Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 18 - Truth or Consequences

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

Plot

With Lex and Nyxyly joining forces, Kara is more determined than ever to protect her friends and doubles down on patrolling National City so that Alex and Kelly can enjoy their engagement party, though Alex still feels torn between her duty as a hero and her new family. Meanwhile, as Brainy receives some heart-breaking news, William clashes with Andrea over her newfound efforts to brand Lex Luthor as a criminal in the press without any real evidence. 

Influences

Marvel's Infinity War (the hunt for the Totems mirrors the search for the Infinity Stones, Nxyly now has a gauntlet to hold the totems)


Goofs

While William gets some amazing moments here giving Andrea the dressing down she's needed to get for the better part of two seasons, I can't help but feel this should have been Kara's speech to give instead of his and that she should have been the one standing up for Truth and Journalism. 

The CGI of the Super Friends falling through the Dream Realm looks cheap.


Performances

It has to be said that Staz Nair shines in this episode. It makes you wish the writers had given us THIS version of William before now.

Again, the interactions between Peta Sergeant and Jon Cryer as Nyxly and Lex are the best part of the episode.


Artistry

Most of the effects work during the fight scenes is good.


Super Trivia

At one point a reporter refers to Lex Luthor as "The Man of Tomorrow." This is a title that is more often applied to Superman in the comics, but which Lex has just as often applied to himself.


Technobabble

Lena says that she can create a data interception program that can track Lex through his Lexosuits.

Lex modifies Nyxly's new Lexosuit by planting the Hope Totem in the left arm cannon and the Truth Totem in the chest plate.

Lex uses 31st century nanobots to take apart Supergirl's armored suit.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Lex has just seen the news report about his love poems for Nyxly.)
Lex: I'll nail gun their drivel-spouting tongues to their pinheads.
Nyxly: (laughing) Looks like someone should have hidden his diary a little better. What is it they called you? The Man of Tomorrow? Quite a lofty title. Did you give yourself that name?
(She pauses and smiles softly.)
Nyxly: Truth be told, I actually quite like the part about... the burning oceans. 

William: I became a journalist to tell real stories, to report the truth. Your "ends justify the means" excuse makes you just as bad as Lex. You both have no ethical code. I was hoping that you'd wield CatCo's power and influence for good, but instead, your pathological obsession to be number one made you selfish and shortsighted. What's important is what you stand for, what you contribute to make the world a better place. And you, Andrea Rojas, stand for nothing.

(Lex and Nyxly are searching for the Truth Totem in a room full of rare antiques.)
Nyxly: Why would someone collect all these trophies just to store them where no one can see them?
Lex: It's not about flaunting what you've got. It's about having it and knowing no one else does.

(Nyxly uses the Truth Totem on Lex.)
Lex: What are you doing?
Nyxly: Making sure of your intent. I can't risk giving my heart to a dishonest fool. But luckily, I have the powers of the Truth Totem, so... Tell me, your poems, did you mean what you wrote?
Lex: Every word. My only desire is to rule by your side while destroying everyone who gets in our way.
Nyxly: And after we've rebuilt the AllStone, you're going to betray me?
Lex: Betray you? Betraying you is... inconceivable. I've spent my whole life believing no one was worthy of me, until you. It's why I came back to find you at this time. I want to help you achieve everything you want and deserve. And I know I can do this for you, because I have. It is my only desire.
(Nyxly releases Lex.)  
Lex: Did I pass?
Nyxly: (smiling, in imitation of the Totems) You have performed admirably.

Brainy: Never thought I'd say this, but... I really could use my personality inhibitors. All this happiness is making me quite sad. I can't stop thinking that soon I'll have to leave everyone. Especially you.
Nia: Don't think about that. Right now, you're here with me. See? Do you feel your hand in mine?
Brainy: I do.
Nia: And my head on your shoulder?
Brainy: Yes.
Nia: That's all that matters. Tonight's not the night to be Debbie Downer. We're here to celebrate Alex and Kelly.
Brainy: (sighing)You're right. I do not intend to be this... Debbie with a sad surname. You know, actually, I am grateful... to feel so much love and loss... because then I know... it all truly meant something. And that you'll always be with me, Nia Nal... no matter where I go.

Continuity

William tells the Super Friends that Lex is building a new Lexosuit army  - a fact he learned from Otis Graves, who agreed to go on the record with him.

The VIP suite at Club Rialto is booked that evening for Alex and Kelly's bacelorette party.

Esme reportedly gets into trouble at school.

Andrea publicly publishes Lex Luthor's love poetry and credits William as having broken the story.

William reads Andrea the riot act for using his name on her story, not only for the breach of journalistic ethics but also because now people are laughing at Lex and Nyxly and treating them like a celebrity couple instead of being afraid of them.

Winn chats with Brainiac-5 and tells him that Lex traveled to the future and fell in love with Nyxly.

The Super Friends recover the Dream Totem after tracking the Lexosuits to a location near National City's waterfront.

The Super Friends affirm that the Totems cannot be destroyed and will eventually reform if their physical form is destroyed.

Dreamer says she can use the Dream Totem to try and track Lex and Nyxly while Lena tracks the Lexosuits.

Nyxly still doesn't trust Lex and suspects he may have sabotaged her crystal ball, until it detects the Truth Totem.

Lex confirmst that Nyxly conquered the Fifth Dimension and killed her father before they met in the future.

Esme's trouble at school was losing control of her powers after a mean girl made fun of her chocolate roulade at a school bake sale, saying it looked like an ugly log.

Alex notices an odd rose-shaped tattoo on the back of Esme's neck.

Brainiac-5 talks with one of the variant Brainiac-5's sharing his body and tells him that Winn informed him that the Big Brain powering the Coluan hivemind in the 31st Century has suffered greatly due to the AI plague last mentioned in 323. As such, Brainiac-5 has been asked to return to his own time and merge with the Big Brain to save it. This will cause him, and the other Brainiac-5 doppelgangers, to cease existing.

The other Brainiac-5 says he will try to figure out a way that they can stay in the present, but he doesn't see how it will be possible.

Brainiac-5 does not want to return to the future because of his love of Dreamer and his sense of duty to his friends in this moment. He resolves to stay until the fight with Lex and Nyxly is resolved.

The Truth Totem is an old camera, apparently of some historical importance.

The gauntlet of the Truth Totem requires the wielder to confess all the truths they would rather not admit. In Nyxly's case she has to confess that she's afraid she's too much like her father, that part of her still wants his approval despite his abuse and treachery and that she wants to be close to someone again and not be afraid of her loved ones betraying her.

Kara assures Esme that she used to have trouble controlling her powers when she was young.

Kara suggests that they could find something like a pair of glasses that Esme could use as a focus, like she did. Alex prefers to run some tests to make sure Esme is healthy and not encourage her to hide her powers.

Alex and Kara have a fight because Alex wants to raise her daughter as she sees fit and Kara says she doesn't think Alex understands what it's like to be an alien on Earth struggling to control your powers.

Dreamer has a vision of Brainiac-5 and an hourglass. She immediately concludes that his time is running out, somehow, and that he's hiding something.

When confronted, Brainiac-5 admits that the Legion ordered him to return to the future once Lex and Nyxly were defeated and that he was trying to find the words to tell her.

Dreamer offers to come to the future but Brainiac-5 says she has to stay in the past for the sake of the timeline.

According to Lex, Nyxly develops a sweet tooth in the future and butterscotch sticky buns are her favorite.

Nyxly uses the Truth Totem on Lex and forces him to honestly tell her how he feels. He honestly does want to win her heart and rule the universe with her.

Andrea calls Lena and asks her if she's a bad person. Lena says she isn't, but she has to be careful to not cross the line in trying to do good.

J'onn tells Kara she should back off of telling Alex how to be a parent, because despite her good intentions that isn't her job.

William is revealed to be the one who taught Esme how to make chocolate roulade.

William tells Esme his Aunt Bindu's secret for baking with chocolate - add a pinch of cardamom, a touch of turmeric and a sprinkle of cloves.

Kelly gets a call from the school saying that one of Esme's new classmates is a Tattamite - an alien species with short fuses whose skin can manifest distinctive skin markings, which they use as camouflage. Alex accepts this as an explanation for Esme's tattoo and losing control of her powers more easily than normal.

Lena is able to track Mitch's ship and suggests a raid on it.

Kara goes to the ship in her Kryptonite-proof suit. It barely protects her when Nyxly hits her with the Truth and Hope Totems.

J'onn and Kara are able to claim the Hope and Truth totems just before Mitch's ship self-destructs. This leaves Lex and Nyxly with no totems and no Lexosuit Army.

The Totems are moved to the Fortress of Solitude for safe-keeping.

Esme won her school's baking contest.

Alex and Kelly's babysitter gets the stomach flu, so it looks like Kelly won't be able to go to the party.

William offers to babysit Esme in the Watchtower so the rest of the Super Friends can go to Alex and Kelly's party.

Kara apologizes to Alex for being pushy about Esme. Alex likewise apologizes for reacting so harshly.

Lex, Nyxly and Mitch take refuge in the Dolemites in Italy. 

Mitch is confirmed to have survived the ship blowing up.

Nyxly admits she is starting to fall for Lex.

As she says this, her crystal ball begins glowing and reveals the Love Totem.

J'onn encourages Kara to relax, as the tower computers are autoscanning for any sign of Lex or Nyxly and he's running psychic scans subconsciously.

Brainiac-5 and Dreamer agree to enjoy whatever time they have left and not worry about their conflicting destinies. 

William notices a proximity alarm in the Watchtower go off and tells Esme to go hide in J'onn's office.

William sets his phone up to record the room.

Lex and Nyxly teleport into the Watchtower.

Nyxly finds where Esme is hiding and convinces her she's a friend of her mothers.

Lex shoots William as retribution for publishing his journal and tells him that he intentionally set up the meeting with Otis, allowed Lena to track his Lexosuits and set it up so that her scanning the Lexosuits activated a Trojan virus that delayed Esme's test results. This prevented Alex from discovering that the Love Totem formed within Esme.

William sends the footage to Andrea just before he dies, with the subject in the e-mail being "Here's your real story."

Andrea watches the video of William's death and Lex confessing to his murder and setting him up.

The Super Friends discover Esme is missing and William is dead.

Location

The Dolemites - Italy


Untelevised Adventures

William details his meeting with Otis Graves, which was teased at the end of 617.

According to Winn, Nyxly and Lex conquered the known universe in the 31st century and ruled as King and Queen until the AllStone began to fail. The Legion of Superheroes attacked in that moment and Nyxly died.


The Fridge Factor

William is killed purely to give the Super Friends angst about relaxing for a night and to add an edge to Esme's abduction.


The Kryptonite Factor

Alex, usually the most observant of the Superfriends, doesn't notice that Esme's rose tattoo matches the design of the Love Totem.


The Bottom Line

Largely satisfying, though surprisingly dark at the end. It's a shame the show couldn't find anything better to do with William before now but at least he gets to go out a hero and shames Andrea one more time in death. It's also odd that he gets all these great moments now when Lena and J'onn barely seem to have any screen time at all. Still, not a bad episode all things considered.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 17 - I Believe In A Thing Called Love

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

Plot

With Lex Luthor and Nyxly joining forces, the Super Friends must face their two greatest enemies together as the hunt for the Love Totem begins. Meanwhile, Alex tries to plan the perfect proposal to Kelly, but work keeps getting in the way.

Influences

Marvel's Infinity War (the hunt for the Totems mirrors the search for the Infinity Stones, Nxyly now has a gauntlet to hold the totems)

Performances

The interactions between Peta Sergeant and Jon Cryer are easily the highlight of the episode.


Artistry

The effects work is generally good.


Super Trivia

The episode title comes from a 2003 song by The Darkness.


Technobabble

The Nyxly AI is revealed to have been made from a future variant of Nyxly whom fell in love with Lex Luthor. 

Lena uses her magic to create a fake Love Totem by replicating the energy signature of the totems the Super Friends control. 

According to Lena, magic is heavily influenced by the caster's emotions so if she tries to cast a spell while angry, the magic will reflect that, assuming she is able to maintain the focus to complete the spell at all.

Brainiac-5 identifies the weapons Lex used to save Nysly as 31st century technology.

Reversing the Totem energy signatures can theoretically create a baseline for protecting against the Dream Totem.

Lena claims that the Totems are most effective when used as weapons and that while they can be used defensively, there's no way one Totem can protect against the power of two Totems used offensively. This also makes it impossible for her to create a defense based on using the Totem energy against one another. 

Despite this limit, Lena does come up with a way to protect Kara from the effects of the Humanity Totem.

Lex is able to fix Nyxly's crystal ball without magic, thanks to his studies of magic and science being melded together in the 31st century.

Lex claims that while the Totems' physical forms can be destroyed temporarily, the power inside them will flow into something else. This means that the destroyed Hope Totem was bound to be reborn, allowing him to claim the Hope Totem.

Dialogue Triumphs

(Lex is trying to convince Nyxly they are fated to be allies. Suddenly, Mitch enters the room.)
Mitch: Sorry I'm late. What is Lex Luthor doing here?
Nyxly: You're Lex Luthor, the madman who sent Supergirl to the Phantom Zone.
Lex: That was some of my best work.
Nyxly: Do you know what I really, really loathe? Men who send women to Phantom Zone!

Otis: Oh, I missed you, boss!
(Otis tries to hug Lex, who deftly ducks under his arm and keeps walking down the hall.)
Lex: Now, why couldn't Nyxly have given me that kind of reception?
Otis: So what if she rejected you? You're Lex Luthor! And your timing couldn't be better. Luthor Corp's returns are through the roof this quarter! Your mom gave me a board seat! 
(Lex freezes up. His face remains neutral but his eyes betray his shock and horror at this.)
Otis: And the way you left everything covered, I think I'm the only one who noticed you were gone. My point is, you don't need that imp.
Lex: See, the thing about that imp is she's the only thing I want. Nyxly is the love of my life.
Otis: I'm sorry, what?
Lex: I know. Me? In love? (scoffs) I've always shouldered this world alone. I've never known what it meant to have a true partner. Who could possibly match my wit, my flair, my unfiltered genius? But when I met Nyxly, I knew. She was the one. This was supposed to be so easy. Come to this time, help Nyxly get the Love Totem before the Super Friends find it, and then return to the future where my Nyxly would still be alive. I can't save her if she doesn't trust me. And she won't trust me if she doesn't even like me. And if she doesn't like me now, how will she love me in the future?
Otis: I did not understand a word of that. But if she loved you before, why don't you just do that again?
(Lex spins on Otis. Otis cringes, expecting to be hit or yelled at. Instead, Lex grins manically.) 
Lex: You big, beautiful idiot. That's exactly what I should do!

Nyxly: How did you know where I was? (sees the small drone hovering above her) What is that? Is that a surveillance drone? Are you stalking me? Creep!
Lex: I was protecting you. If I hadn't shown up when I did, you would be powerless in a prison right now.
Nyxly:You claim to be on my side. But I am no closer to finding my Totems. So get out!
Lex: Uh, this is my home.
(There is a brief pause as Nyxly realizes this.)
Nyxly: Fine!

(Otis suggests Lex brainwash Nyxly into loving him.)
Lex: Otis, my good man, forcing women into loving you is the underpinning of a toxic relationship.
Otis: But you love toxic relationships?
Lex: Not as much as I love Nyxly.

(Lex regards a tied-up Mitch.)
Lex: (mock cheerful) Hello, courier minion.

Kara: I'm not afraid to become that phantom. I've been letting Nyxly convince me that if I stoop to her level, I'd become a monster just like her. But you know what? I have something she doesn't. This team, this family. And no matter what happens, I know you all will pull me back from the edge, which is why I need your help now.
Lena: If I use my magic, I could end up hurting you.
Kara: You've been afraid to become the worst version of yourself because for so long, Lex was the only family you had. He wanted you to be a monster, and there was no one around to pull you back when you went too far. But he's not your family anymore. We are. Focus on the good. On your real family. Use that to fuel your magic... and you won't lose control. 

Nyxly: You had a clean shot at the Love Totem. And you abandoned it to save me. Why?
Lex: Did I? I must not have seen it.
Nyxly: Tell me the truth. What do you want from me?
Lex: You want the truth? The truth is I love you. I love you so much that when you... died, part of me died too. And you don't understand. I don't love anybody. In fact, I hate everyone. From a very young age, I knew I would move through this world alone, riding that solitary high-speed train towards progress and greatness all by myself. But there you were. This radiant, powerful being, vibrating with your own brilliant madness. I never thought anyone could match my ambition, my genius, but... Then I met you. In all the timelines, in all the dimensions, in all the universes, you... were the only one that could match me. But of course, you don't know any of this, 'cause you weren't there. Yet. You haven't met me yet, and I sound insane.
Nyxly: No one has ever selflessly sacrificed something for me like you did tonight. So, no, I wasn't there. But... If what you say is true and you really are here to help me succeed... Well, I don't see why we can't be friends.

Continuity

Lex explains that the AI in the suit he gave Nyxly in 615 was based on her future self and that it used the Dream Totem to manifest him in the current time.

Lex claims that, in the future, he and Nyxly became allies after she assembled the All-Stone, but the All-Stone eventually killed her because she didn't assemble it the right way. Thankfully, he was able to preserve her mind as an artificial intelligence and send her back in time to try and do it right.

Nyxly is not impressed and tells Luthor she will never work with him.

Kara works with J'onn to come up with a strategy to disarm Nyxly once they draw her out.

Nia, Lena and Kelly head to the Watchtower lab to work on the scientific aspects of their plan.

Alex just got the ring she plans to use to propose to Kelly. She wants to do it on the next evening, which is the anniversary of the night she realized she truly loved Kelly. This occurred when the Super Friends were at Al's Bar arguing about what was the best movie ever and they both said Die Hard.

Alex takes Esme with her to set things up at Al's Bar, but Al informs her that they booked the bar for a private event the next evening. Shockingly, Alex didn't think to ask Al if he did private bookings.

According to Otis, LuthorCorp returns for the past quarter have gone through the roof and Lillian Luthor gave him a chair on the Board of Directors.

Otis suggests that Lex do what he did to make Nyxly fall for him in this time so the present day Nyxly will trust him.

William agrees not to publish any new Super Friends stories until their next plan succeeds. 

The Super Friends conferred with the witch hologram to determine the next totem Nxyly needs is the Love Totem.

The Super Friends plan to use a fake Love Totem to lure Nyxly into a secure location where they can ambush her.

Ironically, the location they choose is on Lover's Lane Road.

Lena loses control of her magic when she sees Lex, who shows up to save Nyxly and helps her escape.

Kara is knocked out for several hours thanks to the Kryptonite energy of Lex's weapons. When she wakes up, Lena informs her that she'd rather not try and use her magic until she's sure she's able to do so without Lex interfering with her emotional state. 

Andrea pushes William to write a full expose on Lex Luthor working with Nxyly and refuses to listen to William's reminder how badly going after Lex worked for CatCo, even when they had evidence of Lex's wrong-doing, back in 602.

Andrea gives William until the end of the day to find proof of Lex's wrong-doing or she'll run a story about him anyway.

The Super Friends decide to use the Courage and Humanity Totems as shields from the Totems Nyxly controls, rather than trying to weaponize them.

It is suggested that Brainiac-5 contact the Legion of Superheroes to see if they know what Lex was doing in their time, but Brainiac-5 is reluctant to do so given that the last time he acted on future knowledge it led to his working with Lex Luthor behind his friends' backs.

Lena tries to create a shield against the Dream Totem.

Dreamer tries to forsee where the Love Totem is.

J'onn undertakes the gauntlet of the Courage Totem and is forced to relive the moment he was separated from his children in the concentration camps on Mars. 

J'onn is able to claim the power of the Courage Totem after fighting back against the White Martians to try and save his daughters.

Lex claims that in the future he and Nyxly had matching surveillance drones so they could track each other at all times.

Lex dismisses the idea of mind-controlling Nyxly as creepy. Instead, he kidnaps Mitch and gives him the location of the Love Totem one hour before the Super Friends found it in the original timeline.

Lex also says he can't just tell Nyxly they fall in love, as he believes admitting your feelings to a woman will only scare them off.

Mitch lies to Nyxly, claiming he found the Love Totem in a book, Tale Of An Object Infused with Love, which described Ines De Castro, the Corpse Bride of Portugal and a famous tomb belonging to a pair of lost lovers.

Dreamer also divines the Love Totem as being located in Lisbon, Portugal.

Nyxly is able to keep Supergirl at bay with a waking nightmare that causes her to hallucinate being attacked by Phantom Zone Phantoms and then being turned into a Phantom herself.

The Love Totem vanishes before Nyxly can take it. She also makes her escape.

Legends of the Love Totem say that, unlike the other totems, it has disappeared and reappeared repeatedly throughout history and that it gravitates to people in love or locations associated with love. It is likewise repelled by people who are hateful.

It is theorized the Love Totem teleported itself away when Nyxly got too close to it, as her reasons for seeking the All-Stone are hateful.

Nyxly goes to Lex and asks for his help, but insists that it is strictly business and they will never be friends.

J'onn apologized to Kara for not being able to shield her effectively, blaming the fact that his courage faltered when he saw Kara get hurt by Nyxly's Dream Totem attack.

Kara talks Lena into trying to use her magic to protect Kara from the side-effects of the Humanity Totem, so she can use it against Nyxly.

Alex talks with William about how Kelly was engaged once before and how Alex's attempt to propose to Maggie Sawyer ended badly. (Alex proposed to Maggie in 222, but they broke up in 305.)

William advises Alex to go ahead and propose to Kelly because there's no guarantee they could be alive tomorrow with Lex Luthor on the loose.

Lex tells Nyxly about how they learned to work her magic and his technology together to create "beautiful things." He also says that she glowed whenever she talked about acquiring the All-Stone and how she did ultimately get the revenge she sought. Lex guesses this is why the future her was more receptive to a friend like him.

It turns out that Kelly was the one who booked Al's Bar because she had the same idea as Alex. She sets up a surprise engagement party with the help of Esme, William and Al, who were all in on the plan.

Alex reaches for the ring in her pocket but finds the Love Totem there instead, just as Lex and Nyxly show up to steal it.

Kara is able to use the Humanity Totem to incapacitate Nyxly while Lena's magic keeps her from losing her own humanity.

Lex deflects the blast of the Courage Totem into the Love Totem, seemingly destroying it as he moves to teleport himself and Nyxly away.

Alex says that it doesn't matter if the Love Totem was destroyed because she still feels the love for her friends and family that she did before. In fact, after what Kelly did, she feels more loved than ever.

Lex tells Nyxly the truth about why he is helping her. While she is still cynical about him loving her, she does admit that his saving her is the first time anyone did something selfless for her and she thinks they can be friends now.

Dreamer suggests that they should all chip in and get Kelly and Alex matching motorcycles as an wedding gift.

Brainiac-5 thinks there's something odd about Lex's behavior, having noticed that he risked everything to save Nyxly rather than grab the Love Totem for himself.

Dreamer tells Brainiac-5 to all the Legion and see what they know about Lex in their time.

Lena thanks Kara for pushing her, because she is now sure that she is free of Lex's influence.

William has a secret meeting with Otis Graves in a dark alley.

Andrea uses her Acrata powers to break into Luthor Manor and sneaks a peak at Lex Luthor's diary. It is full of love poetry about Nyxly. 

Lex gives Nyxly the Hope Totem, which he was able to recover after it recontituted itself. He says they can do the same with the Love Totem.


Location

Luthor Manor
Lisbon, Portugal.


Untelevised Adventures

Lex Luthor traveled to the future and fell in love with a future version of Nyxly. It was working with her that allowed Lex to learn how to blend magic and technology together. 

Lex must also have done something to inspire great hope somewhere to acquire the Hope Totem.


The Fridge Factor

Andrea continues to be stupid and journalistically amoral  for the sake of pushing artificial drama.


The Bottom Line

Surprisingly solid, as the series enters the home stretch before its finale. More of Jon Cryer as Lex Luthor is always welcome, and his interactions with Otis are the comedic highlight of the episode, but Cryer also proves to have considerable chemistry with Peta Sergeant and there's just enough of the sly, sinister Lex to make his sudden change of heart believable. It's just a shame that all the other subplots and emotional moments (particularly J'onn confronting his daughter's deaths) don't get as much time. . 

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 12 - Back from the Future - Part Two

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




Plot

The alternate universe Toyman returns, in the form of a sentient computer virus who takes control of the DEO. With every piece of smart electronics in the building a new toy to play with, Alex has her hands full even before Lex Luthor limits her ability to do her job. Meanwhile, Kara must help Winn confront his greatest fear when they discover the original Toyman has been resurrected as an AI as well and Brainiac-5 must decide where his loyalties lie, as he is forced to make a choice regarding Lex's latest secret order.


Influences

The Back To The Future films (the title, the Doc Brown quote at the end), 1990s hacker sci-fi in general (all the technobabble) and Ghost In The Machine.


Goofs

One major plot-point of the episode is that Alex doesn't recall what's in the DEO's arsenal post-Crisis, as they are items Lex Luthor put in there she doesn't know about (such as Lexo-Suits) and items that aren't there, such as the Kryptonite Protective vest Supergirl wore in Season 1. Ignoring that Alex is the sort of meticulous person who would keep track of this sort of thing, this contradicts what we understood regarding the memories of everyone on the Super Friends and how they are supposed to remember their lives Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis.

How did Toyman get flying monkey drone toys into the DEO before he became an AI?

The CGI for the flying monkey drones is terrible.


Performances

A year ago, Arrowverse fans were protesting the idea that Jon Cryer, best known for his work as a comedic actor, could ever play Lex Luthor. Now he's easily the best thing about this episode, despite being forced to deliver some clunky exposition to justify the contrived story.


Super Trivia

Winn says that he was given the call-sign Computer Lad by his brother-in-law, who is also a Legion of Super-Heroes member. This is probably Garth Ranzz aka Lightning Lad or Live Wire, based on the fact that Winn's wife is named Ayla - a likely nod to Lightning Lass Ayla Ranzz.

Winn makes reference to Lightning Lass being a Legion member, along with a hero called Chemical King. In the comics, Chemical King is the call-sign of Condo Arlik; a native of the planet Phlon or Valdow. He possessed the metahuman ability to speed up or slowdown chemical reactions. Plagued with self-doubt due to the situational nature of his powers, he appeared in few stories after his first appearance and later died a hero's death averting World War VII.

When distracting the Lexo-Suits, Brainiac-5 shouts the words "Leeroy Jenkins!" This is a reference to a video featuring a now infamous World of Warcraft player, who ruined an meticulous plan by charging into battle while shouting his name. This turned Leeroy into a meme and a gaming legend, though it is now claimed the video was meant to be a satire of idiot MMORPG players rather than an honest video of one player's recklessness.

In the scene before Winn returns to the fiuture, he quotes Doc Brown from Back to the Future and dons a pair of sunglasses like those Doc Brown wore when he returned from the future at the end of Back To The Future 2.


Technobabble

Winslow Schott Sr. attempted to develop an artificial intelligence based on his own mind. His goal was to achieve hyper consciousness - a form of virtual immortality brought about by putting his mind onto the World Wide Web.

Item 906016 in the DEO vault is the Obsidian Tech Platinum lenses worn by Toyman II before his death. These are later determined to be what he used to download his mind into a laptop.

Winn says that he can reverse engineer his father's original AI code into a kill-code for the Toyman II AI.

Brainiac-5 is able to use a virtual lid to push Toyman down to the server level from the DEO Command Center.

The servers for the DEO's computers are located on top of their headquarters' power core. If something happens to the servers, it will destroy the core and all life within a three-mile radius.

The command console in the DEO headquarters has an old-fashioned rotary phone. Lex Luthor has the number to it.

In the post-Crisis reality, the internal defenses of the DEO have Kryptonite safeguards, designed by Lex Luthor himself, which cannot be deactivated. These were installed after two separate attempts by hostile Kryptonians to take over the world. This prevents Supergirl from disabling all the weapons inside the DEO at super speed and gathering up all the electronics that could be used by Toyman as potential weapons.

Lex confirms that the anti-Kryptonite technology utilized by the DEO to protect Supergirl pre-Crisis does not exist in the post-Crisis Earth-Prime.

According to Kelly Olsen, the Bio-Link on the Obsidian North Platinum lenses still isn't working perfectly. While eating virtually still provides the body with nutrients, the interface is hyper-stimulating the body's sensory reaction into a kind of toxic shock. This causes Andrea Rojas to have an allergic reaction to the virtual lobster she is eating, despite not normally being allergic to lobster.

Luthor Corp's been working with the Pentagon on a new neural interface and just developed a special processor that regulates Bio-Linking across a wide spectrum. Lena claims it has completely eliminated the feedback loop and eliminated most of the side effects.

Brainiac-5 prepares a Van Eck radiation scanner that has been delinked from the DEO network. He claims that it can distinguish between normal server radiation and abnormal radiation, which will enable them to locate the server holding Toyman's digital form.

Project Non Nocere is complete, save for field testing on the algorithm. To do that, Lena says she needs a distribution device capable of connecting with several minds at once.

Winn says the Toyman AI is based on Premack's theory of the mind.

Winn has 31st Century technology that lets him enter computers through a VR interface.

J'onn has Martian eavesdropping technology which he offers to Alex to spy on Lex Luthor.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Evil laughter comes from the big screens of the DEO Command Center. Toyman appears in the middle of the screen.)
Toyman II: Don't you guys know it's rude to talk about someone behind their back?
Supergirl: Toyman?
Alex: Okay, tell me this is a video, guys.
Toyman II:  Oh, no, I am everything I used to be, but electronic and immortal. Now, lower the DEO's firewall to the World Wide Web, or I will use all of your toys to kill you!

(Lex offers Lena a coffee cup.)
Lex: Doppio espresso. To cheer you up?
Lena: What makes you think I need cheering up?
Lex: Well, you're trying to advance your grand project. The Q-waves from the archive cube had helped, but the next step remains... elusive.
Lena: (dryly) A Lex who cares about the emotional state of others? This really is a whole new world.
Lex: I care because your goals are my goals.
Lena: Ah, it does always come back to you, doesn't it?
(Lex shrugs his head, conceding the point.) 

Lex: Perhaps there's something I can do?
Lena: I don't need anyone murdered, Lex.
Lex: (protesting) I have other skill sets!

(Winn explains his decision to take up the Toyman codename as a Legion member.)
Winn:  You know, that name has always haunted me. But now after having faced my father... He told me that I was better than him. And he was right. So I'm gonna reclaim that name. And make it stand for good. Hey, it's like the Doctor said, "The future is whatever you want" (Christopher Lloyd impression) "So make it a good one. "


Dialogue Disasters

(Alex explains her plan to have Supergirl fly all the weapons and technology out of the DEO.)
Alex: I know it's a risk, but if anyone can do the job, it's her.
Lex: But she can't. In case you've forgotten, rogue Kryptonians have attacked our planet before. The DEO has Kryptonite safeguards in place, and, no, they cannot be disabled.
Alex: Well, we have anti-Kryptonite technology to protect her.
Lex: I think you're remembering that from another time. Another Earth, perhaps?


Continuity

Winn is remaining in the past while the Legion ship recharges.

According to Brainiac-5, every Legion of Super-Heroes member is given a unique call-sign before they don their first uniform. Winn seems to have been an exception to this policy, however, as everyone began calling him Computer Lad as a joke, despite him being a uniform-wearing Legion member.

William Dey loves karaoke and claims to be famous for his rendition of "Africa" by Toto.

Despite knowing Lex Luthor snuck aboard the Legion ship, Winn could find no sign of what he was after.

Alex is spying on Lex through her computer.

Brainiac-5 gives Lex a file on Gemma Cooper.

Lex knows that Alex is spying on him, but is letting her think he doesn't know for now.

Lex seems to suspect that Toyman will resurrect himself as an AI and asks Brainiac-5 if they've had any technical problems just before the AI attacks him with the DEO's drones.

William asks Kara out on a date. However, before she can answer, Winn interrupts and tells Kara that she and Alex need to go check on her grandmother.

Winn recognizes the music that Toyman plays through the DEO comms as a song his father listened to all the time while in his workshop.

Brainiac-5 figures out that Luthor suspected Toyman had become an AI.

Lex asks Brainiac-5 to copy the Toyman AI code for him. He freely admits he might consider using it to make himself into an immortal AI, but says it is only to negate the one advantage Leviathan has over him.

Andrea Rojas is not normally allergic to lobster.

Lena offers LuthorCorp's neural interface to Obsidian North, but Andrea rejects the offer.

Brainiac-5 tells Winn he didn't know that Lex was going to allow the Toyman AI to infect the DEO computers. Winn believes him and chooses to trust him when he says he has things under control.

The idea for the Toyman AI originally came from Winn, who had thought of finding a way to play video games from the inside.

Alex divides the DEO swing-shift into three groups; one to pop the chips out of every smart gun, one to do the same with all the communication tech and one to delink everything else.

The AI based on the original Toyman is only 80% complete.

Lex approaches Gemma Cooper and offers his resources to Obsidian North.

Lex describes Gemma Cooper as a renowned computer scientist with excellent taste in wine, horses, and business opportunities.

Kara refers to J'onn and Malefics feud in the early part of Season 5.

Alex catches Brainiac-5 logged into her account. He lies and says he was trying to save her from being caught by Lex.

Alex suspects that Brainiac-5 has some kind of secret plan he's hiding from the rest of the team.

Gemma Cooper tells Andrea Rojas to accept Lena's offer, despite her misgivings over working with her.

The DEO now has Lexo-Suits. For some reason, Alex was unaware of this.

Winn frees the Toyman AI to help him fight his doppelganger. To Winn's surprise, he is true to his word, and doesn't try to escape the computer himself.

The Toyman AI says he is proud of Winn, having read about what he's done as a hero in the DEO files.

Winn deletes both Toyman AIs.

Lex is able to hack the security measures on Lena's private lab.

Lena admits that she's responsible for hacking Obsidian Tech Platinum and introducing the glitch to the Bio-Link.

Lex tells Lena about how he manipulated Andrea by making contact with Gemma Cooper.

Gemma knows Lex manipulated her but she is also manipulating the Luthors to be right where she wants them.

Gemma tells Margot (the old lady agent last seen in 508) to report to The Ancient One leading Leviathan that the Luthors are right where they want them.

Alex quits the DEO,saying that she can't fake being nice to Lex Luthor with his micromanaging her every move any more.

It is unclear how Alex is going to make ends meet, but J'onn offers to let her help him run The Tower in the meantime.

On her way out of the DEO, Alex takes as much Kryptonite as she can, including the Lexosuits. J'onn says he can dispose of it by shooting it into the sun.

Alex suggests Brainiac-5 quit the DEO, but he says that the same logic that dictates she leave before blowing their cover also says he must stay so they have eyes and ears on Les's scheming.

Winn decides to adopt the Toyman name, intending to build his own legacy around it in the 31st Century.

Winn tells Kara things will get better with Lena, while not giving her the details of how things go in the future.

Winn also suggests that Kara give a date with William Dey a chance, saying that she doesn't need to start the relationship by basing it on a lie.

William gives Kara a puzzle for her sick grandmother.

Kara turns William down for the date, saying she doesn't feel that way about him. In truth, she couldn't bear to start off with a lie involving her grandmother coloring their first date after everything that went wrong because of her lying to Lena.

Brainiac-5 gives the Toyman AI code to Lex.

Lex makes Brainiac-5 Director of the DEO.

Mr. Mxyzptlk, last seen in 213, makes an appearance at the end of the episode.


The Fridge Factor

Alex really doesn't come off well in this episode. Even if she did have her memories messed up by Crisis, it seems really out of character for her not to have made herself aware of what DEO policies changed as a result of Lex taking over.


The Bottom Line

A definite step-down from Part One, made tolerable only because of Jeremy Jordan's charm and Jon Cryer's smarm. You can tell from the CGI that the budget for this season definitely went toward Crisis and Alex's spotty memory indicates there was no discussion between the various show-runners as to what the rules regarding various aspects of the Arrowverse should be. It would be a decent filler episode, but all the major world-changing elements that get unveiled (i.e. Alex quitting the DEO, there being Kryptonite on Earth again) seem like an afterthought relative to the rest of the episode.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 17 - All About Eve

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



Plot

Supergirl, Lena and Alex must form an unlikely alliance to go after the woman they see as the weak link of Lex Luthor's plan - Eve Teschmacher. Unfortunately, Eve is far smarter tan anyone gave her credit for - something the three women realize as they track Lex's "Ms. Teschmacher" across the country. Meanwhile, James is urged to confront the trauma his sister is sure he's repressing as Ben Lockwood works to help President Baker with his plan to repeal the Alien Amnesty Act.


Influences

Superman: Red Son (concept of Kryptonian raised in Russia)


Goofs

Kara says that Lex Luthor usually retaliates within 48 hours of a prison escape. How would she know this when Lex was just sent to prison for the first time over three years ago? (He may have escaped several times in the space between the events depicted in the last episode.)

Why would the DEO be involved in the hunt for Lex Luthor when he isn't an alien criminal? (Lex utilizes some of the most advanced technology on Earth and the DEO has the most experience in battling similar tech.)

Eve Teschmacher is said to have an elderly aunt in National City whom she visited on Sundays. In 406, Eve said that she didn't really get along with her family and could work on Thanksgiving without issue. (She may have been lying or it she doesn't get along with her family apart from the one aunt.)

The DEO is supposed to be providing extra security for the President. So why are all the personnel in the Oval Office armed with standard issue pistols?

Granting that it's a trope, why are the White House security so stupid as to waste ammo and risk a ricochet trying to shoot Supergirl in a crowded, dark room full of panicking civilians?

It is unclear at this point just where President Baker stands on the whole issue of alien rights. It seems to vary from episode to episode if he is as big a bigot as Ben Lockwood or if he's just a political opportunist who will do anything for votes. The fact that he is pushing forward with repealing the Alien Amnesty Act, despite having seemingly pacified Lockwood's followers by giving him a Cabinet post and not being worried about the many people protesting in favor of alien rights suggest he truly is a bigot.


Performances

Carl Lumbly is always a welcome presence as M'yrnn J'onnz, yet there is something about his performance and stance here that seems to emulate David Aja as Manchester Black. If it is revealed that his appearance here is art of Manchester's further manipulation of J'onn, then it may be the single must subtle performance ever seen on this show.

David Harewood also does a fantastic job depicting J'onn's breakdown in the face of his father's apparent disappointment.


Artistry

The attack on the White House scene is blocked like a horror movie and is truly scary. James PTSD attack during the battle is also well executed visually.


Super Trivia

The title of this episode comes from a 1950 film. It is the only film in Oscar history to secure four award nominations for actresses - two for Best Actress (Bette Davis and Anne Baxter) and Best Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter). It is ranked #14 on the AFI 1998 list of Greatest American Films.

M'yrnn makes mention of the Martian city of Z'onn Z'orr.  In the classic DC Comics Universe,  Z'onn Z'orr was the name of a Martian colony city established on Earth thousands of years earlier in what became Antarctica. Hidden under the glacial ice for millennia, it was unearthed by the White Martians who attempted to invade Earth disguised as an alien superhero team called The Hyperclan in Grant Morrison's JLA: New World Order. It was briefly used as a Fortress of Solitude by J'onn after the Hyperclans defeat, but was later burned down during a battle with the villain Malefic.


Technobabble

Eve Teschmacher's research logs show that tried to extract the Harun-El serum from someone after treatment.

Lex Luthor and Eve Teschmacher used Cadmus' Metallo Protocol to revive Otis Graves. This is revealed to be how they brought him back to life. There were five failed test-subjects before him, one of which was turned into a semi-robotic guard for Eve Teshmacher's lab.

One car in Washington DC employs an x-ray scatter shield that blinds Supergirl when she tries to look through it. This car houses a hologram of Eve Teschmacher that tells Supergirl to enjoy the show once its light field is disrupted. This also triggers a Lexo-suit which confines Supergirl was the Red Daughter is impersonating her while attacking the White House.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Supergirl stares down the group of armed DEO agents pulling guns on her. She is holding a pink pastry box.)
Supergirl: I, uh...I come offering donuts and my help!

(Supergirl joins Lena and Alex before the house of Eve Teschmacher's aunt.)
Supergirl: Uh, so why are we in the burbs?
Lena: Well, I realized that Eve is in love with Lex...
Supergirl: (snarky) Crazy Lex-Girlfriend.

(M'yrnn is trying to leave J'onn's office with the Symbols.)
J'onn: You can't just leave. After everything we went through for you to pass the Symbols on to me?!
M'yrnn: You can imagine how disappointed I was when you resorted to violence.
J'onn: That's why I was trying to contact you! I need your help! I'm trying to... I'm trying to figure out who I'm supposed to be.
M'yrnn: The easiest question in the world.
J'onn: (stammering) What's the answer?
M'yrnn: For you? (shrugging) No idea. You figure it out. (chuckles)
J'onn: I ask you for help and all you do is turn up and you make it worse. (gripping M'yrnn's shoulders) I'm the last Green Martian!  If I lose myself, we not only lose Martian religion... I... we lose everything!  Our entire history! Every memory you ever gave me! (strangled) My wife... my daughters.
M'yrnn: (deadpan) So this is urgent?
J'onn: Yeah. Oh yeah.
M'yrnn: I know what will solve this problem.
J'onn: (desperately) What? What? What?
M'yrnn: A nice hot cup of c'off'ee!
J'onn: (confused) What?!
M'yrnn: I will stay for one.
(J'onn stands there, blinking as M'yrnn moves to make the coffee.)

(Lena, Alex and Supergirl are questioning Eve Teschmacher's cousin, Bitsie.)
Lena: Were you sick at all, Bitsie?
Bitsie: Me? Healthy as a horse. Why?
Lena: Oh, just something Eve said about a cousin with cancer and two daughters.
(Bitsie holds a forced smile as the oven timer goes off.)
Bitsie: My blood orange cake! Want some?
Supergirl: I can never turn down cake! (whispered) She's lying. Her heart is as fast as a hummingbird's.
Lena: (quietly) Yeah. I think so too.
(Bitsie straightens up from before the oven. She is holding a hot cake pan in her bare hands.)
Supergirl: Uh- Bitsie?  Your... your hands?
(Bitsie looks down and realizes her mistake. She drops the cake pan and begins badly acting like she is in pain.)
Alex: Your hands should be scalded. They're not even red.
Lena: You were sick. You were on hospice. Eve cured you with the serum I made for James. She was here.
Bitsie: I - I want you out of my aunt's house!
(Bitsie pounds the marble kitchen counter, which cracks under her fist. All three women look at her expectantly, clearly not buying any of this act anymore.)
Bitsie: (innocently) I drink a lot of milk?

(Eve Teschmacher and the Red Daughter, dressed as technicians walk through an underground service tunnel.)
Eve Teschmacher (exaggerated, as if speaking to a child): Okay! When YOU, get the signal, go THAT WAY, exactly 900 meters.
Red Daughter: (annoyed) I speak English better than you.

J'onn: Everything I did, I did in the name of peace.
M'yrnn:You killed him.
J'onn: He was a killer!
M'yrnn: Then so are you.
J'onn: Well, what would you have me do? Sit around and pray all day while the world around me burns, like you did on Mars?!
M'yrnn: (evenly) At least I didn't run.


Continuity

The episode opens with Alex leading a DEO team into Lena Luthor's office. They find a drugged Lena and a letter from Lex Luthor, addressed to Lena, left behind by Miss Teschmacher.

The letter to Lena berates her for betraying Lex and testifying against him and expresses his disappointment that she was so easy to fool, first by working Miss Tessmacher into her trust and then by manipulating her into perfecting the Harun-El cure. He warns her not to come after him because he may not be so sentimental as to let her live next the next time they meet.

Lena tries to tell Alex something but Alex tells her to just focus on resting.

J'onn searched the entire South Pacific but could find on sign of Lex or his helicopter.

Kara makes reference to Superman being off-planet.

J'onn tries to cast a psychic net to locate Lex. Instead, he hears the voice of his father and passes out.

J'onn says he has newfound clarity as to who he is not, but fears he no longer knows who he is.

There is an ancient Martian story about a race of shape-shifters whose planet was destroyed. That had to constantly change shape to survive but ultimately forgot what they truly looked like and who they had been.

J'onn decides to try and use the staff of his father to contact his spirit for advice.

James is released from the hospital. He got a clean bill of health but still seems to be jumpy about loud noises.

Kelly Olsen is a psychologist specializing in trauma treatment.

President Baker is moving ahead with the repeal of the Alien Amnesty Act now that everyone in the world is distracted by Lex Luthor's escape from prison.

Supergirl goes to the DEO to offer he help and brings donuts with her.

Kara says that Lex Luthor usually retaliates within 48 hours of a prison escape.

Col. Haley is fond of cinnamon crullers.

Col. Haley has ordered most of the DEO personnel to Washington D.C., by order of President Baker, to act as extra security during the ceremony repealing the Alien Amnesty Act, specifically to counter unrest and protests by alien rights groups.

According to Col. Haley, the FBI, CIA, the US Marshalls and possibly US Navy SEAL Teams 1-6 are currently assigned to the manhunt for Lex Luthor. In fact, every law-enforcement agency except the DEO seems to be involved.

Supergirl informs them that Lex Luthor now has superpowers.

Col. Haley agrees to monitor the operation in DC, freeing Alex and Brainiac-5 up to assist Supergirl.

Alex suggests that she should talk to Lena Luthor about Eve Teschmacher given her rocky history with Supergirl.

Kara gives Alex a Superman signal watch so she can summon her directly if she needs help.

Supergirl tells Brainiac-5 that Nia is at the Fortress of Solitude, trying to dream up a lead on Luthor.

Supergirl returns Brainiac-5's Legion flight ring.

M'yrnn shows up at J'onn's office in the flesh, as he is meditating trying to commune with M'yrnn's spirit.

M'yrnn says that J'onn's office reminds him of the library at the University of Z'onn Z'orr.

M'yrnn says that he returned in the flesh because J'onn failed and he is taking the Sacred Symbols back.

J'onn passes out again as M'yrnn takes the symbols, now manifested as a vessel on J'onn's table, away.

Lena leaves the hospital and visits Lillian Luthor in prison.

Lillian says Lena was prone to migraines as a child.

Lillian is aware of who Eve Teschmacher is and mocks her for following Lex like a love-sick puppy.

Lillian says that Lena's friends will abandon her once they find out what she did to try and save Lex and that she'll be all alone again.

Alex brings Lena in to help in the manhunt for Lex. Lena isn't happy about working with Supergirl, but says that finding Lex is more important than her grudge.

Lena goes with Alex and Supergirl to meet Eve's elderly aunt, Mary Tessmacher, who lives in National City and is the only family Eve has in the city. Eve apparently visited her every Sunday.

Ben Lockwood has a meeting with a Senator Grandbury, who informs him that she changed her mind and is voting against the repeal. Her justification is that denying aliens with superpowers basic rights might lead to an all-out war with humanity.

Lockwood suggests the Senator should fear the common man more than aliens. She doesn't buy it.

M'yrnn stays because J'onn passed out. He eventually agreed to stay and listen to J'onn's problems for one cup of coffee.

Mary Teschmacher is revealed to be on vacation in Florida. Her house and plants are being taken care of by Bitsie Teschmacher, who claims to be Eve' s favorite cousin and bowling partner at family reunions. Bitsie has twin daughters who are currently at camp.

Bitsie Teschmacher says she hasn't seen Eve in months.

Lena remembers from 407 that Eve said the she had a cousin with cancer with two daughters who was in hospice care. Bitsie shrugs this off and says she's as healthy as a horse.

Supergirl determines Bitsie Teschmacher is lying because her heart is racing like a hummingbird's.

It is revealed that Bitsie was given the Harun-El cure after she accidentally takes a cake pan out of the oven without protecting her hands and breaks a kitchen counter by pounding it, insisting that she's perfectly normal.

Bitsie affirms that Eve cured her cancer but insists that she is a good person who could never be involved with Lex Luthor. She says that Eve came to her and cured her recently, while on the run from the police, risking getting caught to save her life.

Eve had a secret lab at National City University.

Eve and the Red Daughter are seen dressed as technicians working in an access tunnel.

Kelly Olsen says she could fit ten of her apartments into James' office at CatCo.

Kelly gives her brother referrals to other trauma psychiatrists in Central City.

Lex Luthor tried to kill James Olsen on eight occasions.

James says the only time Kelly ever visited him was when he was in the hospital and she could tell him what to do.

Eve's lab at National City University is lead-lined.

Supergirl discovers Harun-El inside a safe in Eve's lab.

Lena confesses that it was hers and that she synthesized more after giving all of the original samples to Alura Zor-El.

Supergirl is angry about what Lena did but Alex points out that Lena's work has saved lives, including James'.

Kara admits she was wrong and says that she is just stressed out by the thought of failing to protect the world in Superman's absence. She apologizes to Lena for judging her. The three agree to let bygones be bygones.

Lena finds blueprints of Lillian Luthor's prison in Eve's lab.

Eve's computer password is ILoveLex.

Even and Lex revived Otis using the Cadmus Metallo protocol. They had five failed test-subjects before bringing him back, one of whom was likely transformed into the robot guarding Eve's lab.

Alex and Lena are able to destroy the new Metallo with an improvised grenade.

Brainiac-5 is given the Kryptonite hart of Metallo.

Supergirl finds a Cadmus-13 pistol in Eve's lab. This is the same type of pistol that shot James. Brainiac-5 later confirms that it is the gun that was used to shoot James. This suggests that Eve Teschmacher was the shooter, which makes sense as she could have gotten into CatCo relatively unnoticed without raising suspicion.

Lena, Alex and Supergirl puzzle out that Lex was behind the plot to shoot James and, quite likely, behind the creation of the Children of Liberty.

Lena says that she will talk to her mother in prison and try and get more information from her on Lex's plans or what Otis has been doing.

Supergirl says that she will go to Washington DC to ask Ben Lockwood about his connections to Lex Luthor.

J'onn says that he is the Martian Manhunter and that it was a mistake for him to try and take up his father's role as a priest.

J'onn says that he can take the sacred symbols of the Green Martian religion to the Desert of T'ozz - the place where H'ronmeer first imparted them to the Martians, They can lie dormant there until someone worthy comes to claim them.

M'yrnn reveals that he is just an extension of J'onn's memories of his father and that they have not really been talking.  J'onn says he realizes that, but says it was still good to see his father again.

Kara tells James that Eve was the one who shot him.

The Alien Amnesty Act was appealed, thanks to Senator Grandbury changing her mind.

At the press conference where Senator Grandbury announces her vote, Eve Teschmacher is briefly visible in the crowd of people behind the Senator after her image inducer briefly fails.

Lena shows Lillian the blueprints that Supergirl found. She points out that Lex wrote out the notation for Lillian's cell in red ink - his subtle notation for marking people needed to die in his plans. This means that he was coming for Lillian, not to break her out of prison, but to kill her because she knew something that could be used to track him.

Ben Lockwood is revealed to be ignorant of why Senator Grandbury changed her vote. When he asks why she changed her mind, she glances at the disguised Eve Teschmacher, and tells Lockwood to just take the win.

James attends the signing ceremony at the White House, among the many photographers allowed in to shoot the ceremony.

Supergirl is held captive by a Lexo-Suit after falling into a trap planed by Eve Tesmacher.

Red Daughter attacks the White House, dressed as Supergirl.

James has a PTSD attack in the middle of Red Daughter attacking the White House.

President Baker declares Martial Law in response to the attack and declares Supergirl public enemy number one.

Alex says there is no way Supergirl was responsible for the attack. Col. Haley agrees.

James tells Kelly that he does need help dealing with his trauma.

J'onn leaves the planet to return to Mars, to take the sacred symbols back. As he is doing this, he misses Kara's call to check up on him.

Lena and Alex call Supergirl with the signal watch, to let her know that they believe she is innocent and will help her prove it.


Location

Washington DC


The Bottom Line

Despite the title, this episode has almost nothing to do with Eve Teschmacher and everything to do with tending to all the subplots that have been neglected over the past two weeks while Lex Luthor was being established. It does this effectively, though there is a bit of irony in the finale, that Kara should find herself going into a search for the truth alongside her two best friends, whom she has lied to intensively in the name of a greater good. This is a far more compelling conflict than everything involving the Children of Liberty and the increasingly erratic President Baker. Thankfully, there's nothing in this episode that is glaringly bad either, apart from the James subplot, which is somehow made even worse by the inclusion of James' annoying sister Kelly.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 4, Episode 16 - The House of L

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




Plot

With Lex Luthor free from custody, it is now clear that he's been planning his escape for sometime and he's been far from idle while imprisoned. This flashback episode shows how Lex has been influencing the lives of his sister and Supergirl over the past few years and what role Lex has to play regarding the mysterious Supergirl clone now controlled by the Russian government.


Influences

Superman: The Movie (The trio of Lex, Ms. Teschmacher and Otis),  Superman: Red Son and DC Bombhsells (concept of Kryptonians raised by Russians during Cold War) and the Superman comics leading into Death of Superman, where Lex Luthor introduced the Matrix Supergirl to Earth culture and trained her to work for him.


Goofs

How did Ms. Teschmacher justify taking off from work to fly to Kaznia multiple times?

We still don't have an explanation for how Otis faked his death in 504.


Performances

Jon Cryer is pitch-perfect playing Lex Luthor as a smooth manipulator. You almost believe his sob stories to win over the Kara clone, even as we know they're totally untrue.

Melissa Benoist does an equally fantastic job playing the Kara clone and capturing her anger and confusion as she learns Lex has not been giving her the whole story.


Artistry

The opening sequence, in which Lex utilizes a drone which transforms into a Lexo Suit to lure Supergirl into a fight and reveal that he has powers now is well executed in terms of its visual effects.

The sequence of Lex exiting the courtroom to Frank Sinatra's "My Way" is another example of brilliant staging and perfectly matching music to mood. The song becomes a connecting theme for Lex as the episode continues.

The script for this episode is very intelligently written, even ignoring the literary and historical references. It explains a lot of what seems to be plot holes from earlier in the season (i.e. how the Kaznians just happened to have a room capable of protecting their clone from the Kryptonite seeding the atmosphere).


Super Trivia

In the opening sequence, Lex Luthor fights Supergirl on the roof of The Daily Planet. This is the newspaper for which Clark Kent famously worked in the original Superman comics. The fight ends with Lex bringing the globe on top of the Daily Planet building down on Supergirl.

After being convicted, Lex Luthor is sent to Stryker's Island. In the Superman comics, Styker's Island Penitentiary is a maximum security prison in Metropolis, located in the West River. It has a special facility used to contain metahuman criminals and has been the home of Lex Luthor during his stints in prison. It is modeled on the real world Riker's Island prison, which is located in New York City in the East River.

Lex makes reference to Eve Teschmacher being "a Manson girl," This is a nod to famous cult leader Charles Manson, who acquired a large number of groupies after being sent to prison.

When the Warden of Stryker's visits Lex to inform he he has a phone call from Kaznia, Lex first asks him how his husband liked the court-side Knights tickets. The Warden says it made him "feel like Nicholson." This is a nod to actor Jack Nicholson, who had standing court-side tickets to watch the L.A. Lakers basketball team play for many years.

What's curious about this is that, in the DC Comics Universe, Metropolis doesn't have a basketball team called the Metropolis Knights. Like New York City, Metropolis does have two baseball teams (The Monarchs and The Meteors) and two football teams (The Metros and The OTHER Metropolis Meteors). Their professional basketball team is the Metropolis Generals and their professional hockey team is the Metropolis Mammoths. Gotham City, it should be noted, has a professional sports franchise called the Gotham Knights. However, they are a baseball team rather than a basketball team.

Lex made arrangements for the inmates at Stryker's Island to be fed lobster, endearing himself to his fellow prisoners. Lex dismisses the Warden when he thanks him for this, saying that lobster is "18th century peasant food, only fit for the indentured and the incarcerated." This was the general attitude regarding lobster until World War II, when it was repackaged as a delicacy for the rich after it became scarcer due to a lack of fishing vessels and the materials needed to catch it. Before that, lobster was the most common source of protein for the working poor in coastal cities in America.

The Supergirl logo in the stinger for this episode has the name "Super Girl" written in Russian and shows the Red Son Superman logo rather than the usual House of El shield.

One of the books Lex arranges for the Kara clone to read is Thus Spoke Zarathrustra by Friedrich Nietzsche. This was the book where Nietzsche proposed that the future belonged to a paragon of virtue he called a "superman" which would go on to inspire the name of a certain superhero.

The Supergirl clone uses the alias Linda Lee while wearing a brunette wig to see America. In the classic Silver Age comics, Kara Zor-El used the same alias and disguise while she first came to earth and lived at the the Midvale Orphanage.

One of the rich men in the club who harass Linda Lee wears a pin that identifies him as working for AmerTek, whom Lex identifies as an unscrupulous company. In the Superman comics, AmerTek was a corrupt military weapons manufacturer who employed John Henry Irons before he became the superhero Steel. The company has also appeared on Arrow and The Flash and was depicted as being equally corrupt.


Technobabble

Lex has a drone he can control with his watch which can transform into a full Lexo-Suit of armor, capable of flight.

Lex has a hologram of himself set up in his cell to hide his absence.

When pondering things that might have caused the Kara clone's illness, Lex considers that the Black Kryptonite may have caused unchecked cell growth, which might be cancer-symptomatic. He also says it could be a telomere problem. He goes on to say they must stabilize the senescence, before Eve Teschmacher finally gets his attention.


Dialogue Triumphs

Judge: Mr. Luthor, you are charged with murder, ecoterrorism, and crimes against humanity. Since you have chosen to represent yourself, have you anything to say before I render the verdict of this court?
Lex: (standing up) Superman made me do it.
(The audience mutters as the judge gavels for silence.)
Lex: This is a paradigm shift. Aliens are among us. And for the rest of human history, there will only ever be "before Superman" and "after." I am protecting mankind from an extinction event. And if this pearl-clutching jury of my... (voices trails off, hesitating, finally saying the word) peers... wants to put me behind bars for it, they are welcome to try. But know this. I will always have my thumb on the scales.
Judge: Alexander Joseph Luthor, (clears throat) You've been found guilty on all counts and will serve 31 consecutive (coughs a bit more harshly) life sentences.
(The judge starts to cough uncontrollably.)
Lex: Maybe we should make it 32?
(The lawyers for the prosecution and the jury all start coughing as well, gasping for air.  James Olsen runs around the courtroom as if trying to figure out who to help first as Lena is ushered out of the room by her security detail. The bailiffs force Lex down, bending him over the table for the defense team. Luthor closes his eyes and smiles wickedly.)

Eve: Wow. (chuckles) Nice prison you got here.
Lex: It's for conjugal visits. But still, after this, it's back to concrete and iron.
Eve: Sounds lonely.
Lex: Stryker's is a Petri dish. Bottle city. I've even managed to teach some of the inmates chess. I like mentoring.
Eve: It's a waste. You're a once-in-a-generation mind and the only man standing between us and total annihilation. You know, I used to write you letters.
Lex: I read them. You're literate for a Manson girl.
Eve: You are not Manson. And for the record, I'm not just some girl. I've got degrees from Yale in literature and physics, and I am a former Junior Miss North Carolina.
Lex: I don't need your resume. (thoughtful) Although... I may know someone who does. Ms. Tessmacher...
Eve: Eve.
Lex: Ms. Tessmacher, I need you to do me a favor. What do you know about CatCo Magazine?
Eve: Their circulation's down?
Lex: Jimmy Olsen works there. He's been a thorn. But he's connected to the second Kryptonian. And I happen to know that Cat Grant needs a new assistant. A woman of your talents would have no problem finding a job there.
Eve: Consider it done. But you do know there's a lot more that I can do.
Lex: And you will. We're gonna make you undeniable.

Lex: Pennies from heaven, how does this happen?! Clone?
Eve: I think I know. It's called Harun-El. Black Kryptonite. It splits Kryptonians in two. Supergirl must have come into contact with it.
Lex: She's a blank slate. Doesn't share Supergirl's memories.
Eve: We don't know exactly how this works, yet.
Lex: (incredulous) "We"?
Eve: (calmly) It's Lena. And she has more.
Lex: Brava!
Eve: (smug) I told you I'd be more useful at L-Corp than CatCo.
Lex: And how is my darling sister?
Eve: Obsessed. About to have a breakthrough with the Harun-El. But she hasn't produced results yet.
Lex: See that she does.
(Lex enters into the back of a waiting car.)
Otis: So do I stay and hang with the Commies?
Lex: What? No, you're driving!
Otis: Oh, sure.
(Otis gets into the driver's seat as Eve takes a seat next to Lex.)
Otis: So what's the play?
Lex: Paper tigers.
Otis: (confused) Um...
Lex: (sighing) Chinese idiom. Paper tigers threaten, but are destroyed easily. Kaznia wants to move on the US. They're crazier than Russia. They wanna bring back the glory days of the Soviet Union.
Eve: So you wanna help them?
Lex: I don't care about their politics. Regimes change. Kings die. But if Kaznia attacks America, and I foil the attack, America will hail me as a hero. To do that, I'm gonna need patsies in both the East and the West. So, Otis, fetch your sister and find me a real American. Someone charismatic, a radical.
Otis: (grinning) I think I know just the guy, Mr. Luthor.
(Otis passes Lex one of Ben Lockwood's pamphlets.)
Otis: Name's Ben Lockwood, seems smart.
Lex: I'm glad someone does.
(Lex takes the pamphlet and flips through it, nodding as if to say "This has promise.")
Otis: Wait. Where are you going?
Lex: Back to Stryker's. Prison's the best alibi the world has yet devised. And I'm about to need a lot of alibis.

Lex: You've read that one more than the others. Gatsby. Why?
Kara Clone: (enthusiastic, but struggling to find the words in English) It's beautiful. Lush. I, uh... I think that's the word. The language. It's hard to even imagine the world that way.
Lex: (harshly) I didn't give it to you because it's pretty. This is a book about vapid, profligate fools. Money is always acquired at someone else's expense.
Kara Clone: (confused) But you have money? You must. The way you come and go.
Lex: I do. Because it is their weapon. The way their world works. Read it again.

(Lex is rambling to himself about how to save the Kara clone.)
Eve: Lex!
Lex: What? Oh, right. The Harun-El. It made her. It might stabilize her. Bring it to me.
Eve: It's not ready yet. Lena's trial still has a 100 percent mortality rate.
Lex: Then I'll solve it.
Eve: The girl is dying!
Lex: What do you suggest I do?! She is everything I have worked for! She's a... a miracle. The skies opened up and gave her to me. I...I can't lose her.
Eve: I have an idea. But you're not gonna like it. What we -
Lex: You're right! I have to give myself cancer.
(Lex starts to walk rapidly down the hallway with Ms. Teschmacher racing to keep up with him.)
Eve: Whoa, whoa, whoa. That is not what I was gonna say!
Lex: No, you were going to tell me that I need to work with Lena. And you're right. Except she won't buy it. She'll never work with me. But she will... save me.
(Lex opens the door to the radiation chamber and hits the button before closing the door.)
Eve: No, Lex. No!
(Ms. Teschmacher watches helplessly as Lex begins to scream as his body is bombarded with invisible energy.)

Lena: I'm not like you. I wanna help people.
Lex: I'm people! And you're using the black rock to make super soldiers. Who is that helping?

Kara Clone: Supergirl acts on her emotions. It's selfish, ugly. I will not be her. I will be me. I will be disciplined. I will follow you and destroy her.
Lex: Do you remember that story about Alexander the Great and his father?
Kara Clone: I remember.
Lex: You thought I was Alexander. But I'm Philip. I only get one lifetime. But you're forever. My gift to the world, my legacy.
(Lex reaches over and opens up a case.)
Lex: (In Russian) My Red Daughter.
(The Kara clone sits up and looks into the case. In it is a grey uniform with a stylized symbol on the chest. It has the same five-sided shield as the House of El symbol, but instead has the hammer and sickle of the old Soviet Union.)


Continuity

Lex has developed super-strength and enhanced durability thanks to the Harun-El cure.

Lex went on trial for 31 counts of Murder, Eco-terrorism and Crimes Against Humanity in the spring of 2016. This would have coincided with the time in between the end of Supergirl Season One and the start of Supergirl Season Two.

Both James Olsen and Lena Luthor testified at Lex Luthor's trial.

Lena was wearing a wire during the flashback sequence in 415 where Lex turned the sun red.

Lex was convicted of all charges. He presumably faced further chargers for Murder and/or Attempted Murder after he somehow managed to poison the judge, jury and prosecutors at his trial within seconds of being convicted.

Eve Teschmacher was a fan of Lex Luthor's work who went to the trial hoping to see him.

As Lex was taken away after being convicted, she was approached by Otis Graves.

Ms. Teschmacher later visits Lex in prison, where he recruits her to apply for the job as Cat Grant's personal assistant so that she can spy on James Olsen and Supergirl for him. This is where we first saw Eve on the show, having just started the job in 201.

Eve Teschmacher attended Yale and earned degress in Literature and Physics. This reaffirms her statement in 321 that she studied Nuclear Physics at Yale.

Eve Teschmacher was also Junior Miss North Carolina.

Lex carves a relief of Hannibal crossing the Alps into his cell wall over the course of two and a half years.

The Warden of Stryker's Island has a husband who is a basketball fan. Lex arranged for him to get court-side seats for a team called the Knights.

Lex also made arrangements for the inmates of Stryker's Island to be fed lobster.

Lex is contacted by the Minister of Defense for the nation of Kaznina. This takes place "six months ago", sometime in the Fall of 2018, before the events of 401.

Lex Luthor can speak Russian.

Lex knows the home address of the mother of Stryker Island's warden, the church she plays Bingo at every Friday night and the name of  her most heated rival. Showing this convinces the warden to look the other way when Lex leaves prison for 72 hours to travel to Kaznia.

Lex is shown to be playing four games of chess simultaneously with other inmates. He is able to Checkmate all of them at the same time.

"Nine months ago", shortly after the events of 323, the Kaznian military discovered the clone of Supergirl made by the Harun-El. They recognized her immediately and confirmed that the real Supergirl was in America.

The only word the Supergirl clone would say at first was Alex. She didn't seem to have any verbal language skills but did react violently to a soldier who tried to touch her.

The Supergirl clone was personally taught the Russian language and geography by the Kaznian Minister of Defense. This process took up about three months. It is shown here that while her verbal skills are limited she knows how to read English well enough to look words up in a Russian/English dictionary.

The first time the Supergirl clone is taken outside and trained in the use of her powers, she is startled by a sudden gunshot and activates her X-Ray and Heat vision, killing several soldiers before she is swarmed and tasered into submission. This prompts the Minister of Defense to contact Lex Luthor.

While Lex is en route to Kaznia, the Supergirl clone hears a boy calling for help. She flies to his aid and discovers his home being robbed by three men. She kills the three men. When Lex arrives, he finds the clone hugging the boy, clearly shaken by what she has done.

When Lex first speaks to the Supergirl clone, he says that he is Lex. She asks if he is Alex and he agrees.

Lex is accompanied by Otis Graves and Eve Teschmacher.

Lex agrees to teach the clone how to use her powers and train her to hate who the Kaznians want her to hate for an undisclosed sum of money. Otis notes that Lex isn't as liquid as he used to be.

The soldier who tried to touch the Kara clone before is shot after Lex instructs him to be removed. When the Minister of Defense says he can have the soldier re-stationed in the base where the clone, Lex points out that the clone can see through walls.

When the soldiers is shot, Eve Teschacmacher flinches and Lex tells her not to do that in the future.

The clone says that the name "Alex" is all she remembers apart from how to speak some English and read it somewhat better. Lex lies and says that he and the clone are good friends. She does not know anything about Krypton or why she has her powers.

Lex says that he will tell Kara everything but first he must go for a time. He gives her a package of Chocos and tells her that he will send books for her to study and that he expects her to be speaking English better when he returns.

Eve Teschmacher is the one who figures out that the Supergirl clone must have been created when Supergirl came into contact with Harun-El in 323. She tells Lex about how Harun-El is a black Kryptonite that has the ability to split Kryptonians in two but that Lena thinks it might have other properties and us experimenting with it in secret.

Eve Teschmacher smugly says that she told Lex she'd be more valuable to him as a spy on Lena Luthor at L-Corp than watching Jimmy Olsen at CatCo. Eve started working for Lena after the events of 321.

Lex's ultimate plan is to help the Kaznian's turn the Supergirl clone into the weapon they want but then set it up so he can stop that weapon, causing the public to see that he was right all along about the dangers posed by the Kryptonians and other aliens and hail him as a hero.

Otis suggests that Ben Lockwood might fit the role of a patriotic patsy who can be manipulated to serve Lex's agenda in the United States, showing Lex one of Lockwood's pamphlets We saw Otis pick up this pamphlet in a flashback in 403, which took place during the events of 323.

This confirms that Lex was the mastermind behind setting up the Children of Liberty, who sent Otis and Mercy Graves to Ben Lockwood in the flashback sequences of 403.

The books that Lex sends the Supergirl clone include The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thus Spoke Zarathrustra by Friedrich Nietzsche, Course in General Linguistics by Ferdinand De Saussure, Edward Gibson's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy by Karl Marx.

Lex learned both chess and the Russian language from the chess-master Anatoly Karpov as a boy.

Lex quizzes the clone on Philip of Macedon - the father of Alexander The Great, who accomplished far more than his father ever had and conquered the world. The clone guesses correctly that Lex was named for Alexander the Great and admired him.

The Great Gatsby is the clone's favorite book. She likes the rich language and descriptions of the beauty of the 1920s. Lex says that is not why he gave it to her. He wanted to show her how wasteful and greedy the idle rich were. She says that Lex must be rich and he agrees, but claims he only uses his money as means to an end to counter corrupt elites and those who abuse their power.

The Kara Clone begins visiting the boy she saved for tea on a regular basis. His name is Mikhail.

Mikhail's mother is away working much of the time.

Mikhail's father was a bad man who abandoned them.

Lex visits Mikhail with the Kara Clone on one of these visits. He says that he had a bad father too, but his father stayed.

It is during this visit that the Children of Liberty plot to seed the sky with Kryptonite from 402 is set into motion. Lex was prepared, however, and built a chamber that would protect the Kara clone. It is here that he reveals that she is an alien from Krypton, explains how Kryptonite can harm her and that there is another Kryptonian, Supergirl, who believes in the greed of the nations that oppose Kaznia.

When the Kara clone is released from her safety chamber in 404, Lex agrees to show her America and tell her more about Supergirl.

Lex refers to Supergirl as the clone's sister.

The Kara Clone draws a parellel between herself and Supergirl and Lex and Lena, identifying her as the usurper who took what was owed to another who just wanted to help people.

Lex arranges for the Kara Clone to work in a ritzy club under the name Linda Lee. This allows her to see first-hand the piggish behavior of American captains of industry.

Lex Luthor is aware of Supergirl's secret identity and breaks into Kara Danvers' apartment so the Kara Clone can see the "opulent" lifestyle of her sister.

While looking at Kara's kitchen and being stunned at how much food is saved for one person, the clone sees a photo of Alex Danvers with Kara and sees the name Alex on a score-card from game night pinned to the fridge.

The Kara clone is forced to impersonate Kara when Alex shows up at her apartment to water her plants. This reveals that this scene took place while Kara was on vacation in Smallville, during the events of Elseworlds.

After learning that Supergirl has an Alex of her own, the clone reads Kara's journal instead of immediately returning to Kaznia. Through it, she learns of Kara's life and how she befriended Lena Luthor.

The Kara Clone goes to L-Corp to see Lena and impersonates Kara to talk to her. She runs into Eve Teschmacher, whom she tells that from what she has seen America is unsavory but it is not as bad as Lex told her. She also says that Supergirl seems to want to help people and has compassion and friends like Lena. She wants to know how Supergirl and Lena could be friends, based on what Lex told her of his treacherous sister.

Eve Teschmacher reports this to Lex in prison, who comes up with a plan to win back control of the Kara clone by killing Mikhail with a missile attack.

Eve Teschmacher sneaks onto the USS Yosemite - a US Navy ship on maneuvers near Kaznia - and launches a missile which destroys Mikhal's home after Otis sets up a receiver to attract it.

The Kara clone goes on a rampage and nearly destroys the USS Yosemite.

Lex stops the Kara Clone, but admonishes her for being undisciplined and weak.

Otis is revealed to have saved Mikhails' life. He tells him that he was dead once but instructs Mikhail to play dead if he ever sees a bald man.

We see the clip of the Kara Clone training from 411 where she developed the nose-bleed and passed out.

Lex is contacted after this happened and informed that the clone is dying of an unknown illness.

Lex concludes the only thing that can save the clone is the Harun-El, which means he needs to help Lena finish her work. Since there is no way Lena will work with him, he concludes he must goad her into saving him. This leads Lex to go into the radioactive chamber he built to test Kara's invulnerability, and exposing himself to enough radiation to give himself cancer.

Lex tells Lena about his illness, confirming what Lena said in 415 about Lex telling her he was dying of cancer six weeks earlier.

Lionel Luthor was an alcoholic.

Lex uses a blood transfusion of his own blood to cure to treat the Kara clone. He apologizes for what he said before. She in turn apologizes for losing control of her emotions. She declares that she will be more logical in the future and follow Lex's lead, not letting her heart guide her as Supergirl does.

Lex gives the clone a title - Red Daughter - and declares that she will be his legacy - the new Alexander who will conquer the world and create a new era of peace.

Supergirl tells Alex and James that Lex Luthor has escaped.

Alex says she will find Lena. She tells Supergirl to find J'onn and then go look for Lex.

Ms. Teschmacher is seen dropping Lena off at her office and leaving a letter behind on her desk.

The Red Daughter is seen hovering over an American city as the episode closes.


Location

Metropolis - The Roof Of The Daily Planet - Spring 2019 (Today)
Metropolis - Spring 2016 (Three Years Ago)
Stryker's Island - Spring 2016 (Three Years Ago)
Stryker's Island - Fall 2018 (Six Months Ago)
Kaznia - Fall 2018 (Six Months Ago)
Kaznia - Summer 2018 (Nine Months Ago)
National City - Winter 2018 (Four Months Ago)
Kaznia - Winter 2018 (Four Months Ago)
Kaznia - Winter 2019 (Three Months Ago)
National City - Five Weeks Ago
Kaznia - Spring 2019 (Today)


The Bottom Line

A powerful episode that redefines the series and the stakes of the season. While the Red Daughter storyline has been handled clumsily before now, this episode explains away the missteps and inspires a surprising degree of sympathy for its villains. The Red Daughter is shown to have been manipulated from the first moment of her creation. Eve Teschmacher is shown to have been manipulated by Lex Luthor, even if she is more ruthless than we thought. Even Otis is shown to have a softer side. And you almost feel sympathy for Jon Cryer's Lex in those moments where it seems like he's slipping a little truth into his sob stories, such as when he mentions his own bad father and looks uncomfortable at the honest emotion. Almost.