Supergirl - Ahimsa , Parasite Lost & Call to Action - Review : Potter and Politic's
Nov 19, 2018
DC Reviews SupergirlSupergirl 404, 405 & 406
Thank you to my Spoiler Tv colleague at DjRiter for taking over while I have been away.
Supergirl this season certainly hasn’t been pulling its punches with the political undertones very much at the forefront of its narrative this season. Along with this, we have the introduction of a few new characters that have brought their own charm to the series and other’s who may have agendas yet to be revealed.
The past few weeks seems to have been more wins for the bad guys than Supergirl and the DEO, with members from the DEO turning against their own. Alex as the new director is having a crisis of faith, that and the fact her sister almost died too. Supergirl is stuck in a suit as the air is full of kryptonite thanks to the Graves siblings and the Agent of liberty, who seems to have a similar agenda to CATMUS.
In Ahimsa, we see Supergirl benched which causes her and her sister Alex to butt heads. This causes conflict when Alex has to pull rank on her to stay at the DEO. The Earth first agenda, due to Agent of Liberty, step up their actions and we meet Manchester Black.
Ahimsa, meaning respect for all living things and avoidance of violence towards others. A fitting title given what is happening currently in the Supergirl universe.
As the air is full of lead, Supergirl is saved due to Lena’s power suit but it’s using all its power to keep her alive, so she is told no heroics. (This also gave perfect cover for the lead actress Melissa Benoit to be absent while still on Broadway, fans will know this episode was filmed first then counting back to one with Melissa filling in the blanks on her return).
Hopefully, Supergirl’s current situation won’t be for long as Lena and Brainy are working together to clear the air of kryptonite. Some surprising tears from Brainy have you realise he is more organic than a machine but the lesson in suppressing emotions comes from Lena after all being a Luthor she had plenty of practice. It seems more Luthor tech may be the answer; they come up with a plan to use nanites. Something that was featured in season 2-episode 18 ‘Ace Reporter’.
Our Agent of liberty has been busy firstly stealing a parasite and his minions visiting the DEO’s long forgotten Nevada facility from season one. Another turned DEO agent frees some Alien prisoner’s, hello to the Hellgrammite from the pilot, I kind of thought Alex killed him. Also, the parasite wasn’t it nuked! Maybe there were more!
What we do learn from this episode is the Agent of Liberty has little regard for life Alien or otherwise in his goal to prove Aliens are not welcome on Earth. Previously we had seen his own rise from sympathetic Professor to losing it all, in his eyes because of Aliens. He believes the 'roaches' as he calls them, have no place on Earth.
J’onn is still searching for his missing friend Fiona from his Alien group but he has an unexpected visitor to his home, Fiona’s fiancĂ©. Manchester Black, known for being an Anti-Hero. It will be interesting to see what they do with his character in the series. For now, we know he was once in a gang in England saw the error of his ways when he fell in love with Fiona.
J’onn we see using his gifts to help Manchester locate Fiona, who we saw stabbed by Agent liberty. Her telepathic ability and the parasite are being used to control Aliens, the first target is a police precinct. Supergirl turns up despite being told not to and is nearly killed when the suit fails. This was against Alex’s orders and once again, these two argue. Even the newly appointed President is angry with his DEO director for putting Supergirl in harm’s way but a word in his ear seems to calm him.
We all hate when the Danvers sisters fight, and Alex confides in J’onn telling him he made a mistake in promoting her. After a much-needed pep talk from space dad and news that Brainy and Lena are cleaning the atmosphere she lets Supergirl go on and help at the next target a fair. Where Liberty’s controlled Aliens are causing panic and fear in everyone. Guardian suits up and ignores Nia’s warning about going to help.
It’s no fun at the fair and even a cuddly Beebo makes a cameo.
Manchester and J’onn search for Fiona as she provided clues via a telepathic link with J’onn. Supergirl’s suits fails and looks like the Graves siblings will win until the air is cleared and she takes back control.
Sadly, J’onn and Manchester can’t save Fiona who dies and later we see Manchester buying weapons I am guessing for revenge.
Lena is annoyed with James (though not very convincing and I hate to say this again, but this romance has zero chemistry, its painful to watch) Guardian isn’t arrested but praised as the human and the people’s hero.
We have a lovely Sister scene which after the tension between them this episode was welcome. As I always say these two are the heart of the show.
The scene when Red daughter comes out of her protective pod at the end teases us she is still there.
Chyler Leigh’s portrayal as Alex owned this episode from her tears in the locker room, the talk at the DEO and with J’onn and all the scene’s with Kara.
Not a bad episode but I do feel we were lacking a scene where Supergirl thanks Lena, after all, her suit did save her life. Things have been a bit frosty since their argument in season 3. However, the tension seemed less when Supergirl showed up at L Corp in episode 2 of this season.
I was also a bit disappointed the Graves siblings were captured/killed it was very anti-climatic given how despicable they have been.
In Parasite Lost we once again have a benched Superhero, however, this does give us chance to see more of Kara and her reporter side and nice little team up with Nia Niall. Last season her reporter side was almost completely forgotten as was CATCO .
This year James seems to have finally made the office his own with less white and gold and more wood and dark colours giving it a masculine look.
At the start it would seem Kara has been doing a spot of gardening in her spare time as the gang meet on the roof top for brunch. It’s a good time to introduce Nia to the rest of the gang. Interestingly she hasn’t meet Lena yet( note in the last episode she addressed both Lena and James in his office ).
Kara agrees to take Nia along to interview alien healer and profit Amadei.
Brainy sobers very quickly, seems he thought the Mojitos were juice and a lovely scene between him and Nia as she learns he did find her but took things a little too literally as Brainy does .
At The DEO it would seem Colonel Haley is more in charge than an observer! She starts by commending Alex, which knocks Alex off guard a bit and surprisingly they work well together throughout this episode.
Kara and Nia interview Amadei and find out he hopes to one day be able to heal humans as well as aliens. He is hoping his example will lead the way.
Ben Lockwood is singing Guardian’s praises on a fringe website. James feels uncomfortable being the poster boy against aliens as he and Lena head to a Media summit.
Meanwhile turncoat Agent Jensen has been infected by the parasite and continues with his directive from Agent Liberty, he intends to absorb alien powers and nearly gets the best of Supergirl until Alex shows up. However, we know parasite is unstable, but it seems Lockwood has a plan.
Amadei has the key, well his amulet unfortunately this leaves him dying. Kara does some digging with J’onn and Aminday isn’t as squeaky clean as she thought, he has a daughter he has nothing to do with. However, it seems it was her mother who kept them apart and has a hatred for aliens because of it.
Lockwood and James get into it at the media summit and James learns his viewpoint is not alone people are starting to see his point; it would seem James is to as later when all seems lost he agrees to meet with Ben.
Supergirl relies on her reporting skills more than her brawn this episode she also sees how much hatred there is still towards Aliens and her article didn’t have the effect she hoped for.
Alex works with Colonel Haley, but a nuclear solution could mean heavy casualties which Brainy can contain. Even Supergirl can’t get everyone clear but Alex pleads to Jensen to stop which saves them all. I have to say I loved her proton pack.
The locket is restored and Amadei is saved and gets to meet his daughter for the first time.
Haley again commends her but reveals her hatred towards the previous director J’onn . Alex defends J’onn which ruffles Haley a bit and you can see things aren’t going to be that smooth between them from now on, the question is, what is Haley’s agenda?
Another enjoyable episode and a drunken Brainy is something we all need to see again, also more of his interactions with Nia. Kara getting back to her reporter roots is welcome return but the lack of her being Super is wearing thin.
In Call to Action it's not what you think when the DEO told its not their purview to investigate, Alex, Kara and Brainy go a bit rouge to get to the bottom of the latest Alien attacks by the now known Children of liberty.
This week Manchester Black is back, and I feel him saving Aliens has more to do with him following a certain police officer we know was behind Fiona’s abduction. Due to his connection to the now called Children of Liberty. Supergirl shows up and helps and it would seem their dog doesn’t like her, later we learn their dogs have been trained to detect Aliens.
We see Lena has been busy making use of the black kryptonite and throughout this episode her cause while noble may turn sinister, as she mentions giving human’s Alien powers, again crossing the line like CADMUS did. Lena needs to be careful.
Colonel Haley telling the DEO the recent uprising by the people on Aliens isn’t the DEO concern has Supergirl and Alex calling her Dolores Uxbridge and they certainly may go all Weasley twins on her. Brainy not known for his subtlety manages to keep their actions quiet. The dynamic between Alex and him is amusing and I am really enjoying there scenes together.
Ben Lockwood despite his dark undertakings is still very much the loving family man and father. He even appears on the news gaining popularity for his cause minus the mask.
Lena and James are at loggerheads and her pulling out the Boss card doesn’t help as he is all for doing it his way and not her’s.
Lena wants James to disavow the children of liberty but he is going to talk to them
Kara offers to take his place and asks Nia for help who they find sleeping again, she claims Narcolepsy but later avoids the doctor recommendations, causing suspicion.
At the Tv interview, Kara must debate with Ben Lockwood and things don’t go well even she can tell a lot of people are behind him.
At Thankgiving its nice to see Eliza again, Manchester, Brainy and Nia are also there. Lena and James once again get into a argument and she reveals she saved him from the DA. She wants to protect him because she loves him.
James doesn’t want that kind of love and heads out anyway. (Please can these two end and it is beyond painful to watch now.)
James interaction with the children of Liberty made little sense and was the weakest plot line, but then he went from hating Luthor’s to dating one and judging from the trailers next week is he trying to get undercover or does he feel he can be a hero for the people in this fight.
Manchester has his own agenda and tortures the police officer to get what he wants.
Soon it uncovered the dogs are being used to sniff out Aliens, in the masks is a lens to see marks on Aliens houses and they all plan to attack.
Supergirl and Brainy try to get rid of the markers but there are too many and one family their pet offers a protection no one could foresee giving Supergirl a dragon to fight no wonder Alex thought she was going too far with the Harry potter references. Soon she calms the dragon and order is restored. Even Brainy got physical, well he used physics.
Manchester’s intentions are certainly dark and shoots those he stopped even the police officer he interrogated isn’t spared. (Am seeing hints of the Punisher type character here)
Colonel Haley knows what they were up to and didn’t like it but agrees the situation is too volatile Aliens will soon start fighting back so the DEO must get involved. Alex stands up to her and I was cheering her on. I do feel the DEO directive isn’t what it was.
Ben gets call from the Tv station they want him to have his own show, more people are agreeing with his sentiments.
Ben Lockwood could be the most dangerous advisory to date as he seems to spread his word with a charm that has more people following. Throughout history we can pinpoint certain individuals with an ideal and cause that can cause an uprising. Some are for good other’s not so much, with their blinkered and biased beliefs but with a platform for others to follow. This is exactly what Supergirl is highlighting this season and doing a wonderful job.
Like they say, hate is growing as history tells us moments like this get worse.
Some niggles but overall I am really impressed with what I have seen on screen so far, just let's do one thing keep Supergirl the hero she is supposed to be, ditch the strained romance and let James have a storyline that stays true to his character for five seconds.
Plus love the new characters Nia Nial and her interactions with kara have been a dream ( pun intended).
While Manchester Black is a different type of hero we have seen in Supergirl, though not in the Arrowverse.
Colonel Haley is military but I feel she see's Aliens as a threat.
Let me know your thoughts ?
please post below.