Superhero Legacy

 I'm going to put my Imdb comments on Superman and Lois, as well as any Flash or Smallville episodes down in one place. It's actually a good place for them because I intend to start writing fan-fiction that takes place in this other Earth and this will give me solid grounding from which to grow my stories and give everyone else a background of the world itself. I can't think of anywhere else to put my reviews where they can be accessed in one-click. -- Then I realized there are only 3 Internet Movie Database summaries/comments I made that aren't about Smallville, Superman and Lois or Flash shows. So I'm putting them here too.

Smallville (2001) 2 epically stupid seasons the rest are SUPER COOL

21 May 2023 - 1 out of 1 users found this review helpful.

Some of the innovations of the show like red Kryptonite having a consistent physical reaction and his pod landing obscured by a meteor shower were pretty inspired. Season four with awesome writing and character development, just seemed a little awkward. And rushed. It's like they didn't know if the show would keep going so they pushed ahead like a steam truck until they realized they were being renewed. Fortunately the show DID keep going because I LOVED Lionel's redemptive arc. At first Clark was understandably reluctant to trust him but came to the conclusion that they did need him. In season 7 the epically bad timing of a discovery from Lionel's past, something that happened before they even knew him much less from before he'd become an ally was enough to erase, in Clark's mind 3 years of his being lock-step and dedicated to helping him. Twice before Clark had his hand at Lionel's throat, trying to kill and Lionel still coming through for him. Also even though they mourned his sacrifice, they never actually admitted they'd been wrong, or how tragic it was that such a loyal friend died alone and friendless because they didn't believe in him anymore. Literally, he died protecting Clark's secret, murdered by his own son. Season 8 was horrible, contrived full of lies, betrayal and suspicions of infidelity. I don't know anyone who would watch a Superman show and want to see that. Season 10 was the other 'bad' season. That was because they were trying to fit every single bad guy from the DC animated universe in at once...into a show that was originally more about Clark than Kal'el at all. These were bad guys Justice League fans would love. But Superman never faced alone. I am a fan of Sueprman, I never saw Justice League, so I was completely lost. To sum up, seasons 4 and 8 are the stupid ones. Season 9 was awesome for so many reasons, most of them having to do with developing and humanizing both Olvier Queen and Jor'el as completely as they did. The one thing I want to cure everyone from thinking is "The last 2 seasons sucked." Season 8 was the Jimmy Olsen, Doomsday, Davis Bloom soap-opera disaster that had Oliver actually use kryptonite on Clark while in control of himself. And ended in Jimmy Olsen's death. Season 9 was everything fans of Batman or Superman would want. It even had Julian Sands beign Jor-el and the most awesome dark and broody General Zod one could hope for. I'm glad I stuck it out even after the abysmal season 8. I'm sure you will be too.

Smallville: Instinct (2008) Thank the Arrow-verse. No seriously!

Several unrelated notes from the episode: the Actress to play Maxima looks like Caity Lotz who plays Canary/White Canary Sarah Lance in the CW Arrow-verse. Two: I wholeheartedly agree with Chloe that Jimmy's jealously of Clark and constant insecure suspicions of Chloe's infidelity are getting tiresome and broken record. A perception and obsession that unfortunately would only get worse and more destructive (not to mention tiresome and exhausting for the viewer) as the season went on. Three, I assumed Maxima was a canonical DC character, she shows up again played by a different actress on Supergirl's Earth. She is one of very few examples where I can unequivocally say Smallville gave the same character far greater depth. Or at least, showed more than the stereotypical hot kick-ass female alien trope.

It is neat to see proof that Lois and Clark have a connection rather than just explosive chemistry. Ironically enough proved by literal chemistry and alien psychology. They'll doubt where to go and what to do about it for a while longer but this is the first time either of them have actually considered that, to quote a Disney classic 'there may be something there'. It's also nice to see that the line in Supergirl where Maxima says she once sought to make Kal'el her mate wasn't throw away line created by the Supergirl writers to create a connection to Superman out of thin air. But ultimately, if I hadn't already seen Supergirl and Arrow before going back to Smallville to watch season-8 for the very first time, I wouldn't have seen anything except cheap, tired attempts to hook viewers and keep the tension between characters alive alive...at the all-too-familiar expense of actually being an interesting or even watchable episode.

Smallville: Finale (2011) Not Such a Mystery 1 out of 1 found this helpful.

One of the most talked about and obvious errors in the episode is how Johnathan can be there, able to make physical contact with Martha who doesn't think anything of it. This is never addressed in the episode. But there is an explanation: Brainiac-5. Back in season 5 the evil Brainiac tried to convince Clark to kill Lionel by pretending to be Johnathan Kent. He could physically interact with everyone. Earlier in this season we saw Brainiac, the Brain Interactive Construct as he was intended to be: a much kinder, update of himself called Brainiac-5. In the episode Homecoming he taught Clark to stop being afraid, stop punishing himself and everyone around him for past mistakes and to embrace his future. And Martha doesn't say anything about it because she's used to the craziness by now. Everyone seems fixated on how Johnathan could be back from the dead and Clark's wedding and a room full of people not notice, but that's just it: there's nothing to say anyone except Clark and Martha can even see him. Martha is there and when 'Johnathan' interacts with them, you can kind of see that he's just being there for his friends and recognizing the importance of this moment...but not sharing it.

 Anything I know about Brainiac-5 outside of Smallville is from Jesse Rath's Querl Dox, the Coluan Brainiac-5 from Supergirl. And 'Johnathan' actually reminds me a little bit of him. The hesitation in putting his hand on Martha's shoulder in the barn. Knowing it would be comforting but worried about over-stepping. Maybe I'm reading too much into this but I think Brainiac-5 was simply making the same move as his predecessor but with a far more benign purpose. He just wanted Clark to have Johnathan here in some form for a moment as important as either the wedding or finally becoming the Man of Steel, but the writers/producers had no screen time available to explain/display those feelings. Johnathan does seem to be talking about himself a step-removed, like he hesitates to refer to himself as Clark's father. And Johnathan himself never had so little reluctance in referring to Jor'el AS Clark's father. If he were someone who knew Jor'el, like J'onn J'onzz or someone from Krypton that would explain it.

Also Lex and Tess acting the way they do, Tess being all alone and never sharing screen time with anyone but Lex was inconvenient and trying, but unavoidable. Cassidy Freeman wasn't on set with anyone else. Everything felt if not particularly rushed, more grand, fantastical and sweeping than anything that had come before it. And everything did happen pretty much at once. Which jarred me a little but it was a pretty adrenaline-filled explosive season finale and that fast pace and 'no time' feeling probably was what they were actually going for. Annoying as it was, I think it kind of fit. Also I saw Crisis on Infinite Earths of the CW Arrow-verse, in which Tom Welling reprises this role before I actually saw this final season.  I wondered why Clark seemed perfectly cool with Lex being president, given how much of a monster Lex has been since season 6. Clark was so cool with it because Lex didn't remember any of this. He was no longer the monster we've come to know over the past few seasons and might have been just a normal politician. He had truly been freed from the shackles of being raised, then confused and angered by Lionel as well as his feelings of betrayal with Clark. Which gives more weight and certainty to Tess' final act. Tess didn't exactly redeem him. But she gave Lex a second chance and the rest of the world (unbeknown to the world) a brighter future. Which apparently held 20 years later when Supergirl's Lex showed up.

Superman & Lois (2021) The biggest goof has a clear answer

14 May 2023 - 2 out of 4 users found this review helpful.

It isn't confirmed until the end of season 2 but this series takes place on another Earth in the multiverse. And at least 5 other Earths did survive Crisis. In the season 2 finale General Lane mentions that Clark ins the only Super-powered hero on this Earth. Meaning there is no native Flash either.

They kept a general continuity of things that could be read either way. John Diggle's comment about fighting alongside Superman could have been possible on Earth Prime since post-Crisis they have always lived on the same Earth. This Earth's Oliver Queen did know them, as is as dead as ours. But there is no native Supergirl on this Earth, anymore than there was on Earth-1. You'd actually have to watch the last episode of Arrow to see why some Earth's merged and others didn't. Tal-Rho and General Anderson are original characters...but Tal-Rho is unique. General Anderson is a proxy for any human authority-figure who doesn't understand that Superman is anything but Superman.

Lana Lang Cushing is the single most annoying character in the show to me personally. So I won't waste time talking about her. The big thing is Superman can have kids. Traditionally Superman cannot procreate with humans. What we think of as Kryptonian physiology is incompatible with an Earth humans for making offspring. In the show Supergirl Lois and Clark could have a kid because they were on the asteroid of Argo City when Lois became pregnant. No yellow sun means no powers, no powers means Clark is essentially human and they can get pregnant. I bet a lot of people were wondering how Lois and Clark could have had kids if there was no mention they'd ever gone to Ago City. But it's never actually stated this rule is even a thing here. Maybe Generals Lane and Anderson wouldn't actually be surprised that Superman can biologically have kids. Anderson was just surprised that Superman had a human Life...at all. Ultimately this show draws that fine distinction between being part of the Arrowverse and being part of the multiverse. Diggle mentions having fought alongside Superman which actually still works because Team Arrow is almost completely self-made heroes without superpowers anyway. This is not Clark and Lois from Supergirl now living on Earth-prime. It's thier dopplegangers on one the very few Earths we KNOW survived Crisis. Earth 12, 19, 21, or Earth-9. Which explains Why Sam and Lucy Lane are such completely different characters from who we saw on Earth-38. Although again, the old world-new world differences could have explained that.
Postscript: almost everyone goes over the top in both drama and emotion in season 3. Far more real-world problems. Tension/dissension that feels like it's mostly there to make something of the production. Most of it actually NOT coming from Lana Cushing, but from practically everyone else.

Superman & Lois: Complications (2023)

Bizzaro's cure is set up - 2 out of 3 users found this review helpful.

A pun I guess. Because it is set up very well and thoughtfully, but it is also set up to fail. And if you're paying attention you can actually see why. Superman's blood is restorative. In season 3 of Smallville, Clark learns that his blood can cure severe liver disease and even cancer. Bruno stole a little bit of Superman's blood to start his cure and it seemed to work. But Bizzaro's world isn't just a world with a red sun. It is an inverted world. Even the physical laws are opposite. He grows weak from XK, uses Green K like a drug. He's weakened by the Earth's yellow sun because he was raised under square Earth's red sun. Most of the characters other than Superman himself who learned about this are either dead like Anderson or living on Square Earth like Tal-Rho. But you can actually see, and more importantly there actually is an established reason that makes sense in context for why the miracle cure doesn't work. And I don' think that happens too often.

Superman & Lois: Injustice (2023) Jordan is not his father: He's Jon-El

22 June 2023 - 6 out of 8 users found this review helpful.

Seriously if Jordan Kent was real and I met him on the street, I'd walk up to him and say 'Hello Jon-el". It's the only reference he would get. But he doesn't have Jon-el's history. He didn't have an attention grabbing, only interested in your son once he has powers Kal'el for a father. He has a father who cares about him, who actually did raise him right. And somehow he's managing to push EVERYONE away while still claiming that everyone else is making everything about them. Johnathan and Sarah's self-interest is normal and realistic for thier age and actually a perfectly understandable reaction to thier unusual lives. I don't like seeing it, but it makes sense.

The reason I rate this episode as high as I do is because everything else about it is stellar. Seeing Luthor again, for the first time. Sam Lane being an involved family member who is as hurt as Clark and Lois to see Jordan becoming the attention grabber that he is. Wally West over in CW Central City was never this much of a showboat but even when he was a little bit he wised up pretty fast. And to have Jordan basically oozing disdain and callousness seems... like Jordan isn't the person on drugs to have taken the show down this particularly dark rabbit hole. I say it that way because he's giving a more convincing portrayal of being 'on drugs' than Tom Welling's Clark Kent did when he discovered Red Kryptonite. A substance that by its nature removes Kryptonian inhibitions and promotes aggressiveness.

"Mr. And Mrs. Kent are calling my house. They're really worried. It's like, they think he's on drugs or something." "Clark would have to BE on drugs to be on drugs." ...Chloe and Pete in a season 2 episode Smallville noticing Clark on Red-K. The class ring that was supposedly a ruby was a red meteor rock. It was a pretty cool way for Tom Welling to shed Clark's upstanding morality for an episode. This is 4 episodes in a row without any apparent explanation whatsoever. It's exhausting.

Superman & Lois: The Dress (2023)
Episode 9, Season 3
Passionate and Obstinate...but troubling
26 May 2023 - 1 out of 7 users found this review helpful.
Being the fan of Arrow and Flash that I am I feel like I just saw Malcolm Merlyn or Harry Wells ask Barry to be more like Oliver Queen. Not only ask it, it was like John somehow expected Clark Kent to be fully Kryptonian or to be more like Batman. And the only person who has greater proof and deeper experience of who Superman truly is as a hero is Ben Affleck's Batman. John Henry took some serious walks on the dark-side here. And I hope he sees these people, Bruno and Matteo for who they truly are...not what he imagines them to be. Or to put it another way, if General Anderson hadn't realized exactly how badly he'd screwed up, I wouldn't have been able to stomach some of the things he did. But when shown the truth he accepted and owned how wrong he was. Even if John never admits he was wrong, I hope he at least learns the truth.

Okay sometimes the thoughts and perspectives I was raised with come out instead of what I actually believe. The minimalist and hyper-focused attitude I took before was wrong. This actually is an awesome, dramatic and emotionally charged episode. Well written, compared to most others of this season surely, and bold. But I just have trouble getting through when one character dominates the episode in a bad way. Like in a way contrary to what we know of the character. So please ignore anything I said before. And John Henry as a character seemed seriously weird in this episode. Asking Superman *not to care for people, even criminals and enemies is like asking the sky not to be blue. And it was a low blow on his part to say Superman was only being this way because of what Lois was going through. The fact that Lois and Peia are going through the same thing means Clark knows what he is talking about. Means Clark knows how to approach or deal with Bruno. John Henry was not only too emotionally involved in this, he was adding fuel to the fire and on a one man mission to get rid of the poison to this city that was attracting his daughter. Matteo was attractive to his daughter. Bruno was being a freaking human being. A reality John exploits and somehow ignores at the same time. But more to the point, John had a spear of kryptonite against his throat and Superman still tried to help him. I'm pretty sure Lois wasn't sick then. So Superman being Superman isn't because of Lois' illness. Superman is better than other superheroes, he is the icon he is because, as Lois says in the episode, he is far more human than you would think of to look at him. He leans into compassion and empathy. And John Henry had more reason than most to know that.

Superman & Lois: Head On (2023) I Miss Tal-Rho

25 April 2023 - 3 out of 4 users found this review helpful.

In season 2 there was a driving plot of the story other than either Lana or Clark's family. Superman had a brother he was learning to trust and rely on, who like Magneto or even Malcom Merlyn on Arrow was shown as nothing but bad and then gradually humanized. Clark also had someone who should have been a friend and an ally who didn't trust him. Lt. General Anderson. Superman didn't talk to his -the corollary to Director J'onn J'onzz in Supergirl- any more than needed and actually did keep a lot of things from until it was almost too late. I think mistakes and misjudgments happened on both sides and LOVE that Anderson got a chance to apologize before the end.
But Tal Rho and the actor that plays him was the most compelling and enticing part of the entire season. And certainly what drew me back for more. His accent, his past, his pragmatism, his acerbic attitude and his DESIRE for redemption in his brother's eyes. Like season 1 Wells in Flash he didn't care about people, he cared about his family. He was what Black Siren was for the last 3 seasons of Arrow. And I'm starting to think we'll never see him again.
I mean we know where he is but I want him back as much as his brother does. He would bring a balance and an objectivity back to the shows dynamic the lack of which makes this show a daytime drama. And if we don't either bring him back or give him some kind of send off it would be disappointing to an epic degree. I guess objectively speaking his run was done for a while. They can bring him back once more a changed man or with the proverbial 'harbinger of things to come' right?

Superman & Lois: In Cold Blood (2023)

Not a Superman show, not with this much family drama

15 April 2023 - 2 out of 4 users found this review helpful.

Lana Cushing having judgment on speed-dial, assuming she has everything figured out and the judgments she makes based on those assumptions has been getting worse since the second half of last season. But this is a new low. Assuming her ex husband thinks she's having an affair, just because he's concerned she actually can trust the stranger? Berating and then slapping her daughter for being 'ungrateful' for everything she does for the town and her responsibilities as mayor? If Bizzaro Superman proved one thing it's that when anything becomes more important to a parent than their family, the failure belongs to the parent. And everyone else usually suffers right along with them.

Also Clark is barely in the picture. Lois is going through something I can't connect to, although I know a lot of people can. But as of this episode even John Henry is being a self-righteous idiot to his daughter and holding on to something I honestly thought he'd let go of. Having a main character always assuming she knows not only what is right, but what other people want, what they think, what they mean, what thier intentions are, if that character is supposed to be someone we agree with and root for, is never 'superhero' material and certainly not Superman specific brand of superheroing superman is supposed to remind us of. I know I sound superficial but Lana Cushing is the selfish brat that hurts everyone around her and thinks herself unappreciated. Again, I'm taking this so personally because of my own history but does this not belong in a Superman show, it barely belongs in any superhero television show. This is not Law and Order SVU. WA season 5 episode of that show titled 'Home' is the only other episode of anything that actually gave me flashbacks. I miss Smallville's 'hope for tomorrow' attitude and hope someone pulls this back onto the rails and back on track.

Superman & Lois: Uncontrollable Forces (2023) A lot fewer distractions

25 April 2023 - 1 out of 1 users found this review helpful.

Family stuff is more on point. Because it focuses at least a little bit on John and Natalie, each hanging out with people thier own age. There are two continuing plots: Bruno Manheim and Lois' condition. I couldn't say much and I'll try not to say anything about Lois' condition going forward but Manheim is played by Tobias Church (first part of Arrow season 5) and it really does work. It's a very similar character. There is one moment where you see something akin to uncertainty in the assassin's eyes. For a second I didn't understand why.

In the season nine episode of Smallville called Absolute Justice, a criminal called Icicle having put on Dr. Fate's helmet wipes the floor with Hawkman, Stargirl, Green Arrow and Superman. Then  J'onn Jo'nzz phases in and the villain is like "I killed you." J'onn Jo'nzz, played by Phil Morris says "I'm Mars sole survivor. There's a reason for that." It's a total badass moment that in some way seems called back to life in this episode...for a brief moment. Because John Henry Irons on this Earth is dead so seeing him helping Lois out would have been a similar moment.

Superman & Lois: Waiting for Superman (2022) Everything did come full circle

The last couple of scenes were pretty boring but almost everything else about this was stellar. Tal Rho's comment that no other hero was capable of what Superman could do hinted at something that was later confirmed by General Lane: This Earth has no other super-powered heroes. Which means it's not Earth prime. It's either Earth-2, Earth-12, E-19 or E-9. (The Earth's that we as the audience know survived the merging of the Multiverse in Crisis, minus Brandon Routh's Superman's Earth) Which would explain the lack of Supergirl or Argo City references anywhere in the series.
There's a nod to the Smallville series premiere also. Tal Rho is known by the general public as Morgan Edge, a Lex Luthor type character, right? Does anyone else here like Smallville enough to remember the second thing Lex did for Clark after thanking him for saving his life? He bought Clark a truck that Johnathan wouldn't let him keep. So having 'Uncle Tal' buy the Kent twins trucks that Clark at first didn't want them to keep brought a smile to my face that was as wide as a door. And now he's off doing his own thing on Square Earth. Still I hope that's not the last we'll see of him. He was at his core a very cool guy...just troubled.

Superman & Lois: Bizarros in a Bizarro World (2022)

Scales are torn from everyone's eyes - including ours

One thing a lot of people didn't seem to get about General Anderson is that he was thrown into a situation he didn't understand and was doing the best job he knew how to do, with a superman who clearly didn't trust him. But he was military. Anderson is classic military: As honorable as he is hard-nosed. He holds himself to the same high standard he has for everyone else and when he fails he's as hard on himself as anyone. When he realizes he is wrong about people or a situation, or in this case both, he owns up to it. And he's the CW version of DCEU Batman. All he sees, all he has reason to see is an alien with powers who happens to be our ally. Superman holding so much back from Anderson, clearly not trusting him, and then suddenly protecting 'that thing' that killed his men bred distrust and suspicion. Maybe one reason Superman forgives him so easily is he realized that even with a good reason his holding Anderson at arms length for so long actually played a part in the man going so far over the edge. So I'm glad Anderson had a chance to admit he was wrong and make things right with Superman. It was a touching and well deserved moment. And when Anderson sees the photo and realizes exactly how badly he screwed up it crushes him and we as the audience feel that with him. He was never as much of a jerk as we assumed. He was misguided and hard, but not heartless. And as a bonus it's shown that even Bizzaro Tal-Rho has a sense of honor and family.

Superman & Lois: The Ties That Bind (2022) A Classic Episode With a Good Story

Also we see a hurt and wounded Tal-Rho who really is just there to help Clark. He has no interest in delusions about a reunion with his mom but he knows she can help Clark and that's why he invited his brother to his fortress. The pain and acceptance Tal displays is beautiful and eye opening for Clark. Not just that Tal is capable of it, but the rest of his story. I think Clark had assumed Tal would have at least met his mother before Lara ended her relationship with Zeta. After all, he only has human family relations and biological ability to go on. Turns out all children were genetically engineered except for him. Lara in Lana Cushing had told him about genetic matching, that's how unions were formed on Krypton and that once she fell in love with Jor'el, she gave birth to him. Turns out that was super unique, no pun intended. So learning that Lara never even knew? And exactly how alone and helpless Tal had felt under Zeta? It opened Clark's eyes a lot. The, I think next to last scene with Superman dropping Tal back off in his cell, was absolutely golden. Superman hears what is basically Zeta's attitude coming out of his brother mouth and considers maybe Tal never did have a choice. Sure Tal never had anyone like Johnathan and Martha Kent in his life. But he never had anyone like Jor'el in his life either. Zeta was not a very 'free-will forward' individual. And having him as a father would have wrecked a person. Having Zeta, in his own words 'mold him into proper greatness'. Without Zeta dictating his life anymore,. Tal Rho would choose the only family he has left, who he clearly Does care for. And there is at least the possibility that Clark would accept it.

Superman & Lois: Anti-Hero (2022) Episode 7, Season 2
Awesomeness with one splinter 5 September 2023

This episode is chock mostly full of awesome things. Beautiful moments like hearing so much actual Kryptonian. I think it sounds a lot like Hebrew. Shuster and Sigel were both Jewish so it makes sense. Not that I'm a fan of it but seeing Anderson in this state makes a lot of sense. He sees things so perfectly clearly and is so completely sure of what he knows. Thankfully he learns the truth in a later episode. And just how wrong he was. Then again, Superman is harboring the man who killed his men and has been keeping things from him forever. The scenes at Tal's Fortress are the highlight of the episode. Especially that brief little smile on Bizzaro's face. The only real drawback is the brief scenes with Johnathan being basically punished for being honorable. And feeling so completely stuck. He's alone and scared that he won't be able to win his family back...and he literally did nothing wrong. I'm not saying those are weak scenes just...kind of sad.

The splinter that is digging into my head are the coordinates. 76.2 North Longitude 100.4 West Latitude. Generally you indicate north or west in negative numbers, rather than saying north or west. But also type in the actual coordinates you don't get anywhere near Baffin Island. You get Indonesia.

Success Is Assured (12 May 2020)

The Nash 'goof' makes no sense

I mean what is listed on Imdb as well as everyone pointing it out on youtube or whatever. Imdb cites Thawne turning himself in for crimes like the particle accelerator and killing Barry's mother. The possibility Barry might have explained away the resemblance. It was never proven he did the accelerator thing on purpose and was never charged with it as a crime. But far more to the point it was Barry's mother he admitted to killing and Barry is standing next to Wells perfectly at peace. If Nora Allen's murderer was there, Barry would have been losing it....on him. Barry works at the CCPD and they trust his judgment. I mean come on we've seen how much Barry loses it on Thawne right?  And these cops are his coworkers who would understand the human impulse. Nash has a physical resemblance to Thawne but that is all. Everything that would keep everyday civilians walking down the street from pointing at Harry, Sherloque or Nash and saying “season 1 Harrison Wells you jerk” is still true. Nash is walking, doesn't act like the professionally restrained and subdued man season 1 Harrison Wells was. Not to mention he's a team player and talks with a slur compared to the man in a wheelchair. And probably most cops who are there now, weren't around in season 1 to begin with. So they never actually saw him.

This episode was so disappointing as a season finale because it wasn't supposed to be. The season was cut short because everyone had to shelter in place and quarantine themselves for co-vid. The first 3 episodes of season 7 were intended to be the last 3 episodes of this season. They just literally never had a chance to get there because the freaking country shut down. I'd say they did a pretty good job ending on a high note without trying to wrap things up. They lived in hope that once co-vid passed they could bring a proper conclusion to this arc. And by the way...they did. At the beginning of season 7.

Another cool thing in the episode is Nash doing his second best channeling of Harry Wells. His best being getting a rise out of Barry then tryign to convince him to forgive himself in the previous episode. When they're back in STAR Labs Nash calls him out on his behavior, even considering the deal fake-Singh offered and then gives him some much needed perspective on what the result would be if he DID take the deal. Helping him avoid an extremely natural and understandable mistake based on emotions. “I understand where you're coming from. But if you go *this* far to bring her back, Iris won't forgive you. And you will have gained nothing."

Continuity error intentional...Again The Flash 8x01 Armageddon part One

I'm starting to think people are idiots. The history of the Royal Flush gang doesn't line up with season one, because it's not supposed to. It's a hint or a fore-shadowing that the timeline is different. And not just that Joe is dead and the Reverse-Flashpoint is going on. In the next episode after Armageddon Bart and XS go back in time and change the history of the Royal Flush gang so that they showed up when Barry was still in his coma. In this episode people are already living in that altered timeline. Season by season continuity is 'insufferably inconsistent'...because the timeline and undergone two major overhauls and been mildly changed twice. Ray Palmer sticks around mostly to show that Brandon Routh didn't completely fall off the Arrow-verse map. Which is nice to know. When Sarah and Ray left Arrow during season 4 I had no idea they'd gone anywhere, until the Waverider showed up at the end of Arrow Invasion a year later. It's nice to know leaving the show isn't leaving the franchise. And for never having been a member of Team Flash Ray and Barry have always been Super close friends. Ultimately this entire arc proves one thing: that the Arrow-verse shrank...but it's not gone.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Awesome and timely...my second favorite movie

12 August 2023 - 1 out of 1 users found this review helpful.

Everything is set up right out of the gate: the world they live in, what happened in the decade since the outbreak and the chaos the human colony must have clawed thier way out from. This is a movie that's done so differently than any post-civilization film and better than most remakes or sequels in sci-fi. Despite being completely blinded by his hatred for humans and letting his people fall apart, well killing and imprisoning his own kinds simply because they were loyal to their old leader in whose name Koba is supposedly doing any of this, Koba is up there on the list of villains with justifiable motives. He has some motivation for his hate of humans and he honestly believes Caesar has weakened thier people the Apes by choosing humans over his own kind....or even by letting humans grow strong in the first place. One thing from the first movie sheds enormous amounts of light on the characters motivations: Alz 113, which Will's boss was testing and Patient Zero was exposed to brought on the simian flu. But Koba was the only ape exposed to it. When Caesar gave the apes at the sanctuary the drug to make them smarter, he gave them Alz112. Will's original drug, The one Will's father Charles and Caesar both took for 3 years. So Koba has the dangerous drug in his system, the one that actually killed off half the planet. No wonder he goes, pardon the expression, ape-s--t. I saw this movie for the first time 3 days Before everyone was 'shelter in place' ordered from the covid pandemic. So this was like the most appropriate timing ever.

The Flash: A New World: Part 4: Finale (2023) Some one Finally called him on it

16 out of 21 found this helpful.

Okay most of this was a CGI battle full of the same nonsense of the last 3 years. But you can't be a series finale without culminating the last few seasons of the series. Personally I loved all the references to Harry Wells and his main villain, the season 2 villain Zoom. That's just because Harry Wells was my favorite character. But for the last 2 years Barry has had a giving into darkness, with a hopelessness defeatism about the world. He has essentially become the very thing he taught Oliver Queen not to be: A man who uses his personal tragedies to justify every walk on the dark-side he ever takes. Philosophically this could be because the two people in his life who pulled him back from that darkness, whose message of 'you taught me to be better, so BE better' are gone from his life. Harry Wells and Oliver Queen. But considering how the Flash is supposed to be a symbol of hope and light and believing in a better future, it was scary and almost depressing how often and how quickly he assumed there was no other way. How much time he spent marinating in how many people he's lost over the years. Paradoxically it was like the more emotional heart to hearts he had to convince bad guys to find the goodness within, the less he believed people were good. The less he actually believed anyone could change or that there was 'another way to fight darkness except to be darkness.' To quote Oliver Queen upon his own decision to be the Green Arrow instead of the Arrow.

Iris and Barry both sanctimoniously saying "We don't have a choice, Thawne isn't giving us one." early in season 8 was the first intimation of this. Here it came to a head.

"You, new girl, want co-existence, I want that to. But I have the experience to realize that it's impossible. I've learned to live with that.

"Then maybe just this once, you can learn to believe in the impossible!" Khoine says back. Subtext: Like you've been trying to convince everyone to do for the last nine-plus years."

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: A Life Spent (2017)  Beautiful moments dismissed by hypocrisy

I knew Mack was self-rightous and a little tunnel-visoned. But back in the day he was focused on what was right in-front of his face and he did everything he did because he cared about his team and his friends. Now he spends the entire time preaching about not losing yourself and how far gone these people are. And when Tess does something incredibly selfless taking the blame for them and Yo-yo protects the team by framing someone else. All he can see for the next 3 episodes is that these people are monsters and it is quickly turning the woman he loves into a monster. His preachiness has officially reached blind self-righteousness. He literally does not know what or who he is talking about. And doesn't care that anyone might see the situation differently. I am a Christian who was raised to see the humanity that is the compassion and failibity of others  not thier failings and not on just 'what they did'. Mack's take from his 'I was taught do unto others', is actually offensive. And his attitude of we have to be better than them' is insulting. Given these guys have lived like this for years and know nothing else, its amazing they've held on to thier humanity as much as as completely as they have! They are better than You. These people and definitely the rest of your team are better than you. They have been through hell. They are living in hell right now. And all you can see is 'that wasn't okay' And what you mean by it is 'that wasn't okay with me. I have a problem with that'. I can't even focus on the issues this episode raised, I mean like fear from attacking a superior and Tess going out on a limb for strangers, doing quite an honorable thing actually given how scared she usually was, which are defiantly valid, beautiful star among ashes moments because it's drowned in Mack's affrontedness. and skewing with statistics. Seriously in that entire scene all Mack focused on was that his girlfriend framed someone. Not that Elana and Tess both saved the entire team.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Honeymoon (2018) Episode 17, Season 5

Surprising Cons, Expected Pros 31 July 2023

Pro: Coulson and General Tallbot, as always they rock pretty much any scene they are in. Now they are literally and figuratively in it alone together. Con: Daisy. I swear she is getting more and more full of herself. Coulson hasn't even made her team leader yet and seeing her treating someone they rescued form a bad future, ordering him around like he literally applied to be a shield agent. Lincoln was a new guy but he at least asked to join up. Daisy ripping him a new one for his 'screw up back there' when he did his job as well as any trained shield agent would have, without having had any training himself is deplorable and is one of the two man reasons I actually hate this show now.

May is the heart of the team, as much as Coulson and they keep each-other's heads on. They both care almost an insane amount for thier team and when Phil needs some perspective, of course Melinda May is the one to give it. This is actually the most human I've seen May in a long time that didn't feel at least slightly forced or out of place. Stuff before always felt either scripted or so obviously for the sake of making her more human. I kinda had suspected Coulson's deal. What I don't get is why everyone is so ticked at him, and maybe this was more in a later episode for keeping it from them 'this long'. Mentally I'm like "Okay, when in the weeks we spent trying to survive and make sense of a broken future did I have the time to tell you I might be dying soon?"

Merlin: The Darkest Hour (2011) Episode 1, Season 4
Awesome episode just a lot of it is missing

I imagine some of these were simply cut for time constraint purposes. But this episode is pretty awesome all on its own. Everyone is growing up or has grown up and everyone is far more serious and dedicated. Also Aggrivane may not be well named for Camelot lore (that was the name of one of Gawaine/Gwaines brothers) but it is a perfect name for the character himself. So aggravating and duplicitous.

What I mean is this episode is stylistic, cool, well-thought out and with a very plot driven cohesive story. But the deleted scenes would have made it stellar, awesome, and soar high above the rest. Morgouse wants a return to the old ways, the old religion at the height of its peace and prosperity. At least 2 of the deleted scenes would have proven how much all of the characters had meant to each-other. And maybe given a little too much away about what would have happened in the end, but that wasn't exactly the greatest secret in the universe. There is one deleted scene in particular, set up completely differently than in this episode Arthur and Merlin at a campfire discussing how exactly to get out of this and Arthur actually gives Merlin a gift with his mother's crest on it. One of the only references to Arthur's mother since halfway through season two.

Risking the End Brings a Beginning

 To set the scene, in this continuity, Oliver Queen's passion for his mission is homegrown. Quentin Lance has feelings for Moira and was always ready to be there for Oliver...but never found a way to step up. Quentin feels guilty about working so closely with the masked vigilante known as the Arrow and that secret-fear has kept him from getting too close to Moira. When the Arrow is framed by Rashe, Lance is actually one of the very few people to still believe in what the man is trying to do, and his innocence. 

 “I know you you are, you're a hero, to me anyway. I...I want to tell the...the Queens I mean...why I believe in you.”

“Oliver Queen will understand. You mean a great deal to him. Tell them what happened. And be ready for my company.”

“The Arrow. You're the one who called me that, aren't you?”

“Uh yeah, I've been calling you that for a while.”

“No I mean, you coined the name...I have to say I approve.”

“What are we...you...making jokes now?”

“I really do like the name; it's apropos and straight to the point...like me. But also, it is a lot easier for me to be off my guard around you when you're not pointing a gun at me.”

“Yeah...that makes sense. Listen I...”

“Detective...Captain. I fight for this city, so do you. But unlike the other cops on the force you have a reason to trust me. And you listen to that reason. The day you and I find each-other on opposite sides is the day this city is pretty much screwed. I don't want that to happen, E-ver.”

“On that score you and I agree completely.”

“Oliver can I take with you for a minute?”

Oliver Queen looked up from his novella to a welcome sight: Quentin Lance standing in his study as if he belonged there. “Of course Quentin, what's up?”

“I know when the three of us are together, you mom me and you you're very chill about it and I appreciate that. But I wanted to know...ARE you okay with it?”

“Mr. Lance, you've been seeing my mom romantically for a year and a half, you've been living with her for the past five months if I had a problem with it you'd have heard about it like way before now. And is this going where I think it's going?”

“I want to propose to her. Why do I feel like I'm rushing things here?”

“You don't.” Oliver answered easily. “You want to know if this is a marriage of convenience, or whether she'll think you're charging in. She won't and you're not. You're direct and plainspoken with the biggest heart and the strongest moral compass of anyone I have ever-known. Be equally unadorned,no fanfare, no parade, just ask.”

“Wow, on the list of things I thought you'd say that is...was nowhere near the top.”

Oliver's face went completely blank for about five seconds. “Wait, were you nervous about what she would say or...about what I would say?”

“Oliver to say we have a complicated history is an understatement. We've had a lot of crap we've had to push through over the years..”

“..And we've had almost as much crap happen to us that we've pushed through together. Our relationship, as myself at least, has been through so many ups and downs I've lost track of when I was looking up. You didn't realize it as t the time, how could you but as the Arrow I saw another side of you. And if I hadn't still been worried how'd you'd feel about it, I would have been warmer. I'm sorry I should have trusted you more. Besides, it meant a lot more than you apparently realize when you admitted to having worked with the Arrow last year. You risked happiness with my mom, and falling from Grace in my eyes, standing up for a masked man in a hood that the entire city thought was a murderer all over again. 'We've been through a lot', is sure as hell an understatement, but I think you're focusing on the wrong part of that expression: we've been through it.”

“Did she already know?” Quentin asked suddenly.

“I hadn't told her yet. It turns out I wasn't that good at hiding from her, she already knew. And something I've been waiting to tell you, since that day on the bridge I think, whether you're with my mom or not...I've always tried to make you proud of me...like I think it would be with a father.”

“So to recap then.” Oliver said in rather a weak voice. Yes, I'm fine with it, and yes, I want you to be a part of the family...of MY family. And I'm very sorry if I ever made you feel otherwise.”

“I...I feel like I should hug you right now.”

“Yeah I'd say it's a hug thing.” Oliver replied, embracing Quentin with affection and joy.

A New Way to Start a Life (E-9)

Oliver Queen stood protectively over the young girl. “Whatever you have against me, she has nothing to do with it!” He yelped. His hands in the air he spoke to his captor. “Look I told you I'm not a threat...or I've tried to anyway. And I still can't figure out what you have against us. And now I'm starting to think I have it wrong. You hate me because you think I'm a threat, and that's okay that's great.” The green skinned alien tilted his head, prompting him to continue. “If you honestly believe I'm a threat, then you can go ahead and kill me. But I beg you, let her go. She's not like me.”

This speech did not have quite the effect he'd intended. The stranger who had rarely spoken a handful of words at a time actually backed away and lowered his head. “I was wrong about you...I'm sorry.”

He called for a water-skin and with the slightest tilt of his head indicated it was for Oliver, not himself. His lieutenant gave an uncertain glance, but spoke no word of objection. And with a wave of his hand he dismissed the man. Oliver mumbled his thanks and tried to ask why, but J'onn gave no answer. Instead Oliver watched in stunned amazement as the alien who had taken them both prisoner actually knelt and wrapped Sarin's injured leg.

“Listen, not that I'm not grateful, I am but...what changed?”

“I thought you were keeping her, not protecting her, and I hated you for it.” J'onn replied. He stood up and backed away. “I know she is no more human than I am. If it served me I could look human, but she does. Whatever her race is, they look human.”

“She has a tongue as well as a name.” Both men looked rather caught out as Sarrin stood up. “My name is Sarrin, I'm Atraxi. Oliver is...something the English language does not allow for. But he's as human as it gets. The question is, what kind of person are you?”

“I am...J'onn Jo'nzz.” The stranger said simply.

“I mean more literally than that.” Sarrin said with a slight chuckle.

“I am a Martian.”

In the end J'onn does let Oliver go and asks Sarrin to stay. Though it didn't unfold quite so simply.

“Protector, Guardian. It's the same word in our language. It's not a charge one is given a thing one is. And undefined by anything else.” Sarrin looked at Oliver and then at J'onn before continuing. “A legal guardian is one thing; Solena. A man like a cop or a protector is one thing; Alana-Kai. But neither have the mantle of protector. To be a guardian or protector is an individuals choice and reality. With this understanding, I can tell you, Oliver is my protector. And now it seems, you are.”

“I do not doubt for an instant you are willing to stay here. I must ask if you want to.”

“The slenderest of threads separates the two.” Sarrin answered. “The way I see it Oliver and I were in each-other's lives for a season and now we each have a new season in life coming for us. If you let me stay and let him go, you enable us to grow toward our true potential... I'm happy to stay. And by the way my name means 'beautiful flower' in my language."

In the flashback episode of Smallville that shows Oliver's time on the island, Oliver places himself protectively over Tess. "If I die, at least I die for something." And in the Earth-9 I created, Jeremiah Danvers gave J'onn Jo'nzz an offer/suggested a compromise "let Hank go...keep me." I put these two things together for a first scene in Arias. Two years before Jeremiah makes that offer and finds himself in a wigwam.

Sometime later, this happens --

I woke up. I don't know how else to describe what happened, I woke up. I was sitting on a bench, my back against a wall. The first thing I noticed was that the only lighting in the room was from tiki candles. The second was that I wasn't restrained in any way. Whoever that man was knocked Hank out quickly, and knocked me out a moment later. Hank was so focused on taking out this 'creature' he'd been hunting, he never stopped to think how powerful his target might have been. I couldn't help smiling at that. I looked around the room. It was a wigwam more than anything, the kind American Indians lived in. And I was alone. I laid down on my side, facing the curtain that served as a door. And waited for someone to come in and speak to me.

“Are you awake?” I heard a voice say from the other side of the door not ten minutes later.

“Yes, please come in.” I answered. A young woman in her late 20's walked in carrying a bowl and a tray. Her cinnamon-colored hair was short-cropped just below her earlobe. She weighed maybe 140. “Nibbles.” She said holding the tray up a bit. I nodded. She set the tray down on the bench and the bowl of water down at my feet.
“What are you doing?” I asked her.
“I should think that was self-evident.” She said in a voice so devoid of humor I could not believe she was poking fun at me. If anything she seemed surprised at my question. So I decided to rephrase the question. “Why are you doing this?”
“Me personally, Jean said to make you as comfortable as possible. Why are we taking any measures to make you comfortable...that is for Jean to explain.”
“Am I a prisoner here?” I insisted.
“No restraints but there is a perimeter, that is my understanding.” She replied. She tilted her head. “Please, introductions should come first. My name is Sarrin, and you?”
"Jeremiah."

“Jeri-miah. That's a good name.” She smiled softly.

“Forgive me but are you...what planet are you from?”

“I am Atraxi. We don't have a home-planet. I was almost 8 years old when my mother and I left home. I was 10 years old when we made our home on the Western coast of the United States.”

“Jean is your leader?”

“We're a collection of aliens of various races and a few of the more tolerant humans any of us have met. And yes, J'onn Jo'nzz is the leader of our community. But I'm not wearing a bracelet.”

When I wrote down the scene of Henry and J'onn Jo'nzz I wrote their host as someone other than Nikita because I didn't want to involve her in the story. I didn't want to force this stand alone scene, unrelated to any other work into the narrative. And when J'onn Jo'nzz of Earth 9 had a companion, an alien at Arias that could not be Nikita and spoke with Elana, I used that story/memory as an unneeded explanation for the connection between this young, quiet alien and the green Martian J'onn Jo'nzz. But then Nikita and J'onn met, and they would be strangers, and they cannot be strangers. But also, this scene, the scene in the girl's apartment is separate and alone by definition. In that story Henry and J'onn's host never called herself by name. I called her Atraxi for the very reason that this was not part of the same narrative. So there is no reason to work that into this story. Solving both problems simultaneously, When J'onn returns Jeremiah to the DEO, he will recognize Nikita...as that same human-looking alien host with whom he had an epic 'open mouth insert foot' experience.

Henshaw A Hero

On Earth-9, in the at least 4th year of her time working with Henshaw, the prisoner turned agent Nikita is explaining thier history, that is, her history with hank Henshaw and thier personal history together, to thier newest alien friend, a Daxamite named Mon-el

"I'm still not convinced that in every species no matter how horrible there is room for improvement. But the stories of my people, especially our sacred texts teach that in every species in the galaxy there are exceptions.  That no matter how uniform thier behavior or single-minded thier philosophy, there are always those who's natures run counter to the mainstream. We call them 'horrata'. It means 'an exception to the rule. And not just a minority. A star in the ashes. But all this is in the positive, and it goes the other way too.. White Martians are in general ignorant, arrogant assholes, but I cannot deny there might be some that do not want to be defined by hatred and actually resist the 'truth' that they deserve the world and everything in it.  Human's don't understand this because you are so multi-faceted and so individualistic that the only consistency in your entire race IS variety. We...you have a reputation for being self-focused and self-important. The strive to improve your own situation your ambition and...well this is on an entirely individual basis, singular, ego-driven, self-improvement. And of course that's all true but what is so easy to miss is that individualism allows for an unheard of, and for most cultures unfathomable amount of diversity.

 Most species are known by a tendency or a proclivity. Whether they are known as a race of weapons manufacturers, of warriors or the equivalent of Franciscan Friars --my race is by the way would be in that list-- they are all known and defined by that quality or trait or choice. You could say 'there is some soul of goodness in things evil', but the reverse is just as true. Horrata is exceptions to the rule regardless of whether the rule is virtue or darkness. You cannot put a race into one box or the other, ever. no matter how big the box is, no matter the label, not everyone fits into that box. I have never found a planet where this was so completely true. But it's like, because you don't have boxes, you don't understand how hard...and rare...it is not to live in one."

"I get the feeling there's more you want to say." Mon'el told me easily, if slowly.

"Everyone has good and evil inside of them and you can't put people into a box of virtue and light any more than you can a box of Evil and Darkness. Many would label Hank with the latter. In my experience 'finding a soul of goodness in things evil' is the only time this truth is even considered, or thought upon. As I said the reverse is also true. I can't put someone into a box labeled 'pure light, goodness and truth',  But if I could, Jeremiah would be in it. He is the only human like that I ever knew.” My voice resonated with sadness and I closed my eyes.

"I can't argue with you there." Hank said in a low voice.

I looked over at Mon'el who very politely wasn't saying anything. Perhaps it was closer to genuine consideration than manners. “Jeremiah was the D.E.O. Agent who broke me out of this place, almost 2 years ago now...and died in the line of duty several months later. Hank came looking for me, told me of his death, and asked me to work with him.” I stared at Hank and he stared right back at me. “I am sorry, it is not my place. It really does have to come from you.”

“Jeremiah was...a courageous as well as a noble man.” Hank began slowly. “For own own completely personal reasons, neither of us would question it...or him. I never thought much of him but he showed he could put his duty above his personal feelings, acknowledging but overcoming what he thought of me as an individual, to defend his commanding officer. He died saving my life. And when I came back I asked for Nikita's help, to make sure I never misjudged anyone quite as badly as I did Jeremiah Danvers.”

Superman: He died saving your life. If you weren't hiding anything, like why you were both out there in the first place, why would you cover it up?”

Henshaw's face turned ashen. He stared at me, unsure why he had to explain what he was about to spell out. Turning back to the man who had basically spoken out his own backside Hank enunciated every word of his answer: Because he DIED saving my LIFE.

(after meeting her bizzaro clone) 

Supergirl: She looks like me, she flies like me, she fights like me. I mean other than the fact that she Talks like cookie monster she is me! " -- When Bizzaro talks to James Olsen she says 'no move' instead of 'do not move' and 'Supergirl and me...same.' instead of 'Supergirl and I are alike'. So Supergirl is spot on describing her this way.

Hank Henshaw: The Martian Manhunter earned his name. For once I didn't have to convince Danvers...Jeremiah that this alien was a threat and a warrior. We led a five-man team into the Peruvian mountains. I still don't know what happened to Steel, Collins or Meyers. This thing fought like a warrior when we found it. We fought and I lost. He broke my leg so I couldn't run away. Jeremiah, defended me, verbally to this alien. Eventually physically fighting him...over me...I could not believe it. He died that night, right in front of me. And that is why I do what I do. That memory the knowledge of his sacrifice, and more importantly the COURAGE he carried with him, that I never noticed, changed my mind....and my heart along with it."

Canadian Rockies and the Aftermath

I finally found the moment that was missing from my story about Nikita standing up to J'onn like a mouse to a lion. I'm not sure I ever typed this scene and was having serious trouble even starting on writing it. I think I finally found a single moment in the scene.

Me'gann Mor'zz, a White Martian asks Nikita why she would defy J'onn who is not only her direct superior officer but someone she so clearly respects, on her behalf.

"Because this is the second time history has repeated itself and I didn't know what else to do." Taking a breath, without looking at Me'gann, Nikita explains. "J'onn is wearing  the face of his predecessor, a man I served under before him. And that is an epic misnomer. He took the identify of a man named Hank Henshaw. It is disheartening to say the least when J'onn lives up to that man's face. But slightly more importantly you are my guest and this is my home!"

Nikita turns slowly to face Me'gann. "Knowing what I know about the history of your races, if he'd found you at a restaurant or something and tried to arrest you, that is to take you back to the D.E.O  I wouldn't have objected, not publicly. I would have made my case to give you a fair hearing when we were at the D.E.O. Just as I did when the former prince of Daxam was thrown in a cell for a crime he literally couldn't have committed. Mon'el was believed to be guilty and the hero who arrested him assumed the worst of him just because he was from Daxam, didn't even bother to ask his name. Yeah that actually happened, and that was the first time it felt like Hank was still running things. As I said, he cannot force me NOT to be true to myself. And whatever else is going on, I know you well enough to know that I can trust you. And no one with a brain in thier skull insults a friend of mine IN my house. Not even my closest friends can get away with that and nothing can force me to permit it."

x

Me'gann Mor'zz, a White Martian asks Nikita why she would defy J'onn who is not only her direct superior officer but someone she so clearly respects, on her behalf.

"Because this is the second time history has repeated itself and I didn't know what else to do." Taking a breath, without looking at Me'gann, Nikita explains. "J'onn is wearing  the face of his predecessor, a man I served under before him. And that is an epic misnomer. He took the identify of a man named Hank Henshaw. It is disheartening to say the least when J'onn lives up to that man's face. But slightly more importantly you are my guest and this is my home!"

Nikita turns slowly to face Me'gann. "Knowing what I know about the history of your races, if he'd found you at a restaurant or something and tried to arrest you, that is to take you back to the D.E.O  I wouldn't have objected, not publicly. I would have made my case to give you a fair hearing when we were at the D.E.O. Just as I did when the former prince of Daxam was thrown in a cell for a crime he literally couldn't have committed. Mon'el was believed to be guilty and the hero who arrested him assumed the worst of him just because he was from Daxam, didn't even bother to ask his name. Yeah that actually happened, and that was the first time it felt like Hank was still running things. God I don't even know why I call him that! Given that he and I did not exactly get along and what he originally was to me, I should call that asshole by his surname, not his individual one. I should refer to him as 'Henshaw'. J'onn cannot force me not to be true to myself, no one can and J'onn would be a fool to knowingly try it. He's known me for six years and doesn't realize that, whatever else is going on, I know you well enough to know that I can trust you. And no one with a brain in thier skull insults a friend of mine IN my house. Not even my closest friends can get away with that and nothing can force me to permit it."

Now in the scene titled 'Dining on Ashes', J'onn describes what had happened perfectly and following that later scene as a script made it even harder to write this. That's where he tells Superman his biggest regret from this day isn't that Nikita compared him to Hank Henshaw, but that she was actually right to do so. This one moment changes everyone's mind and opens everyone's eyes. Though it takes nearly losing Nikita to Queen Rhea months later --who tried to kill her to get her out of the way-- for J'onn to face Nikita about it.

Also in the actual show Supergirl, Mon-el and Kara/Supergirl are a couple and Queen Rhea tries to kill Kara with Kryptonite which in her eyes is simply 'doing what is necessary to reclaim him. It doesn't help that she thinks of Kara wanting him to stay as krypton trying to take her son from her. Here Nikita, a Xavallen is Mon'el's fiancé and Rhea just tries to straight up kill her. Which as you might imagine does not sit well with J'onn, Mon'el, Superman, Martin Stein or Me'gann Mor'zz.

Stein's Birthday Gift

 Elana Morris is the only inmate at the Department of Extra-Normal Operations, the only alien ever detained there to actually go through the legal/Justice system. She was basically convicted of involuntary manslaughter and her alien physiology was such the cooks could accidently kill her. Or she'd accidently kill another inmate. When Director J'onn Jo'nzz understood she was simply serving her time at the D.E.O without incident, from her perspective as well as literally not bothering anyone, he changed her status.

Martin Stein is taking an alien in DEO custody on one of her first journeys outside the DEO itself. The young woman's name is Elana Morris. She is not technically a prisoner but they were charged with her care. It has been well established that her mother's people were powerful empaths. That her physical infirmities are due exclusively to her mixed heritage, not her Enkaren biology itself. And for those keeping track, or trying to keep track, this takes place in the same continuity as Mon'el and Nikita, J'onn Jo'nzz and Superman.

“My people agree that there is a creator. We don't believe in fate so much as providence. And our favorite thing to do is discuss our own beliefs and conclusions about the nature of the divine being that crated the universe. We have conferences of like-minded people, but we don't separate ourselves by our faith. Certainly not by how we feel we should honor our One God.” Elana looked sideways at Martin. “All Abrahamic faiths make perfect sense to me. Their view of God lines up perfectly with my won. But I happen to think they line up with each-other too. To me all Islam, Christianity and Judaism are is vastly different traditions and concepts on how to perceive or relate to the same God of our-all of your ancestors. You shouldn't call people stupid for thinking or even being raised differently than you. Back home we would have gotten that.”

“I'm sorry but, 'back home'?”

“My mom raised me with everything she would have learned in primary or secondary school in Teresia. It's my ancestral homeland on her side. This also means I know how my people would have viewed or interpreted almost anything I see here. WE all had different religions. Or actually we didn't form religion around our spiritual beliefs. Very different from Kryptonians or Martians, they literally all worship the same God. Heritage and culture, well you know as well as anyone how much the two get blurred together sometimes...And the kind of strength that can give a culture.”

“Yes, indeed I do.” Martin said hesitatingly.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“It's fine, refreshing actually.”

“To know someone who doesn't mince words but insists on being respectful as they refuse to?”

“Well that plus just talking about things either of us feel like talking about.” Martin looked around nervously. “And do I assume your shadow is still very interested in you-slash-us?”

“I should say that whatever has given me these visions, I've learned to trust it. That even if what I see isn't happening, I'm seeing it for a reason. And yes, whoever was SO interested in someone like me, is still around. But I'm not entirely sure he's not wearing a mask, using an image in my head that's so fresh for me, having just received and being so focused on what I saw. Also, I cannot for the life of my fathom why I got an early-warning system about him in the first place. What I saw is so fantastical, even by DEO standards, it's not like I'll be able to convince anyone I'm right about him?”

“Perhaps it was more for his sake than yours?” Martin said thoughtfully. “So he wouldn't have as much explaining to do. Or so that someone else will be able to consider- that is give weight and clarity to- his his 'fantastical' story?”

“So I can clarify & confirm what he says when I do bring him in? Trust me, he should want to come. I hope to heaven that you are right and that he's not wearing that kind of a mask. For one he shouldn't exist anymore than J'onn should have. So without a warning or some kind of head's up  *I* wouldn't believe this story. And *I* wouldn't have believed it out of his or anyone's mouth.”

“Okay, that one you are going to have to explain.”

“That J'onn shouldn't exist? Well obviously he should exist but when the DEO first encountered him they were wrong about what he was. I mean...Well, you know who J'onn is right?”

“He's a shape-shifting alien who reformed the DEO into what it is, not like it was run under his predecessor. Also a Green Martian, a steadfast warrior...an a man of honor by all I can tell of him.”

“Exactly, he's a Green Martian...And he never told you that part. Ohh crap.” Elana looked down, dejected and thoroughly displeased with herself.

“We should get going. We should head back.”

“Yeah, no kidding. Time to breath DEO air again...literally and non-sarcastically.”

“You mean you can't breath unfiltered air for long?” Martin said as he put a $20 on the table and picked up his jacket. “Not a complete shot in the dark. J'onn told me that your not asthmatic; but the result is the same.”

“ 'There's not enough air in the air'...is 10 degrees off. More like there's too much of something else and I can't breathe-thereby I can't process the 'air' in the atmosphere either. In human physiology if oxygen bonds with sulfur you can't process oxygen. Same for us with the... Aeon? Argon in the air. It's like breathing in smog. It's smothering. And eventually my breathing goes shallow. Hyp-O-ventilating essentially.”

“Adding to the list of reasons you don't usually leave the D.E.O.”

“Well, yeah.”

They were in their car and heading back to the D.E.O. Both of them strapped in, Elana in the front passenger seat of Martin's Impala. “How much do you know about when J'onn and Nikita first met? When the original Hank Henshaw was still around and the impressions everyone left on each-other?”

“Very little I'm afraid. I know Henshaw was a close-minded jerk who saw all aliens as potential enemies. I know Nikita had been a prisoner at the DEO but with the help of a sympathetic agent, whom she emotionally attached herself to, she was became more of an asset than an inmate. In custody but here to do a job. I know that J'onn was an alien they had to go to the far northern Canadian Rockies to find. And neither Director Henshaw nor the other agent were said to have survived.”

“After that mission Nikita was invited to become a full agent of the D.E.O and J'onn took Hank's face and identity in order to reform the D.E.O. And Superman has been 'in' on their agreement and intention since day one. Listen, I can tell you everything Nikita told me, she wouldn't mind it. I cannot say anything that was not contained in her story. These will be Nikita's words and feelings. I feel that to give my own, or anything of J'onn's story that I myself have learned, without permission, would violate J'onn's trust.”

“Well, okay.”

And when she was done Martin was looking at her with a new admiration. “You really are in-tuned with emotions...even those not actually your own.”

Elana looked at him thoroughly thrown off balance. “Of course, I'm Enkaren.” Martin's face showed his lack of understanding. “My people's empathic abilities are such that traumatic hypnosis would be a thing if I were full-blooded.”

“Could you run that by me again in elaborated English?”

“You know how I get when I sing a song? If you have an open mind you see it in your mind's eye as well. Or here..” She put her left hand to the side of her own face and played an image of cool winds blowing over fields of wildflowers. “If I were entirely of my mother's people, that wouldn't have been in your minds eye. You would have whole-heartedly believed you were there and never questioned it.  It would be a full-sensory, even physical experience; indistinguishable from the ground and surroundings in which you truly stand. Not to say it was always a weapon of war. We would use it to calm a troubled sea OR stir up a tempest...But in general using our minds as a weapon against our enemies would be the first thing we'd think of. That is why my people are so feared among alien races. The only difference is that my mother never taught me to use my abilities that way. She wasn't that kind of person. Even if I were pure-blooded traumatic hypnosis would be a mis-nomer.” Elana looked away, sadly.

“...What happened to her?” Martin asked in a weak voice.

“Nothing bad. She was an old woman when I was born. She died when I was in my 20's. I was 31 years old when I attacked an assailant – someone who was beating someone else up – and ended up doing enough damage he died from his injuries. That man turned out to be a cop. And I got arrested being so disregardful of law and order that killing a cop was nothing to me. If a persons position is such that wronging him is a worse crime than wronging a civilian he should be required to Identify himself. Maybe he was supposed to but he never declared himself. I sure as hell didn't mean to kill him. That was the result, not my intention. And no one could figure out how a little shrimp like me could have caused enough damage to kill him -someone as fit as a police detective- unless I'd knowingly or willfully use enough force to do so. It's not like a pacifist can accidently kill a solider, right? So I spent 15 years in a DEO cell. Wondering why I wasn't sent to a normal prison if they didn't know I was an alien? Turns out it was because one man did figure out what I was. And that chances were good table-salt would burn me or I'd react to a normal painkiller like it was a powerful sedative or even hallucinogen. At the D.E.O. I was cared for by people who knew who I was and I met J'onn J'onzz when he was doing his rounds. In him and then in you I have found someone actually willing to talk to me just for the sake of talking...All because a man like Hank Henshaw actually saw what was going on...and no one else did.”

"J'onn, I would like to introduce you to Querl Dox, a descendant of the Brainiac Clan."

"And you are sure. You are confident...in him?" He wanted to say 'that he is a good guy' but didn't want to be offensive, or risk ticking off a strange visitor.

"He is as much an exception to the rule as my own mother was. And you know a Franciscan Friar is non typical for an Enkaren." She looked to Martin Stein, to the Coluan visitor and back to Director J'onzz as she spoke. "My mother carried a dagger but never a sword. And she was more apt to carry a loaf of bread than an Olive Branch. You get where I'm going...what I'm trying to say."

"She carried a knife but never loved a weapon. She wasn't a pacifist, or at least didn't wear that on her proverbial sleeve but always tended to the poor and weak?" Martin Stein guessed.

"And for her people, for Enkarens that was very A-typical. They were warriors born. Not aggressive, not tyrannical by any means, but fighters all the same." She looked over to her friend. "Like I told you Martin. My abilities being weaker, my emotions being diluted and not in pure form, is the result of my mixed heritage. That I actually have control over my 'quick temper' and why my 'hot blood' is never very explosive...that's because my mother raised me right." Elana blushed. "Well, it's because she raised me as she did. In a way most Enkarens wouldn't consider to be right and natural thinking.  And in a style, with a set of values most races who've even heard of us wouldn't think of as 'Enkaren'.

Elana stares hard and Querl Dox. A moment alter she shakes her head. "Director, Nikita would be a better help to you than I. And not just because my head is full of air right now." 

Director, J'onn Jo'nzz looked at his alien friend with a note of sympathy. "You should go to your quarters and lie down."

Querl Dox looked with concern as Martin took Elana by the arm and half-guided half carried her to the room that served as Elana's quarters at the D.E.O. "I am afraid I do not understand is she...ill?"

J'onn Jo'nzz glanced back at the visitor. "Do you know enough about Enkaren physiology to know why the air itself is slightly toxic to them?"

"Enkarens would use an argon gas chamber to execute criminals." Querl said immediately. "The amount of Argon in Earth's atmosphere would make them feel like they were breathing in smog...And the air filtration systems here at the D.E.O would allow her to breathe what would be for her 'pure air'. without any apparatus."

"You really do know a lot about practically everything."

I realize Elana introduced me to you as Querl Dox. But I would actually prefer to be addressed by my designation, Brainiac-5. My friends just call me 'Brainy'."

"Not close to your family?"

"A less formal name implies a familiarity I find...comforting. And for my people calling one by there individual name is...actually setting them apart from the rest of thier family."

"You're related to Indigo." J'onn realized quickly. "How is that possible."

Brainiac-5 did not respond except to lower his head.