Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 12 - Blind Spots

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

Plot

When many are left injured by the Ormfell building collapse, including her young charge, Joey Davis, Kelly Olsen will become the guardian her community needs while the rest of the Superfriends are busy with fighting Nxyly.

Influences

The comics of Jack Kirby and The Empire Strikes Back (Lena leaving when she learns her friends are in danger mirrors Luke abandoning his Jedi training)


Goofs

It seems clear that this episode was originally intended to have James Olsen backing Kelly as she officially entered into the role of Guardian and that things were rewritten to put John Diggle in his place. 

Granting that Kara has a lot of blind spots when it comes to the image she presents to the world, Kelly's dressing her down over her failure to be an advocate for ordinary people doesn't ring true when Kara was making personal appearances at city council meetings and using her platform to give a voice to the voiceless not two episodes ago.

It is said that Alex's retinal scan will be needed to access an abandoned DEO facility, but Alex resigned as the DEO Director in 512.While the organization shut down shortly thereafter, it's unlikely Lex Luthor wouldn't have personally made sure she was wiped from the databases personally.

For that matter, how does the DEO still have an operational desert facility? 

With CatCo reporting on traffic problems in National City, it's increasingly clear why CatCo sank to #8 nationally under Andrea's management. 

Early in the episode, Councilwoman Rankin is said to take an experimental new medication but Brainiac-5 later says she was given some kind of gene therapy.

It's a little unbelievable Orlando doesn't recognize Kelly in her Guardian costume at this point. Almost as unbelievable as Kelly not quietly telling him the truth about who she is given her own issues with vigilantes lying to her.

Despite having the power to do wish for virtually anything, Councilwoman Rankin fights Supergirl hand-to-hand.

How did the book Florence wanted to give Lena get delivered to her apartment faster than Lena could fly home in a corporate jet? While it's possible it was delivered by magic, why bother addressing it if she could just send the book to Lena?


Performances

David Harewood gets a wonderful and understated moment in the middle of all the big speeches where J'onn explains why he chooses to live life as a Black man when he could appear to be anyone and it is far more powerful than all of Kelly Olsen's "Do you hear me?" speeches.

As always, David Ramsey is a delight as John Diggle/

Artistry

There are some very good speeches in the script for this episode.


Super Trivia

Azie Tesfai, who plays Kelly Olsen, co-wrote this episode. This makes her the first actor to also write for the Arrowverse on television, although Nicole Maines has written a Dreamer story for DC Comics.

David Ramsey, who plays John Diggle, also directed this episode.

John Diggle makes reference to being given the opportunity to become a special kind of hero, but it requiring that he abandon his family to do so. This is believed to be a reference to the Green Lantern Corps, which it was teased he might be joining in the finale of Arrow.

Technobabble

RP-90 is an experimental drug for respiratory issues, still undergoing trials. Somehow, it can give a human powers akin to those of a 5th Dimensional Imp after extensive exposure to magic residue.

The anti-magic cuff also makes it impossible to track Nxyly.

It is suggested that Nxyly can be tracked by modulating the Watchtower sensors to isolate Mister Mxyzptlk's unique magical energy wavelength. 

Baltorian scanners are portable and able to trace minute amounts of 5th Dimensional energy.

The device which transformed Kara's heat vision into 5th Dimensional energy also infused the Ormfell building with the same energy as it empowered Nxyly. This caused the energy to spread around the neighborhood and into the people when the building was destroyed. This is what is making the people sick.

Brainiac-5 determines that Councilwoman Rankin underwent some kind of gene therapy that turned her into an energy siphon after she interacted with the 5th Dimensional Energy, pulling life force out of the people of the Heights to make her wishes come true.

Brainiac-5 says they can create their own energy siphon using the same dampening technology employed by the magic-nullifying cuff they creaed for Nyxly. While this won't heal the sick, it will give them their energy back and enable them to start healing. However, this will consume all the 5th Dimensional energy, leaving them nothing to use for tracking Mister Mxyzptlk. 

Dialogue Triumphs

Kelly: Looking at those people at the hospital last night, knowing how badly they're struggling... And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help them.
Diggle: So you feel alone in this?
Kelly: Alex sent respirators to the hospital, but the rest of the team... Well, they have super villains to deal with.
Diggle: Oliver Queen was really good at seeing the big picture, but sometimes, because of that, he would overlook things. When I wanted to show him something he missed, sometimes he would require proof.
Kelly: Wish it didn't always require proof.
Diggle: I know. Tell me about it. 

Diggle: I had an opportunity to become a special kind of hero. But it would've meant me leaving Lyla, my kids, and everything I love behind. So I had to ask myself... what kind of a hero do I really want to be. So the question is... what are you gonna do with what you're feeling right now?
Kelly: I want to be an advocate for the people who have lost hope. For the people who have been failed by those meant to protect them. For the people who don't have heroes that look like them. Protecting those that are exhausted, so they don't have to fight every single day for themselves.
Diggle: Good. Let that guide you. 

(Kara apologizes for dismissing what Kelly had said earlier.)
Supergirl: I was just so desperately trying to catch Nyxly, because I know she would cause more damage.
Kelly: Yes, in the future. But while you all have the luxury of focusing on tomorrow, they are barely surviving today.

Alex: I thought I was listening, J'onn. You know, our lives and our experiences, Kelly and I, we have so much in common. I just...
J'onn: You will most likely never understand what she's going through. I came to this planet as a Martian. And in my heart, I've always been more Martian than anything. But... I have chosen to wear the face of a Black man for a very long time now. I could've changed races, could've changed into someone else entirely. But if I'm honest... wearing this skin has made me feel most like an alien on this planet. Feeling like I don't belong. Never quite getting comfortable with the idea that this... really is my home. But I also realize that Kelly and James don't have the option to make that choice. I know you, and I know your heart. And I know how much you and Kelly love each other. She does, too. When she's ready to open up, you'll be there for her. And she'll be glad that you are. 

Orlando: All you heroes end up being the same. You say you care, but you're just gonna go and leave us with a mess to clean up. Why should I trust you?
Guardian: You shouldn't. Trust should be earned. And when you've been wronged, nothing in you tells you to trust again. I'm just asking for a chance. A start to prove I'm different.
(There is a pregnant pause as Orlando considers this.)
Orlando: What do you need?

Alex: Well, how do I support you? Because I love you. And it kills me to see you in pain.
Kelly: Just... let me be. And don't push me to unpack it all right now so it can be communicated for you. Hold the space. And love me. Without having to understand all of me. And all my experiences. And for now, just... Hold me. 

Dialogue Disasters

Kelly: I know! I know that you're all trying to stop Nyxly. I know. But do you hear me? Do you see what is happening? People are gonna die! And I feel like I am yelling into a void! We're supposed to fight for everyone, together. And yet, I am looking at people suffer, people that look like me and everyone here is just too busy. Where is the outrage that people are gonna die without help? Without hope? Maybe you could spare a second for them?!

Councilwoman Rankin: With this power, I can transform this city, sweep away the useless and the weak and make it perfect. And no one will stop me. I'm going to destroy this whole city and rebuild it from the ground up!


Continuity

As the episode opens, Nyxly and Mitch still have not found the Totem of Courage. 

Nxyly declares that there is something off.

A flashback to 611 (i.e. 24 hours earlier) reveals that Joey King was with his friend Ayesha inside the Ormfell when it was destroyed by Nxyly. 

Joey is taken to the hospital, complaining that he can't breathe. 

Kelly discovers that everyone near the Ormfell when it collapses are experiencing the same symptoms. It is believe they inhaled a lot of dust. Unfortunately, the hospital in The Heights is already short on oxygen tanks and respirators.

Councilwoman Jean Rankin was also in the area when the building collapsed. She complains about being in Chisholm Memorial Hospital and demands to be taken to a different one when she realizes she's been recognized and makes a show about being moved elsewhere so as not to burden that hospital.

Kelly calls Alex to ask for help. Alex, who is in the middle of tracking Nyxly and trying to figure out a way to contain her, brushes Kelly off but says she'll contact some of her med school friends who work at other hospitals and see if they can send more respirators.

The doctor at the rich hospital says Rankin is fine but just needs to rest. She demands he give her an experimental drug for respiratory issues or else she'll pull her support from some local health-care grants the hospital needs.

Kelly calls James to vent about how people are dying around her. but all the local news is talking about is the Super Friends fighting a giant cat.

Lena has apparently started training in using magic with Florence.

Lena leaves Fortune Bay after getting a message about the problems in National City.

Lena leaves Florence's cave without taking a book that Florence wanted her to have. 

The DEO Desert Facility is apparently still intact and operational, despite the organization having shut down.

Alex and Kara go to the DEO Desert Facility to try and find some 5th Dimensional energy information that can be used to build a tracking device to find Mxy.

Alex thinks to check on Kelly, but decides she's got things under control.

Kelly calls Andrea, incensed that CatCo is reporting on traffic issues caused by the collapse of the Ormfell rather than the local health crisis. Andrea says her demographic cares more about traffic than The Heights.

John Diggle shows up on Kelly's doorstep, saying that James asked for him to talk to her.

Kelly recognizes John Diggle as being from Star City. He says he's in Metropolis these days.

Kelly and Diggle decide to explore the Ormfell wreckage.

Jean Rankin discovers her power after saying she would kill for a sandwich and magically creating a sandwich after her aide seemingly drops dead.

Kara and Alex find Baltorian scanners which are able to trace 5th Dimensional energy, which leads them back to the Ormfell.

Brainiac-5 says that gathering up the dust laced with 5th Dimensional energy should give them a power source that can track Nxyly and removing the dust should heal the sick people.

Jean Rankin meets with another councilwoman about building a new building that could house five teach companies where the Ormfell stood. She conjures up money to bribe her into helping her.

Kelly tries to talk to Kara about all the problems in the Heights, but Kara dismisses her and says Mister Mxyzptlk will be able to put things back how they were.

Kelly tries to talk to Alex about how she thinks there's something more than the dust hurting the sick people, but Alex runs off to deal with the effort to find Nxyly promising they will talk later.

Dreamer gives Kelly her scanner, just in case they did miss something, before she goes off as well.

Kelly uses the scanner to determine that Councilwoman Rankin is radiating 5th Dimensional energy.

Orlando confronts Councilwoman Rankin on her miraculous recovery, as she's making a speech about how the poor people in her district need to stop letting their weakness hold them back.

Rankin tries to run. Kelly chases after her and Rankin teleports away after creating a sledgehammer to try and kill Kelly.

Kelly is able to grab some of Rankin's hair in the fight with her.

Kelly loses it and shouts at the Super Friends for missing that Rankin was a problem.

Dreamer stops Alex and Kara from following after Kelly as she goes to the Watchtower gym.

Diggle follows after Kelly and tells her that he was given a chance to become "a special kind of hero" but that it would have meant leaving his family behind.

Diggle says that there are many kinds of heroes and Kelly can be the kind that protects people rather than fighting villains.

Kara apologies for not listening to Kelly and references her getting involved with the anti-alien protests in Season 4.

Alex talks to J'onn about feeling like she's failed to support Kelly. 

J'onn tells Alex that he chose to maintain the face of a Black man because he never felt so alien as when he looked like Hank Henshaw. He admitted he feared forgetting what it was like to be Martian and an outsider because of his ability to blend in anywhere.

Brainiac-5 figures out a way to drain Rankin's power and save the people of The Heights.

Braniac-5 also helps Kelly with designing a new Guardian costume, being sure to give the helmet better sight-lines. She also wants it to show off her face, making sure people can see that she's a Black woman.

Brainiac-5 tells Kelly that there is still discrimination and racism in the 31st Century, but it has gotten better in many respects.

The Super Friends confront Councilwoman Rankin and mitigate the damage to The Heights, as Kelly activates the energy siphon and tries to save the sick people.

Kelly gets Orlando to help her convince everyone in the hospital to go into the street or help the sick people out.

Councilwoman Rankin is apparently arrested (although it is unclear on what charges.)

Kelly, as Guardian, suggests that Orlando might consider running for her now vacant City Council seat. He dismisses this, pointing out he's an ex-con (even if he was fully pardoned) and that he is more worried about finding a place for himself and Joey to live.

Diggle congratulates Kelly on her premiere as Guardian and tells her something Jefferson Pierce once said - "Don't be a hero to the people. Be a hero for the people."

Kara apologizes to Kelly again and says she's thankful to have her watching out for people when she overlooks them while tending to the big picture.

As Diggle leaves the Watchtower, Brainiac-5 asks if he's heading back to Metropolis already and seems surprised when Diggle says yes.. Diggle then says "Worlds Await." - the same words that kept echoing in his head in F716. (This would seem to imply that he may have changed his mind about the job offer he mentioned earlier...)

With the interference caused by Councilwoman Rankin gone, Nxyly is able to get a bead on the Courage of Totem using her crystal ball.

Lena returns home to find a package containing the book Florence wanted her to take.

Lena's address is 508 Park Place, National City, CA 00389.

Alex apologizes to Kelly and asks what she can do to understand her better. Kelly says Alex doesn't have to understand - just be there to support her when she needs it.

Location

Fortune Bay, Newfoundland, Canada.


Untelevised Adventures

Apparently James Olsen and John Diggle became friends at some point, bonding over their similar struggles.

John Diggle also apparently met Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning) at some point and is privy to his secret identity. 


The Bottom Line

With a hospital short on respirators and a rich white woman who literally draws her power off the suffering of children causing a public health crisis as the villain, this may be the most timely and least subtle Supergirl episode ever. That's not a problem, since Supergirl has never been subtle. The problem is that the script gives Kelly Olsen far too many speeches that try to be Maya Angelou poems and its a bit much. 

Had there been more conversations like the ones Kelly has with Alex and Kara near the end of the episode, it would have been a far better episode. On the other hand, Kelly's speeches drive home the point that sometimes one has to shout to be heard and I'm not sure those moments that work well would hit as hard without the moments that don't to contrast against.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 8 - Bunker Hill

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




Plot

Nia has a dream about Agent Liberty she refuses to believe is a vision of the future. Brainiac-5 tries to help her embrace her gift after Kara realizes there is something wrong with her protege. Meanwhile, Manchester Black confronts Ben Lockwood over his ties to the Children of Liberty.


Influences

Spartacus (The Children of Liberty all claim to be Agent Liberty, prompting Brainy to make reference to the movie.) and The Purge (Nia refers to the town of Colinwood and its residents feeling like something out of this movie.)


Goofs

Given that tracking dogs are trained to sense specific scents, how can an alien-sniffing dog be trained to track a Kryptonian when there are only two of them on Earth?

How the heck does Ben Lockwood know that Supergirl has a secret identity.

For that matter, how does he have any credibility on this point with anyone other than crazed conspiracy theorists, much less have the pull to get The President to demand Supergirl reveal her secret identity?

How is Manchester sent to prison and put in a uniform faster than Ben Lockwood, despite being arrested at roughly the same time?


Super Trivia

The movie Nia is watching in her dream as the episode opens is North by Northwest.

Nia confesses that she is an alien from the planet Naltor. In the DC Comics Universe, many natives of the planet Naltor possess precognitive powers. Depending upon the continuity, their visions of the future may only come to them in dreams or may come to them when they are awake.

According to Nia, once in a generation, some women of the Arrowverse version of Naltor gain the power to see the future. She cannot control what she sees and often doesn't know what she is looking at.

Brainiac-5 accidentally calls Nia by the name Nura. This is a reference to Nura Nal - the Legionnaire known as Dream Girl. In the comics, Nura Nal was a precognitive member of the Legion of Super Heroes. It was revealed in the press for the new season that in the Arrowverse, Nura Nal exists in Brainiac-5's time and Nia Nal is her ancestor.

Brainiac says that there is a little bit of Nth Metal in his ring. One of the many powers conferred to all Legion members through their rings is the power to fly - a property granted by objects made of Nth Metal.

The final scene of the episode is set on Earth-90 and is revealed to be the world of the 1990 The Flash TV series. It seems likely it was named Earth 90 in honor of the year 1990. The music sting that is heard as The Flash runs towards the camera is The Flash theme from that TV series.


Technobabble

Brainiac-5 says that in his time, the symbolism of dreams pioneered by Jung and Freud is now called Frungian.

Nth Metal is the strongest metal in existence. There is a bit of it in every Legion flight ring.

Manchester attacks Supergirl with a bomb full of dust from an alien moon. The dust fragments are sharp enough to cut Kryptonian DNA, honest to a nanometer. Manchester figured that Supergirl's insides were probably softer than her outside, so getting her to inhale a lungful of particles should slow her down.


Dialogue Triumphs

J'onn: I am still so sorry about what happened. I led you right into his trap.
Kara: You're apologizing to me for believing the best in someone? Kind of my whole thing.

Lydia: I think it's very thoughtful of you to come all the way here in person to thank him.
Manchester: Well, how could I not after what he did?
(There is a long pause as Ben Lockwood stares blankly at Manchester.)
Manchester: I'm talking about the gift, man.
Ben: (as if remembering) The gift! Of course. The gift.
Lydia: What gift?
(There is another long pause.)
Manchester: The wedding gift. Great big set of steak knives for me and my fiancee. Fiona?
(Comprehension slowly dawns in Ben Lockwood's eyes, though he tries to keep his face neutral. He doesn't quite manage it as Manchester watches him carefully.)
Manchester: You all right there, Benjamin?

(Manchester is admiring the bayonet blade made by Ben's ancestor.)
Ben: You know, that's from Bunker Hill? Remember that one? The one where The Brits thought they had won, but the battle ended up so bloody that it cost them the war and it wasn't worth it?

(Manchester is facing down Ben and Lydia Lockwood. Suddenly, he is surrounded by orange lights as J'onn's voice reaches him.)
J'onn: Manchester. Tell me where you are.
Manchester: (smacking himself in the side of the face) Get out of my head!
J'onn: You made a promise.
Manchester: That promise died with Fiona.
J'onn: But it didn't die with me! If you can't hold yourself to that promise, I will.
Manchester: What?
(Manchester is suddenly forced to his knees.)
J'onn: I feel your pain, Manchester. Give this up!
Manchester (panting): You want to feel my pain?  (starts cutting his hand with the bayonet blade) Feel it!
(J'onn screams and the psychic connection is broken.)

Brainy: It's going to be alright.
Nia: Alright?! We've been kidnapped!
Kara: Reporting 101 - If you get kidnapped, you're on the right track.
Nia: That doesn't make any sense!
Kara: Tell that to Lois Lane.

(Brainy shows Nia his Legion flight ring.)
Nia: I thought that was a class ring?
Brainy: I was home-schooled.

Supergirl: If you kill him.... what does that make you?
Manchester: (holding up his coat like he was curtsying, mockingly) The Intolerant Left.
Supergirl: (gasping) If we want to win this... we have to be better. Let me take him to prison. Show people who he really is!
Manchester: Don't be daft! Those people hate you! You can put a cape on, say you're a superhero, but to him and everyone else like him you'll only ever be an alien! (draws out some kind of energy weapon) A roach!
(Manchester fires an energy bolt into some nearby machinery. Molten Nth Metal suddenly pours down on Kara. hardening around her legs.)
Manchester: Time to pick a side, Pollyanna. You're with them?  Government stooge?  Happy Meal Hero? Or you're with me. And we string up the lot. Every terrorist turning your streets into war zones. You keep saying it's a never-ending battle. How about you and I end it together?
Supergirl: I'll never be like you.
(Manchester turns as he hears a figure running behind him and goes chasing after it, leaving Supergirl to struggle with the Nth metal that has her trapped.)

(Ben is about to leave with Lydia but he turns and takes her gun, pointing it at the fallen Manchester. From the lower level, Supergirl, still trapped in the hardened Nth Metal sees this.)
Supergirl: Ben! Ben, stop!
Lydia: Ben, don't! Ben, put the gun down!
(Supegirl grunts and reaches up with her free arm.)
Ben: That's Nth Metal. Supergirl! No point struggling!
Supergirl: (growling) I'm not struggling!  I'm flying!
(Suddenly, the whole building starts to shake off its foundations as if hit by an earthquake. Supergirl yells as the whole building is lifted perhaps thirty feet off the ground before it falls back down.  The impact shatters the Nth metal around Supergirl, freeing her to catch Lydia Lockwood as she goes flying over the rails of the platform above.)

President Baker: I hope you will comply. The United States does not want a war with Supergirl.
Supergirl: Then I trust you won't start one.

(A Caption Box reads Earth-90 as we see the aftermath of a war and numerous people in costumes lying on the ground, dead. Eventually we come to a figure in a somewhat familiar red suit crawling on the ground toward a large book that is glowing purple. A figure walks over and picks the book up before he can reach it.)
The Monitor: You failed.
(The figure in red pulls himself up to his knees. It is The Flash. Not the Flash we know, but definitely The Flash.)
The Flash: (gasping) Why are you doing this?
The Monitor: You did this to yourselves. And now... all of you will perish.
(The Monitor opens the book and light pours from it. As he does so, The Flash stands and runs toward the camera, as a familiar theme to older comic book TV show fans plays, as we zoom in on his chest symbol....) 


Continuity

Nia has a roommate, who she asked not to let her sleep.

J'onn says he saw no light left inside of Manchester when he last touched his mind.

Manchester Black's brass knuckles have a Union Jack engraved on the base.

One of the Children of Liberty captured on Shelley Island is a man named Frank whose background has been erased.

Brainiac-5 has begun studying the classic films of Earth. He can discuss auteur theory, has seen Spartacus and is quite fond of Ed Wood.

Brainiac-5 knew who Nia Nal was from the the 31s Century but he refuses to tell Kara or Alex why because it could have a devastating effect on the space-time continuum.

All Brainiac-5 will say is that Nia might be able to help the DEO find Agent Liberty. He does seem disturbed that Kara let it go when Nia said she had a nightmare about Agent Liberty.

The President's approval numbers went down after the Children of Liberty on Shelley Island were captured.

Ben Lockwood speaks to someone he calls Thack about their war being multi-front and putting Agent Liberty on hold for a while and letting him and his new TV show take priority in trying to shift more moderate people towards their cause.

Ben Lockwood's show is on Tuesdays at 5 PM.

Manchester Black introduces himself to Ben Lockwood's family as a friend from the university.

J'onn tries to use Manchester's brass knuckles to locate Manchester.

Nia tells Kara that her family is from the planet Naltor.

Nia says she had a dream of Agent Liberty killing a woman.

Brainiac-5 tells Nia that her visions are of probable futures - not set events. He later says that the things she sees are sometimes more symbolic than literal - what 21st century psychologists would call Jungian or Freudian imagery.

Brainiac-5 accidentally calls Nia Nura.

Nia sees a hook in her nightmare. She is able to slow down the vibrating image of the woman crying for help, begging for her life, asking the person to put the gun down. She is wearing a hoodie for the Collinwood 5K.  She then sees Agent Liberty drawing a gun. There is also quick flash of a man in a long coat holding a long weapon on the woman as well.

Ben Lockwood's great-great-great-grandfather was a blacksmith. He has a bayonet blade that his ancestor forged on display in his home, which was used at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

J'onn is shown to be capable of telepathically controlling a person when he has an object to focus on. However, this connection can be broken by intense pain, as Manchester cuts himself to force J'onn out of his head.

Brainiac-5 says that Colinwood was an early center for anti-alien activity.

Brainiac-5 apparently considers the original The Purge to be a classic movie.

Kara spots two men with guns and a woman with a Child of Liberty mask in her purse following her, Nia and Brainy with an alien-sniffing dog.

Nia's has a narcoleptic fit that gives her a vision of the Children of Liberty trying to shoot her seconds before it happens. She is able to duck in time and raise her hands so her shackle chain is broken by the bullet. This is the first time her powers worked on a reflexively level.

Ben Lockwood is forced to show his wife where he hides his Agent of Liberty costume and confesses to having killed because of what he has done.

Kara discovers that the building she, Brainy and Nia were taken is a Lockwood Family Steel building.

Alex tricks Frank into outing Ben Lockwood as Agent Liberty by pretending they already caught the real Agent Liberty.

J'onn tries to stop Manchester one more time, but Manchester tells him the only way to stop him is to kill him. J'onn relents when he realizes that is true.

Manchester chases Agent Liberty to the Nth Metal Foundry near the Lockwood Family Steel Mill.

Supergirl goes to the Lockwood home and discovers the bayonet in the basement.

Nia has another vision.  This time she sees the woman is holding a gun on a man in a long coat who is holding some kind of long weapon.

The man in the long coat is revealed to be Manchester Black. The woman is revealed to be Lydia Lockwood.

Nia is able to knock Manchester out using a hook in the factory's equipment.

Both Manchester Black and Ben Lockwood are arrested.

J'onn visits Manchester in prison and tells him he thinks he can still be saved.

Supergirl is fired from the DEO after she refuses to reveal her secret identity.

A mob of supporters masses outside the prison where Ben Lockwood was arrested.

Lydia Lockwood is at the front of the mob, and begins a chant of "Liberty!" when Supergirl shows up to watch Ben Lockwood being put in jail.

The final scene reveals that Earth 90 is the Earth of The Flash TV series from 1990.


Location

Colinwood
Earth-90


Untelevised Adventures

The battle on Earth-90.


The Bottom Line

An effective mid-season finale that brings most of the subplots to an effective stopping place while setting up a few mysteries to propel things forward. And the final scene to lead into Elseworlds sent my inner 12 year old screaming with excitement.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 7 - Rather the Fallen Angel

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




Plot

As James Olsen gets in too deep trying to find the leader of the Children of Liberty, Supergirl and Manchester Black join forces to root out the terrorist leader more directly... with deadly consequences for The Girl of Steel!  Meanwhile, Lena prepares to start human trials in her efforts to find a way to accelerate human evolution using Harun-El.


Influences

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (title, character named Adam who is the subject of an experiment, general theme of good people being made into monsters by the want of love), 52 (Lex Luthor's Everyman Project is similar to what Lena is attempting here.)


Goofs

Lena makes reference to Nagel's Spider In The Shower Conundrum. It may be different on Earth 38, but in our world the conundrum involves a Spider In A Urinal. (The CW censors might not have allowed them to mention urinal.)


Performances

David Ajala continues to manage an impossible balancing act as Manchester Black. On the one hand, part of you can't help but love the guy and sympathize with him even as he pushes the limits of what Supergirl can ignore with his vigilantism. And then we find out just how far he's gone and.... well, you still sympathize with him and are left wondering, like Kara, how much of his betrayal was planned out and if he truly was counting on being able to save Supergirl on his own or her being able to free herself or if he truly was throwing her to the wolves only to change his mind and save her at the last moment. It's a complex performance that perfect captures the conflicted nature of the episode's core theme.


Artistry

The script of the episode is a brilliant piece of work, full of literary allusion and complex moral arguments one doesn't usually expect to see in a CW series.

The fifth segment is well-directed, with some wonderful fight scenes and that final shot of Kara before the Torch of Liberty is a beautiful one.

The final Manchester Black costume is a dead on perfect adaptation of the costume from the comics.


Super Trivia

The title of the episode is taken from a line from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - "Remember that I am thy creature; I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend." The line itself is a reference to Milton's Paradise Lost and how Lucifer fell because it was God's will that he fall as part of the Divine Plan where as Adam fell because of his own free will. In this, the creature Dr. Frankenstein created suggests that he is only a monster because Frankenstein's neglect made him become one.

The title somewhat mirrors the stories of most of its characters, who undertake monstrous actions in the name of love. James' efforts to investigate The Children of Liberty almost lead to him becoming a killer in the name of maintaining a cover. Manchester Black has already become a murderer because of his anger at losing Fiona to The Children of Liberty. And Lena is crossing several lines in her efforts to try and protect people by trying to create an equalizer for her species. Even Agent Liberty himself can be seen as an example of this, as his actions ultimately were born of his desire to protect his family and their employees.

Lena makes reference to Nagel's Spider in The Shower Conundrum. In our reality, this is more commonly known as The Spider In The Urinal Conundrum. The story was told by philosopher Thomas Nagel that he noticed a spider in a urinal near his office and how the poor creature seemed to survived despite being urinated upon several times a day. One day, he used a paper towel to gently remove the spider from the gutter in which it was trapped and deposited it on the ground. A day later, he found the spider was where he had left it, quite dead. Nagel used this story to show the unintended consequences of altruism and how every often well meaning attempts at helping people could cause far greater harm than doing nothing.

Shelley Island - the government base used to process alien immigrants to America - is clearly modeled on Ellis Island - the American base that handled processing immigrants in Manhattan until 1954. It is named in honor of Mary Shelley.

Lena's efforts to turn ordinary humans into superhumans are similar to Lex Luthor's Everyman Project in the mini-series 52, allowing nearly anyone who could pay the price or was willing to sign on to Lex Luthor's corporate-owned superhero team to get superpowers.


Technobabble

DISL Codes are the international standard for IDing freight containers.

Out of over 100 applicants for Lena's experiment, all but 12 were acceptably risk-tolerant.

Brainy says that the shipping label fragment couldn't be read. It was made up of 80% glue, 9.7% ink and the rest was Nalcyite - a.k.a. Nalcian table salt.

Nalcian table salt can be quite volatile on Earth and under the right conditions it has an explosive factor of 8,000 joules per gram. This is equal to a small, precise nuclear explosion.

Shelley Island has power-dampening pylons that prevent most alien powers from functioning there.

Supergirl just happens to have a yellow sun grenade to boost her powers for when she goes into areas she knows will have power-dampening tech.

Manchester has an armored vest with a Union Jack design on it that he slips on to fight the Agents of Liberty.

Manchester uses an empathy amplifier against J'onn - a device that doubles the pain an empath feels in others but keeps them from letting it out.

Adam showed signs of having extra-human powers for 3 minutes and 14 seconds before dying at 4:03 a.m.. Lena says that the experiment still gave her new information on the human genome despite his death. She predicts an 87% chance of success on future trails.


Dialogue Triumphs

Adam: Believe me. I've never been a hero. 
Lena: Neither have I.
Adam: You ever lost someone, Dr. Kieran?
Lena: Yes. She was the only hero I ever had.

Tom: I guess this is what happens when we let fear guide us.

James: But what is reputation? I mean, what is it? It's nothing. It's not who you are. So if the latest fringe group wants to tear that monument down, we will build it right back up. Agent Liberty can do whatever he wants with my reputation. I know who I am.

Lena: Bad luck doesn't make you a bad person. Bad choices do. And I would know, because I am a much worse person than you.

(Manchester pulls the mask off the fake Agent Liberty and puts a gun to his chin.)
Manchester Black: I made a deal with our dead friend over there and he did not deliver. Maybe you can. Who is Agent Liberty?
Fake Agent Liberty: If I tell you, you'll let me live? 
Manchester Black: I believe disloyalty should be rewarded.

Adam: Please let me do something good.

J'onn: You betrayed Supergirl, tonight! You betrayed me and your promise to Fiona! No vengeance is worth your soul!
Manchester Black What soul, old man?
J'onn: I saw the love you had for Fiona. How you fought for her! I also know what you're going to do. And I can't let you kill a man, even if that man is Agent Liberty. Once you cross that line, Manchester, there is no going back!
Manchester Black: You have no idea what lines I've already crossed.(points to J'onn's chest.) You see that there? That's your heart beating. Mine is dead. (half-sobbing)  And every time I close my eyes, and wait to hear Fi's voice?  There's nothing! There's just silence. (shakes his head) I'm empty, man.
J'onn: That's not true!
Manchester Black: You want to know the truth? Look.
(Manchester takes J'onn's hand and puts it on his forehead before slapping his chest with a blue electric disc with his other hand. We see visions of Manchester killing The Children of Liberty. He releases his grip as J'onn collapses to the ground.) 
J'onn:  (pained) Why won't it stop?
Manchester Black: It's an empathy amplifier. It was created to use against empaths. Double the hurt and keep everything in. If I can't escape this pain, neither can you..You shouldn't have believed in me.
(Manchester Black returns to his bike, leaving John wallowing on the ground in pain.)

Lena: I'm so sorry, Adam. I moved the spider.

(James tells Kara he's writing about his time among the Children of Liberty.)
Kara: Yeah, I've been thinking a lot about that too. Duality? How people can surprise you. Manchester Black is... bad. He killed people. He betrayed me. But... then he turned around to help me.
James: Well, maybe he wasn't trying to help you? Maybe that was just a consequence.
Kara: Yeah. I guess people only show you what they want you to see. And that's not always who they are.
James: Yeah. I mean, look at me, I... I compromised myself tonight.
Kara: You saved Tom's life.
James: But I risked everything I've worked for. Everything. My reputation. My life (pauses) Your life. (pauses) You know, though - I guess I kinda understand a little better why Lena lied to me about the DA now.
Kara: You should tell her that.


Continuity

Supergirl and Manchester Black meet up after they stop a Child of Liberty from stealing fission rods from an alien-run factory.

Supergirl agrees to contact Manchester if she learns anything about what The Children of Liberty are planning.

Agent Liberty refuses to tell James anything about his motivations and instead asks him to destroy something that is a symbol of everything The Children of Liberty stand against.

Lena's first test subect is given the designation Subject 331. He has nice green eyes, according to Eve Teschmacher. He is a Caucasian Male, 5'9", with brown hair. He has a three-inch scar on his left flank. He originally claims it was from a hockey injury but it is eventually revealed to have been from surgery to implant a kidney.

Eve Teschmacher has a cousin with cancer in hospice care. The cousin has two daughters.

Ben Lockwood's new TV show is called The Lockdown. His first episode is devoted to blaming Supergirl for the disappearance of five Agents of Liberty who were "peacefully protesting" on Thanksgiving. These agents are presumed to be the men killed by Manchester Black in 406.

Tom, the Agent of Liberty whom James stopped from taking part in the Thanksgiving night attacks, gives James back his Guardian gear and helps him to escape.

Shelley Island is an island base used by the US Government to process alien immigrants to Earth. It was shut down after President Marsdin resigned and The Children of Liberty turned it into a base.

The container Manchester Black tracks down was a sub-zero unit.  Supergirl finds part of a shipping label under it.

Supergirl rejects Manchester's help after he beats up the dock foreman with brass kunckles to get answers without trying to ask for help first.

Lema lies and says her name is Dr. Kieran when her test subject asks for her name.

Lena chose Subject 331 because of Nagel's Spider in The Shower Conundrum - a multiple choice question regarding how one treats a spider stuck in a shower. Subject 331 was the only one who made the same choice as Lena - leave it alone because you don't know what the spider wants.

Lena said she chose Subject 331 because of his response to The Shower Conundrum i.e. he showed no desire to be a hero (i.e. move the spider) but likewise didn't go out of his way to kill the spider just because he could. Lena's worst fear for her project involves creating another wannabe superhero whose power will outstrip their ability.

Subject 331 had a brother who died who was a real hero and so perfect it was nauseating.

The five dead Agents of Liberty are found. There's no evidence they were killed by aliens, with all five men having died from broken jaws, shattered skulls and gunshot wounds. Alex thinks the killings were personal.

Kara asks if a person with brass kunckles could break someone's jaw. Alex says they could if they were strong enough.

J'onn says he thinks Manchester could be a useful ally to Supergirl and says he is resourceful and clever even if he is stubborn and has a temper. J'onn says that under all his anger and pain he has a good heart.

Supergirl gives Manchester a pot pie and offers to give him a second chance.

Subject 331 confesses that his scar is from kidney surgery rather than a hockey injury. He also reveals that the reason his hero brother died is from complications donatings a kidney to save his life. He survived the transplant - his brother didn't survive having the kidney removed. Despite this, Lena stands by her decision when Subject 331 says he's a selfish person and he still wouldn't risk his life to save his brother if their situations had been reversed.

Supergirl and Manchester deduce the container was meant to hold fission rods but that it was empty before it came to port. That means it had to be emptied out on an island. Since Shelley Island is powered by fission rods, they figure that it must have been turned into a base by the Children of Liberty.

Manchester persuades Supergirl to go deal with Agent Liberty stealthily, without a big DEO team.

Manchester disables Supergirl's yellow sun grenade so she is powerless when she arrives on Shelley Island. He did this in exchange for an audience with Agent Liberty.

Subject 331's name is revealed to be Adam.

Lena reveals the only hero she ever had was her birth mother, who died when she was four. Lena says that her mother drowned while she was swimming in a lake and that Lena just stood there and watched her die.

Lena feels, on some level, that she was destined to be with the Luthors because of her own muted reaction to her birth mother's dying in front of her.

Manchester was running a con on The Children of Liberty and deduces that he isn't meeting the real Agent Liberty when the "Agent Liberty" he makes reference to Fiona. Knowing that if The Children of Liberty knew who he was and knew he was engaged to an alien who was killed by The Children of Liberty, that there is no way they'd ever let him near their real leader, Manchester reveals himself and attacks.

Manchester destroys the power-dampening pylons, allowing Supergirl to break free and remove the bombs before Shelley island is blown up.

Adam convinces Lena not to discontinue the experiment and tells her that she's a good person for wanting to help people with this treatment.  He later dies after showing signs of having powers for a little over three minutes.

James goes to Lena and asks if they can talk about rekindling their romance. She asks to see him tomorrow instead.

The final scene shows Manchester Black arriving at Lockwood Steel, suggesting he did learn Agent Liberty's true identity.


Location

Shelley Island


The Bottom Line

Easily the strongest episode of the season so far. When Supergirl comes to an end, this will likely be remembered as one of its greatest, most well-written episodes. Things that seem to be plot-holes are later explained away as foreshadowing of various elements and the whole story is full of wit, allusion and complex morality. The only aspect in which it suffers is that Agent Liberty is made into more of an outright villain by his actions here, which removes the ambiguity that most of the other characters are meant to display. Yet even though his actions here represent a further push for the line, they are still well within the boundaries established by earlier episodes.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 1 - American Alien

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





Plot

It is a period of adjustment. Alex is still getting used to her new role as Director of the DEO, the absence of Winn and the presence of Brainiac-5. James is awaiting arraignment for the laws he broke as the vigilante Guardian. James and Lena are still getting used to being a couple. J'onn is getting used to his new role as a counselor for other aliens adjusting to life on Earth. And Kara has become a mentor to Nia, a new cub reporter at CatCo. But some things never change and Supergirl stepping into action is one of them, when what remains of the anti-alien group Cadmus attempts to assassinate The President. Yet their supposed end game turns out to be the start of something bigger...


Influences

Numerous Superman and Supergirl stories in multiple media which used aliens from other planets as a metaphor for immigrants and refugees coming to America. The Superman movies (Kara helping out people around the world and speaking to them in their native languages.)


Goofs

Kara taking a bottle of vodka from the Kaznia woman seems horribly out of character, particularly since it doesn't seem like it was offered as a gift. (The close captioning for the episode doesn't offer a direct translation of what is said and the woman looks surprised when Kara takes the bottle from her.)

Katie McGrath's natural Irish accent slips out when she says the name "Sam" with a long-a.

Kara's dismissal of J'onn is really out of character. Apart from maybe Alex, nobody respects J'onn more than Kara and her behavior here seems to occur only to set up the lesson that Kara's idealism and experiences as a human-like alien who presents herself as being human have blinded her to the experiences of other aliens who can't pass for human and can't afford an image inducer. This "white privilege" metaphor is highly forced, even ignoring the logic problem that the DEO should be more aware of acts of violence against aliens than any other group in America!

Why did Kara and Alex suddenly drop out of J'onn's life in the past three months?  They're his foster daughters and adopted family. Kara's talk about not knowing what his life is like now is another incredibly out-of-character moment that seems to be here only to force the metaphors inherent in the script.

Kara may be idealistic, but her refusal to believe that there are common people with anti-alien feelings is just idiotic. Particularly when she's faced anti-alien bigotry in the form of the Cadmus group in the past!

Why, apart from plain old racism, is the D.A.'s office so determined to bring charges against The Guardian/James Olsen, when they have no trouble with Supergirl of Superman operating as unlicensed peace officers?


Performances

David Harewood is more like J'onn from the comics than ever before. It's odd that he seems to spend most of this episode playing detective, going to two different crime scenes and being told not to get involved by the cops (i.e. Kara) yet doesn't seem to have become a P.I. like in the comics. Maybe later in the season?


Super Trivia

In the opening scene, Kara saves a little girl's balloon from flying off as she's in the middle of saving a crowd from a meteor. This may be a nod to one of the most infamous side-quests of the video game Spider-Man 2, where in addition to answering random calls for help as detected by your Spider-Sense, you would also be called upon to recover lost balloons for crying children.

The whole opening sequence, in which Kara is showing helping people around the world and speaking to them in their native languages, seems to be a tribute to the Christopher Reeve Superman movies.

Kaznia is a fictional Balkan nation in the DC Comics Universe, frequently beset by civil war and the threat of invasion. It was first introduced in the DC Animated Universe and has been referred to on both Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.

The character of Mercy Graves first appeared in Superman: The Animated Series, in the episode "A Little Piece of Home." Her background was given in the Superman Adventures comic that tied into the cartoon. Here, it was revealed that Mercy was the leader of a group of female thieves who attempted to steal Lex Luthor's briefcase. She was briefly successful, but captured shortly thereafter. Rather than being angry, Lex was impressed with Mercy's skill and nerve and offered her a job as his chauffeur and bodyguard.

Mercy Graves was introduced into the mainstream DC Comics Universe in Detective Comics #735 (August 1999). Again, she was employed as Lex Luthor's bodyguard, along with another woman named Hope. It was implied, and eventually confirmed, that both Mercy and Hope were rogue Amazons whose protection Luthor was somehow able to purchase.

A woman named Mercy Graves, who was said to be Asian-American, was introduced into the New 52 DC Comics Universe as Lex Luthor's executive assistant.

The Arrowverse version of Mercy Graves was Lex Luthor's Head of Security at LexCorp. She turned state's evidence on him to put him in prison. Despite this, she was employed by Lillian Luthor as an agent of Cadmus.

The character of Otis first appeared in Superman: The Movie where he was Lex Luthor's bumbling henchman. He would later appear in one episode of the Superfriends cartoon and the animated series Young Justice. He was never given a last name in any of these appearances.

The Arrowverse version of Otis has the full name Otis Graves is a former employee of LexCorp who worked for Lex Luthor along with his sister, Mercy. He was later employed by Lillian Luthor as an agent of Cadmus.

One of the aliens in J'onn's support group is a Valeorian. In the comics, Valeron is an alien world whose dominant sentient lifeforms resemble Earthlings. It is most well known as the homeworld of Vartox, The Hyper-Man - a super-being who is even more powerful than Superman.

Nia Nal (aka Dreamer) is based on an existing DC Comics character from the Legion of Super Heroes comics. Nura Nal (aka Dream Girl) first appeared in Adventure Comics #317 (February 1964) and was a native of the planet Naltor, whose inhabitants all had the powers of precognition, usually in the form of prophetic dreams. Nura was also a gifted scientist, second only to Brainiac 5 in ability. She was also one of the best physical combatants in the original Legion, second only to Karate Kid and Timberwolf, having studied martial arts extensively to make up for the non-combative nature of her powers. She was the second woman to lead The Legion of Super Heroes and was also romantically involved with fellow Legionnaire Star Boy.

Dream Girl was changed significantly for the post-Crisis On Infinite Earths Legion of Super Heroes. Her name was now given as Nura Schappin and she was not a full member of The Legion for most of the years between 1986-2005, though she was still Star Boy's girlfriend. She claimed to be the first precognitive born on Naltor in generations, though this was later contradicted by other stories. She also suffered from narcolepsy and would have a fit whenever she had one of her visions. She eventually did join the Legion under the codename Dreamer, just before the 2005 "threeboot" of Legion of Super Heroes.

The third version of Nura used the codename Dream Girl. This version of Nura experienced precognitive visions as daydreams, which frequently caused her to lose touch with reality as she watched events that were to come thinking they were happening right now. She developed a romantic relationship with Brainiac 5, who had, at first, resented her ability to just come up with the answers to problems he struggled to deduce. For a time she lapsed into a near-death state and was able to appear to people in their dreams as a ghost.

It is worth mentioning that Brainiac 5 has been a love interest of Supergirl in the comics and cartoons, as well as Dreamer. It remains to be seen if that will happen in either case in the coming season.

Nia Nal is an ancestor of Nura Nal.

Nia Nal is the first transgender superhero to appear in an American television series, though she is not identified as a trans woman in this episode.

Lena says that a gangster named Bruno Mannheim was Lex Luthor's business partner as L-Corp when he was first starting out. First appearing in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #139 (July 1971), Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim ran Intergang - a crime syndicate who used weapons from Apokolips to defend their territory.

Brainiac-5 makes mention of buying his toys at a comic shop on Excelsior Street.  "Excelsior!" is the famous farewell exclamation of comic book legend Stan Lee.

The character of Agent Liberty first appeared in the comics in Superman #60 (October 1991).  Agent Liberty was a former CIA agent named Benjamin Lockwood, who left the organization after becoming disgusted with what he saw as unethical practices. Lockwood came to distrust the American government and joined a militia group called The Sons of Liberty, who outfitted him with an armored suit that offered him the ability to fly short distances and generate a force-field. He left the group when they plotted to assassinate politician Pete Ross, and Lockwood exposed the group's true beliefs to the public with the help of Clark Kent. He went on to become a reserve Justice League member and helped Superman defend Metropolis on several occasions.

The Arrowverse version of Agent Liberty leads a hate group called The Children of Liberty, which seems similar in scope to The Sons of Liberty from the comics. Unlike the comics Agent Liberty, he is an earnest believer in The Children of Liberty's goals.

In terms of their goal, The Arrowverse version of Agent Liberty and The Children Of Liberty more closely resemble The Americommando and His Minute Men - a jingoistic patriot/group who appeared in the classic graphic novel Kingdom Come.


Technobabble

Ruby's soccer team is playing a 4-3-3 with the Gegenpress and Ruby is a sweeper-keeper.

L-Corp now sells holographic image inducers that can allow an alien to pass for human.

Mercy and Otis Graves are armed with a sonic device that incapacitates beings with super-hearing. cuffs that increase gravity around the person wearing them, a high quality laser, compact fire bombs and a gun that shoots high-power concussive beams of hard-light.

Brainiac-5 claims to be able to processes terabyes of information in microseconds.

Brainiac-5's preliminary scan of the security footage from Dr. Vose's lab brings up 754,231 potential suspects.

Brainiac-5 creates a means of reversing the effects of an EMP.


Dialogue Triumphs

James: You are really good at multitasking.
Kara: (smiling) Some might call it super.

(Brainiac-5 flies to the crater where Supergirl is still trying to free her legs from the Cadmus cuffs.)
Brainiac-5: I thought you could use some back-up.
Supergirl: Brainy!
Brainiac-5: (trying to sound heroic) It is I! (awkwardly) You're free now, Supergirl.
Supergirl: Free?! The cuffs are still-
Brainiac-5: Opened?
(The cuffs suddenly open up. Supergirl is stunned.)
Supergirl: Wow.
Brainiac-5: I was multitasking.
(Supergirl stands up, smiles, and goes up, up and away. Braniac-5 just stands there and shrugs a bit.)
Brainiac-5: You're welcome.

Agent Liberty: Let him who desires peace prepare for war.
(Otis is seen trying to puzzle this out, counting on his hands.)

(Nia explains to Kara why she wants to write about the revitalization of the Fashion District in terms of people, rather than the clothing trends.)Nia: The Fashion District article I want to write about... isn't about clothes. It's about community. And growth. And hope.

President Marsdin: A leader who caves to fear is no leader at all.

Kara: So you're afraid to make waves? Okay. Make them anyway. Make a Tsumani!

Kara: I feel like I don't know anything.
J'onn: Then you are wiser than you realize.


Dialogue Disasters

(J'onn is trying to explain the rising anti-alien bigotry to Kara.)
Supergirl: I'm an alien and I've been all over the world recently and I have never felt more love.
J'onn: Part of the reason why you were embraced as a hero is because you present as human. Most aliens do not share that privilege. I'm afraid your experiences are not the best barometer here.
Supergirl: I'm embraced as a hero because I'm good at my job. And I really don't appreciate you questioning my judgement.
J'onn: I'm just trying to offer you a different perspective.
Supergirl: J'onn, you left the DEO. So maybe now it's time you leave protecting the city to me.


Continuity

As the episode opens, it has been three months since Brainiac-5 joined the DEO.

Supergirl can speak both Spanish and Kaznian.

Kara is seen saving a train in Kaznia - a country which was first mentioned in 201.

President Olivia Marsdin, last seen in 221,

The Alien Amnesty Act was passed two years ago, in 203.

President Marsden makes a yearly visit to the DEO.

Superman is off-world on Argo City.

Cat Grant recommended Nia Nal to a cub reporter job at CatCo.

James assigns Kara to mentor Nia.

James is facing an indictment for his activities as The Guardian pending a DA's investigation.

James asks Lena to stay out of his legal affairs and let him worry about handling the DA. This in spite of the fact that Lena has friends in the mayor's office who say that James' only chance of not being indicted rest in applying leverage.

Sam Arias, the former host of Reign, is now working a new job for L-Corp Northeast in Metropolis. She has made two acquisitions that are already turning a profit.

Sam is also said to now be coaching Ruby's soccer team.

Kara does not know soccer terminology.

Kesse Kay is an Aquarian in J'onn's support group.

The leader of J'onn's support group is named Fiona Byme. She is from the planet Ichthanor, used to live in England and has emphatic abilities.

L-Corp has begun selling image inducers that aliens can use to pass for human.

Dr. Vose is a nuclear physicist who is part of an unidentified alien race.

Dr. Vose's race is broadly human, save for their pointed elven ears and the distinctive tusks on their forearms. The tusks can be used to identify individual members of Dr. Vose's race and his lab has a scanner that requires his tusks be inserted into it for it to open the door.

Dr. Vose refuses to hide his nature and lives openly as an alien on Earth. He is also an outspoke advocate for alien rights.

Otis Graves burns Dr. Vose's tusks off with a laser.

Mercy and Otis Graves steal an EMP from Dr. Vose's lab.

Kara likes lattes.

Kara says that Nia reminds her of her. By the same token, James says that Kara is starting to act like Cat Grant when she talks to Nia.

Nia Nul has a degree in International Relations from Georgetown.

Lena is visiting her mother, Lillian, in prison again.

Lillian Luthor claims to have given up on revenge. She later admits she was lying.  She does, however, agree to give Supergirl a location where she might find Mercy and Otis Graves.

Mercy Graves is revealed to have turned state's evidence on Lex Luthor, helping to send him to prison. She was the head of security for Lex Luthor, when he still ran Luthor-Corp.

Fiona Byme asks J'onn to join a neighborhood watch group. He refuses, saying he is done with fighting.

The Graves attempt to fire-bomb the bar where J'onn's support group meets.

Alex has been dating a few women casually but has yet to find anyone she can get serious about.

Lena claims that she wants to rebuild her relationship with Lillian.

Lex Luthor is revealed to have been business partners with Bruno Mannheim. Lillian Luthor claims Mannheim was only in it for the money laundering through Luthor-Corp, however.

Nia refuses to try and claim the Fashion assignment she wanted, letting a reporter name Mackenzie take it after she brags about her mother being friends with a number of big-name fashion designers.

Supergirl investigates the abandoned warehouse Brainiac-5 tracked Mercy and Otis to and finds a server farm for several dark web, anti-alien hate sites.

One of the posts Kara reads asks for advice on how to kill a Phorian. Phorians are a race of telepathic and telekinetic aliens. The boy James rescued as Guardian in 220 was a Phorian.

Brainiac-5 finds blue-prints of Camp David on Mercy and Otis' server.

Otis is arrested by the DEO.

Brainiac-5 attempts to emulate Winn, wearing one of his trademark cardigans (which he finds binding) and buying toys from a nearby comic shop to play with at his desk.

Lena is revealed to be playing her mother to get information to buy off the DA of National City regarding Bruno Mannheim's RICO violations. She does not tell James what she did.

Lena gets the charges dropped against James. However, the DA warns that if James becomes Guardian again, he will be arrested.

Lillian figures out what Lena did after seeing a news report talking about Bruno Mannheim being indicted on money laundering charges.

President Marsdin is revealed as an alien to the world.

Fiona Byme is seemingly killed by Agent Liberty.

It is revealed that the Supergirl clone is punching a tunnel under the Russia/Kaznia border.


Location

Madrid, Spain
Southern Border of Kaznia.
Camp David
Somewhere under the southern border of Kaznia.


Untelevised Adventures

Superman is said to be visiting Argo City.


The Fridge Factor

Kara's is turned into an idiot and the poster child for white privilege in order to teach us a Very Important Lesson.


The Bottom Line

Supergirl's hardly been subtle in its political commentary in the past, but you could always count on the characters to be true to themselves. Kara's personality and personal politics are all over the place in this episode, with Kara's treatment of J'onn being horrible out of character throughout. Weirdly enough, the introduction of Nia turns out to be the best and least-political part of the show. Everything else is just bland, from the introduction of The Graves Siblings to Lena's efforts to save James  Not the best start for the season, in other words.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 23 - Battles Lost and Won

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




Plot

With Reign reborn and free of Samantha's body, Supergirl and her allies must face their greatest challenge ever in a battle to save the Earth!


Influences

Superman: The Movie (Supergirl turning back time to saved a loved one), Star Wars (Kara quotes Han Solo to Brainiac-5 as they are beating down a tsunami wave.), Man of Steel (The Kryptonian witches plot to terraform Earth mirrors Zod's plan from this movie.), the film Ghost (the scene of the Kryptonian demons dragging Reign away resembles the shadowy things that come for bad people when they die in this film) and the Superman: New Krypton arc from the Superman comics. (Kryptonians who survived the destruction of their world attempt to conquer/destroy Earth.)


Goofs

How exactly does Thomas Coville know how to activate the distress signal on a Martian spaceship?

So... stabbing Reign with a sword violates Kara's "no killing" rule but dragging her into a mindscape and force-feeding her poisonous water that leaves her helpless as demons drag her away doesn't?


Performances

Honestly, the entire cast is on fire here and it's hard to single anyone out as especially great.


Artistry

You can tell they saved the special effects budget for this episode. There's some truly amazing visuals in the first part of the episode, particularly the sequence with Saturn Girl stopping a tsunami wave from hitting National City.  It is topped, however, between the final fight between Supergirl and Reign.

The sequence in which Reign loses control of her powers and dies is magnificently shot.


Super Trivia

When J'onn slaps a pair of Kryptonite-empowered handcuffs on one of the Daughters of Juru, he describes it as "a little piece of home."  A Little Piece Of Home was also the name of the episode of Superman: The Animated Series which introduced Kryptonite into the DC Animated Universe.

Kara's traveling back in time to redo her fight with Reign is a nod to Superman: The Movie, where Superman does the same thing in order to save Lois Lane.

Mon-El seems to mix up the Ancient Greek myths of Persephone, Orpheus and Hercules when trying to complement Kara. He talks about entering the underworld, slaying the three-headed monster and rescuing Persephone. As Kara points out, Persephone was the one who ate the pomegranate seeds and became trapped in Hades' realm. Hercules fought the three-headed dog Cerberus, but did not slay it. Orpheus went into the underworld to save his true love, but he ultimately failed because he looked back to make sure she was behind him.

Mon-El gives Kara a Legion ring of her own before returning to the future. In the comics, depending on the reality, Kara traveled to the future and worked with The Legion for a time, was declared an honorary Legion member and/or permanently settled in the 31st Century.


Technobabble

Alex's new body armor is revealed to have the capacity to generate an electric blue force-field that can disintegrate small boulders before they can hit her.

The Legion Flight Rings allow the wearer to breathe in space.

Kara says she can use the electricity contained in the Harun-El to take her to the Fountain of Lillith if she can find a disruption in space-time.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Supergirl and Alura have just finished wearing down a wave that Saturn Girl was holding in check. Brainiac-5 is flying behind them in The Legion ship.)
Supergirl: You're all clear, kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home!
Brainiac-5: (testily) I assume that's some sort of film reference?
Supergirl (aghast): We never showed you Star Wars? Not a single Star War?

M'yrnn: I am sorry I could not give you the rest.
J'onn: (tearing up) Don't apologize... don't...
M'yrnn: (smiles) I had a good life.
J'onn: I'm not ready.
M'yrnn: You are. You looked into the flame and you had no fear!
J'onn: (sighs) That's because you were with me.
(M'yrnn places a hand on J'onn's shoulder.)
M'yrnn: That will never change, J'onn. Never.

(J'onn slaps a pair of Kryptonian power-dampening cuffs on one of the Daughters of Juru.)
Witch: What is this devilry?!
J'onn: A little piece of home.

(Reign is strangling Supergirl.)
Reign: You cannot win. There is no prison you can build that can contain me. There is no one on this planet of equal power that can kill me!
(We pan over to see Samantha, now holding The Sword of Juru.)
Samantha: That's what you think.
(Samantha stabs Reign in the back.)

Kara: Before we went to Argo, I just had this thought. I... could be Kara Zor-El, Ordinary Citizen. (laughs) That I would feel like I was home. But when we were fighting Reign and the witches, I...had this moment... this realization that ...Argo City isn't my home anymore. National City is. Earth is. And my mission is to protect it. I mean, my whole life is here.
Mon-El: Yeah.
Kara: Messy. Complex. Balancing Kara and being a hero... (sighs) That's who I am.


Continuity

A TV report briefly mentions that Superman is dealing with the damage in Madagascar, which was mentioned in passing in 322.

J'onn receives one final memory from his father - an image of the first Martian priestess to receive the sacred scrolls at the dawn of The Martian Race. They were given to her by a being with glowing eyes whose face erupted from the Martian soil.

James reveals his face to a woman whose son he saves from a burning building.

Brainiac-5 has not seen Star Wars.

M'yrnn merges himself with the Earth to counter the destruction wrought by The Daughters of Juru.

Saturn Girl claims to have gotten a message from Mon-El's time beacon. Mon-El said, in 322. that the Time Beacon broke but was later revealed to have been lying. When confronted about this, he says that it must have had a fail-safe so that it would send a message even if it powered down.

Thomas Coville - presumed dead in the last episode - is revealed to be barely alive in The Fortress of Sanctuary.

Saturn Girl says that she realized - during her separation from Mon-El - that their marriage was never what it should have been and she should have realized that when she lied about the real reason they traveled back to the past.

Samantha has visions of her adoptive mother apologizing to her for abandoning her.  Sam does not believe she is real at first, but the figure is later revealed to be "all that remains of Patricia Arias and her lover for Samantha."

Brainiac-5 reveals that millions of people were saved by The Blight never coming into existence, thanks to the death of Pestilence in the 21st century... including a distant relative of his, who has developed a viral plague to wipe out all other artificial intelligences. This means that Brainiac-5 must remain in the past until someone else cures the plague.

Brainiac-5 reveals that Winn's design for his force-field belt goes on to lay the foundation for some of the most advanced technology of the 31st century. To that end, he asks for Winn to go to the future to replace him on The Legion of Superheroes and combat the AI Plague. He claims that the piece of paper on which Winn scribbled his design while trying to explain it to Demos is now a treasured historical artifact in the National Archives in the future.

Brainiac-5 also says that the future needs heroes and leaders and pleads for Mon-El to return to the future.

Thomas Coville activates a distress beacon in J'onn's ship to signal the DEO as to the location of The Fortress of Sanctuary.

James refers to 320 and how Lena figured out she could kill Reign with a lethal dose of Kryptonite. Kara refuses to consider this as an option at first, but finally relents after Alura and J'onn say there may be no other option.

When Samantha awakens, she has full Kryptonian powers.

Samantha stabs Reign and Kara throws her into The Daughters of Juru's cauldron. This leads to Samantha and Alura being killed by Reign's heat vision. Mon-El also dies taking a heat-vision blast trying to save J'onn.

As Kara flies back in time she remembers things that were said to her in the past about Alex thinking Kara Danvers saved her more than Supergirl and J'onn saying that Kara saved his life and her mother saying that she would go on to do great things. (301)

In the new timeline, Kara stops Sam from stabbing Reign and instead uses the Harun-El to shock herself, Samantha and Reign into The Valley of Juru. From there, they force-feed Reign the weakening waters of the Fountain of Lillith and she is dragged away by Kryptonian demons.

Mon-El decides that he has to go back to the future because he is needed there.

Mon-El gives Kara a Legion ring of her own.

Samantha is 100% human following the latest round of tests by Lena.

Winn decides to return to the future with Mon-El.

James reveals himself to the world as The Guardian.

Alex tries to resign from the DEO so she can start a family.

J'onn refuses, saying he wants to promote Alex, placing her in charge of the DEO.

J'onn steps down as DEO director so he can  go out and focus on helping others directly in the Martian tradition rather than hiding behind walls.

Alura plans to return to Argo City, taking Selena and the other Daughters of Juru with her so they can stand trial for their crimes.

Lena gives Alura a case full of Harun-El that she synthesized as well as the recipe to make more.

Winn leaves Braniac-5 his original sketch of his design for the force-field belt, along with a note saying it is guaranteed to appreciate in value more than a jar of dirt, in reference to his gift of future dirt from 318.

There is no pizza on Argo.

Lena is revealed to have kept some of the Harun-El and is experimenting on it with Eve Teschmacher.

Kara's use of the Harun-El to stop Reign seems to have created a clone of Kara in Russia.


Location

Wherever J'onn and M'yrrn go so M'yrnn can merge with the Earth.

The Fortress of Sanctuary

The Siberian Border.


Untelevised Adventures

Superman is said to be dealing with the natural disasters threatening to rip the world apart in Madagascar.


The Bottom Line

Far more than the sum of its parts. Part of me wants to scream bloody murder about the sheer insanity of the Valley of the Juru, the mixing of science and fantasy and the logistics of human ghosts going to a quasi-Kryptonian after-life/dreamscape. The other part of me says "Screw it. We give Sam closure and Betty Buckley gets another paycheck."

Lots of big changes in this episode, yet the pace is quite leisurely and the epic battle is almost an after thought. We already have Jeremy Jordan and Chris Wood confirmed as leaving the series and only coming back as guest stars, if at all. I hope the same isn't true of David Harewood, who is one of the rocks of this show. James revealing himself to the world as Guardian is... well, as muted as everything else relating to Guardian this season.

Still, the low-key conclusion seems oddly appropriate and after the breakneck conclusions of Arrow and The Flash that failed to be thrilling, it's kind of nice that this episode ends with Kara and Alex having a sisters' night in. Can't wait for Season Four!

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 21 - Not Kansas

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




Plot

With the threat of Reign seemingly resolved, Kara returns to Argo City with Mon-El as she considers where she truly belongs. Meanwhile, back on Earth, J'onn discovers that DEO weaponry is making its way into the streets of National City and seeks James Olsen's help in discovering how.


Influences

The Return To Krypton storyline from Superman (Clark restores the city of Kandor and its people to proper size, only to discover that he doesn't fit in there.) and the on-going real-world debate involving gun control in the United States.


Goofs

Kara describes Argo City as the city where she grew up and says that while a lot of it was destroyed, most of it has been rebuilt. This doesn't jibe with what we saw in the previous episode, where Kara didn't even realize she was in a Kryptonian city (much less her home town) until she saw the writing on the memorial.

Why do they throw going-away parties for Kara in both of her identities when she hasn't decided if she's returning to Argo City permanently or not?

J'onn's decision to disarm the DEO doesn't make a lot of sense on multiple levels while simultaneously seeming like a step that should have been taken years ago. While The DEO might require standard weaponry when posing as FBI agents (which they do most of the time when they are in the field), most of their targets tend to require more specialized weaponry and equipment to deal with in any case.

It also bears mentioning that Winn is not a weapons designer by training or inclination, so throwing the job of designing non-lethal weapons at him seems a bit strange but well in keeping with the "a genius can do anything" ethos of the show.


Performances

As usual, the chemistry between Melissa Bennoist and Chris Wood is fantastic.


Artistry

It's a subtle thing, but Winn playing with a NERF gun and nearly shooting himself by accident while talking to Guardian is a neat bit of foreshadowing for the theme of the episode.

The sequence of Kara and Mon-El in the garden perfectly mimics the scene that opened Season 3, right down to the music.


Super Trivia

The title is a reference to a line from the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz - "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Kannar-Onn is a Kryptonian rite of passage that is meant to be conducted every decade of a person's life. Superman once made reference to this ritual and teaching it to his daughter Cir-El in the comics.

The DCTVU version of Krypton on Earth 38 has a ritual called Kannar-On as well. Kara finds a certificate indicating that she passed it while sorting through various mementos in her mother's house. This version of Kannar-Onn sounds something like the Bat Mitzvah of Jewish culture, requiring hours and hours of study of Kryptonian history and heritage.

This episode introduces a new character - a woman named Thara Ak-Varr. We are told that Thara was one of Kara's closest friends during her childhood in Argo City. She is now the Chief Peace Officer of Argo. All of her family died during the destruction of Krypton. She is married to a man named Lir-Al and has two children.

The name of Thara is one of some significance to the Kryptonian saga in DC Comics. The first woman to bear that name was Thara Gem-Zee. A native of the city of Kandor, she was the niece of Van-Zee and the wife of Ak-Varr. Van-Zee and Ak-Varr were the secret identities of the Kryptonian vigilantes Nightwing and Flamebird during the Pre-Crisis Era.

In the Post Crisis Era, Thara was the name of Kara Zor-El's best friend in childhood - Thara Ak-Varr. This Thara was the daughter of Ak-Varr and a woman named Tes. She was also a resident of Kandor and was reunited Zor-El and Alura when Brainiac captured and shrunk Argo City as he had Kandor and combined the two populations. Kara's parents raised their daughter's friend as if she were their own daughter, due to the deaths of her family. She would later take up the vigilante identity of Flamebird for herself.

The boy whom Mon-El cured of his lung disease is revealed to be named Val. Val is a common name on Krypton, shared by two previous characters. One of Superman's ancestors in the Pre-Crisis Superman comics was an explorer named Val-El. A scientist named Val-El, who is now a character on the Syfy series Krypton, is depicted as one of Superman's ancestors. Val-Zod is also the name of the second Superman of Earth 2 in The New 52 reality of DC Comics.


Technobabble

Argo City has artificial gravity powered by some kind of synthetic gravity manipulator. Since gravity can be used to bend space-time, Mon-El can use that to send a message to the future.

Winn conducts a ballistics test that confirms that the gun which dented Guardian's shield is the same type of assault rifle used exclusively by The DEO.

The Heel 14 is a civilian version of the assault rifle exclusively produced for the DEO. It can be modified with a bump-stock to create a gun identical to a DEO assault rifle.

According to Lena, Harun-El is more than just a a biolistic delivery system. It could be revolutionary for reasons she does not explain.


Dialogue Triumphs

Kara:  (To Alex) When I first got here, I was alone and scared, having just lost everything. And I would walk around and feel this dull.. empty pit. A hollowness. And yeah, we got off to a rocky start, but once we got close, that hollowness just disappeared. That was you. You filled my heart. And no matter where I go, you will always be in it.

Alex: You have given all of us so much as Supergirl. Reign is gone. You have dedicated your whole life to taking care of others. It's time for Kara Zor-El to take care of herself. And no one deserves that more than you. But. Selfishly? I don't know what I'm going to do without you.

Mr. Preston: I wouldn't dream of standing in the way of your investigation.
James: No, you just dream of a world where everybody is armed to the teeth, right?
Mr. Preston: And you dream of a world where person reads CatCo Magazine. We're both businessmen, Mr. Olsen.

Alura: Kara, you've had to live your life as a warrior. Surviving on a foreign planet. Defending others. You have to take in the fact that you don't have to live that way anymore. You've spent so much time taking care of others. Maybe it's finally time that you take care of yourself?
Kara: It's funny.. my sister, Alex.. she almost said the exact same thing.
Alura: Well, I know why you love her so much.

Arthur: They never respected me!
J'onn: You think that gun gives you respect? It has no power. It's just a tool for spreading fear and fear is not respect.

Mon-El: I know you've moved on. From us. But I didn't just come back here to help you fight Reign. When I left Imra, she asked me to... sort out how I felt. And not just about her. (pauses and takes a breath) About you. And I've been trying to convince myself that friendship between us was the right thing... but I think I've been lying to myself.
(Kara bites her lip and looks down.)
Mon-El: I'm sorry to spring this on you in the midst of you trying to acclimate here...
Kara: Don't be sorry.
Mon-El: I just don't want to hide things. Pretend like they don't exist.
(Kara nods and sighs.)
Kara: After you left... I had a dream where I was walking down this path. A lot like this one. It was peaceful and serene and... you were there waiting for me. And all I wanted was for you to be in that field with me.
(She takes a step closer to him.)
Kara: Now you are.
Mon-El: (nodding) Now I am.
(Kara reaches up and strokes Mon-El's beard.. as a beeping is heard in the distance.)
Mon-El: What's that?
(The two look away from each other to see a robot with red eyes flying toward them.)


Dialogue Disasters

James: I heard what you said about strength and peace, and I believe in that. That's why the only weapon anyone needs is a shield.
J'onn: That's something my father taught me a long time ago. Thank you for helping me remember that, James.


Continuity

Lena is able to use the Harun-El sample to make a cure for Sam, seemingly destroying Reign.

Supergirl asks Lena if she can synthesize more of the Harun-El and tells her about Argo City. Lena says she will try.

It is revealed that the box Alura gave Kara when she returned to Earth in 320 contained a Dar Essa flower.

Kara decides to return to Argo City. She invites Mon-El to come with her.

Officially, Kara Danvers goes on some kind of special assignment to explain Kara's absence from her job at CatCo.

Kara discovers her best friend from childhood - Thara Ak-Varr - is still alive. Thara is now married with two children and is the Chief Peace Officer for Argo City.

Kara hates Opera. Alex loves it, especially Puccini.

M'yrnn has built up a taste for opera. J'onn thinks the complex rhythms and orchestrations of the musicare helping him with his memory problems.

M'yrnn claims that a surge of clarity comes before a Martian with his dementia issues dies.

M'yrnn asks J'onn to perform a Martian ritual called "The Reach" with him. This ritual allows a Martian to telepathically pass all of his knowledge and memories on to his children.

J'onn is in denial about his father being close to death.

J'onn refers to the events of 205 and a gang that utilized alien weapons.

James identifies the weapon that the bank robber used as an assault rifle exclusively used by The DEO, which possessed enough power to dent his Guardian shield.

J'onn says that he had all of the DEO's weapons microchiped following the events of 314 and Winn's mother stealing a gun from the DEO Armory.

Val, the boy whom Mon-El helped in 320, is revealed to be entirely healed of his lung disease.

Kara learns about what Mon-El did to help heal Val.

An out-of-control girder nearly crushes Kara in the Argo City marketplace.Kara saw someone in hooded dark clothing running away from the scene after it happened.

Mon-El gives Kara his Legion Flight Ring to wear in case she needs it.

The manufacturer of the DEO assault rifle makes a civilian version, The Heel 14, which is legally classified as a hunting rifle, that can be modified with a bump-stock to be identical to an assault rifle.

Clark Kent was somehow able to track the private sale of an assault weapon despite the lack of a central gun registry. This confirms that Earth 38 USA has similar gun laws to the real world.

Lena is firmly pro-gun ownership, owning a personal gun that she claims to have used in self-defense before.

James is firmly pro-gun control, not seeing how a government gun registry can hurt non-criminals.

Eve Teschmacher - James Olsen's personal assistant - is revealed to have studied nuclear physics at Yale.

Ol-Irus is an electronics merchant in Argo City who is a bit of an oddball. He was apparently once a science teacher, who taught both Kara and Thara as children. He once assigned them to take insect samples home to study and they wound up reproducing in the hundreds.

Laura is the name of the landscape architect working on Thara's lawn. Thara complains that she built a stone gazebo so that it was facing  south so they could enjoy the view of the lake off their orchard. Instead, it is facing north towards the woods.

Kara spots another hooded figure watching her at dinner. This woman is later revealed to be Felra. Her husband owns a grocery store.

There is no digital trail or paper trail for the purchases of Heel 14 rifles. This leaves the DEO having to call every individual gun store in National City and hoping the owners kept accurate records of who purchased that gun recently. Even with all the DEO's resources, the are only able to identify 10% of the people who purchased the weapon.

Winn is, however, able to pull photographic records of every person who bought more than one weapon at once including a Heel 14.

The girder that almost hit Kara is blamed on a faulty part.

Felra was at work at the time of the construction accident.

James identifies the shooter as Arthur Willis. He passed his background check with no problems and had no history of mental illness. He bought four guns at the time he purchased his Heel 14. He is revealed to be a lawyer with Vang and Morales whose wife left him due to his workaholic habits trying to earn a partnership at his firm, only to be fired once they thought he was no longer useful.

Vang and Morales claim they offered Arthur Willis mental health counseling after several outbursts at work but he refused it.

Mon-El tells Kara that he still loves her.

Kara refers to her dream from 301 and how she saw herself in a meadow with Mon-El.

Mon-El and Kara are attacked by a robot in the garden. They escape thanks to the Legion Flight Ring and spy Felra watching them.

Felra says that she is a Daughter of the Night and a Child of Juru and that Selena is the high priestess of their order.

When Kara says that Selena helped her to defeat Reign, Felra says nothing is as it seems.

J'onn declares that The DEO will begin phasing out all lethal-force weapons and destroying all of their guns. This results in several DEO agents quitting, despite J'onn offering to let them transfero into another unit of federal law enforcement.

J'onn places Winn in charge of developing a line of non-lethal weapons for all DEO agents to use in place of standard handguns.

Lena brings Eve Teschmacher into her private lab to help her with studying The Harun-El.

Lena thinks she can use the Harun-El toward revolutionary ends.

J'onn begins preparing to undergo The Reach with M'yrnn.

Alex makes the decision to adopt a child and begins looking at agencies on her computer.

We see Sam and Ruby watching Singing In The Rain together, when Sam suddenly freezes up and drops a glass.

J'onn's spaceship is stolen from Argo City by the Children of Juru, including Selena. The burning symbol of Reign is left behind where it was parked.

Selena and the Children of Juru (two other women) use a crystal, provided by a waiting Thomas Coville, to create a new Fortress of Sanctuary.


Location

Argo City

The forest where the new Forest Of Sanctuary is erected.


Untelevised Adventures

Where Thomas Coville has been since 312 and where he acquired the crystal used to make a new Fortress of Sanctuary.


The Bottom Line

There's a lot about this episode that doesn't add up, but the performances - as with most of Season 3 so far - does a lot to sell it.

The chief oddity is that the fact that Supergirl's mother is alive isn't played up nearly as much as it should be and Alura has an amazingly small role in the events of this episode. The fact that Kara asks Mon-El to return to her with Argo City in a social capacity and not Alex is also odd, as you'd think Kara would want the two halves of her family to meet!

The gun control subplot doesn't quite work either. While I have no objection to a television superhero series like Supergirl trying to tackle social issues (my favorite comic is Green Arrow, for crying out loud), the lines drawn between the characters don't quite work. Naturally, Lena - as a strict individualist who has had her life threatened continually - is firmly behind people's right to arm themselves for self-defense... yet Lena is more than capable of creating defensive technologies to render guns obsolete!

Likewise James, as a black man who is used to being viewed with suspicion even when unarmed despite his relatively high-society position, has some fairly strong views about less guns being a good thing... but his position about the only weapon a person really needing being a shield doesn't quite work since not everyone has access to the technology and training he does.

What's really weird is that Alex isn't given a chance to weigh in on this question, when you think that she - as someone who depends upon using guns in her day job who is thinking of becoming a parent - would be the perfect point-of-view character for a story line involving guns and the pros and cons of owning one and how society responds to gun violence. It makes way more sense for Alex to be the one coping with this issue than J'onn, whose edict at the end seems remarkably short-sighted ignoring that Winn isn't a weapons specialist and ignores that The DEO is already using a variety of non-violent weaponry as regular bullets don't work on a lot of aliens.