Might as well call the show "Girl"

You know, I just don't think that "Girl" emits the same vibe as "Supergirl" does. I mean, if we called it "Girl" then how would we distinguish between Kara, who can: fly, lift items like Ft. Rozz into space , stop bullets, put out fires with her breath, and shoot lasers out of her eyes - and other girls who can't do any of those things? Plus, what do we do about that "S" emblem on her chest? We surely would have to remove it and then, what? Do we put a "G" on there instead? And what would that represent? The "S" represented "Stronger Together", would the "G" represent "Going at it Alone"? And can you imagine the havoc that would be wreaked upon the DC and CW marketing department from such an action, not to mention the backlash that would be incurred from those who have bought Supergirl memorabilia?

Nope, I think that it would be best for everyone if we stick with Supergirl. Yes, she may be inconsistent with her powers at times but, she's still pretty super .

Btw, welcome to the site, Brainguynyc and hopefully you will be able to find something positive about the show to add to our forums, too!

A have to agree with those commenting. It's a treat to see Supergirl face villains she can't easily overpower. It provides some much needed tension. It infuriated me to no end, how many times Supergirl easily overpowered her enemies. Or even worse, how often an enemy would initially overpower Supergirl, but would then be chased off by the DEO, who were equipped with normal firearms. Made no sense, as if they could overpower Supergirl, then firearms should be useless.

This season, Kara hasn't been saved by the DEO and their normal guns, even once. And Supergirl is finally facing enemies that can overpower her without any tricks, like using red sunlight or kryptonite.

I personally feel like the stakes have never been higher, and I really dig it.

" I think the writers get lazy with Supergirl's shifting level of strength. The one comment of her being beaten by a baddie then DEO shoots them away is astute."

Yes, I agree. In the "Childish Things" episode in Season 1, Kara couldn't even fly out of Toyman's vat of quicksand without freezing it first. Then in the season finale, she lifted Fort Rozz into space all by herself! Her level of vulnerability also seems to change all the time.
In some of the fight scenes with human opponents, Kara gets knocked to the ground by them. You would expect that it would be like punching a brick wall to them!
In my own fan fiction stories, I've tried to be as consistent as possible with Kara's power and vulnerability levels (while still keeping them somewhere below the extreme levels of the comic books and movies).

In the recent movie Justice League, as soon as Superman returned it was game over for the villain, rest of team can’t even begin to compare to him. I get that that might be the kind of Kryptonians people are used to and expect, but honestly if that’s the way then it makes Kryptonians bad entertainment for long running shows with a good narrative arc.

Admittedly the wins this season are fewer. I think it shows the stakes are high. Normally we get more moments of Kara easily taking out minor villains as a reminder of her abilities, but I think after two seasons we don’t need to be reminded. We know how powerful she is.

Plus it’s not like she hasn’t won. She won like every fight except against worldkillers.

Also I think not physically defeating the worldkillers works into the season’s theme of recovering humanity.

The show generalises a bit here which feels a bit racist towards aliens, but they’ve got it set out that the human side of Kara is represented by her emotions and compassion, her civilian aspects, and the alien side is her powers and strength, solving problems through force.

Early in the season we see Kara being quite aggressive. She quickly arrives at a scene, punches everything, leaves. But as the trap inside her own mind scene foreshadows and shows, solving problems through alien powers and force won’t always be a solution.

Kara and viewers are accustomed to Kryptonian powers being undefeatable and able to overcome anything. This seasons serves to show that there are issues Kara cannot overcome through physical strength and force, yet those are not the only things that make her Super, nor are they the only abilities in her arsenal. One of her greatest powers is humanity.

It's funny you should mention Kara's journey, Fedguy, from the beginning of this season. I was just NOW hopping on the site to discuss this very topic. I just finished rewatching the first episode of this season, and literally had forgotten how DARK Kara was back in October. lol In fact, it was hard to believe it was even THIS season. Seems like a whole season ago that Kara was at odds with every one in her life. And it got me thinking, in my opinion... Kara battling to be Kara again has been the biggest battle she's had to overcome since Season 1. So, actually... even if we DID just call the show "Girl," I'd be alright with it. In a very real sense, THAT'S been the greatest win... Kara becoming "girl," again rather than a super girl.

Oh yeah... I just got SUPER deep there! boom

It's funny you should mention Kara's journey, Fedguy, from the beginning of this season. I was just NOW hopping on the site to discuss this very topic. I just finished rewatching the first episode of this season, and literally had forgotten how DARK Kara was back in October. lol In fact, it was hard to believe it was even THIS season. Seems like a whole season ago that Kara was at odds with every one in her life. And it got me thinking, in my opinion... Kara battling to be Kara again has been the biggest battle she's had to overcome since Season 1. So, actually... even if we DID just call the show "Girl," I'd be alright with it. In a very real sense, THAT'S been the greatest win... Kara becoming "girl," again rather than a super girl.

Oh yeah... I just got SUPER deep there! boom

Kara was very detached from everyone in the beginning of the season and I’m liking how she’s truly figured out that she shouldn’t be that person. I think around E3 she was trying but sometimes knowing what’s best for yourself and doing it are two different things. It took several things, Alex needing her emotional support, facing Overgirl (who was Kara without a heart), losing a brawl to Reign, then being in a coma where the way out of her own head was to be Kara Danvers. She’s still figuring out her balance but the \S/ kept getting brighter every episode.

Speaking of Overgirl I’ll point out that Kara did beat her during the one on one fight in the church. No help or special devices just a brawl. It was close but that’s to be expected when your fighting yourself. That sonic-clap is a cool power I hope we see it again I think it could come in handy (pun intended) against the Worldkillers.

Kara-too-powerful-nothing-can-stop-her will get very old too fast.

She apparently has PTSD after the Reign fight. Didn't anyone notice the look of fear on her face when Reign caught up with her at Fort Rozz? Also as for the second Word Killer, she seemed to have hesitated a lot right there. She might have lost her confidence to fight effectively against a World Killer that she doesn't even realize it.

Also another hint: the nightmares she's having about the World Killers. There's a third coming which will make it more worse for her.

I like it this way - makes her eventual victory near the end of the season feel much more sweeter.

It's getting real odd now that for the 90% of the existence of the show Kara is ridiculously overpowered and everything is just a walk in the park, and no one complains.

Now the show is done as it should be when the main villain is actually a challenge, and people complain?

My recollection seems to be quite different from yours. Although I agree Kara was overpowered vs the season 1 and 2 big bads, on an episode by episode basis I remember her generally getting beaten by the villain more often than not mid episode, and then just barely squeezing out a victory at the end, assuming she even saved the day at all.

I think the issue this season is that we haven't really seen her have any solid victory over the big bad(s) yet so far (although she did have a partial victory at the end of Legion of Superheros) which makes it feel like she a bit weak, vs the typical villain of the week where we see her (usually) win in the end.

Personally, I also wish they'd show more of Kara trying to train/improve herself in some way to be able to beat the world killers.

Training is a good idea, but I feel the show’s angle isnt there. I dont think this season she’s trying to physically defeat them.

"I think Kara's power level is just fine, to me the Super in Supergirl doesn't relate to her fighting ability or overpowering her enemies it relates to her Superheroics (the ability to do what we as humans can't) and to her heart for other people and seeing the good in them. "

Oh. I agree that Kara's power level in the TV show is just fine. But it is lower than in the comics and the movies. On the show, we've seen that Kara can't fly in space or swim underwater indefinitely, because she needs oxygen (unlike in the comics). Also, her super-strength on TV sometimes seems closer to Hercules or Samson than the extreme levels of the comic-book stories. (In the Red-Faced episode, she punched a car and knocked pieces of it across the room, but it didn't end up 20 miles away, as it likely would have in the comics.)And on TV, Kara is vulnerable to things besides kryptonite, red sunlight, and "magic" (however one wishes to define it). In Season 1, Max Lord knocked her out cold with nothing more sophisticated than an especially large conventional bomb that was apparently similar to a MOAB. Then she fell into the ocean, and appeared to be in danger of drowning. That would never have happened in the comics or in the movie (which is why I said she and Superman were overpowered there).
P.S. - By the way, "MOAB" actually stands for "Massive Ordnance Air Burst". ("Mother Of All Bombs" is just a military slang term.)

It's getting real odd now that for the 90% of the existence of the show Kara is ridiculously overpowered and everything is just a walk in the park, and no one complains.

Now the show is done as it should be when the main villain is actually a challenge, and people complain?

It's getting real odd now that for the 90% of the existence of the show Kara is ridiculously overpowered and everything is just a walk in the park, and no one complains.

Now the show is done as it should be when the main villain is actually a challenge, and people complain?

I think that's just because Supergirl and Superman were always "ridiculously overpowered" in the comics (and the movies). (Their only weaknesses were kryptonite, red sunlight, and "magic".) So that's what people expected to see on the TV show. But in reality, a lower power level is better in my opinion, because it adds more dramatic tension to the plots.

I think it's a good plot device to have opponents that can overpower Supergirl physically without using kryptonite, red sunlight, or "magic". This way the show are avoiding the overuse of kryptonite, which really got kind of ridiculous in "Smallville".

Lena needs to invent a Solarmight*...errh, Ultrasolar ray..laser, and zap Kara with it to power her up, a lot. Kara could also use sparring against another Kryptonian, to emphasize things like superspeed to get many more punches in, heat vision while swinging, etc.

*2 points for identifying who invented the solarmight bomb.

In her defence.... they ARE World Killers, and Supergirl can't defeat them in the comic books, either. In fact, only a World Killer can kill a World Killer.

But we HAVE had a few discussions, as of late, that Kara really needs to be training. Still swinging wide. lol

P. S... You just posted for the first time and this is what you choose as a first comment? *sniff sniff* Is that troll I smell?

If not, jjjjuusstt checking. And... Welcome to the crew.

Now, be nice.

I think it's a good plot device to have opponents that can overpower Supergirl physically without using kryptonite, red sunlight, or "magic". This way the show is avoiding the overuse of kryptonite, which really got kind of ridiculous in "Smallville".

I myself think that strength is only one of the attributes of a superhero. Firstly, it depends how strength is used. There are countless examples of people using their undoubted strength for ill, and Reign is a good example of that.
Of course, physical strength is an important facet of Supergirl. But for me, it is also her unending support for others, her insistence on trying to do the right thing, and her demonstration that hope trumps fear that makes her the real hero for me.
I am, like many people, looking forward to climatic fisticuffs at the end, but let Supergirl's undoubted victory be underpinned by her other heroic qualities too.

Okay so Supergirl can't seem to be of any help lately strength wise. It's really pathetic how her strength can't compare to the current villians' strength. I mean that scene where she is being held around the neck and struggling like a pathetic weakling is shameful. Might as well change the show's name to "GIRL".

Hmmm....I'm thinking you don't know much about the worldkillers....

And really.....ya could have put this in the already created Kara/Supergirl thread. Yeah....

Okay so Supergirl can't seem to be of any help lately strength wise. It's really pathetic how her strength can't compare to the current villians' strength. I mean that scene where she is being held around the neck and struggling like a pathetic weakling is shameful. Might as well change the show's name to "GIRL".

It's pretty much standard operating procedure for the hero to get severely beaten down by the villain in some way mid-season. The Flash and Arrow also do this almost every season, to a greater or lesser degree. It makes the story more interesting. gives the character a huge obstacle to overcome, and provides them the opportunity to be a hero in the end.

At least Supergirl put up a good fight and got some good hits in, unlike Barry in The Flash seasons 2 and 3 who just got steam rolled, and Oliver in Arrow season 3 who couldn't even hit Ra's at all before being 'killed'.

Edit: After re-watching the scene, Oliver did get *one* hit in on Ra's at the very end. Not that it mattered much.

Kara just spent two seasons essentially taking down the arc "big bads" (Non and Rhea) by overpowering them in physical confrontations, lifting a million-ton space station, and blasting an evil Kryptonian with her heat vision. Not to mention numerous lesser baddies punched out and overcome by her superpowers, strength of will, and a bit of tactics.

Now, finally, she's up against multiple enhanced Kryptonians she can't just beat down. I'd say that's the actual measure of a hero: what do you do when you are up against an actual, mortal threat? How do you face it?

That's actually more interesting than Kara rounding up a bunch of bank robbers who can't even muss her hair with a frickin' rocket launcher.