GLOW Friday

Who is watching GLOW on Netflix?

I just finished Season 1 and found it pretty entertaining, but I'm a sucker for women's sports entertainment and TV/Movies Featuring a Strong Female Lead.  What a strong opening scene in the pilot, critiquing the roles available for women in Hollywood.

My only complaint at the moment is that there's like, what, 15 women in the cast? So, why does it seem like approximately 50% of the lines and screen-time go to the male director guy? That might be an exaggeration, but we could have delved more into the other characters' back stories. Although, perhaps Season 2 will head in that direction.

More importantly, I guess the original Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling did an opening rap before their matches. Now, if you ask me why so many white people rapped in the '80s, I have no answer. I was just a kid. But yes, that was some weird shit.

See for yourself (and the rapping is only like the 10th weirdest thing about this):

TBT: The Actual World We Live In

My oh my has it really been just one year since I hollered out this friendly reminder:

"SO SORRY TO YELL BUT IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE JILL STEIN WERE ELECTED PRESIDENT HERE IS A REMINDER THAT THE ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT HER LOFTY, PURE PLATFORM WOULD BE SEVERELY IMPEDED BY NOT HAVING GREEN PARTY MEMBERS IN CONGRESS THAT'S ALL THANKS BYEEEEE!"

Update!

Earlier this week, Republicans approved a motion to begin debating the various ways they want to dismantle Obamacare. Every single Democrat in the Senate opposed this motion. This outcome should underscore two facts about the world in which we live:

(1) Democrats and Republicans are not, in fact, "just the same" or "just as bad as one another." (And, as I wrote last year, Jill Stein herself was a 91% "on the issues" match with Hillary Clinton, but *incoherent mumbling about neoliberals*);

and

(2) It is the height of absurdity to think that Jill Stein, or let's be real Bernie Sanders, could have waltzed in as President, having inherited this Republican-controlled Congress, and implemented single-payer healthcare. Although, I have to admit, it would be entertaining to watch Stein interact with Mitch McConnell and the Republicans, if only because she'd have to actually acknowledge their existence and obstructionism in the real world.

The larger point here is that presidents are not dictators in the US, at least not yet, although Donald seems to be trying his damndest.

So, every four years when the Green Party or whoever-the-fuck candidate with zero allies in Congress comes around promising some non-violent political revolution, particularly to the politically uninformed, it's worth pointing out that their platforms likely could never be implemented during their term in office without a major influx of allies in both Congress and the Judiciary.

Could they lay the groundwork for future progress? Sure. But that's something else entirely than the revolution these charlatans so often promise.

Recap: Supergirl 2.17 "Distant Sun"

So, apparently Kara and Mon-El are back together. I guess that happened in the crossover episode with the Flash or something? I don't know, but at least he cooks now and makes her breakfast in the morning. His parents are still in the picture, too, hovering in orbit in their spaceship.

In queer news, Maggie and Alex are also now "that couple" who do yoga together. AND, Maggie's ex is also in town and I have to say, she bears a resemblance to Alex. This is her, being "that person" who is wielding a ginormous umbrella even though it has stopped raining:

They make plans to have dinner, the three of them. Whyyyyyyy.  But alas, the ex stands them up. Alex later finds the ex, confronts her, and 100% non-creepily demands to know why she was a no-show. It turns out, Maggie had cheated on the ex back in the day, and seeing Maggie brought up too many bad memories. Oh. Well then. This revelation was news to Alex.

Meanwhile, the bad aliens of the week are some bounty hunters who have arrived to kill Supergirl. One of the aliens gives Mon-El the Vex mind-control treatment, forcing him to attack Supergirl. So, now Mon-El and Supergirl are fighting, confirming that no couple on this show can ever be happy for longer than brief 2-minute breakfast interludes.

The gang stops the alien, however, and he tells them that some Daxamites have paid him to kill Supergirl. Presumably, these Daxamites are Mon-El's parents. Mon-El then suggests that he and Kara run away to another planet. And sorry, but um, no. We need her here on Earth, thanks.

Instead, Mon-El and Supergirl decide to talk to Mama Mon-El (Mom-El?) at the Fortress of Solitude.

They plead with her to call off the bounty out of the kindness of her heart. LOL, oh Supergirl you sweet summer child.

It turns out, however, that Mom-El had brought some kryptonite with her and she begins attacking Supergirl with it. Mon-El then says he'll go back to Daxam with his parents if they'll just leave Supergirl alone. And poof, just like that, he's gone.

Defying the President's orders to not go after the Daxamites, Winn helps Supergirl get on board the Daxam ship by building her a portal thingy. I love how Winn's position at CatCo was "IT Guy," but he's now apparently the DEO's top computer, hacking, astrophysics, and weapons expert. It's like if the writers give him a witty retort each and every time he introduces whatever techno-ma-bob will save the day, viewers maybe won't notice the absurdity. I mean, there was at least a time when the Alex's Ex Agent fulfilled some of these duties.

ANYWAY, the larger point is that Supergirl uses the portal to get to the Daxamite ship and begins fighting Mom-El and her sais of kryptonite:

But wait, we learn that it was actually J'onn (who had shape-shifted into Supergirl) who boarded the ship! That's always a fun trick. Mon-El's dad stops the fight and seems to finally accept that Mon-El belongs on Earth with his new family.

Back at Alex's place, Alex pours herself a stiff drink and confronts Maggie about her pattern of keeping secrets. However, it takes a nice unexpected turn when, instead of being judgmental, Alex is mostly understanding. She gets that when Maggie's parents rejected her, she began having trouble trusting that people would accept her even though she's not perfect.

In conclusion, it turns out the President (played by Lynda Carter, whooop!) is actually a White Martian, and Mom-El kills Dad-El for letting Mon-El stay on Earth. That was a mouthful. BYEEEE!


Deep Thought of the Week: Lost Girl fans might have picked up the reference to Vex one of the anti-heroes of the show, and whose fae trait was mind-control. I miss that show, is it time for a reboot yet? Too soon?  Also, preferred manslash ship and video: Vex/Mark). Do people ship m/m pairings from Supergirl? Who would that be? I mean, Winn, obviously. But who else?


[Note: In November 2017, CW/Supergirl Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg was suspended after allegations of sexual harassment.]

Important Lesbian Sports News

Via ESPN, pro basketball player Sue Bird has revealed that she's been dating pro soccer player Megan Rapinoe.

I think the lede is buried, however:

"Bird might be in the fourth quarter of her basketball career -- at 36, she is the oldest player in the WNBA and is in her 15th season with the Seattle Storm -- but she is expertly managing the clock. She has never been in better shape and isn't talking about retirement anytime soon."

That is kind of amazing.

But seriously, congratulations, ladies.

Twitter Response to Abuse Slow and Inconsistent

Earlier this week, Buzzfeed ran an article on Twitter's response to abuse that occurs on its platform.

For those unfamiliar with the process for reporting abuse on Twitter, the platform does allow users to report other users and tweets for abusive content. Once a report is filed and before Twitter makes a determination about the abuse report, Twitter suggests tips for making "your Twitter experience safer," including not further engaging with the abusive user, using the block function, using the mute function, and contacting law enforcement.

These are all tips that most users, particularly those who receive heavy amounts of abuse, are already aware of. Indeed, I would think that most people who file abuse reports do so because these tips are actually not helpful in resolving the types of abuse they might be experiencing on Twitter, particularly because people continually devise ways to game the few tools Twitter does give people to help deal with abuse.

For instance, many abusers create alternate accounts on Twitter specifically so they can view, screenshot, and re-tweet content posted by other users who have blocked them. In that way, the block function is rendered less effective, as a blocked user can still direct harassment and abuse to other users.

The Buzzfeed article, linked above, highlights an example in which a woman, named Maggie, blocked someone on Twitter and yet that person had, ostensibly by logging in with a different account, taken a screenshot of her Twitter profile picture and photoshopped her face into the crosshairs of a gunsight. This image was then retweeted by another user who found her on Facebook and tweeted her location. Twitter did not deem this behavior to be a violation of its rules.

However, Twitter then later suspended the offending account, after having been contacted by Buzzfeed:

"Though the suspension ultimately granted Maggie some peace of mind, her process of getting justice is one of many examples that show a frustrating pattern for victims — one in which Twitter is slow or unresponsive to harassment reports until they’re picked up by the media."

So, I have two bigger-picture points to make.

One, Twitter was extremely quick to monetize and grow its platform. It's been much slower to put adequate resources into helping its users deal with abuse perpetuated on the platform. Anecdotally, in speaking with other Twitter users, the response to reports is pretty inconsistent - with the same type of behavior sometimes being found abusive, and other times not, seemingly dependent upon who reviews the report.

Two, as Twitter does roll out new tools to help users deal with abuse, it's clear that abusers will likewise adapt to these tools. Twitter, and the people hired to handle abuse reports, need to have a nuanced and evolving understanding of the ways people use its platform to inflict abuse on others.

Recap: Supergirl 2.16 "Star-Crossed"

There's trouble in rom-com paradise for the Scooby gang.

First, some aliens have come to Earth under the belief that Mon-El is being held captive, and they're demanding his release. It's odd, because Mon-El isn't being held captive and, supposedly, he's the last survivor from his home planet Daxam.

Supergirl is confused. But, when they beam her and Mon-El up to their ship, she finds out that, whoops, Mon-El was not actually a palace guard on his home planet, as he had claimed. He was the prince. And, the aliens who have arrived are his parents.

They all have dinner together and it's tense. For one, Mon-El had lied about his past. Two, Mon-El's parents are pro-slavery. And three, the only reason he survived his home planet's explosion was because of his privileged status as prince. As people were dying around him, he was ushered to an escape pod. Supergirl leaves the dinner, disgusted with all of them.

Then, Lyra convinces Winn to break into a museum so they can supposedly have "hot museum sex." Okay.

The next day, Winn is in a good mood because he got laid or whatever and is proceeding to be the most annoying co-worker imaginable. The DEO, it seems, has an open floor plan and he's loudly singing "Celebrate good times, come on." His co-workers do a bemused eye-roll instead of telling him to STFU. Then, when his cell phone rings, he takes a personal call and has a loud cellphone convo.

Well, on the call, Winn finds out that someone stole Van Gogh's "Starry Night" from the museum the previous night, and the security footage shows him there, but not Lyra. Maggie interviews him at the police station and is convinced that Lyra framed him. She gives the Scoobies some time to track down Lyra.

Also, Lyra is the type of alien who apparently doesn't appear in photographs or videos, which is why only Winn showed up in the security video. Hmm, now that you mention it, Lyra does bear a resemblance to Buffy-verse vampires:
 

Winn, Alex, and The Guardian then track down Lyra and she confesses to Winn that she duped him. It's sort of sad because Winn seemed really happy in a relationship for once.

The DEO ends up capturing her, but Winn helps her escape so she can sell the painting to the art dealer. There's a story she concocts about having a brother who is being held hostage or something, which is why she had to steal the painting. Winn, The Guardian, and the DEO help get the brother back, and it turns out she was at least honest about that. Winn forgives her.

Later, Mon-El's mom has a talk with Kara. She implies that Kryptonians are sort of snobby and judgemental toward Daxamites. I guess because Kryptonians disapprove of slavery? It also seems odd that a literal member of a royal family would call someone snobby, but hey, we live in weird times my friends.

Mon-El and Kara then talk. Mon-El gives a monologue about how he used to be a rich, spoiled brat but that changed when Kara made him a better man or whatever. Kara says she can't trust Mon-El anymore, however, and breaks up with him. He then tells his parents that Kara broke up with him, but that he's going to stay on Earth anyway.

To end, there is then some weird crossover shit with the Flash series, which I haven't seen. There are so many DC-verse shows on right now that it's impossible to keep up BYE.
  

Deep Thought of the Week: I worry about James. I like that he questions Mon-El's heroism, because that's on point, but what are they doing with him this season, really? Like, what is the larger story arc for The Guardian? At some point is he just going to get hurt really bad, confirming Kara's belief that he shouldn't try to be a hero? Does he have a love life? What happened to Lucy Lane?


[Note: In November 2017, CW/Supergirl Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg was suspended after allegations of sexual harassment.]

It's Happening! L Word Reboot.

The L Word is coming back. Supposedly. I'll believe it when I see it (And I hope I do):

"Based on the original series, the reboot of 'The L Word' would center around a new ensemble of women, following their lives, loves and tribulations. However, if the project is greenlit, stars Jennifer Beals, Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey are expected to serve as executive producers and appear in the series with their characters as a point of connection from the prior series to the new one. Other characters from the original series may also appear in the new version."

I know queer women are already making wish lists with respect to the reboot. So, here's mine: more ensemble scenes and more sportzball playing.

Never forget the scene that best captures each character's unique persona: The Basketball Game.

There's Shane not giving a fuck; Jenny drinking coffee, smoking a cig, and screaming when a ball comes her way; Bette being ultra-competitive; Papi dunking (LOL sure); Tina whining that Bette's "fouling" her; Alice being a spaz when she gets the ball; Dana being.... oh wait not there because she was killed off and I'm still not over it thankyouverymuch.

Donald Trump: Christian Culture Warrior

I have a piece up today at Shakesville regarding the massive support Donald Trump has among white Evangelical Christians:

"Hey everyone, there's sure a lot going on! Don't forget that 81% of white Evangelical Christian voters chose Trump in the 2016 election.

Now, to imagine Donald as a religious being is to conceive of an absurdity. Not because bad people can't be religious, in fact they often are, but rather because by many accounts he simply is not a contemplative person and doesn't read. Well, I guess there's one topic he reads about:

"Trump’s desk is piled high with magazines, nearly all of them with himself on their covers, and each morning, he reviews a pile of printouts of news articles about himself that his secretary delivers to his desk."

Yet, during presidential campaign rallies, he began claiming that the Bible was his favorite book. In an interview, when pressed, he had the following to say in response to a question about his favorite verse:

"'I wouldn't want to get into it. Because to me, that's very personal,' Trump said in the Wednesday sit-down.

'The Bible means a lot to me, but I don't want to get into specifics,' he said.

When asked whether he prefers the Old Testament or the New Testament, Trump said, 'probably equal.'

'I think it's just … incredible, the whole Bible…' he said."

I'll bet."

Read the whole thing!

Quote of the Day: The Cyber-Troll Profile

In my ongoing series on Internet culture, Australian researchers have examined the personality profiles of cyber-trolls. Although the study uses the term "troll," I don't like the term as it sort of minimizes what the abuser is doing - inflicting abuse and harm, deliberately.

Via the journal Personality and Individual Differences, the researchers first note that those on the receiving end of anti-social Internet behavior experience similar negative outcomes as though who receive face-to-face abuse. That is, what happens on the Internet is, actually, real, despite what current sociopathic narratives and memes posit.

Also:

"Both affective empathy and cognitive empathy (but not social skills) significantly predicted trolling behaviours. Affective empathy was a significant negative predictor of trolling behaviour, corroborating previous research that individuals lower on affective empathy measures are more likely to engage in antisocial behaviour (Warden & MacKinnon, 2003). This negative relationship between affective empathy and trolling suggests that trolls may not experience or internalise the emotional experience of their victims. This is likely a crucial aspect to trolling – if trolls empathised with their victim, perhaps they would be more likely to reduce or refrain from engaging in the behaviour.

....Based on the results of the current study, the prototypical troll is male, high in trait psychopathy and sadism, and has low affective empathy. The interaction of trait psychopathy and high cognitive empathy suggests trolls really are the master online manipulators – they cognitive understand the emotional distress they cause through their trolling behaviour without empathising with their victim's emotional suffering."

I think that final line is important to remember. Many "trolls" understand that their targets might be feeling upset, sad, angry, or hurt - they just don't care.

When people don't give a fuck about the harm they inflict on other people, that will almost always give them the upper hand in online interactions because they are playing by a different, anti-social set of rules than you are.

Amazing Coincidences In Troll Behavior!

It remains a real mystery as to why heavy troll, bot, and harassment often occurs around the same time big news is about to break regarding Donald Trump's potential collusion with Russia in the 2016 election, in which he lost the popular vote.

Meanwhile, the "Hot Take Appreciator" harassment account has, once again, directed their leftist wanking fanboys my way over the weekend.

Needless to say, I blocked more Twitter users in one day than I usually do in a matter of months. I do sometimes wonder why this sad troll-person spends time even stalking my timeline. I have her blocked, but she follows me through an alt-account to monitor my posts, so she can then misinterpret anything conceivably "problematic" to screenshot and tweet out to her "leftist" followers.

I usually know she's tweeted about me again when white man after white man busts into my mentions like the Kool-Aid Man, raging about some weeks- or months-old Tweet of mine, mansplaining to me what a "centrist" I am for not Feeling The Bern.

Yes, it's true that I'm far from a Big Influencer in the Twitterverse or elsewhere. I didn't even make the Bernista "Corporate Shill" hit list of shame. But, some people just need other sociopathic Internet hobbies, I guess?

More to the point of today's post, it appears I'm not the only one who sees regular trolling upticks from time to time.

In case you're wondering why there's been a tidal wave of new trolling from Trumpbots foreign and domestic, they knew this was coming.

— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 9, 2017

Melissa McEwan has aptly pointed out that Donald's collusion has been happening in plain sight,  mostly notably by him publicly inviting Russia to hack the State Department. Neither that nor the increasing evidence of collusion stops many on the left and right from gaslighting us about this issue.

I suspect that this post, too, will be screenshot and tweeted to "Hot Take's" followers, so they can have a good guffaw at the loony, hysterical woman who believes all of this Russia mumbo-jumbo.

What's sad is how easily leftist purity trolls, particularly frothing white men, allow their misogyny to be weaponized, leading them into the role of "useful idiot." As Aphra Behn at Shakesville aptly noted, the left fell hook, line, and sinker for Russian propaganda during the 2016 election. It would be foolish to think that has stopped.

All some people, like "Hot Take," have to do is render the worst faith reading of a progressive woman's Tweet and my oh my how quickly the leftist hating begins.

Shill! Neolib! Dem! Centrist! Harry Potter!

(Leftist men hate Harry Potter. Or rather, they hate that "lib women" like Harry Potter. More generally they hate when women like non-Bernie things, things that aren't about the One True Revolution! Liking pop culture is a sign of vapidity, to them. That they too might play video games or listen to music or like pop culture is of no consequence, you see, because they have "roses" in their Twitter bios, which is how they signal to others that they are Oh Wise Enlightened Ones.)

I've been monitoring and documenting the aggregate data in Fannie's Room and, you should know, from time to time I see upticks in hits from Russia. These upticks often correspond with increases in both "leftist" trolling and Big News on the Russia/Trump front, like this weekend's news that Donald Jr. met with a Russian who promised damaging info on his dad's election opponent, Hillary Clinton.

I suspect that one day those of us who care about treason will be vindicated by posterity. Perhaps not anytime soon. But one day.

In the meantime, block early. Block often. Don't spend your weekends arguing with bad faith Internet "socialists" on Twitter. 

Furiosa Friday

Welp, I've finally gotten around to watching Mad Max: Fury Road.

During our current political era, it can be chilling to partake in dystopian stories. Fury Road does not explore in great depth precisely how or why the planet became a post-nuclear hellscape. But, as our belligerent, incompetent, and predominately white-male-led Republican Administration seems to flirt with nuclear holocaust on the daily, it is not difficult to imagine Fury Road's wasteland largely having been caused by a dominant class of men.

I was, thus, delighted to find out that it was largely Furiosa's tale. The domination of toxic masculinity has gotten the world into a great many quagmires. It will not get us out.

That is not to say that only women are or should be the future of leadership, or that women cannot also engage in toxic masculinity, but that ongoing requests to center aggrieved white men in politics (coming from the left and right these days) should be soundly rejected in favor of a politics wherein other people's anger, pain, hurt, humanity, and fear also matter. Because right now, they do not. Millions of people voted Trump into office precisely because they resent "political correctness" towards, also known as "having empathy for," anyone other than straight white cisgender people.

What I liked about Fury Road, then, was Furiosa and Max working together, even if reluctantly at first.

As embodied by "the wives," women were uniquely oppressed in this hellscape society, used, abused, and valued by "high-status men" solely for their fertility. Furiosa saw the injustice in this and, on her own, sought to free them. Max, too, had been abused in the hellscape, valued for his blood. Yet, by joining with Furiosa, he eventually gained his freedom, while also helping the women gain theirs. A victim himself, he wasn't an all-powerful hero come to save the weak women. And, neither were the women marginal figures to his freedom story. They weren't asked to put their freedom on hold until he got his freedom, after which he maybe would come back for them.

(It's almost like *cough* stronger *cough* together)

Then, their mission of defeating the belligerent male leader having been accomplished, Max simply left. He didn't rise to be the new leader of society, as would often happen in this genre. Male savior models, both in pop culture and politics, don't often grant that a man can help lead himself and oppressed people to freedom without also being or becoming their Big Leader. So Max, in this sense, was a revolutionary figure of sorts.

In a final scene, he simply blended in with the masses, leaving society in the hands of Furiosa, the wives, and the matriarchs.

(This is the future feminists want if we ever find ourselves in a nuclear hellscape; n=1)

Low-Class Donald Worse Than Internet Troll

What strikes me most about the article CNN ran about the man-troll who created the Trump/wrestling video, which showed Trump body-slamming a wrestler with a CNN logo imposed on his face, are two points of interest:

(1) The man-troll (Reddit username "HanAssholeSolo) had a history of self-acknowledged racist, bigoted, and anti-semitic posts. After Trump tweeted the video, the man-troll wrote on Reddit:

"Holy s—!! I wake up and have my morning coffee and who retweets my s—post but the MAGA EMPORER himself!!! I am honored!!"

However, the celebration didn't last.

After his identity was ascertained, the man-troll expressed remorse and apologized. Per the CNN article, he said he feared for his safety and for the embarrassment it would bring himself and his family if his identity were published. After all, he said, he was merely "posting things to get a reaction." He also said he didn't think Trump's team should have posted the video. In his apology he wrote:

"To people who troll on the Internet for fun, consider your words and actions conveyed in your message and who it might upset or anger. Put yourself in their shoes before you post it. If you have a problem with trolling it is an addiction just like any other addiction someone can have to something and don't be embarrassed to ask for help. Trolling is nothing more than bullying a wide audience. Don't feed your own self-worth based upon inflicting suffering upon others online just because you are behind a keyboard."

This apology, I think, is a good summary as to how what is commonly called "trolling" is actually incredibly sociopathic behavior, behavior that has been normalized and now, even more so, by the Republican leader.

In 10 years of blogging, I see a somewhat common attitude, particularly among people in their early 20s (who have only come of age during the Internet era), that "what happens on the Internet isn't real, so you can just do or say whatever to anyone without consequence." Well, online speech does have consequences and it is real, despite how easy it is to "utter" in this medium, so to speak. It can cause harm. I suspect many people at least intuitively know this, which is why they "troll" in the first place. It makes them feel powerful to cause other people pain so easily.

(2) This man-troll has apologized.

Donald Trump, the Republican leader, has not. It is not likely he ever will, because Donald does not apologize for things.

Let this sink in. Donald Trump has shittier morals than a self-proclaimed Internet troll.

And still, how long must we wait until there we see some man telling , yet again, how "presidential" Trump is after he gives another speech or whatever after some catastrophe of his own making.

Recap: Supergirl 2.15 "Exodus"

So, the big news this episode is that Cadmus has "the alien registry." Given Cadmus' anti-alien agenda, this is concerning.

Cadmus immediately begins abducting aliens and, during a raid at Close Encounters, they even abduct Winn's alien girlfriend, Anya. I mean, Lyra. As a tangential side note, I feel like during the raid scene, Winn is wearing the same flannel as Adam in the movie Beetlejuice. Is it a sign? But what could it mean? And hey remember that little scale model of the city that Adam built in Beetlejuice? I always thought that was cute.

ANYway, Winn is very upset about Lyra having been abducted. Alex is also in a bad place, after learning that her dad has been working for Cadmus. She even goes all Dark Willow, as I guess she's wont to do from time to time, this time on a Cadmus agent the DEO is holding as prisoner. There is, however, no flaying involved.

We then get some scenes at CatCo with Snapper Trapper. I think the point is that we're supposed to see Snapper as a hard-hitting, old-school journalist who busts Kara "Ponytail" Danvers' chops whilst nonetheless teaching her how to be a Real Journalist. But these scenes make me miss Cat Grant, mostly, because I think she could have been a better mentor (plus, subtext). Or, does the Oh Wise Master always have to be an older/middle-aged white guy?

J'onn then tests Alex's loyalty by shape-shifting into Jeremiah and asking her to help him break into the DEO. Spoiler alert: Alex fails the test and is suspended from duty. Whooooops.

The Danvers Sisters' bond is then tested. Alex begs Kara to talk to J'onn, but Kara says that she agrees with J'onn that Alex shouldn't be on the Cadmus case. So now they're in a fight. Maggie, however, stands by her woman and agrees to help Alex investigate Cadmus. Together, they go rogue and find where Cadmus has taken the aliens and that Cadmus is sending the aliens "home," away from Earth, in a giant spaceship. (Are all the aliens from the same place, or would it operate like a schoolbus situation?)

In other queer news, Lena is back! Hi hi hi (sung to the tune of "Bi bi bi").

Since Trapper won't run Kara's story about Cadmus stealing the alien regisry, Lena encourages Kara to start a blog about it. Kara then writes the "blob" (as Mon-El calls it), and Mon-El convinces Kara to publish it. I hope she names her blob Ponytail Pontifications just to piss off Snapper even more.

Back at her office, Lena is attacked by Cadmus goons and tossed over a balcony. AND THEN THIS RANDOMLY HAPPENS which can clearly only be explained as a deliberate subtextual bonus:

(angel choir singing)

Let's take a closer look, shall we? Mon-who again?

Meanwhile, at Cadmus, Alex has boarded the spaceship that's going to be deporting the aliens to another galaxy (or whatever), but it launches while she's in it, sort of like that movie Space Camp.  It will imminently reach the speed of light - unless it can be stopped.

Supergirl flies in and tries to stop the ship whilst making meaningful eye contact with Alex, who is onboard, so I guess this is the scene where the sisters also make up. Supergirl does successfully stop this gazillion-ton spaceship from jumping, so I never want to see her struggle again with a mere caboose.

At CatCo, Snapper fires Kara for publishing her blob, giving her a lecture about how the lack of journalistic integrity could put a fascist in the White House. So, suddenly, Trump is the lady hero's fault? Sounds about right. BYE, SNAPPER - YOUR LOSS.

Kara isn't sure what she'll do next, career-wise, but Mon-Who comes over with potstickers, and then we see a final scene with Teri Hatcher (from the old Lois & Clark series) and Kevin Sorbo (Hercules), and they're up to something. Hopefully it involves Lucy Lawless also re-appearing, but I somehow doubt it. I guess Lucy can't be in all the things I like, although I don't see why not.


Deep Thought of the Week: I probably spend way too much time watching SuperCorps crack fan vids. Self care, my friends, self care.

 [Note: In November 2017, CW/Supergirl Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg was suspended after allegations of sexual harassment.]