Supergirl Episode 317: Trinity

Supergirl episode 317, titled 'Trinity' aired this week and was an interesting episode to dissect.

Certainly there was a lot of momentum in the World Killer storyline here, as the evil Trinity of Reign, Purity, and Pestilence nearly brought about the end of the world. We see some weakness in this Trinity ultimately as the human side of these Kryptonian entities are able to manifest at opportune times for our heroes. So yes, despite being a Trinity, they are not 100% united.

But the bigger plot for me in this episode was the weakening of the heroic Trinity of Supergirl, Alex, and Lena Luthor. Yes, there is an obvious comparison here, three strong women fighting for a cause. But just like the villainous trio are splintered, you can see it here. This whole episode seems to be intent on shoving Lena out of the light and into the darkness. I have no doubt at all know that Lena will be the big bad in Season 4. Because despite Lena doing nothing but good, the characters here mostly doubt her. In fact, Supergirl's distrust of Lena and Lena keeping secrets seems to be out of left field. Kara herself has secrets. So to flaunt it so much seems wrong.

Yes, as a viewer and long time comic fan, I have been watching the 'will she/won't she be evil' scenes with great glee. But that is me, outside this reality. All this stuff seemingly could have been hashed out with a mature conversation over a coffee.

The bottom line is that all the secrets and barriers between these heroes all are now torn down ... except for two big ones. Kara's secret identity seems still hidden ... maybe. And Lena's huge secret at the end of the episode is known only to James.

So in the end, I expect Reign to be defeated at the hands of Lena. And this defeat will somehow paint Lena poorly leading to an ultimate dissolution of this friendship. It actually mirrors the Lex/Kal initial friendship nicely. After all, as I learned in Unbreakable, usually arch-enemies start out as friends. (They called him Mr. Glass.)

On to the show.

The show starts with the DEO basically interrogating Lena about her keeping Reign, a multiple murderer, hidden unknown in her lab for three weeks.

This is a defensive Lena who is appropriately angry. She was helping out a friend. She had never been approached by the DEO ever. She isn't an employee of the DEO. She doesn't have to tell them anything.

Heck, the DEO has done plenty of shady things in the past. This seemed above board. If anything, Lena kept Reign off the maps for those three weeks. And she is right, the DEO is a clandestine government black ops program. They haven't been open to others.

But this righteousness seems to fade when she has to admit that she used Kryptonite to keep Reign under control. This was Lex's Kryptonite from his lab. Keeping a weapon that only works against Kryptonians in hiding doesn't exactly cement the supposed friendship Lena was forming with Supergirl.

Still, it has been a long time for these two. Kara has befriended Lena. I think this could have been hashed out in a less confrontational way than this inquisition.

An added bonus was learning that Lena's middle name is Karen.

The World Killers meanwhile are holed up in their Fortress. The Dark Priestess tells them that the human sides need to shrivel and die for the World Killers to truly ascend.

Almost immediately, Pestilence announces that her host body persona Grace has died. Boy, that was one angry doctor.

With the three united, they form a mystic circle to bring about the death of the world.

Meanwhile, inside the Dark Valley, Julia and Sam discuss their fates. At their feet is the dead body of Grace. And you can see the psychological torture that happens in this realm. Julia is plagued by visions of the people she has killed as Purity. They berate her for being evil. Sam realizes they need to seek shelter and help each other.

I'd love just a touch more explanation about this. What was rocketed to Earth? Not Reign's body. But some essence to possess a human? Then what did Sam's mother find in there?

There seems to be a break in the questioning and Lena heads for the DEO balcony to call James. Realizing it is time for honesty, she spills the beans. She says she held Sam captive because Sam was Reign. She talks about Lex's Kryptonite. But she admits that trying to help Sam secretly has endangered all her friendships and all the progress she has made in distancing herself from the taint of the Luthor name. That seems to be her biggest fear.


That fear is only strengthened when Kara asks about the Kryptonite. Throughout the episode, Kara keeps bringing up how secrets can only destroy trust. And yet, she is as big an offender as anyone, especially with Lena.

The debate ends when Kara collapses after seeing an eclipse manifesting. When unconscious, she awakens in the dark Valley.

 

 When she is revived, Kara says she knew she was in the actual Valley of Juru from Krypton (which readers of this blog might remember is where Kara's ancestor Val-El disappeared!)

Kara also mentions Kryptonian legends of witches bringing forth a 'blessed darkness'. Sounds like a lot of this World Killer stuff is there in Kryptonian folklore. Maybe a trip to Kal's library is in order?? Should this eclipse happen fully, the Earth will plunge into an ice age, killing everyone. As it is, the lack of sun is depleting Kara.



J'onn realizes that the strength of the World Killers psychic link is such that Kara must have just picked it up like a broadcast. And maybe that is something the team can use.

The new Trinity of Kara, Lena, and Alex decide the best thing to do is reach out to Sam.

There is a lot of comic book science thrown about by Brainiac 5. But he'll somehow adapt the technology he used to enter Kara's mind when Supergirl was in a coma to send the three women to the Dark Valley. He seems absolutely thrilled with the idea, almost like it is a problem to be solved.

Once more Kara shows how much she doesn't trust Lena, at first refusing to let Lena join this mind trip. But Lena says that Sam trusts her. Sam went to Lena for help. Supergirl doesn't know Sam. Lena is the best option to reach out to Sam.



I have to again point out that this is a hard line that Kara is drawing here, unlike her since she was willing to give Pestilence, the killer of billions, a chance to prove her worth just last week.

Within the Valley, Sam and Julia realize they are forgetting crucial memories of who they are. Sam even temporarily forgets Ruby's name. Once they forget their lives, the World Killers will gain total control. At the same time, the voices of those they have harmed have become deafening. In a smart move, Sam tells Julia to write down all they remember so they can remind themselves.

Before the trip to the Valley, Kara stops at CatCo and asks James to break into Lena's lab vault as the Guardian and corroborate that there is no more Kryptonite. After all, Lex has been in jail for years. Lena has held onto it for all that time. Kara can't get over this lie. Again, a little hypocritical.

And we see just how scared Kara is. Melissa Benoist really sells how painful Kryptonite is, how afraid she is.

Meanwhile on the Legion ship, Brainy prepares his device. 

It is time for Alex to confront Lena. Lena knew Alex was trying to help Sam. Why didn't Lena talk to Alex?

Lena asks why Alex never said she was DEO before. Lena admits she knew Alex was DEO from Lillian's files. But it was Alex's secret to divulge. So why press matters.

Lena is something of a realist. People have secrets, sometimes for good reasons. Even Alex has to agree with that logic.

Brainy's machine works. The 'good' Trinity is able to cross over into the Valley. There they immediately stumble onto Grace's dead body. Creepy.


The responses of the women in this place is classic. Alex quickly finds sharp sticks to use as weapons, jabbing Lena in the ribs to prove they can be hurt in this reality. Classic.


Meanwhile, the eclipse is only an hour away from being complete. Even in this world. Kara is weakening. As they traverse the valley, she complains about getting tired and wonders why anyone would bother exercising. Amusing.

But things aren't all fun and games. As they walk, Kara continues to needle Lena about keeping secrets. Lena says her actions shouldn't be considered some personal attack by Supergirl. And when Supergirl again chastises Lena for keeping secrets, Lena beautifully turns the table asking Supergirl to reveal her real name. If that doesn't show Kara's double standards, what will.


Given that Lena knew Alex's secrets, I  have to assume Lena actually knows Supergirl is Kara. But it isn't her secret to reveal.


Finally the three stumble onto Sam and Julia. I love this set with the writing everywhere. It shows how desperate Sam is to remember her life.

Meanwhile, James breaks into  Lena's lab. Just as he is about the detonate a bomb to get into her vault, he pauses. He can't do it.


He lies to Winn on their comm-link. He says he broke in and that there is no more Kryptonite.


First Lena admits her fears to James. Then James trusts Lena. I like how this relationship is growing. It almost seems like James loyalties don't lie with the supers anymore.

Back in the Valley, the heroes calm Sam down. You see the psychological warfare of this place as Sam just keeps repeating how she killed people.


But the heroes are able to get through to her by calling on her strengths as a friend, as a fighter, as a mother. It is the mentioning of Ruby that shakes Sam into lucidity.


I love that sequence. Each person calling on a strength of Sam's.

With this sudden confidence from her friends, Sam is able to wrest control of her body from Reign. She breaks the circle and is able to send a signal to the Legion ship of where this fortress is. This is wonderful acting by Odette Anabelle as you can see from her facial expressions that this isn't the wicked Reign.


That does mean that Reign is in the valley. She begins to thrash the heroes, calling them driftwood in the path of a hurricane. Cool line.


But our Trinity knows that with the signal out, they don't need to stay anymore. They blip back to their bodies.

With the Legion approaching, Pestilence smacks Sam allowing Reign to regain control.


On the cruiser, Winn gives Alex a super-suit armed with magnet powers and a souped up pistol which seems to shoot red sun explosive charges. I don't know if I like this. One of the things that has impressed me about Alex is her ability to hold her own without powers. At least this one is way more slick than the clunky K-exoskeleton she wore in Season 1.


We then get a tremendous brawl scene with the Legion, Alex, J'onn, and Supergirl fighting the World Killers. Winn, Brainy, and Lena provide support in the air. It is a very good fight scene. And I love how Reign makes Kara kneel before her, like the General.

In the end, the World Killers are too much. The heroes have to call upon Julia, within Purity, to 'rise up' and take control. Somehow she does while still maintaining the powers of Purity. (This seems to go against the prior truths about how when the human manifests the body loses powers.)


Still, Purity squares off with Pestilence and the two kill each other. Their energy then leaves their bodies and Reign absorbs it all. With the Pestilence and Purity dead, the evil Fortress crumbles. The eclipse ends. And Reign retreats.


One thing I did like was how the two World Killers killed each other. It leans into the New 52 comic idea that only a World Killer could defeat a World Killer.

Nothing left but the wrap up.


Imra is downright giddy that Pestilence has been killed. It means the Blight didn't happen. For the first time we see a smiling, happy Saturn Girl hugging Mon-El and sure Brainy can get them back to the future.


Alex is thrilled with her new suit. J'onn gets a funny line in about Alex always wearing a polo shirt.


Supergirl and Lena seem to bury the hatchet.


But then another wrinkle. James confesses to Lena that at Supergirl's request he broke into Lena's lab. But he couldn't go through with breaking into the vault. Lena has earned his trust. She isn't a Luthor. She helped her friend. With James being so open, Lena admits she didn't use Lex's Kryptonite. She knows how to make it.


It will be interesting to see if Lena learning that Supergirl asked for this break-in will lead to more anger between them.


The last shot is of Reign swearing that Ruby must die.


Lena being able to manufacture Kryptonite is a big deal.


Overall, I  thought this was an okay episode. I feel like Kara came out looking the worst. She really lit into Lena for keeping secrets when she herself has kept plenty. Despite believing in people, even the worst of the worst this season, Kara attacks her friend. Sure it stoked the drama. But it felt off.


Still, the plot has progressed. Reign is now all the World Killers in one. Perhaps Reign is the future Blight now.