Easily one of the best Supergirl episodes in a very long while.
I'm a fan of how they told this episode's story from a somewhat objective standpoint, showing both sides of the coin all the while allowing you a better understanding of why the other side, specifically Agent Liberty, is doing what he's doing.
It's very difficult not to sympathize with the guy following tonight's episode, I'm curious to see how the story progresses from here. - Also, an appearance from Xander Berkeley is always appreciated, kudos to them for that.
I hate when shows deal with politics. I am so sick of politics that when I watch a movie/show I prefer to be entertained, not to have political agendas shoved down my throat! The only good part was that it wasn't as direct as last season's Grey's Anatomy. These shows are made to entertain us but it seems lately the creators take it upon themselves to shower us with their own political views.
Nope, subtlety is not this show's strongsuit.
This season is great so far, and being quite politically charged is the main reason. The ideas expressed are based on facts and timely. The origin story in this episode is similar to that of the known movie American History X and it shows a realistic example of how people can come to be racist. An idea gets placed in their head, then it grows through confirmation bias.
I can't believe how much I loved this episode! The best of the season so far. It was like getting a stroll down memory lane. I'm liking how this show is tacking politics, especially in this episode. Yeah, Supergirl is not a very subtle show in terms of politics, but I likewise it doesn't hide and puts the topic up there for discussion.
I loved the villain's bockstory. I liked hoe it git fleshed out and how they showed the side effects of superheroism. That's what a show needs, the good, the bad and the ugly, all that stuff that people might not wanna talk about because good trumps bad. I liked how smooth the transition from defending aliens and preventing his son to use the word roach to refer to aliens, to crossings line and actually killing aliens. And sometimes, when you're at your lowest, this person comes I not give you the final push. It was so vivid it felt so real. Dude just lost heis dad (probably his family), his job and his house.
Also, whith the whole "we can't take Supergirl off-road", was it just me or did anyone else think about taking her to Earth-1, I mean, that would sort of solve the problem, wouldn't it? or at least, soften it a bit.
I felt sorry for Ben up until that xenophobic talk during his lesson. When he came into the bar something in me thought he was gonna apologize. Silly me for trying to be the best in people. Also, Xander Berkeley is amazing. I wouldn't have minded if he sticked for a bit longer. Then I remembered I got to see him die twice in the span of a month. Screw you, Gregory!
Why don't they use Brainy ad the twelfth intellect he's supposed to be? Also, that suit Kara's in looks a lot like Iron Man's.
"You're safe now" the whole house proceeds to be on fire I found that whole scene utterly funny. I mean, seriously? You know the thing that made it better? That bike randomly catching fire. I'm still trying to figure out how a bike can be set I fire that way. Must've been some Michael Bay shit.
I hate stories like this. Tales of the Noble Racist.
"The Noble Racist wouldn't be so racist, but they just had all these good rational reasons to be."
Real people are almost never actually like that, it is just the story they convince themselves of to make themselves seem less hateful.
This episode was good and could have been one of the best if it didn't have problems. Problems like Kryptonite has never worked that way. The lead didn't work that way on the Daxamites. They continue to make Brainac a moron.
I also don't like Rhona Mitra or Sam Witwer in their current parts.
I can’t wait for the crossover!
From playing an alien Doomsday to playing a racist. Brainiac should be more intelligent..
I already like this season so much more than the third! Really great so far.
Anyone else catch that 'goth chick' line? Reference to Batwoman?
From all the actors they could've recycled from Smallville, they chose Sam Witwer? Sorry, didn't like then and don't like him now.
Review by CluisannaBlockedParent2019-02-02T04:01:11Z
This episode just served to drive home a point I've been making for a long time: discrimination against vampires/aliens/mutants as analogies for racism only works to a certain extent and might sometimes actually do more harm than good. Take this case, for instance - sure, it's true that it's wrong to hate and attack all aliens just because some of them are dangerous or 'take your jobs,' but it's patently obvious the writers are trying to make a point about racism in America, presumably especially against latin@s and Muslims. The problem with this is that on this show, humans actually have good reason to be afraid of aliens with superior technology considering they've tried to destroy or enslave the entire human race several times, not to mention things like the accidental spike attack and jobs being taken by aliens with superhuman abilities. An analogy always goes both ways, which means that by teaching a lesson about not judging an entire group of people by the actions of the few (which I assume they're trying to in relation to terrorism and such), they're not only extremely over-simplifying the real world situation (considering the fact that modern-day Islamic terrorism is a direct result of colonialism and repeated interventionism by the West, and that domestic terrorism poses a much greater threat anyway), but also actually confirming racist suspicions that Muslims, or Latin@s, or any other victims of racism are so different from "Americans" as to be able to be compared to aliens - despite the fact that remembering our shared humanity is actually the best weapon against racism.
I mean, Agent Liberty himself makes that exact same point when he says that the history of America is full of humans discriminating against other humans, and presumably that was wrong, but against aliens it's alright because they are so much more different and are actually taking 'our' jobs.
So this episode establishes conclusively that its own analogy does not actually work, tries to humanise a fanatic through unpleasant encounters with all the major characters, and then lets said fanatic quote actual racists verbatim - for what? It does not make this guy any more likeable, it's not going to convince people who are Agent Liberty's real life equivalents, and it certainly is in no way a useful commentary on contemporary American society.