This weekend, we are doing mid-season reports for the Arrowverse shows we're following. We're off the Legends of Tomorrow bandwagon, and we will give a mid-season grade for Black Lightning next week.
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Subject: Supergirl.
Season: 4th.
When it airs: Sundays at 8 (ET). Returns January 20.
Previous grade: B- (mid-season 2017-18).
Where we are: The biggest complaint people have about Supergirl is where its political leanings lie. It's no longer a mostly feminist agenda, but rather a scathing, ongoing analogy in relation to a certain demagogue occupying the White House. Executive Producer Greg Berlanti and his staff have all but put aside their LGBT agenda in favor of using the show to speak out against President Trump.
In the context of the show itself, Trump is embodied by the fictional President Baker (Bruce Boxleitner, ex-Babylon 5, Scarecrow & Mrs. King), who ascended to the Presidency when his predecessor, Olivia Marsden (Lynda Carter) was forced to resign after she was publicly outed as an alien. More specifically, a Durlan, a fact viewers had known for some time. Marsden's ouster came courtesy of Mercy Graves (Rhona Mitra), better known to comics fans as Lex Luthor's bodyguard-chauffeur, but unlike in the books, Mercy is doing her own thing, and was given a brother, Otis, who himself is a call-back to Ned Beatty's character of the same name from "Superman: The Movie" 40 years ago. That Otis was also an associate of Luthor, but neither Otis was sharp in the brain department.
The layers of the overarching plot for the season are being peeled back one at a time. The Graves sibs were killed off just a month into the season after recruiting Ben Lockwood (Sam Witwer, ex-Smallville), aka Agent Liberty, who, instead of a standard cowl & tights, wears a mask that looks like it was reforged after it was originally designed for Styx's "Mr. Roboto". Yeah, it's that bad. In the books, Agent Liberty started as a hero, turned jingoist rogue, then turned back to a hero before being killed off. The fact that his followers wear replica masks was inspired by Alan Moore & David Lloyd's V For Vendetta and those Guy Fawkes-inspired masks worn by characters in that book.
Prior to this week's Elseworlds, Lockwood was himself captured and unmasked, but don't think that's the end of him, because it isn't.
Meanwhile, Lex Luthor will finally arrive on the scene in the second half of the season. Jon Cryer (ex-Two and a Half Men), most recently flexing his dramatic muscles on NCIS, might actually be an improvement over the underachieving Jesse Eisenberg ("Justice League", "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice"). While Cryer might actually be much older than Katie McGrath, who plays Lex's sultry sis, Lena, he actually can pass for a guy 15-20 years younger. He also has some genre cred, as he appeared in one of the later "Superman" movies under the Salkinds' watch as another Luthor relative.
Superman himself (Tyler Hochelin) returned in Elseworlds, but forget about him returning again this season. He might not be back until next year's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. Y'see, he popped the question to Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch, ex-Grimm) after learning Lois is pregnant, conception having taken place at Argo City, which is where the couple will stay for the duration. An old foe of Superman's, Manchester Black (David Ajala) debuted, and reportedly will form his comics team, the Elite, in the second half, so that'll put the speculation to rest about Black being a guinea pig for Lena's experiments.
Back to President Baker. I'm so not digging his Trumpian bullying of Supergirl in the 12/2 episode, demanding her secret identity be revealed, and you can imagine he's claiming it's for national security reasons. Boxleitner wears his gray hair the way Trump would. If they really wanted to, they'd be better off if they could have pried Alec Baldwin away from his self-titled ABC talk show, which is nearing the cutting room floor, Saturday Night Live, & Match Game.
Anyway, here's a trailer for the next episode, airing January 20.
If they don't use Elvis Presley or Fine Young Cannibals (who covered "Suspicious Minds" back in the 80's) on the soundtrack, well.....!
Updated rating: A-.
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