Black Lightning Episode Guide: Season 3, Episode 14 - The Book of War: Chapter One: Homecoming

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


Plot

Jefferson and his team return to Freeland with Lynn and Dr. Jace, but the war in Freeland is only beginning. Still, Jefferson's focus is on rebuilding things with his family, even as the cold war between Lady Eve and Lala heats up and Graverdigger prepares for an all-out invasion.


Influences

Various Outsiders comics (The interactions of the teen heroes.) and Captain America: The First Avenger (the sequence where Gravedigger gets his powers and fights during WWII.)


Performances

Jill Scott steals the show this week as Lady Eve.


Artistry

The production values on the Gravedigger origin flashback sequence are solid and look more like a cinematic war movie than a flashback scene on a CW drama.


Technobabble

Lady Eve uses the Latin phrase Imperium in Imperio to restore Lala's control after incapacitating him with the code phrase E pluribus unum. "Imperium in Imperio" is a reference to a deep state - that is to say a governing body within another governing body, typically acting in secret. It is also the name of the first novel by Sutton E. Griggs, which discussed a Utopian secret African state hidden within the United States.


Dialogue Triumphs

Jefferson: We came across an American meta in Markovia. Now, my intel says he's heading to Freeland, leading the Markovian invasion. Calls himself Gravedigger?
Agent Odell: I'm not familiar with that name but rest assured, I will perform the due diligence. Am I to assume I can count on you in the coming war?
Jefferson: No. Freeland can.

(Jefferson has just caught Lynn, who stumbled and fell while they were cooking dinner together.)
Jefferson: Baby... baby, you're sweating, but you're cold as ice.
Lynn: It's the withdrawals. I'm surprised it's taken this long to manifest.
Jefferson: Is there anything else I can do for you?
Lynn: Jeff... I'm an addict. I never truly knew, all those years, what it was like for you being Black Lightning. The weight of the world on your shoulders. Knowing you could fix it. I understand that lure and why you couldn't stop. I should've seen that I was forcing you to be something that you weren't, and I am sorry.
Jefferson: No, no, no. I'm sorry. If I'd gone after you instead of helping Henderson, then the Markovians wouldn't have gotten you.
(Lynn suddenly gags and grabs her mouth, before running for the bathroom.)
Lynn: Withdrawals. I'm sorry! I love you.!
Jefferson: I love you, too.

Lady Eve: I understand you have a certain briefcase in your possession. One you can't open.
Lala: I don't know nothin' about no briefcase.
Lady Eve: Oh, Lala you know these streets. They talk. And you know what a good listener I am.
Lala: If I had such a thing why would I hand it over to you?
Lady Eve: Because I can give you what you truly want.
Lala: That briefcase is the only thing that will bring Tobias Whale to me. And when he comes to collect, I'll have my revenge come hell or high water.
Lady Eve: (laughing) Oh. Oh, Lala what will you do when you catch the white whale? Oh, right. You can't harm him. Tobias programmed you.
Lala:  How you know that?
Lady Eve: (purring) E pluribus unum.
(Suddenly, Lala begins to convulse, as he did when Tobias said that phrase during their last fight. Lady Eve, all smiles and softness before now, goes cold as ice and hard as steel.)
Lady Eve: Sit your ass down!
(Lala does so, but it's clear his body is moving against his mind.)
Lady Eve: You never worked for Tobias Whale. You worked for me. I ran the Shadow Board. Tobias used my technology to keep you on his leash. (sweetly) I can undo that for you, baby. Imperium in Imperio.
 (Lala has one more violent convulsion, but suddenly he's breathing normally again. He looks up at Lady Eve and stands, truly shaken.)
Lady Eve: (chuckling) Now, does that sound like something the Godfather of Freeland would be interested in?

(Jennifer is sitting on the ledge outside her bedroom window. Khalil jumps up onto it. A spark is instantly in Jennifer's hand.)
Jennifer: Don't take another step.
Khalil: Yo, it's me, Jen. Khalil.
Jennifer: For how long? (lowers her hand) You know, my sister was right about you. I don't know how I was so blind.
Khalil: I came to apologize. Look, I... I'm not myself anymore. I don't know who I am. But I do know that Painkiller is a part of me and he's not going away. And I have to learn to live with him.
Jennifer: (coldly) I don't. I know you can't see him but when I look into Painkiller's eyes, there's nothin' there but death.
Khalil: Odell made me a weapon, but I know... I know deep down that I still have a soul, Jen. And I need you more than anyone to believe that.
Jennifer: What Odell did to you was evil. But I can't love a weapon that's pointed at my family. Even if it does have a soul.
(There is a long pause. Khalil nods, clearly heartbroken but understanding. He turns around and starts walking away.)
Jennifer: See you around, Khalil.
(Khalil stops. He doesn't turn around when he finally speaks.)
Khalil: No. You won't.

(Lady Eve enters into Gambi's shop, gun drawn. He is waiting for her with his own gun ready.) 
Lady Eve: I received your message. You know, Gambi, an e-mail would've sufficed.
Gambi: An old friend like you deserves a personal touch.
Lady Eve: "An eye for an eye. " You're getting literal in your old age. Well, at least I can tell my twins apart now.
Gambi: Speak your piece, Evelyn. One way or another, our feud ends now.
Lady Eve: Okay. I did set a contract for your life, true. But after you took out Joey Toledo, Tobias had me killed. I got better, so bygones?
Gambi: What do you want?
Lady Eve: Same old Gambi. Don't fret. I come bearing gifts.
(Lady Eve raises her other hand and puts The Briefcase on the counter.)
Lady Eve: We both worked for the ASA, so I don't need to tell you what this is, do I?
Gambi: (stunned) Where did you get it?
Lady Eve: Let's say it fell off a truck. I can't open it. You always were more capable when it came to things like this.
Gambi: I taught you better than that, Evelyn. "Never give something for nothing."
Lady Eve: I was gonna get to that part. In my absence, the ASA shattered Freeland. Take this peace offering. Use it to burn down the ASA for what they did to my city. Or not. Either way, my quarrel with the Tailor is over.


Dialogue Disasters

Most of Anissa's dialogue in this episode sounds like it was lifted from various after-school specials. Particularly...

Annisa: You have nothing to be ashamed of. Addiction is a disease and it can happen to anybody. We're here to support you and we will get through this. You'll see.


Continuity

40 years earlier, Gambi had an assignment to rescue or kill Dr. Jace from Markovia. He thinks now that had he killed her the war with Markovia might have been avoided.

Dr. Jace reveals that Gravedigger is the real power in Markovia and that he is out to get every metahuman the ASA have in custody.

Jefferson insists that Dr. Jace be granted her freedom along with all the members of his team.

Tobias Whale is said to have escaped the custody of the ASA and the Markovians.

Erica Moran is said to have been returned to her family.

Despite everything, Agent Odell agrees to honor the ASA agreement with Jefferson.

Agent Odell claims to have never heard of Gravedigger.

Anissa still doesn't trust Khalil. Jennifer believes he is in control of his Painkiller persona.

Lala is currently collecting 30% of Lady Eve's earnings.

Lady Eve offers Devonte his choice of her girls so he can report to Lala that she's delivering a quality product. This is a ploy to slip him a drugged drink and grill him for information. He chooses a girl named Shalon.

TC says that the firewall holding Painkiller in check in Khalil's head is holding up.

Gambi gets Khalil a sketchbook, saying Jennifer told him that Khalil was a good artist and that therapy would help him with his PTSD.

Gambi said that he took up tailoring to help him with his personal trauma.

Gambi also says that he'll contact Perenna, the telepathic therapist who helped Jennifer, once the war in Freeland is over.

Lynn is still fighting the withdrawal symptoms of Green Light addiction.

Jennifer tries to talk Brandon out of killing Dr. Jace. She is not successful.

Through Devonte's chat with Shalon, Lady Eve learns that Lala has the briefcase.

Grace is still resting after the mission in Markovia.

Lynn has a stash of Glimmer hidden in her bathroom.

Jefferson agrees to lead the defense of Freeland against the Markovians on behalf of the ASA and asks Jennifer and Anissa to help, saying they need to keep an eye the ASA.

Jefferson and Lynn agree to a clean slate and total honesty with the rest of the family from now on.

Lynn reveals the last of her drug stash. Jennifer destroys it with her powers.

Anissa tells the family she thinks Grace is the one.

Jennifer tells the family she thinks she killed some Markovian soldiers while working for the ASA in 303.

Jefferson tells his family about the Crisis on Infinite Earths and his role in saving all reality.

Lady Eve knows the code phrase to shut down Lala - E pluribus unum - which was revealed in 216.

Lady Eve knows another code phrase that restores Lala to normal- Imperium in Imperio.

Lady Eve offers to free Lala from the control phrases that were programmed into him forever in exchange for the briefcase.

The Perdi in South Freeland are overun by the Markovians and call Blackbird for help.

Brandon's mother's name was Helen.

Brandon crystallized his mother's ashes and uses the crystals as a weapon to try and kill Dr. Jace.

Dr. Jace reveals that she helped Brandon's mother to escape from Markovia. She also claims to have known Brandon's father and that he had earth-bending powers like Brandon.

The Markovians are said to have kidnapped Anaya and Thierry, though Jefferson and Anissa do manage to save most of The Perdi.

Gambi cuts the eye out of one of Lady Eve's twin bodyguards to send her a message.

Khalil draws Jennifer in her costume.

TC agrees to help Brandon find information on his dad and determine if Dr. Jace was telling the truth.

Painkiller is still determined to complete his last mission before being captured: kill the entire Pierce family.

Painkiller is able to take control of Khalil briefly and poisons Jennifer in the process.

Jennifer is able to burn Painkiller's poison out of her system.

Khalil visits Jennifer and tries to apologize for losing control.

Khalil leaves Jennifer, intending to put as much distance between them as possible.

Lady Eve offers Gambi the briefcase, on the off chance that he'll be able to hurt the ASA with it.

Lady Eve says her grudge with Gambi is settled.

TC is able to open the briefcase for Gambi.

Gambi discovers that the briefcase contains the genome for every metahuman the ASA ever encountered, as well as the secret history of the ASA.

The United States government secretly funded Markovia's metahuman development project

The only successful product of the first experiments to create metahumans during WWII was an African American soldier named Tyson Sykes. Sykes opted to become a test subject rather than face a dishonorable discharge for getting into a fight with some racist soldiers. The experiments triggered his metagene and he became history's first recorded metahuman.

Markovia is said to be close to Russia,which made it an ideal testing ground during the Cold War.

The ASA was established to recreate the formula that produced Painkiller, before they realized it was something in him that created the powers - not the formula itself.

Gambi reveals to Jefferson and Lynn that he had been sent to rescue or kill Dr. Jace, who had been the head doctor of the Markovian project. It was shortly after that the ASA was established.

Gravedigger was said to have led the coup against the Markovian government and kicked out the Americans while operating in secret.

Lynn reveals that she left her meta-booster research in Markovia. This means that, potentially, Gravedigger could be using it to give himself the powers of other metahumans.

The final scene of the episode confirms that Gravedigger has just given himself telekinesis and killed Colonel Mosin.


Location

Markovia


Untelevised Adventures

The Markovian government have surrounded Freeland while Jefferson and his team were away.


The Bottom Line

An enjoyable episode, despite being all over the place in terms of its story. Still, there were a lot of little subplots that did need addressing after all the action last week and this has the odd side-effect of pushing Jefferson into the background for most of the episode. Virtually the only subplot that isn't addressed, ironically enough, is the fate of the Freeland resistance even as we're told that the fighting is getting worse with the Markovians surrounding the city. Still, all the scenes are enjoyable, apart from Anissa being on her high-horse about everything.

Starman Plays Fallout 2 - Part 27

In which we liberate some slaves and start exploring the NCR in earnest. We even get to meet the President! Sadly, we don't get to ask her about our grandfather saving her from raiders, back in the day. Ah well.

Supergirl Episode Guide: Season 5, Episode 13 - It's A Super Life

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



Plot

Sentenced to perform one good deed for every person he ever tormented, Mister Mxyzptlk shows up on Kara's doorstep ready to bend reality to her will. It sounds too good to be true but after checking the fine print of the bargain, Kara agrees to let Mxy rewrite history so that she revealed her secret identity to Lena Luthor before it ruined their friendship forever. Unfortunately, every attempt at making things right only makes things worse!


Influences

It's A Wonderful Life (title and basic theme of rewriting the past only to realize you're better off with the present.)


Goofs

The alternate timelines are largely based around events that should probably have played out differently in the post-Crisis reality. There is no reason, for instance, for Mercy Graves to attack LuthorCorp or for the Children of Liberty to be established in a world where Lex Luthor has never been a convicted criminal. (It's probably best to assume that Mxy is playing around with the pre-Crisis world given that he seems to regard Kara's past as episodes of a popular TV show.)

There's no explanation for why Winn, in his Legion uniform, is around when Lena is kidnapped by the Children of Liberty in the third alternate timeline.

There's no explanation for why Winn and Mon-El are present in their Legion uniforms in the timeline where Lena and Supergirl never met.


Performances

Thomas Lennon is an instantly engaging presence as Mister Mxyzptlk and you almost wish he hadn't turned over a new leaf so we could see him in action against Kara and Clark in the future. Still, if this is the last time we see Mixy in the Arrowverse, it's a solid final appearance.


Artistry

Props to the design team for the flawlessly designed "Mxyflyx" website we briefly see on Kara's laptop Mister Mxyzptlk starts streaming her life like a TV show.


Super Trivia

When Mister Mxyzptlk returns after being sent away, he says "Thank Zook you changed your mind!" Zook was the name of an alien being who acted as a pet/sidekick to J'onn J'onzz. Zook was a creature that resembled a cartoonish dog, who had the powers of temperature manipulation (he could freeze or super-heat objects he touched), limited shape-shifting abilities and he could track anyone whom he had met before, no matter how they had disguised themselves.

Curiously, in 315, M'yrnn J'onzz said that J'onn's imaginary friend as a child was a 5th Dimensional being named Zook, who did mischievous things and blamed J'onn for them. This may suggest that Zook is a real person in the Arrowverse, as Zook was also mentioned in 213 (along with a Zook Uprising on Mars) and J'onn made reference to fighting a 5th Dimensional being once.

The BetaMyx tapes detailing Kara and Lena's friendship are labeled with titles that parody the format of the titles of Friends episodes. (i.e. The One Where It All Began, The One With The Lesbian Wedding, The One Where Ross Finds Out.). Some of the episodes we see are titled The One Where Lena Moves To National City, The One Where Supergirl and Lena Fight The Nanobot Lady and The One Where Lillian Admits She Loves Lena.

This episode confirms a fan theory that the magical hat utilized by The Hat from The Elite belonged to Mister Mxyzptlk, who normally has a hat in the comics. The Hat claimed to have been told where to find the Fortress of Solitude by someone he called "Mixy" in 414 and Mister Mxyzptlk confirms that The Hat was an old drinking buddy and he lost the hat to him in a poker game.


Technobabble

In the second alternate timeline, Lena creates an electric device that seems to shock Sam's Reign personality into dormancy.


Dialogue Triumphs

Mister Mxyzptlk: I am offering you a do-over. Hmm? I could send you back in time. Wouldn't you like to be able to tell Lena that you're Supergirl on your own terms? Wouldn't you like to see what the world would look like if you controlled the narrative?
(Suddenly Mister Mxyzptlk is standing behind Kara and Alex. They both jump as he speaks again.)
Mister Mxyzptlk: Haven't you hurt enough? Hmm?
(Kara just glares at Mister Mxyzptlk)
Mister Mxyzptlk: I get it. You don't trust me. Okay. But how's this? Ready?
(Mister Mxyzptlk pulls out a recorder, which he hands to Kara. She inspects the recorder as he keeps talkling.) 
Mister Mxyzptlk: Now, by Fifth Dimensional law, I am required to give you this recording of me saying my name backwards, in case you ever need to banish me to my Fifth Dimension, which I know that you-
(Kara pushes the play button on the recorder.)
Mister Mxyzptlk: (on recorder) Kltpzyxm.
(Mister Mxyzptlk makes a face and poofs into a cloud of glowing blue smoke.)

Lena: When you were Reign, and I made Kryptonite to stop you You know, in response, Supergirl was so horrible. And then, Kara was the same. She was so kind and supportive. But it made me think, which was the real Kara? And if the real Kara thought I was a villain then maybe that's all I really am.
Sam: No, Lena, no. How could you ever think that? Lena, you made Kryptonite to split me from Reign and to save my life. You were never the villain. You were always the hero.

Supergirl: You once told me Kara Danvers was your hero.
Lena: I never told you that. I told
Supergirl: It's me, Lena. I've always been Kara.
Lena: Kara, how could you?
Supergirl: I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner.
Lena: Three weeks ago, I found out that Sam, one of my closest friends, was a homicidal Kryptonian. I went through that terror alone. I risked my life day after day for weeks because I believed that I was the only one who could be trusted to protect her, to save her. I could have used your help. I would have used your help if you'd bothered to tell me the truth before now. If you'd trusted me then, I wouldn't have had to go through that danger alone!
Supergirl: I'm so sorry, but I thought I was protecting you. But now, we can... we can move past it and work as partners.
Lena: (angrily) You expect me to be your partner after this?! When all you've done is prove to me that you can't be trusted at all?

(Mister Mxyzptlk is fast fowarding through a lot of the fight with Reign and Supergirl.)
Kara: Wait. You're skipping a lot!
Mister Mxyzptlk: This is all exposition, so much exposition.

Mon-El: You know, Lena and I have a lot in common. We've both been betrayed by our own families. And when the people who are supposed to love you the most let you down, it just makes you feel so so vulnerable, you know? But my mother and the Luthors, they betrayed Lena for their own selfish reasons. They They wanted to take advantage of her. You lied to to protect her. Because she's your friend. Now, I know Lena's hurting right now, but once she understands that she'll forgive you.
Supergirl: I hope you're right. But I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself.
Mon-El: You know it's okay to mess up, right? No matter how many mistakes I've made, you've always forgiven me. You should, uh, know that you deserve the same compassion that you show others.

Lena: I didn't come here to make friends.
Kara: I wanna show you something.
Lena:Listen, I'm really busy, so, if we could just-
(Kara flies out the window at super-speed. She is standing there a moment later. Lena is stunned.)
Lena: It's you! Kara Danvers is Supergirl.
Kara: Yeah.
Lena: Can't believe I was fooled by a pair of glasses.
Kara: Don't worry, a lot people are.
Lena: Oh, God, (chuckling) I have to recall all those alien detection devices 'cause they clearly don't work.
Kara: You're not angry?
Lena: No, it's incredible. I mean, you're incredible! But... why are you trusting me with such a big secret? You barely know me.
Kara: Because I know that what you want more than anything is to do good. And I know it's hard for you to trust people, but I need you to know now, without a doubt, I trust you. My cousin, your brother, they got it wrong.  Imagine what we could do together. A Luthor and a Super, working together as a team.
Lena: If we were partners, we could change the world.
(Kara smiles and offers her hand. Lena shakes it. Suddenly, we see a number of spinning newspapers talking about the amazing things Supergirl and Lena Luthor have done together.)
Mister Mxyzptlk: (in an old time radio announcer voice) Only months after publicly declaring their partnership, the formidable duo of Supergirl and Lena Luthor has already cleaned up National City's criminal element. This pair is literally unstoppable! Not to mention, fashionable after Lena convinced Supergirl to cut the hair of steel, and gave her a new suit to boot. But their next adversary is Lillian Luthor herself, and this time, their battleground is a courtroom. Emotions. Drama. Will they persevere?!
(Cut to Kara's living room where she's hitting the side of the TV trying to get the picture to unstuck. Mister Mxyzptlk is standing there dressed as a 1930s Newsie, talking into an old-fashioned microphone.)
Kara: Mxy, can you please take this seriously?
Mister Mxyzptlk: (still talking in an old time radio announcer voice) Take it seriously, because every party needs a pooper, and that's why we invited Kara!

(Supergirl looks around the CatCo offices that are now Lena's base of operations.)
Supergirl: Lena? It's me. It's Supergirl. It's Kara.
Lena: (coldly) Who's Kara?


Continuity

Mister Mxyzptlk looks quite different from how he appeared in 213. He explains that this is because he adopted a form he thought Kara would find more pleasing when he was trying to romance her.

Mister Mxyzptlk says that he was put on trial for abusing his powers to torment people, including Kara. His sentence was to lose his powers except in so far as he used them to do one good deed for every person he wronged. Kara is the last person on his list.

Mister Mxyzptlk suggests that Kara can use her free wish to rewrite time so that she gets to choose when Lena found out about her secret identity.

In addition to being magically unable to use his powers except to help people he wronged, Fifth Dimensional Law also requires that Mister Mxyzptlk give a recording of himself saying his name backwards to the person he is trying to help so that they can get rid of him at any time.

Mister Mxyzptlk is also court-ordered to restore things to normal should Kara not be happy with the results of her wish and is happy to walk her through her life and find the perfect point to change everything.

Kara decides to take Mister Mxyzptlk's help, purely because Lex and Lena are planning something together, they have no idea what and restoring Kara's presence in her life may be the only way to stop her.

Alex and J'onn are sent away to play paintball while Kara and Mister Mxyzptlk work together.

The first alternate reality is viewed on a movie screen and projector which Mister Mxyzptlk conjures into Kara's living room. He also makes popcorn.

Kara and Mister Mxyzptlk rewatch the scene where Kara pretended to be helpless while secretly saving her and Lena from a jet crash in 420.

The first alternate reality Mister Mxyzptlk creates is based around 402 and Kara revealing her secret identity to Lena shortly after President Marsdin resigned after being outed as an alien, but just before Mercy Graves attacked LuthorCorp. When Kara returns after repelling the attack, Lena is gone. We discover that Lena flew to Metropolis to pour out her heart to Samantha Arias. This meant that Lena was not close-by when Mercy seeded Earth's atmosphere with Kryptonite and was not there to develop the super-suit that kept Kara alive until the atmosphere could be cleaned.

This reality makes Kara think the problem is her hypocrisy in treating Lena differently in both her identities.

The second alternate reality is viewed through Kara's laptop on a movie-streaming site called Mxyflyx. (This is clearly a parody of Netflix.)

Kara and rewatch the scene from 317 where Kara asks James Olsen to break into Lena's lab and search for Kryptonite - an action Kara now agrees was wrong.

The second alternate reality Mister Mxyzptlk makes is based around 317 and 318 and has Kara revealing herself to Lena just after she reveals that she discovered that Samantha Arias is Reign three weeks early and had begun synthesizing Kryponite as part of a treatment. Having spent most of the past month agonizing over one of her best friends being a Kryptonian doomsday weapon, Lena turns on Kara when she reveals that she is Supergirl. This means that Lena doesn't work with the DEO to fight the World-Killers at first, which means they fail to stop the eclipse triggered by the World-Killers working together. This also means that Mon-El remains in the past, due to Pestilence not dying. In the end, Lena joins Mon-El and Kara in the fight against Reign at the Arias Farm, but she, Samantha and Mon-El die in the process.

This reality makes Kara think the problem wasn't the hypocrisy - it was her lying to Lena in the first place.

The third alternate reality is watched on Kara's TV on video tapes (aka Betamyx) after the inter-dimensional WiFi begins buffering.

The third alternate reality starts off with a flashback sequence from 506 and Kara revealing her secret identity to Lena shortly after they first met, sometime during Season 2. The two agree to become partners in making National City a better place. This leads to an alternate take on Lillian Luthor's trial from 212, with Lena refusing to reveal Kara's secret identity under oath while testifying against her mother. This causes Lena to experience a level of public popularity that she never did in the original timeline, and people see her as more than a supervillain in training. It also has the side effect of turning the Cult of Rao from 304 into a more benign religion and less of a doomsday cult. This new Cult of Rao wins over all of the Lockwood family except Ben Lockwood (aka Agent Liberty), who forms the Children of Liberty after his father, son and wife all jump off a roof expecting Supergirl to save them. In a mirror of his confrontation with Lena in 403, Agent Liberty kidnaps Lena and Coville and threatens to kill them both if Supergirl doesn't reveal her secret identity to the world. Kara does so, and Agent Liberty is true to his word and releases Lena and Coville. Unfortunately, the Children of Liberty kill everyone who is close to Kara immediately after that.

This reality makes Kara think Lena would be better off if they'd never become friends at all.

The fourth and final alternate reality is a world where Kara and Lena never met in 201. In this reality, Supergirl isn't there to stop Lena's helicopter from being shot down. She survives the crash, but is spirited away to Cadmus by Lillian Luthor and becomes a rest subject for her Metallo program.  Two years later Lena escapes, kills Lillian and Lex, and destroys half of National City in the process. She rules what is left of the city with an iron fist and turns the Lexo-Suits into robots under her control running the Hope AI.  All of her technology is powered by tapping into the energy of the Fifth Dimension, which leaves Mister Mxyzptlk powerless until they recover his hat.

J'onn wields the Staff of Kolar, last seen in 415, during his fight with Reign.

Kara decides that she can't change the past and that she'll always have to face the consequences of her actions, but she says that Mister Mxyzptlk helped her to get over her guilt regarding Lena, so she frees him from his obligation.

Mister Mxyzptlk apologizes for being a creep before and thanking Kara for letting him feel like a hero in the bad reality.

Kara tells Lena that she's done feeling guilty over the past and that whatever happens between them in the future is on her.


Untelevised Adventures

Mister Mxyzptlk was put on trial for his crimes against Kara and other people he mistreated sometime after the events of 213. He has spent the last three years using his powers to make amends for his crimes, having saved Kara for last.


The Bottom Line

A fun anniversary special and look back at the show's history that may not hold up logically but it's a serviceable tribute to what came before.

Batwoman Episode Guide: Season 1, Episode 13 - Drink Me

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



Plot

With Alice presumed dead and Jacob Kane now out of prison, the Crows turn their attention to bringing in Nocturna: a serial killer who drains the blood from her victims. But Batwoman is still their Number Two target, making it hard for Kate to deal with Nocturna or track down the real Alice, who is on the run and plotting revenge against everyone... including Kate.


Influences

The New 52 Batwoman series and the Batnan comics of Doug Monech. (Character of Nocturna.)


Goofs

True to their sterling record to date, none of the Crows see fit to ask why the Alice corpse they find has the wrong color hair.

For that matter, nothing is said about Mouse no longer being in the hospital. (It's possible Dr. Cartwright covered his tracks and nobody noticed he is missing, but you'd think Jacob would want to confront the man who impersonated him in addition to inspecting Alice's dead body.)


Performances

Camrus Johnson delivers comedic gold throughout this episode. Hopefully this isn't really his last time coming out of the Batcave, because his interactions with Kate and Mary are priceless, as is his clear crush on Mary.


Artistry

The opening scene with Nocturna is suitably creepy and sets up her mystery well.

The set design for The Hold Up is solid and the use of lighting and music during the club scenes is fantastic, as is the atmospheric design for Gotham Cathedral.


Bat Trivia

Nocturna is an alias that has been used by three different DC Comics villains; all of whom had a connection to Gotham City.

The first Nocturna was Natalia Knight and first appeared in Batman #363 in September 1983. Natalia overcame a childhood living on the streets of Gotham City to become an astronomer at Gotham City Observatory. Unfortunately, her skin became bleached and extraordinarily sensitive to bright light following an accident with an experimental laser. Worse yet, she discovered that her adoptive father was a criminal and that his activities had financed the extravagant lifestyle to which she'd become accustomed. She joined forces with her adoptive brother, Anton Knight, and continued to run their father's enterprises, as Natalia required expensive treatments to manage her condition. She would later attempt to romance Bruce Wayne and forced him into a custody battle for Jason Todd.

The second Nocturna was a woman named Natalie Metternich, who was introduced as a Robin villain and first appeared in Robin #100 in May 2002. This Nocturna was a former astronomer turned piano player, who developed a pheromone power that caused people to lose their inhibitions around her.

The third Nocturna was a woman named Natalia Mitternacht, who was an actual vampire and black widow killer, who attempted to seduce Kate Kane. She first appeared in Detective Comics #9 in May 2012.

The Arrowverse version of Nocturne mixes elements of the first and third Nocturnes from the comics. Her real name is Natalia Knight, but she suffers from a rare form of porphyria rather than hypopigmentation. Her condition has left her unable to face direct sunlight and her kidneys do not filter her blood properly. This requires that she gets regular transfusions of fresh blood and, after the death of her father, she begins to directly acquire it by seducing club goers and draining their bodies. She has dental implants that give her a vampire's fangs, which enable her to inject her victims with a sedative before she begins draining them.

Luke makes an off-hand remark about how Nocturna's name and gimmick are very early 2000s. The second Nocturna was introduced in 2002, but ironically her gimmick had nothing to do with vampirism or blood-draining.


Technobabble

Luke has the ability to administer an adrenaline shot to Kate through the remote controls on the Bat-Suit. It takes roughly 30 seconds to kick in.

Mary determines that Kate was dosed with Ketamine. Ketamine is typically used in starting and maintaining anesthesia in surgery patients, but has been used as a party drug under the name Special K. Recently, one variation of it has been used as an antidepressant. Another version is used as an animal tranquilizer.

The Bat-Suit has a built-in UV detection system, generating 600 watts of 95% UVA and 5% UVB light. This allowes the suit to scan itself and other objects for fingerprints. Luke uses this to determine that Nocturna somehow didn't leave any physical evidence behind after close contact with Batwoman.

Luke uses a high-tech facial-recognition program to scan the club-goers at The Hold Up, looking for likely suspects to be Nocturna.

Cathedral bell ropes use different colors to denote different notes.

O-Negative is the universal donor among blood types. This means that Alice can donate blood to save Mary, who has B-Negative blood. 

B-Negative is one of the rarest blood types and people with B-Negative blood can only take transfusions from other B-Negatives or O-Negatives.


Dialogue Triumphs

Luke: We need to figure out who shot her.
Mary: I agree, but first, we need to prepare ourselves for the real Alice. The Crows think that she's dead, and she's not, which means no one's out looking for her, and if my twin picked my alien doppelganger's life over mine, I'd be on the verge of going nuclear. Uh, no offense.
Kate: You're right. I looked her in the eye and told her I chose to save someone else.
Mary: Kate you did the right thing. You have to know that.
Kate: It doesn't matter because the wrong Beth lived. Now Alice is back on the loose because of me, and we need to brace ourselves for the consequences.

(Luke is trying to talk Kate into investigating Nocturna.)
Luke: Lately, things have been a little too serious, and you could use the distraction.
Kate: Then bring me an old-fashioned bomber or an arsonist or someone that actually exists in the real world.
Luke: Apparently she does. Okay. Nocturna is-
Kate: (smirking) Nocturna? Was Night-Bite taken?
Luke: She seduces her victims, drains their blood, and leaves them for dead. It's all very early 2000s.

(Batwoman has found Nocturna's third victim.)
Batwoman: No sign of Nocturna.
(There's a metallic clan behind her. Batwoman spins around to see Nocturna approaching.)
Batwoman: Scratch that. Found her.
Nocturna: And I found you. Vampire, Bat. Screams duo to me.
Batwoman: I work alone.
Luke: (over comms) I heard that.
Batwoman: Shh.

Kate: Did we just lure a vampire to us using a bar full of walking blood bags?
Luke: Theoretically, yes. Technically, no. Think of our high-res facial recognition cameras as a sort of digital garlic. If Nocturna shows, we'll get her. Though so far the most suspicious woman here has three outstanding parking tickets.

Luke: Kind of went a long way to make clear I'm not your boyfriend.
Mary: Does your tie glow in the dark?
Luke: Yes, it does.
Mary: I actually love that.
Kate (over comms): It's not her.
Luke: (reflexively) You're positive, or you just got uncomfortable?
Mary: Who are you talking to?
Luke: Kate.
Kate (over comms): What?
Luke: No. Not you, Kate. I'm talking to Mary.
Kate (over comms): Why are you talking to Mary?
Mary: Why are you talking to Kate? I thought you were her real estate assistant.
Luke: (defensively) Associate.
Mary: With a hidden earpiece to direct line into his boss at a club on a Saturday night?
(There is a too long pause as Luke tries to think of a plausible lie.)
Luke: Kate's needy.

Alice: Where is he?
Kate: Where's who?
Alice: Mouse. Where are you keeping him?
Kate: No idea.
Alice: Then this was a waste of my time.
(Alice turns around to leave.) 
Kate:We should talk about what happened.
(Alice turns around. If looks could kill Kate would be dead.) 
Alice: Talk? Why? Do you think letting me die on a linoleum floor got lost in subtext? I get it, Kate! I mean nothing to you!
Kate: The Crows think you're dead. You've got a second chance, Alice.
Alice: You had a second chance to save me, and you didn't take it. Instead, you chose a complete stranger.
Kate: Beth wasn't a stranger. Don't you get it? She was you!  The kind, compassionate, good version of you. The version of you I thought you could be.
Alice: (evenly) The version who couldn't survive despite everything you did to keep her alive.
(There is a long pause. Kate can't deny anything Alice just said.)
Alice: (sighs) That's rich. I guess this is the new normal now. I hope she was worth it.

(Kate finds a trussed-up Alice, with empty blood bags next to her.)
Kate: Why did she start to fill these up and then stop?
Alice: (mock innocence) I don't know. She's fickle.
Kate: She's meticulous. She doesn't leave a victim until they're bone dry.
Alice: (sarcastic) I'm sorry that my being alive continues to disappoint you.
Kate: You're hiding something. Why didn't she kill you?
Alice: I told you. I have no idea.
Kate: You should be dead.
Alice: (deadpan) I know, Kate. You did everything in your power to make sure of that.

Batwoman: Your little fantasy is over.
Nocturna: I think it's just starting.
Batwoman: For the record, killing people not sexy.
Nocturna: You see victims. I see kids with perfect skin, perfect kidneys, perfect lives, who pollute their blood with every toxin they can get their hands on.
Batwoman: So they deserve to die?
Nocturna: And I do? I never even had a chance!

Kate: How did Nocturna know about the Desert Rose?
Alice: You mean, how did you know that Nocturna knew about the Desert Rose? Because Mary is alive because, uh, I saved her.
Kate: You sent her after Mary.
Alice: Of course I did. It was Mary's life or mine, and someone had to choose me for once.
Kate: If you want me to feel guilty, I don't. I never will, not after everything you've done.
Alice: Hmm. See, I don't believe you. I think somewhere deep down there's a teeny, tiny part of you that's relieved I lived, that you hadn't quite failed at saving me.
Kate: And they call Nocturna a vampire when all you do is feed off my guilt like the parasite you are.
Alice: So you're saying that you feel guilty.
Kate: What's the end game, Alice? Why'd you save Mary?
Alice: To prove to you how stupid you were for letting me die.
Kate: Stupid? Stupid was thinking that my sister was redeemable. Stupid was convincing The Crows not to kill you. Stupid was rescuing you from the Gotham River, convincing Dad that I could get Beth back. Stupid was thinking that you could ever, ever possibly be worth it.
Alice: (quietly) But maybe I don't want you to give up on me.


Continuity

The Crows and Gotham City at large think Alice is dead, thanks to the body of the Beth Kane doppleganger.

Jacob Kane is cleared of all charges in his wife's murder, presumably thanks to Dr. Cartwright's testimony.

"Alice's" body is listed as Jane Doe 7113 at the Gotham City Morgue.

Jacob Kane knows the bullet that killed "Alice" wasn't Crow's issue.

Sophie says she didn't have a lock on the shot, which was why she didn't kill Alice.

Jacob is satisfied with the fact that Alice is apparently dead and feels no need to investigate who did the deed.

Two Wonderland Gang members bring Alice Mouse's stuffed bear and tell her how he disappeared from his hospital room.

Luke was able to recover Beth's necklace before he was forced to abandon her body as the Crows closed in. He gives it to Kate.

Luke ran the partial plate numbers he got from Dr. Cartwright's vehicle, but they don't match any vehicle of that make or model, leading Luke to believe the plate was stolen.

Luke suggest Kate work on tracking down Nocturna; a serial killer who drains her victims of blood.

Kate stakes out Curse - an invitation-only EDM club on Gotham City's main nightclub strip. Luke has never heard of it.

Kate is ambushed as Batwoman after finding Nocturna's third victim.

Kate almost becomes Nocturna's fourth victim, but is found by Sophie before the rest of the Crows.

Sophie helps Kate to escape by untying her from where Nocturna let her tied up. She warns her that this is the last time she can help her, however.

Mary conducts a blood-test on Kate to determine what Nocturna injected into her.

Kate decides to open her new bar, The Hold Up, a few weeks early to use it as a trap for Nocturna.

Jacob instructs Sophie to go The Hold Up undercover and keep an eye out for Nocturna.

This episode marks the first time Luke has seen Sophie.

Sophie runs into Mary and tells her that Batwoman was drugged by Nocturna.

Sophie is hit on by a woman named Elle Scantlin. She is 28, dark hair, has an arrest record, and works in veterinary medicine.

Kate scares Elle away from Sophie by coming by to say hello. In the middle of the awkward moment, Sophie gets a text from Jacob, telling her to report back to base.

One of The Crows' technicians brings Jacob footage of Sophie freeing Batwoman. He says he can make it disappear if Jacob decides to ignore it.

Luke steps in to get Mary away from one of her annoying social media followers. While he is doing that, Kate calls him in his ear-piece, revealing to Mary that they are communicating with each other in the middle of what is meant to be a night-out for Luke.

Alice confronts Kate over Mouse's disappearance. Kate says she has no idea where he is. Alice believes her.

Alice is abducted by Nocturna.

Luke calls the police after Alice shows up outside The Hold Up.

Kate and Luke determine that Nocturna is Natalia Knight - a 27 year old. She is the adoptive daughter of Charles Knight, who was a janitor at the Gotham Cathedral Church. He died of a heart attack two weeks earlier, just before the Nocturna killings started.

Natalia was born with a unique type of Porphyria that prevents her from going out in the daytime and  her kidneys have trouble cleaning her blood. She becomes Nocturna to continue getting the fresh blood denied her now that her father is dead.

Alice sends Nocturna after Mary, telling her about the special quality of her blood thanks to the Desert Rose antidote.

Jacob asks Sophie about Batwoman. She denies having helped her.

Kate identifies the ropes used to string up Nocturna's victims as cathedral bell ropes.

Gotham Catherdal Church closed down a year earlier.

Mary's blood type is B-Negative.

Alice's blood type is O-Negative

Kate's blood type is A-Positive.

Alice saves Mary with a transfusion of her own blood, while Kate goes after Nocturna.

Sophie is suspended from active duty with The Crows.

Mary tells Kate that Nocturna told her that she was targeted because of the Blood Rose antidote in her blood.

Mary ran multiple tests on her blood, but says there's nothing special about it.

Kate confronts Alice over the fact that she sent Nocturna after Mary. Alice points out that she saved Mary's life afterward.

Alice deduces that Dr. Campbell is Dr. Cartwright, based on his being the only other visitor Mouse had in the hospital.

Dr. Campbell's record says that he is Gotham City's most elite plastic surgeon. He spent 20 years performing liposuction and rhinoplasty on the idle rich until 2014m where he suddenly took a sabbatical, divorced his wife and started specializing in the facial reconstruction of child burn victims.

Mary figures out that Kate is Batwoman on her own, as she thinks back over the events of the episode, after Vesper Fairchild reports that the sedative Nocturna used on her victims was Ketamine.

Sophie is not 30 yet.

Sophie uses the Bat-Signal to call Batwoman and tell her that Jacob knows that they've been working together.

The Bat-Signal is apparently now outlawed in Gotham City.

Sophie kisses Batwoman in the final scene of the episode.



Untelevised Adventures

We don't get to see how Jacob Kane is cleared of all charges but presumably it has something to do with Dr. Cartwright testifying on his behalf.


The Bottom Line

A solid filler episode with a fun villain-of-the-week. Despite this, it still drops some major moments with Mary figuring out Kate's secret identity on her own and Alice deducing that the man responsible for creating her is still alive and has Mouse. The only downspot continues to be Sophie, who is utterly sympathetic as a character and utterly reprehensible as a love interest for Kate. Then again, Kate making bad choices when it comes to her life life is true to the comics. I just hope this tainted love won't continue past this season.

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 5, Episode 5 - A Head Of Her Time

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




Plot

While Sara tends to some business in Star City, Ava is left in charge and tries to manage the team (and their newest addition Zari) as they track down the latest Encore - Marie Antoinette. Meanwhile, John Constantine confronts a literal ghost from his past, with a little help from Charlie and Gary.



Influences

Various Hellblazer stories, particularly Original Sins, Dangerous Habits and the Swamp Thing story American Gothic and the 2019 film version of Pet Semetary (creepy kids in animal masks) and the 2006 movie Marie Antoinette.


Goofs

How can Mick, who became famous for writing romance novels, not recognize the signs of a crush? (From what we've seen of Mick's love-life he's more into hot, short-term passion than honest emotion.)

Shouldn't Nate be familiar with ALOHA, having been a Time Agent for most of the last year?


Performances

It is a credit to both Courtney Ford and Tala Ashe as performers that they manage to sell a scene in which the severed head of Marie Antoinette and a social media influencer from 2044 bond over the problems of public perception and being rich and popular.


Artistry

The costumes are well-designed and period appropriate. The design for DJ S'more Money is also fun.

The final shot of the clockwork in the coin and John lying dying in the middle of a circle on a tile floor is a beautiful, artistic one.


Trivia Of Tomorrow

This episode reveals that the details of how Astra became lost to Hell were different in the Arrowverse than they were in the original Vertigo Comics universe.

Hellblazer #11 revealed that John Constantine and his friends in the Newcastle Crew went to a club in Newcastle where John and his band Mucous Membrane had played once before. The club owner was a dodgy sort named Alex Louge who was known to have wild parties involving sex magic in the club basement. What was not know, however, was that Alex had started forcing his daughter, Astra, to take part in the parties. Terrified by the molestation, Astra called out for someone to help her and her pleas were answered by a fear elemental, who killed everyone else in the club and possessed Astra.

John attempted to drive the elemental away by summoning a more powerful demon to scare it off. Unfortunately, John botched the ritual and the demon claimed Astra as its prize since John was unable to nail it down to a bargain before it manifested. The incident drove John mad and saw him committed to the Ravenscar Sanitarium for two years. It had a similar effect on most of his companions, most of whom were scared out of getting involved in the supernatural after that.

The Arrowverse version of the Newcastle incident had the same end result, but introduces a new wrinkle along with the character of Natalie Louge. Astra's mother did not figure into the original comics.

In the Arrowverse, Natalie was a friend of John Constantine as a child, his first love as a teenager and the lead singer of Mucous Membrane. She was a talented witch but she turned aside her power after John was nearly killed by something and saved only by the intervention of his friend Gary Lester. (Gary was the friend of John's who died fighting the hunger demon in C104) She begged John to give up his magic to settle down with her but he refused. She later married Alex Logue and had Astra.

When Natalie was killed by a drunk driver, John asked Alex for permission to try and bring her back from the dead. (John later lied and said that Alex had begged him to resurrect her.)  John botched the ritual and Astra was taken to Hell. Natalie committed suicide when she learned the price of her resurrection and Alex Louge drank himself to death.

The parable of the fox knowing many things but the hedgehog knowing one important thing which Behrad quotes is taken from a poem by the ancient Greek poet Archilochus. This idea was later turned into a formal essay - The Hedgehog and The Fox - by philosopher Isaiah Berlin, who speculated that intellectuals can be broken down into two groups - those who base their philosophy around one single strong idea (hedgehogs) and those who cannot limit themselves to a single theme (foxes). In pushing this metaphor, Behrad says that the Legends are foxes and Ava is a hedgehog.

The ending in which John begins dying of lung cancer is a nod to John's prophecized death in Dangerous Habits - a graphic novel which served as the basis for the Keanu Reeves Constantine movie. In it, John was diagnosed with untreatble lung cancer and started seeking out a magical solution to his problen.


Technobabble/Arcana

Gary knows a spell that can open sealed doors which involves a chant in Romanian.



Dialogue Triumphs

Ray: Mick, are you feeling all right?
Mick: My stomach hurts. I can't eat. I can't drink. I think Allie gave me an STD back at the reunion.
Gideon: Initiating scan.
Ray: Those are not symptoms. Those are feelings. Mick. I think you're developing a crush.
Mick: Is that when you whiz and it hurts?

(Zari has invited herself along on the mission, dressed as a French nobleman.)
Ava: She's not coming. We don't do ride-alongs in the field, B.
Zari: Ava, I can handle myself in the field. I once played capture the flag to raise awareness about feline OCD. Sooooo.....
Ava: This isn't a PR event, all right? We're walking into a deadly situation facing an Encore with unknown powers. I do not have time to keep my eye on a party girl!
Nate: (starring at Zari)  I do.

Zari: So this is your job? Walking around parties?
Nate: Isn't this kind of what you do?
Zari: Hmm, touche.
(Nate grabs two glasses of champagne from a passing servant. He offers one to Zari but she shakes her head.)
Zari: No.
(Nate quickly puts both drinks down.) 
Nate: But something definitely feels off. At this point in the French Revolution, most of the royals had been separated from their heads. Even wearing a nice dress could get you sent to the guillotine.
(Zari stops dead.) 
Zari: Uh, and you let me come out in this because...?
Nate: I'm sucker for a corset and an updo.

(Zari and Ava watch as a woman collapses on the floor, having apparently partied herself to death.)
Zari: This woman is next-level popular. People would rather die than leave. Talk about FOMO.
Ava: My God, that's it. Marie Antoinette was beheaded for partying while France starved, and now she is literally killing the Revolution with a nonstop party!

John: Is that really you, Nat?
Natalie: I need to hear you say it. Why did you bring me back?
John: Because I loved you, Nat. I never stopped.
Natalie: I'm not here for the John Constantine broken hero act.
(Charlie's body changes to resemble Natalie.)
Natalie: Say it to my face. I need to hear the truth.
John: I brought you back to prove to you that I was right. To show you that I was right to choose magic over us.
Natalie: (nodding sadly) Thank you. I needed you to admit to yourself what you did, because if you're going to save Astra, you need to do it for her. Not for your ego.
John: Oh, I have tried to save her, Nat, I have tried, but I don't know how.
Natalie: I think I found a way.

Marie Antoinette: When I was 14, I was forced to leave my family. People saw the dresses, the parties, the hair, and they assumed I was a spoiled brat. Really, I was just a lonely Viennese girl trying to fit into French society.
Zari: I've been famous since I was six years old. I don't know if people love me or love to hate me. What they don't understand is how hard I work to create a fantasy for them.
(Marie nods as best you can when you're a severed head.)
Marie Antoinette: The secret is to never let the party stop.

(Ray brings his phone into the library. He is oblivious to Marie Antoinette's head being gagged.)
Ray: Here, doesn't she look exactly like you?
(Ray points his phone at Marie.)
Nora:: Ray, I am looking at a gagged, decapitated woman. If that's what you think I look like, we have a lot of processing to do.

Zari: You locked Marie Antoinette up, but you let me off the hook.
Ava: I mean, she killed people, Zari. You screwed up. You know, everybody screws up.
Zari: Not you.
Ava: Me? I feel like I'm screwing up all the time.
Zari:You were so on mission. You crashed an A-list party in a pantsuit and threw yourself into a fountain.
Ava: Ugh, see, it's a perfect example.
Zari: No, it was amazing. You didn't care what anyone thought. You were just being you. I've been trying to get people to like me for so long that I've forgotten who I really am. I have millions of followers but zero friends.
Ava: You got one.


Continuity

Gary accidentally freeze the ghost of Astra's mother while trying to check on John.

Sara has a bad habit of accidentally sneaking up on people.

Sara appoints Ava as the Interim Captain while she is away.

While the personal business taking Sara to Star City is not specified, it seems likely that it is Oliver Queen's funeral in 810.

Astra is warned by another demon that her venture with the Encores is getting too costly, as she has already lost three souls because of the Legends - Rasputin, Bugsy Siegel and Kathy Meyers.

Astra's mother was named Natalie.

John lies to Gary and Charlie about how the night Astra was lost to Hell being far more complicated than a simple exorcism and how he was begged to intervene by Astra's father, Alex. In truth, John asked for permission to resurrect Natalie to prove that he was right to give up their love to become a warlock.

According to Behard, squeezable butter stops existing in 2024.

Zari asks for Gideon to make her a new dress for the unveiling of her new perfume.

According to Ava, the first rule of Time Travel is no using knowledge of the future for personal profit. The second rule is no social media while on-board the Waverider.

Nora is currently helping a girl and her mom who have been living out of their car for a year. The mom has a final-round job interview lined-up.

Mick thinks he got an STD after his encounter with his ex in 504.  According to Gideon, he's just feeling actual love.

Zari has a boyfriend - a rapper who performs under the DJ S'more Money.

The Time Bureau used to celebrate Taco Monday under Ava's leadership.

ALOHA is a program Ava developed for handling tactical situations. The acronym stands for Assess, Listen, Observe, Hydrate, Attack.

Gideon detects a disturbance in Paris in 1793 which results in the French Revolution collapsing.

While everyone else dresses like a French peasant, Zari dresses like a high-class French lady.

Zari sprays herself and Ava with her signature perfume, Dragoness, before they leave the Waverider.

Astra consults with a demon known as The Coin Maker, who forges the soul coins, as to how to kill John Constantine before his appointed time to die.

Napoleon is among the party-goers in the Bastille. According to Nate, he should be marching on Southern France at that point in history.

Marie Antoinette is the spitting image of Nora Darhk.

Zari doesn't drink alcohol and stops Behard from drinking champagne. This is the first clue that something is wrong and the first hint of Marie Antoinette's power as an Encore.

Zari and Ava figure out that Marie Antoinette has some kind of charm power that makes people want to be near her even to the point of dying.

Zari comes up with a plan to lure Marie away from her guards by telling her they're going to a better party.

Natalie's ghost takes possession of Charlie's body.

It is revealed that Marie Antoinette's head and body are separated even in death and she is barely able to keep her head balanced on top of her body. The body seems to act independently of Marie's head unless she is on it.

Nate puts Marie's head in the library to make her less dangerous. Her body is kept in the brig.

Gideon shows Zari a news report from October 7, 2045. It reveals that Zari's social media empire and brand have both crumbled after the FDA determined that her Dragoness perfume caused people to lose their sense of smell.

Zari figures out that Marie Antoinette's perfume was the source of her charm power.

Zari steals the perfume from Marie's body before going to her event.

Zari has an assistant named Les-Lay.

DJ S'more Money's team had the idea for him to propose to Zari at the MTV Movie Awards, just before they presented their co-branded line of sunglasses.

Ava figures out that Dragoness causing people to lose their sense of smell is why she and Zari were immune to the effects of Marie Antoinette's mind-control.

Zari spills the perfume on herself, causing everyone at the event to start chasing her like zombies.

Ava rescues Zari by getting her to jump in a fountain, which washes the perfume off of her.

Nate takes advantage of the confusion to punch DJ S'more Money.

DJ S'more Money apparently breaks up with Zari, having shouted something about calling his agent to schedule a divorce.

Natalie tells John that she thinks the Loom of Fate can save Astra and that Charlie is connected to it.

Charlie admits that the Loom of Fate was real until she destroyed it. She scattered the pieces of it around the multiverse to destroy the idea of Fate itself, but she recently sensed something changed.

Gideon makes a dressed-down outfit for Zari to replace her dress. With a flannel shirt and jeans, it resembles the clothes she favored before the timeline was changed.

Zari has her first donut in 1,743 days. One bite of it gives her flashes of all the other times she ate donuts on the Waverider.

Zari and Ava become friends.

The Coin Maker alters John's coin so that his death of lung cancer in ten years happens now. She does this in exchange for a favor to be named later from Astra.

The episode ends with John collapsing and coughing up blood as Charlie and Gary try to help him.


Location

Northumberland County, UK - 2020
Hell
Versailles, France - 1793
New York City - 2044


The Fridge Factor

Ava is dumbed down as a leader to make her difficulties in leading the Legends more believable, despite her being the former head of the Time Bureau and leading field teams against the Legends all through Season 3.


The Bottom Line

Not a bad episode but it doesn't quite work either. The tonal shift between the two major plots is too great to jump back and forth between them. Had the bits with Constantine and Charlie been saved for the beginning and end like last week, maybe it would be less jarring. As it is there's a lot of little things that just make the whole episode seem off.