Cameron sent us an email with thoughts about the Supergirl season four episode titled “Bunker Hill”!

Hi, ladies!

I’ve been listening to Supergirl Radio for a while and often miss the cutoff to email or get insecure about what to say in an email being a “first time caller” so to speak. And I tend to get a bit wordy (as you’ll see with the length of this email), buI think what got me to actually write is something about this episode just irked me.

First, I thought it started out as a great, little light-hearted episode with Kara, Nia and Brainy. Add in some Manchester Black action that looks like your typical Supergirl fare, but then it took a turn at the end. Maybe it was the fact that the President is just a horrible man or how much support Ben Lockwood is getting.  \I totally get it that that’s probably part of the drama, but call me naive…I like it when there’s a happy ending or at least one not so anti-Supergirl/alien. I completely understand the need for drama and cliffhangers, but for some inexplicable reason, this episode really bothered me.

I think I have to start backwards on this and why it gave me a weird feeling. The main thing that bothers me is how the Metropolis Inquisitor calls Ben Lockwood a Human Rights Activist.

When I think Human Rights Activist, I don’t think Ben Lockwood or anything he stands for. As if people losing jobs to modernization and implementation of alien technologies (Nth metal) or even the implied aliens taking jobs violates human rights. That’s not a human rights violation…that’s just highly unfortunate. When I think protecting human rights, I think preventing genocide, slavery and the like. I guess one could say he’s an activist because he has free speech and he wants what he thinks is best for humans without caring about aliens, but he sees them as bugs beneath his feet that need to be exterminated.

The differing headlines from CatCo and the Inquisitor were interesting. CatCo’s was “Pundit Revealed as Terrorist Agent Liberty” while the Inquisitor’s was “Human Rights Activist Imprisoned”. I have a hard time believing anything with the name “Inquisitor” in its title. But, I do feel CatCo’s wasn’t unbiased either. Every time James publishes something it backfires. I was recently watching the season two episode, “Crossfire”, with the alien weapons, and it mentions how the polls went up in support for repealing the Alien Amnesty Act, which wasn’t James’ intention when publishing whatever it was. I’m thinking James needs to stop publishing things and stick to art directing and being the photo journalist. I get it…Cat put him in charge and Lena let him stay…I mean, she doesn’t want to be the Luthor that kicked a man out of his desk home. But, maybe we need to bring back Snapper. He stuck to the What, Where, When, Who, How.

Then there is the issue with the President. I could’ve sworn after he reads the headline to Supergirl that I heard him say something that sounded like he was worried about his donors. That goes back to his worry about the polls from the beginning of the episode. On that note, it felt like Colonel Haley was back on Team Alex. Granted, she didn’t express her shock that the President was worried about that like Alex did, but I think she just knows how to handle the President better without letting her emotions get the best of her. Or, that might be wishful thinking. She didn’t really seem to pick a side when the President demanded Supergirl’s identity. She just is acting like I would expect someone in the military to in the presence of the President.

The President, though, is going off about how his family is with the Secret Service and he’s worried about their safety and no one should be above anyone else. But, they’re with the Secret Service because with him as a leader, they need to be protected so they are not used against him or the country. The same could be said for Supergirl’s identity. Her secret identity protects her and her family in the same way the Secret Service does his.

This goes back to Ben Lockwood as he’s being arrested. He yells out,  “Look what they did to me!” Who’s they? Aliens? Does Lockwood not realize Manchester is human? Supergirl didn’t beat him up so his argument doesn’t make sense. Then him yelling that we now know who he is, but we don’t know who is Supergirl. Why do you need to know her name, Ben? So you and your lackies can hurt her family? Sure, we don’t know Supergirl’s identity, but she isn’t hiding behind a mask. People just have to look. Interesting that he says he wears the mask to protect him and his family. Same reason why Supergirl doesn’t reveal her identity. Last time someone knew Kara and Supergirl were the same, they used it to try to control her by kidnapping Alex. Alex even said not to do what that guy wanted because then people will know she can be manipulated.

And yet, no one even mentions Superman. Maybe because this is Supergirl’s show and they want to not put the emphasis on him, but people seem fine with not knowing who he is. I’m still confused on if Supergirl is an employee of the DEO. I kind of saw her more like an independent contractor. So, since she’s no longer in the service of the government, according to the Prez, can’t she go about doing her superheroing like she had intended originally with Winn before Hank shot her out of the sky with kryptonite darts in the first episode? Superman never worked with the government, it seems, and no one stops him.

It was also interesting to see the President using his and Supergirl’s first meeting against her when he says “we need to put country first.” She had mentioned something about supporting the country no matter who leads it.

Now some small observations (I told you the email would be long):

1. People in Collinwood just walk around on the daily in Children of Liberty masks? So everyone in this town is anti-alien? Not one alien supporter?

2.  I was rooting for Manchester in this one.

3. All these alien sniffing dogs. How many dogs have been trained to do this? That would need aliens to train and compare scents to. So where are these missing aliens? What happened to NCPD’s Science Division? Aren’t they in charge of the weird happenings of National City when the DEO isn’t involved? Did they leave when Maggie left?

4. Kara Liberty and her 23 and Me results. “I’m looking for my birth dad Agent. Agent Liberty?”  OMG LOL.

5.  I wish Lockwood’s wife would just divorce him. I get the whole “Stand by your Man”, but this is ridiculous. I don’t know if she sees Ben’s super aggressiveness while he and Manchester fight as a man protecting his family or as super psycho Agent Liberty. And how did she get to the warehouse so fast or even know to go there? How’d she get out of the duct tape around her wrists? Maybe she’s an alien? J/K. But, plot twist if that’s the case.

6. Love Alex tricking the Children of Liberty guy and Kara flying out of her glasses.

7. Oh Kara. Always catching mysterious grenade type things and being injured by it (like Lillian’s sound grenade).

8. Call me naive again, but I wish they would’ve ended the Agent Liberty story here where not all aliens are bad especially after he saw Supergirl stop Manchester from killing him and her saving his wife. Yeah, sure she was still going to arrest you, but she saved your wife’s and your life. And I’d hope after his wife seeing how he definitely wants to kill Manchester instead of letting Supergirl or the police deal with him, she’d leave him. Alas, she is completely supportive of him and his ideals starting that “Liberty” chant at the prison. I swear she’s an alien. She got there and through the crowd before the cop car with Ben in it got to the prison. Say what?

9. “I’m not struggling. I’m flying”. That was a cool moment.

That’s pretty much my thoughts on this episode. I can’t wait to hear what you guys think!

Thanks for reading my insanely long email,

Cameron. 🙂

About the author

Rebecca Johnson