A lot happened on this week's Supergirl. Like, a lot. Join me as I try to wrangle the spinning wheels of my mind, won't you?

In order to learn more about Reign, and perhaps discover a way to defeat (or save) her, Supergirl must travel to Fort Rozz. Yes, that Fort Rozz. And, since there are still a bunch of prisoners there with beef towards the House of Zor-El and she'll be powerless with no yellow sun nearby, Kara makes some unconventional choices to complete her away team.

No men can come thanks to a specific radiation from the star the fort now orbits that kills men. Imra obviously makes the cut, both because she has powers and she can pilot the Legionnaire ship. Supergirl then gets Livewire (who'd been laying low as a waitress since Reign started killing a bunch of people she knows) and Psi (who's being held by the DEO) to round out the team. This supervillain/hero team-up serves two purposes to me: it shows that Kara is back to her old self by trying to appeal to bad guys instead of just punching them, and it gives us hope that Reign may be able to reform, creating more suspense as the season develops.

Character Development

It was great seeing Brit Morgan and Yael Groblas again as Livewire and Psi, respectively. They both play their parts so well and had excellent antagonistic chemistry as the two villains sniped at each other on the mission. They also got to add a lot of interesting layers to their characters, expressing a humanity that we haven't seen before and showing a glimmer of redemption. More on that in a minute.

No Mon-El means Kara and Imra got to spend significant onscreen time together for the first time since her arrival. We didn't actually see them talk beyond the mission at hand, which is a little unfortunate, but it’s also refreshing. Seeing them run a mission and staying on task is...super normal. Like, that's how it really would be. Going into an unknown, extremely dangerous situation really deserves your undivided attention. That said, I would like to see Kara and Imra get to be friends eventually, if for no other reason than it will allow Imra to get more character depth sans Mon-El.

Meanwhile, Samantha and Reign continue to vie for control over her body. Instead of doing her L-Corp duties, Samantha's day is hijacked so Reign can prevent Supergirl from finding out too much. Reign even mentioned that Sam is very strong-willed and suppressing/controlling her is getting more difficult. This leads to maybe the most important part of the episode, in my opinion: Sam finally admits she's losing time and has been "blacking out."

When Reign was fighting Supergirl on Fort Rozz, there was a moment where her persona slipped—she didn't really know where she was or what she was doing. Did this break allow Sam to her realization? It's possible but I'd guess not. I'd suspect that 2+ weeks of missing meetings and not remembering stuff would be enough. I think that break, that moment of humanity that Supergirl was able to witness (and attempt to reach), will cause Kara to be more dedicated to talking first and punching second in future encounters.

Blaze of Glory

So, let's talk about redemption. When we last saw Livewire, Supergirl had let her go after a traumatic encounter with a gross dude attempting to drain her powers. Livewire, whom Supergirl repeatedly referred to as Leslie to her chagrin, agrees to join forces in order to kill Reign as she is a huge threat.

When Reign shows up at Fort Rozz to run interference on their fact-finding mission, Livewire takes that opportunity to try and defeat (read: kill) her. They clash, but with Reign retaining her powers, it doesn't go well. Kara intervenes to spare Leslie's life, but Livewire jumps in front of Reign's heat vision to save her life.

Despite Leslie's very open hostility towards Supergirl, you could see the cracks in her armor—she's been softening towards her. It made for some great, subtle moments from Morgan as she played that contradiction.

Ultimately, seeing Livewire come full circle and acting heroically in the end feels like a victory, despite it being mired in tragedy. Psi even moved closer to being Chaotic Neutral (if not Chaotic Good) by being a dependable team member when it mattered most and offering condolences.

But...is Livewire really dead? I mean, it's a question we have to ask whenever anyone dies in superhero stuff. It seems like she is, but if she did manage to survive, would that undermine her sacrifice?

Quick Bits

  • We got to see Ruby and Alex spend time together and get a better sense of who Ruby is as a person. The early writing of Ruby felt a little young at times but has since settled into a much more natural space that matches the general age of Emma Tremblay. She revealed that she was dealing with some cyber bullying, a topic that definitely impacts a lot of people. There wasn't a ton of time to devote to it, but Alex confronting the bully was very satisfying. 
  • This episode brings up something that isn't actively a problem for me, but it is very surprising: Supergirl hasn't interacted with very many superpowered heroines on her Earth. Teaming up with villains is almost always interesting, but it'd be nice to see Supergirl get more peers. Also, selfishly, it increases the chances of some of my favorite lesser known characters getting a live action take.
  • You'd think that Winn and Brainy would get along. Alas, that is not the case, at least not initially. Jeremy Jordan and Jesse Wrath have great chemistry, so I look forward to whatever weirdness their interactions may produce in the future.
  • Hey! Mon-El gave some great advice to Kara at the end of this episode! Look at him being an adult and all smart about life. So proud.
  • If Jindah Kol Rozz, whom Fort Rozz is named after, looked familiar, then you caught a very excellent cameo! Jindah was played by Sarah Douglas who, among other legendary credits, was Ursa in Superman and Superman II.
  • Remember those "Others" we were told about? Yeah...one just woke up. Feels like this may be the Kryptonian version of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse when all is said and done. Whether they'll all be able to be redeemed remains to be seen...


Tamara Brooks covers Supergirl as a part of the #DCTV Couch Club. Look for Tamara on Twitter at @MisfitsTamara. Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. CST) on The CW.