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Supergirl |OT| Adventure Runs in the Family - Mondays 8/7c on CBS

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G

gazele

Banned
Just have superman mysteriously disappear or go into deep space or something

Not sure the show can overcome the problem if its not addressed unfortunately
 
V

Veelk

Banned
I wish they'd show Superman more because I don't want him becoming an idol rather than a character to the show. Superman is too often shown as basically just this giant mechanic that saves the world rather than a person, and Kara ought to be one of the few people who actually see the person and character rather than the symbol. Rather than idolize him, he ought to just be her cousin.
 
L

Luigi87

Member
I'll definitely check out episode 2, hoping the series will come more into its own. Since the pilot is mainly used to sell an idea I have to let it slide.


Plus Melissa Benoist is so friggin adorable, like... I can't even.
 
A

anaron

Member
ReiGun said:
I imagine the Superman thing will be ironed out in the coming episodes. I can't imagine the writers don't realize how grating it is, and how eventually it's just going to make Superman's absence that much more noticeable.
Click to expand...
especially because it's been the number one complaint

that season trailer is SICK. They're basically addressing every "issue" the pilot had. Kara learning to fight, the action and direction looking even better, etc.

also they've always shared a big resemblance but Calista is looking very Sarah Michelle Gellar in future eps. haha
 
O

OdysseusVA

Banned
:D

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D3eCqnG.gif
 
C

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
Pretty fun but it's going to challenging not having Superman in any episodes with all this mayhem happening.
 
J

Jest Chillin

Member
Ok.. so.. that was pretty damn disappointing.

Positives: first 15-20 minutes or so were solid. Great camera work in conjunction with the green screen for Cara's flying before engaging the plane. Turned out as a gorgeous shot. Dialogue and acting a bit on the cheesy side but not overbearing... during this section of the show.

Negatives: The moment the DEO came in, everything goes into overdrive in a bad way. Pacing is way too fast. Lines delivered too quickly emotions go from 0-100 and back real quick (No Drake). Cheesy aspects go overboard. Overacting all over the place. The plot with the alien Supermax jailbreak makes all the Superman references even more obtuse seeing as he's clearly the one that should be dealing with the bulk of that instead of the incredibly green Cara but won't be because reasons. Girl Power mantra overkill as well.

It's just.. bad. Even for a pilot. I get the distinct feeling some of the problems are the result of the shift in story as originally there were no plans for Superman to exist in this universe at all. That still doesn't explain the crazy pacing shift that gives no room for any lines, plot development, or emotional portrayal to breathe even the slightest. It just goes off the rails.

Hopefully there's some improvement going forward but this was definitely disappointing.
 
V

Veelk

Banned
Veelk said:
So here are my thoughts on the pilot. Most of it doesn't give any details on the content, which should fit the rules, but let me know if you want the whole thing spoilered anyway.

Okay, so first thing you should know is that I hate Arrow. Flash too, but Arrow is up with some of the worst TV I've ever had the displeasure to witness. This applies to any season you care to name, hell, any episode. They are unequivocally awful. None of hte cast know how to act, and even if they did, the writing doesn't let them. Characters talk like they're not human beings, their abilities often contradict themselves within the same episode, everyone is one dimensional, jokes are painfully unfunny, the pacing is all over the place, they have no idea how to do proper mystique, and the content itself often becomes questionable itself. I hate, hate, hate these shows. I hate them more than AM hates humanity. I've written a lot about why I despise it, and I won't repeat it here, but understand that is how I viewed Supergirl coming in. A show made by essentially the same people? Oh god, another sad bundle of wasted potential.

So I came into the pilot with the lowest of expectations. And Supergirl beat them. I honestly don't know if this is just me being caught offguard or if there is actual potential here. I mean, it's the same team, so...idk, maybe Berlanti managed to find some poor intern that actually knows his shit and is trying to heroically save the show from producers in the background. Or maybe it actually was CW, the network, and I'm selling Berlanti short, and they are now free from their bonds to be able to produce something genuinely adequate instead of hair whiteningly awful. Or maybe this was a miraculous accident of having to do a pilot, and it will crash and burn into a bloated, melodramatic, cringe mess as they try to fill 20 episodes of content.

Because the pilot actually did a lot of stuff. They establish Kara's origin, show her growing up and deciding to be a hero, the doning of the costume, establishing relationships with her sister, boss, friend, new guy, villain, background information on why there are villains, in addition to the internal drama Kara faces. Maybe I'm just more forgiving of the CWisms because the Pilot is actually being somewhat ambitious in trying to make a very large amount of narrative work. But I wouldn't be shocked at all if this was them putting their best foot forward.

And there are plenty of CWisms to be found here. Characters unnaturally stating their inner emotions, there is already misblaming (Kara is blamed for criminals being on her world when she had no idea how or why her pod brought them there[/SPOILER]) and stupid outrage (yes, Kate, be mad that Kara saved you and hundreds of people's lives, goddammit). I hope they have Kara genuinely being clever instead of what happened (having tech support give her the answer on how to beat the baddie with plot device power), but I don't expect it as that's what flash does most episodes.

That said, what suprised me was....acceptable acting. Like, when Supergirl is sad or excited, Melissa Benoist conveys it well enough. And the jokes...They're actually funny somehow! And delivered well! I can tell you that all seasons of Arrow and Flash maybe made me crack a smile a grand total of 6 or 7 times. I'm not exaggerating here, I made sure to count. Flash gave me 3 or 4, maybe 5, Arrow precisely 1 or 2. Here, 5 minutes into the show has Cat Grant: "I had a board meeting at lunch, so cancel sushi with my mother. Also cancel my therapist, I won't be needing it if I'm not having lunch with my mother." That....was actually pretty funny. Like, don't get me wrong, I wasn't going crazy with laughter, but they managed to make me crack a smile more in one episode than either of the other CW shows did in 4 seasons. That was the point where I had to stop for a moment and realize that this might not actually be the pile of crap I had every reason to believe it would be.

Even in terms of Cinematography. Like, again, don't get me wrong. It's not great. But they had the plane landing sequence. But they added a twist, Kara has to manuever it around a bridge, so she turns it, and we get a shot of the plane wing scraping the bridge's from a ground shot. Like, it's not great and the CG is awful, but I thought it was a somewhat cool shot.

Look, you have no idea how much this blew my mind. I have certain expectations of CW show and this show definitely has CW blood running in it, but it's by far the most competent take on it that I've seen. Which I admit might not be saying much, but right now, I can't gauge that properly because I'm caught so off guard by it making me not want to stab my eyes out. They can use that as a blurb. Does not make me want to stab out my eyes. Which, believe me, is not just better than I expected, but magnitudes better. It's like expecting to come home to have your house burned down and only to find it's been TP'd. Not great, but you can work that out atleast.
Click to expand...

These are the thoughts I had from way earlier, now unspoilered.

Still positively surprised, though I find a lot of the stuff iffy.
 
T

the_firewithin

Member
Pilot was okay enough for me to stick with it.

Most of the cgi was bad lol. All the "him" and "cousin" shit will get old real fast. And what was with the "people will think aliens exist" or whatever comment at the beginning? If superman is there what do they consider him? Unless I misunderstood
 
J

Jay Shadow

Member
the_firewithin said:
And what was with the "people will think aliens exist" or whatever comment at the beginning? If superman is there what do they consider him? Unless I misunderstood
Click to expand...
Also not sure how lighting up a city street with a helicopter missile barrage is really the way to keep the alien situation quiet.
 
R

Redx508

Member
After seeing the trailer I was going into this with the mindset that i was not going like it. But after the pilot i'll stick with it, it was good
 
P

PHOENIXZERO

Member
I'd have to watch them side by side but I'm sure there was some minor changes from the leaked version.

Don't really have any thoughts on the pilot since I'd just be repeating myself but I do hope the issues which have been mentioned are less so beyond the pilot.
 
S

Skux

Member
Complete list of changes between the leaked and official pilots

I have highlighted dialogue and important changes. The rest is very minor editing to quicken the pace.

  • Slight cuts in the opening minute to get to the first scene between Kara and her parents quicker
  • Allura giving her necklace to Kara is removed from the pilot, which causes a continuity error, and also removes the later significance of Kara fiddling with her necklace back at home after facing Vartox
  • Very tiny cuts to Kara getting her shuttle and launching
  • Kara's exposition dialogue "My cousin, he didn't need my protection, I didn't have a mission anymore" was rerecorded and sounds more even.
  • Cat's line "I realise that there are quite a few" when referring to the Tribune employees was cut
  • Quicker transition between the Kara & Alex scene to Kara's date
  • Small cut to the cool spinning shot of Kara hovering in the air looking at the plane
  • Small cuts to the shot of the plane engine on fire, as well as Kara flying after the plane
  • Pilot's line "We are going down, repeat, we are going down" was cut as well as some short shots around this
  • Small cuts to the shots of Kara pulling the plane through the bridge
  • "Supergirl" text added to the title card
  • Opening credit overlays added to the pilot
  • Tiny cuts to Alex turning around after saying "What were you thinking?" to Kara
  • Asian guy saying "Kara, you're a lifesaver! Thanks for doing those comps for me. Cat said I did great work." and Kara replies "Sure Nayoshi, no big deal." is removed
  • Faster transition between the first office scene and the office roof
  • The words "to continue your orders and" to Vartox was cut, so the line is just "You are instructed to eliminate the human operatives" instead of "You are instructed to continue your orders and eliminate the human operatives."
  • The shot of the front of the cars in the car chase is removed
  • A few frames of Supergirl advancing on the armed robbers is removed
  • A few frames of Kara and Alex looking at each other after Alex's reveal as a DEO agent removed
  • A few frames between Kara's lines "I went there... it took me a while" when referring to the bank robbery were removed
  • Small cuts to shots of Supergirl arriving at the factory
  • Supergirl's line "What does that have to do with her?" to Vartox is cut
  • A few frames of Supergirl tackling Vartox cut
  • The short shot of Vartox advancing on Supergirl after he throws her into the pipes is cut
  • A small cut before Supergirl says "Did you know about my mom?" to Alex
  • A few frames of Supergirl leaving Alex at the DEO base cut
  • A few frames of Supergirl using her x-ray vision to see Alex through the door cut
  • Cuts between Alex's lines "Made me feel like more / Now / The world needs you to fly, Kara" to quicken the pace
  • Some frames of Alex getting the Krypton artifact out for Kara cut
  • About a second of the artifact being turned on removed
  • Quicker transition between Kara at home and back at the DEO
  • Supergirl's line "Looks like tonight's the night" when referring to Vartox killing humans cut
  • Small cuts to Vartox riding in the truck
 
Nizz

Nizz

Member
Jay Shadow said:
Also not sure how lighting up a city street with a helicopter missile barrage is really the way to keep the alien situation quiet.
Click to expand...
Just finished watching the pilot and this is one of the things that also stood out to me, lol. If they want to keep the existence of aliens on the low from us normal people that stunt they pulled sure didn't do them any favors.

But all in all, I enjoyed the show and will be sticking around for the long run. I have to agree though with the complaints on the show's pacing, at least for this first episode. I know that they had a lot of ground to cover but like someone a couple of posts up mentioned, it's like certain situations didn't get enough time to breathe. I'm hoping it's because like I mentioned, it being the first episode with lots of ground to cover that things will slow down a bit and the show/characters will get a chance for development.

And hey, Melissa Benoist is also a big reason I'm tuning in. She's fun to watch, she comes across as really charming, I like her in the lead role.
 
V

Volimar

Member
They talk pretty loudly about Supergirl being the sister of Agent Danvers in the agency place. That whole place must know her secret identity.
 
T

The Illiterati

Member
Really great choice of lead. Being produced by Berlanti gives me a lot of faith. It wasn't the best episode, but it's a pilot and they're usually rocky. I liked that it got basically all the introductions and chaff out of the way quickly, without parsing it out over the first few weeks. Hoping it finds its groove in the next few episodes.
 
J

Jest Chillin

Member
Volimar said:
They talk pretty loudly about Supergirl being the sister of Agent Danvers in the agency place. That whole place must know her secret identity.
Click to expand...

The head DEO guy straight up calls Supergirl "Ms. Danvers." This show is the absolute opposite of Arrow in terms of secret identity. Nearly everyone on screen knows who she is. Exceptions are the villain and Cara's boss.... that's about it.
 
J

jurgen

Member
Jest Chillin said:
The head DEO guy straight up calls Supergirl "Ms. Danvers." This show is the absolute opposite of Arrow in terms of secret identity. Nearly everyone on screen knows who she is. Exceptions are the villain and Cara's boss.... that's about it.
Click to expand...

I thought Waller and ARGUS were all up to speed on Ollie and crew. It's Barry they were caught off guard with.

It makes sense that the DEO would be on top of that, though. Superman operating for years probably made them a little paranoid of other Kryptonians and they had years to do some searching.
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
That was a good pilot. Good action scenes. Benoist was charming and adorable like you wouldn't believe. Mechad Brooks as swag Jimmy Olsen was alright. Friendzone Guy was amusing. Science Sister was kinda lame. Very dry. Cat Grant was eh. A nicer version of the lady from Devil Wears Prada, I guess.

Villains were a let down. There is no one on screen that exudes the charisma or swag of a John Barrowman or a Manu Bennett, or a Tom Cavanaugh. Hank Henshaw was just a dry jackass. Kara's evil aunt was just... I dunno, the actress did nothing for me. I didn't feel the palpable menace.

I mean, neither Arrow nor Flash kicked into really high gear until roughly their mid-season, so I can forgive it, but if you're gonna toss the baddie at the end, they deserve a better scene than that.

But if history is any indication, the mid-season finale is gonna kill.

i56w0no.gif
 
Z

ZeroX03

Banned
Main villain seems to be practically a female Zod. So kneel and all that.

Wonder what restrictions - if any - there are on Superman characters.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Quoting myself to ask you your opinions

Me said:
Hoping this will be good. Could be a replacement for shield which is getting pretty nasty this season for the kids - gaping bloody holes in people - really? Also looking forward to a hopefully strong female character. My daughter loves daisy from shield (same name too), and black widow.
Click to expand...

So how was it from a family friendly, strong female point of view? My daughter is 11 and loves flash and shield
 
V

Veelk

Banned
Uh, on that front, it's pretty good. It's got a lot of 'girl power!' sort of thing going for it, which might be grating to most, but maybe awesome to an 11 year old.
 
S

Skux

Member
KDash31987 said:
Supergirl Producers on Kara's Krypton Past, Superman, Action Scenes and Fan Pre-Analyzing - IGN
Click to expand...

(very mild spoiler for an upcoming ep)

Berlanti:
We do an episode specifically about why he isn’t here every week because we wanted to take that kind of conversation off the table to a certain extent
. But also, I think what we try to do is -- we compared it to Veep when we brought the pitch [for the show] out. At the beginning, you’re sort of like “Where’s the president?” but by episode four or five you don’t even want to see him. That’s the hope, that these character take on a life of their own and have their own show.
Click to expand...

This is all I wanted to hear!

He also makes a great point about the critics. The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. The worst thing that can happen is that people not care about Supergirl. Even when they're getting made about characters and storylines and adaptations, they're still engaging with the show, and that's good.
 
S

StarCreator

Member
mrklaw said:
So how was it from a family friendly, strong female point of view? My daughter is 11 and loves flash and shield
Click to expand...
The most bloody thing that happened is when the villain of the week
impaled himself with a piece of scrap metal rather than allow himself to be captured
at the end (episode ending spoiler). Certainly not up to SHIELD in bloodiness so far, and given the overall tone of the show (and its earlier time slot), I'm not sure I would expect it to.

As mentioned, it has the strong female point of view in spades, a bit past the point of overbearing. It'll hopefully tone down a bit as the series settles into its regular pacing.
 
Q

quesalupa

Member
Does the Superman thing really matter all that much? I mean the Flash doesn't do Oliver's job for him and nobody ever even tries to call in an Avenger in Agents of Shield.
 
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