This week’s episode of Supergirl is more about a side character than the Girl of Steel herself. In it, Jimmy Olsen struggles to find his place as the superhero Guardian while looking after an alien boy named Marcus whose mother had attacked a nearby city block. It’s revealed later that this particular species of alien is susceptible to a specific frequency reached through the generation of portals. Queen Rhea of the planet Daxam has been secretly making a portal with the help of Lena Luthor for her own nefarious purposes. After Jimmy manages to calm the aliens who are adversely affected by the portal, a fleet of Daxamite ships appear and prepare to conquer Earth.
While Supergirl spends most of the episode off hunting down Marcus’ mother, Jimmy is beginning to question his role as Guardian. At the beginning, he saves a woman from being mugged and she shows herself to be more terrified of him than the muggers. Later, he struggles with connecting to Marcus in order to help find his mother. As it goes on, Jimmy’s insecurities about his role are made more and more apparent until Jean gives him a pep talk and he manages to save the day in the end.
This episode made me start to appreciate Jimmy’s character a bit more. I wasn’t really a fan of his role in the first season since he literally existed as a plot point to motivate Supergirl and nothing else. From there, he didn’t have much to do in the story so the writers decided to give him the mantle of the Guardian superhero. While a nice, edgy counterbalance to Supergirl’s up, up and away story, I couldn’t help but feel they should’ve used Batman here instead of making Jimmy the Guardian. He clearly exists in this universe and has his biggest shout out in this episode than any previous episode in the series which only made me want that more.
However, they found a place for Jimmy in this episode. He, himself, understands how useless he is in the story and this episode was largely about him reconciling with that and finding his use. He manages to motivate the aliens at the end of the episode far more as himself than the Guardian. This shows that his secret identity works just fine as a character. As for his superhero alter-ego, he will no doubt find plenty of use in the next few episodes considering the alien invasion of Earth. Beyond that, it’s up to the writers to find a new way to keep his character relevant when season 3 comes around.
As for what didn’t work very well in this episode, there are several instances throughout where the audience would have to suspend their disbelief in order for them to work. One of the biggest is that there’s absolutely no way given how active Guardian has been as a hero these past few months that this is the first time someone was afraid of him. The other huge instance is when Rhea has a moustache-twirling, not-so-subtle evil chat with Supergirl on Lena Luthor’s phone in front of her in a room filled with people and no one notices. To be fair, this is the same show where the main character is an alien girl who flies around in a cape and skirt, is indestructible, and has laser beam eyes and super strength. However, they’re still flaws and took me out of the show when they happened.
Overall this episode was pretty average. It wasn’t great but it also wasn’t bad. There’s the usual over-the-top comic book silliness that exists throughout the show, but if you’re still watching Supergirl and enjoying it at this point then you probably don’t care about that.
Trailer for Next Week’s Episode:
Walton Goggins’ character, who plays someone in the first episode of the new TV series Fallout on Amazon, mentions a “rule of thumb” when it comes to nuclear explosions.
According to the character known as “The Ghoul,” he learned in military school that if you raise your thumb and extend your arm toward the blast, you can tell if you are going to live or die. According to the rule, some Americans will be safe from the radioactive fallout if the mushroom cloud is smaller than their thumb. If the mushroom cloud is bigger than their thumb, they won’t be as lucky.
Many other survivors will probably ask you why you’re giving a mushroom cloud the big thumbs up. Is it worth it?
The idea has been looked into a bit thanks to the Fallout video game series, which caught the attention of physicists in their first year at the University of Leicester. They had heard a false rumor that the show’s mascot, Vault Boy, was giving a happy thumbs up to show support for the thumb rule. They wanted to find out if the rule was true.
The team looked at smaller blasts that would fit with the setting of the show and chose a 15-kiloton blast, which is the same size as the blast that happened when the US dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. The first thing the team did was figure out how far away you would have to be from the mushroom cloud for your thumb to cover the blast. They came up with a number that was about 12.6 kilometers (7.8 miles).
“Assuming the detonation occurred on the ground, the radius for avoiding all burns is 4.67 km [2.9 miles] away from the blast center, and the radius for radiation sickness symptoms is 1.56 km [0.97 miles],” the team said in their paper. “This would mean that you would be safe from the initial blast effects of radiation and burns.”
Even though you just saw a nuclear explosion nearby, that doesn’t mean you are safe. And that’s before you worry about nuclear winter. The radiation coming at you from the wind should be your main concern.
“Assuming an average wind speed of 24 km/h, the fallout would reach you within approximately half an hour if you were to be standing directly upwind.”
Getting caught in this wind will give you enough rads to make you sick. One more rule, though: run like hell. This might help you lower your dose.
“This investigation showed that if a 15-kiloton nuclear bomb was to detonate and your thumb extended at an arm’s length just covered the blast, you could survive most negative radiation effects by running laterally in the direction of the wind for a minimum of 1.65 km [1 mile] in half an hour, given that you are standing directly upwind from the blast,” the team said.
But this only works for a blast much smaller than the weapons the world has now. And even for smaller blasts, the rule probably won’t help because of the radiation that is released into the air and the fact that the wind can change quickly. Ruth McBurney, who is the executive director of the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors in Frankfort, Kentucky, told Inverse that “shelter is the best thing to do if you think you might be in a place where fallout might be present or coming.”
More plans call for temporarily taking refuge in whatever is available, and then moving to better nearby shelters about 30 minutes after the blast. There are, of course, official rules about what to do during a blast. In short, you should stay inside and away from windows, wash your hands, and wait for more instructions. Please don’t condition your hair while you’re doing that.
Gaming
Sony is reportedly engaged in discussions to form a partnership for a potential bid on Paramount
There hasn’t been much buzz lately about any new acquisitions in the world of video game intellectual property. According to a recent report, Sony is currently engaged in discussions with a well-funded partner to potentially acquire the renowned film studio Paramount, along with all the exciting possibilities that come with such a merger.
As reported in the New York Times (thanks, ResetEra), Sony Picture Entertainment is reportedly in discussions with Apollo Global Management, an investment firm, as per two sources familiar with the matter. In the past, Apollo had made an offer to acquire Paramount for a minimum of $26 billion, but their bid was ultimately turned down.
The terms of the joint bid are currently under discussion, and there is a chance that the two parties may decide against making a formal offer. Unnamed sources have revealed that Paramount is currently in exclusive discussions with Skydance, preventing any official offer from being made at this time. Investor opposition to the recent deal that Skydance brought seems to have been significant.
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management, an investment firm, have been in discussions about teaming up for a joint bid to acquire Paramount, people familiar with the situation said Thursday. https://t.co/qN86H4y7Va
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 18, 2024
The potential impact of such an acquisition is immense. First and foremost, it would introduce adaptations of Sonic and Halo into the expanding media empire of the PlayStation platform holder. Following the announcement, Paramount’s stock experienced a significant 11% surge in after-hours trading.
What are your thoughts on the news? Is there a possibility of Sony acquiring Paramount? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Geek Culture
Fallout Season 2 has been confirmed as the show continues to captivate audiences, making it one of Amazon’s most-watched series
Amazon has just made the exciting announcement that a second season of the highly acclaimed Fallout TV adaptation is in the works. Fans can look forward to another thrilling installment of the series, which will be exclusively available on the Amazon Prime streaming service. Confirmation has arrived regarding the second batch of episodes for the series, following the acquisition of $25 million in Californian tax credits.
In just four days after its release, Fallout has already captivated audiences, quickly becoming one of Amazon Prime’s most-watched TV shows of all time. It has garnered immense popularity, rivaling even the acclaimed season of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.
Wouldn't want to keep you on the edge of your seat, now, would we?
See you back in the Wasteland for SEASON 2. pic.twitter.com/ULs6DEPHDW
— FALLOUT⚡️ (@falloutonprime) April 18, 2024
The Fallout TV show has caused a massive surge in sales for the newer games, resulting in a staggering 7,500% increase in purchases of Fallout 4 in Europe. Fallout 76, Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas were also among the top 10 best-selling games across the continent last week. Next week, the highly anticipated PS5 version of Fallout 4 will be released, offering players an enhanced visual experience with new graphical modes. Additionally, players can look forward to exciting new content from the Creation Club.
Considering the potential for character development and narrative arcs, it would be intriguing to see where season two takes Lucy, Maximus, and The Ghoul. Without revealing any spoilers, it’s exciting to speculate on the possible directions their stories could go. We would greatly appreciate your feedback in the comments section.
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