Supergirl Update

As regular readers know, I haven't been reviewing The CW's Supergirl series here at Bob Canada's BlogWorld. Nothing against the show, mind you, it's just that there just aren't enough hours in the day to review everything. So no reviews for poor Kara and her gang.

I do watch the show though, and like it quite a bit (especially the much-improved Season 2). Here are a few things I've noticed the past few weeks.

In the episode We Can Be Heroes, Kara visits her friend Jimmy, er, I mean James Olsen at Catco Worldwide Media, to try and talk him out of secretly fighting crime as Guardian.

James has an entire wall of TV screens in his office, that are constantly displaying stories from various cable news networks. There's a screen right behind his head displaying breaking news from News 37 (?), with a caption that reads, "Retailers Shutting Down Hundreds Of Stores." There's also a subhead that reads, "In The Process Of Closing Its Stores In North America (which doesn't read right and feels like some words are missing).

Yikes! Looks like Earth-19 (where Supergirl lives) is having the same economic woes that we're having here on our world! 

Note that the story remains on the monitor all during Supergirl's conversation with James, which lasts at least five minutes.

Later in the episode we see James in his office again, and that same story's still on the screen behind him. Either that monitor's busted and is frozen on the same screen, or this network's been reporting on this story for five hours straight.

Maybe Supergirl should stop screwing around trying to catch Live Wire and try to do something to fix her world's retail economy!

Luthors, the most recent episode, was not surprisingly all about the infamous Luthor clan. Actress Brenda Strong played Lillian Luthor, the matriarch of the powerful and evil family.

Ever time I see Brenda Strong, I can't help but think of Sue Ellen Mischke. She was Elaine's friend on Seinfeld— the one who wore her bra as a top, causing numerous auto accidents as she sashayed down the street!

You may also recognize Strong as Captain Deladier in Starship Troopers. 

Brenda Strong was also de-aged a bit for a few brief scenes in Luthors. Here's Lillian Luthor in the present day on the episode.

And here she is in a flashback to twenty years ago. They did a pretty good job of de-aging her two decades (for a TV budget, at least). Well done, effects guys!

Lastly, at the very end of Luthors, a dimensional breach forms in Kara's apartment. Out of it jumps Mr. Mxyzptlk, who tells Supergirl he's in love with her and wants to marry her.

As all comic fans worth their collections know, this is what Mr. Mxyzptlk is supposed to look like. A middle-aged, balding four foot tall interdimentional imp with the power to alter reality and do just about anything.

Believe it or not, this is what he looks like on Supergirl— a young, normal-sized handsome human male with a full head of hair.Why, he looks exactly like the comic version (that was, I say, that was sarcasm, son!).

Based on his appearance and his actions from the preview, it looks like they're going the Star Trek: The Next Generation route and turning Mr. Mxyzptlk into an ersatz version of "Q."

Jesus, even the lame Superboy series from the 1980s got the look of the character right. So what's The CW's excuse?

According to actor Peter Gadiot, who plays Mxyzptlk:

"They very much keep the essence true in that he’s a devious, playful imp and he still has that cheeky, naughty quality of creating havoc but not in an evil way. He has the ability to morph and change. But the main difference is in the physical appearance. Traditionally he’s like four-foot-tall, balding old man type. I have a full head of hair. So he’s different that way. Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler and Andrew very much wanted to have a look that wasn’t funny. They wanted him to appear normal and almost like a legitimate potential suitor for Kara as opposed to a wacky appearance. The essence is the same but the appearance is a new take."

Translation: "Our audience consists primarily of teens, and they'll think it's gross if an icky old man is lusting after Supergirl, so we're ignoring seventy three years of comic book history and are gonna make him hot."