TV Supergirl [Spoilers]

[Frontier]

Would we buy it if it's revealed in a simple line of dialogue in S&L that Kara gave Clark a head's up and General Lane or Argus used government resources to scrub all records of Kara and Clark being related before the announcement? I imagine they were already on the d/l somewhat since Clark was Superman when Kara showed up so there were likely already some protections in place from the get-go and they didn't tell too many people.

That or Superman flew around giving a ton of people "amnesia kisses" in the middle of the night.

Maybe it's just DoD/family policy just to have Kara be that one member of the family they just never mention .

[AnakinFlair]

There's two potential explanations I can think of for what happened here.

1) They got some sort of instructions from the network that they could do their own thing and S&L would follow their lead and that just didn't happen.

2) They knew it was the last season and just didn't give a fuck. This seems the most plausible to me.

I think it was fairly obvious from the writing this season that the writers just didn't give a fuck.

A rumor I heard yesterday is that either they filmed a scene with Kara wearing a Legion ring and leaving with Mon El, or that she was spotted on set by a crew member with a Legion ring, and that the writers decided to scrap that because they were afraid of getting death threats from the Supercorp shippers.

One one hand, I really don't buy that. It's the series finale; they will all be moving on to other jobs (if they haven't already), they don't need to care about what the fanbase thinks anymore.

On the other hand, though... that scene with Mon-El telling Kara he's never coming back again, that whole scene felt odd to me. It didn't feel like either Chris or Melissa were into it, and it did kind of feel like it was a last minute rewrite.

All I do know is that there were several scenes that were cut from broadcast that have made their way online, so maybe the blu ray set will have an alternate ending.

[superduperman]

Some of the horror stories coming out of the sets of the CW shows, especially in light of Ruby Rose's experience, have sort of suggested a lot of the actors are kind of miserable working there. I don't remember where I read it but I think I saw something not long before the season premiere that Benoist had no interest in reprising the role for future appearances. So no cousin Kara visiting the farm, by the sounds of it. Cryer liked a Tweet calling for a boycott of CW shows until some of this is resolved so it's like there is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes we aren't seeing. And a picture of Kara was cut out of S&L so you have to wonder if they are even going to acknowledge the show at all.

[RobinGA]

I vote for superduperman reason #2

The way they presented such a monumental moment as just something to throw together at the last minute.
It was like taking a beautifully grilled steak then putting it on a lid to a garbage can presenting it to the audience.

I think it is an act of incredible vanity to throw away your secret identity. Because it will affect your family.
They will then be front and center for media attention, along with supervillain targets. In the real world
Clark Kent is part of her family. On a TV show you can skirt these issues.

On the people angry that there was no Supergirl romance at the end. It was pretty clear for a while
this was not happening. You can choose to be angry, but it doesn't change things. Not every superhero
character is going to be gay or bi. It seems strange on a show more open to the issues of LGBTQ life like
Supergirl. I mean they had a Lesbian wedding prominently displayed as the ending moment of the show.

[superduperman]

My guess is they had this ending in mind from day one. Long before they decided to merge the two Earths and give Superman his own show. And they were determined to do this.

[RobinGA]

That makes the secret identity reveal even worse. It had this rushed quality.
If they knew they were doing this for a year, this is how they went out well that is pretty
amazing.

[superduperman]

Here's my theory. And I have nothing to base this on. The network dictated that the Earth's had to be merged but the writers and showrunners opposed the idea because they knew that it would hamper their abilities to tell the kinds of stories they want to tell without it ever crossing over into other series. So they tried to work around the merger as best they could but I imagine knowing that it was the last season they just decided to ignore it. I pointed this out in another thread but I kind of think the whole COIE was rather pointless. Each show tends to do it's own thing without worrying about the larger Arrowverse. Kara still had blue heat vision and Superman's pre-Crisis Fortress. The only way this works at all is to say it's some sort of Earth 38 analogue or something. And Superman is out of the picture for reasons.

[AnakinFlair]

That makes the secret identity reveal even worse. It had this rushed quality.
If they knew they were doing this for a year, this is how they went out well that is pretty
amazing.

I actually agree with you.

Past seasons have had Kara struggle with her dual identity. Any of those stories, this could have been the result and it would have worked.

But this season was such a muddled mess- at times it felt like they were just throwing stuff on the wall to see what stuck. And the identity reveal came completely out of left field and was not built up to at all. I mean, you could say that it was building for 6 years, but nothing in this season (I guess aside from Kara deciding to quit CatCo because she couldn't balance Kara and Supergirl- so ONE EPISODE) really prepared you for "I'm giving up my secret identity!"

But I guess coming out of the closet and being your true self has been a part of this show since season 1, and this was Kara finally coming out.

[Frontier]

I actually agree with you.

Past seasons have had Kara struggle with her dual identity. Any of those stories, this could have been the result and it would have worked.

But this season was such a muddled mess- at times it felt like they were just throwing stuff on the wall to see what stuck. And the identity reveal came completely out of left field and was not built up to at all. I mean, you could say that it was building for 6 years, but nothing in this season (I guess aside from Kara deciding to quit CatCo because she couldn't balance Kara and Supergirl- so ONE EPISODE) really prepared you for "I'm giving up my secret identity!"

But I guess coming out of the closet and being your true self has been a part of this show since season 1, and this was Kara finally coming out.

I don't think it would have worked in season 4 because Kara Danvers was instrumental in resolving the main plot when she couldn't solve it as just Supergirl.

Although I feel like Supergirl was more just a way to express herself rather than continually hide who she is, let alone something "cowardly," which I feel is misreading it. But that's just me.

[AnakinFlair]

Here's my theory. And I have nothing to base this on. The network dictated that the Earth's had to be merged but the writers and showrunners opposed the idea because they knew that it would hamper their abilities to tell the kinds of stories they want to tell without it ever crossing over into other series. So they tried to work around the merger as best they could but I imagine knowing that it was the last season they just decided to ignore it. I pointed this out in another thread but I kind of think the whole COIE was rather pointless. Each show tends to do it's own thing without worrying about the larger Arrowverse. Kara still had blue heat vision and Superman's pre-Crisis Fortress. The only way this works at all is to say it's some sort of Earth 38 analogue or something. And Superman is out of the picture for reasons.

Oh, I don't agree with that at all. I think, if they had been able to, Supergirl and The Flash would have been on the same Earth from the start. In fact, the CW initially passed on Supergirl, which led it to being on CBS for the first season. And because it was on a separate network, the writers had to show them on different Earths. But once Supergirl moved over to the CW, they were looking for a way to merge the Earths together. And when they were given the OK to do Crisis, they took the opportunity to merge the Earths and get everyone in the same playground.

I also think we can't underscore how COVID changed their initial plans. In season 1 of Superman and Lois, there was supposed to be a crossover with Batwoman, of all people. But then COVID shut everything down, and the situation with Ruby Rose happened, and the producers decided to scrap all crossovers last season. And the most we got was Diggle popping into all of the shows.

There is also the fact that Superman and Lois's first season aired right in the middle of Supergirl's final season, so we don't know exactly when the events of that show happened in relation to the other shows. It could be Clark decided to remodel the Fortress after Kara was lost to the Phantom Zone (or more likely they didn't have access to the sets due to COVID protocols).

Hopefully, we'll get some answers one way or the other next year.

[Frontier]

Oh, I don't agree with that at all. I think, if they had been able to, Supergirl and The Flash would have been on the same Earth from the start. In fact, the CW initially passed on Supergirl, which led it to being on CBS for the first season. And because it was on a separate network, the writers had to show them on different Earths. But once Supergirl moved over to the CW, they were looking for a way to merge the Earths together. And when they were given the OK to do Crisis, they took the opportunity to merge the Earths and get everyone in the same playground.

I also think we can't underscore how COVID changed their initial plans. In season 1 of Superman and Lois, there was supposed to be a crossover with Batwoman, of all people. But then COVID shut everything down, and the situation with Ruby Rose happened, and the producers decided to scrap all crossovers last season. And the most we got was Diggle popping into all of the shows.

There is also the fact that Superman and Lois's first season aired right in the middle of Supergirl's final season, so we don't know exactly when the events of that show happened in relation to the other shows. It could be Clark decided to remodel the Fortress after Kara was lost to the Phantom Zone (or more likely they didn't have access to the sets due to COVID protocols).

Hopefully, we'll get some answers one way or the other next year.

I'm morbidly curious how they would have established Supergirl if she had been on the same Earth as The Flash from the start, but considering it was coming in the same season they were going full board on the Multiverse, they might have gone the AU route anyways.

[RobinGA]

I don't buy the remodel of the Fortress of Solitude.
I mean it went from this cool structure to something a polar bear would take a nap in after eating some fish.
Besides, Supergirl used her original Fortress during the season.
I suppose we could say that these shows don't share equipment.

It is certainly true that for a longtime, I mean a longtime, the identity issue has been percolating.
But the way they resolved it made little sense. So we are back to the writers just not caring.
You could also see it as their fuck you to everyone at the CW, along with Superman and Lois if you want.

The CW superhero shows have such variety. Stargirl and Superman and Lois are really well done, then
we have the other ones which seems to wander all over the place, throwing things against the wall. I mean
we are now 5 days from Flash after all.

[superduperman]

I honestly think they're just going to ignore Supergirl and move forward. There are too many contradictions to work around and I can see the writers of S&L just not wanting to deal with the headache and move on.

[AnakinFlair]

I don't buy the remodel of the Fortress of Solitude.
I mean it went from this cool structure to something a polar bear would take a nap in after eating some fish.
Besides, Supergirl used her original Fortress during the season.
I suppose we could say that these shows don't share equipment.

It is certainly true that for a longtime, I mean a longtime, the identity issue has been percolating.
But the way they resolved it made little sense. So we are back to the writers just not caring.
You could also see it as their fuck you to everyone at the CW, along with Superman and Lois if you want.

The CW superhero shows have such variety. Stargirl and Superman and Lois are really well done, then
we have the other ones which seems to wander all over the place, throwing things against the wall. I mean
we are now 5 days from Flash after all.

For the Fortress, I really think that it could have been they didn't have access to the set. Either because Supergirl was filming on it when they needed to film Fortress scenes, or because they struck the set. I know that the first episode of this season was supposed to happen as the finale for Season 5, but I'm not sure how much (if any) of it they got filmed before they were forced to shut down.

[RobinGA]

EDIT: Never Mind.