Smallville "Supergirl" Episode.. Loved it or hated

So the episode has aired. Once again Smallville has disappointed me again. Man I am getting sick of this. This episode had so much hype on this forum and across the net and for me it failed.

When I heard they were calling the episode Supergirl I was thinking it should be good, it'll follow the current Smallville story line but the focus will be on Kara. I couldn't have been more wrong. Clark still did everything, I started to get excited because the first segment before the opening credits showed possible promise for the episode but there was nothing else Kara did that was special after that. No strength, no flying, a few very very very brief moments of superspeed and one moment of super hearing.

This is why we are not getting any new movies or good tv series (WW is still in early development and is probably at least a year away) because no one wants to gives these characters a shot. I do like the fact that Smallville has brought in these characters over the last 10 years BUT I hate the fact that they always get crap for action and use of their powers (Maxima, Lana (super, vampire, nano suit, etc), possessed Chloe and Lois, Raya... the list goes on) These characters get a few brief moments in the spotlight but the second that it makes sense for them to use their powers, they don't or you don't see it on screen.

When Kara was doing the photo shoot on top of the roof she could have at least have been flying, or holding something.

This has to stop. The comic characters in many cases like Supergirl are classic characters and the way that they are being portrayed (in general, I am not referring to the actresses, love Laura Vandervoort as Kara)is an insult to the character, the creators and the fans.

I know I should have expected this to happen based on Smallville's past on how they treat these characters but especially with the title of this episode I was giving them the benefit of the doubt. That will not happen again. The Isis episode is on in two weeks where Lois is possessed (once again) by the god Isis, the still photo I have seen looks like a throatlift and it probably is... but I am almost certain that is all we will get from that episode.

Sorry for the rant but I had to vent and I hope that some of you feel the same way I do. For those who missed the episode sorry if I spoiled anything. I will try and post a clip tomorrow of what she did do, but don't expect it to be a long clip

JAG

She's gorgeous ... but ... pity ye :\

Really nothing special, except the beginning.

Well as promised here is the clip of what she did in the episode. Like I mentioned earlier, it isn't a long clip

Smallville Supergirl

JAG

What did she do in the opening scene?

What did she do in the opening scene?

Well, I wasn't as disappointed as JAG or Lfan -- probably because my expectations weren't as high. Yes, there were few "girl power" moments, but I don't think that's because the writers and producers dislike the idea. I suspect that the show's budget imposes some sort of cap on super-feats requiring elaborate FX. Clark rarely has much in the way of all-out super-action -- typically a moment at the end of an episode when he intercepts a bullet at super-speed. (And of course, he doesn't fly.)

What kind of surprised me is that Kara wasn't "written out" at the end of the episode. She's remaining on Earth, with a secret identity, presumably to continue her high-profile super-heroics. I gather that this is LV's one and only appearance this season, but I wonder if future episodes will toss out references to Metropolis's "maiden of might"?

I had also hoped for more, but I still enjoyed it. It was about as good as Smallville gets.

What is striking is that Kara is off buzzing around the universe, and fully comfortable being in the public eye, not to mention being very secure in herself and her powers.

She's a confident, powerful heroine and an adult, and Clark is still a conflicted boy with fledgling powers who can't get his sh&t together. The part about Jor El disowning him and apparently putting all his trust in Kara, who is "pure of heart" and free of doubts and fears was great.

I'm sure the Tom Welling lovers are REALLY pissed today at the way their "superboy" was treated.

Shadar

Smallville just has a crap budget now is all. They barely let Clark himself do much super powered stuff these days outside of major episodes, nevermind a guest star.

Smallville is basically finished, and should have wrapped up years ago. If you're looking for super heroine action here, you are looking in the wrong place. It's always been drama and love first heroics after. To a superhero fan Smallville is disapointing in that regard let alone heroine.

Smallville "Supergirl" Episode.. Loved it or hated it? Let's vote on it.

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Well that sucks! I DVR'd it last night. Now I'm not near as excited about watching it.

Ehh...


bully_pup -- Kelly

It's definitely worth a watch... Laura is gorgeous as Kara and we see her being confident and clearly having her stuff together.

But... the story is still Clark and Lois love story stuff, with Kara a secondary character.

Special effects aren't much different than fan-films, though. I watched it a second time today, zooming through the scenes that didn't involve Kara, and it was even better.

Shadar

I just want to point out that story wise... as far as how this season of Smallville is concerned it was a good episode and if you are a fan you should check it out. The purpose of my rant was just showing my concern that some characters are not getting the justice they deserve.

With the episode titled "Supergirl" you would expect more of Supergirl in the episode. I understand that there are budget concerns but I just felt that Kara's overall presence was lacking. She still felt like Kara and not like Supergirl to me.

Its like if this new Wonder Woman series started and it was all about Diana, not about Diana becoming and acting like Wonder Woman.

As near as I can tell from articles I've read, Laura was only contracted to film a single time for Smallville this last season. Hope that changes.

They may have filmed more than they used in that episode.

But clearly, we will see little more of her in this last season.

We'll have to hope for a spinoff.

On another note, I read through the usual Smallville forum, and quite a number of people hated the fact that Kara was talking down to Clark, and that they wasted so much time with her on the screen.

Seems most of the shows die-hard fans aren't fans of Kara, for what that's worth.

Oh well, back to the trenches making our own stories, Picts and videos.

Shadar

What an unbelievable pile of #*$@ @$@#$.

Seriously.

Not sure why they called this ep "Supergirl". How bout blond chic shows up to stand around for a few minutes.
I can see a hot blond on just about ANY show on tv. LV is NOT hot enough to carry a title.

Keep in mind, I'm trying to be nice about this.

After the atrocity that Smallville has done with this character, I desperately hope they don't do a spin-off.
Please, CW, STOP! Stop killing the whole Superman genre; especially Supergirl. Damn you.

Just watched an interesting interview on IGN with Laura Vandervoort at New York ComicCon. They asked if we could see Kara one more time and Laura was unsure. Depends on if they want her and the V filming schedule. What was really interesting was she asked if she could keep the blue leather jacket that she wore in the episode and was told they had to keep it, just in case....

A much as I have ranted about this episode I have no issue seeing Laura on Smallville again, especially in the Supergirl outfit, she looked unbelievable in it.

Check out the interview here
Laura Vandervoort on Supergirl's Return

JAG

I agree with you about what they've done to Superman, who is emasculated and diminished compared to the original character.

But Kara has been handled in an interesting way.

She travels the universe, she's far more confident and physically capable than Superman, she has access to all her powers, she doesn't mind hurting someone if that's what it takes to get things done, and she's willing to use her sexuality to get what she wants.

She also struggles with a superior Kryptonian attitude given she's grown up and educated in a more advanced civilization and is trying to connect with the lesser-advanced and fragile humans. Fortunately, in this last episode, she seemed to finally understand that people have multiple sides and that powers don't define the person. That's a lot of growth for her character.

I also read an interview the other day where LV said the writers originally wanted her to play a Paris Hilton kind of character... shallow, vain, bitchy and dependent, with everything designed to make Clark look better. LV says she worked hard to make Kara strong and independent... perhaps too much so.

Unfortunately, we're disappointed because we rarely see her, and the Superman fans are seriously pissed off that LV convinced the writers to allow her to become more together and confident, purposeful and powerful than Superman.

Clark is always squirming around under the influence of the domineering women in his life, insecure and conflicted, and Kara is kicking ass, taking names and confidently facing Darkseid, who Clark isn't ready to face. He's still a boy.

Anybody else notice that they've completely reversed the gender roles, not to mention the roles from the comics?

For my part, I think this is great... I like an ubergirl who can fly rings around Superman. But I can see how this would seriously piss off anyone who was looking for continuity from the characters in the comics.

The real question... does this make Kara more marketable to a 21st century audience? (Remember the comment from the photog during the roof-top shoot that she's "the woman of the future").

is the mainstream audience is ready to accept a woman to be the new "superman"?

(Too bad Charlize Theron isn't ten years younger. Otherwise, she'd be perfect for the role, given she's enough of an actress to play a VERY strong, convincing lead role and has the height and looks (if she got into really good shape) to play my idea of Supergirl. We saw a bit of that in Hancock, albeit more Superwoman than Supergirl.

LV is improving as an actress, but she's still got a long ways to go to become a Charlize.)

Shadar

Agree... this video interview is great. LV has definitely gotten into the right kind of physical condition for the role, and she's really adopted the role.

Interesting that she said she had a lot of extra pictures taken in the nearly Supergirl costume for her personal collection, so she could see what she once was. Wonder if she'll share any more of those on her web page?

Shadar

Just watched an interesting interview on IGN with Laura Vandervoort at New York ComicCon. They asked if we could see Kara one more time and Laura was unsure. Depends on if they want her and the V filming schedule. What was really interesting was she asked if she could keep the blue leather jacket that she wore in the episode and was told they had to keep it, just in case....

A much as I have ranted about this episode I have no issue seeing Laura on Smallville again, especially in the Supergirl outfit, she looked unbelievable in it.

Check out the interview here
Laura Vandervoort on Supergirl's Return

JAG

Watched it was a bit disappointed. Since the episode is supposed to be titled Supergirl you think they'd use her more in it. I do have to say I enjoyed her smirk she gave Clark when she first shows up. Besides the lack of Kara, I never had understood why Clark doesn't ever act happy to see Kara. After all she is his only family in the freakin galaxy :roll:

Anyway thought LV was excellent as usual. Glad she wasn't written off or worse in the episode. Maybe...maybe we'll get lucky and she'll have one more pop in during the season. [/i]

I finally watched it. It was great compared to what has been done before with the Supergirl character. Is that saying much? Seems to be getting a bit less teen angst and more adult which is nice – I could actually watch it.

*****Spoilers Ahead:*****

I’m going to try and pull out the parts with our favorite character rather than dwelling on the absurd/unneeded bondage club stuff which will make it nearly impossible for me to show this episode to my family.

The flying one handed advertisement save: It was good fun. The effects seemed a little off. The textures on the metal and the nature of the fabric were not the best – but I understand what they were going for – and I liked it.

The building top photo shoot meet up: I was really expecting that she was on a real rooftop saying “Hi I’m Supergirl” to the world.” rather than doing a photo shoot. I guess that would have upset all the “Superman Only” fans. I was surprised that was it for the classic costume tease.

The flying teaching: they really are using a lot of green screen – and only doing an average job on the lighting matching up. Why make the dusk light difficult on yourself if you can’t pull it off?

Bondage club <sigh> Lois save: the bracelet thing is an interesting script tool. I just find it a bit WW and not SG.

Chat with lois and Alter Ego with Clark: Fun character development. LV is good at it. She pulled off the alter ego look – although I think they should have gone lighter on the makeup to make the look work better and gone with just a bit less big hair.

All in all – it was less Supergirl than I expected. It was better development and treatment of the character than I expected.

I thought the same on the special effects... not really all that much better than the kind of fan films you do, if at all better.

Actor's salaries have to be hundreds of thousands per episode, which is where they have a clear advantage over fan films, despite being a "low budget" show. Seems they could at least spend a few tens of thousands on special effects on the rare episodes that demand them.

If they are, they aren't getting a lot for their money. But then, they have to pay union wages and all that jazz.

But Laura V, like Helen S back in 1984, is trying damn hard to play the character honestly and seriously, despite the nonsense all around her.

To the other comment about Clark showing her very little fondness whenever she returns, I suspect that's Tom Welling's underlying feelings showing through. The whole "Kara" thing has been a big thorn in his side, given the show is supposed to be about him. Especially now so that she's been written in as being more mature and powerful than him. His fans sure don't like it.

Shadar

I finally watched it. It was great compared to what has been done before with the Supergirl character. Is that saying much? Seems to be getting a bit less teen angst and more adult which is nice – I could actually watch it.

*****Spoilers Ahead:*****

I’m going to try and pull out the parts with our favorite character rather than dwelling on the absurd/unneeded bondage club stuff which will make it nearly impossible for me to show this episode to my family.

The flying one handed advertisement save: It was good fun. The effects seemed a little off. The textures on the metal and the nature of the fabric were not the best – but I understand what they were going for – and I liked it.

The building top photo shoot meet up: I was really expecting that she was on a real rooftop saying “Hi I’m Supergirl” to the world.” rather than doing a photo shoot. I guess that would have upset all the “Superman Only” fans. I was surprised that was it for the classic costume tease.

The flying teaching: they really are using a lot of green screen – and only doing an average job on the lighting matching up. Why make the dusk light difficult on yourself if you can’t pull it off?

Bondage club <sigh> Lois save: the bracelet thing is an interesting script tool. I just find it a bit WW and not SG.

Chat with lois and Alter Ego with Clark: Fun character development. LV is good at it. She pulled off the alter ego look – although I think they should have gone lighter on the makeup to make the look work better and gone with just a bit less big hair.

All in all – it was less Supergirl than I expected. It was better development and treatment of the character than I expected.

There is a new theory out there that Kara is going to be possessed in the shows to come by the dark side entity and battle Clark.

Reasons:
• She told Lois she doesn’t feel pure.
• She is hanging around Metropolis
• They said again the biggest threat is a super being possessed by the dark side thing.

So - the only reason they have lifted up the character and done good by her it to make the fall bigger. It goes along with Smallville’s MO. Will we see SG in a dark SG outfit? Will she battle Clark? Will they kill her off? Will they just use her and ensure there is no hope of a spinoff because she’s damaged goods?

**This is not my theory - it is the very smart musings of Anj at comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/

<Sigh>

Just watched it this morning. Yeah, you guys were right. A total let down.
Well, I hope Random's theory is correct, otherwise I see no reason to keep Smallville on my record list.

bully_pup -- Kelly

Someone email me when a link to a video containing the full up-to-the-minute compilation of Laura Vandervoort as Supergirl clips has been posted to youtube. Otherwise I don't really want to bother with Smallville at all.

Bah - who needs smallville?
www.projectsuperwoman.com/videos.php#49