Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 1 - Rebirth

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.

Plot

Leviathan is defeated, but Lex Luthor is more powerful than ever and Brainiac-5 is at Death's Door. As the rest of the Super Friends rush to save him and the world, Kara considers the possibility that she may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.


Influences

Superman III (Gamemnae's final appearance resembles the computer woman from this movie), Supergirl: The Movie (Supergirl becoming trapped in the Phantom Zone), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Dreamer and Brainiac 2's scene through the glass wall), Adventure Comics (character of N'orr Cott) and the Supergirl: Rebirth series (the title and the promise of a new direction, rather than the contents of the book)


Goofs

In the official synopsis for the episode, Gamemnae's name was misspelt as "Gamenmae".

The highly-vaunted radiation shield Leviathan employs doesn't work on Martians and Kryptonians for some reason, for no apparent reason other than it requires the team to split up during the fight with Gamemnae.

M'Gann is suddenly back in the control room with Kara as Kara yells for everyone to get out while Gamemnae dies, after vanishing for most of the battle after phasing J'onn through a wall.

Nobody questions the morality of their basically killing Gamemnae. (Granting that she's said to be an electronic life form now instead of an alien, that's still a fine line especially with a techno organic being like Brainiac-5 on the team.)

Andrea Rojas gets off scot-free for her part in aiding Leviathan's plans. Granting that she was a pawn, she still ignored every single problem that Kelly Olsen or William Dey brought to her about how her company was endangering people's lives. Worse yet, we're expected to sympathize with her being held responsible for her criminal negligence by her father, even though he only does this to save his own skin.

Beyond that, it's idiotic to think that nobody is going to find it suspect that he suddenly bought all of his daughter's stock in Obsidian North after publicly calling her out.

Jarhanpur is implied to be in the Andromeda Galaxy, as the Jarhanpurium weaponry in the Fortress of Solitude is stored in a section of the armory devoted to weapons from that region. Yet Jarhanpur was said to be a sister planet of Krypton in earlier episodes and Krypton was said to be located only 2000 light years from Earth. The Andromeda Galaxy is located over 2.5 million light years from Earth. (This could have changed following Crisis)

Why do they need a special Jarhanpurium gun to shoot the Jarhanpurium?  Can't the Hand of the Warrior make something appropriate? (Alex is still mastering the Hand of the Warrior and can only use it to fashion weapons and devices she is familiar with. Of course she winds up using it to hit Lex with the Jarhanpurium anyway...)

The CGI for this episode looks terrible across the board, even allowing that Dreamer's visions are usually distorted and dream-like.


Performances

Jesse Rath and Katie McGrath get a brief but memorable scene as the two most morally flexible members of the Superfriends vent to each other and assure one another that, whatever else may happen with the rest of the team, at least they understand one another.

Jon Cryer is clearly having the time of his life playing Lex Luthor.


Super Trivia

The title of this episode is likely a nod to the 2016 Rebirth movement in the DC Comics Universe that led to the restoration of various classic elements that had been removed during the 2011 New 52 reboot and an effort to launch new titles devoted to characters like Green Arrow and Supergirl who had television series based on their exploits but no monthly comic title. In the case of the monthly Supergirl comic, a teenage Kara Zor-El was made to live as a foster child with scientists Eliza and Jerimiah Danvers and began working with the DEO to fight alien menaces.

Near the end of the episode, J'onn mentions that his partner in the police force on Mars was a Martian woman named N'orr Cott. In the classic comics, N'orr Cott was the name of a male Martian who had been commander of the Martian army and J'onn J'onzz's former best friend.

The Arrowverse version of N'orr Cott was a Martian woman, who was known as the Sentinel because she always stood guard against surprise escapes or ambushes.

Alex adopts Sentinel as her superhero codename at the end of the episode. The code name Sentinel was also adopted in the comics by the first Green Lantern, Alan Scott, during a time when he no longer needed his ring to channel the magical fire energy of the Starheart. 


Technobabble

Alex uses a mixture of Martian nanites and potassium iodide as an antidote to neutralize the radiation poisoning in Brainiac-5's system.

Alex reshapes the Hand of the Soldier into both a hypodermic needle and a portable electronic storage unit.

Lex acquires a new weapon -  a metallic band, similar to brass knuckles, which allows him to fire focused lasers of Kryptonite energy or controlled bursts. The laser is capable of burning a precise image into concrete.

Lex reprogrammed Obsidian Platinum so that all the people who signed into it have become incapable of believing that he can do anything wrong. He calls this program :"I Love Lexi."

Lex also installed sonic weapons in the satellites power Obsidian Platinum that will kill everyone who didn't get the "I Love Lexi" upgrade. Lex created a special device which makes a person immune to these weapons and gave them to Lillian Luthor and Otis Graves, who were already loyal to him without being brainwashed.

The Dorkri Surth-Uh ( or "The Binding" in Martian) is a ritual which allows two Martians to synchronize their thoughts, creating a web of psychic energy that can literally bind onto several things and move them in unison.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Lex explains his evil plan to Lillian.)
Lex: My satellites will be aligned to beam the kill frequency in about five hours.
Lillian: I assume I will be safe without being brainwashed to love you, since I already do.
Lex: Of course, Mother. There's a special do-hickey with your name on it.
Lillian: And your sister. You can't kill her either.
Lex: Why not? She killed me first!

Supergirl: We know you've placed satellites around the world, and when they sync up, they'll send out a signal killing everyone you haven't brainwashed.
Lex: What do you want? A gold star?
Supergirl: I want you to disable the satellites. You do that, I'll give you what you've always wanted.
Lex: What's that? And don't say hair, that's low-hanging fruit.

Brainiac-5: Lena, I... I need you to know that I had no idea that this was Lex's plan. I thought that if... if I was... close to him, I would be able to know... how and when to stop him, but I... (taking a deep breath) I didn't. I was so worried that... by working with Lex I was becoming the villain, that... that I lost track of... of what he was up to. I thought... that by doing this I would help save the world, but... look what it's done...
Lena: Brainy, you were willing to sacrifice everything to save your friends. On the other hand, I was the hypocrite who believed that she had the answers to all the world's problems. It's the closest I've ever come to seeing things through Lex's eyes. Self-pity and blinding hubris should be the Luthor family motto. So if anyone's gonna win the culpability award, I've got you by a landslide.
Brainiac-5: What do we do now?
Lena: Try and cope with the mistakes of the past and... appreciate that we have friends who still believe in us. 

(Alex has just refused to watch the hologram Kara recorded while waiting for Lex.)
Alex: We are bringing her home. (turning to face Lex) And you are going to wish that you were dead while you are rotting in that cell.
Lex: Hmm. About that... I'm not going anywhere near a cell. Unless you want me to reveal Supergirl's identity. She may be gone, but she still has an awful lot of enemies out there. It would be tragic if Mama Danvers or your lovely Kelly Olsen were to become the target of one of...
(Lena punches Lex, knocking him down with one punch.)
Lena: (To Alex) Sorry. Did you want to do that?
Alex: No. Family first. 


Dialogue Disasters

Gamemnae: You cannot kill technology, but technology can kill you!

Kelly Olsen: Your father... is a selfish narcissist. You are a brilliant woman... who built this place from sheer force of will. The mistake was doing it for him. (Well, that and ignoring repeated warnings about how your VR technology was going to doom the world...)


Continuity

Gamemnae reconstitutes herself inside the Leviathan base.

Dreamer is able to follow her vision to find the entrance to Leviathan's base and a dying Brainiac-5.

A delirious Brainy tells Dreamer that he loves her but that the team will have to work with Lex to stop Leviathan. 

Dreamer astral projects her mind to open the door into the sealed control room and immediately falls prey to the radiation shield.

M'Gann evacuates Alex and Brainy while Kara and J'onn fight Gamemnae.

Brainiac-5 determines he can stop Gamemnae with the Anti-Life Equation, which he acquired in 510.

Alex loans Brainiac the Hand of the Soldier, which takes the form of an electronic data storage device.

Alex tosses the Hand of the Soldier to Kara, who uses it to destroy Gamemnae.

Lex uses the power of Leviathan to give himself god-like powers using the alien-energy absorbing machinery on Shelley Island, which was last seen in 422. Lillian Luthor assists him with this.

Among the powers Lex displays are super-strength, energy projection, flight and telekinesis. (He also creates a forcefield, but this seems to be a second feature of his new Kryptonite laser weapon)

Lex will be broadcasting a signal that will kill everyone on Earth who didn't receive his "I Love Lexi" upgrade through Obsidian Platinum in 5 hours.

Lex plans to use the same technology to eventually conquer the universe.

Lena Luthor and Kelly Olsen meet with the rest of the team at The Watchtower.

William Dey is said to have taken Eve Teschmacher and her mother to the CatCo offices, where Eve is going on the record with everything she knows about Lex Luthor's crimes.

Lena determined that Lex twisted her Non Nocere program to create "I Love Lexi."

Eve reportedly told Lena about an experiment that Lex performed on two mice. One had gold eyes and adored him. The other exploded after being exposed to a Q-wave transmission.

Dreamer has a vision of herself in space and Lex Luthor dressed as the Anti-Monitor destroying the Earth. She also sees Shelley Island and a glowing green bottle.

J'onn detects Lex's sonic weapons on 12 of the satellites he launched into orbit in 516. Each of them is armed with claymore cannons that will fire on anything that attempts to tamper with them physically and they are all linked together.

M'Gann and J'onn decide to attempt the ritual of The Dorkri Surth-Uh so that they can safely disable Lex's satellites. 

Lena says she can reverse the "I Love Lexi" code if Kara lets her borrow the Myriad device.

Kelly says she can go to Obsidian North and get them the information on every person Lex has infected.

Brainiac-5 says that Jarhanpurium could weaken Lex and make him mortal in the same way that Kryptonite weakens Supergirl, but there's almost no chance of finding it.

Lena says she can use the machine that made synthetic Kryptonite to make synthetic Jarhanpurium. When she says this, Dreamer mentions the green bottle and Shelley Island from her dream.

Dreamer and Alex elect to go to Shelley Island to get the bottle.

Brainiac-5 stays in the Watchtower to help Lena with reprograming Myriad and making the Jarhanpurium.

Supergirl goes to get Myria from the Fortress of Solitude, along with any weapons that might be used to implement that Jarhanpurium.

When it is pointed out that Lex will be able to track their movements with the power he now has, Supergirl offers to sacrifice herself to act as a distraction while everyone else is dismantling Lex's power base. 

Kara contacts Lex while wearing a Truth-Seeker and promises to meet him in 1 hour at a location of his choosing and let him do whatever he wants if he agrees to disable his satellites.

Lex agrees and names the Fortress of Solitude as their meeting place.

As Kelly is getting the Obsidian Platinum data, she runs into Andrea Rojas. Andrea reveals that her father has blamed her for everything Leviathan has done to their company and that she and CatCo will be bankrupt when the stock market opens the next day.

J'onn is nervous about performing the binding ritual with M'Gann as it will allow her to see everything in his past, including all his memories of his wife and children and every violent thought he's ever had about White Martians. He fears this might derail their ability to disarm the satellites.

Alex points out that M'Gann has gone through just as many problems and she'll have to expose her secrets to J'onn as well.

Brainy loans his Legion Flight Ring to Dreamer until he's recovered.

The Fortress of Solitude armory is divided by where the weapons originally came from and has an area devoted to weapons from the Andromeda Galaxy. This is where the Jarhanpurium weapons are stored.

Lena tries to reinforce the L-Protocol from 507 in the hopes it might slow Lex down. (Apparently it was just disabled in 517 or had been reprogrammed not to attack Lena.)

Kara makes reference to having been trapped in the Phantom Zone for the better part of a decade, having nightmares of her planet's destruction. 

Andrea Rojas uses her Arcata powers to teleport inside her father's house, where she hacks his accounts and buys all her Obsidian North stock. 

Alex takes a Jarhanpurium gun and a portal watch from the Fortress armory. She jokes that she may keep the watch.

Kara stays in the Fortress to wait for Lex, as Alex and Lena leave to go to their respective targets.

Kara uses the Fortress technology to start recording a hologrammatic simulation of herself containing all her knowledge. She gets one volume complete before Lex arrives.

Alex and Dreamer use the portal watch to go to Lex's base on Shelley Island, but Otis Graves and Lillian Luthor are waiting for them.

J'onn and M'Gann are able to disable Lex's satellites. 

With that accomplished, Brainiac-5 and Lena are able to reverse the "I Love Lexi" program.

Dreamer and Alex are able to get the bottle, which Otis drops as he and Lillian escape with their own portal watch.

After Lex blasts Kara repeatedly with his Kryptonite laser and leaves her for dead, the Fortress computer activates the Lena Luthor Protocol, which sends a mobile projector down to saturate Kara's body with yellow sunlight.

Lex starts trashing for Fortress of Solitude while listening to Queen's "We Are The Champions."

Dreamer tries to shoot Lex with the Jarhanpurium gun, but it doesn't work.

Lex arms himself with the Phantom Zone Projector and blasts Kara with it, just before Alex is able to recover the Jarhanpurium and shoot Lex with it.

The data on the Projector is wiped so they have no idea wherein the Phantom Zone Kara wound up. This prevents them from opening a transmat portal to get to her, like Lena did to move the population of Earth-38 during Crisis on Infinite Earths. 

J'onn says he'll take Lex to the authorities and then will travel to Mars to talk to his brother and seek his advice on navigating the Phantom Zone.

Alex wonders how she is going to explain Kara being Supergirl to Kelly Olsen, establishing that Kelly somehow didn't know this despite being privy to the secret identities of all the rest of the Superfriends. 

Andrea Rojas uses the money from the Obsidian North sale to revitalize CatCo and promises to turn the magazine into a bastion of journalistic integrity once again.

William Dae's story about Lex Luthor and Leviathan is making waves in the wake of Luthor's arrest. He shared the byline with Kara.

Nia covers for Kara's absence by saying that she's working undercover on a story with Cat Grant.

William asks about Kara. Nia tells him that he's sure she would have called him if she could have.

Lena breaks into Lex and Lillian's prison sell and uses Myriad to erase their memories of Supergirl's secret identity.

Lena later admits to erasing the minds of everyone who knew Kara Danvers was Supergirl before returning Myriad to Alex and J'onn.

Dreamer returns Braniac-5's ring to him.. 

Dreamer and Brainiac-5 decided to give a romantic relationship a try after Dreamer says that she loves Brainiac-5 as well. They agree that there will be no more secrets between them.

Malefic was only able to find Midnight in the Phantom Zone because he knew her exact location. He did know someone who once mounted a rescue mission in the Phantom Zone. He doesn't say who, but M'Gann is already searching for him.

J'onn tells Alex about his partner, N'orr Cott, and suggests that she adopt her nickname and symbol as her own. 

Alex officially takes up the name Sentinel for when she's fighting crime in costume.

Lena encourages Alex to tell Kelly about Kara and he secret.

The final scene shows an unconscious Kara in the Phantom Zone, surrounded by snarling spectral creatures.


Location

Shelley Island
The Fortress of Solitude
Buenos Aires - The Rojas Estate.


Untelevised Adventures

J'onn travels to Mars and visits his brother.


The Fridge Factor

Kelly Olsen comes off as the biggest idiot ever to not realize that Kara Danvers and Supergirl are the same person, given all the other superhero identities she is aware of in her circle of friends. And she makes a living observing people!


The Bottom Line

A bit of a mess all around for multiple reasons and it is unclear how much of it was the result of the pandemic. The best thing that can be said is that, unlike The Flash Season 7 premiere, it was able to get all its old business summed up in a single episode, even if this does mean rushing through some suddenly nonsensical subplots like everything involving Acrata. Best summed up by the fact that whoever wrote the press release summing up this episode couldn't be bothered to double-check that the characters' names were spelled properly. (Lex Luthor becomes Lex Luther in the Closed Captioning as well.)

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 19 - Immortal Kombat

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Lena and Kara make amends, just in time for Leviathan to declare war on Supergirl and her allies. Alex unveils a new vigilante identity as Brainiac-5 launches his own attack on the alien group in defiance of Lex Luthor's plans for the secretive organization. But will they all be able to stop Obsidian Platinum from triggering an extinction event? 

Influences

The JLA Comics of Joe Kelly.and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Dreamer compares their disguise gambit to the plan to sneak Harry away from the Death Eaters)

Goofs

The green-screen when Alex shows off her new costume isn't blended well.

Eve says that Leviathan is planning to kill 4 million people, but the rest of the episode acts like she said 4 billion. (Probably the later number is accurate, and Eve is a bit panicked, thinking of her mom. Also, she did just wake up with Supergirl over her and is probably wondering if she knows that Eve killed her stepfather.)

J'onn is able to send a message to Rama Khan telepathically, but hasn't been able to track him down?

Jesse Rath is capable of some stupendous, subtle acting. This is the total opposite of what he delivers as he struggles through keeping his hand on a touch-pad.

Artistry

The visual of all the people forming a circle around the Earth is a strong one.

Super Trivia

The two other Leviathan members who fight along with Rama Khan are identified in the credits as Tezumak and Sela. While these are also names of the League of Ancients who were adapted into Supergirl's version of Leviathan, the comic book characters are quite different.

In the comics, Sela was an African warrior woman who was a master tracker and swordswoman. The Arrowverse version is a Caucasian woman with red-hair who has vague air-based powers that includ creating lightning.. 

In the comics, Tezumak was a Mesoamerican warrior who gained enhanced strength and fighting prowess from an enchanted suit of bronze armor as well as telepathy strong enough to blunt Martian Manhunter's powers. In the Arrowverse, Tezumak is a man with African features, who has fire powers as well as some kind of telepathic ability that allowed him to daze Dreamer long enough to attack Martian Manhunter..

While Dreamer is standing before a vending machine, Miss Martian says that she recommends the Chocos. This is a nod to the love that all Martians seem to have for Chocos cookies in the comics.

Technobabble

Leviathan's base makes use of a proto-focused radiation shield, which slowly kills anyone who enters their base without wearing a special pin.

J'onn made Alex a costume that transforms whatever she is wearing into her new hooded super-suit. It also somehow gives her smokey eye make-up. 

Braniac-5 estimates that he will survive for 12 minutes after being exposed to Leviathan's radiation shield. 


Dialogue Triumphs

Lex: (upon seeing the Leviathan base) You know... I pride myself on seeing things. Connections where others see only coincidence. Pathways where others see only walls. I anticipate everything. But I must admit, I didn't not except you to live in a casino. 

Brainiac-5: You think I'm just gonna sit back while Leviathan murders my friends? 

Lex: Former friends. And yes, I think you will. Because if you get on that ship any sooner, you'll die with them.

Brainiac-5: Leviathan is the enemy, Lex. Not Supergirl, not J'onn J'onzz. Not Dreamer. 

Lex: You're right. They're heroes. They would happily sacrifice themselves to save the world. (smiling) Maybe they'll even thank us. 

Brainiac-5: I pushed away everyone I loved because you told me I must. You were right. This planet... my friends... It's worth it. I called you here simply because... I don't want to die alone. 

Lena: I have done terrible things to protect myself and the people I love. But it has never kept me safe from pain. It's just brought me a new kind of misery. And I moved further and further away from the person I was, until one day I woke up and I was utterly alone. 

Dialogue Disasters

J'onn: Oh, it was a scream of delight. Thank H'ronmeer. (Some detective, not being able to tell a happy scream from a scared one from 10 feet away.)

Continuity

Lex is finally allowed into the Leviathan base and meets Rama Khan along with Gamemnae. 

The Leviathan base is protected by a shield that slow irradiates anyone who enters it without protection. 

It is revealed that in addition to the Staff of the Shadow Realm, Lex also recovered several rings that increase the powers of Leviathan's other members. This, coupled with the Kryptonite taken from the DEO, should allow Leviathan to destroy Supergirl.

Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter agree to impersonate Supergirl, to draw Leviathan's fire while Kara and Lena go to Lena's lab, so Lena can build her a Kryptonite--Proof Armored Costume.

Alex reveals the new costume J'onn made her to the rest of the team.

Gamemnae admits that there is one above her, a her, who rules Leviathan.

Gamemnae allows Lex to keep her pin, saying he's now one of Leviathan.

Lex refuses to give his pin to Brainiac-5, saying they need to wait until after Supergirl and her friends are dead to strike at Leviathan. 

Alex and M'Gann face the lightning-wielding member of Leviathan, Sela. 

J'onn is burned by Tezzumak, as he and Dreamer face Rama Khan.

Kelly calls Alex and tells her she hasn't heard from William since he followed after Eve Tescmacher.

Alex says she and Kelly will look for William, while Kara waits to get her new suit.

Brainiac-5 summons his female doppelganger and explains to her his plan to enter Leviathan's base on his own and trap them in a bottle, as his ancestors used to trap planets. This will kill him but ultimately save his friends.

Kelly and Alex break into Obsidian North and acquire Eve's encrypted IP address.

Lena makes reference to her trip to Kaznia with Kara in 420.

Kara expresses her anger with Lena not realizing she only lied to her to protect her and Lena manipulating her for much more selfish reasons. 

Lena and Kara go to save William once they track down where Eve is.

Eve shoots William, but Kara cauterizes the wound with her heat vision.

Miss Martian, Dreamer and Supergirl briefly fight with Leviathan as Lena helps Eve and William escape.

Lena helps to cover Kara's secret identity unprompted when William asks about warning her.

Eve tells Supergirl about how Gemma Cooper is Gamemnae and part of Leviathan and that they plan to attack the Obsidian North Unity Festival.

4 million people are expected to be part of the festival, according to Eve. 

M'Gann talks with Nia about how she clearly had a vision that troubled her. Nia tells her about how she keeps seeing Braniiac-5, but how she's sure it's just her missing him and not truly part of her dreams.

It will take 10 minutes for Brainiac-5 to upload his shrinking code into Leviathan's systems. 

Kara is signed into Obsidian Platinum through a back door to get people to sign out.

Gamemnae decides to send Acrata to attack Supergirl while she's logged into Obsidian Platinum trying to convince people to log out. 

Lena talks Acrata out of killing Supergirl. 

Brainiac-5 successfully traps Leviathan, only for Luthor to steal the bottle holding them.

Supergirl keeps her promise and recovers Eve Teschmacher's mother and brings her to Lena's lab.

Dreamer finally realizes her visions were warning her that Brainiac-5 was in danger.

Kara and Lena reconcile.

The episode ends with Lex giving the bottle holding Leviathan to Lillian Luthor.

The Bottom Line

An uneven mess, much like Season 5 itself, even allowing for the rushed finale because of the COVID-19 crisis. The action sequences feel like filler meant to occupy the supporting cast and the new villains are poorly defined. Also, for all the series has tried to hang a lampshade on how there are some crises that Supergirl can't face by giving a heroic speech, she literally saves the world by giving a heroic speech. Meanwhile, everything else done to stop the villains comes about because of... uh, Braniac-5 and William Dey. That being said, Jon Cryer is still a magnificent villain for what little time he has on screen and the scenes involving Kara and Lena making up are as good as we could have hoped for. 

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 17 - Deus Lex Machina

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

The details of how Lex Luthor was able to manipulate the Crisis to improve his lot on Earth-Prime are explained, as Lex enacts an intricate plan to bring Lena under his control and pit Supergirl against Leviathan, all with the help of an old ally who is about to meet Lex Luthor again for the first time - Eve Teschmacher!


Influences

All-Star Superman (the baby Sun Eater living in the Fortress of Solitude)

Goofs

While this may be a result of reality changing Post-Crisis, the Martians all seem to be much more powerful than they were previously, with Malefic somehow sensing the change in Earth's Q-waves from Mars and both J'onn and M'Gann now being able to fly through deep space without space suits. On the other hand, Martians in the regular DC Comics are crazy overpowered and the Martians depicted in the Arrowverse have always been severely under-powered relative to the comics, so what we see here is far more accurate to the source material.

Performances

A year ago, people mocked the idea of Jon Cryer being an effective Lex Luthor. This episode finally confirms how perfect that casting choice was.

For that matter, Andrea Brooks is a delight in this episode and it is clear why they keep finding excuses to bring her back as Miss Tessmacher.

Artistry

Setting the montage of Lex's trip around the world to David Bowie's "Man Who Sold The World" was frankly brilliant.

Super Trivia

This episode was directed by Melissa Benoist. It was her first professional directing job.

Technobabble

The Obsidian Platinum lenses interface with the brain by using Q-waves, which operate on a similar frequency as Malefic's brain. This means that just as J'onn could not connect to his brother telepathically, he can't find the missing Obsidian Platinum users.  

Brainiac-5 theorizes that if Supergirl uses Myriad in reverse, compressing the Q-waves in the atmosphere rather than broadcasting Q-waves into peoples' minds, it should make it possible for J'onn to telepathically track the missing people.

A Lexosuit can act as a mini-sunlight chamber if its internal radiation is set to 1,000 watts per meter.

A hydrogen explosive, contained within a Sun Eater, can trigger a reaction that will shrink it to a manageable size.

Dialogue Triumphs

(Lex Luthor screams as he plunges a Kryptonite dagger into a prone figure. We cut to a bedroom, where Lex is kneeling on the bed, punching into the mattress. He is watched by a butler, who looks stunned. He carries a tray in one hand which has a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice, along with a large breakfast. A newspaper is in his free hand.)

Butler: Are you all right, sir? 

Lex: (cautiously) That depends. Am I dead? 

Butler: (chuckle ) Heavens no, sir. But I dare say you're a bit hungover. Coffee?

(Lex hops out of bed and moves past the butler, pulling aside the curtains opposite his bed. We see the skyline of National City.)

Lex: (gasping in relief) I saved the world. 

Butler: It is all in a day's work for you, isn't it, Mr. Luthor? Why else would they be awarding you the Nobel Peace Prize? 
(The butler unfurls the morning newspaper. The front page headline reads LEX LUTHOR AWARDED NOBLE PRIZE FOR PEACE!) 

Lex: (chuckling) I didn't just save the world... I made a new world!

(Lex enters his mansion. He sniffs the air.)

Lex: Do I smell Beef Wellington? 

(Eve Teschmacher enters. She is wearing a neat black dress along with, paradoxically, a pink and red frilly apron with hearts.)

Eve: Victory and role-playing makes me hungry. ( In Margot's voice ) "Amy Sapphire was right. Technology is the greatest evil mankind has ever faced." 

Lex: Okay, stop there. Please don't ever image-induce into her ever again. I might lose my appetite. 

Eve: (laughs and sighs contentedly) I'm so glad we finally have a night to spend some time alone as a couple. 

Lex: A couple? 

Eve: I've been trying to tell you how I feel... and it's not just because you helped me escape Leviathan, it's because of who you are. How could I not love you? 

Lex: Oh... Ms. Tessmacher... you sad, silly woman... of course you love me. What's funny is, you thought I could love you back. 

Eve: (laughs nervously) I don't understand. We're a team. We're meant to be together. We're destined... 

Lex: Oh, we're destined. On another world, in another life, we knew each other very well. And in that life, you said you loved me, too. You distracted me, you made me weaker. But that's not happening this time, honey. I feel nothing for you. I saved you because you were useful. I needed a spy inside Leviathan. Oh, and as for your mother... she's still in danger, but from me. Those cars I showed you? The men in them are just waiting to pull the trigger if you ever betray me. But I'd think twice about that. That man you killed in the Andes didn't murder your father. I never bothered to find out who knocked off your old man. No, the man you murdered is Supergirl's father. 

(Lex samples something from one of the dishes and nods approval. As he continues to speak, the look of adoration on Eve's face changes to one of seething hatred.)

Lex: Oh, that's good. I have video of you killing him, by the way. Defy me, and I'll pass it on. Believe me, you do not want to be on the wrong side of those laser eyes. 

Eve: (bitterly) You are worse than Leviathan. 

Lex: Not worse. Better. 

Dialogue Disasters

Jason Mewes' cameo playing a Mississippi farmer. His Southern accent is beyond belief and breaks the fourth wall nearly as much as the fact that it's Jason Mewes showing up dressed as a farmer.


Continuity

The episode opens precisely 90 days after Crisis on Infinite Earths ended.

J'onn and Kara arrive at the hidden Leviathan ward first seen in 515. They are surprised to learn that Lex Luthor apparently uncovered the base, killed Margot (who was about to kill all the patients) and that Margot left behind a video claiming to be an acolyte of Amy Sapphire's manifesto from 514.

Richard Bates from 515 is among the people trapped in Obsidian Platinum whom Luthor saved.

3 months earlier, Lex Luthor woke up in a bed in a luxurious bedroom with a butler inquiring as to if he felt alright, as he woke up screaming from a flashback to the events of Crisis.

To his astonishment and relief, Lex confirms that he did not just save the world during Crisis - he was able to remake it according to his bargain with The Monitor.

Luthor's apartment is decorated with framed magazines where he is on the cover. This includes a Time Magazine declaring him Person of the Year, a magazine called National City Stars declaring him the sexiest man of the year again, and a CatCo Magazine about him and Supergirl teaming up to save the DEO.

Lena is asleep on Lex's couch. He gives her a shot to keep her asleep and asks his butler to see that she gets home while he tends to some family business. 

Lex informs the Lillian Luthor of the new world of the events of Crisis. She takes the news that reality was destroyed and rewritten quite well and comments, when Lex is surprised by this, that he's upgraded if his mother had been the sort of woman who would be upset by such a thing even if it had been resolved in her favor.

Lex takes his coffee without sugar.

Luthor's first priority is finding the Fortress of Solitude and destroying it and Superman/Supergirl before they can move against him.

Lillian tells Lex that the Kryptonians were his allies in this reality and that, by his account, it was his vendetta against him which led to his death in the previous reality. She advises that Lex focus on winning Lena over, since it was her turning on him that led to his previous plans failing. This sets up the scene where Lex proposes an alliance in 510.

Lena tells Lex about Leviathan and how Eve Teschmacher was an agent in their employ the whole time she worked for him and he had no clue they even existed. 

We see an extended version of the scene where Lex explored the Legion ship in 511. This time, we see Lex using the Legion computer to gather all the information that exists on Earth-Prime's Eve Teschmacher.

In the reality of Earth-Prime, Eve Teschmacher never worked for Lex Luthor, which means she never encountered anyone at CatCo Worldwide Media. This explains how she was able to hide out at Obsidian North without being recognized and why nobody recognized her as the woman who took the blame for Lena Luthor's crimes earlier this season.

In Earth-Prime, Eve Teschmache works as a spy and assassin for Leviathan, having been recruited after they killed her father and threatened to kill her mother. Lex tells her that he knows all about this and wants to help her get free of them. 

30 days after Crisis, Lex reveals that he has three ex-Mossad agents watching Eve Teschmacher's mother, ready to protect her if Leviathan moves against her. He also reveals that he is trying to track down the Leviathan agent responsible for killing her father.

Eve reveals that while she has yet to get onto Leviathan's ship, she did convince Gamemnae to put her to work at Obsidian North on the Platinum VR project. 

Eve reports that she found a way to patch a glitch in the bio-link that developed as a result of the Luthor tech being integrated into Obsidian Platinum which caused people to develop toxic shock while eating virtual food. This was first mentioned in 512.

Lex reveals that this was not a glitch but it was part of his plan. With Eve using her position to stop the glitch from being fixed, Lex will step in and offer his assistance to Gamemnae in covering up the problems caused by the glitch, winning her trust and earning himself an invitation onto Leviathan's ship, where he can use the mortality code Brainiac-5 is developing to make them mortal.

Lex poses as a bartender and gives Richard Bates the idea to hack Obsidian Platinum so he can get back at the man with whom his wife was having a virtual affair. This eventually occurred in 515.

43 days after Crisis, Eve Teschmacher has been moved into a new apartment.

Less reveals to Eve that he discovered a woman on-line named Amy Sapphire who blamed Obsidian Platinum and Andrea Rojas for her husband's suicide. Lex intends to radicalize Amy Sapphire by providing her with a set of gauntlets that will enable her to weaponize her bio-energy. This reveals where Amy got her gauntlets in 514. Lex further plans to order Supergirl to act as Andrea Rojas' bodyguard, enabling him to further endear himself to Gamemnae. 

60 days after Crisis is when Amy Sapphire attacked Obsidian North's offices. (514.) At the time the attack occurred, Lex Luthor was playing chess with his mother and actively ignoring Brainiac-5's calls for help stopping the power core under the CatCo building from exploding.

Eve told Lex that Leviathan was quietly ferrying the people becoming addicted to Obsidian Platinum because of the glitch into a facility in National City.This prompts Lex to provide Richard Bates with the backdoor he needs to hack into Obsidian Platinum for his revenge scheme. This occurs just before Lex goes on a world tour to promote Obsidian Platinum. 

Lex provides Eve with a dossier on the man who killed her father and a poison that will make his death look like natural causes. The man in the dossier is Jeremiah Danvers, whose death was reported at the end of 515.

The montage of Lex's trip around the world s is intercut with scenes from 515 and 516.

Lena approaches Kara to offer her sympathies over her adoptive father's death. She offers Kara a book that helped her get over the loss of her mother.

88 days after Crisis, Lex meets with Lillian and complains that Lena went to Kara and that he never considered that as a possibility. This spurs him to do something that will pit Leviathan against Supergirl and turn Lena against Kara again.

Lex has Eve leak a tip to William Dey regarding the paper medical bracelet he found in 516 and then tells her to move all the bodies Leviathan is hiding somewhere else.

William's mother taught him how to bake. He makes scones, sticky toffee pudding and banoffee pie for Kara and Alex.

The fake clue Eve sends to William Dey turns out to be information on Richard Bates, whose bracelet William found.

Alex recognizes the name Bonnie Walker on the list of people still trapped inside Obsidian VR who can't be found. This was the woman she met while she was playing the Supergirl simulation.

Eve records their conversation from across the street and sends it to Lex, who uses the video/audio to prove to Gamemnae that Supergirl and her allies are plotting against Leviathan. He also reveals that he knows the truth about what she and her associates are. 

Gamemnae reveals that her plan is to kill everyone who is logged into Obsidian Platinum during a global event. 

Lex says that he can stop the plan from being exposed, but he will need the assistance of Leviathan's stealthiest operative.

Lex gives Brainiac-5 a pysanka that was gifted to him by a Ukrainian holy man.

Brainiac-5 says that he was asked to help locate the people who are trapped in Obsidian Platinum and that Alex Danvers thought Luthor was abducting them. Lex promises that is Leviathan's doing - not his.

Brainiac-5 asks Lex to help him find the people that Leviathan kidnapped. Lex says he can't, because that would ruin his plan to be the inside man that brings them down.

Lex also refuses to give the cube from the Legion ship to Brainiac-5 because Lena is using it.

Lex suggests that maybe Supergirl has something in the Fortress of Solitude that might be able to track Q-Waves.

J'onn says he detected Richard Bates' psychic signature at the place where Leviathan had been keeping the victims, but there was some kind of interference blocking him from tracking them. Brainiac-5 reveals this is because Obsidian Platinum runs on Q-waves, which operate on a frequency similar to Malefic's brain. 

Activating Myriad generates an interference that disrupts Lena's experiments. This leads her, after some prompting from Lex, to go to the Fortress of Solitude to see if Kara is using Myriad after she said it was too dangerous for anyone to use.

Lex loans Lena his teleporter watch to make the trip.

Lena is trailed by an invisible creature,who follows her through the portal.

The L-Protocol which defended the Fortress from anyone with Luthor DNA in 507 does not exist on Earth-Prime. This enables Lena to enter the Fortress of Solitude without triggering an alarm.

Lena discovers that Kara is indeed using Myriad.

The invisible being is revealed to be a Morae - one of the aliens first depicted in 410.

The Morae releases the baby sun eater that lives inside the Fortress of Solitude and it drains the solar energy from Kara's body just flying past her.

M'Gann arrives from Mars, saying that Malefic sensed the disturbance to Earth's Q-waves and sent her to help.

Kara is healed after a DEO Lexosuit is reconfigured to charge her body with solar energy. 

The Sun Eater is shrunk back to a regular size and returned to its safe room in the Fortress of Solitude.

The Morae confirms that she works for Leviathan.

While J'onn and Kara are occupied with the Sun Eater, Lex rescues the Leviathan captives, leading to the opening scene of the episode. 

J'onn doesn't detect the presence of the Leviathan captives until after Lex has already killed Margot and exposed the kidnapping plot, while leaving the existence of Leviathan a secret.

Lex explains to Gamemnae that it was necessary for Margot to die to remove any hint of suspicion that Obsidian North was involved in the kidnapping plot. He does admit to underestimating Supergirl and her allies in how they were able to stop the Sun Eater before enough people were logged into Obsidian Platinum for Gamemnae to enact her plan to cull humanity, but says that just proves his point that they have to destroy Supergirl first and that only immortals, like Leviathan, can possibly have a chance of hurting her. 

Lex returns to his mansion to find Eve cooking him Beef Wellington in an apron. 

It is revealed that Eve, wearing an image inducer, was responsible for Margot's confession video.

Eve once again professes her love for him and asks is they can finally pursue a romance now that all their goals are almost achieved.

Lex admits that he was using Eve, that he lied about Jeremiah Danvers killing her father, that his bodyguards will kill her mother if she dares move against him. He also admits that he did make a mistake one year earlier: he trusted that Eve's love for him would be enough to keep her from double-crossing him, which is why he's now blackmailing her with the evidence of the murder she committed and her mother's life to make sure she continues to be the perfect minion. 

Using the watch he gave Lena, Lex recalls the last location used and walks into the Fortress of Solitude.

Location

Fortress of Solitude
Deep Space, close to Earth's sun

Luthor Manor

The Bottom Line

There's one-half of a great episode here and it's the half which explains some of the excesses of the second half of Season 5 as all being part of Lex Luthor's larger plan. The hell of it is that as good as this is, it winds up inadvertently making it look like Lex Luthor is the only character doing anything to thwart Leviathan and makes the heroes look like idiots for focusing on Lex Luthor being a part of the one sinister scheme that he honestly had nothing to do with!  The second half is definitely weaker, with M'Gann showing up out of nowhere, the Martians suddenly being far more powerful than they were before and a CGI extravaganza suddenly being inserted into what had been a nice, character-focused episode until that point. The whole thing averages out to be pretty good, but that's largely due to the charisma of Jon Cryer and Andrea Brooks.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 2 - Stranger Beside Me

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Faced with the mystery of a brother he has no memory of existing, J'onn turns to Kelly Olsen and her new mind-scanning technology at Obsidian Tech for help in sorting through his past. Kara, Alex and Brainy give chase to the mysterious Malefic, only for Kara to run afoul of her new co-worker William Dey, who seems to be stalking Kara. Meanwhile, Lena begins a new experiment with an unexpected test subject... Eve Teschmacher!


Influences

The Martian Manhunter comics of John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake.


Goofs

It seems unlikely that Mars would have characters named Phobos and Deimos in their mythology, just like the Ancient Greek legends of Earth. (Phobos and Deimos are the sons of the war god Ares and gods of Panic and Dread respectively.)

The dubbing for James in his Guardian costume sounds ludicrous, being too growly and almost unintelligible.


Artistry

The special effects used to create J'onn's psychic mindscape are well executed.


Super Trivia

Brainiac-5 makes reference to an alien race called the Euphorians, who he says have a similar brain structure to Martians. In the DC Comics Universe, Euphorians are the dominant species of the planet Euphorix. They resemble humans, save that some Euphorians have no pupils in their eyes and some have hair that is naturally pink or purple. Like humans, Euphorians do not have any innate superpowers, though there are members of the species who developed powers as a result of genetic mutation or alteration. Some Euphorians are also capable of utilizing magic.

J'onn makes reference to Malefic creating something called H'ronmeer's Curse, that killed off most of the Green Martians and eventually ended the Martian Civil War. In the comics, H'ronmeer's Curse was a psychic plague Malefic created that was passed through the Martian hive mind by any Martian attempting to telepathically link to another. This was due to Malefic being jealous and isolated, having been born without a Martian's natural telepathy. It was later revealed that Malefic did have telepathy at one point, but his memory and ability to use it were removed after he psychically raped his sister-in-law.


Technobabble

Fa'ra'too'rik is a psychic punishment inflicted through the Martian hive mind on brothers who fight one another physically.

Q-Waves are a form of radiation located between X-Rays and Gamma-Rays which are used in treating psychic trauma. Brainy says they weren't discovered until The Late Dark Ages, but is then informed that Kelly uses them as part of her work at Obsidian Tech. It should be noted that

Non Nocere is the Latin phrarse for "Do No Harm."

The VR lenses developed by Obsidian North create a link between what the brain sees and what it wants to see, creating a blank slate. Lena believes she can use this link to direct the blank slate to impose rules on the viewer.

Q-Waves scans maps and catalog a persons memories, creating pictures that depict the memories as a series of rings, like the rings on the base of a tree that has been cut down. The rings show breaks and irregularities at points where a person suffered from severe brain trauma.

Q-Waves are measured in biohertz. Doses of Q-Waves are administered in increments of 20.

A dose of 80 biohertz could permanently erase a person's mind.

One component of Obsidian North's contact lenses is a Lumus pixellator.


Dialogue Triumphs

Lena: Hope, could you hurt someone?
Hope: I am incapable of causing pain. It is against my prime directive.
Lena: Exactly. Because you were built in the very image of perfection. You have no selfish inclinations.Your base code is morality, empathy, and logic. Humans and aliens, however, are flawed. They are driven by their emotions. They lie, cheat, and hurt each other to protect themselves. But it's not their fault, it's just how they're programmed. I am going to make them better with Project Non Nocere.
Hope: Do no harm.
Lena: I'm going to rid humanity of its instincts to hurt each other.
Hope: But you cannot reprogram organic creatures.
Lena: The VR lenses create a link between what we want and what we see, constructing a blank slate in the brain on which a new world can be projected. If I can find the source of that link, I can redirect the blank slate to have one single rule.
Hope: Non Nocere. Do no harm.

Brainy: Nia! You are welcome. I assume you received the pizza delivery?
Nia: Thank you for the pizzas but my dress is bursting at the seams, and I'm pretty sure I have heartburn.
Brainy: (romantically) Hmm, yes. My heart also burns.


Continuity

Alex's signature breakfast is poached eggs, crispy bacon, fresh whipped cream, and blueberry pancakes.

Kelly is deathly allergic to blueberries - a fact she discovered when she nearly died after eating some when she was 4.

Kelly always carries an epi-pen with her, in case of an allergy attack.

Kelly doesn't liked poached eggs. Bacon and whipped cream, however, are two of her favorites.

Nia's favorite breakfast is burritos with chorizo and crema. Her preferred brand of coffee is "Nitro," which she takes with an extra shot of cold brew.

Kara thinks Andrea Rojas bough CatCo was a means of getting an advertising platform for Obsidian North.

In the day since he quit CatCo, James has been approached by a group that wants to back him in a run for the open race for a new state Senator.

James was also offered the position of the media director of the Smithsonian Museum.

According to J'onn, there were two brothers, Phobos and Deimos, in the early days of Mars. Their rivalry and bloodshed was the reason for the split of the Green and White Martians. To prevent this ever happening again, a curse was placed on the Green Martians, which psychically inflicted pain on brothers who fought each other. This is known as Fa'ra'too'rik.

J'onn says there is no cure for Fa'ra'too'rik on Earth.

Brainy says that, in the future, psychic traumas are treated with Q-Waves.

Kelly uses Q-Waves in treating her patients at Obsidian North.

Males is revealed to have a White Martian ally on Earth.

Lena's new project, Project Non Nocere, will rid humanity of their instincts to hurt one another. Lena intends to accomplish this through studying Obsidian North's contact lenses and using them to find a way to reprogram people organically.

It is revealed that Lena abducted Eve Teschmacher in 501.

Andrea Rojas starts requiring all of CatCo's writing to be submitted through a portal that can only be accessed by certain special tablets .

William Dey's wife is a lawyer.

Andrea assigns Kara to write a piece on the fashions worn at her Pulitzer Prize award ceremony and demands it be done by lunch, after Kara pitches a piece on the state Senate race.

Eve says that she was recruited by Leviathan at age 16, because she was deeply in debt after her parents died and she had no other way to finish paying for college.  She does not, however, name the organization as she says they would kill her and Lena if they even thought Eve had exposed them.

Brainy overdoes it trying to deliver Nia's favorite lunch, leaving her with enough Bento boxes to build a fort around her desk.

Kelly works with her patients to create a sort of mind palace where they feel safe. For J'onn, the palace takes the form of his office. His altered memories take the form of books with blank covers and no names on the spines.

The Battle of L'Zoril M'nt and Battle of C'arel were two major battles of the Martian Civil War.

One of the blank books in J'onn's mindscape opens a secret passageway revealing a Martian door Opening it leads J'onn into a void where his memory should be.

According to J'onn, only another Martian would be capable of erasing his memory but altering the mind of another is the greatest sin in Martian culture.

William Dey looks suspicious when Kara leaves in the middle of the day. As she does this, he was looking at photos of Andrea Rojas with someone named Dr. Niles Jarrod.

William Dey calls in a favor with the NSA to have Kara's phone tracked.

J'onn guesses his parents might have made him forget Malefic existed

William Dey follows Kara's phone signal into the sewers, seeing Supergirl fighting the White Martian before running away.

J'onn recalls that Malefic created a poison called H'ronmeer's Curse, which weakened the Green Martain forces, killing many and basically winning the Martian Civil War for the White Martians.

Before they fell, the Green Martian High Council sentenced Malefic to be banished to the Phantom Zone for his crime.

William Dey finishes Kara's article for her and turns it in. This results in Kara being assigned to edit copy rather than writing, since the copy editor department is overworked.

Andrea Rojas is able to get into Lena's secret lab.

Lena's assistant is the girlfriend of Andrea Rojas' best friend.

Andrea had trackers installed in the contacts she gave Lena and determined she was taking them apart trying to figure out how they worked. She takes the borken pair, says Lena will never own another one and that it she tries a stunt like that again then Lena will be the big story rather than owing her one.

Eve points out she could have called for help when Andrea was in the lab but didn't and says that proves she can be trusted.

Brainy sends Nia far too many of her favorite pizza for dinner.

Nia tells Brainy to lay off the food and find other ways to express his love.

Nia says she enjoys stupid buddy comedies, Taylor Swift, quiet nights in and poetry.

 Alex sees through Malefic's disguise immediately when he masquerades as Kelly.

Kelly is allergic to blueberries, hazelnuts, bees, and cats.

Brainy sneaks into Nia's apartment and reads her poetry as she is falling asleep.

William Dey is revealed to volunteer at a homeless shelter, after Kara tells him off for trying to sabotage her at work.

Malefic says that he has no power to incept (i.e. enter another person's mind telepathically)

Lena uses Hope to alter Eve Teschmacher's mind, letting Hope take over her body.


The Bottom Line

A decent enough episode, though the focus is on J'onn rather than Kara and almost everything in the Lena subplot is far more interesting than Kelly and Alex's romance and Nia and Brainy's comic relief. Still, it does a lot to develop Malefic and it mostly harmless and inoffensive.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 1 - Event Horizon

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

It has been one month since Lena learned Kara's secret identity and she is out for revenge against everyone who lied to her. Selling CatCo Worldwide Media to a fellow tech magnate who considers Pulitzer Prize winning journalism to be a detriment is only the first step in a plan to hurt Kara the same way she hurt Lena.

As James copes with his sudden demotion from Editor In Chief, Kelly and Alex and Nia and Brainy settle into to their newfound romantic relationships. And the team faces an alien shape-shifter with a grudge against J'onn, who is able to summon another of J'onn's old enemies from The Phantom Zone.


Influences

Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (subplot involving a new owner more concerned with hype than real journalism), the Rebirth Superwoman series (character of M1dn1ght)  and the Martian Manhunter comics of John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake.


Goofs

J'onn says he would be able to sense if the alien telepath menacing them were a White Martian. Why can't he sense that it's a Green Martian? (Presumably this has something to do with the psychic attack Malefic unleashes when John gets close?)

Where does Kara keep her glasses in her new costume when she isn't wearing them?

How DO Brainy, Dreamer and Guardian change into costume and get to Midnight before Alex can run there in heels?


Performances

Both Melissa Benoist and Katie McGrath sell the hell out of their respective speeches about the value of their friendship.


Artistry

The special effects work for Kara's new Super-Suit is of cinematic quality.


Super Trivia

The Supergirl log in this episode slowly pixelates into view, much like Kara's new Super-Suit.

It is revealed that Lena uses virtual-reality to run simulations where she can kill Supergirl as a means of stress relief. Lex Luthor did something similar in the Superman: Doomsday animated movie, but Lex created imperfect clones of Superman.

The plotline of a new owner pushing a news organization to hype scandal over real news was also a major part of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace.

Andrea Rojas is based on a Mexican superhero from the Superman comics. First appearing in Superman Annual #12, Andrea Rojas was Acrata and had the power to teleport through shadows thanks to her possession of an ancient Mayan symbol. She was also a talented martial artist and detective, who was said to be the Batman of Mexico City, though she did not work with the local authorities and indeed had a deep disrespect for them. She was also the daughter of a former politician, who became a professor of pre-Hispanic cultures at the University of Metropolis campus in Mexico City.

The Arrowverse version of Andrea Rojas has not yet shown any signs of having superpowers. Far from an anti-authority rebel, she is a scion to a large tech company and has just taken over the Obsidian North operation, which oversees all the virtual and augmented reality aspects of Obsidian's business. She also now owns CatCo Worldwide Media and has made herself Editor In Chief of the magazine, ousting James Olsen.

Midnight is based on a character from the Superwoman comics called M1dn1ght. First appearing in Superwoman #15, M1dn1ght was a computer code created by Lena Luthor that was meant to free her should she ever become trapped in an extra-dimensional prison. With this accomplished, M1dn1ght began to wonder if she could justify her existence having accomplished her one purpose in existence. This spurred her to create her own body from the virtual world of code (i.e. The Void)  and enter the physical world. Still programmed to obey Lena Luthor, M1dn1ght sought to free herself by bonding with Superwoman and taking over her body.

Brainy makes mention of an alien race called the Farfarmniflatch.  Monstergirl, from the comic Young Heroes In Love, was a Farfarmniflatch. All Farfarmniflatches have the power to shape-shift.

Brainy also mentions the poisonous prison pits of Takron-Galtos. In the classic DC Comics universe, Takron-Galtos is a planet that was transformed into a maximum security prison for the worst criminals in existence. It exists in the 20th century and is still around during the time of the Legion of Superheroes.

The Arrowverse version of Midnight is said to be an alien of unknown origins who joined with the White Martians in their war on the Green Martians, caring nothing for their politics - only wanting a chance to kill as many beings as possible. J'onn says that her powers were fueled by death and he cannot remember how he defeated her, though she blames him for trapping her in the Phantom Zone.

Both versions of Midnight have the ability to create energy-voids that destroy whatever they touch. With enough focus, they can both create small black holes capable of crushing anything. They can also create portals that allow them to teleport through space.

While not yet identified by name, the Green Martian who claims to be J'onn's brother is identified in the credits as Malefic J'onzz. First appearing in Martian Manhunter #0 in 1998, it was revealed that Malefic was responsible for killing the Green Martian race, having created a psychic plague that killed anyone who used their telepathy to commune with the Martian Great Mind. Malefic was spared this, having been born without telepathy, or so he thought. In truth, Malefic was stripped of his telepathy as punishment for attempting to psychically rape his sister-in-law and had all memory of his crimes erased.

The Arrowverse version of Malefic has a similar hatred of his brother, but also hates their father for reasons that have yet to be explained. Malefic seems to possess telepathic powers, inflicting a psychic paralysis on J'onn unlike anything he had ever felt before.


Technobabble

Lena has created an artificial intelligence she has named Hope, who offers "assistance without ambition, drama or ego."

Obsidian North is beta-testing a line of augmented reality contact lenses which makes the wearer's eyes glow silver.

Kelly Olsen's new job with Obsidian North involves using their virtual reality technology to treat patients with dementia and PTSD.

Kryptonian spacecraft use anti-matter to propel themselves. The engine from even a small one, like the rocket that carried Superman to Earth as a baby, can be transformed into a bomb with the proper resources and knowledge. Such a bomb could destroy three whole solar systems.

One of Obsidian North's VR projects is a virtual gym that allows the user to work out in several exotic environments.

A Kryptonian anti-matter engine could also be used to build a make-shift Phantom Zone projector.

Rather than just repair Kara's cape, Brainy creates a microscopic motion activator, which he attaches to her glasses. From now on, the act of hurriedly jerking her glasses off will activate a stream of nanites that will build a costume around Kara. The new costume has pants and can be dissolved by Kara putting her glasses back on.


Dialogue Triumphs

(After Kara and Alex are less than helpful in settling their argument over the greatest villain in movie history.)
Nia: Well, I guess you'll just have to accept that I'm right.
Brainy: Hmm. This Earth custom that the girlfriend is always right is illogical and frustrating, but I can assimilate.

Brainy: This is no time for sarcasm, however dry or well-crafted!

Kara: Lena. What are you doing back here?
Lena: Okay, you caught me. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I'm the one who's gonna introduce you. I couldn't miss an opportunity to tell the world how wonderful you are.
Kara: No, no, I Lena, I can't let you do this, I don't deserve it.
Lena: Are you kidding me? Me more than anyone knows how much you deserve it. I saw how you risked your life to expose Lex's crimes-
Kara: I'm Supergirl.
(Lena looks uncharacterisically surprised. Kara takes off her glasses, her breath quickening, clearly holding back the tears.)
Kara: I've always been Supergirl. I should've told you so long ago, I know that. But I just kept making excuses because you've been hurt so many times and... I convinced myself that I was protecting you. And then one day, you were so angry with me... with, with Supergirl. But you still loved Kara. I just kept thinking... if I could be Kara, just Kara... that I could keep you as a friend. (Kara sighs.)
Kara:I was selfish and scared, and I didn't wanna lose you, so I kept pretending, and I never stopped.
(Kara sniffles and is on the verge of tears.)
Kara: Every time I kept my secret from you, I wasn't... protecting you, I was hurting you, just like everyone else, and I am so, so sorry.
Kara: (softer) I am so sorry.
(Lena just stares at Kara.)
Kara: Please say something
(Lena's lips part, but before she can speak...)
Usher: Ms. Luthor? You're on in two minutes.
Kara: Lena...?
(Lena walks away, leaving Kara to start crying.)

Lena: The world is full of liars. People who hide things from us. People who manipulate and control us. I should know. Some of the best liars in the world are members of my own family. But in my life, there was someone who always reminded me that truth was the better way. And she is the person we are here tonight to celebrate. Kara Danvers.
(The crowd applauds.)
Lena: The truth isn't easy. It's certainly not for the faint of heart. But it is something that Kara, as a journalist, has pursued relentlessly every day. And because she's so good at it, she makes it look easy. We sometimes forget that she's just like us. But forging a path to the truth isn't a piece of cake. It's more like climbing a mountain. It's arduous and painful at times, and, just like us, Kara can sometimes slip. But she always gets back up and pulls through in the end. And we're always better for her efforts. So, thank you, Kara, for reminding us that the truth is important. Even when it's not always easy to accept.

(Alex is the last to arrive in the room to confront Midnight, despite still being in her fancy dress. Dreamer, Brainy and Guardian are in full costume.)
Alex: How do you guys always change so fast?!

(Midnight begins making a black hole.)
Supergirl: Brainy, if I solar flare, can I shut that down?
Brainy: Gravitational power comes from the core. We'd have to go inside the void to do that. But why do things the hard way? J'onn?
(Brainy tosses J'onn a pair of power-inhibitor hand-cuffs.  J'onn phases through the crowd to get behind Midnight and places them around her wrists.)

(J'onn sees a little girl in his office.)
J'onn: Uh... Are you lost?
(The little girl turns around and speaks in a male voice.) 
Malefic: No, J'onn J'onzz. I'm exactly where I should be.
(Malefic's eyes glow green and he shifts into the form of a figure in a hooded black robe.)
J'onn: You're the shapeshifter that released Midnight. What do you want from me?
Malefic: To be punished for your crimes. You may have defeated Midnight, but I'll make sure you get what you deserve.
J'onn: Why? Who are you?
Malefic: Don't pretend you don't recognize me...
(Malefic lowers his hood, revealing himself to be a Green Martian.)
Malfeic: ...brother.
J'onn: (looking confused for a moment but the confusion gives way to anger) I have no brother!
Malefic: Lies! You and Father are more evil than even I knew, but justice will prevail. I will do to you as you did to me.
J'onn: (growling) You say you're my brother? Prove it!
(The two charge each other but there's an explosion of red and green light as they meet. The psychic backblast knocks them both back and J'onn passes out.)

Hope: The file was ready to upload. Why didn't you send it, exposing Supergirl's identity to the world? Did you forgive Kara Danvers?
Lena: She betrayed me. It broke my heart. I could never forgive her.
Hope: Then I don't understand.
Lena: How could you? You're not a Luthor. We're scorpions. When someone betrays us, we sting. But I have a calling, Hope, and it's to fix mankind. I never thought Supergirl would tell me who she was, but now that she has, I have an opportunity, and I can use Supergirl to achieve my ends. That is easier to do if she believes there is trust


Dialogue Disasters

Supergirl: Pants!


Continuity

The events of this episode take place roughly one month after 422.

Slattorians are a race of silver-eyed aliens whom J'onn recently discovered while working a case.

Kelly has started a new job with Obsidian North.

Obsidian North is housed in the same building as CatCo Worldwide Media.

Kelly and Alex are officially dating exclusively.

J'onn has started teaching a children's tai chi class in his spare time.

Kara still has not told Lena her secret identity.

The DEO is still trying to recapture all the metahuman prisoners Lex Luthor was holding at his Shelley Island facility.

Brainy believes the most evil villain in cinematic history is Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada. Nia says that it is Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs.  Kara thinks it is Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter. Alex thinks it is Hans Gruber from Die Hard.

Nia and Brainy have been dating for a month, but have yet to initiate any physical contact beyond a handshake.

Lena is revealed to have sold CatCo to Andrea Rojas - CEO of Obsidian North. Her first act is to demote James Olsen from Editor-In-Chief to take the job for herself, though she does plan to keep James on staff.

Lena went to the same boarding school as Andrea Rojas.

Lena claims to have sold CatCo because she needed capital for a new project. She sold the company for $1.3 billion.

Malefic was able to cause some kind of psychic paralysis in J'onn and is strong enough, in the form of a T-Rex, to rip Supergirl's cape.

Brainy offers to fix Supergirl's cape, noting that she requires it to maneuver properly when flying at high-speeds.

Obsidian's headquarters is based in Buenos Aires.

Andrea Rojas took over Obsidian North, which handles the augmented and virtual reality aspects of her father's business, after he elected to focus his efforts on space colonization.

Andrea's father apparently has a rivalry with Elon Musk, whom Andrea calls "Uncle Elon."

Andrea plans to have Obsidian technology in every household in the world within a year.

Lena's deal to sell CatCo had some very specific conditions. Lena did not want the sale announced until the same day as Kara's awards ceremony for her Pulitzer. She also promised Andrea an exclusive, world-shaking story that would be sent to her at 9 PM on the day the sale was announced. It becomes clear later that the story involved Kara being Supergirl and Lena was timing it so the news would break as Kara was accepting her award..

William Day is a renowned journalist, most recently employed by The Times of London. Andrea hires him to work for CatCo.

Andrea announces that CatCo will now be focused on getting hits over hard journalism. She specifically decries Pulitzer Prize winning articles as boring and notes that circulation went down after Kara's being honored with a Pulitzer was announced.

Somehow, Andrea got everyone currently employed at CatCo signed to three-year contracts, with non-competition clauses that will stop them from ever working for another news outlet if they quit the company before their contract expires.

The Green Martians apparently had access to the Phantom Zone. J'onn makes reference to sending Midnight there, but he has no memory of how they beat her down to manage it.

William Day rewrites Kara's articles, removing facts and making them shorter. Kara is not pleased by this and tells Andrea she will not stop trying to do real news, no matter how difficult she makes it.

Kara tells Lena that she is Supergirl, just after learning that Lena is introducing her at the Pulitzer ceremony.  This cause Lena to abort her plan to send Kara's secret identity to Andrea.

Alex is able to send Midnight back to the Phantom Zone using the make-shift projector.

Both Kara and J'onn are strong enough to briefly survive beyond the event horizon of a black hole.

James quits his job at CatCo, knowing no other media outlet will ever be able to hire him.

Kelly agrees with Alex that Hans Gruber from Die Hard is the best movie villain ever.

Brainy reveals the reason he's been avoiding physical contact with Nia is that after the events of 422 he's afraid to let his guard down and risk becoming the cold, emotionless being he became before. He also reveals the reason he thinks Miranda Priestly is the greatest movie villain is he fears becoming like her - uncaring and willing to betray those closest to her.

Malefic reveals himself as J'onn's brother but J'onn says he has no brother.

Kara gives Lena a signal watch so that she can call Supergirl if she ever needs her.

Lena tells Hope that she hasn't forgiven Kara for lying to her but that she can exploit their relationship to accomplish her goals to save humanity.


Eve Teschmacher, dressed in a waitress uniform, is jumped by someone at the end of the episode - presumably Leviathan agents.


The Bottom Line

A solid start to the season, though it does forget about the Leviathan subplot until the literal last second. Lena has been turned into a tragically sympathetic villain and Andrea Rojas is similarly wicked. The new status quo is set-up well, though there aren't that many drastic changes apart from the beginning of the end for Mehcad Brooks' time as Jimmy Olsen. Midnight is a bit underwhelming as a villain, but at lest she's defeated easily enough, though I get the feeling we'll be seeing more of her somehow. All in all, there's more good than bad here. And the new costume looks awesome, even if I do wonder where Kara keeps her glasses now.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 22 - The Quest For Peace

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Lex Luthor descends on Washington D.C. as the hero of the hour and the most beloved man in America. With all of her allies but Alex occupied, Kara has only one chance to stop Lex Luthor's plans. Will the Power of the Press prove capable of doing what Supergirl can't?


Influences

Superman 4: The Quest For Peace (title), Iron Man (the sequences of Lex fighting the Kaznian military in his Lexo-suit while singing "My Way"), the President Lex storyline from the Superman comics (Lex sets himself up as the defacto leader of the USA, if not the actual President), the Martian Manhunter comics of John Ostrander (character of Ma'alefa'ak) and the Batman comics of Grant Morrison (Leviathan organization).


Goofs

It beggars belief that Dreamer and J'onn are put to work in a slave labor camp and just happen to wind up next to friends of J'onn who are looking for someone to lead a rebellion against the guards after less than a minute.

The guards also don't seem to care about stopping the alien workers from talking to each other, which would be unusual even if J'onn and Al weren't being incredibly unsubtle about talking about rebelling. They don't even whisper!

The slow-motion fight scenes in the fifth sequence just don't work. Especially James vs. Ben Lockwood.

It is said that President Baker is removed from office by the Cabinet's invoking the 25th Amendment. Even if The Cabinet does declare The President unfit for duty, a 2/3rds majority vote in both houses of Congress is still required to remove him from office.


Performances

Once again, Jon Cryer steals the show as Lex Luthor.

Melissa Benoist gets a wonderful death scene as Red Daughter, playing opposite herself.


Artistry

The special effects budget for this season was clearly saved for this episode and the CGI is largely theatrical quality.


Super Trivia

The opening logo once again shows the symbol of the Red Daughter and her name in Russian, along with Supergirl's name and the Supergirl logo.

The new President who takes over after Phil Baker is named Plastino. Al Plastino was the name of the artist who co-created Kara Zor-El along with writer Otto Binder.

It is revealed that Eve Teschmacher was recruited to manipulate Lex Luthor on behalf of a group called Leviathan. First appearing in Batman: The Return #1, Leviathan is a splinter-group of the League of Assassins formed by Talia Al Ghul, which developed into a criminal syndicate of unimaginable power.

The Monitor brings a Green Martian to Earth and encourages him to seek revenge against the brother who wronged him, who is revealed to be J'onn J'onzz. This would seem to be a reference to Ma'alefa'ak - the brother of J'onn J'onzz, who was introduced into the Martian Manhunter comics by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake.


Technobabble

An astral projector can appear in any environment, but they cannot interact with people in that environment. However, an astral projection can interact with and ionize other forms of energy, such as by writing in water molecules that accumulate as condensation on a window.

Brainiac-5 says that it will take 20 pods to overload the power core of the Claymore satellite in the time they had left. He further says that J'onn has only an 18% chance of successfully using his own psychic energy to overload the core and a 98% chance of dying in the attempt.


Dialogue Triumphs

(An alien man begs for mercy as he is locked into Luthor's machine, repeatedly muttering "Please don't.")
Lex: (cheerfully) Don't worry. It won't hurt.
(A metal plate slides over the man, who begins screaming.)
Lex: (nonchalant) Hmm. Guess I was wrong.
(Eve Teschmacher looks at the screen for the device as Lex examines the gauntlet he is wearing.)
Eve: Alien energy transfer complete. Your gauntlet should be charged.
Lex: Only one way to find out. (looks around the room and points to a guard on a balcony overlooking the room) Um... excuse me? Uh... stand very still!
(Lex aims the gauntlet at the guard and shots him with a ray. The man screams briefly as his body breaks down into a mass of liquid. Lex looks suitably impressed, but not surprised.)
Lex: Hmm... get a mop.

Red Daughter: Supergirl is dead. What happened?
Lex: (shrugging) The Kaznians invaded.
Red Daughter: Your signal was late! I was supposed to lead the attack!
Lex: No, Ryzhaya Dch. You did exactly what you were meant to do.
(A missile approaches in the air. Lex nonchalantly reaches up with one hand and shoots a laser blast that destroys it.)
Red Daughter: You betrayed me! Betrayed Kaznia!
Lex: What can I say? I'm proud to be an American.
(Lex reaches up and fires his gauntlet as the scene fades to black)

Eliza: Lex and The Preisdent have succeeded in convincing the people that all aliens are dangerous! That Supergirl is the enemy-
Alex: And Lex is the hero.
Kara: Then I guess it's my job to show them who Lex really is. Show them the truth.

(Lena is sarcastically rude to Lex.)
Lillian: Now, now! You play nicely. This is the first family gathering we've had in ages and I'd like to enjoy myself.
Lena: Your murderous son has duped the world into thinking he's Earth's hero. This is hardly Thanksgiving dinner.
Lillian: Sounds perfectly normal for our family.

(Lex describes his plans to turn aliens into giant disposable batteries and growing rich selling the power to the world.)
Lena: That's vile!
Lex: Vile AND viable. As another world leader once said, "I don't see why man shouldn't be as cruel as nature."
Lillian: Try not to quote Hitler in public, dear. It'll hurt the brand.

(As Lex leaves the room.)
Lena: You're not buying this, Mother?!
Lillian: Of course not! I've already poisoned his tea. If he'd stop running his mouth long enough to take a sip, he'd be dead by now.

(Dreamer is confused why nobody can see her astral form.)
Dreamer: Guys?
Brainac-5: If my calculations are correct, Dreamer has just astral projected into this office.
Dreamer: You anticipated me being here?!
Brainiac-5: She is here. She's wondering in this exact moment how she can contact us. Because an astral projectee can place themselves in any environment, but they cannot interact with that environment.
Alex and Nia: (together) So how is that a good plan?!?
Nia: (to Alex) Thank you!

Lex: The truth is meaningless. The people of Earth believe I am their savior. They needed a human hero and I fulfill that need. Nothing will ever change their minds.
(As Lex continues speaking, we cut to the streets of National City, where two young men are walking. One of them stops the other as he gestures to a news report on his phone. It is Kara's article.)
Lex: Facts are irrelevant. All that matters is spin.
(We cut to outside the White House, where a mob of people are waving signs cheering Lex Luthor.  One of them looks at their phone and is shocked as she sees Kara's report.)
Lex: People are so stupid. They don't even read. And even when they do, they certainly don't think. I am the leader of this nation now. And nothing can stop me.

J'onn: During the battle for my home planet, I ran. Millions died. I will not make that same mistake again!

Lex: How are you alive?! How did you do it?
Supergirl: How do you think I did it? I'm Supergirl.
Lex: Just like your cousin! No matter how many times I stamp you out, you miraculously resurface! With your glossy cape and your prefect hair!
Supergirl: Let me let you in on a little secret, Lex. Truth and Justice always prevail.
Lex: (chuckling) You and your cousin are such saps. Luckily, I came prepared.
(Lex taps a button on his gauntlet. His hands begin to glow with green Kryptonite energy. Supergirl looks uncomfortable for a moment but then steels herself.)
Supergirl: So did I.
(Supergirl presses in on the S-shield on her chest and the armored suit Lena made for her slides into place. Lex looks stunned.)
Supergirl: You can thank your sister for this.

(Red Daughter is dying of Kryptonite poisoning, while being held by Supergirl.)
Red Daughter: You were right. My Alex was nothing like your Alex. Protect your people... as I protected mine.

(Lex's suit starts falling apart as he plummets toward the ground. Suddenly, he is caught by one hand by Supergirl. He struggles to wiggle free of her grip.)
Supergirl: Let me save you!
Lex: (scoffs) Saved? By a Kryptonian? I'd rather die!
(Lex's gauntlet releases from the rest of his armor and he falls to the ground, his armor seemingly erupting in a wave of green energy and a fiery explosion.)

(Lena draws a gun on Lex)
Lex: (impatiently) Come on, Lena. This is no time for theatrics. We both know, no matter how much you despise me, you're not ruthless enough to pull that trigger-
(Lena pulls the trigger twice, unloading two bullets into Lex's chest.)
Lena: The world will never be safe with you in it.

Lex: I'm about to die, but at least I lived without ever being a fool. You're left with no one and nothing!

Eve Teschmacher: Who are you?
Old Woman: You already know that, dear.
Eve Teschmacher: I did everything you asked. I worked for him. I hurt people for him!
Old Woman: Lex was supposed to move the needle. He failed.
Eve Teschmacher: So let me go!
Old Woman: Sorry, sweetie. That's not on the agenda.
(Eve looks around and sees that everyone on the street, from the homeless man to the cops, are watching her.)
Old Woman: Leviathan is everywhere. Leviathan is everyone. And Leviathan is coming.

(A breach opens and a figure in a black-hooded robe emerges. The Monitor steps forward to meet him.)
Figure: Where am I?
The Monitor: Earth.
Figure: It can't be!
The Monitor: You've been trapped for too long. A phantom to your people. Now it is time you avenge yourself against the brother who wronged you.
Figure: Will you help me?
The Monitor: It was I that brought you here. You must walk the path yourself. Besides... I have one more place to visit.
(The Monitor walks off as the figure lowers its hood, revealing itself to be a Green Martian.)
Figure: (in Martian) I 'm coming for you, J'onn J'onzz.


Dialogue Disasters

Again, every time Ben Lockwood opens his mouth.


Continuity

The episodes opens with Kara's escape from the Red Daughter in 421

Red Daughter returns to Lex and says she failed him by not killing Supergirl.

Lex says she didn't fail him and it was his fault for thinking that Kryptonite exposure alone could kill Supergirl.

He applauds Red Daughter for making Supergirl bleed and gives her a photo of Eliza Danvers, telling her to attack Supergirl where she is most vulnerable - the heart.

Lex is confirmed to be using the alien prisoners to charge his new power suit.

Eve witnesses Ben Lockwood killing Otis Graves. Lex asks her to send a team to kill Lockwood.

President Baker's first name is revealed as Phil. He was a state senator before becoming Vice President.

Lex reveals that he was responsible for Phil Baker's rise to power, having taken out President Marsdin's original running mate and then pulling strings to put Phil Baker on the ticket. He then arranged for President Marsdin to be outed as an alien, putting Baker in the White House.

As in 416, the montage of the Kaznian invasion and Red Daughter fighting Supergirl is set to Frank Sinatra's "My Way."

The battle between Red Daughter and Supergirl was seen in 421.

Lex uses his new suit to fight the Kaznian military, single-handed.

Lex seemingly kills the Red Daughter on National TV.

It is revealed that Lex didn't really kill the Red Daughter but weakened her and has loaded her into one of the energy-draining pods at Amertek's refinery.

President Baker calls a second press confrerence, declaring that Otis Graves was found dead with a manifesto detailing his philosophy and taking credit for the crimes that were pinned on Lex Luthor. As such, he gives Luthor a full Presidential Pardon and appoints him as the new Secretary of Alien Affairs.

Ben Lockwood learns about this watching TV while hiding at his steel mill. He survives an assassination attempt by a squad of Eve Teschmacher clones and asks the one who doesn't disappiate after he knocks them out at super speed why Luthor had been using him.

It is revealed that Shelley Island has been turned into a slave labor camp, with those aliens who can't output energy for Luthor's refinery being put to work assembling electronics for Amertek.

J'onn winds up working next to Al - the alien who runs the alien dive bar - and the two begin to plan a rebellion.

Brainiac-5 escaped to L-Corp and regrouped with Lena.

The two watch a news report where it is revealed that Lex donated an experimental power source to replace the destroyed power grid on the eastern side of the United States.

Brainiac-5 is able to recover Kara's evidence of Luthor's wrong-doing that was stored on the CatCo servers.

Brainac-5 tells Lena, Kara and Alex about how Luthor was not only using alien prisoners from the DEO desert facility in his experiments but alien civilians abducted by Ben Lockwood and the Children of Liberty.

Lena gets an invitation from The President to meet him at the White House. The invitation turns out to be from Lex, who has taken over the Oval Office and also arranged for Lillian Luthor to be freed.

Lex reveals his master-plan, now that the Luthor name is cleared, is to build his fortune on his new power source - supercharged disposable batteries, powered by alien energy.

Lena asks what makes Lex think Superman is going to sit idly by on Argo and let him do this. Lex says that the first batch of aliens are being used to charge a revised Claymore satellite that will allow him to destroy Argo from a distance.

Eve Teschmacher objects to Lex's plan to kill Superman, which she was not consulted on. Lex says that killing Superman once and for all was always the point and he doesn't care if half the energy they've gathered will be burned up destroying Argo.

The device Lillian Luthor built to extract the Harun-El from a human system is completed.

Dreamer eventually notifies the team that the alien captives are being held on Shelley Island, after realizing she's invisible and inaudible to people in her astral form. She is able to write out a message after Brainiac-5 breathes on a cold window.

Brainiac-5 determined that Lex is using Shelley Island to charge the new Claymore satellite and that it is aimed at Argo. He says that he will try to hack the power core while Kara, Jimmy and Alex try to save Dreamer and J'onn.

Ben Lockwood shows up with a group of Children of Liberty he says that he gave the Harun-El treatment to and start fighting Supergirl, Alex and Jimmy.

Upon finding they can't disable the power core for Claymore, J'onn tries to overload it with his psychic powers.

Lena and Lillian escape the White House by struggling with Eve Teschmacher for a gun and pistol whipping her with it and macing two Secret Service agents, respectively.

Lex files to Shelley Island and begins blasting everything with his new Lexo Suit.

Lex reveals that his suit has the ability to generate Kryptonite radiation.

Thankfully, Kara came prepared and puts on the armored costume Lena made for her.

Dreamer pools her dream energy with J'onn's psychic powers but it is not enough.

Seeing two people do something so illogical causes Brainiac-5's previous personality to reassert itself and start saying words of encouragement to Dreamer and J'onn.

Brainiac-5 finally tells Dreamer that he loves her.

James is able to inject Ben Lockwood with the Harun-El removal device.

Red Daughter is freed by J'onn and Dreamer.  She flies to Supergirl just in time to take a lethal Kryptonite laser bolt for her.

The Red Daughter dissipates into a cloud of purple energy which Kara seems to absorb. This gives her the power she needs to overpower Lex's Kryptonite beams and blast his gauntlet with her heat vision, which glows purple.

Lex refuses to let Supergirl save him from falling to his death as his armor starts to fall apart. He seemingly falls to his death but actually teleports to a secret base under his childhood treehouse... where Lena is waiting to inject him with the Harun-El extractor.

Lena shoots Lex. He applauds her for finally proving how ruthless she is but asks who is left to be proud of her.

Lex reveals that Kara is Supergirl and that all of Lena's friends and Lillian knew and lied to her about it before he dies.

As far as the world is concerned, Lex Luthor died blown up on Shelley island.

The Cabinet invoked the 25th Amendment to remove President Baker from office and he was arrested.

Ben Lockwood was arrested on a new battery of terrorism charges.

James lost his right eye in the fight with Ben Lockwood.

The new President Plastino ends martial law and reinstates the Alien Amnesty Act pending a new vote in Congress.

Col. Haley holds a press conference to apologize to Supergirl

Alex kisses Kelley Olsen for the first time..

Lena shows up for game night but is clearly uncomfortable.

Kara wants to tell Lena the truth about her secret identity but Alex wants to let her just have one night to enjoy with her friends. Kara agrees.

George Lockwood is seen talking to a crowd and preaching against his father's message of hate on the news.

Eve Teschmacher is confronted by an old woman at a bus station in National City, who tells her that "Leviathan is everywhere, Leviathan is everyone and Leviathan is coming."

The Monitor brings someone to Earth through a breach - a Martian who must avenge himself upon the brother who wronged him. This brother is identified as J'onn J'onzz.

The Monitor says he has one more place to visit.

Lena cracks the glass in the picture of herself, Alex and Kara together in her office while using it is a coaster for her drink.

The episode ends with The Monitor manifesting in Lex's secret lab and regarding Lex's corpse, as his hand starts to open another breach.


Location

Washington D.C. - 24 hours earlier.
Amertek Energy Refiner - 6 hours earlier.
The White House - 1 hour earlier.
Midvale - Today.
Amertek Energy Refiner - Today.
Lockwood Steel Factory - Today.
Shelley Island - Today
The White House - Today.
Luthor Manor - Today.


The Bottom Line

Much like Season 4 of Supergirl, it's a bit of a mess overall, but the parts that work work very well. There's just not a lot of middle ground. The inclusion of the Children of Liberty and Ben Lockwood just feels pointless and seems to be there just to give James something to do... much like James suddenly having lost an eye. A lot of things are resolved too quickly to register (such as Brainiac-5's personality being restored) and it seems like most of the cast is just treading water until the Lex vs. Supergirl fight.

That being said, the special effects work is great and the fight between Lex and Supergirl is everything we hoped it might be. It looks like we'll have multiple villains again next season, which is worrying on multiple levels, even ignoring what might happen with Lena an whatever the Monitor is up to. Either way, Season 5 of Supergirl won't be boring!