Supergirl Recap: Rude Awakening
Monday’s Supergirl introduced us to our second favorite blue-skinned television character named Brainy. (Sorry, but Smurfs always come first at TVLine.)
“Brainy,” as it turns out, is Mon-El and Imra’s nickname for Brainiac 5, the third member of the Legion of Super-Heroes tasked with entering Kara’s subconscious and waking the Girl of Steel from her Reign-induced coma. As a defense mechanism, Kara’s brain concealed her in her safe place, a recreation of the enormous loft she somehow manages to afford on a junior reporter’s salary.
Kara tried all the usual tricks — super strength to pull the door off its hinges, heat vision to melt the lock, etc. — but escape was beginning to seem impossible. And despite a few vague hints (“The only thing keeping you here is you!”), Brainy wasn’t all that helpful. It wasn’t until Kara embraced the importance of her humanity that she was able to literally unlock her subconscious using — wait for it — the key to her loft. Sometimes the correct answer is too obvious, I guess.
Meanwhile, Sam’s aptly named alter ego continued her reign of terror in National City, cleansing it of sinners and showing its citizens “what justice really is.” But as we saw in the series finale of Seinfeld, targeting evildoers isn’t always enough; Reign also made it her mission to take down those who stood by and did nothing to stop the evil from happening. After all, “apathy is the greatest sin of all.” (Is it weird that I’m imagining that phrase embroidered on a frilly pink pillow?)
Mon-El initially resisted getting involved in the fight, explaining that the secret to defeating a powerful future enemy is embedded in the Legion of Super-Heroes’ DNA; if either he, Imra (aka Saturn Girl) or Brainiac 5 are killed now, they won’t be able to save their future. (#TimeTravelProblems — blah, blah, blah.) But Imra was quick to remind him that Tommy and Gina never backed down, and neither should they. (Mon-El apparently got his fellow Legionnaires hooked on Bon Jovi, so there were a lot of that those references this week.)
With Supergirl now by its side, the Legion was able to pump Reign’s brakes, but the final scene revealed that their battle has only just begun. “There are others like you,” Reign’s freaky hooded mentor told her, explaining that she just needs to know “how to find them.” And who should saunter out from the darkness to offer his assistance? None other than everyone’s favorite prophet, Thomas Coville!
Kara and Mon-El shared a nice little moment — at least I think it was nice? — after the battle, as he told her, “I still care about you. [And] it was great fighting with you again. I miss that.” It was a step in the right direction, but it was hardly the closure Kara deserves at this point. “It still hurts,” she later told Alex. “But I’ll be stronger for it, whatever happens.”
We should probably also talk about Lena and James, who had their first misunderstanding as a couple(?) this week. After speaking with James about “what happened” and determining that they’re “not a match,” Lena sought advice from Kara (aka J’onn in disguise!), who literally congratulated her and suggested they explore their connection further. “I don’t want to push you away anymore,” Lena later told James, who replied, “Good, because I really like you, Lena Luthor.” Cue Kiss No. 2.
Your thoughts on Supergirl‘s winter premiere? Drop ’em in a comment below.
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