Supergirl – S4 Ep22 – The Quest For Peace Review

It’s the season finale!! Supergirl and her allies take on Lex Luthor in order to save the planet.

This explosive and exciting finale opens with a series of scenes detailing Lex’s activities over the twenty-four hours preceding his “heroic” act of thwarting the Kaznian Invasion. Following Kara’s escape from Red Daughter, the latter goes to Lex and receives a photo of Eliza Danvers. Lex instructs her to finish what they started. Six hours prior to the invasion, Lex and Eve put aliens in pods to siphon their powers to fuel a new and improved claymore device. They realize that Otis is dead by Lockwood’s hand which prompts Lex to order his assassination. Before parting ways, Eve and Lex share a kiss. One hour before the invasion, Lex meets with President Baker in the Oval Office. Lex and Baker discuss the plan which goes as far back as getting Baker elected as Vice President.

As Supergirl and Red Daughter fight (as seen in last week’s episode), Lex is busy flying around in exosuit destroying Kaznian planes and forces. Red Daughter realizes she has been betrayed and finds Lex. Furious, she demands to know why. Lex, with no more use for her, blasts her.

In present day, in Midvale, Kara, Alex, and their mother discuss Lex, Red Daughter, and the current situation. Kara remains dedicated to taking Lex down. She says she will not let fear win!

Meanwhile, it is revealed that Red Daughter is still alive and being put into a pod by Lex. She demands to know why he betrayed her. Lex’s reason is simple: he hates Kryptonians.

At Lockwood Steel, Ben stumbles in clearly suffering from another harun-el episode. He watches the news which is broadcasting another Presidential address. The President announces that he is replacing Lockwood as Secretary of Alien Affairs with none other than Lex Luthor. The anger pushes him to inject himself with another dose of the harun-el serum. Several Eve bots appear to assassinate him, but he quickly takes them out.

In the Shelley Island facility, J’onn and Nia (who both express frustration with Brainy), are being prepared to enter the pods.Their alien friends from the bar are also there. The group decides to plan a diversion so that Nia and J’onn can alert Brainy to their location.

Meanwhile, at L Corp, Lena, Alex, and Brainy discuss Lex’s machinations. Kara’s evidence was wiped from CatCo’s servers, but luckily Brainy had a copy stored in his memory. Brainy, still  cold and emotionless, tells the team about his plan involving Dreamer and J’onn which worries the them. In the middle of their conversation, Lena gets an invitation from Lex to join at the White House to celebrate his appointment as Secretary of Alien Affairs.

At the White House, the Luthor family are reunited for the first time in years as Lillian is also in attendance. Lex reveals to his family that he finally has cleared their name and put the family in their rightful place in history. He has discovered a viable energy source that will revolutionize the entire energy field: alien powers. His plans go further however as he also wants to use the energy to power a claymore in deep space that is targeted to destroy Argo and thus Superman. This irritates Eve, who asks to speak with him alone. While the two argue over Lex’s obsession with Superman, Lena and Lillian both agree in their disapproval of Lex’s actions. Lillian even went  as far as attempting to poison him with his tea which he unfortunately discovers.

Back at the Shelley Island Facility, the aliens led by J’onn and Dreamer start a riot. The duo sneak off to the core where Dreamer is able to project herself their allies. She is able to inform them of her current location. Brainy, Supergirl, Alex, and James arrive, but run into an angry and determined Ben Lockwood and a squad of Liberty agents. Brainy goes to core and finds J’onn and Dreamer, while the others take on Lockwood and his goons. After Brainy can’t hack into the claymore system computer, J’onn takes it upon himself to overload the system using his psychic abilities, which according to Brainy, could kill him. Dreamer joins him in overloading it. Her actions prompt Brainy to glitch and revert back to normal. He realizes that it is working and they will be successful so he decides to cheer them on. He also tells Nia that he loves her (finally!). They are successful which prompts Lex to leave the White House in a rush. Lena and Lillian take the opportunity to remove the guards and escape.

Meanwhile, the Superfriends successfully beat down Lockwood and his team. Lockwood and James end up injecting each other with the cure during the fight. The latter suffers an eye injury in the process. Lex arrives and Supergirl engages him in a fierce one on one duel. Kara uses the exosuit that Lena created for her in order to repel the Kryptonite blasts from Luthor’s gauntlets. It does however, begin to fail and as Lex goes to deliver a fatal blow, Red Daughter pushes her out of the way. The clone apologizes for not realizing Lex’s true intentions. “My Alex is not like your Alex,” she says before she dies. Red Daughter then turns into purple vapor which is absorbed by Kara giving her added abilities. Lex and Supergirl battle once more with the latter blasting him with purple hued laser vision. This sends him falling to Earth, but Supergirl catches him. He struggles and ultimately lets go saying: “I’d rather die than be saved by a Kryptonian.” He plummets to Earth and manages to survive and sneak off to a room in the facility where he confronted by Lena. She injects him with the harun-el remover. She pulls a gun on him and shoots him after he says she isn’t ruthless enough to do it. Before he dies, Lex torments his sister one last time by revealing to her via video that Kara Danvers is in fact Supergirl. He tells her that her friends knew all along and lied to her. Lena is stunned and crushed.

In the aftermath, Baker and Lockwood are arrested and Haley (the new interim Secretary for Alien Affairs) addresses the nation and thanks Supergirl for her service. The new president reinstates the Alien Amnesty Act and lifts martial law as well. The Superfriends gather at  J’onn’s for game night which sees two new couples form ( Nia & Brainy and Alex & Kelly). Lena arrives and though it is a bit awkward, she teams up with Kara for the next game. In private, Kara and Alex discuss telling Lena her secret. Alex advises her not too as Lena has already gone through a lot today.

This crazy finale ends with several teases for next season and beyond. The first of which involves and old woman greeting a disguised Eve. It is revealed that Eve was really working for Leviathan. The old woman says that Lex didn’t move the needles as he was supposed to so Eve is still needed to work. “Leviathan is everywhere. Leviathan is everyone. Leviathan is coming,” the old woman says. Second, the Monitor appears coming greeting a hooded figure, who emerges from a portal. The hooded figure is revealed to be a green martian, who has been a phantom to his people for too long. He has been brought here to enact revenge on his brother  who wronged him, J’onn J’onzz! Third, Lena is seen in her office smashing a picture of her and the Danvers sisters with a drinking glass which teases a likely villain turn for her. Lastly, the Monitor appears again, this time in the room where Lex’s dead body still sits. He then raises a hand as energy swirls around it.

This finale was fantastic! Well shot, well written, and well produced. Great visuals and fight choreography as well. Everyone involved in this episode and the season overall has done a stellar job. I really enjoyed the way the story of this season wrapped up. Jon Cryer was incredible as Lex once again and his “end” was handled very well. Also, Lena finding out that Kara is Supergirl in the way she did will surely turn her into a true villain for next season. I am definitely looking forward to that if it indeed happens. Speaking of next season, I was glad to see the Monitor appear and tease more Crisis elements. This new martian is sure to bring an interesting element to the show and possibly the crossover as well. Overall, this was an incredible finale. A truly worthy conclusion to my favourite season of Supergirl so far!

Thanks for following me on this journey for this season! Be sure to join me again in the fall for  recaps & reviews of Season 5 of Supergirl right here on Earth-9!

Supergirl – S4 Ep21 – Red Dawn Review

It’s Supergirl vs Red Daughter in this emotional and explosive penultimate episode of the season!

First of all, I must say that this episode is one of my favourites of the entire season. The action, the drama, the emotional moments were all top notch.

The episode opens with Alex dreaming of a memory of when her and Kara were kids in Midvale in 2007. She awakens confused and talks it out with Kelly who is still by her side. The memory was of Kara and Alex falling off a cliff. Kelly attributes it to the adoption falling through, but Alex thinks there is more to it. She tells Kelly about the security sweep having something to do with Kara, but she doesn’t remember the reason for it. Alex then gets a call from Brainy who informs her of Kara’s disappearance.

Meanwhile, Kara is being kept by the President’s security until she is proven to not be a threat. She catches them off guard and breaks free, but is stopped by a Kryptonite wielding Red Daughter.
Back at the DEO, Alex, Brainy, and Lena discuss Lex, the Supergirl clone, and Lockwood and the connections between them.Aliens are also disappearing in a mysterious fashion as well. Alex orders Brainy to get J’onn and locate the missing aliens from their desert facility. Lena decides she will confront Lockwood while Alex takes point on the clone situation. Brainy decides they should bring Nia along because he wants to tell her about his feelings for her.

Meanwhile, Red Daughter and Kara talk face to face for the first time. Red Daughter is there to kill her, but decides against it. Kara tries to show her that Lex will discard her once he achieves his goal. The clone is adamant that Lex is helping the world. She tells Kara that the American Dream is a lie and insults her girl scout attitude. The Kryptonite is affecting them both. She boasts that Kara’s powers are so limited compared to hers. Kara claps back saying: I have been on this planet for fifteen years and exposed to kryptonite on numerous occasions. Kara breaks free and the two briefly fight resulting in Kara being shot in the arm. She flies away and shows up at J’onn’s home. She has breakdown and tells him about everything. She desperately wishes Alex knew her identity. She needs her sister back. J’onn says he cannot mess with her Alex’s mind agan or she could suffer terrible consequences. Brainy shows up to get J’onn for their mission. Kara takes the opportunity to leave and rush off to find Alex.

Before confronting Lockwood, Lena visits Lillian, whom she allowed a brief reprieve from prison. She asks her if she can remove the harun-el from Lockwood’s system as well as from James. Lillian agrees only after she is affected by a truth seeker and threatened with poison. Lena then finds Lockwood in a parking structure. She tells him that he was played by Lex. “Wasn’t this all a little to easy,” she tells him. “You wanted to save the human race, but instead you gave it to a psychopath.” Lockwood seems shocked and disturbed and storms off. Lena and James realize that he actually didn’t know about the full extent of Lex’s plans and that the President was in league with the villain. They decide to follow him after he drives away and given the fact that he also seems to be deteriorating.

Meanwhile, Brainy and J’onn investigate the alien disappearances at a shipping area. Brainy nervously awaits Nia’s arrival as he prepares to reveal his feeling to her. In a sweet moment, he asks J’onn how does love work. Nia arrives and asks what they were talking about. Brainy deflects and the three set out to find the aliens which they quickly determine have been taken by Amertekafter Nia has dream vision. The trio arrive their and initially plan to enact the classic “wookiee gambit” move from Star Wars in which someone poses as a captor and another a captured person in order to bypass the security checkpoint. J’onn advises against this and decides to do some recon. While he does, Brainy tries to tell Nia he loves her, but she sees the girl in her earlier vision getting escorted somewhere. Brainy poses a Lockwood and escorts Dreamer to the checkpoint. However, they get stopped and found out by the guards which causes their immediate capture. Dreamer is escorted further away, but Brainy is detained and placed in a cuffed torture device.

Elsewhere, Supergirl finds Alex and tells her everything including the President’s dealings with Lex. Alex agrees to help her find Red Daughter by testing her energy signature. While doing so, Colonel Haley shows up and demands to know why Supergirl is here. They explain the situation and she immediately comes to their side. They then find a possible location of the clone and Supergirl rushes off to investigate.

Back at Amertek, J’onn infiltrates the compound by posing as Eve. He discovers that the aliens are being escorted to a portal and forced to travel through it. Meanwhile, Brainy is tortured by the guards to the point of complete meltdown and reboot. He taps into the memories and knowledge of his more evil and emotionless ancestors and is able to break free of his restraints. He makes quick work of them and is now exhibiting very different behavior. He reunites with J’onn who notices his unusual behavior and the two set out to save Nia. Brainy arrives at Nia’s cell and frees her. He then kneels down to seemingly express his love for her. However, he instead locks her back up. He tells her that his plan to save to the aliens is for her to go through the portal, astral project herself here and tell him the location of the camp so that they can liberate them. Nia objects to this, but Brainy coldly brushes her off and leaves her there. He runs into J’onn, who is confused as to his decision. Brainy then realizes the odds are better if J’onn goes through the portal as well, incapacitates the martian and leaves to get captured. Elsewhere, Lockwood travels to a safehouse where he finds Otis Graves chilling out playing video games. The secretary realizes that he has truly been duped after Otis basically admits that Lex is a classic supervillain. They never were in support of Lockwood’s cause, but rather for money and world domination. This sets the harun-el infused Secretary off. Otis tells him that his usefulness has expired and attempts to kill him. However, he meets a grim fate after Lena and James intervene. James collapses which gives Lockwood the opportunity to rip Otis’s metallo heart from his chest. Lena then takes James back to the lab where Lillian injects him with a solution that is able to fix his aliments and allow him to maintain his powers.

Meanwhile, Supergirl finds Red Daughter’s hideout which is across the street from Kara’s apartment. She goes through her things and finds a photo of the young Kaznian, whom Lex used to turn Red Daughter to his side. Alex finds her there and spills her heart to her. She tells Supergirl that she is worried about Kara and that she feels like something is missing from her life. She breaks down and cries. Supergirl comforts her, but their tender moment is interrupted by a call from their mother Eliza, who claims that Kara is there. Supergirl realizes that it’s Red Daughter and rushes to her mother’s aid. She arrives and once again tries to turn Red Daughter away from Lex, saying he will turn on her. She brings up the boy which enrages Red Daughter more. However, the devoted clone refuses to listen and prepares for battle using a modified suit similar to the one Kara used previously. The two then engage in brutal battle which ultimately leaves Supergirl near death due to Red Daughter’s “evolved” powers which somehow removes sunlight. Alex arrives and rushes to her sister’s side having remembered everything after witnessing her getting beat up. In a deeply emotional scene, Alex begs Kara to wake up. She desperately tries to get her sister to access the sunlight from the grass which she eventually does. The two share a beautiful sister moment with their mother looking on. “I missed you so much,’’ they say to each other. They get a call from a concerned Haley who informs them to check the news. The President addresses the nation saying that Lex armed with a compact version of the Claymore missile system successfully thwarted the Kaznian Invasion and killed the terrorist Supergirl.

This episode was fantastic! “Red Dawn” featured some brilliant performances as well as some great action. Melissa Benoist masterfully plays both roles once again and really pulls on the emotion as both characters. Speaking of emotion, I was nearly brought to tears during the scene with Alex trying to wake Kara up. I had major Avengers Infinity War and Endgame flashbacks (ex. Don’t go. Please don’t leave me).. Both actresses played the scene beautifully. I also was blown away by Jesse Rath as Brainy in this episode. Brainy has been one of my favorite characters on the show since his introduction last season. I love his humor and this episode lets Rath expand beyond his usual mode. His meltdown scene was a bit scary and sad at the same time. I began to wonder while watching if this was a tease for more to come with Dark Brainy possibly becoming a villain in the show. While I hope they fix him in the finale, I wouldn’t be opposed to it.Overall, this was an incredible episode.

Next week’s finale looks crazy good as well!

Stay tuned for more recaps & reviews here on Earth-9 and come back next week for the last Supergirl recap & review of the season!

Supergirl – S4 Ep20 – Will The Real Miss Teschmacher Please Stand Up Review

Lena and Kara travel to Kaznia and discover what Lex has been planning. Meanwhile,
Secretary Lockwood deals with the loss of his wife in a dangerous way.
A full on war is brewing and it seems the conspiracy goes deeper than we initially
believed. Kara and Lena’s trip to Kaznia proved very useful that was until Kara brought
their findings to the President. This exciting episode featured great action as well as
heartfelt moments. The end of the season is near and this episode did well in getting me
hyped for the conclusion of this overall fantastic season.

This episode opens with Kara preparing to go Kaznia when Lena announces she is
coming with her. Kara advises her not too, but Lena insists. Lena says she wants to look
Lex in the eye when they catch him. They fly off on Lena’s specialized jet.
Meanwhile, Kelly Olsen (Azie Tesfai) and Alex are out for a run when the latter gets a
call from the adoption agency concerning the arrival of the child she is to adopt. Alex is
elated at the news and proclaims: “I’m a mother!”

Speaking of mother’s, meanwhile, young George Lockwood speaks at his mother’s
funeral. He tells a touching story about her and breaks down. During his speech, he
notices his father leave the church which irritates him deeply.

Secretary Lockwood travels to the D.E.O. to get a status update on the search for
Dreamer. An agent informs him that they have been unable to track her down. He angrily
orders the agents to track down and bring in all of her known associates starting with
James Olsen, as he greatly desires to know how Olsen got superpowers.

Meanwhile, at the Fortress of Solitude, Nia and Brainy test James’ powers which now
also seem to include heat resistance. During their test, Brainy is alerted that Lockwood is
at the D.E.O. and decides to go there to find out why (especially since Haley is away).
On the jet, Lena and Kara discuss Lex and Eve and their betrayals. Lena tells her that
trusting people is still hard for her. Kara reassures her that she is on her side. Suddenly
a lightning storm breaks out as they near Kaznia. It is peculiar as the lightning is purple.
It strikes the jet causing it to rapidly go down forcing Kara to sneak out a guide the plane
in for a safe landing. In one of the funnier moments of the episode, Lena rushes back to
check on Kara, who is laying there in her seat with her glasses disheveled as if she had
been thrashed around. She “wakes up” saying she must have passed out. After landing,
Lena and Kara investigate Lex’s complex and discover torture stations and Amertek
technology all over the room. They also find stacks of paper files written by Eve that
reveal that Lex has been torturing aliens to obtain their powers.

Meanwhile, Alex freaks out about the pending adoption. The birth mother is a seventeen
year old girl who is literally hours away from giving birth. Alex panics and doesn’t think
she’s ready to become a mother. Kelly offers her help and advice. She is able to get Alex to realize that she is in fact ready and highly capable of being a great parent. “You
care too much to fail,” she tells her.

Back at the D.E.O., one of Lockwood’s agents informs him of Lena’s dealings there and
that she was working out of one of the labs. Despite Brainy’s objections, Lockwood and
his agents search the lab for the serum.

Meanwhile, still investigating the complex, Lena and Kara hear movement and discover
Eve is there with them.Teschmacher is surprised and happy to see them. She claims to
have been “so scared” and is glad they showed up. Obviously, this was all a deception
on Eve’s part as she quickly reveals her true feelings. She cheerfully claims to love
them, but she loves Lex more and will always be on his side. Lena angrily threatens her
with jail time.

Back at the D.E.O., George arrives in an anger to talk to his father. Though Ben tries to
reassure his son that this is all for him, George is not very receptive and is angry at him
for leaving at the funeral.

Back in Kaznia, Lena and Kara put cuffs on Eve, who leads them to Lex’s staging area.
To their horror, they discover that Lex is conspiring with the Kaznian Government to
invade the United States. Lena dismisses the plan at first saying it’s “like throwing a
stone at a tank.” Eve freaks out and repeats the word tank over and over again. The
women quickly realize that he does in fact have a “tank” in the form of the harun-el clone
of Supergirl as raised by Lex, which greatly worries Kara. They also quickly realize that
“Eve” is not really Eve at all as this disappears and the real one comes around the
corner. Teschmacher sets off the self-destruct sequence and drops kryptonite into the
room and leaves. As Lena and Kara race to escape the building, Kara discovers Red
Daughter’s room and pretending to forget her tape recorder, she goes back to burn the
room down with her laser vision. Before they can escape, multiple “Eve’s” attack them
with the real one taking on Lena in a well fought one on one duel on Lena’s jet.
Elsewhere,Kara is forced to be Supergirl for a time in order to fend off the Eve army.
They both are successful in fighting off their attackers and escape before the building
explodes.

Meanwhile, Lockwood and his agents find Lena’s raw and unperfected serum and track
down the location of the alien women who killed his wife. She is found in a compound
with many other innocent aliens, which doesn’t bother Lockwood at all as he orders his
men to round them up for intensive questioning. Brainy tries to convince him that this
isn’t right, but Lockwood becomes more and more aggressive. James as Guardian and
Dreamer show up to confront Lockwood after they get a tip from Brainy. Lockwood
injects himself with the serum after Brainy gives an impassioned speech in hopes of
converting the D.E.O. agents back to the right side. A brawl breaks out as a powered
Ben begins hurling things at the Super Friends. James’s strength comes in handy, but all
three are knocked down. Just when hope seems lost as Lockwood presses his foot on
the Olsen’s chest, J’onn triumphantly arrives and tries to talk Lockwood off of the ledge,
but when that proves futile, he throws him into an oil tanker. The Secretary emerges
from the fire of the explosion with tattered clothes and full of rage, but not injured at all.
Back on Lena’s jet, after Lena opens up about her feelings concerning Lex and Eve,
Kara almost reveals herself as Supergirl, but changes her mind. Lena says she will

never forgive Eve or Lex for what they have done to her. Luthor praises Kara for being
trustworthy and for helping her.This strong stance causes Kara to back off from
revealing her secret.

Back at her apartment, Alex gets an unfortunate call from the agency that reveals the
mother has changed her mind and decided to keep the child. Alex is devastated, but
Kelly comforts her. Kelly opens up about her past which involved her being engaged to a
woman who served as her sergeant in the military. Olsen reassures her that she will get
a second chance and to not give up hope. Though this is a deep wound, it will eventually
become a faded scar.

Back at the church, George angrily yells at his father for leaving him and not being there
for his family. Ben tries again to tell his son that all he has done and is doing is for him.
George firmly takes a stand against him saying that he is selfish and that he will never
forgive him for it. George storms out saying he hates his father. Lockwood remains in the
pews and is revealed to be holding a glowing purple vial and his eyes shift to black
indicating he still has abilities.

At CatCo, Kara informs James of her findings in Kaznia as well as almost revealing
herself to Lena. She tells him that she is going to tell her once this is all over. She
doesn’t want to ruin their friendship and couldn’t bring herself to tell her after Lena
seemed so hurt about Eve. James agrees with her decision and asks what she plans to
do with her findings. “My duty as an American citizen,” Kara replies.

At the White House, Kara takes the files to the President (who now has Kryptonite in his
office following the attack) and informs him of Kaznia’s impending attack and the
Supergirl clone. She also informs him that his Chief of Staff has been colluding with Lex
and the Kaznian’s. President Baker asks if there is any proof. Kara hands him the file,
which he places in a drawer in his desk as he asks her if anyone else knows. She tells
him no one does as she felt it was important to warn him herself. With a smile and
pressing a button under his desk, he tells her she made the right choice as several men
put a bag over her head.

I have to say once more that this season of Supergirl is honestly becoming my season
yet. This episode adds to this by featuring more intense an well crafted action, intrigue,
and heartfelt moments. Speaking of which, Chyler Leigh and Azie Tesfai were fantastic
in this episode and played off of each other well. Leigh’s performance was very moving
especially her reaction to the adoption falling apart. I liked that they touched on this
storyline again. Hopefully, they return to her memories again in the last two episodes as
well. I loved the face off between the Super friends and Lockwood featuring a surprise
Martian assist. Can’t wait to see more of superpowered Guardian in action. However, the
highlight of the episode was the Lena and Kara storyline which almost saw Kara finally
reveal herself. I loved Kara trying to help by using her powers, but also maintain the
Kara guise. It will be interesting to see how Lena will feel about truth when it is in fact
revealed. I expect the secret to come out in the finale and to have a negative effect on
their friendship (possibly leading to Lena being the next big bad).

Overall, this was another great episode and I look forward to seeing how the season
concludes.

Stay tuned for more reviews her on Earth-9 and come back next week for another recap
& review for Supergirl.

Supergirl – S4 Ep19 – American Dreamer Review

“I’m different, but so is everybody, and I don’t know when that became a problem. The greatest gift we can give each other is our authentic selves.”- Nia Nal/Dreamer

This quote pretty much sums up this excellent, emotion filled episode of Supergirl. Everyone’s beloved space dad David Harewood steps up to direct this episode which focuses heavily on Dreamer and James.

The episode opens at night with Kara speed typing as she works on her article exposing Lex Luthor. Meanwhile, Nia patrols the streets as Dreamer with Brainy giving her back up as her “man in the chair.” Dreamer is able to stop some thugs from attacking a poor defenseless alien worker. She already has her cheesy hero quips my favorite of which was: “I’m your worst nightmare.” A close second was: “Sweet dreams.” She rejoins Brainy (who turns out to be just a hologram) who tells her that she really shouldn’t be doing this as the chances of them becoming targets would greatly increase. Nia is determined to fill the void left by Supergirl regardless of potential capture.

Elsewhere, Brainy, Alex, Lena, and Kelly monitor James searching for the cause of his extreme anxiety attacks. They realize that every panic attack he has manifests a new power in him. He exhibits super hearing during their conversation which surprises them.

Back at CatCo, Kara continues to work on her article and she overhears fellow alien reporter Franklin talking to his sister on the phone. His sister Edna works in HR at Amertek which prompts Kara to ask him to set up a meeting with her as it would greatly help her investigation.

Back at Lena’s lab, Brainy prepares James for entry into a mind palace which he intends to use to get to the root if his issues and hopefully help him to heal.
Meanwhile, Ben Lockwood and his son George along with several now deputized Children of Liberty forcefully apprehend an lien man while his family watches in horror. The man’s wife angrily looks at Lockwood which prompts the Secretary to threaten her as well. George tells his father that he is surprised sometimes to find aliens that look so similarly to humans. Ben warns his son to not let appearances fool you.

Kara journeys to Amertek where, after she casually stops a purse thief, meets with Edna. The scared woman informs Kara of the new restrictive practices being put in place their that negatively affect aliens. The two agree that something must be done to stop this, but the Edna is hesitant to get involved.
Back at Lena’s lab, James enters the mid palace where he is guided Brainy through what was initially thought to be traumatic memories connected to Lex. However, the memory of the first time Lex kidnapped him quickly turns into another deeply repressed one involving his late father. Upon seeing him, James involuntarily uses Kryptonian like heat vision which shocks everyone.
At Amertek, Kara and Edna sneak into the facility to locate files that will help nail Lex. However, when they are followed, Edna panics and runs off. Kara finds a file on Sebastian Melmoth, who apparently purchased a military base and is somehow connected to L Corp. Kara visits Lena, who is still busy working on a way to extract the Harun-el from James to free him from these power inducing attacks. Kara asks her about Melmoth, Amertek and L Corp. Lena claims to not know anything about any of it. She instead is a bit frustrated with Kara and feels that she hasn’t been there for her like Supergirl has as of late. Kara tries to apologize, but is too focused on the story.

Meanwhile, James comes out of the mind palace and explains that he missed his father’s funeral. He claims that he was across the street locked in the bathroom of a local diner. This memory triggers Kelly, who vents to Alex. She says that day of the funeral was the worst day of her life. He father was dead, her mother was distant, and her older brother wasn’t there to comfort her. She was only eight years old when he died. Alex comforts her.

Dreamer, while out on patrol, finds that aliens are using the bar as a hideout spot. However, the safe zone is soon upended when Children of Liberty agents show up announcing they are arresting everyone in the building. Dreamer stands up and protects them all in a fun action sequence which showcases some of her unique powers with “American Woman” playing on the jukebox. During the fight, George discovers that his friend Charlie is an alien, which causes the boy to begin to reconsider his father’s agenda. He returns home and vents to his mother, who still remains dedicated to her husband’s mission.

Back at CatCo, Kara and Nia talk about how to best protect and serve the aliens in danger. They both realize their respective approaches are not working out on their own. Nia says they need Supergirl to inspire hope again. Kara tells her that people will not be receptive to her anymore and offers to interview her instead. Nia is shocked, but agrees. Kara says that Dreamer is the perfect person to inspire hope as she is an American and an alien. Born of a human father and an alien mother here on Earth.

Back at the lab, James re-enters the mind palace and goes further into the memory which turns out to a horrific encounter with bullies who stuffed him into a coffin at his father’s funeral. Kelly has to enter to help pull him out as he becomes unresponsive to Brainy. Kelly sees his painful memory and realizes that this is why he wasn’t standing by her side at the funeral. She is heartbroken and the two share a beautiful moment. He wakes up and is surprisingly levitating.

Meanwhile at CatCo, Kara interviews Dreamer on live TV broadcast. Dreamer appeals to viewers by telling her story including coming out as transgender. She also talks about some of her likes and dislikes which includes Harry Potter and nerdy boys who think too much (which causes Brainy to say: “Is this what love feels like?”). She concludes by emphasizing authentic selves and being proud of who you are regardless of what other think.

Lena breaks down while watching the interview in a beautiful moment of vulnerability. She feels overwhelmed and upset that she cannot fix James or find her brother. Brainy tells her that James is fine and encourages her to trust and to not shut herself off.

One of Lockwood’s men is also moved by the message and sends Alex a warning that Lockwood intends to arrest Dreamer. Lockwood and his troops arrive at CatCo and attempt to arrest the hero, but are ultimately unable to as Alex’s team shuts off the lights and Kara, Brainy, and Dreamer successfully take down the goons. Lockwood is furious in pursuit which is stopped short when James shows up and crunches Lockwood’s gun as well as his hand. The Secretary is shocked at the show of strength. James defends his friends saying that they are just journalists exercising their rights. Olsen, with strong authority, yells “Get out now!!” Lockwood reluctantly obliges, but promises that he will find “this Dreamer” and determine the source of James’ powers.

In the aftermath, George seems to have a change of heart and texts his friend offering help to him if he needs it. Edna tells Kara that she accessed the files that the reporter wanted. She also reveals that she is willing to go on the record in order to help. Kara thanks her and then finds Lena. The two apologize to each other. Lena then reveals that she worked with Lex for four months knowing full well that he was manipulating her. Lena breaks down in tears again as she thinks Kara will judge her for it. The two embrace. Kara tells her that she is an incredible woman and a dear friend. Lena offers to help Kara in her investigation which leads them to find that Sebastian Melmoth was in fact a pseudonym used by Lex. The quickly realize that Lex is the one who purchased the base and where it is located: Kaznia. Kara joyfully remarks: “I guess we’re going to Kaznia.”

Meanwhile, in the Desert of T’ozz, J’onn returns the Sacred Symbols to their place and sees a vision of his father praising him for his actions. Also, Ben Lockwood returns to see the woman from earlier fleeing his home. He enters his home and finds his wife dead in their living room.

Overall, this was another exceptional episode of Supergirl. I’ve been really enjoying the emotional storylines of this season. I feel that the writers and showrunners have upped their game in terms of that aspect of the show. Each actor and actress delivered great performances in this episode. Nicole Maines has been a delight in this season and her interactions with Jesse Rath (Brainy) and Melissa Benoist (Kara/Supergirl) were fantastic in this episode. I also loved James’ storyline which showcased the incredible talents that are Azie Tesfai and Mehcad Brooks. Katie McGrath also gives a stellar performance in this episode as well. The writers have done a great job with her arc this season and McGrath’s performance elevates it further. It is truly refreshing to see characters discover and accept their authentic selves and share that with their friends. I agree with Dreamer. When did being different become a problem. We all need to not be afraid of being real.

Can’t wait for next week’s episode as it looks like another showdown with Lockwood is coming. Stay tuned for more recaps and reviews here on Earth- 9 and come back next week for another Supergirl recap and review with yours truly!

Supergirl – S4 Ep18 – Crime and Punishment Review

In this action packed episode, Supergirl teams up with Lena to clear her name following Lex’s latest scheme! Meanwhile, Lockwood seizes weapons from the DEO in order to bring down Supergirl.

It has been one day since “Supergirl’s” attack on the White House and the fallout is severe. President Baker enacts martial law and issues a curfew for all citizens. He decrees that humans caught outside past curfew will be fined, but aliens will be dealt with by any means necessary. Supergirl, Alex, and Lena watch in horror and begin to formulate a plan to clear her name. Supergirl hears someone in trouble and goes to save them. However, when she does, she is met with several people who try to arrest her and later shoot her. Once the man is safe, Supergirl rejoins Alex and Lena to discuss further what to do. Lena suggests they go to Stryker’s Prison to investigate what Lex left behind.

The duo arrive at Stryker’s and first encounter the warden, who feigns ignorance concerning Lex’s whereabouts and dealings. Lena is able to get him to talk and ultimately let them into Lex’s old cell. On the way to the cell, the other prisoners taunt Supergirl about the news and more. They make it to the cell and begin digging around in his things. Lena tells Supergirl that, when they were kids, her and Lex would hide messages for each other in chess pieces. Lena discovers one that disturbs her (a picture of the young man who served as Lena’s first human test subject for the Harun-el), but doesn’t tell Supergirl what it is. The two then decide to dig through Lex’s diaries that he left behind.

Back at the DEO, Secretary Lockwood storms in and demands weapons with which to combat Supergirl. Colonel Haley ultimately acquiesces, though both her and Alex both believe Supergirl to be innocent. Haley forces her to hand over the signal watch, which Lockwood wants to use to summon Supergirl to her death. Alex, being clever, tells Haley that you must press it twice in order to call her. However, pushing it twice tells her to stay away. This blatant overstep by Lockwood worries Brainy as he begins to think about the possibility of more aliens being targeted once Supergirl is gone. He decides he must erase the registry there at the DEO in order to prevent Lockwood getting access to it.

Meanwhile, Kelly takes a somewhat reluctant James to a renowned therapist to treat his PTSD. He opens up about the stress of being Guardian and how he feels that because he protects people, he shouldn’t need help. The therapist teaches him a calming technique which begins to work, but he starts to freak out and his veins start to exhibit similarities to powered Lex. Elsewhere, Alex meets with Kelly to discuss James and Haley. Kelly offers her some great advice concerning the Haley situation: you can’t change people, so you should appeal to what they care about most.

At Stryker’s, Lena and Supergirl continue to browse through Lex’s stuff. Lena reads through Lex’s diaries which contain, in his eyes, Lena’s every mistake and inadequacy. One of Lex’s cell  neighbors notices them and Supergirl goes to question him. This man, Steve Lomelli (guest star Willie Garson), was locked up for stealing classified DOD information regarding unlawful drone warfare. He is antagonistic toward her claiming she is a terribly narcissistic. He tells her: “Everything you touch, you ruin.”

Meanwhile, Brainy, being as clandestine as possible, sneaks into the hub where the registry is kept. He almost deletes it, but realizes that there is a 50/50 chance that deleting it will cause similar problems if discovered. He freaks out and rushes to CatCo to find Nia. He asks her to dream the future to determine what he does concerning the registry in order to help him decide what to do. She initially refuses, but then pretends that she sees him destroy it in the future. This causes Brainy to freak out more revealing that his gut tells him to destroy it. Nia tells him to trust his gut.

Back at the DEO, Alex tries to get through to Haley, but fails. She attempts to convince the colonel that follow an immoral order makes her complicit and how that would disappoint her daughter. “Leave my daughter out of this,” snaps Haley. She angrily warns her not to push her luck any further. Haley also reveals that she knew that Alex lied about the signal beacon as well.

Back at Stryker’s, Otis Graves arrives and immediately takes control of the prison, killing the warden. He releases the prisoners and tells them to find and bring Supergirl to him in order to win their freedom for life. Supergirl sets out to fight them off, but receives a kryptonite shield from Lena before leaving. Lena remains in the cell as she continues to read her brother’s journals. Supergirl easily defeats the prisoners, but Otis, suped up with double the Metallo powers, attacks her. After a brutal fight, the kryptonite shield is destroyed and Supergirl, weakened by the substance, is forced to improvise. She quickly assumes her civilian identity. Otis finds her behind some bookcases and asks her why she is in the men’s ward. She tells him that she’s a reporter and she was interviewing someone for a story when the riot erupted. Otis asks if she has seen Supergirl and Kara points him in the opposite direction. Once Otis is gone, Kara stands by a window to recharge and then bumps into Steve, who is excited to meet the popular Kara Danvers.He asks why she is here. Kara tells him that she is doing a story on Lex Luthor. This immediately peaks the interest of the fellow news person and he offers his assistance. Outside, the National Guard arrive and prepare to storm the prison if Supergirl does not give herself up to them. Kara quickly changes back to Supergirl, without anyone noticing, and saves the prisoners via a thunder clap. She runs back to Lex’s cell where she find Lena has discovered a hidden passage and laboratory that houses Amertek tech and more. Before they women can explore the lab further, Otis, at the instruction of Lex via phone, steps into the center of the cell and explodes. The duo escape the blast and regroup.

Back at the DEO, Lockwood arrives with proper authority and gathers the weapons for his men. He orders Colonel Haley to call Supergirl, but she presses twice warning her to stay away. Lockwood is furious that Supergirl cannot be reached and leaves with the weapons. Alex is glad to see that she did the right thing. Haley tells her that she did it for her daughter who is scared due to the martial law and its effect on her alien teacher.

Elsewhere, Nia has a dream of Agent Liberty and his followers forcefully removing Brainy from his post at the DEO. She calls him to warn him of this impending doom. Brainy informs her that he indeed removed the registry from the database there, but made a copy of it which is now stored in his brain.

While this craziness occured, James experienced another PTSD like episode, but this time his powers seemed to manifest themselves as he crushed part of a nearby lamp. He later calls his sister to tell her of his newfound powers.

Alex, Lena, and Supergirl reconvene and discuss their next moves. With the public now blaming her for the prison incident, Supergirl feels there may have been some truth to what Steve said about her doing more harm than good. She decides to lay low for now until they can fix things.

Elsewhere, Lockwood meets with the President, who authorizes the deputizing of all of the Children of Liberty. Eve Teschmacher stands over a newly rebuilt Otis and apologizes for his death and that this wasn’t the first time he’s been put back together!

Kara travels back to Stryker’s where she meets with Steve, who gives her a flash drive containing all of the information from Lex’s secret lab. He is delighted to help her to take him down. He says: “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Kara replies, “Maybe even a cape.”

Another highly enjoyable episode of Supergirl this was! The action was top notch as usual as was the storylines overall. I really enjoyed seeing Lena and Supergirl team up and investigate Lex together. I must give props to the writers and actresses for portraying a realistic female friend relationship on this show. They are not without their struggles, but they work things out in a respectable manner and become strongest friends as a result. I also think that the villains of this season are bringing out the best in our heroes. Even the comical Otis Graves is a great foil for both Kara and Lena. I found his pop culture references (ie. “Here’s Otis!!!!!!!!”) hilarious this episode. “Crime and Punishment” is a fitting title for this episode which deals with the fallout of “Supergirl’s” attack on the White House. Kara suffers the punishment for a crime she did not commit which is heartbreaking to watch. Now, it seems that even if she is doing good, the people spin it in a negative way. It will be interesting to see what happens now that Kara has decided Supergirl has to stay low as it looks like Dreamer will step up to defend the city in her stead. I also would be remiss not to mention the reveal that James does in fact have powers now!! This will be interesting going forward as well.

Stay tuned for more reviews here at Earth-9 and come back next week for another Supergirl recap & review!