Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 20 - Kara

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

Plot

Familiar faces return to National City to help stop Lex and Nyxly for good, as Alex and Kelly prepare to walk down the aisle. Meanwhile, Kara wonders what to do with her life now that she's left CatCo to focus on protecting the planet as Supergirl.

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

The headlines on the TV showing that Supergirl just restored humanity's hope appear seconds after it happened.

It isn't explained just why Lex's portal to the Phantom Zone closes when he says it can't be closed.


Performances

Melissa Benoist and Jeremey Jordan get a great duet together at the wedding.

Honestly, the entire ensemble nail it in the show's final hour.


Artistry

The use of music in this episode is perfect.


Super Trivia

The episode makes a blatant reference to the 1984 Supergirl movie, with Helen Slater, who played Kara Zor-El in the original film and plays Dr. Eliza Danvers in the Arrowverse, commenting that you'd think she was a Kryptonian in another life as she joins in the fight against Lex Luthor and Nyxly. 


Technobabble

Brainiac-5's Legion crown allows him to psychically communicate anything he sees and hears with as many people as necessary. However, he can only use this to share the message. He cannot use it to make them take in the message.

Lena has a spell that can enable people to hear a message with an open heart, but it doesn't last long.

Lena casts a spell to trap and unmake the garbage monster.


Dialogue Triumphs

Supergirl: I've been driven by this idea that people need to be rescued. That it was my job, my mission... to save them. I've believed it was my calling to be... Earth's hero. It's just so clear to me now. We don't need to be heroes. We need to be partners. And we need to actively empower every single person to be the hero of their own life.

Supergirl: At this moment, villains are tapping into your collective life force. They're trying to siphon your truth, hope, courage, dreams, your humanity. They're trying to vanquish your destiny. They think that you're helpless. What they don't realize is that your power is innate. It's always been within you. I know there are so many factors that can cause people to not feel their power but I'm here to remind you that none of those things hold a candle... to the power every single one of you possesses within. I thought I was supposed to save everyone. But I see now, there's only one way for this world to heal and flourish: By all of us working together as a team. When each of us contributes our unique gifts to the world with a full heart, together, we will shine. The power of one individual is enough to move mountains. If we can all tap into the deepest truths of our soul, and own our magnificence, together, we will defeat the powers of darkness. Together... we will be unstoppable. Together... we will create a better world.

Supergirl: People all over the world were inspired to empower themselves and each other. But that wasn't an all-purpose cure for the problems on this planet. Good feelings don't last forever. So we have to do the work every day. We can't let this recent victory go to waste. But if we do keep the fight up, we can accomplish the best in all of us. Not as vigilantes... but as civil servants. Not as superheroes... but as friends.

Brainiac-5: You'll be in my dreams, Nia. You've always been the girl of my dreams. I love you, Nia Nal.
Nia: I love you, too. 

(Kara tells Alex about her job offer from Cat Grant.)
Alex: Kara, that's your dream job. I mean, I'm so excited for you.
Kara: I'm not gonna take it. I'm not taking it.
Alex: Wait, wait, wait, wait. What? What? What am I missing here?
Kara: Ever since we defeated Lex and Nyxly and started the work of empowering people, I've been amazed at how you and all of our friends are flourishing. You guys are living your dreams. Somehow I feel... deflated.
Alex: Accept Cat's offer. Maybe that'll give you a sense of purpose.
Kara: Alex, I quit CatCo because my attention was split. I was never able to really do my best because I was always sneaking off to be Supergirl, and that hasn't changed. If anything, it's gonna be worse because I will have much more responsibility now.
Alex: Your responsibilities as Supergirl have changed because you're no longer shouldering that burden of protecting the planet on your own. Maybe there's a world where you can do both.
Kara: Doing both will always require me to lie about who I am and where I'm going. Who am I now? Everybody is so empowered. And I feel less powerful than ever.
Alex: Well, I wish that I could give you all the answers, but unfortunately, you are the only one that can figure this out. But I, for one, I'm not worried. Because you are amazing. And every time you've come to a crossroad you have always chosen the right path.
Kara: What would I do without you?

(Nia is looking sad. Suddenly, a familiar voice calls out from behind her.)
Brainiac-5: Excuse me, miss? You don't happen to have a plus-one to this event, do you?
(Nia turns around. Brainiac-5 is there in a suit.)
Nia: What are you doing here? What about the...
Brainiac-5: Space-time continuum? The Big Brain? Yes, yes, these are valid concerns. Logical concerns. Sprock logic. I love you, Nia. I love you more than I've ever loved anything. I've devoted my entire life to the pursuit of protecting people, but when I returned to the future, I realized that the pursuit felt hollow. The most important thing to me is devoting myself to you.
Nia: But what about the future? What if us being together does destroy the future?
Brainiac-5: That's the thing about the future. It hasn't been written yet. 

(Cat Grant has called to ask why Kara hasn't taken her job offer.)
Kara: Actually, I'm at my sister's wedding right now, and her life is just blossoming. She's fully at home with who she is, and what she stands for, and it's amazing. You can feel it. - I just feel...
Cat: Bifurcated?
Kara: Yes.
Cat: Inauthentic?
Kara: Well, yeah.
Cat: You know, it reminds me of a quote from an old English lord. "Secrecy is the badge of fraud." And he should know, by the way, because he used to feed his hunting dogs these little baby foxes for lunch. He was a monster. But nevertheless, there is no mystery here.
Kara: What do you mean?
Cat: That it doesn't take Freud to see that you have a secret and it's obstructing your life. And it's not serving you anymore, so screw it.
Kara: Not that simple, Ms. Grant. You can't understand. I don't...
Cat: Oh. You're Supergirl. La-di-da.
(Kara's jaw drops.)
Kara: You... You knew?
Cat: Please, those spectacles disguised you as much as a pair of Groucho Marx glasses, and you should have just added the bushy eyebrows and the moustache. Well, I heard your speech here, in Colombia. Well... "Supergirl's" speech. And "Supergirl" told the people that they should become empowered and that they should take care of themselves. And I'm wondering why that message doesn't apply to you?
Kara: You have a good point.
Cat: Oh, Ker-rah, I always have a point. Now, let's take a look at everything that Supergirl and Kara Danvers have accomplished separately. And then let's imagine what you could do if you became one integrated, authentic being.
Kara: I don't know if I'm ready.
Cat: Ker-rah, you need to stop making excuses, and you need to decide what your course will be. Now, there is important work to be done, and I hope you'll join me. But more than that, I hope that you will choose to become your full self, because that would really be something to see. And it would be interesting because this is boring.
Kara: (breathes deeply) Thank you, Ms. Grant. I really needed to hear that.
Cat: I believe in you, I always have. 

Lena: Hey, what's wrong?
Kara: I'm supposed to be the strongest person on earth, but I think I'm actually the weakest.
Lena: What are you talking about?
Kara: Ms. Grant... My glasses... I give speeches inspiring people to live their best lives. But she's right. I am too afraid to live my own.
Lena: No, that's not true, Kara.
Kara: It is. My entire life, I've hid behind these glasses. It's gotten in the way of every job I've ever had, everything I've ever wanted to do, every relationship, every friendship.
Lena: Maybe we did have a bit of a bumpy road.
Kara: I think hiding who I am is the reason I couldn't pass the courage Gauntlet. I created Supergirl that night because the thought of saving my sister as myself was too terrifying.
Lena: Look, you've had your entire life, people telling you who you're supposed to be and that if you didn't hide your true self then the people would get hurt. I mean, it's tough to move beyond those type of core wounds. When Lillian told me she basically programmed the magic out of me as a child, I felt devastated. But I was devastated because I realized I didn't have a chance to grow up to be the person I was supposed to be. And I think it's the same for you. For me, it was always about protecting the Luthor name. You know, I went from trying to make that name stand for something good to try to be my true mother's daughter. My life was always framed by someone else. It wasn't until Lillian told me the truth that I realized I haven't been living my own life. And finally, now I am. And it feels amazing.
Kara: I don't even know what that would feel like for me. Connecting with someone as my whole self. To not be afraid to just be who I am.
Lena: It sounds like it could be empowering.
Kara: But what if I let myself just be who I am and someone gets hurt?
Lena: You can't always be our savior, Kara. You shine your light and inspire others to shine theirs. Your words, not mine. If somebody does come, if they try to mess with this family, then we will take them on together. El mayarah.
(Kara begins sobbing.)  
Lena: Hey, hey. It's okay.
Kara: Of all the friends I have ever had, you have pushed me the most. Challenged me the most.
(Kara hugs Lena tightly. Lena begins crying too.)
Lena: You've made me a better person. Thank you. 

Cat Grant: Hello, National City. You know her as Kara Danvers. CatCo's ace reporter and new editor-in-chief. But tonight, it is my great honor to introduce to you... Supergirl.
(The camera cuts to reveal Kara. She is not wearing her glasses. She smiles wide, whole and happy.)

Dialogue Disasters

Eliza: You'd think in another life I was a Kryptonian.
Alex: Only in the movies.

Continuity

As the episode opens, the color leaching from hopeless people problem is growing worse around the world.

Lex and Nyxly have not been identified as the two titans battling in National City.

Lillian says she is dying but she's at peace with that, but first she has to tell Lena that she knew what Lena and her mother were and that she pushed Lena towards science and had talismans put in the Luthor home that would blunt her natural powers. At the time she thought she was helping Lena.

Lilian says she wants to set Lena free and that she needs to fully own her power and forget about her and Lex and live her life the way she wants to.

Kara says she was driven by the idea that people needed to be rescued but now she sees they need to be partners. She says they need to empower people to help themselves - not wait for heroes to rescue them.

J'onn suggests that causing people to feel empowered may drain the power from the AllStone fragments Lex and Nxyly are wielding.

Kara says she'll make a speech to inspire people, but Brainiac-5 says they'll need to reach every person in the world at once for that to work.

Kelly points out that many traumatized people won't be able to work through their issues to 

Lena says that Lillian is dead and that she found closure with her before she passed.

Lex and Nyxly crash into National City Terminal. J'onn says this is an ideal place to contain them while Lena works her spell with Kara and Brainy.

Andrea, Secretary Brown, Mitch and Al are among the people shown hearing Supergirl's message.

Kara's speech causes the power of her AllStone fragment to drop to 20%

The SuperFriends confront Nyxly and Lex.

Nyxly summons a dragon (613) and the garbage monster from 608.

Lex summons the Parasite (206), Red Tornado (106), Ubergirl (last seen in L308) and Metallo (212).

Mon-El shows up and shields Kara from an energy-blast. He tells her that her speech made the history books.

Winn shows up in a Legion ship and defeats the dragon.

James Olsen shows up in his Guardian armor and helps Kelly fight Metallo.

Andrea uses her shadow powers to save Lena from Lex.

Brainiac-5 and Sentinel team to stop the Red Tornado and Parasite.

Nyxly summons a swarm of owls to fight Dreamer, but Eliza Danvers destroys them with a shotgun.

Mitch shows up with an alien gun... on the side of the heroes.

Kara takes out the Ubergirl.

Lex opens a portal to the Phantom Zone - one he says he can't be closed.

Orlando leads a mob of people to confront Lex. This causes the All-Stone fragments to lose even more power.

Lex sends the phantoms into the crowd, but they are attracted to Lex and Nyxly as they are the most afraid of everyone there. They are dragged into the Phantom Zone and the portal closes.

Brainiac-5, Dreamer, Kara, Andrea, Alex, Lena, Winn, J'onn, Kelly, Jimmy, and Mon-El attend William Dey's funeral. 

Jimmy is shown to have grown a goatee.

Andrea says she's going to set up a journalism award in William's name. She is later shown having established a journalism school named in his honor.

J'onn says he got a call from the President and Secretary Brown and that they've been given permission to reimagine the DEO as they see fit, with a focus on Extra-Normal rather than Extra-Terrestrial. 

Alex and Lena are worried about the bureaucracy the DEO involved, but Kara says it's a good idea.

Lena is shown establishing a new Lena Luthor Foundation.

Alex, Supergirl and J'onn are shown with Secretary Brown at the announcement of a new DEO.

Dreamer is shown opening an LGBTQ youth center with Orlando and Kelly.

Winn promises to return for Alex and Kelly's wedding. 

Mon-El says he won't be able to make it back due to the Legion having a lot on their plates due to the Big Brain situation. In fact, he says he doesn't think he'll ever return to the past again.

Mon-El says that Kara's speech changed the future inspiring people to be their own heroes.

Brainiac-5 says he can't stay for the wedding either, but tells Nia she will be in his dreams.

Three weeks after Winn, Mon-El and Brainiac-5 return to the future, Kara is shown preparing flowers for Alex and Kelly's wedding, which is said to be tomorrow.

Kara is ready to act to save a cat stuck in National City's oldest tree which is reported on the news but the situation is under control according to the reporter on the scene almost before Kara can take off her glasses.

Cat Grant calls Kara to rant about how selfish people are and how sunscreen is destroying the coral reefs. She still mispronounces Kara's name as Care-ah rather than Car-ah. 

Cat is on a Colombia beach saving sea turtles from garbage.

Cat called Kara to tell her that she just bought CatCo back from Andrea and that she's making Kara her new editor-in-chief. She says she'll be back to National City in two weeks and they will only be working on hard news from now on.

Alex says her caterer broke her arm and they just had to get a replacement at the last minute.

Kara says she doesn't want to take the job because she has to focus on being Supergirl and she was never able to do her best work as a writer because of her split focus.

Alex suggests that maybe there is a way Kara can do both and she believes in her.

Eliza says that Alex has already proven herself a wiser mother than she ever was.

James gives Kelly an upgraded signal watch with teleportal powers so they can watch each others backs if they have to. He asks her not to tell their mom, however, because otherwise she'll want family dinners every night.

Brainiac-5 shows up for the wedding. He decides to come back because his love for Nia is more important than logic and the future isn't written yet.

Winn and Kara sing We Belong by Pat Benatar at the wedding.

J'onn gives away Alex.

Esme is the flower girl.

James gives Kelly away at the wedding. 

J'onn also officiates the wedding.

Kelly says in her vows that she knew Alex was the one after 612 because Alex just supported her and didn't try to fix her.

Kara and Esme worked together on making bird houses as gifts for the wedding.

Winn says the new DEO will be a place of peace, at least according to M'Gann and J'onn's son.

James gives Esme the camera his father gave him.

Kelly and Alex ask Lena to be Esme's godmother.

Mr. Mxyzptlk sends his regards through Winn, who says he still shows up around Legion HQ in the future. He also promises the brides one free wish, worth $40 or less.

Winn, James and Kara talk about the private room they had hidden at CatCo back when they first got started. They also make reference to the events of 118 and meeting Barry Allen before the universes merged.

Cat Grant calls Kara again asking why she hasn't signed her contract yet. Kara says she never really felt whole and has different sides to herself and the two parts don't go together.

Cat quotes an old English Lord - "Secrecy is the badge of fraud." (The lord in question is Sir John Chadwick.) She says it is clear Kara has a secret and it isn't serving her so she should get rid of it.

Cat tells Kara she knows she is Supergirl. She also tells her that her message about people needing to be their own heroes applies to her too. 

Nia catches the bouquet when Kelly tosses it.  Brainy says there is a 100% chance he will marry her.

Lena sees Kara looking depressed and asks her what is wrong. Kara says Cat has a point about her hiding behind her glasses and how she needs to give up her secret identity. She also says the reason she failed the Courage gauntlet because she was afraid of revealing herself to the world.

Lena says she is being true to herself now after her talk with Lillian and is happier and she wants to see Kara be as happy. 

Kara says Lena has challenged her the most out of all her friends. Lena thanks her, in turn, for making her a better person. 

Kara takes her glasses off and leaves them behind as Alex and Kelly leave for their honeymoon in J'onn's car.

The Super Friends are shown enjoying a game night together sometime later.

Cat Grant does an interview revealing Supergirl is Kara Danvers to the world and finally pronounces her first name correctly.


Location

Nuqui, Colombia.


Untelevised Adventures

Lillian Luthor dies off-camera.


The Bottom Line

A fitting capstone for the series. The fight with Lex and Nyxly is rushed, true. Not everything is logical, but as Brainy says, "Sprock logic." The final half hour hits all the emotional high-notes and the ending leaves you wanting more. The cruel irony is that seeing Kara trying to live her life with an open identity is a far more daring and interesting idea than anything we've seen this season. Still... if it must end, it ended well. 

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 14 - Magical Thinking

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

Plot

The hunt for the second Totem is on, but Lena doubts she can use her newfound magical powers to help the team. Meanwhile, as William struggles to write a story that will satisfy Andrea's demands for dirt on the Super Friends after being embedded within the team, Kelly is forced to step in when one of her charges faces trouble in her new home.

Influences

Harry Potter (the magic connection between Kara and Nxyly resembles that between Harry and Voldemort), Marvel's Infinity War (the hunt for the Totems mirrors the search for the Infinity Stones) and Dragonball (the idea of magic artifacts that can alter reality that exist on each planet sounds a lot like the Dragonballs)


Goofs

The team discuss the need to keep Lena's connection to the Super Friends a secret from William, but he's later seen interacting with her without issue even before they let him in on the secret and he agrees not to report on it.

J'onn phases his hand through a window to attack a car-jacker, only to break the window pulling the car-jacker through it, causing needless damage to the car.

The NCPD appear to be completely AWOL during the rioting.

It was previously said that the Totems have to be acquired in a certain order. That rule seems to have been abandoned in this episode, with Nxyly looking for the Hope Totem and the Super Friends searching for the Dream Totem.


Performances

Katie McGrath and Melissa Benoist's interactions as Kara and Lena are the episode highlight.


Artistry

The special effects of the Super Friends protecting National City are pretty good.


Technobabble

Dreamer notes the Watchtower can patch into the NCPD's CompStat and track crimes in real-time.

Lena found a spell in her mother's book that can find lost things, which she thinks she can use as a tracking spell to find the Humanity Totem using the discharged energy signature from when Nxyly activated it. 

Lena says the air from within 30 feet of where Nxyly activated the Humanity Totm would be hyper-ionized and she can use that air for her tracking spell.

Lena determines her tracking spell requires fresh Sheep Laurel seeds and must be cast on-site.

Sheep Laurel is a flowering shrub unique to the Limestone Barrens of Newfoundland.

The kitchen in the Watchtower has a coffee maker which Brainiac-5 picked up on Corvon-4.

Lena says that all the Totems radiate the same form of ionized particles and that she can use the sample of one to track the energy signature of another. However, she only has another particles to track one.


Dialogue Triumphs

Dreamer: Patching into the NCPD's CompStat technology, we can track real-time crime incidents represented by the blue dots.
(Everyone just stares at Dreamer. She's not usually the one to use that kind of terminology.)
Dreamer: Well, don't look so surprised. I'm smart too. You guys are just showoffs.

Supergirl: I can't believe you would not help.
Lena: Not if it means losing who we are in the process because then we're no better than she is.
Supergirl: I know that you are still processing the fact that you can use magic, and I know that I've been pushing you out of your comfort zone. But that's only because I believe in you, and... I'm... I'm terrified. She makes me feel powerless. Nyxly's magic is unlike anything I've ever faced. I feel like I don't know how to beat her, and if she gets all seven Totems, I won't be able to. You can do something I can't. I need your help, Lena.
Lena: From everything you've told me about Nyxly, she's more than just her magic. She is cunning and manipulative and cruel. Who does that remind you of?
Supergirl: Lex.
Lena: You've beat him before and you will beat Nyxly too, but not by doing whatever it takes to win. By doing the right thing. My mother hurt people with her magic. Unintentionally, but... She hid the truth of what happened, and that secret destroyed lives. I'm so sorry. Nyxly has caused so much pain. And I don't wanna hurt anybody with my magic or deceit.
Supergirl: You're right. Mmm, you're right. We can't cross lines in darkness, however good the reasons. Secrets are hard to hide in the light of day. But maybe... But maybe the light of day is just what we need.

Nxyly: How can I be expected to get anything done when there's so much suffering on this planet? If only I didn't have this damn cuff, I could snap away poverty, disease, hunger. I could save the snow leopards from extinction. Am I the only one that cares?


Continuity

The Super Friends play Jenga at their latest game night.

As the episode opens, Brainiac-5 is on the Legion ship scanning for Nyxly.

Lena is still going through her mother's spellbook but she's having a hard time grasping how magic works since it is based more on instinct than logic.

Dreamer comments this sounds like her problems with interpreting her dreams and offers to help Lena with her book.

The Super Friends agree to let William Dey observe them in the Watchtower, but within certain parameters.

Kelly says she won't be able to hang around the Watchtower as Guardian, as she needs to spend the next morning checking on Esme, one of the orphans from the same group home as Joey Davis.

Esme, who appeared in 609, was just placed in a new foster home with a couple named Dana and Joe Ford.

Kara starts laughing randomly, as she senses that Nxyly is happy.

Nxyly is happy because Mitch just detected the next Totem in National City.

Esme is doing well in her new home and likes her foster parents because they make pancakes for dinner if she wants them.

J'onn reveals his secret identity to William, as does Alex. They do this after William asks how Kara and Nia developed a close connection to the former Martian head of the DEO.

William learns that J'onn's PI office is the front for the Watchtower.

The conditions of William being allowed to work with the Super Friends are that he can't disclose the location of the Watchtower, identify the Super Friends whose secret identities he knows and he can't try to figure out who the ones that maintain their secret identities (like Supergirl) are. J'onn says that he he tries it, he will wipe his mind. William also has to agree to run any story he writes by them first, in exchange for them not telling him what he writes.

The next Totem is revealed to be at an MMA Festival in National City.

The next Totem is revealed to be necklace, worn by one of the fighters, which is made of the same wood as a tree under which the Buddha meditated to achieve oneness with Humanity.

Nxyly is able to activate the Humanity Totem easily, with a voice telling her to use the Totem wisely after asking her if she is of ready heart and she says that she is.

As Nxyly activates the Humanity Totem, a wave of energy washes over the people at the MMA Festival and they all start fighting.

It is noted that the people who are fighting are depraved, but not cold or unfeeling. They are also described as being gleeful and reveling in theft, destruction and violence. These stand opposite the power of Humanity, which is defined as equating to compassion and empathy. This leads Kara to guess that the Humanity Totem is the one Nxyly just got.

Martian Manhunter, Guardian and Sentinel are said to be fighting the crowds.

It is estimated that Nxyly could have drained the compassion and empathy from 10,000 people but only a few hundred seem to have been infected.

William wants to write about Nxyly, but Supergirl is afraid people knowing about Nxyly might make them panic. She eventually persuades William to go ahead and write about Nxyly, but not to mention Lena or that the team has access to magic.

Esme made Kelly a friendship bracelet as a thank you for everything she did for her.

Andrea threatens to fire William after he refuses to write about what the Super Friends know about the weirdness in National City.

Lena's first attempt at casting her tracking spell leaves Nia unable to tell her right from her left. Lena guesses this effect will wear off after an hour.

Nyxly shows uncharacteristic compassion for Mitch when she notices he's hurt.

Mitch detects the third Totem at the Hague in the Netherlands.

William talks with Lena about her spellbook and says that it reminds him of his father's recipes.  Like William, his father was a baker, and William realized he couldn't follow his father's recipes literally because the ingredients had to be chosen with care, like fresh-picked berries over store-bought. This leads Lena to the revelation that magic has to be approached in the same way.

Esme breathes fire when she and her mother are confronted by one of the berserker fighters. She seems surprised that she had this ability.

J'onn accidentally reveals that the Super Friends have access to spy satellites, which they are using to track Nxyly's ship.

Lena has to retrieve a sample of Sheep Laurel seeds from the Botanical Gardens.

The National City Botanical Gardens are close to the Arena.

Mitch determines that the third Totem (i.e. the Hope Totem) is a sculpture called The Hand of the Flower, which is on display in The Hague. He tells Nyxly how to get to it, but it will require killing one guard silently.

Nxyly finds herself unable to kill the guard, after she suddenly starts thinking about how sad his family and friends will be.

Lena's spell accidentally amplifies the effects of Nxyly's energy wave and makes the berserkers even more angry.

Mitch guesses that the reason the Humanity Totem didn't have a test like the Courage Totem is that the Totem itself is the test and that whoever wields the Humanity Totem has to bear the suffering of everyone around them.

Kara feels Nxyly being overwhelmed by emotion and guesses what Mitch did about the Totem overwhelming her sense of empathy.

Kara suggests Lena keep casting her spell so they can overwhelm Nxyly. Lena refuses, saying she won't let Kara ever do something just because the ends justify the means.

Lena ultimately agrees to Kara's plan, but only if William will honestly report on what they are doing and why.

William agrees to keep Lena's involvement a secret, but insists on writing about Nxyly, the search for the Totems and the role of magic in all the craziness in National City.

The rest of the Super Friends keep the peace in the city, as Kara and Lena try to work the spell again and track down Nxyly.

Esme's foster mother locks her out of their home and tries to force her to fight the berserkers.

Esme is saved by Sentinel and Guardian.

Mitch takes Nxyly back to National City, where she deactivates the Humanity Totem and throws it out of their ship.

Kara recovers the Humanity Totem, but Nxyly and Mitch escape.

Dreamer suggests they use the particles Lena recovered to track the Dream Totem next.

Andrea is pleased by William's article, but demands he write about which Super Friend has magic powers. William refuses and threatens to go to the Daily Planet if Andrea keeps telling him how to do his job. She says fine, but moves him to the desk next to the bathrooms.

Lena and Kara get pot-stickers to celebrate.

The Fords give Esme up and Kelly and Alex both show up to escort Esme back to the group home. It is hinted, however, that the two are thinking of adopting her themselves.

Mitch and Nxyly begin plotting a new plan to get the Hope Totem from the Hague.


Location

The Hague - The Netherlands


Untelevised Adventures

Brainiac-5 is off-camera trying to track Nxyly's ship for the entire episode.


The Kryptonite Factor

Kara is running at less than peak efficiency through the episode and pushing Lena (who is also not at her best) to focus on using her magic.


The Bottom Line

Not the greatest episode of Supergirl, but far better than most of what has come in Season 6 thanks to a high-action quotient and some great dialogues between Kara and Lena. 

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

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

Plot

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

Influences

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


Goofs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Performances

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

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

Artistry

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


Super Trivia

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

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

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

Technobabble

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dialogue Triumphs

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dialogue Disasters

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

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


Continuity

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

Nxyly declares that there is something off.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lena has apparently started training in using magic with Florence.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kelly and Diggle decide to explore the Ormfell wreckage.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Location

Fortune Bay, Newfoundland, Canada.


Untelevised Adventures

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

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


The Bottom Line

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

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

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 10 - Still I Rise

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

Plot

Supergirl steps in when a building set aside for low income housing is suddenly sold off to a large corporation as part of an effort to gentrify National City. Unfortunately, Nyxly shows up to complicate matters even further. Meanwhile, as Nia trains with her mother, Alex begins training Kelly to become the new Guardian. 

Influences

Various Superman and Supergirl comics dealing with real world issues, with an emphasis on journalists doing good rather than superheroes punching people.


Goofs

Jesse Rath's green make-up as Brainiac-5 looks off, though that could be intentional as to make him look more off-kilter during the cheesy PSA.


Performances

Again, the best part of the episode is Nicole Maines playing Nia's torment at the evils she has committed even as her mother tries to help her while holding her accountable. Thankfully, it's much better developed this week than last week.


Super Trivia

The title comes from a poem by Maya Angelou.


Technobabble

Nyxly is able to temporarily resurrect the dead for one day. However, due to the way she works the spell, Nia is trapped in a pocket dimension centered around her apartment for the duration (i.e. one day) and cannot communicate with anyone outside that space during that time. Additionally, the spell will cause anyone who might notice Nia's absence or try to contact her to forget about her.

Brainiac-5 claims to have 86% more energy since abandoning junk food for green vegetables. 

The people of Edifar are known for their building capabilities and technological advances. 

Brainiac-5 says that the odds of a criminal like Mitch returning to crime after being released are 2:5.

A cryo-nuclear bomb is powerful enough to freeze everything in a one-mile radius and can even kill a Kryptonian.

Dialogue Triumphs

Nia's Mother: There's an ancient story... About a woman who slandered her friend. The woman went to her rabbi, full of remorse. The rabbi told her to cut up a feather pillow and to scatter the feathers into the wind. He then instructed her to go out and collect every single feather. She cried, "That was impossible!" And the rabbi replied, "No more impossible than to completely undo the wrongs of your actions." You made a dark bargain, Nia. You unleashed Nyxly on this world. And the actions she will inflict will be like those feathers.
Nia: So what should I do?
Nia's Mother: This is not about doing, Nia. Just like your dreams, the ravens, your sister, you cannot run away from this. You must have the courage to sit with the pain to take in the gravity of what you've done. 

Orlando: Councilwoman, you don't know me. But I'm one of your constituents. My name is Orlando Davis. I spent the last two years at Van Kull Prison, and was one of the people counting on housing in the Ormfell. I've lived in National City my entire life with my little brother Joey. We lost our parents when I was 14. I quit school to take care of my brother. But there isn't a big market out there for dropouts, so the bills piled up. I made a stupid mistake and I've been paying the price ever since. But I'm not the only one who's paid it. See, I remember what it felt like to go to bed at night with my family nearby. To feel safe. To feel loved. But Joey doesn't. He's been in and out of the system his entire life, and I am so scared that he's gonna make the same mistakes that I have and I can't even be there to help him. Because what he needs is a home. He is not the only one. So, I'm here today to ask you one thing. See us. All the people hoping to live in this building, when you're deciding whether to vote for this deal... you're voting on our lives, on our families. On my chance to give my brother some hope. So, please... see us.

Brainiac-5: The fight for systemic chance often feels never-ending. All we can do is keep showing up


Continuity

Nia brings Nyxly into the real world, from the dream realm.

Nyxly agrees to honor her deal with Nia, but notes that her power will be sapped for a bit afterward.

Nyxly says she has other business on Earth before she returns home.

Nia's mother says that she has always been with Nia in her dreams, but that she's ignored her wisdom. This confirms that Nia's mother was the owl in 609.

Brainiac-5 and Supergirl agree to film a cheesy PSA that encourages healthy eating habits in children.

Kara has second thoughts after seeing the PSA, but Brainy tells her the ad went live on Catco's website 20 minutes earlier and has already gained 800,000 views.

Kara makes reference to how Alex made her train under Kryptonite energy emitters during Season 1.

Kelly gets a call from Orlando Davis and learns that his efforts to secure an apartment for himself and his brother fell through.

Supergirl checks up on Orlando and confirms that he was up for an apartment in a complex, the Ormfell, which was being set aside as affordable housing for reformed convicts, before being sold to Orquoia (the largest cloud computing company in the world) by the city.

Orlando is currently crashing on a friend's couch - the same friend responsible for him going to prison in the first place.

Mitch, the sidekick of Naxim Tork in 606, is revealed to be on Earth, disguised as a human and at liberty.

Mitch abducts Nyxly with the intention of adding her to his menagerie and trying to get Naxim Tork to go back into business with him.

Nyxly lies and says she's powerless and condemned to walk the Earth as a powerless mortal.

Mitch has a collection of Supergirl headlines posted around the inside of his ship. This leads Nyxly to suggest Mitch abduct her instead and she offers her help to do so.

Nyxly says she has a plan but it requires an expert engineer. Mitch says he can abduct one.

William is baking again and testing almond flour alternatives.

Councilwoman Jean Rankin is behind the deal that sold the Ormfell Building to Orquoia.

William says that most people in The Heights (the poor neighorhood where the Ormfell is located) are in favor of the deal because of the jobs it will bring in.

Andrea suggests having Supergirl do a Q&A on the CatCo website rather than do a simple interview about the Orquoia deal.

Nia once again dreams about ravens and a cage made of ice, but has no idea what it means.

Nia's mother says that you should never exit a dream in fear and that everything in a dream has a meaning.

Ravens are symbolic of wisdom and misfortune in dreams.

Nia dreams of the dollhouse she had when she was young.  She then sees her sister in the window and concludes the ravens symbolize her sister, Maeve, who last appeared in 411.

Mitch attacks Raab Cryogenetics and kidnaps an alien engineer, Dr. Desmond Raab.

Kara leaves her Q&A after only two questions, after hearing Dr. Raab calling for help. This does not help her case, as the last woman to speak called her a hypocrite for telling people how bad things are just as things are improving after all her talk of having hope.

Desmond Raab is from the planet Edifar.

Kara recalls Mitch from the events of 605 and 606 and wonders how he is loose on Earth.

According to the DEO files, Mitch and Naxim Tork were released sometime before the DEO was destroyed and Naxim left Earth sometime in 2020.

Mitch has been in and out of the county jail several times since released, with one charge of breaking-and-entering and a few petty thefts.

Nia has a dream where her sister asks her for her light but it burns her to ashes.

Nia concludes the dream is telling her she needs to come to peace with her estranged sister.

Kara meets with Councilwoman Jean Rankin as Supergirl, but she's unsympathetic to the idea that her deal is going to hurt people and points to the billions the city will make and all the people who will be employed.

Kara talks to two other council members but they're also on-board with Rankin.

Kelly is upset because she can't master the move Alex tried to teach her. Kara points out that she was still able to take Alex down in a fight using what she made up herself.

Supergirl's PSA now has 5 million views.

Kara realizes that the PSA is working because Brainy's story about fighting a junk food addiction resonates with people and that for all her celebrity, she lacks that personal touch. This leads her and Kelly to get Orlando to speak that the council vote on the measure.

Nia's mother tells her a parable about coping with guilt and advises her to trust her dreams before disappearing.

Orlando speaks to board about how he quit school and became a criminal to take care of his brother.

Mitch plants the cryo-nuclear bomb Desmond Raab built at Nyxly's direction inside the Ormfell building.

The cryo-nuclear-bomb is encased in lead so Supergirl can't look at it as she's using her heat vision to neutralize it.

Alex, J'onn, Brainac-5 and Kelly evacuate the building.

Kelly saves Councilwoman Rankin from being hit by shrapnel using a bulletin board as an improvised shield.

The council ultimately votes against Rankin's proposal.

Alex complements Kelly for being adaptable rather than trying to copy everything she does.

Nia asks for a truce in her dream vision and the ice cage cracks.

Kara heads back to the Ormfell building after the Watchtower instruments detect an energy signature.

Nyxly confronts Kara, revealing that the lead also encased a device that would restore her power if it were supercharged with heat-vision.

Nyxly freezes Kara and says she is going to destroy everything Kara cares about before returning to the 5th Dimension to do the same to her father, starting with the Ormfell Building.

Kara calls Mxyzptlk for help and he appears in the final scene.

Untelevised Adventures

Kara and Alex's surprise that Naxim Tork and Mitch survived the destruction of the DEO suggests that many of its prisoners were not evacuated in time and died when the building was destroyed by Leviathan. 


The Bottom Line

Preachy and lackluster, in a nutshell. While the show is to be credited for not pretending all Orlando and Joey's problems can be solved in a single episode and his speech to the city council is a good one, it still feels like this episode started with that speech and was reverse engineered as an excuse to bring in superheroes around it rather than starting with the superheroes and finding a way to tell a story with them that is culturally relevant. It doesn't help matters that Kara tries to sympathize with Mitch, despite the character deserving no sympathy and not even managing to be as amusing as his hammy partner. 

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 9 - Dream Weaver

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

Plot

Kelly and Kara team-up, as the social worker encounters an orphaned alien boy who is acting out in foster care because he fears something is wrong with his incarcerated brother. Meanwhile, as Andrea pushes CatCo to delve into the lives of the SuperFriends, Nyxly crashes Nia's dreams and asks her for help.

Influences

Various Superman and Supergirl comics dealing with real world issues, with an emphasis on journalists doing good rather than superheroes punching people.


Goofs

It's a little odd that Kara didn't go to Argo City with her father to witness her parents reuniting. Granting that it is totally within her nature to want to get back to work, surely National City could have done without her for another few days? 

There's no connection to the end of last week's episode and Nia saying Nyxly's name as she woke up. (Come to that, there's no indication anywhere that Kara ever told her friends about Nyxly.)

Orlando getting a full pardon and released on a day's notice seems incredibly unrealistic, even by the standards of Supergirl.

Since when is William an on-site news reporter rather than a writer?

Despite the episode title being a reference to her character, Dreamer barely figures into this episode and her subplot stands apart from everything else.


Performances

Nicole Maines has a great turn here as Dreamer, totally selling Nia's torment.


Artistry

The effects work for the fight between Supergirl and the alien convicts is rather good and the fight choreography better than average.

The direction does an effective job of mimicking a chaotic dream during Dreamer's nightmares sequences.


Super Trivia

The episode title comes from a 1975 song by Gary Wright.

Betty Buckley, who played Patricia Arias in Supergirl Season 3, voices the owl in Dreamer's vision.

At one point, Andrea suggests that William and Kara jump off a bridge and interview whatever Super Friend catches them. This tactic was employed by Lois Lane in the comics go get Superman's attention in some stories.

Andrea also references the Bat-Signal, suggesting they project an S in the sky to get Supergirl's attention.

When Kelly visits Joey, he is seen reading a Captain Carrot comic - a DC Comics' children's series about a super-powered rabbit.

Technobabble

Metalomite are an alien race that have the power to bend metal telekinetically.

Obscurans are an alien race that create a residue that makes things invisible. 

Zeltarian  are an alien race that have the power to generate EMPs.

Dynamorphs are an alien race who have the power to unleash energy blasts.

Toradines are an alien race who have the power to create force fields.

5000 pounds of ammonium nitrate is enough to blow up a 50 story building.

J'onn has the technology to track an Obscuran based on the energy signature of their unique residue. 

Nia says that only Naltorians have the power to enter the dream realm in physical form. Nxyly says 5th dimensional imps can do the same thing.

Naltorian women are unique in their ability to make their dreams manifest in the real world.

Bringing the dead back to life is a serious infraction of universal law, but imps can do it under limited circumstances. Specifically, they can only bring the person back for one day.

J'onn determines that whoever is staging the truck robberies is trying to build a dirty nuke and all they lack is uranium. 


Dialogue Triumphs

Nyxly: Nia. You're back. Thank goodness. I'm sorry our conversation got interrupted by that vicious owl. We were just about to make a deal.
Nia: Thanks. But no thanks.
Nyxly: I don't understand.
Nia: Nyxly... I don't know you. But I do know that imps on the whole are not to be trusted.
Nyxly: How would you like to be judged by your species, Nia? Aren't you a hero on Earth?
Nia: Yes, but...
Nyxly: I can grant your dearest wish, Nia. And you can end this cycle of tormented dreams, and finally see your mum for hours. Don't you want that?
Nia: Of course I do.
Nyxly: Then let's help each other!
(The owl hoots and flies at Nyxly again.)
Nyxly: That monstrous bird. Get out of here! Shoo!
Owl: The wise understand by themselves, Nia. Fools follow the words of others.
Nyxly: Don't listen to that stupid owl.
Nia: Owls will bring to light what is in the dark. They're symbols of truth.
Nyxly: Nonsense. That is a ferocious bird of prey who's looking at us like a pair of tiny little tasty sparrows. She's trying to divide and conquer us, Nia, so that she can devour us for breakfast.
Nia: I don't think owls are that devious. My mother revered them.
Owl: Wisdom lies not in seeing things, but in seeing through them.
Nyxly: Oh, shut up, you ghoul!

Orlando: I begged Social Services for help... but they didn't listen. And who's gonna rent a place to a guy making minimum wage? So, I tried to rob a store. When you're desperate, you'll do anything. In prison, I believed what they said... that the work-release program would be the answer to Joey and me being together again. It turned out to be another lie. Face it, okay? No one wants to help people like me. (looks to his fellow prisoners) People like them.
Supergirl: I'm an alien on this planet, too. I've seen how hard life can be for the people that the system isn't designed for, how that system can fail those less fortunate. But I promise you, if you come with me, I will do everything in my power to make sure your voices are heard.

Continuity

Nia is having reoccurring memories of crows attacking her as she chases her mother, who is accompanied by an owl, in a swamp.

Princess Nyxly appears in Nia's dream after she leaves it.

Kelly and Alex are unbeatable at Charades. 

Kelly has a new social work case involving a 10 year old alien orphan named Joey Davis, whose brother Orlando is in prison. 

Joey's species have the power to generate electromagnetic pulses.

Andrea has a white board with all the publicly known information about all the Super Friends. The only real mistake is her belief that Brainiac-5 is a shape-shifter (presumably based on Brainiac-5's image inducer and human form.) It also notes that Dream's race is not known and she is believed to be half-human., half-alien. 

CatCo Worldwide Media is now #3 on the media tracker ratings, after having been #8 in 608.

Andrea makes reference to the interviews Supergirl and Dreamer have given in the past when they try to shrug out of interviewing their superhero identities.

Andrea sends Nia home after she falls asleep on her feet during their meeting.

Andrea threatens to have William and Kara writing classifieds and obituaries if they can't get her an interview with a Super Friend within the next day.

William once tried to bluff his way into 10 Downing Street to get an interview with the British Prime Minister by disguising himself as a pizza delivery man.

J'onn calls Kara in to help him investigate a series of truck robberies that appear to have been committed by aliens.

Obscurans and Metalomites do not typically work together, due to some long-standing grudge between their races.

The truck thieves have stolen computer mother bowards, motor oil and steel casings in their previous robberies. Their latest robbery stole ammonium nitrate. This leads J'onn and Kara to conclude they are building a bomb. 

Ms. Hochschild runs the foster home for alien children where Joey Davis is currently living.

Joey has reportedly been picking fights, disobeying the staff and misusing his powers over the past few days. Two days earlier, he knocked out power to the entire block.

Joey gets monthly visitation with his brother, who is currently in Van Kul Prison. 

Ms. Hochschild blames Orlando for being a bad influence on Joey and says Joey started acting up after their last visit.

Kelly notices an intelligent girl named Esme while waiting to see Joey.

Ms. Hochschild has all of the children wearing power dampening cuffs. She says it is a necessary safety precaution, though Joey is a special case as his powers can short out the cuffs.

Joey says his brother had dark circles under his eyes, which can happen if they use their powers too often and they can become sick if they use them too much. He also says his brother is part of a work-release program.

Orlando reportedly robbed a store because he and Joey needed the money to find a place to live after their parents died.

Kara is familiar with the work-release program Orlando is part of from a piece she wrote and an interview she did with the warden. However, the program is supposed to be working with a clothing manufacturer, meaning there's no obvious reason Orlando should be using his EMP powers on the job.

Kara agrees to help Kelly investigate it, while Alex and J'onn focus on the truck thefts.

Nyxly confronts Nia in her dream and claims to have gotten stuck in her dreams by accident, but says she can help Nia and that she needs Nia's help. 
 
Nyxly says she was banished from her dimension and an evil man took her powers, saying she couldn't cross back into her world in her weakened state. She still has some magic, however.

Nyxly asks Nia to help her cross into the real world by using her powers, claiming she can bring Nia's mother back to life for one day in exchange for her help.

The owl in Nia's dream attacks Nyxly before Nia can agree to help her.

The warden of Van Kul Prison thanks Kara for her article and says the Second Chances program has been getting more donations and corporate sponsor offers since it came out.

Warden Kote says there have been on incidents of the alien inmates using their powers and that they are constantly monitored while on the job. He promises to look into Orlando's case.

When Kara asks about interviewing Orlando, the warden says all visits have to be approved two weeks in advance. 

Kelly and Kara try to make an appointment, but Kara uses her super speed to access the prison records. She determines that Orlando is already on his way to a new job.

J'onn determines that the rest of the robbery gang consists of a Toradine and a Dynamorph.

Kara overhears one of the guards threatening Orlando when he says he can be forced to steal, but he won't hurt people.

The alien inmates escape after knocking Supergirl and J'onn down with an energy blast and making their van invisibe.

The news reports that the warden is assuming that the inmates kidnapped the guard that was with them.

Kara believes someone infiltrated the Second Chances program to corrupt it and goes to tell Warden Kote what she overheard and saw.

Kelly second guesses her instincts, saying that Orlando was just put in danger because of her trying to exploit her connection to Kara. However, Alex points out that they wouldn't have discovered the connection between the truck thieves and Orlando if it hadn't been for her caring enough to do all she could to help.

Kelly tells Alex about her dream from 607 and how she thought maybe she could protect people even if she couldn't fight the same threats as the rest of the Super Friends.

Warden Kote refuses to believe that his program has been corrupted and begs Kara not to write about this because it will destroy all the good the Second Chances program is doing. He remains convinced that the criminals in this case went bad and that his guard is a hostage.

Nia says that everything she has heard about imps says they are not to be trusted.

Nyxly appears in Nia's dream again. Again, the owl attacks her, but this time it speaks to Nia and says that the wise understand by themselves but fools follow the words of others. 

Nia says that owls are symbols of the truth in dreams, as they bring things to light in the dark. She also says that her mother revered owls.

The owl also says that wisdom lies not in seeing things but seeing through them.

Kara asks William if he can call his CIA contact to get information on Warde Kote. 

Kara butts heads with Andrea over how she should be doing real reporting instead of chasing the Super Friends around trying to get an interview. Andrea rebuts that they need eyeballs to do their jobs.

Kelly comes to check on Joey to find Ms. Hochschild inflicting pain on him through his power-inhibitor band.

Kelly notes that there are security cameras in the building and says she thinks Ms. Hochschild's bosses would be interested in seeing what is going on in her house. Ms. Hochschild says nobody has time to look at everything that is going on and says she's been working the system longer than Kelly has been alive.

William discovers that Warden Cote has a luxury beach house, luxury cars and a secret off-shore account in the Cayman islands which has been getting regular deposits on a regular basis - none of which seem possible on his publicly recorded salary.

William notes that there's little oversight of privately-owned, for-profit prisons in the United States.

William tracked the prison's contracts from Summerlin Industries through two dozen shell companies, eventually ending with an LLC in Panama registered to Cypress Holdings, which is a front for Brun Mannheim's Intergang.

Kelly goes back to the foster house and hacks the security system to get the footage of Ms. Hochschild hurting Joey.

Warden Cote calls the guard and suggests bringing the inmates back, but he says it is too late for that and that as soon as they get the uranium they can kill the inmates and they'll be in the clear.

The guard also confirms that Bruno Manheim was the one paying for a dirty nuke.

J'onn is able to pick up the trail of the inmates searching known Intergang hideouts.

Kara is able to talk the inmates down on trying to fight back.

William does an on-camera interview with Supergirl about the corruption of the Second Chances program, giving Kara a chance to talk about how the programs do good work even if this one was corrupted to exploit at-risk workers.

Warden Cote and his guard are arrested  as a result of William and Kara's tracking their connections to Intergang.

Kara says she thinks Andrea has a point, but that Supergirl can be used to make people hear about the ugly truths they would ignore otherwise.

Kelly watches as Ms. Hochschild is arrested for child abuse.

Esme thanks Kelly for what she did, having figured out she was the one who helped them.

Orlando is given a full pardon and picks Joey up.

Kelly says she wants to be the new Guardian.

Alex gives her James' helmet, which she says she picked up after seeing Kelly use his shield to protect other people during S509.

Alex also says she will start training Kelly to fight the next day.

In her latest dream, Nia agrees to help Nyxly.


Untelevised Adventures

At the same time the events of this episode are occurring, Brainiac-5 is piloting Zor-El to Argo City.

Lena is still looking for information about her birth mother.


The Kryptonite Factor

Nia's decision to help Nyxly comes out of left field.


The Bottom Line

A surprisingly good episode that tackles a real world problem without getting preachy and brings the two halves of Kara's life together in a way that works. Shame the Dreamer subplot seems like it was added into the episode at the last minute and is completely separated from everything else. 

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 7 - Fear Knot

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

Plot

As the Super Friends enter the Phantom Zone in search of Kara, each of them is forced to confront their own worst fears, while Kara faces her own crisis of faith.

Influences

Star Trek (the general design of the Watchtower bridge with each team member having an assigned role and console), Harry Potter (the fear powers of the Phantom are based on the Dementors), The Abyss (the effects work for the kelpie) and the "Psirens" episode of Red Dwarf (heroes hallucinate while fighting telepathic creatures).


Goofs

J'onn makes reference to the Phantom Zone being the native dimension of the Phantoms, but it was established in 603 that they were an alien species from the same system as Krypton.

Performances

It's hard to pick out one moment as the ensemble get a lot of great interactions together between characters who don't normally get to talk to each other. Still, the best is probably Lena and Nia bonding over the loss of their mothers, thanks to the way Katie McGrath and Nicole Maines play off each other.


Artistry

David Harewood does a masterful job of playing up the tension of the various nightmare sequences. Indeed, the very first one plays out so smoothly most viewers didn't guess it wasn't real until after the second dream sequence with Lena started.

The special effects work is of cinematic quality, particularly the effects for the kelpie.


Super Trivia

This episode was directed by David Harewood.

Kelpies are monsters from Celtic mythology said to haunt various waterways. Most legends have them taking the forms of horses, but they are shapeshifters who can also take on human shape. Some kelpie stories involve young men and women who were invited to swim by an attractive stranger, only to wind up being drowned and eaten by the kelpie. 


Technobabble

The Phantoms have different powers within the Phantom Zone, attacking people with Fear Visions of their worst nightmares made real.

Kelly teaches the rest of the team some basic grounding techniques that can help a person with anxiety regain control in tense situations. This involves naming things the person knows for certain to be real.

Lena modifies one of the DEO's yellow sun grenades to act as an anti-Phantom weapon.

The shields of the Tower can only withstand the Phantom Zone for two hours.


Dialogue Triumphs

Dreamer: You ever just think how wild it is that you can, like, make a portable sun?
Lena: Says the woman who can see the future and wield dream energy.
Dreamer: (quietly) Yeah, right.
Lena: Your gloves, by the way, are amazing. The way they convert your power into physical form, you know, how do they work?
Dreamer: Um... (chuckles softly) I don't know. Brainy made them. I... Honestly, I should probably know more than I do, but the one person who had answers is gone. Without my mom, all I have are questions.
(Lena stops smiling as Dreamer realizes what she just said.)
Dreamer: I'm sorry. I know you lost your mom, too. I didn't mean to...
Lena: Oh, no, no, no, it's okay, really. I get it. I miss my mom every day, too.
Dreamer: It really sucks, doesn't it?
Lena: Yeah, and it doesn't really get any easier. Especially in light of the family I have left.
(Lena sighs. Dreamer looks up at her and smiles.)
Dreamer: Good thing this is our family now, right?

Brainy: May I just say I'm quite glad to have you aboard this mission. 

Kelly: That's kind of you. I'm just trying to stay out of the way until it's time for me to help Supergirl. Brainy: On the contrary, I've been challenged by my emotions of late. (consider this) Okay, always. And given the imminent risk of a Phantom-induced response, I'd greatly value your expertise.
Kelly: Well, hopefully everything goes according to plan, and you won't need it

(The Tower has just passed through turbulence. Everyone is looking dazed.)
J'onn: Brainy?
Brainy: I'm okay, but it seems like the rest of our team has been compromised. That electromagnetic turbulence. It caused a malfunction in the Phantom's containment unit. Right now, it's just enough for its power to leak out and affect our teammates. But the whole unit's compromised.
J'onn: Why aren't you and I affected?
Brainy: It's possible your Martian physiology and psychic powers have safeguarded you. Your psychic bond with Malefic might have conferred to you some measure of resistance.

J'onn: And your Coluan nature is doing the same for you?
Brainy: Well, sort of. My 12th level intellect allows me to compartmentalize my fear. That and Kelly's coping mechanisms. But I assure you, I'm still.. very much feeling it.
J'onn: You are?
Brainy: For me, this entire room is filled with balloons.
J'onn: (confused) Balloons?
(As he says this, party balloons begin falling from the ceiling.)
Brainy: It's balloons, J'onn. (gesturing to the balloons only he can see) Balloon, balloon, balloon, balloon. Thin sheets of rubber holding in all that pressure, not knowing when to pop, balloon. J'onn! (grabs J'onn's shoulders) They must be stopped!
J'onn: Okay. I don't have time to unpack all that... 

Zor-El: There's always hope. 
Supergirl: Hope is naïve. I was naïve. And arrogant to think that I could ever actually fix anything. And worse... my friends think that they can, too. And they're just going to die because of it.
Zor-El: You can fix things. You did. You fixed me. I cried so many tears here. I cried for you. For your mother. For Krypton, my brother, my entire life... I cried for everyone I ever lost, all the people I loved and would never see again. I cried a river, an ocean of tears, until there was nothing left in me. Until you came and you filled me up with your spirit, your love. And now I won't give up again. Even if your friends never find us, we'll find our way out. I know we can because we're together. And together, nothing can stop us. Do you believe me, Kara? Because I believe in you.

Continuity

The area of the Phantom Zone around the dimensional anchor begins to destabilize, resulting in earth tremors.

Zor-El is still limping from his earlier injuries in 604.

Kara is wounded by a phantom. The attack leaves her fearing that her family will get themselves killed trying to save her.

Brainiac-5 and Dreamer return three days after they left to go back to 2009 Midvale. 

M'Gann has agreed to patrol National City in the absence of the rest of the Super Friends.

J'onn reveals that the Watchtower is also a fully functioning spaceship.

J'onn and Alex argue over which of them should leave the ship to get Kara once they find her.

As the shields fail, the Phantom escapes and begins attacking each member of the team with their worst nightmares made real.

Alex's nightmare involves her need to control everything endangering the team, as she is wounded by the Phantom, locks J'onn up in the brig after he insists that she be quarantined, and Alex trying to flush herself out the airlock after the Phantoms in the Phantom Zone are able to track the ship through her.

Lena's nightmare involves the rest of the team being killed by a Kelpie - a monster that has always terrified her because it drowns people and Lena's mother died while drowning in front of her, when she was a young girl.

Lena's only keepsake of her mother is the book of folklore she read to her when she was young.

Kelly's worst nightmare involves being helpless in a crisis situation and endangering the super-powered and highly trained people around her (especially Alex) because they are too busy worrying about her to do their work.

In the dream, Alex and Kelly recall their first meeting in 415.

Kelly says that Alex likes morning hikes, lavender soap, knock-knock jokes and dumplings.

Dreamer's worst nightmare involves her misinterpreting a dream vision getting Brainiac-5 killed.

In Dreamer's vision, she finds a thimble with an image of a the Tower, cracked and with energy leaking from it, inside an empty containment unit.

Dreamer thinks her vision means the Phantom will escape. She later realizes it was telling her she had to "contain" the problem and protect the Tower by sewing a breach in the hull shut with her powers.

Martians are apparently immune to the effects of the Phantom psychic fear attacks. Coluans are not, but sufficiently intelligent Coluans capable of compartmentalizing their fear can fight through the anxiety attacks.

Brainiac-5 has a fear of balloons. His worst nightmare is being surrounded by them.

J'onn fights the Phantom and contains it, 

In Alex's nightmare, she takes control by shooting out the glass in the airlock and going into the Phantom Zone to face whatever is out there.

In Lena's nightmare, she confronts the kelpie and it reshapes into her mother.

In Kelly's nightmare, she manifests a shield like the one James Olsen used as Guardian.

In Nia's nightmare, she is left screaming as Brainiac-5 is swept into space.

Zor-El is able to drag Kara out of her depression as a mob of Phantoms find them.

The Phantoms are driven off by Lena's sun-bomb, which also gives Kara the power she needs to fly Zor-El and herself to the ship.

The episode ends with the reveal that Nyxlygsptlnz is clinging to the outside of the Tower.


Location

The Phantom Zone


Untelevised Adventures

We are told that three days passed between the end of 604 and Brainiac-5 and Dreamer's return from the events of 606. Lena, Alex, Kelly, J'onn and M'Gann spent that time preparing for the trip into the Phantom Zone.


The Bottom Line

A solid episode where the entire cast gets a chance to shine. Would that we'd gotten something like this opening the first half of the final season instead of ending it! It's going to be a long wait for August and the final 13 episodes.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 6, Episode 4 - Lost Souls

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

Plot

Kara finds a way out of the Phantom Zone, but it is not without risk. Meanwhile, Lena joins the Super Friends in their efforts to stop the phantoms threatening National City and rescue Kara. Unfortunately, when the two missions come into conflict and Lena is forced to choose between the possibility of losing Kara forever or fighting the phantoms, she begins to doubt her place among the heroes.


Influences

Superman: Earth One (mention of the planet Dheron), Supergirl: The Movie (Kara and her father needing to escape the Phantom Zone), Ghostbusters (evoked by Brainiac-5 upon seeing Lena's Prototrap) and Superman:The Movie (the mirror acting as the portal out of the Phantom Zone.)


Goofs

Brainiac-5 talks about the pieces of a soul repelling each other like magnets, but M'Gann reports the opposite effect as she approached the Prime Phantom's lair.

Logically, the chief threat of this episode is completely illogical. The Super Friends sacrifice their best chance of being able to track Kara because they don't want to risk losing M'Gann, even though she should be fine if they successfully destroy the Prime Phantom's chrysalis and M'Gann is not given the chance to make the same noble sacrifice Kara made three episodes earlier.

Nyxlygsptlnz is a textbook example of Stupid Evil. Had she maintained her façade for a few more minutes, she would have been on Earth, all powerful and Kara wouldn't have been able to stop her. Instead, she attacks Zor-El for no reason (despite working to save him last week) and confesses her treachery to Kara, to whom she is utterly dependent on escaping the Phantom Zone!


Performances

Katie McGrath and Chyler Leight's interactions are totally on-point and the best dialogues of the episode involve the two of them playing off one another.


Super Trivia

This episode marks the first one in Season 6 to open with Kara's updated narration. The new narration does not make mention of the DEO.

At one point Braniac-5 mentions the planet Dheron and a Phantom invasion of that world. In the comics, Dheron is the 5th planet of Rao's star system. Krypton is the 4th planet. In the reality of Superman: Earth One, the two planets went to war with one another, due to Krypton having more resources than Dheron. 


Technobabble

Brainiac-5 estmates that M'Gann is currently 18% Phantom, following a soul transfusion.

Phantoms have the ability to sense life force and can hone in on a specific soul signature, even within the Phantom Zone. M'Gann theorizes she can use this ability to track Kara. This power can also be used to track Phantom Prime's lair and where he is holding the souls he has captured since coming to Earth.

Brainiac-5 estimates a 99.999% probability that freeing the captive souls will restore all the people changed into Phantom progeny. 

Lena combines a DEO Protogun and her portal technology to create what she calls the ProtoTrap - a device which traps Phantoms from a safe distance and teleports them directly to a containment pod.

The portal out of the Phantom Zone resembles a mirror, only instead of a reflection it shows the way home. It is programmed so that only a righteous person may activate it.

According to Brainiac-5, the Double Soul Dilemma is a problem caused by a soul being split into two parts. The pieces will act like magnets and repel one another.

When a Phantom reaches maturity, it becomes unstoppable and the souls it captured cannot be restored, due to a chrysalis made by the Phantom hardening to the point that nothing can penetrate it. 

Lena develops a way to replicate a Phantom's soul tracking powers using Q-Waves and nanobots. The nanobots map the brains of the Phantom Progeny. However, this method still requires a DNA sample in order to calibrate the right frequency to track a subject.

The Kryptonian data crystals used to create a holographic simulation of a person contain a core digital record that replicates the person's life force.


Dialogue Triumphs

Kara: (v/o)  My name is Kara Zor-El. I'm from Krypton. I'm a refugee on this planet. I was sent to Earth to protect my cousin. But my pod got knocked off course. And by the time I got here, my cousin had already grown up and become... Superman. I hid who I really was until one day when an accident forced me to reveal myself to the world. To most people, I'm a reporter at CatCo Worldwide Media. But in secret I work with my adopted sister and my friends to protect my city from anyone that means to cause it harm. I am Supergirl

Kara: Family isn't about blood or last names. It's about the people who love you for who you are and stand by you no matter what. And just as my sister Alex has always been there for me, so have my friends. They're my family, too. Anything is possible when you have family who love and support you.

(Alex gives Lena the crystal holding Kara's hologram.)

Alex: The core of this crystal contains Kara's digital life force. I would like you to use it for the device.
Lena: What?
Alex: You said you need a piece of my sister to track her in the Phantom Zone.
Lena: Yeah, but if I extract that, you'll lose the recording forever.
Alex: Well, what matters most is that we get back the real Kara. And you said that life force can do that, right?
Lena: Yeah, I mean, I'm hopeful, but there's no guarantee.
Alex: I trust you.
Lena: Thank you. 

(Alex and Lena are arguing about using Lena's scanner to find the Prime Phantom instead of Kara.)
Alex: We'll find another way. There's always another way. She taught us that!
Lena: We have a way now! How can you choose to save anyone else over your own sister?
Alex: Because if I don't, countless lives will be lost. Kara would always choose saving others. That's just who she is. And how do you think she would feel if we rescued her and she found out that we let thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people die, just so we could have her back? Supergirl relies on those that she loves to follow her example. So please don't make this any harder than it already is. Give me the device.
Lena: Alex, I hear what you're saying... but I have to bring Kara back. You see, it's my fault. It was my brother who sent her to the Phantom Zone, it was my experiments that empowered him. It was my war with Supergirl that started all of this. So if this is my only chance to make it right, then I have to do it.
Alex: Okay, Lena, listen to me. Nobody blames you for this. Kara doesn't blame you for this. You two already forgave each other for everything that happened in the past. So it's time for you to forgive yourself. And all that really matters is that you did the right thing today. So, please give me the tracking device.
(Lena hesitates. Alex reaches down and summons the tracer to her hand using her 
Alex: I'm sorry, but I can't take no for an answer. 


Continuity

It is revealed that Nyxlygsptlnz's at the end of 603 did successfully get Kara, Zor-El and Nyxlygsptln within walking distance of the dimension anchor.

As the episode opens, the Super Friends till have five Phantom progeny contained.

M'Gann has a nightmare of being chained down in a cold place.

Nia gives Lena her first official tour of the Watchtower.

M'Gann believes she has become connected to the hivemind connecting the Phantom progeny to the Prime Phantom, through the part of her soul that was captured by the Prime Phantom.

Lena invents a special gun that can trap Phantoms and instantly teleport them into a containment pod.

According to Brainiac-5, the original Ghostbusters is a perfect movie.

The Super Friends are able to track the Prime Phantom to the Noonan's in Grand Central Station.

While fighting the Phantoms, Dreamer has another vision of Alex and Kara as teenagers in Midvale.

M'Gann attempts to track one of the captures souls, but begins to lose herself as she approaches the Prime Phantom's lair.

Kara finds the way out of the Phantom Zone, but the mirror powering the portal is broken.

Kara reasons there must be a spare part for just such an emergency and goes off in search of it among the Fort Rozz supply barracks. 

It is determined that M'Gann cannot get too close to the Prime Phantom's lair or it her soul may be drawn to the piece of her that was captured.

Brainiac-5 realizes that they can save the people turned into Phantoms by destroying the Chrysalis, but doing this will remove M'Gann's ability to track Kara.

Lena offers to find a way to replicate M"Gann's tracking power in case they can't find Kara before they have to stop the Prime Phantom. 

Dreamer tells Brainaic-5 about her dreams of Kara and Alex as teenagers and how the dream has been repeating.

Brainiac-5's favorite comfort food is donuts. He is particularly fond of strawberry glaze with sprinkles and compares it to Kara's fondness for dumplings.

Kara is able to find a replacement mirror after searching 24 storage rooms.

While Kara is gone, Zor-El is attacked by the scar-faced prisoner whom captured him earlier.

Zor-El's ankle is broken in the attack.

Kara and Nyxlygsptln leave Zor-El behind to get the portal fixed, with the intention of coming back for him later.

Alex gives Lena the crystal containing Kara's hologram from 601 to use for her tracker..

Dreamer and M'Gann combine their powers, using Dreamer's astral projection powers in conjunction with M'Gann's bond to try and find the Prime Phantom's chrysalis. 

Dreamer has another vision of Midvale and determines that the chrysalis is almost completely solid.

Brainiac-5 calculates that they have an hour to save the souls trapped in the chrysalis based on this data.

J'onn refuses to risk M'Gann getting too close to the chrysalis and becoming lost.

Alex suggests using Lena's tracker to find the Prime Phantom's database, even though recalibrating it will cause them to lose the one sample of Kara's DNA they have.

Lena objects to this, but Alex takes the tracker from her anyway.

Nyxlygsptln tries to get Kara to abandon her father.

Nyxlygsptln reveals that she took the form of the scarred-prisoner and attacked Zor-El.

Nyxlygsptln couldn't get the portal to work with Kara activating it because she is not righteous. She had planned to go to the 5th Dimension first but now wants to go to Earth and wreck it before reclaiming her throne.

J'onn, Dreamer, Alex and Brainiac-5 go into the sewers to track the Prime Phantom.

J'onn and Brainiac-5 are overpowered on the way to the chrysalis.

Alex is able to destroy the chrysalis, which transforms all the progeny back into humans.

Kara destroys the portal rather than let Nyxlygsptln use it to go to Earth.

Lena says she doesn't belong with the team but Alex says that is nonsense.

According to Alex, Lena is the only other Super Friend with decent taste in scotch.

Dreamer keeps having visions of Kara and Alex as teenagers in Midvale.

The Prime Phantom is captured.

J'onn theorizes they can use the Phantom like a bloodhound to track Kara if they can get a DNA sample. This leads to the idea of time-traveling to a point when Kara had been injured.

In remembering times Kara was injured by Kryptonite poisoning or a solar flare, Alex remembers the fight with Red Tornado (106) and an incident back when they were in high school.

The dimensional anchor in the Phantom Zone is completely destroyed.


Location

The Phantom Zone.


The Kryptonite Factor

Nyxlygsptln suddenly becomes a Stupid Evil villain who confesses her evil nature because she is evil.


The Bottom Line

An idiotic story that is once again salvaged only by some excellent performances. The Phantom Zone storyline has dragged on far too long and it is cold comfort that we're getting a two-part time travel story that will presumably eliminate the need to see Kara not doing much in the Phantom Zone for two weeks.