For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.
Plot
With Lex and Nyxyly joining forces, Kara is more determined than ever to protect her friends and doubles down on patrolling National City so that Alex and Kelly can enjoy their engagement party, though Alex still feels torn between her duty as a hero and her new family. Meanwhile, as Brainy receives some heart-breaking news, William clashes with Andrea over her newfound efforts to brand Lex Luthor as a criminal in the press without any real evidence.
Influences
Marvel's Infinity War (the hunt for the Totems mirrors the search for the Infinity Stones, Nxyly now has a gauntlet to hold the totems)
Goofs
While William gets some amazing moments here giving Andrea the dressing down she's needed to get for the better part of two seasons, I can't help but feel this should have been Kara's speech to give instead of his and that she should have been the one standing up for Truth and Journalism.
The CGI of the Super Friends falling through the Dream Realm looks cheap.
Performances
It has to be said that Staz Nair shines in this episode. It makes you wish the writers had given us THIS version of William before now.
Again, the interactions between Peta Sergeant and Jon Cryer as Nyxly and Lex are the best part of the episode.
Artistry
Most of the effects work during the fight scenes is good.
Super Trivia
At one point a reporter refers to Lex Luthor as "The Man of Tomorrow." This is a title that is more often applied to Superman in the comics, but which Lex has just as often applied to himself.
Technobabble
Lena says that she can create a data interception program that can track Lex through his Lexosuits.
Lex modifies Nyxly's new Lexosuit by planting the Hope Totem in the left arm cannon and the Truth Totem in the chest plate.
Lex uses 31st century nanobots to take apart Supergirl's armored suit.
Dialogue Triumphs
(Lex has just seen the news report about his love poems for Nyxly.)
Lex: I'll nail gun their drivel-spouting tongues to their pinheads.
Nyxly: (laughing) Looks like someone should have hidden his diary a little better. What is it they called you? The Man of Tomorrow? Quite a lofty title. Did you give yourself that name?
(She pauses and smiles softly.)
Nyxly: Truth be told, I actually quite like the part about... the burning oceans.
William: I became a journalist to tell real stories, to report the truth. Your "ends justify the means" excuse makes you just as bad as Lex. You both have no ethical code. I was hoping that you'd wield CatCo's power and influence for good, but instead, your pathological obsession to be number one made you selfish and shortsighted. What's important is what you stand for, what you contribute to make the world a better place. And you, Andrea Rojas, stand for nothing.
(Lex and Nyxly are searching for the Truth Totem in a room full of rare antiques.)
Nyxly: Why would someone collect all these trophies just to store them where no one can see them?
Lex: It's not about flaunting what you've got. It's about having it and knowing no one else does.
(Nyxly uses the Truth Totem on Lex.)
Lex: What are you doing?
Nyxly: Making sure of your intent. I can't risk giving my heart to a dishonest fool. But luckily, I have the powers of the Truth Totem, so... Tell me, your poems, did you mean what you wrote?
Lex: Every word. My only desire is to rule by your side while destroying everyone who gets in our way.
Nyxly: And after we've rebuilt the AllStone, you're going to betray me?
Lex: Betray you? Betraying you is... inconceivable. I've spent my whole life believing no one was worthy of me, until you. It's why I came back to find you at this time. I want to help you achieve everything you want and deserve. And I know I can do this for you, because I have. It is my only desire.
(Nyxly releases Lex.)
Lex: Did I pass?
Nyxly: (smiling, in imitation of the Totems) You have performed admirably.
Brainy: Never thought I'd say this, but... I really could use my personality inhibitors. All this happiness is making me quite sad. I can't stop thinking that soon I'll have to leave everyone. Especially you.
Nia: Don't think about that. Right now, you're here with me. See? Do you feel your hand in mine?
Brainy: I do.
Nia: And my head on your shoulder?
Brainy: Yes.
Nia: That's all that matters. Tonight's not the night to be Debbie Downer. We're here to celebrate Alex and Kelly.
Brainy: (sighing)You're right. I do not intend to be this... Debbie with a sad surname. You know, actually, I am grateful... to feel so much love and loss... because then I know... it all truly meant something. And that you'll always be with me, Nia Nal... no matter where I go.
Continuity
William tells the Super Friends that Lex is building a new Lexosuit army - a fact he learned from Otis Graves, who agreed to go on the record with him.
The VIP suite at Club Rialto is booked that evening for Alex and Kelly's bacelorette party.
Esme reportedly gets into trouble at school.
Andrea publicly publishes Lex Luthor's love poetry and credits William as having broken the story.
William reads Andrea the riot act for using his name on her story, not only for the breach of journalistic ethics but also because now people are laughing at Lex and Nyxly and treating them like a celebrity couple instead of being afraid of them.
Winn chats with Brainiac-5 and tells him that Lex traveled to the future and fell in love with Nyxly.
The Super Friends recover the Dream Totem after tracking the Lexosuits to a location near National City's waterfront.
The Super Friends affirm that the Totems cannot be destroyed and will eventually reform if their physical form is destroyed.
Dreamer says she can use the Dream Totem to try and track Lex and Nyxly while Lena tracks the Lexosuits.
Nyxly still doesn't trust Lex and suspects he may have sabotaged her crystal ball, until it detects the Truth Totem.
Lex confirmst that Nyxly conquered the Fifth Dimension and killed her father before they met in the future.
Esme's trouble at school was losing control of her powers after a mean girl made fun of her chocolate roulade at a school bake sale, saying it looked like an ugly log.
Alex notices an odd rose-shaped tattoo on the back of Esme's neck.
Brainiac-5 talks with one of the variant Brainiac-5's sharing his body and tells him that Winn informed him that the Big Brain powering the Coluan hivemind in the 31st Century has suffered greatly due to the AI plague last mentioned in 323. As such, Brainiac-5 has been asked to return to his own time and merge with the Big Brain to save it. This will cause him, and the other Brainiac-5 doppelgangers, to cease existing.
The other Brainiac-5 says he will try to figure out a way that they can stay in the present, but he doesn't see how it will be possible.
Brainiac-5 does not want to return to the future because of his love of Dreamer and his sense of duty to his friends in this moment. He resolves to stay until the fight with Lex and Nyxly is resolved.
The Truth Totem is an old camera, apparently of some historical importance.
The gauntlet of the Truth Totem requires the wielder to confess all the truths they would rather not admit. In Nyxly's case she has to confess that she's afraid she's too much like her father, that part of her still wants his approval despite his abuse and treachery and that she wants to be close to someone again and not be afraid of her loved ones betraying her.
Kara assures Esme that she used to have trouble controlling her powers when she was young.
Kara suggests that they could find something like a pair of glasses that Esme could use as a focus, like she did. Alex prefers to run some tests to make sure Esme is healthy and not encourage her to hide her powers.
Alex and Kara have a fight because Alex wants to raise her daughter as she sees fit and Kara says she doesn't think Alex understands what it's like to be an alien on Earth struggling to control your powers.
Dreamer has a vision of Brainiac-5 and an hourglass. She immediately concludes that his time is running out, somehow, and that he's hiding something.
When confronted, Brainiac-5 admits that the Legion ordered him to return to the future once Lex and Nyxly were defeated and that he was trying to find the words to tell her.
Dreamer offers to come to the future but Brainiac-5 says she has to stay in the past for the sake of the timeline.
According to Lex, Nyxly develops a sweet tooth in the future and butterscotch sticky buns are her favorite.
Nyxly uses the Truth Totem on Lex and forces him to honestly tell her how he feels. He honestly does want to win her heart and rule the universe with her.
Andrea calls Lena and asks her if she's a bad person. Lena says she isn't, but she has to be careful to not cross the line in trying to do good.
J'onn tells Kara she should back off of telling Alex how to be a parent, because despite her good intentions that isn't her job.
William is revealed to be the one who taught Esme how to make chocolate roulade.
William tells Esme his Aunt Bindu's secret for baking with chocolate - add a pinch of cardamom, a touch of turmeric and a sprinkle of cloves.
Kelly gets a call from the school saying that one of Esme's new classmates is a Tattamite - an alien species with short fuses whose skin can manifest distinctive skin markings, which they use as camouflage. Alex accepts this as an explanation for Esme's tattoo and losing control of her powers more easily than normal.
Lena is able to track Mitch's ship and suggests a raid on it.
Kara goes to the ship in her Kryptonite-proof suit. It barely protects her when Nyxly hits her with the Truth and Hope Totems.
J'onn and Kara are able to claim the Hope and Truth totems just before Mitch's ship self-destructs. This leaves Lex and Nyxly with no totems and no Lexosuit Army.
The Totems are moved to the Fortress of Solitude for safe-keeping.
Esme won her school's baking contest.
Alex and Kelly's babysitter gets the stomach flu, so it looks like Kelly won't be able to go to the party.
William offers to babysit Esme in the Watchtower so the rest of the Super Friends can go to Alex and Kelly's party.
Kara apologizes to Alex for being pushy about Esme. Alex likewise apologizes for reacting so harshly.
Lex, Nyxly and Mitch take refuge in the Dolemites in Italy.
Mitch is confirmed to have survived the ship blowing up.
Nyxly admits she is starting to fall for Lex.
As she says this, her crystal ball begins glowing and reveals the Love Totem.
J'onn encourages Kara to relax, as the tower computers are autoscanning for any sign of Lex or Nyxly and he's running psychic scans subconsciously.
Brainiac-5 and Dreamer agree to enjoy whatever time they have left and not worry about their conflicting destinies.
William notices a proximity alarm in the Watchtower go off and tells Esme to go hide in J'onn's office.
William sets his phone up to record the room.
Lex and Nyxly teleport into the Watchtower.
Nyxly finds where Esme is hiding and convinces her she's a friend of her mothers.
Lex shoots William as retribution for publishing his journal and tells him that he intentionally set up the meeting with Otis, allowed Lena to track his Lexosuits and set it up so that her scanning the Lexosuits activated a Trojan virus that delayed Esme's test results. This prevented Alex from discovering that the Love Totem formed within Esme.
William sends the footage to Andrea just before he dies, with the subject in the e-mail being "Here's your real story."
Andrea watches the video of William's death and Lex confessing to his murder and setting him up.
The Super Friends discover Esme is missing and William is dead.
Location
The Dolemites - Italy
Untelevised Adventures
William details his meeting with Otis Graves, which was teased at the end of 617.
According to Winn, Nyxly and Lex conquered the known universe in the 31st century and ruled as King and Queen until the AllStone began to fail. The Legion of Superheroes attacked in that moment and Nyxly died.
The Fridge Factor
William is killed purely to give the Super Friends angst about relaxing for a night and to add an edge to Esme's abduction.
The Kryptonite Factor
Alex, usually the most observant of the Superfriends, doesn't notice that Esme's rose tattoo matches the design of the Love Totem.
The Bottom Line
Largely satisfying, though surprisingly dark at the end. It's a shame the show couldn't find anything better to do with William before now but at least he gets to go out a hero and shames Andrea one more time in death. It's also odd that he gets all these great moments now when Lena and J'onn barely seem to have any screen time at all. Still, not a bad episode all things considered.
No comments:
Post a Comment