That is one of the main flaws of Supergirl the show: they bring up a lot of important stuff and then just...ignore it.
I like to compare it to Agents of SHIELD in that regard, which is a show that is very good at character development. For example: in Season 2, Jemma became an anti-alien bigot due to the death of Trip...and was then called out hard on it by Fitz in a later episode, basically saying "I lied to you because I couldn't trust you anymore to do the right thing." (Agents of SHIELD unfortunately liked to use violence and torture in it's first season, too, but I think the show realized how messed up it was, so moved on from it — I don't remember them doing anything like that in the past three seasons that wasn't also immediately called out, usually by Mack.)
Edited by alliterator on Feb 10th 2019 at 11:10:22 AM
What I've learned is that, if you notice a Supergirl character having flaws, flaws that aren't wholly resolved by episode's end, 99% of the time it's because the writers don't recognize what the characters are doing as a flaw.
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
There was that time where Coulson was gonna use the torture machine Raina used on him to get information out of a barely sane Werner Von Strucker with the Centipede Memory Machine.
Coulson flat out admitted to Lincoln that what they were about to do was not a good thing, and that his personal experience with the machine meant he hated doing it, but they still went through with it because they needed to.
One Strip! One Strip!
Yep. And, in doing so, he got the information he needed...and also created another enemy for himself when Strucker returned in Season 5. And he wouldn't even have needed that information had May simply told him in the first place. Torture, in the show, either doesn't work or comes with dire consequences.
Edited by alliterator on Feb 10th 2019 at 11:22:55 AM
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
So...the Children of Liberty are pretty much winning aren't they?
They've got tons of followers, more and more humans are showing they are massively intolerant of aliens, and nothing Kara is doing seems to be putting a dent in that.
Honestly, I think this should end with every alien race just ditching Earth, then sealing it behind some kind of force field. You want to be left alone, you'll be all alone.
One Strip! One Strip!
Yeah... I’ve felt for a while that the writers are effectively making a world that isn’t realistically going to be saved, doesn’t want to be saved, and doesn’t really deserve to be saved, and I’ve wondered how they’re going to turn that around and have Kara believably save it in the end anyway.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Feb 17th 2019 at 6:44:58 AM
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
It's just like what's going on with the Xmen really?
Why do they keep protecting humans when the latter are so determined to hate and genocide them?
We, no it's not as bad as the Xmen, because we know there are still normal humans who don't side with the children of liberty.
It doesn't feel like it, but there are (and not just among the main characters).
One Strip! One Strip!
I was thinking the opposite. The X-Men face racism of apocalyptic scale at times, but they have plenty of human allies and it's often the case that while there is a lot of anti-mutant hate in the Marvel Universe, the worst of it is done by individuals or groups who have a lot of power and influence (people they can ultimately fistfight, essentially), whereas there's more moderation with the people as a whole.
Here, pretty much every human with more than a line of dialogue that isn't a main character is either anti-alien, becomes anti-alien onscreen, or is simply too corrupt or too apathetic to give a shit about the horrible things that are happening. The actual government itself included. The Agents of Liberty continue to get more support everywhere, everything the heroes do to stop it just make it worse, and there doesn't seem to be any avenue they have to make it better. Our heroes are literally the only ones who care about making things better - and even Alex is shown to be one relationship away from being a racist herself.
I think the "city that has had both aliens and humans in peace for decades" a couple episodes ago is the first time we've gotten a real idea that there are parts of this world that aren't shitty.
I also keep thinking this is all going to end with some alien race judging Earth to be dangerous and putting them in a bubble or something. So far, if it wasn't for the fact that it would be leaving Clark, Lois, the Kents and the the rest of the side cast in the lurch, I'd almost be down for Kara and co. leaving home and chilling with Barry for a while. At least when a racist serial killer goes on a "crusade" on Earth-1, the public in general sees him for what he is.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Feb 17th 2019 at 9:59:23 AM
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
I don't think the X-Men have ever had much in the way of human allies and they deal with government-sanctioned violence against mutants all the time. Typically, in the form of the Sentinel program.
This is a title.
Crisis On Infinite Earths and jump straight to New 52. Red Lantern Kara. Good idea or great idea? 
Actually that is a thought. Handwave it as everyone being influenced by Parallax. Agent Liberty goes all Eldritch Abomination, a Green Lantern shows up and helps Kara give Parallax what for. Parallax gets carted back to Oa for imprisonment. Everyone lives happily ever after.
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
Pretty much any superhero they interact with who isn't a mutant, for one.
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
Foreign Troper
Yeah, I mean this show basically keeps telling us that Kara is a dumbass and that her heroic approach just doesn't work, which is really frustrating.
Should I feel bad about hoping that the Elite will slaughter the Children of Liberty?
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I'm hoping that the series ends with Supergirl Shaming the Mob and getting them to abandon the Children of Liberty.
But I am sick of their Karma Houdini status.
As for Alex? Yeah, it's not a good thing she has an inner fascist that is always dying to get out.
But she's always been the Batman to Kara's Supergirl.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Feb 18th 2019 at 1:02:44 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
I said human allies. And even then, the X-Men's relationship with other superheroes isn't much to write home about. A notable example is Secret Wars when they got beat up by Spider-Man for wanting to join Magneto. Marvel's been very consistent that when it comes to fighting anti-mutant racism, the X-men stand alone.
If this show has a better use for the Elite than the comics where they were just straw men for Superman to knock down, I guess the season won't be a total loss.
Edited by windleopard on Feb 18th 2019 at 2:42:28 AM
Foreign Troper
On top off my head, there's Saddie Sinclair, the mayor of San Francisco who gave the X-Men shelter there. Or Kate Kildare, their PR Agent....who off course got horribly murdered by Mr Sinister later.
But yeah, even supposed paragons like Cap don't really do much to help them fight anti-mutant bigottry.
/off topic
Edited by Forenperser on Feb 18th 2019 at 2:52:44 PM
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J. Jonah Jameson supports mutant rights. I wish there was Spider-Man/X-Men crossover with that as the focus.
Anyway, I want Dreamgirl to tell her roommate she's a superhero and make her roommate her sidekick.
Never trust anyone who uses "degenerate" as an insult.
Most Marvel superheroes who aren’t mutants are human.
I don’t think one instance of Let's You and Him Fight between Spidey and the X-Men outweighs all the times he has teamed up with them. Spidey’s a good example of it, in fact, because he’s the team up King and is on collaborative terms with many of the X-Men, including Beast (with whom he’s definitely gone out to fight racist conspiracies with) and Wolverine.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Feb 19th 2019 at 12:53:43 PM
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
Claremont set it up so that Charles Xavier actually has a network of homo sapien allies, including a U.S. Senator and Judge. There was also a massive network of corporations plus the Mayor of San Fransisco.
They just get ignored because comics are often worst case scenario.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
I noticed that as well, particularly in the last season. What really sucks is that these flaws would make great character development fodder if they were reasonably addressed, but the writers instead double down and insist nothing's wrong until a far more hack-need development arises.
So, like, was that Evil Supergirl thing dealt with?
Also, why are they shooting Supergirl? Are these bad guys new to National City?
I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
Damn.
Hat jacked Brainy's bling!
That's not cool!
Also, I'm becoming more and more convinced that Earth should just be allowed to burn itself to the ground.
One Strip! One Strip!
) will probably be the last villain of the season, after the Elite and Lex Luthor.
Foreign Troper
So, first they introduced Haley to make Alex look good. And now they make Baker even worse to make Haley look good? Wtf.
Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
Eh, I thought the New President was going to turn out evil since he became the New President anyway.
"Yes we know that Alex frequently uses violence and intimidation to get what she wants, has trouble separating her personal life from her job and is only sort of pro-alien because her adopted sister is one. But Haley's the one willing to sacrifice dozens of innocent civilians and blackmail Kara into complete servitude to the US government."
The Supergirl writers are essentially using a form of whataboutism when it comes to these two characters. They don't have to confront Alex's flaws when they can just introduce another who's so much worse than Alex.
This isn't even getting into the uncomfortable implications of making the black anti-alien bigot less sympathetic and reasonable than the white anti-alien bigot.
Edited by windleopard on Mar 29th 2019 at 1:33:49 AM