Review: Supergirl Season 1 Episode 8 "Hostile Takeover" [Midseason Finale]




EPISODE SUMMARY:

Astra challenges Kara's beliefs about her mother; a hacker exposes Cat's private -- and damaging -- emails, putting her job at risk.

AIRED: December 14, 2015

RATING: 3 ★★★✩✩ Very Good!

In this episode of Supergirl, Cat Grant has been hacked! Someone hacked into her emails and released private information about her. Cat puts Kara, with the help of Winn and James, on the task of searching her emails for anything else that could possibly be used against her. In their research they learn that the person responsible is within CatCo and a secret Cat has kept hidden for years could be revealed if the perpetrator gets their hands on it. Meanwhile, Astra has made another appearance and she makes statements that cause Kara to doubt her mother's character. But Astra's reappearance isn't just to reminisce. It's just one more step to further her plan for National City.

When Cat called a board meeting to address the hacking situation, it was so obvious from the beginning that Dirk Amrstrong, the man who sided with Cat, was the one behind the whole thing. That's how it always seems to go. They pretend to be on your side when in reality they are working against you. But Cat isn't someone easily fooled, as evidenced by her telling Kara that he's two-faced. And it was confirmed when Kara used her hearing to overhear a conversation Armstrong talking with a couple other board members about Cat's fall. But when Supergirl is on the case, no bad guy goes unpunished. I loved seeing Armstrong get dragged away after Cat confronts him with the proof that James, Winn and Lucy found. Sweet justice at it's finest.

Cat has Kara, Winn and James look through her emails for any other information that could be used against her. What they find was completely unexpected. Cat has a secret son! He's 24 years old and lives in Opal City. This was a really interesting development in the story. I'm hoping that he will be a character that makes an appearance. Cat's story about her separation from Adam was unfortunate. Not being there for Adam is her greatest regret. You would think that from her personality, Cat wouldn't be as caring and motherly, but we saw here and when Carter stayed Kara, that Cat truly and deeply loves her children and is very protective of them. I like seeing the mama bear come out of Cat. So I would very much like to see some kind of reconciliation or reconnection with Adam in the future.

In the last episode, Astra and her people attacked Kara. She's still trying to get Kara to join her. Kara is able to get away, but it's not the last time she sees Astra. Astra hovers over the city, calling Kara out, and they fight to the point where Kara is able to capture Astra. But when Alex looks over the footage from their fight, she realizes that Astra got herself capture on purpose to distract the DEO from the real plan. Nan and the rest of Astra's troops storm Lord Technologies. For what reason, we don't know. While in captivity, Astra will only talk to Kara and when she does, Astra tells Kara a story that puts doubts in Kara's mind about who her mother was. Astra tries to appeal to Kara's sentimentalities at each opportunity. The result is really heartbreaking for Kara, because some of the things Astra told her were true. It completely destroyed Kara's memory of her mother being the good woman she remembers.

Finally, at the end of the episode, Cat tells Kara that she thinks that she's Supergirl. Cat puts together all of the coincidences and patterns to get to that conclusion. Then she asks Kara to remove her glasses. That if she doesn't do it, it's an admission. So Kara removes her glasses and when Cat sees her she thanks her for all the help that she's given her. I find this twist very interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of it.

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Review: The Vampire Diaries Season 7 Episode 9 "Cold As Ice" [Midseason Finale]




EPISODE SUMMARY:

As the holidays draw near, Stefan and Damon's search for Julian leads them to a town outside Mystic Falls; Bonnie becomes friendly with Nora during a toy drive; Alaric fears that Caroline is struggling with her pregnancy.

AIRED: December 10, 2015

RATING: 5 ★★★★★ Extraordinary!

3 years from now in Chicago, Stefan is getting ready to go after Damon and Caroline, but Valerie is telling him that he can't go. He refuses to leave Damon and Caroline in the hunter's hands. When she offers to go with him, Stefan won't allow it. The hunter already has two people he cares about and he won't allow her to have a third. Valerie promises him that if anything happens to him, she'll reign down hell on anyone responsible. Before leaving, he kisses her and promises to be back before she knows it. Now we learn that Stefan is with Valerie. Like, with her-with her. These glimpses into the future are kind of driving me nuts. I want to know what happened to cause such dramatic changes in their relationships.

In this episode, Damon and Stefan lay Lily to rest. Caroline's pregnancy hormones go haywire. Stefan and Damon travel to Sunbury to track down Julian. Bonnie runs the Toys for Tots toy drive, with Nora's help. Mary Louise and Nora break up. And Julian gets his revenge on Damon and Stefan.

At Lily's graveside, I thought that it was really sweet that Valerie brought with her the flowers that Stefan used to place at his mother's grave when he was a boy. That was a really touching moment that was then off set by Damon's flippant eulogy that shows he still doesn't feel any remorse. Throughout this entire episode, people comment on Damon's apparent lack of remorse. He may not have any right now, but something does happen that changes things for him.

After a birthing class, Caroline overhears a couple talking about her and Ric. They recognize him as a professor and her as a student. They say some rude things and that makes Caroline angry. Her pregnancy hormones have made her control over her vampire nature almost non-existent. Luckily, Ric was there to stop her from doing something she'd regret. We learn what's really going through Caroline's head when she goes to visit her mother's grave. Caroline feels responsible for the babies, even if they aren't her own, and she just wants to make sure that she does right by them.

In Sunbury, a town that Bonnie found Julian in using a locator spell, Damon and Stefan follow a Santa Pub Crawl to a pub where they find everyone dead. They know that's where they'll find Julian. And they do, but he's not alone. Damon is able to get them out and wants Stefan to drop it for now and not to kick the hornet's nest. Stefan doesn't drop it though and that get him and Damon into a situation they can't get out of. Julian uses the X-shaped sword and stabs Damon in the heart, trapping his soul in the Phoenix Stone. It took this happening to Damon to snapped Stefan out of his fog of vengeance. Stefan tells Caroline that Damon won't be able make it in the Stone. With all the things that Damon has done, Stefan doesn't want to know what kind of hell the Stone has created for him. We are shown a scene where Damon wakes up, wounded, on a Civil War battlefield. I'm really curious about what Damon did back then, while still human mind you, to cause the Stone to use that in creating his punishment.    Caroline promises that they'll find a way to save Damon and that Damon can survive this. Nora, who was cloaked, tells them that even if Damon survives, he'll be different, just like Stefan will be. She then stabs Stefan with the Sword in retaliation for what he did to Mary Louise. Things are going to get really interesting now that both Damon and Stefan are trapped in the Phoenix Stone. We know that Damon's done a lot of bad things, but we haven't seen much of what Stefan has done in his past, so it'll be interesting to see what his hell looks like.

Finally, now that Nora has separated from Mary Louise, she has gone out on her own. She enrolls in classes at the University, and she wants to be more involved in charity. She asks if she can help Bonnie with the Toys for Tots toy drive. But it's apparent that Nora is still hung up on Mary Louise. When Mary Louise visits Nora at the hospital where she's delivering gifts to the children, they end up fighting and Nora breaks it off completely. But that all changes when Julian tells her that Mary Louise has been taken. I was really liking the new side to Nora we were seeing. And I was really enjoying seeing her and Bonnie kind of bond. But it looks like there's just no way for the Heretics and Team Salvatore to be friends (with the exception of Valerie).

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Review: Supergirl Season 1 Episode 7 "Human for a Day"




EPISODE SUMMARY:

Kara and her friends must rely on their inner strength and courage when an earthquake strikes National City.

AIRED: December 7, 2015

RATING: 3 ★★★✩✩ Very Good!

In the last episode, Kara maxed out her powers fighting Red Tornado. Now, she's human for a day until her powers come back. But things go downhill when an earthquake hits National City. Meanwhile at the DEO, the earthquake knocks out the bases power and a powerful psychic alien escapes. Alex struggles with trusting Hank after learning that he was the last man to see her father alive, which makes capturing the alien more difficult.

In this episode, Kara learns what it's like to be human. She gets sick, she breaks her arm, and she feels helplessness. She learns that she doesn't need powers to be a hero, just as humans don't need powers to be heroes. I think that this was a lesson that Kara really needed to learn. There could be another situation in the future where he powers will be of no help and she may need to handle as a human would.

Maxwell uses the earthquake and Supergirl's absence as a way to discredit Supergirl's reputation. But Cat counteracts this by giving a really inspirational speech for the people. I really enjoyed the moment that Supergirl and Cat had at the end of the episode where Supergirl tells Cat that she's glad that the people had her while she was unavailable. Cat gave the people hope and inspired them, just as she inspires Supergirl. That small smile that Cat gave at the compliment was everything.

There's some tension between Kara and Winn when he catches her and James hugging. Part of it was probably jealousy, but the bigger part was his disappointment in Kara for acting in such a way with a man who already has a girlfriend. At the end of the day, Winn delivers a parting shot that hit Kara hard. It was like and Oh! Snap! moment. It may also be the fact that it took James almost dying for Kara's powers to come back. That shows how much he means to her. Sure they are friends and she'd save him either way, but it just seemed significant that it was James that brought Kara's powers back. And Winn notices this.

While all this is happening, Alex is dealing with her distrust toward Hank. She knows that he knows what really happened to her father and the fact that he never told her anything and even tried to hide it, doesn't endear him to her. So when the earthquake knocks out the bases power and a powerful alien escapes, she can't trust Hank when she needs to most. There were a lot of small instances that raised her distrust even more, but the truth was something else. "I am not Hank Henshaw." From previous episodes, we knew that something was up with Hank. A regular human doesn't have glowing eyes. But when he said those words, it was like it was full cemented that he's not human. We meet the sole survivor and last son of Mars, J'onn J'onzz, and the truth that he reveals to Alex is heartbreaking, but I think knowing that her father died a hero helped give her some peace.

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Review: The Vampire Diaries Season 7 Episode 8 "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me"




EPISODE SUMMARY:

While Julian and Lily host a party to celebrate Mary Louise and Nora's anniversary, Stefan and Damon initiate a risky plan; Caroline faces a new reality that threatens to destroy her relationship with Stefan; Lily makes a difficult decision.

AIRED: December 3, 2015

RATING: 5 ★★★★★ Extraordinary!

3 years from now, Damon wakes up tied to a chair with vervain soaked chains. The person in the shadows states that he's not the fly they were hoping to catch. When Damon tells the person to step out of the shadows, the person who is revealed is Lily. When he sees her, he states that it's been a long time. At first, I was wondering how Lily could possibly be there when she's dead. At the end of the episode, there's another scene that reveals the truth. Werewolf toxin. We still don't know who the hunter is, though. But what really stuck out was Damon's remorse toward his mother. I'm wondering what happened to change his opinion of her.

The Salvatores plan to kill Julian that day. Everything must appear normal. They get Julian's blood, have the Heretics unlink Lily from Julian, then they kill him. Valerie will tell the Heretics the truth about Julian, so that they help with the plan. The plan was good in theory, but they keep underestimating Julian. He's been around longer than all of them, he can't be taken down that easy. It seems like wishful thinking. I think that they should have planned things out a lot more than they did. They should have thought of every possible scenario. Because they didn't, someone paid the price. And that price was a heartbreaking one. I was crying my eyes out at this loss.

It also happens to he Nora and Mary Louise's 133rd anniversary. Julian plans a huge party for them, using the people he compelled as guests and food. Mary Louise plans to propose to Nora. Julian gives her a ring to propose with that Nora is sure to love. There is a lot of drama that happens at this party - there's drama between Julian and Lily, Lily and Damon, Mary Louise and Nora, Valerie and her family. And this drama was a contributing factor in the failure of the plan to kill Julian. There was so much friction that loyalties weren't as strong as they should have been. There were some really nice moments, such as hearing a song Beau had sung before he lost his voice. He had a beautiful voice. Mary Louise's proposal was sweet. Stefan and Lily's mother-son moment was so touching. But then there were moments of betrayal, heartbreak, and grief. So they had a very busy night.

On a side note, Caroline finally told Stefan about the pregnancy. He didn't handle it well, but with Lily's advice he cleared things up with her. Letting her know that he's not going anywhere. And then Matt was instrumental in Enzo's capture by a mysterious group of hunters. I'm very curious about who these people are and what they want with Enzo.

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Review: Supergirl Season 1 Episode 6 "Red Faced"




EPISODE SUMMARY:

Anger gets the better of Kara when she goes too far during a training exercise with Red Tornado, a military cyborg commissioned by Lucy Lane's father.

AIRED: November 30, 2015

RATING: 3 ★★★✩✩ Very Good!

In this episode of Supergirl, Kara battles with her growing anger as General Lane arrives at the DEO wanting her to test out an Army android named Red Tornado. She gets to angry while fighting it that she does so much damage, causing its self-preservation mechanism activates. General Lane blames her for unleashing a killing machine on National City. He orders the android destroyed and fires its creator Dr. Morrow. Wanting revenge, Dr. Morrow takes control of Red Tornado and targets General Lane. Supergirl and the DEO work together to finally destroy the android. I'm going to be honest, Red Tornado/Dr. Morrow was kind of boring as a villain. I did like the moment when Red Tornado unleashed a tornado on National City. It was interesting to see how Supergirl would be able to stop it. And I was getting some Twister vibes that made me nastalgic for the movie that I both loved and was scared of. I really didn't like General Lane. He blamed Supergirl for his mistakes. I couldn't believe it when he blamed her for stopping the tornado tearing up the city, instead of stopping Red Tornado. Did he really prefer to her let the tornado destroy the city? It was cool to see Supergirl use her anger to fuel her heat vision to stop Red Tornado for good.

Then General Lane takes his natural bad attitude with him to dinner with Lucy and James. He really doesn't like James and not just because he's friends with aliens. He believes that James isn't good enough for Lucy, that he's only going to bring her down. Then he really hits a sore spot when he tells James that just because he's friends with special people, it doesn't make him special in return. That man is just unpleasant to be around, no matter the situation. Then Lucy tells him that she won't be returning with him to Metropolis and that she's resigning. Even though she tells her father that James isn't bringing her down, the look he shot at James tells us that his fears have come true. James and Lucy have a lot of drama in their relationship. It's just insane how much baggage they have.

That Game Night at Kara's house was so awkward. James and Lucy win because they know each other so well, but it just makes the whole situation uncomfortable. Then Winn almost slips up when mentioning her cousin during the game. But what really rubs salt in Kara's heart wounds, is when Lucy tells them how she met Supergirl and wasn't impressed. OUCH!

Cat gives Kara some really good advice about anger after a blow up at the office. Cat tells her that she needs to find a release for her anger, but she also needs to find the anger behind the anger. She needs to find what is really making her angry deep down. It's during an anger-intervention-boxing-thing with James that Kara realizes that what she's really angry about is that she may never have a normal life. That being herself doesn't make her feel normal like she thought it would. That her normal life ended when her parents put her on that ship bound for Earth. I really like the relationship between Cat and Kara. Even when Cat seems like she doesn't really care about Kara, she surprises me with how thoughtful she can be. There was a moment when Cat defended Kara against her mother, who was being rude to Kara. I just can't get enough of these two.

It's during that moment that Kara accidentally drops a glass and it shatters. When she goes to pick up the pieces, she cuts her finger on the glass. When she says the words, "I'm bleeding," in a disbelieving voice, we know that it can't mean anything good. It's pretty obvious with how much power she used to take out Red Tornado, that she maxed out her powers. So what does that mean for Supergirl and National City?

On a final note, Alex has Winn hack into the DEO mainframe for information on her father's death. The last person to see her father alive was Hank. What really went on during that mission to South America? What is Hank trying to hide by deleting the files? Why do Hank's eyes glow red? It's a mystery that I'm looking forward to getting the answers to.

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