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Supergirl Slip
Mar. 2nd, 2016 08:44 amWe have to take a moment to comment on how much we disliked--very well, hated--this last episode of Supergirl. The main reason? Indigo.
That, and stupid plotting.
(There will be spoilers.)
Indigo (played by Laura Vanderoort, the actress who was Supergirl on SMALLVILLE) was a villain-of-the-week, a relative of Brainiac. It was she who guided Kara's pod to Earth, for reasons that aren't made entirely clear in the episode. She hates humans, also for reason that aren't made clear in the episode, and has decided to wipe them out. Her method of doing so? A single nuclear missile aimed at a single city.
Okay, then.
The trouble we have with Indigo isn't her concept--we're willing to take on an alien who wants to destroy humanity. The trouble we have is how the character is handled.
First, we have her costume design. Look at this thing:
The skin-tight body suit broke "no sexism" rule on Supergirl. We've had a number of male villains, and not one of the THEM have strutted about in a bulgle-enhancing singlet. But this character slinks around in tight blue spandex. Sexist in the extreme. But it doesn't stop there. During the episode, we learn that Indigo has been having an affair with Kara's uncle Non. Indigo is really an advanced computer program, and Non's sexual relationship with her reduces her to the level of mere sex toy, a glorified blow-up doll. Can it get worse, you ask? Why yes, it can. After Indigo's inevitable defeat (by a man--Kara stands by helplessly and watches while Winn impossibly saves her), we cut to Non's laboratory, where he is laying out Indigo's chopped-up body on a table, cooing to her, "I only broke your heart. ... Are you ready to do it my way?" It was creepy and disgusting, and not in the way the writers intended it. If that hadn't been the last scene, I would have shut the episode off at that moment.
Speaking of Indigo's costume, could it be more obvious they're ripping off Mystique from the X-Men movies? The character in the comics looks nothing like this design, so the show's choices are obvious. Cheap, cheap, cheap.
Then we have plot holes galore. The hero characters figure out Indigo wants to launch a nuclear missile through a completely impossible leap of logic that I couldn't follow even after I backed up the DVR and re-watched the scene. It was absolute nonsense, and it was obvious they'd taped it quickly and hoped the viewers wouldn't notice. We did.
They make a big deal out of the fact that the missile silo had no Internet access, and the general Indigo is tracking would somehow allow her to gain access to the silo when the guy arrives there. When the general shows up at the silo, his iPhone (product placement!) rings. He wonders loudly why he's getting a signal. He answers it, which allows Indigo, who can travel through computer signals, to zip through the phone and appear at the silo.
Except if cell phones don't normally get signals out at the silo, how did the general's phone get one? If Indigo's control over computers somehow forced a signal, why would she need the general? She'd only need to force-activate any radio-controlled device at the silo and wouldn't need the general at all. And why was the general stupid enough to answer his cell phone in a highly-classified, hidden missile silo in the first place?
But now Indigo has taken over the missile silo and starts up the launch sequence. Suddenly Winn, our resident computer genius, conveniently reveals to the good guys that several years ago he wrote a super virus that could take Indigo out. (Why an Earth computer virus written years ago by a guy in a basement could hope to touch a Kryptonian super-computer that ran an entire civiliation, I can't imagine. Good thing the Kryptonians didn't use IOS.) All Winn has to do is upload the virus to Indigo and she'll be powerless! Winn starts the upload.
Uh, guys? Remember how a major plot point of the story is that THE SILO HAS NO INTERNET? How is Winn uploading the virus? This is not in the least bit addressed. Major, major plot canyon. But the virus uploads merrily away, despite the lack, and we're expected to go along with it because Winn is just so handsome. Or something.
The fight scenes were also awful. It looked like the actors couldn't remember their moves and were on the verge of losing their balance. Usually the show's fight scenes are pretty good, but tonight they on NyQuil.
Sickening sexism, horrible writing, bad fight scenes--this episode has it all. The "Spock's Brain" of Supergiril.
That, and stupid plotting.
(There will be spoilers.)
Indigo (played by Laura Vanderoort, the actress who was Supergirl on SMALLVILLE) was a villain-of-the-week, a relative of Brainiac. It was she who guided Kara's pod to Earth, for reasons that aren't made entirely clear in the episode. She hates humans, also for reason that aren't made clear in the episode, and has decided to wipe them out. Her method of doing so? A single nuclear missile aimed at a single city.
Okay, then.
The trouble we have with Indigo isn't her concept--we're willing to take on an alien who wants to destroy humanity. The trouble we have is how the character is handled.
First, we have her costume design. Look at this thing:
The skin-tight body suit broke "no sexism" rule on Supergirl. We've had a number of male villains, and not one of the THEM have strutted about in a bulgle-enhancing singlet. But this character slinks around in tight blue spandex. Sexist in the extreme. But it doesn't stop there. During the episode, we learn that Indigo has been having an affair with Kara's uncle Non. Indigo is really an advanced computer program, and Non's sexual relationship with her reduces her to the level of mere sex toy, a glorified blow-up doll. Can it get worse, you ask? Why yes, it can. After Indigo's inevitable defeat (by a man--Kara stands by helplessly and watches while Winn impossibly saves her), we cut to Non's laboratory, where he is laying out Indigo's chopped-up body on a table, cooing to her, "I only broke your heart. ... Are you ready to do it my way?" It was creepy and disgusting, and not in the way the writers intended it. If that hadn't been the last scene, I would have shut the episode off at that moment.
Speaking of Indigo's costume, could it be more obvious they're ripping off Mystique from the X-Men movies? The character in the comics looks nothing like this design, so the show's choices are obvious. Cheap, cheap, cheap.
Then we have plot holes galore. The hero characters figure out Indigo wants to launch a nuclear missile through a completely impossible leap of logic that I couldn't follow even after I backed up the DVR and re-watched the scene. It was absolute nonsense, and it was obvious they'd taped it quickly and hoped the viewers wouldn't notice. We did.
They make a big deal out of the fact that the missile silo had no Internet access, and the general Indigo is tracking would somehow allow her to gain access to the silo when the guy arrives there. When the general shows up at the silo, his iPhone (product placement!) rings. He wonders loudly why he's getting a signal. He answers it, which allows Indigo, who can travel through computer signals, to zip through the phone and appear at the silo.
Except if cell phones don't normally get signals out at the silo, how did the general's phone get one? If Indigo's control over computers somehow forced a signal, why would she need the general? She'd only need to force-activate any radio-controlled device at the silo and wouldn't need the general at all. And why was the general stupid enough to answer his cell phone in a highly-classified, hidden missile silo in the first place?
But now Indigo has taken over the missile silo and starts up the launch sequence. Suddenly Winn, our resident computer genius, conveniently reveals to the good guys that several years ago he wrote a super virus that could take Indigo out. (Why an Earth computer virus written years ago by a guy in a basement could hope to touch a Kryptonian super-computer that ran an entire civiliation, I can't imagine. Good thing the Kryptonians didn't use IOS.) All Winn has to do is upload the virus to Indigo and she'll be powerless! Winn starts the upload.
Uh, guys? Remember how a major plot point of the story is that THE SILO HAS NO INTERNET? How is Winn uploading the virus? This is not in the least bit addressed. Major, major plot canyon. But the virus uploads merrily away, despite the lack, and we're expected to go along with it because Winn is just so handsome. Or something.
The fight scenes were also awful. It looked like the actors couldn't remember their moves and were on the verge of losing their balance. Usually the show's fight scenes are pretty good, but tonight they on NyQuil.
Sickening sexism, horrible writing, bad fight scenes--this episode has it all. The "Spock's Brain" of Supergiril.
