Loved It? Hated It? What did you think of "City of Lost Children?"

[KSiteTV]

What did you think?

[costas22]

I liked this episode. It advanced a couple of storylines fairly well and it didn't really have anything offensive. It had a bit of a Smallville season 5 vibe as well, with the James/Marcus and Rhea/Lena arcs reminiscent of Clark helping out the telekinetic girl who could move glass and Brainiac manipulating Lex's technology for his own evil purposes respectively.

It felt like James, not Supergirl, was at the forefront this week. I didn't mind though because the show finally addressed some of the issues with James being Guardian that have been lingering since he decided to become a vigilante. It never felt like his sort of thing and the way James was confused about his purpose, in a meta way, perfectly reflected the way the writers don't know what to do with him this season. His scenes with Marcus did more to showcase what a man he is than his romance with Kara or being Guardian did. Maybe he'll go back to doing nothing next week, but at least it was nice to see him involved in something that didn't involve being a love interest or playing a hero. Even if it wasn't acting as CatCo CEO (they might as well demolish that building for good given how pointless it's been this season ).

Mon-El was another character who they did a better job with this week. His scene with Rhea was one of his best this season because it finally took him out of that love interest zone that he's been stuck in for most of the season. And Chris' acting was solid all throughout.

As expected, Rhea played Lena for her own agenda and it will be intriguing to see where Lena goes from here, as another mother figure of sorts let her down. As for the Daxam invasion, it really takes the scorned mother deal to a whole new level doesn't it?

Didn't miss Maggie at all this week. I did miss Snapper, but what's the point in him if the show is going to explore Kara's journalism career one week and then sweep it under the rug for the next 3?

7/10. This one set up the last 2 episodes fairly well.

[jon-el87]

A minor prediction about the season 3 finale: [SPOILER]there will be an alien invasion.[/SPOILER] Why do I think that? Oh, it's just a hunch.

On the subject of the episode, I thought Mehcad did a good job carrying it. I like that James was unsure about his purpose as the Guardian, due to the suit inspiring fear, even in people he's trying to protect. Reminds me a bit of DC: The New Frontier (and its film adaptation), where Batman tries to save a kid's life and the kid gets scared of him, which causes Bruce to adopt a new (less scary) outfit as he's out there to scare criminals, not children. If James does continue as the Guardian (assuming he's not dropped after this season, as the writers don't know what to do with him), he'll probably get a new suit (possibly blue and gold, like in the Guardian's suit in the comics).

[Backward Galaxy]

I found the Guardian/James stuff to be borderline offensive, honestly. I know they sort of touched on it by having him yell at J'Onn, "Why? Because I'm black?", but just because they acknowledged it, doesn't mean they get off the hook for it.

The second issue I had with it is that it's dumb overall. This is a well-funded government agency. They don't have access to a child psychologist? A social worker? ANYBODY who might be a little more qualified than a former photographer turned do-nothing editor/superhero? I may be biased because I was watching this episode with my girlfriend, who has a Master's degree and works with children in hospitals, but it's just lazy writing. They wanted to give James something to do, so they immediately thought, "Hey, black kid with an on-the-nose similar backstory!" It might have made sense if the DEO had the biographical information on the child first, made the connection that it was similar to Olsen's, and went to him for that reason. But it just ended up being coincidental and discovered after the fact. The truth is that they didn't even try and so it came off exactly as ridiculous and fake as it was.

I completely hate the Lena Luthor character. I kind of wish Rhea would kill her, but I know that's not going to happen, because she was made a regular for next season.

Can't wait to see what deus ex machina they come up with for getting rid of an armada of Daxamite ships. ::

[President_Luthor]

I would say James needed a spotlight episode weeks ago, and considering how quickly he was slipping into irrelevance as a character, they basically had to give him one now. Was it executed well -- probably not as well as they or we wanted, but there was definitely meta reasons being addressed here in trying to find a purpose/meaning for his character. He's yet another canon character getting short shrift in the Flarrowverse and I saw this ep was essentially an intervention to keep James/Guardian's head above water in the show.

In practical terms, the DEO grilling the kid was silly. Having James take the kid under his wing may have worked for the purposes of his subplot (that kid was his lifesaving vest in more ways than one), but I basically have to suspend disbelief that the DEO has no one qualified to deal with kids. Just like I had to suspend disbelief that Lyla needed Team Arrow's help to break Diggle out of prison. Makes little sense, but in Lyla's case plot demanded that she 'needed' Team Arrow's help even though she commands resources that could invade a country let alone extract one dude from a prison.

I would say the stakes were even higher for James -- he needed to prove his worth as a Team Kara member and, in a meta sense, prove his continued status as a main roster member. This ep was his life preserver and on this front it mostly got the job done.

Some of the dialogue was painful -- did Winn literally have to spell out that James was a hero without a mask at the end? But otherwise the ep got the messy work done in extending James' best before date at least into next season. They wouldn't need to double down on a James-heavy ep like this so late into the season had they invested more effort in him, but that's a familiar tune we've heard re: SG.

Hey, CatCo still exists! Good to know, though I don't see James or Kara do any work there. I think Miss Tessmacher was the only one working, and she was only retrieving fries and milkshakes.

Kara/Mon-El means nothing to me, but I am interested in how Mon-El may deal with this armada and if he will embrace his destiny. And I'm talking about his fate as a dude can't catch a break member! I think the siren call of his princely duty to look out for his people will be irresistible -- this is a guy who was bred to rule, as absurd as it may look at the moment - and will force him to choose duty over Kara either sooner or later. It'll soon be time to stir up a new batch of potstickers.

I enjoyed the Rhea - Lena interactions but I do wonder where this leaves Lena now that Rhea has played her hand.

[nate-dog1701d]

I was hoping to see Lillian in this episode since I'd just watched her as the "braless wonder" on Seinfeld.

I think it's too late for James as a character at this point. He's been wasted so long that an attempt like this to give him time in the sun feels just like that: an attempt to give him time in the sun.

I'm not sure how that portal supposedly pulled ships from various parts of the universe to one location. Don't portals usually only have two ends?

[speople]

I found the Guardian/James stuff to be borderline offensive, honestly. I know they sort of touched on it by having him yell at J'Onn, "Why? Because I'm black?", but just because they acknowledged it, doesn't mean they get off the hook for it.

The second issue I had with it is that it's dumb overall. This is a well-funded government agency. They don't have access to a child psychologist? A social worker? ANYBODY who might be a little more qualified than a former photographer turned do-nothing editor/superhero? I may be biased because I was watching this episode with my girlfriend, who has a Master's degree and works with children in hospitals, but it's just lazy writing. They wanted to give James something to do, so they immediately thought, "Hey, black kid with an on-the-nose similar backstory!" It might have made sense if the DEO had the biographical information on the child first, made the connection that it was similar to Olsen's, and went to him for that reason. But it just ended up being coincidental and discovered after the fact. The truth is that they didn't even try and so it came off exactly as ridiculous and fake as it was.

I completely hate the Lena Luthor character. I kind of wish Rhea would kill her, but I know that's not going to happen, because she was made a regular for next season.

Can't wait to see what deus ex machina they come up with for getting rid of an armada of Daxamite ships. ::

Easy, Mon-El will proclaim himself King and order them to leave. He will of course have to go with them though leaving behind a tearful (and slightly broken) Kara Zor El

As for the ep itself - great until the ending, I mean, 12 people pulling ships from all over the universe to 1 location at faster than the speed of light - yeah, right.

[Aurora Moon]

I agree with others that this ep was exactly what James needed in order to develop his character. I do find it a little funny how somebody who wanted to be a hero like Superman would end up being more like Batman, but it does make a lot of sense.

wasn't a big fan of the Lena/Rhena thing... as seeing it just made Lena look like the lesser Luthor for getting duped this way. Lena never really catches a break, does she?

[Billy Jor-El]

Yes, it was a James highlight ep, and as a comic book come to life, it was still enjoyable, but I give it low marks because Supergirl was a minor, supporting character in this. Meh, I watch for Melissa to shine, and here it just left me rather flat....

[Mbruno]

There is one thing I don't understand. Is Rhea the queen consort of Daxam or the queem regnant ? If she is only a queen consort and Lar Gand was the reigning king, then I suppose that, once Lar Gand passed away, Mon-El would become the next king (if Daxam follows the same rules of hereditary succession that are used by Earth's monarchies). As the new king, Mon-El could simply order the Daxamite fleet to stand down then. Or should we assume Mon-El is deemed to have given up his succession rights when he decided to stay on Earth, in which case there would be no known successor to the throne ?