Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 6 - Confidence Women

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

Plot

With Rip Roar in custody, Kara and Alex start trying to find a way to figure out who is employing the cyborg assassin and how Russell Rogers came to be transformed into him. Meanwhile, Andrea approaches Lena to ask for a favor, as the tortured history between the two former friends is revealed.


Influences

The Indiana Jones movies (general feel of temple sequence) and Superman Annual #12.


Performances

Katie McGrath has an excellent turn here as Lena, managing to seem sympathetic as her heart is broken over and over, even as she does some truly awful things in response.


Super Trivia

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

The Arrowverse version of Andrea Rojas also possess the power to teleport through shadows. This ability was apparently triggered by a medallion that was given to her by Leviathan, but the ability was apparently within Andrea the whole time and draws upon her own inner darkness.


Technobabble

The biotech that transformed Russell Rogers into Rip Roar is capable of overriding the powers of a Truth Seeker. The technology is so well-ingrained into his body that removing it could kill him.

Five years ago, Lord Industries developed a T-Pixel 8 phone with a chip four-times faster than Obsidian Worldwide's new phone.

Lex Luthor plans to kill Superman by seeding Earth's atmosphere with Kryptonite. He can't do it yet, however, because he has yet to find a to sublimate the element into vapor.


Dialogue Triumphs

Andrea: Every time I look at you, I'm reminded of all the horrible things I've done. 
Lena: Honey, every time I look at you, all I remember is pain. 
Andrea: Lena, for so long I wanted to tell you the truth, but I was scared.
Lena: That medallion was the only thing that could've stopped my brother - and you knew that. Andrea: Everything I did, every decision was to save my father's life.
Lena: My brother was a homicidal maniac. A lot of innocent people are dead because of him, because of you.
Andrea: I am well aware of how much blood there is on my hands. And I'm so sorry.
Lena: Because you say you're sorry, it doesn't make everything better.


Continuity

Rip Roar is said to have killed 18 people, before arranging an act of eco-terrorism.

Andrea Rojas is revealed to be the shadow assassin from 503.

Andrea tries and fails to break into the DEO base to get to Rip Roar.

Andrea goes to Lena and asks her for help.

Andrea and Lena became friends 15 years earlier at boarding school.

Titanic was Andrea and Lena's favorite movie. Andrea saw it eight times in the theater. Lena saw it six times, though Lex mocked her endlessly for it.

Lena was told about the Medallion of the Acrata by her mother. The medallion was part of a legend about a girl whose village was being ravaged by darkness, so she went into the wild in search of magic that could help. She found the Medallion of Acrata and was bestowed great gifts so that she alone had the strength to bend shadow to her will. Lena has dreamed of finding the Medallion ever since.

Lena's mom wanted to find the Medallion of the Acrata and kept drawing the symbol everywhere - a tic Lena adopted.

Andrea promises to help Lena find the Medallion, if it is real.

Five years later, Lex is becoming obsessed with killing Superman at any cost and tells Lena from now on their LuthorCorps is focusing on finding a way to do that. If she doesn't like it, she can quit.

Five years ago, Obsidian Worldwide is in trouble, due to their company being heavily invested in a new phone that is doomed to be obsolete upon launch, thanks to a high tech phone launched by Max Lord's company. Andrea's father fears they will lose 70% of the company if he wants to stay afloat after.

Lex Luthor plans to kill Superman by seeding Earth's atmosphere with Kryptonite. He can't do it yet, however, because he has yet to find a to sublimate the element into vapor. This plan would later be used successfully against Supergirl in 402.

Lena discovers the symbol of Acrata while looking at satellite scans of Costa Rica which Lex was using to search for Kryponite. She thinks the site she found has the Medallion and asks Andrea to explore it with her.

Andrea accidentally falls into the temple and meets a man from Leviathan. He gives her the Medallion of Acrata and says that his group can save her father and his company, but she must keep it on her at all times, let no one know she has it, tell no one about his being there and someday in the future they will call upon her to do them a service.

Andrea lies to Lena about not seeing the Medallion once she gets into the cavern.

By an extraordinary coincidence, some undetected flaw becomes apparent in the new Lord Technologies smart phone, which causes it to explode. This saves Obsidian Worldwide's new phone line.

Four years ago, Lex Luthor is arrested for turning the sun red as part of a plot to kill Superman.

Jack Spheer, Lena's ex-boyfriend from 218, is briefly seen. In the flashback they are still together, and Jack takes her to London to get away from the scandal of what Lex did. It is here that Lena unexpectedly runs into Andrea, who is openly wearing the Medallion of Acrata.

Declaring her friendship with Andrea over, Lena breaks up with Jack so that she can take over LuthorCorp and try to redeem the family name, planning to move to National City and run the new LCorp from there. This sets up Lena's first appearance in Supergirl Season 2.

Shortly after her falling out with Lena, Andrea meets Russell Rogers. The two start to fall for each other.

Three years ago, around the time of the events of 204 (Kara just broke a story about the illegal alien fight club) Kara delivers some hacked L-Corp data to Lena and invites her to her game night.  Lena declines, still afraid to make new friends.

Three years ago, Russell and Andrea are celebrating their six month anniversary. They are both omnivores who love meat and hate vegan cooking.

The Leviathan woman confronts Andrea and tells her they need her to kill a man. If she doesn't do it, her father will be found guilty of insider trading and later be found dead of an apparent suicide in his cell. Andrea kills the man - a Governor Harper.

Two years ago, just after Cat Grant joined the Marsden administration, Kara runs into Lena at a cafe and again offers her friendship. This time, Lena agrees to have lunch with Kara.

Two years ago, Russell Rogers discovers the Medallion of Acrata on Andrea's dresser. Somehow, Leviathan instantly knows about this and threatens to kill him, until she convinces them he can be of use to them. This leads to Russell being changed into Rip Roar.

Lex Luthor was murdered by Lena 12 weeks ago.

Andrea opened Obsidian North 10 weeks ago.

The book containing the Legend of Acrata which Lena read as a girl is Stories of Adventure.

Lena made seemingly made amends with Andrea 8 weeks earlier, selling her CatCo as part of her plan to get revenge on Supergirl.

Rip Roar gives Supergirl the name Leviathan, before Andrea spirits him away.

J'onn feels Lena's psychic blocker from across town and says it feels like Malefic.

Lena takes the Medallion of Acrata from Andrea and allows her to leave with Russell.

Lena analyzes the Medallion of Acrata and finds the name Leviathan worked into the text of it. She then asks Hope to tell her everything Eve Teschmacher knew about Leviathan.


Location

Mount Helena Boarding School - 15 Years Ago
Metropolis - 5 Years Ago
Costa Rica - 5 Years Ago
Metropolis - 4 Years Ago
London - 4 Years Ago
Metropolis - 3 Years, 10 Months Ago
National City - 3 Years Ago
National City - 2 years Ago
National City - 12 Weeks Ago
National City - 10 Weeks Ago
National City - 8 Weeks Ago


The Bottom Line

A lackluster episode that reveals the secrets of a mediocre villain as a means towards setting up the season's real bad guy. Dense and plodding as it keeps throwing out references to make sure we know when all these scenes take place (though it's never clear where Andrea is after running into Lena in London) there had to be a better way to deliver all this exposition.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 5 - Dangerous Liaisons

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

Plot

It's the eve of Obsidian North's public launch of their new "Collective Reality" contact lenses and a new metahuman mercenary is gathering gear for an unknown purpose. As Supergirl and the DEO try to track down this new threat, Kara must help William Dey with his investigation into Andrea Rojas, as she learns the truly personal reasons he has for bringing down her criminal empire. Meanwhile, Malefic and Lena begin working together to find a way to mechanize Malefic's power.


Influences

Titans #20  (character of Breathtaker), Young Justice #2 (character of Rip Roar) and the movies Spider-Man 2 and Robocop, which... inspired certain elements of Rip Roar's costume.


Goofs

The effects and editing used to make Brainiac-5 as possessed by the Aurafacian look scary are anything but scary.

Dreamer using her powers to hold back a wave the size of the whole Pacific coast seems far beyond her power level and what she should be capable of doing with her energy abilities.

Given their distinctive beards match, it is hard to believe William Dey - presumably observant to be a successful reporter - didn't realize that Rip Roar was Russell Rogers. Some best friend!


Performances

Phil LaMarr is a well-known voice actor these days, but he proves to be no mean actor in the flesh, playing Malefic trapped in a human form.


Artistry

The opening Obsidian North commercial is a stunning parody of nature-themed advertising for a piece of technology.


Super Trivia

The wind-controlling metahuman from last week's episode is given a proper name in this episode: Breathtaker. Strangely enough, this name has been used by two different DC Comics supervillains. However, the Earth-38 version of Breathtaker seems to be based on the second Breathtaker, given her power set and basic gimmick.

First appearing in Titans #21 in November 2000, Breathtaker was part of a group of metahuman assassins known as The Hangmen. Her real name and origins were never revealed. She had the power to control the air around her but her trademark move was draining the air out of a person's lungs.

This episode introduces a cyborg assassin known as Rip Roar, who is armed with two extra robot hands. There is an earlier DC Comics character called Rip Roar, but he has nothing in common with his Earth-38 counterpart apart from a shared name and their both having four arms.

The original Rip Roar was a member of the New Gods, who first appeared in Young Justice #2, in October 1998. A native of the planet Apocalypse, Rip Roar was a soldier under Darkseid's direct command and a rival of Darkseid's son, Kalibak. Rip Roar became stranded on Earth thanks to Kalibak's treachery, shortly after he stole a Super-Cycle from the world of New Genesis. This Super-Cycle would become the team transport of Young Justice, after the team defeated Rip Roar. In addition to having four arms and the usual New God super-strength and enhanced durability, Rip Roar had the ability to project fire and ice from his hands.


Technobabble

Kara tells Kelly that the perfect gift for Alex would be a Schadel XG-1000 motorcycle helmet, in small, matte black.

Lex Luthor created a laser rifle he called the Marathon Laser because it could fire a concentrated beam of light 26.2 miles.

Brainiac-5 is able to augment the executive section of his brain to allow the Aurafacian to speak through him, after he bonds with it.The Aurafacian will be unable to lie, thanks to a polygraph filter in Brainiac-5's brain.

The occipital lobe is the part of the brain where Q-waves are generated.

Q-waves are projected like sonar from a dolphin.

Malefic's Q-waves broadcast on a special frequency that allows him to control the thoughts and emotions of others, while being unable to connect to the Martian hive-mind.

A Fusion Cannon is a high-energy weapon formed from the combination of a high-power, high-range laser (like Lex Luthor's Marathon Laser) and a particle amplifier. It is capable of generating an energy beam 100 times hotter than the center of Earth's sun. According to Brainiac-5, the Fusion Cannon isn't supposed to be invented until the 22nd century.

Fusion Cannons are impossible to track, due to the amplifier's radiation obfuscating the laser's energy signature. They are also powerful enough to hurt Supergirl.

The Maladorian Dendroasp is 100 times more aggressive than any animal on Earth.

Rip Roar is able to trigger a massive eruption in the Antarctic water table, which sends shockwaves east and west, resulting in an unprecedented number of sea swells. Based on the seafloor pattern and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the biggest is set to make landfall on the North American Pacific coast one hour after the eruption.

The geyser Rip Roar creates pumps out three cubic miles of water every second. At that sustained rate, every coastal city in the world will start flooding within 12 minutes.

The helmet Rip Roar wears is biologically adhered and it functions as some sort of mental armor. Even with a Truth-Seeker attached to him, he does not say anything about who hired him other than to describe them as "They."


Dialogue Triumphs

Lena:  It seems we have gotten off on the wrong foot. So I have a proposition. You have the ability to incept thoughts into people's minds. I want to study your brain, so I can develop a technology that can do the same thing.
Malefic: Forgive my skepticism, but last time someone showed interest in my brain, the High Council sent me to the Phantom Zone.
Lena: You'd be back in the Phantom Zone if it wasn't for me.
Malefic: And yet, now we are at an impasse. What's in it for me?
Lena: We both want the same thing. We were each betrayed by the people closest to us. Work with me. I believe you've the ability to do great things.
Malefic: I don't want to do great things. I want revenge! So I have a proposal for you. Martian biology prevents a brother from harming his brother. That's why I've been attacking the people closest to J'onn J'onzz. If you remove this barrier from my brain so I can kill my brother, I will give you access to my mind.
Lena: It is my mission to stop people from hurting each other. I will not kill.
Malefic: Perhaps. But you've gone to extreme measures to bring me here. And now, you are at the precipice. Studying my mind is the key. I know of desperation, human. I know the depths you feel.
Lena: I would have to develop the technology first.
(Malefic merely smirks and nods slightly.)
Lena: Your terms are acceptable. Let's begin.

Brainiac-5: Now, I'm no super-villain, but if I were, and I was right over an Antarctic lake with a weapon designed to fire a beam 100 times hotter than the center of the sun, well, it would be, as they say, "a hot time in the old town tonight."


Continuity

As the episode opens, it is just over 59 hours before the Collective Dream VR contacts officially go on sale.

Andrea has everyone at CatCo writing articles about Collective Dream, regardless of their usual departments and beats.

William Dey volunteers for the assignment of continually writing articles about how big the sales are.

Kara has not told Nia about what William is working on and denied finding anything at the address Nia found which led to a house rented in William's name.

Kelly and Alex are celebrating the anniversary of their first date. Kelly asks Kara for advice on a gift.

Kara tells William about the air-controlling metahuman the DEO captured and says she can get him into the DEO on two conditions; one, he has to sign an NDA  agreeing not to talk about the building and two, he has to bring Kara in on the investigation.. She gives him all right to publish the articles in his name.

Alex uses the Truth Seeker, first seen in 410, on Breathtaker.

Breathtaker says she has no idea who hired her, as she is paid in Bitcoin through a secure server and she never knows what other contractors she might be working with at any time.

Breathtaker's previous contacts include "this lady with killer tattoos (i.e. the Aurafacian from 503), a guy who could detach most of his fingers, and this big dude with some extra appendages." She later clarifies this to be a man with two mechanical arms.

Breathtaker says the man with four arms uses the code name Rip Roar and she last saw him two years earlier in Darien.

William says that Rip Roar killed his best friend from college, Russell Rogers, two years earlier.

Russell had apparently dated Andrea Rojas but become suspicious she was involved in something shady. He disappeared a day after he told William this, with no body ever being found.

Rip Roar steals the Marathon Laser from the vault holding Lex Luthor's belongings at Fort Summit Army Base.

Malefic agrees to let Lena test his powers in exchange for her finding a way to overcome the Martian genetic coding that prohibits brother from hurting brother.

Brainiac briefly bonds with the Aurafacian so it can be questioned, but it delivers no useful information. Like Breathtaker, it was hired on-line through an anonymous drop.

Rip Roar is revealed to be working for Leviathan.

Lena has Malefic attempt to control three hostile alien creatures to narrow down the frequency he uses to control people. These are a Daxamite Scorpion, a Terran Oceanic Devil, and a Maladorian Dendroasp.

Kelly makes a reservation at a waterfront restaurant for her and Alex's anniversary.

Kara knows how to loop a security camera's footage to hide her breaking into Andrea's office.

William Dey has contacts at MI-8.

Kara and William find nothing in Andrea's office more incriminating than a large stockpile of foreign currency in her safe.

Brainiac-5 is able to track the power source of the Marathon Laser to a satellite station in New Mexico.

Rip Roar steals a particle amplifier from the satellite station.

J'onn conducts a psychic scan of Russell Rogers' old apartment in London but sensed nothing other than evidence of a struggle years earlier.

Brainiac-5 determines that the components Rip Roar stole could be used to create a high-power fusion cannon.

Brainiac-5 determines that the common link between the targets of the three super-powered assassins - a scientist, an engineer and a security officer - is that they all were all employed by the Lake Vostok Antarctica Base. Between the three of them, it would have been possible to override every single security protocol in the base.

Brainy further theorizes that Rip-Roar's purpose is to trigger a global flood by melting the glacier over Lake Vostok.

William Dey uses his VR Collective Dream contacts to imagine telling Andrea off about her crimes.

J'onn and Kara fly in-synch to create a whirlpool to suppress the water being pushed up by the geyser created by Rip Roar.

Dreamer uses her powers to stop the wave from destroying America's west coast.

Brainiac determines that Andrea Rojas and Obsidian North couldn't be behind the plot to flood the world. Ignoring that it would have ruined the launch of their new VR lenses (and many people were utterly helpless because they were in VR when the wave hit), the flooding would also have destroyed Obsidian North's manufacturing hub.

Nia and Kelly befriend one another after Nia walks in on Kelly having an anxiety attack triggered by watching Alex in action saving people.

Lena uses her research to place Malefic under her control, making him unable to hurt anyone or want to leave her lab.

Kelly's favorite color is purple.

Alex's gift to Kelly is the same motorcycle helmet she asked for, so that Kelly can ride on Alex's bike with her.

Rip Roar is identified as Russell Rogers.

The old woman from Leviathan appears to Andrea Rojas, telling her they need her to deal with Rip Roar.


Location

Fort Summit Army Base
Socorro Satellite Station - New Mexico.
Lake Vostok Antarctica Base - Antarctica


The Fridge Factor

Kara comes off incredibly indecisive in this episode. Early on, she laments to J'onn that her instincts about Andrea Rojas and William Dey were completely inaccurate and that she can't trust herself. Yet the middle part of the episode has her telling Alex to trust her gut instincts, despite a complete lack of evidence.


The Bottom Line

Quite possibly the worst episode in the show's history. It's on par with the various Parasite episodes, at the very least. The chief problem is that it makes Kelly (still a virtual non-entity, character wise) and Alex celebrating the anniversary of their first date more important than Lena stumbling down the slippery slope toward villainy by betraying Malefic.

It's hard to say what is stupider in the end; the conceit that one ray gun can trigger a tidal wave that will move straight toward the Pacific Coast of the USA from Antarctica, Dreamer suddenly having the ability to stop a tidal wave that huge by thinking at it or William Dey not being able to recognize his best friend is Rip Roar despite them both having the same beard.