Supergirl Episode 309: Reign

Supergirl episode 309, titled 'Reign' represented the midseason finale and was one of the best episodes of what has been a spectacular season so far. I have been so impressed with this show this year as it really does a fine job of having relatively deep character plots playing out slowly. It is clear that this season's theme is Kara dealing with sadness, trying to shield herself from emotional harm, becoming a girl of steel, an alien. And throughout the episodes so far, we have seen that played out as her being trumpeted as a god. We have seen here embrace her humanity in her youth. We have seen her face off against Overgirl, a dark reflection of herself. And now we have her battling Reign, another Kryptonian super woman, this time with a very harsh agenda of justice via the lash.

And this felt like something big. This was a 'Death of Superman' style story with a Kryptonian created worldkiller battling and basically defeating the hero. This felt cinematic. This felt electric. This was sit on the edge of your seat time, especially the last 10 minutes. Incredible.

But this wouldn't have been nearly as effective without the small stuff that plays out during the hour. Here we see Sam becoming Reign while still wistfully reminiscing about her more human moments. We see the writers really lean into the history of this show, touching on moments and plots from prior seasons, showing the mythology this show is building. And we have the usual comic and movie flourishes.

I was very impressed. Very.

On to the show.

 The show starts with a POV shot of red heat vision burning into something. We know this isn't the blue beams of Kara or Kal. So it has to be Reign.

Then we jump to an exhausted Sam being woken up by Ruby in their home. I suppose Sam is exhausted from all her extra-curricular work as Reign, an idea which reminded me a bit of when Venom was hijacking Peter Parker for nighttime beatdowns of crooks. In fact, I wonder if Sam is even aware of her time as Reign as she has no recollection of the desert fortress or her actions.

And it seems like a very un-Worldkiller sentiment to talk about pancake-o-clock.

It is these warm moments with Ruby which humanize Sam and I suppose will be Reign's downfall. As Kara seeks to push humanity away, my guess Supergirl will need to push humanity back into Sam to make Reign vulnerable. And Ruby is the key.

 Meanwhile, at the DEO, we finally get some discussion about Mon-El and Imra.

We learn that in the 31st Century, inspired by Kara, Mon-El formed the Legion of Super-heroes. This team is battling the ever-growing darkness in their time.

Unfortunately, their ship got sent through a wormhole to 12,000 years prior. Mon-El put them into cryosleep with the plan to reawaken back in the 31st century but Edge's torpedo woke them too early.

Now as a long time Legion fan, growing up with Superboy being the inspiration for the team, having Kara be the symbol was just fantastic. I loved that.

And that 'growing darkness' line ... a hint at the Great Darkness Saga? I should be so lucky!

 It is the holidays and the Danvers sisters throw a holiday party at Kara's. Everyone is in attendance, including Sam and Ruby.

Ruby is a Supergirl-fan and Alex gets to answer all the young girl's questions. Here Alex talks about jumping out of a skyscraper while in a firefight, the excellent backwards jump while shooting guns scene we saw last season!

Again, it is small moments like this that build up the legend of this show. There is internal continuity here for long time fans.

But we also get J'onn and his father talking about Christmas Carols and hot cocoa. We get to see Winn and J'onn talk about Star Wars and the Star Wars Holiday Special. He even calls J'onn 'Papa Bear'. It is just a great scene.

 And at the party we see how Kara, Sam, and Lena are truly three best friends. There is a nice breezt chemistry here. Sam and Kara talk about the obvious sparks that are flying between Lena and James. And more importantly, Kara talks about how the friendship of these two has made her life livable this last year. It means that the ultimate reveal of Reign being Sam is going to be all the more devastating.

But as usual, Kara is called away with J'onn. The Reign ghostly S-shield has been burned into buildings and fields all over National City.

Kara recognizes the sigil as being Kryptonian but doesn't know what it means. The Alura AI gives a history lesson about how the true meaning of the symbol is lost but that it is known to be part of an early matriarchal religion which was polytheistic. But then the old myths were scrubbed away when Rao became the one god.

And no one will be able to tell her what it means. After all, this Alura has the knowledge of all 28 known galaxies.

Yep, that is a direct lift from the Marlon Brando Jor-El AI from the Donner movies. Nice deep cut.

 Without a clear understanding, Kara decides to see if anyone in the alien dive bar knows anything. Inside, she and Winn run into Mon and Imra. These two are all about the public displays of affection, wiping each other's mouths and doing everything but calling each other 'shmoopy'.

I was glad to see the alien bar, so crucial a site last season, come back into play. And Mon and Kara still have some vibes going, laughing about old times. They even talk a bit about his bartender time, something else which was part of last season. The time-wimeyness of this whole thing is crazy. To Kara Mon has just come back after a few months. For him it has been 7 years. He has lived a life basically. You can see they are just in two different places in regards to their relationship.

But again Kara is called away.

 Remember Thomas Coville, the Rao fanatic who said he didn't remember Kara's name? Well he does. He calls for her.

And he does a very solid info dump. Remember, he scoured the world for Kryptonian knowledge, even talking to the forgotten from Fort Rozz. He found a priestess who knew the old ways, who knew the legends of the pre-Rao Krypton.

The blasphemous sigil is the marker of the Worldkiller, the dark god, the devil.  It is Lilith of Darkness and teeth. And it will come in three phases.

First, the Mark of the beast, presumably the sigil blasted all over the city.
Then the Work of the Beast, the death of many.
And finally the Reign of the Beast, when a new god will emerge to punish.

Much like the Alex talk, Coville mentioning Fort Rozz, a huge plot point from season one, was very appreciated here. This is all one history.

Once again, we see how the motive and actions of Reign are keeping Sam from her motherly duties. It's Christmas Eve and Sam and Ruby are holed up in LCorp. Again, Sam softens retelling a tale of a tough time in their life when they were moving to Central City (Earth 38 has a Central City!!!) and sleeping at truck stops at Christmas. Despite those tough times, it was the best Christmas because they were together.

Sam gives Ruby her Christmas gift, a Supergirl pendant. She tells Ruby that the S-shield means Stronger Together, another nod to season one.

But then the darkness claims Sam. With Ruby gone, she goes out and slaughters a drug gang. We only see glimpses of her form as she tears through these guys, a very eerie scene indeed.

 But there is still some subplots to deal with.

Imra tries to have a heart to heart with Kara. She knows about the Supergirl/Mon-El history. Imra tells Kara that Mon-El stayed faithful to Kara for years in the future until returning to the 21st century proved futile.

It was nice to hear that Mon-El didn't just fall into bed with someone quickly. But it doesn't seem to matter to Kara.

I do love the pink sweater on Imra here, a nod to her Legion gear.

 Meanwhile, Lena is convinced that Morgan Edge is behind the sigils being burned. She and James confront Edge directly, then go nosing around his properties.

Edge, per usual, sends an assassin to try and kill Lena, one thwarted by James' Guardian shield.

I like that James has it with him even when in civvies. I can't believe I was happy to see the Guardian. But such a stressful encounter could only fan the flames of passion between these two.

 When Sam hears that Morgan Edge might have tried to kill Lena, she can't help but say 'he doesn't deserve to live', storming out and giving us a shirt-rip reveal.

You see, Reign is another foil for Supergirl. Reign is the truly alien, uncaring, Kryptonian. This is the end result of Kara shutting off her emotions. We are supposed to see the similarities but recognize the differences.

I guarantee there will be a speech at the end where Kara says to Reign that her loving, her emotions, her pain is what has made her the stronger.

But that's for the season finale, not the midseason ...

Inside the DEO, Kara can't believe that people think Coville is right. But the dead gang members where torched by heat vision. This villain is Kryptonian. In another nice nod to prior stories, Kara reminds everyone that she beat up Superman. She'll take whatever this villain has to give and defeat her. Awesome.

But first, more angst. Kara finally confronts Mon-El, telling him it isn't easy to see him with someone else. She can't deal with it. At least that is voicing her feelings rather than tamping them down. This was her at her most human.

 As for Reign, she heads to the Edge Corporation Christmas party and tears through the place. Edge only survives because he had a lead-lined panic room to hide in. I have to be honest, I love that Edge has a lead-lined panic room.

Once again, we only see fleeting glimpses of Reign, making her more spectral and more like a boogey man than real.

 With Edge everywhere claiming that Supergirl tried to kill him and with their own near death experience behind them, James and Lena give in and kiss each other.

This seems a little quick. I would rather have James still be on the fence about her being a Luthor and possibly evil. But I suppose the writing was on the wall.

And then we get to the finale.

Kara calls out Reign to fight. Reign obliges. Kara is about to fly off when Alex stops her. While Alex has been telling Kara to be more human this whole season, she reverse course. She needs Kara to be cold, alien, Kryptonian. She needs her to go full out in fighting Reign.

I am making another prediction. Whenever we get the rematch, Alex gives this speech again but in reverse. She is going to say that it is Kara's humanity that she needs to cling to. It is her feelings, her Earth side, her Kara-ness that will win the day.

Trust me.

 And then we get 9 minutes of nonstop brawling between the two. We are talking flying through buildings, fighting on cargo ships, throwing haymakers in the streets of National City.

It is the most intense, brutal, bloody throwdown I have seen on this show. It is evocative of the Superman/Doomsday fight from the late 90s. And it is clear that from a power point of view, Supergirl is simply outmatched.

I have no screen caps of the fight. Please, go out and watch these two hammer away at each other. It is simply incredible. It is awesome in the true meaning of that word.

But it ends with a bloody and battered Supergirl thrown into the pavement and left for dead.

And there is Reign saying 'All I am is truth, judgment, and death'. That is a far cry from help, hope and compassion for all.

Comic fans have seen this before.

It is the famous pose of the dead Superman after his fight with Doomsday.

The dying Kara is brought to the DEO where Alex works to resuscitate her. (The intubation from the side of the bed is not how that would go in real life ... but that's a quibble.)

What an ending.

Now we have to wait 6 weeks for more !!!!!

I was floored by this episode. The history. The plot progression. The tug of alien/human. The freaking fight scene.

This is clearly the best season of this show.