>>307618
I liked Smallville a lot, actually, but it was like half shit. The other half did a good job at either being a lighthearted sci-fi family drama (Seasons 1-3), or being a fun and faithful live action DCU (Seasons 9-10). But that whole stretch in the middle there was full of Lana, and it was awful. Basically a pet character we're supposed to love just because she's such a pretty girl, even though her personality is absolutely insufferable and she did nothing to make herself endearing to us. Just like the main character in the new Supergirl show.
It's funny, in the New 52 Supergirl comics, they did a very good job at making it about her character. Other versions focused on plot and adventures but the New 52 one really was character driven, the first issue was essentially just her inner monologue about arriving on Earth, and it was great. You'd think they could take some cues from that, but no, I guess they think that annoying mary sue Felicity from Arrow is a much more likable character, so they just ripped her off wholesale (and she's just Chloe and Lana from Smallville combined anyway).
Also, Kara is her name in Smallville, as it has been in Post-Crisis comics. Frankly, the New 52 version of Supergirl is probably the best version, so I wouldn't have minded having more influence from that, but her secret identity being known as Kara is pretty much what they took from it. The rest is mostly Pre-Crisis Supergirl, who does have a lot of interesting history to use, but they don't seem to care aside from using the Danvers. It's clever that they went with a combo origin where she was stuck in suspended animation, but not long enough to be even a teenager when she arrived, so she is still adopted by the Danvers. Then they can use her whole Pre-Crisis history, but keep the angle that she remembers Krypton and knows a bunch of Superman characters who died in its explosion. But fuck those characters. Let's push them all to the side for bullshit female Zod. Of course there were a bunch of characters in the comics who were essentially female Zod, but it's still lame. They could have also played up missing her home more, which is an interesting thing with Superman when done right, but way better with Supergirl since she actually remembers it. But naw, fuck that, she's just your average girl trying to make her way in the world. The fact that her fucking planet exploded isn't even important to her character, it's just an excuse for her powers.
Honestly I'm not even mad about black Jimmy. Back in the day Jimmy was supposed to be the coolest motherfucker in the world. He had his own fanclub and everything. It's just the coolest kid of the 1950s (or at least how old people in the 1950s write "cool kids") looks like a fucking dork today. But I don't mind them trying to make him cool. Too bad he also doesn't have any other traits of Jimmy's either, except for the bit of chemistry with Supergirl which only happens in a few other versions. But fuck Lucy Lane, nobody remembers she exists.
Supergirl seriously has one of the most interesting histories in comics, but they seem absolutely determined to avoid all of it. I mean do you ever think a character like Matrix would appear on this show? Hell fucking no. And I wouldn't expect her to appear in any other show, but in a show that's actually about Supergirl, that would have been fucking awesome. But naw, fuck that. That would require the writers to actually read a comic book, and we all know they're too good for that. Comics are for nerds.