recent full seasons of each of the four “Arrowverse” series in order of the airing of each season finale by discussing the fourth season of The Flash. Tonight’s episode finds the panel returning to the Water Cooler for the final time this go-round to talk the third season of Supergirl, in the fifteenth episode of our DCTU series. The discussion herein heavily dissects the season-long focus on villain Reign (Odette Annable), on the overwhelming and largely tedious meditation on romance (in this more than any other Arrowverse show), and on how the National City section of the Arrowverse is faring as a whole. In fact, the panelists note that, as much as DC’s Legends of Tomorrow improved this season, Supergirl, in terms of production and writing quality and overall entertainment value, traveled in quite the opposite direction, so much so that the panel spent a large amount of this discussion arguing over which property could be considered worse right now, in our would-be expert opinions: this spin-off version of the “Superman” universe or Arrow, which has not consistently been a draw for our DCTU panel for several seasons now. The discussion, therefore, is certainly spicy, as always, and may even be borderline harsh; however, the panelists, especially those devoted to the “Superman” and “Supergirl” side of DC, find this deterioration in quality and in story direction to more than a little disappointing. Moderator and Chief CP Kylie, i.e. me, described this plummet in presentation as “soul crushing.” Hey, I really love the Superman/Supergirl legacy and mythos and am on the struggle bus when it comes to the current direction of Supergirl, the show’s behind-the-scenes difficulties this season notwithstanding.
This particular episode was recorded in October 2018, and there are, without question, MAJOR SPOILERS, as the panelists cover key plot points of Season 3 of Supergirl. Listen at your own risk, and let us know what you think by commenting below!
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@cpupodcast), Instagram (@couchpotatoesunite), Pinterest (@cpupodcast), or email us at couchpotatoesunitepodcast@gmail.com – or subscribe to this blog, the YouTube channel, our iTunes channel, our Stitcher Radio channel , and/or find us on Google Play to keep track of brand new episodes. In the meantime, let us know what you think! Comment or review us in any of the above forums – we’d love your feedback!
Remember, new episodes and blog posts are published weekly! Our next podcast episode will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as our Marvel’s Defenders Series panel (the same, superhero/comic book minded members of the DCTU panel) returns to the Water Cooler to discuss Marvel’s Iron Fist, Season 2. Please note that we recorded our review and discussion of Iron Fist’s second season before the cancellation announcement that Netflix made last week; as such, our Marvel’s Defenders Series panel will return in the near future to engage in not only a review of Daredevil, Season 3, but also a post-mortem discussion on the fate of Danny Rand and his predominantly immortal company. Stay tuned!
Questions, Impressions, and Future Considerations
Old Questions
1) Will the show explore more of Winn Schott’s (Jeremy Jordan) relationship with his father, notable Superman villain Toyman, in the future?
ANSWER: The answer to this question entirely depends upon the meaning of “explore.” You see, gentle listener, apparently the Toyman reaches his untimely end and passes away, gently, gleefully, and relatively peacefully in Season 3. Winn, James aka “Jimmy” Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), and Kara attend his dad’s funeral, where one of his devotees allows the erstwhile Toyman’s toys to run amok and threaten, particularly, Supergirl in the process. When Winn arrives at his father’s funeral, however, he is reconnected with his estranged mother, played by Laurie Metcalf, who tells Winn that his father threatened her life and her son’s if she continued to try to see her child after she also attempted to extricate herself from her abusive marriage to her ex-husband, Winn’s father, and the super-criminal known as Toyman. Winn does not believe his mom at first, after hearing from his father throughout his childhood that his mom abandoned him, but this renewed connection does allow Winn to understand more about his mother and less about the motives of his father, a complex man with an unexplained love for toys.
Jeremy Jordan, however, has dropped to “recurring” status for Season 4 of Supergirl, as Winn’s portraying actor decided to return to his roots on Broadway. So, the chances of further exploring the Toyman’s son’s family history seem pretty bleak right about now. Plus, the panel questions whether the Toyman’s death is fact or fiction and, frankly, permanent; after all, he’s a relatively important “Superman” villain.
2) Will the Guardian story line continue? The panel universally dislikes it but sees the glaringly apparent issue surrounding the character of James Olsen, namely that on this show and without Guardian, he has nothing left to make his character worthwhile. Will Winn get into costumed crime-fighting as James’ sidekick?
ANSWER: The Guardian story line continues this season, evincing universal winces and groans from all six of our DCTU panelists, who find the James aka “Jimmy” Olsen character painfully superfluous. The panel’s reactions range from feeling strongly that this depiction of Jimmy is not true to the comic stories (because James is not a tall drink of water like Mr. Brooks in those stories) to the fact that the writers and producers are trying too hard to make Jimmy/James fit into the overall narrative of Supergirl, which is somewhat scattered on its own as it is. What we can confidently confirm, however, is that Winn avoids costumes while serving as Guardian’s sidekick, preferring his level of superhero assistance to remain Batcave-like and confined to the comfort of a surveillance van on loan from the DEO. Not everyone is ready to barrel head-first into the fight, after all.
Only Jimmy.
3) Is Jeremiah Danvers (Dean Cain), Alex’s (Chyler Leigh) father and Kara’s adoptive father, in league with Lillian Luthor (Brenda Strong) and Cadmus or not? The panel is confused by his story development. He also has cybernetic enhancements. Is he being groomed to be the real or actual or next Cyborg Superman? Is Hank Henshaw (David Harewood) truly Cyborg Superman, even though he doesn’t appear to be channeling Superman at all?
ANSWER: Unknown. Though Lillian makes a triumphant return in Season 3, in a failed attempt to seemingly make amends with her adoptive daughter Lena (Katie McGrath), Jeremiah Danvers does not return. Thus, we do not know where he stands regarding his cybernetic enhancements or his relationship to Cyborg Superman/Hank Henshaw.
4) Will Lena Luthor be driven to evil impulses, either by her genetic link to Lionel or by her grooming from scorning adoptive mother Lillian (since, spoiler, Lena’s biological mother was a mistress of her father Lionel’s), as her brother Lex was?
ANSWER: Though Lena still walks on the good side of the moral coin, she clearly displays the genetic ambition and need to control the powerful items and people around her, almost to the same ego-maniacal level of her brother. She is quick to learn how to fashion Kryptonite and to subdue “World Killers” raised from ashes by Kryptonian witches. She seems capable of quite a lot…but she is not evil. Yet.
5) Will Supergirl ever visit her cousin Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) in Metropolis and help him out? Will Superman appear next season? The panel enthusiastically votes yes – and sooner rather than later – to this eventuality.
ANSWER: Clark Kent aka Superman does not appear in Season 3. He will appear in Season 4, however, especially in the Arrowverse crossover event entitled “Elseworlds.” Stay tuned.
6) Will Mon-El (Chris Wood) return from his wormhole trip? Will he be able to return to Supergirl’s Earth, despite the trace amounts of lead that Supergirl allowed to be released into the atmosphere? Or, will he land on a different Earth in the multiverse, as Kristen predicts? Or, will he find the Green Lantern Council and be made a Green Lantern, as Kyle noted is a possible, comics-inspired pathway for him?
ANSWER: Mon-El returns and sets up the dopiest love triangle this side of Bermuda. You see, when Mon-El emerges from the wormhole, he finds himself several centuries into the future, where he ends up co-forming a ragtag team of super-powered beings known as the Legion of Superheroes, or, simply, the Legion. He also gets married to Imra Ardeen aka Saturn Girl when he does not believe he will ever see Kara again and out of an alliance-forming arrangement with her Saturnian family. By the time he returns, the elevated lead that eliminated the Daxamites is gone, so he is able to survive. Yet, the Legion decides to return to the past to stop what is known as Blight, an advanced form of a being called Pestilence, a World Killer sent from Krypton to destroy Earth by uniting with Reign, a female character not dissimilar to Doomsday in the “Superman” stories. Mon-El, though, stays very much in this universe, around this version of Earth, and comes nowhere close to becoming a Green Lantern, which would have been far cooler than the story we were served up this season with respect to his character. Listen to the podcast episode for the panel’s spicy reaction (despite panelist Kristen fanning herself) to the return of Mon-El.
7) Who is Reign? If Reign becomes Supergirl’s foe in Season 3, will we also see her transform into – or be accompanied by – an appearance of Doomsday, since they are similar characters? Was the epilogue shown at the end of Season 2 similarly timed to when Krypton collided with its sun, or was Reign sent to Earth thousands of years earlier, as Kyle noted also occurred in the comics?
ANSWER: Reign is created by a trio of witches on Krypton who believe that she will take over Earth and make it suitable for Kryptonians to resettle. Part of this edict also involves stopping Supergirl, since these witches fully knew that both Kal-El aka Superman and Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl were also headed toward Earth when Krypton collided with its red sun. Reign is not accompanied by Doomsday in Season 3 (that would have made the story far too complicated, really). The epilogue of Season 2 shows the birth of Reign, but the story as depicted on the show seems to suggest that Reign was fashioned by the witches, who survive Krypton’s demise, shortly before the destruction of Krypton, at or around the same time Kal-El and Kara are sent to Earth, and that Reign is sent to Earth shortly thereafter. There is, at least, no suggestion that can be gleaned from Season 3 supporting the idea that the witches and/or Reign herself are thousands of years old. Plus, Reign is subjugated as a latent identity or being within what appears to be a human woman named Samantha Arias, who begins to lose time and memory as the Reign persona emerges through the actions and alleged magic of the witches. Listen to the podcast episode for further details.
8) Is Cat Grant back for any length of time? For how long exactly – and why?
ANSWER: Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) does not appear in Season 3. We are kind of okay with that.
9) Is the show trying to lead the audience toward seeing J’onn J’onzz aka Martian Manhunter (David Harewood) and M’gann M’orzz aka Miss Martian (Sharon Leal) as a possible romantic coupling? Will Miss Martian be back?
ANSWER: The panel continues to struggle with this question, particularly as M’gann entices J’onn to return to Mars, where he not only discovers a rebellion of White Martians aiming to overthrow the other White Martians, but that his father is still alive and being held captive by the mean White Martians; M’yrnn J’onzz is played by Carl Lumbly, best known for his role on Alias. So, Miss Martian returns, but her relationship to J’onn is still somewhat nebulous as far as their mutual level of affection. As for the existence of a large population of White Martians on Mars, this gets some of our panelists, who are particularly passionate about the Martian Manhunter character, pretty hot. Listen to the podcast episode for their reactions.
10) Are Winn and Lyra (Tamzin Merchant) still together? Do they have to be?
ANSWER: Lyra does not return in Season 3. I guess that relationship was short-lived. Mercifully.
11) Will we see any other Superman rogues of note, including Brainiac, Zod (as not a silver Kryptonite-induced hallucination), Lex Luthor, Doomsday, etc.?
ANSWER: We see Brainiac-5, an offshoot of the Brainiac hive but a good guy, playing as a member of the Legion. Other than that, the main villain on the season is Reign, with secondary appearances by Livewire and the introduction of a Supergirl-exclusive villain, Psy.
12) Will Superman have to help Supergirl fight off Reign?
ANSWER: Superman does not return to Supergirl on-screen in Season 3; however, when Reign makes her play for world destruction near the end of the season, there is mention that Superman is off trying to stop some of the after-effects of Reign’s actions in Madagascar. So, he is helping his cousin. We just don’t get to see it, this time.
13) Why is the show changing the Martian Manhunter story so much? Are the extra Martians real? Where is the story involving Manhunter’s father going?
ANSWER: The extra Martians are real, and panelist Kyle will not stand for it! The Manhunter’s dad, M’yrnn, was captured by the White Martians because he holds the secrets and history of their people; however, when J’onn brings his father to Earth with him, the viewer learns that M’yrnn is dying of natural causes anyway, which induces him to lose his memory and faculties, in a very Alzheimer’s-like way. M’yrnn, then, must psychically bond with J’onn to preserve the Martian knowledge of their family history and the religion that M’yrnn serves, but M’yrnn is not able to complete the psychic transfer. He, instead, offers to help Superman in Madagascar in sacrifice to save the Earth. RIP, M’yrnn. We hardly knew ye.
14) What will Reign do to National City and to Earth 38 now that she is “awake?”
ANSWER: She causes a bunch of mayhem, mess, and destruction, as her genetic mission is to destroy the world and to remake it in Krypton’s image. Supergirl, with help from her friends and family, however, saves the day, and Reign is no more. If you want to learn how, watch the season!
New Questions
1) Are they truly gearing to launch a new “Superman” television show with the potential and foretold return of Superman, as played by Tyler Hoechlin, and the casting of Lois Lane with Grimm alumna Elizabeth Tulloch, as the panel and the press have speculated and/or reported?
2) Is the Kara double that appears at the end of the season a “Bizarro” version of Supergirl? Or, is the show appropriating the “Red Sun” Elseworlds story originally attributed to Superman?
3) What is J’onn J’onzz going to do now that he has stepped down from and has presumably left the DEO? Will the Martian Manhunter still feature on Supergirl at all? Is Mr. Harewood requesting a recurring status like his cast-mate, Jeremy Jordan?
4) Since James Olsen reveals to National City that he is Guardian, and since Winn has left the DEO to go to the future with Mon-El, will James still be Guardian? The panel rejects this potential future.
5) Where is the relationship between James/Jimmy and Lena going? Will Lena become evil like her brother, Lex? Will we get to see Lex this coming season, in any form?
6) How is it that Lena learned to make Kryptonite and so fast? Will she make other colors of Kryptonite, since she reproduced the Black Kryptonite from Argo City in addition to the garden variety irradiated Green Kryptonite? What is she planning to do with the Black Kryptonite she makes at the end of Season 3?
7) Will Kara communicate with and/or visit her apparently alive mother Alura (Erica Durance) further? How?
8) Since Brainy (aka Brainiac-5) decides to stay in the past and to help Supergirl and her friends, and since he alludes to “the evil one” of his AI “relatives,” will we see Brainiac Prime in Season 4? Is the Kara double a Brainiac creation? Is the Kara double Brainiac him/itself?
9) Presuming that Livewire does not truly die but transforms into the all-electricity version of herself in Season 3, will we see her in this true form in Season 4?
PARTING SHOTS
Friends: Supergirl Season 3 really lost the DCTU panel this go-round. While some panelists continue to believe that Arrow remains the worst of the Arrowverse four on the CW, some of the other panelists, your main moderator and Chief CP included, regard Supergirl as having taken a spectacular tumble in quality and in overall entertainment value, to the detriment of the entire series and more-so than the series from which it spun off. Though all panelists remain appreciative of Benoist’s portrayal of the “Girl of Steel,” owing to her winning charisma and “adorkable” pastiche, the panel is struggling far more with the need for the James/Jimmy Olsen character and with many of the arcs of the supporting characters, including Alex’s (Chyler Leigh) maudlin struggle to come to terms with her identity as a gay woman and with what she wants as a working female in today’s society; the neutering of the Martian Manhunter character and the general confusion around how any Martian still survives apart from him; and now, with the departure of Jordan from series regular status, the impending lack of Winn, who many of the panel deem to be the “Cisco of Supergirl.”
Plus, the panel quickly reached consensus around the success of Reign as a villain, in that every panelist thought she was a failure. Not only was her portraying actor, Annable, seemingly unequal to the task of creating a formidable presence as a Doomsday-like being capable of destroying an entire planet, but the story around her was poorly written and poorly directed, rendering the entirety of Season 3 into what felt like one bad exercise in high school theater. Furthermore, the focus on romantic relationships on Supergirl, particularly, has only served to bog down and to stymie the show’s creative potential; unlike the other Arrowverse shows, romance is a main, rather than a supporting, theme of this program, which becomes tedious and repetitive, at least in the opinions of all of our DCTU panelists. The panel now only tepidly recommends Supergirl to fans of comic books, particularly from the DC universe, and of the character of Supergirl/Kara Zor-El (or even Superman/Kal-El/Clark Kent); to fans of the other Arrowverse shows; to fans of comic books who can also tolerate romantic comedy formulas, as the series continues to be somewhat derivative of rom-com tropes (those fans might be the happiest of any potential viewers, truly); and to young girls and female fans who champion “girl power” and who might find a solid idol in Kara Danvers/Zor-El aka Supergirl. The panel cautions, however, that Season 3 is a veritable let-down, in all senses of that turn of phrase, and should not be used as a measurement bar by which to score the success of the entire series.
Because of the panel’s struggle with Season 3, the panel is apprehensive about the future of Supergirl. Will the already over-extended producers and writers of the Arrowverse and particularly of this show see the missteps and recover, or will Supergirl steadily decline in quality and in story logic as Arrow has consistently done since its own third season? Ultimately, so our panel opines, here’s hoping Season 4 improves dramatically, or Supergirl will find its “on the bubble” status more than burst when it comes time for the CW to continue this franchise of four at the end of the current TV season.
LOOKING AHEAD
The fourth season of Supergirl premiered on Sunday, October 14, 2018, at 8:00 PM on the CW! The DCTUpodcast panel will next chat Supergirl and all of the other Arrowverse entries during our mid-season roundup of the Arrowverse, which will occur in or around January 2019, in Episode 16 of our ongoing series. Until then!
NEXT CPU! LIVE!
CPU! is going live again!!! CPU! will next be LIVE at Grand Rapids Comic-Con. for our third annual appearance at the Con, on November 10, 2018, at 7:00 PM! In that live podcast (also streamed to our Facebook page), a brand new panel will gather together to debate the multifaceted, multi-generational universe behind Star Trek. This panel will also seed a new ongoing series panel for the podcast! Like our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter and Instagram to keep abreast of all the details, but here’s the art for it for now! Stay tuned!
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