Previously on Supergirl, we were down to one Worldkiller, Supergirl decided to travel literally to the ends of the Earth (and beyond) to get a rock for Lena, and Alex started taking care of a traumatized Ruby who saw her mom go bad.
Supergirl heads out into space to what she was lead to believe was a random meteor, but upon arrival she discovers that there’s actually a secret city on it. So she turns the spaceship into a meteorite to camouflage her way to the surface.
Down on Earth, Reign is gaining immunity to Lena’s kryptonite faster than they originally thought, meaning Supergirl’s rock-fetching timeline is tightening and they have no way of contacting her to let her know. So all they can do is twiddle their thumbs and hope she makes it back in time.
In Alex’s loft, Ruby is stressed about the whole situation, but Auntie Alex lets Ruby know that she has all the faith in the world in Supergirl and that worrying won’t get her here any faster.
“Just look at my hair. There, don’t you feel better now?”
To keep her mind off things, Alex uses the age-old tactic of ice cream and shopping to distract young Ruby. At first it seems to be working, and their dynamic is very adorable, and things are going well…until Alex tries on some sunglasses and sees someone lurking in the mirror like it’s some kind of horror movie.
A sexy, sexy horror movie.
That someone starts shooting at her and tosses a grenade at her which she scoops up like a softball star and shoves in a hot coal bin (??!!) and escapes without a scratch.
While this is going on, down in Lena’s Lady Lab, Reign is full-on taunting Lena with sultry sass.
The longer Reign is here, the more I love her??
Lena tries to dish the sass right back but then Reign starts to get real with her, feeding on Lena’s fears, saying Supergirl won’t need her anymore once this Worldkiller business is over, saying that the only way to stop her is to kill Sam. She doesn’t think Lena could do it, and frankly I don’t think Lena does, either.
Stop Making Lena Sad 2k18
After the incident in the park, Alex takes Ruby to the DEO, because this “secret organization” is now sort of like the restaurant in New York that is supposed to be an unknown speakeasy but also you can’t get in without a reservation. The worst kept secret, is what I’m saying. Alex sends Ruby off to read and then gets serious: someone is trying to kill her.
“What? I can’t die. Twitter won’t stand for it! #lesbianlives”
And Alex’s speech about it is so very Alex because in the same breath she talks about the death threats against her specifically she worries about what that means for Ruby, since she’s in her care until Sam gets better. But her friends are on the case, so she needn’t worry.
They narrow it down to Ronald Collins, who Alex credits as her first arrest, but she was 17 and it was the case her and Kara Harriet-the-Spy’d back in high school, so I’m not sure I would call it an ARREST necessarily, but either way there’s reason to believe he’d be holding a grudge against our girl.
When Kara gets to the mystery meteor city, she starts to head to where the black rock she needs is and finds herself being shot at. She runs into town and realizes her supersuit stands out in the sea of beige so she borrows a cloak and continues on her way.
She finds the building that houses the black rock, and Kara reads the writing on the wall—literally, there are Kryptonian words on the walls—and realizes it’s a Kryptonian memorial. Realizes that this city somehow, impossibly, is Argo, the city she was born in. As she realizes this, her mother appears. Her not-dead-after-all, new-face mother.
“Mom? Is that you? No really, I can’t tell.”
Kara’s mom saw her pod get knocked off course and has spent all these years assuming she was dead. Kara thought the same about her, what with the whole planet exploding, and they both feel guilty for not looking for the other. But Kara doesn’t really have time to reminisce right now, because Earth is in trouble and they need some of that black rock. The only issue is, the rock is their life source, their shield, their atmosphere. They need every bit of it to survive, so even though Kara only needs a small chunk, it’s going to be up to the council if they can take it.
Alex heads out to confront the man she thinks is trying to kill her, finding him in a bar, unamused yet generally unfazed by her approach.
“Sup?”
After talking to him for a while she realizes that this man is far too busy wallowing in his own self-pity and guilt to be hunting her down. Alex leaves the bar, confused, and hops on her bike, only to find out that it’s been rigged to explode so she jumps off it and she’s fine but her BRAND NEW BIKE IS DECIDEDLY NOT.
THIS IS HOMOPHOBIA
Alex’s next plan of attack, instead of chasing down every other bad guy she’s ever cuffed, is to lure the guy out. So she sets a plan with J’onn and springs ot action.
In Argo, Kara reconnects with her mother and I’ll be honest with you, I spent the entire time assuming it was a trap. Kara just seemed so…calm. She was more emotional when she saw her mom-hologram. Maybe because she knew it wasn’t real? Maybe Kara is in shock. Either way, she excitedly tells her mom about her life on Earth, about her Best Mom Eliza Danvers, and her sister, who is also her best friend and generally just amazing.
I think I saw this place listed on Airbnb once.
Allura talks about Fort Rozz and how she regrets not working harder to find a compromise with her sister. She asks Kara for forgiveness, and Kara gives it freely. It’s all very sweet.
Lena, needing a break from Sassafrass McReignface, goes to her office to wistfully look out the window and remember times when she was excited that Supergirl appeared on the balcony she built just for her. You see, Lena is having a hard time deciding on what she should do. Killing Reign would be their best shot at saving the world, but then Sam would be gone forever.
“Supergirl, Supergirl, wherefore art thou, Supergirl?”
James implores her to think about what Sam would want, and though Lena doesn’t like the answer, she knows what she has to do if it comes down to it.
Kara, really enjoying embracing her Zor-El in Argo, goes before the council to ask for some of the black rock. The council thinks the Worldkillers are just boogeymen (well…boogeypeople) but she presses on, explaining that Earth is in danger, explaining why they need her help.
Alex’s plan that she’s putting into motion involves J’onn shapeshifting to look like her and going for a jog while the real Alex hides in a sniper’s nest on a rooftop.
“Ooh, look at that hot lesbian in running ge–OH that’s me!”
But Alex’s attacker knows it’s her on the rooftop and goes for her, leaving J’onn to watch from the ground. As Kara’s voiceover talks about the wonders of Earth, of her human family, Alex parkours around, jumping from building to building like it’s her normal commute. But then things take a turn for the worse; it looks like Kara’s plea is being rejected, and Alex’s attacker has her Mufasa’d off a building.
Long live the lesbian.
Alex realizes this guy looks familiar, and he says she arrested his twin brother from Fort Rozz, in denial that maybe his brother deserved to be arrested. She somehow gymnast flips up onto the building and overpowers him, just as her sister wins the vote to get a little black rock to take back to Earth.
Kara says goodbye to her mom, feeling pretty good about knowing it won’t be the last time.
At the DEO, Alex is feeling a little shook about the whole ordeal they just went through. She’s feeling torn between being a good agent and being a good caretaker for Ruby, and that’s making her wonder if when it comes down to being a mom herself someday, she’ll be able to reconcile her maternal instincts and whatever instincts make her jump off buildings in pursuit of a bad guy. She’s not sure if the part of her that isn’t afraid to put herself in danger and the part of her who wants to build a family can co-exist, but J’onn tells her that she is super smart and he knows she’ll make the right choice when it comes down to it, if a choice needs to be made at all.
Alex,, you’re Eliza Danvers’ daughter. Good parenting is in your blood.
Down in the bunker, Reign is taunting Lena again, calling her strong but ruthless, saying they have a lot in common, saying Lena is darker than she realizes. One single tear falls down Lena’s face, hearing this horrible things come out of her best friend’s mouth, knowing what she has to do.
The tear that shattered our souls.
Reign taunts her more, almost begging her to end her, and Lena starts to up the Kryptonite, but Reign just rips the port out of her chest and breaks the barrier.
Supergirl shows up then, just in time to get a fistful of Reign.
Three more episodes! Do you think Alex and Kara will ever have a heart-to-heart or, hell, even a pizza night ever again?
Totally sorry for sidetracking this piece.
Roseanne has just been cancelled after those disgusting tweets. I think that old saying is right: “The fish dies by the mouth”.
Now I can enjoy the next seasons of FOTB and Black-ish even more
Four words: There is a God.
The Argo City councillor’s aren’t just boogeypeople. One of them is Tuvok. ?
Oh, and also their leader is Reign’s evil high priestess, so there’s that.
No, she said that the Worldkillers are boogeypeople to the Council.
Yeah sorry I was missing the word “think” in there to clarify, sorry!
No, my fault; I was in a rush to find a quote. I was mostly concerned with the fact that Argo City is being lead by one or more Worldkiller cultists
(I’m also concerned by the fact that apparently my fingers don’t know the difference between “lead” and “led”.)
haha it’s all good
Way back when Reign first appeared you alluded to it being like season five of Buffy. Who could have guessed that Lena Kieran Luthor would be the one filling the role of Giles?
“She’s a real hero, you see… She’s not like us…”
——–
I feel the reunion on Argo was rushed because it came so late in the season. It would have made one hell of an impact if it happened a few episodes back and had more setup, and time to breath. It doesn’t have to be a full season arc a la Jessica Jones but it seems tacked on here. A way to give our heroes the plot device to defeat the big bad and give Kara angst about her now three identities.
The trailer for next week makes it look like Kara is leaving Earth forever to go live on Argo, which I can’t see her doing until Reign is defeated. Of course, if she does leave to go live with Space Mom, she will need to say goodbye to most of her Earth friends, most of whom know the real reason why.
But what will she tell Lena?
Unspoiled predictions:
– Reign gets defeated before the credits.
– Kara tells Lena the truth, which probably doesn’t go well (or it goes suspiciously well). Then Kara flies off to live in Argo City.
– *But*, it’s all a fantasy Reign and the Evil High Councillor are using to keep Kara distracted while Reign takes over the world. Yes, this is essentially the same plot as last season’s “For the girl who has everything,” with the Black Mercy.
You’re probably right about Reign being defeated before the credits, if for no other reason than just.
I’ll give you even odds on Supergirl telling Lena the truth.
Kara: “I’m Supergirl.”
Lena: “I know.”
Kara: “Did you just Han Solo me?”
But then there’ll be the fallout of the battle they kinda won; will Sam come out intact? Last we saw her she was forgetting everything about her life, including Ruby. And when Kara decides to leave there’ll be a goodbye tour (I think I’ll miss you most of all, Scarecrow).
Plenty of time for the writers to declare, “Oh, it’s so beautiful and sweet and I can fix it.”
Kara Danvers only needs to tell Lena, “I can’t be in the middle between you and Supergirl so I think it’s for the best if I don’t have anything more to do with either of you. I”m leaving town for a while. Don’t try to call me.”
Thank you for this recap of exactly what happened last night and all the characters who appeared on the show. THIS SHOULD BE THE SHOW.
Thank you for noticing! *takes a tiny bow*
I hope Alex gets a new motorcycle because I enjoy watching her get on the motorcycle.
Supergirl may not need Lena when this is all over but Lena won’t need Supergirl either. Lena is tough and strong, and she’ll do what needs to be done if it becomes necessary. The conversation with James struck me as unnecessary for that reason.
Now that Ruby has been in the DEO, and she knows Alex knows not one but two guys from Mars (from last episode), she can’t possibly still believe Alex works for the FBI, right?
I had difficulty thinking of Evil Sheriff as an “arrest” too, since Alex was just a teenager and almost one of his victims. Still, it was nice to see some semblance of continuity. Same with the references to Ft. Rozz and Evil Aunt.
If everyone in Argo City recognized The Great Kara Zor-El (the reason the peasant woman gave for ignoring the two of them stealing clothes in plain sight), why were the local police shooting at her and Mon-El?
The mother-and-child-reunion between Kara and Mom felt decidedly muted. Not sure what the writers/director were thinking. I’ve shown more emotion picking up my dog from the kennel after a week’s vacation.
Finally, Lena has realized she’s not as clever as she thinks she is, and that her “control” over Reign is an illusion.
“How does Lena not realize that she’s Supergirl?”
Wow. That’s amazing. She really looks like two different women. Her face seems less full in the second pic, as if she’s lost weight, but the difference is uncanny. I may never question the whole “secret identity” trope again.
The perspective shift based on the focal length of the lens, distance from the subject, and angle of her face (straight on vs 3/4 profile) are why her face looks different. Nothing to do with her weight.
The first pic is nowhere near 3/4 profile but you could be right about distance, lighting, etc. Remember that I said, “as if she’s lost weight,” not that she definitely had. Other explanations were always possible. Kristana’s original point, that she looks like two different women, remains valid IMHO.
Fantastic recap as always. When I saw “So she turns the spaceship into a meteorite” at first I thought it said “so she turns herself into a meteorite” and was a comment on the big black cloak Kara wears as a disguise once they arrive in Argo.
a very beautiful and capable meteorite, obvs.
“beautiful and capable meteorite” lolol
The episode was weirdly unbalanced, strong acting (duh!) from Chyler, while I was somewhat annoyed with Mon-El’s sad puppy eye-ing Kara.
Agree with another straddler that the mum interlude felt tacked on. Back in the day holo-mum days, there was so much more ambiguity, anger and sadness involved with both of them. Hope, they built up a proper story arc in S4– bring back the El drama!
Just fyi…
Failing at embedding pictures… Anyhow, 2nd attempt.
Arghh!
I didn’t watch, so reading this bit “that someone starts shooting at her and tosses a grenade at her which she scoops up like a softball star and shoves in a hot coal bin (??!!) and escapes without a scratch,” definitely prompted a “I’m sorry, what?” from me.
They used to do the family stuff so well on this show. I keep fearing it’s a symptom of the Berlanti-verse, which does some things well, but generally seems a hot mess with character familial (and romantic…maybe all) relationships? Though they do Found Family decently on Legends of Tomorrow…so I just don’t know.
I really miss Alex and Kara on the screen together, and that more than anything makes me resent any lingering visitors from the future. Because shoe-horning that new character in really succeeded in isolating Kara from the rest of her support system, which they seemed to rectify earlier this season, but which seems to have returned.
If I want to give the benefit of the doubt, Kara was shocked that this was reality when she saw her Mom. She’s spent so much time sad this year. And she came into this situation very focused on saving Earth. Focusing on her mom gets in the way of that. But also? We haven’t seen the hologram in forever, so maybe Kara has just totally emotionally compartmentalized that.
Anyway, I’m interested to see how things play out next week. I totally don’t buy Kara suddenly leaving Earth forever to live in Argo City with her mom, no matter how much she loved her. She might do an extended vacation, but I don’t know that Argo City drifting through space is more of a home to her than Earth at this point. Kind of like when you move away from home: it’s fun to visit your hometown, but also it’s nice to return “home” to your new city…if that’s how you’ve been living. Maybe it’s different when you’ve had no choice, but Kara leave Alex forever? I don’t see it.
Of course Kara isn’t leaving for good. If she did, the show would be over. In the comics, Superman has died multiple times, been stranded in the distant future, etc. but we always knew it wasn’t the end. The only suspense is how they plan to walk it back.
I cannot believe that Kara got to say the whole “I can just be myself with you” and it didn’t involve Alex in any way. It’s not like you only have one avenue, Kara! Though I guess her rebuttal could be she didn’t say she could ONLY be herself with him. Maybe the emphasis is just a defensive reaction on my part.
I mean, she did practically say that she and Alex were dating to her mom (just kidding, folks! but still)
I think I like your recaps better than the show at this point. I don’t know what the writers are doing. I use to look forward to watching it every week. I relly don’t like the feud they created between Lena and Supergirl.