Supergirl Episode 323: Battles Lost And Won

The season finale to the third season of Supergirl, an episode titled 'Battles Lost and Won', aired this week and like many episodes in this latter half of the year, this one had it's ups and downs. Perhaps the title of the episode was a bit metatextual.

The main problem for me about this episode was that so many plotlines needed to be addressed that each seemed to feel rushed in getting to their conclusion. I almost wish these last two episodes were done over the course of three episodes, this way we could have time to see more of the emotional fallout to what was happening.

The next problem? Well, because we had to wrap up character plotlines, many of the main plotline of Dark Witches and Reign got wrapped up even faster with a lot of comic book science and lack of explanations. Some pretty weird things happen in this episode.

And when you have those problems, I tend to look at some of the scenes and wonder if time would be better spent elsewhere.

So what did I like. Well, the action sequences and effects were very well done. The actual resolutions of the character plotlines were, for the most part well done. I am glad where we ended up; I just wanted more journey. And there are a couple of good set-ups for season 4 already.

One last thing I feel I need to say is that none of the things I felt were locks for the end of this season actually happened. I am a lousy prognosticator.

On to the show.

The episode starts right where the last one ended. Reign is flying to the Earth's core to trigger a Genesis event. One of the epicenters of the destruction is National City. So we get a nice montage of our heroes flying into the city to save the innocents.

We see Supergirl and Alura (!!) using heat vision to vaporize debris. We see Alex using Winn's force field belt to protect herself as she saves people. And James as Guardian is also helping get people to safety. At one point, he unmasks to woman to convince her that he can save her son.

Meanwhile, Myr'nn tells J'onn that they don't have time to finish The Reach but he must give J'onn one more memory, the first memory of a Green Martian receiving the Sacred Scrolls.

But perhaps the best part of this opening sequence is hearing on the radio that Superman has flown to Madagascar and saved the day there. Finally, we know what Superman is doing during all this. And in a nice touch, we hear some Superman-specific music swell in the background as we hear the news.

I liked this scene as a way of showing teamwork and heroics.

We get a pretty good look at H'ronmeer giving the sacred scrolls to the first Martian in a flashback. This isn't an easy memory to digest but J'onn does look at it and absorb it. I liked this too.

Meanwhile a tsunami is about to pound National City. As Alura and Kara streak there, they see the water held in space. The Legion has returned. Imra is using her telekinesis to stop the wave. This allows Kara and Alura to freeze it with their superbreath and Brainy to blast it away with the cruiser's guns.

I like how Kara quotes Han Solo to Brainy who doesn't understand the reference. I liked seeing the Legion in action again. And this sequence, with super mother and daughter flying circles around the tsunami was nicely done.
 
Meanwhile, with the most important memory transferred, Myr'nn grabs the Staff of Kolar, dives into a fissure in the planet, and basically stops Reign in her tracks. The threat is over for now.

So understand that a lot of review space is going spent dissecting this episode. I don't know if we ever really heard enough about how Myr'nn was doing this. It seemed like a quick way to both eliminate his character and solve the Reign threat. It felt a little too easy.

The quake is over allowing us to get a nice team shot of everyone together while the crowd applauds. Well done team!

Back in the DEO, I like seeing space dad receive hugs from his family. They know this means Myr'nn sacrificed himself.

But there is more. Why did the Legion come back? Imra says Mon-El's beacon was tripped but we know that was broken last episode. There is no explanation other than 'there was a failsafe'. I would have liked more.

Then Imra finds Mon-El and basically tells him their marriage is a sham. She has known it for a while. I guess that clears a path for divorce and some Kara love. I have to say that this entire love triangle subplot has been my least favorite of the the season.

In the Fortress of Sanctuary, Myr'nn's sacrifice has frozen the Atomic Cauldron. It needs to be reignited for the terraforming to continue.

Sam remains in the Dark Valley. Even though the quake is over, Reign still exists. Sam needs to grow stronger to weaken Reign.

She finds the two fountains and is about to drink from one when a vision of Sam's estranged mother appears. The mother is completely remorseful. She says it is really her. She wants another chance to show Sam she loves her. And she starts by saying that Sam is about to drink from the wrong fountain.

I suppose if I can believe that there is a mystic valley of the mind with magical fountains, I have to believe that the mortal soul of Sam's hated mom could get there and know enough about magical fountains to steer her right. But this also seemed a bit weird.

I guess part of this show and season has been about forgiveness and humanity. Having Sam's mother show up allowed her some closure. But I really wasn't expecting this.

More news is dropped at the DEO.

Yes, Pestilence's death means the Blight never happened. Billions were saved. One of which is Brainiac 1, who has a AI plague. Brainiac 5 cannot go back to the future or he will die.

And the future needs heroes and leaders and geniuses. He tells Mon-El ... and Winn ... they need to go back to the 31st century. To convince Winn, Brainy pulls out a weathered piece of paper, Winn's force field belt doodle from last episode. It is cherished in the future, saved in a museum, as the beginning of life-saving future tech.

So now Winn and Mon-El have decisions to make.

I like how Flash is castigated for changing timelines but Legends and now Supergirl make major changes in history with little pause or punishment.

Reign comes back and the cauldron is relit.

It looks like disaster is about to happen again.

Luckily, Thomas Coville survived his heat vision to the chest from last episode and crawls to J'onn's vehicle.

I suppose if I can believe in warp drives, Kryptonian witches, and World Killers, I can believe that a human can survive heat vision to the chest.

But as far as the DEO, the threat is still over so a lot of talking is happening.

Lena and Alex talk about Alex becoming a mom. Alex doesn't think she can have it all but Lena says women like them just take what they want. Was it just me who felt that this was a weird conversation for Lena to be starting with Alex?

Winn tells James how he is struggling with his decision to head to the future as the intelligence lead of the Legion to fight off a galactic cataclysm.

James then decides to make it about him saying it is a tough decision, like his to unmask.

Okay ... maybe they are both problems. But I think Winn's is a bit weightier? No?

Coville trips J'onn's ship's distress call. Now the team can go and fight Reign and the Witches.

Now comes the most insane bit of the show.

Everyone at the table says it is time to kill Reign. Nothing can stop her except a Kryptonite overdose. J'onn says the time is right. Alura says sometimes you need to go against your core to do what's right. Even James says there is no choice.

When Kara says she doesn't kill, they convince her to change her mind. The team flies off.

I will remind people that two episodes ago J'onn took away all guns from the DEO saying it had to become nonlethal. The show gave us a crude, clunky argument on gun control and the need for nonviolence.

I can't believe we would get the moralizing of the 'gun' episode just 3 weeks ago and now have this complete about-face from the most vocal characters from that show!!!

Back in the Valley, Sam's mother forces her to drink from the Fountain of Lilith. It had a sort of 'Harry forcing Dumbledore to drink poison' vibe from Half Blood Prince.

But her mother and Sam finally reconcile. And with one last sip, Sam is rejuvenated.

She awakens at the DEO and for some reason has powers. She super-speeds to the Fortress of Sanctuary.

Okay ... so Sam, who drank to strengthen the human part of her, now has powers? I'm going to have to roll with this because obviously, Sam has to get to the action.

I did like seeing Betty Buckley again.

In  the Fortress, we get another very good action sequence. Imra blocks the Cauldron telekinetically. The agents square off against the Witches, putting them in Kryptonite handcuffs. I liked seeing Alura and Selena square off. (Wasn't having K around a big deal just a few weeks back too? Thank goodness for Lena.)

Reign and Kara take the the skies but are pretty evenly matched. Ultimately, Reign gets Kara in a chokehold, boasting how no one is as strong as her and therefore she cannot be defeated. In a very nice shot, we focus in on Sam in the background wielding the Sword of Juru. She stabs Reign clean through.

Then, angry and resigned to kill, Supergirl punches Reign into the Cauldron. I guess without the protective properties of the Sword, the Cauldron is too much. Reign begins to liquefy. But before she goes out she unleashes heat vision hell killing Mon-El and Alura.

Forcefield over the cauldron

There was something sort of Wicked Witch of the West/Judge Doom in seeing Reign melt away. But the price is large.

In another nice shot, we see Kara from above viewing what she has wrought by killing Reign. She is surrounded by the fallen dead, her friends and family.

She tells the wounded J'onn that she has lost track of who she is. She should have found another way.

And then she gets an idea. She grabs Mon-El's Legion ring.

It is a dark picture but blow it up. This is nicely done.

She uses the ring to find a time displacement field in space and goes back in time to before Sam skewers Reign.

As she goes back, she remembers hearing all the people who throughout the series have told her that who she is and what she represents is important. It is very Donner!


Once back, she tells Sam to not use the sword. Instead, Kara grabs Harun-El, Reign, and Sam and together they head to the Dark Valley. (We do see Kara get affected by the harun-el when she holds it.)

In the Valley, Sam lays into Reign and forces her to drink the weakening fountain water. Depowered, Kryptonian ghosts, the Dementors of this place, fly in and drag Reign back. It is finally over.

So a time travel solution? I guess I like that Kara didn't kill. Sam defeating Reign is a nice wrinkle I was not expecting too. But did we know enough about the fountains and the ghosts to have anticipated this working??

There is nothing left but the wrap-up ... but it is 20 minutes of wrap-up because, well, so much needs to be wrapped up.

There is a balcony scene between Kara and Mon-El.

She finally says out loud that Earth is her home. Despite the complexities of being Kara and Supergirl and everything else, this is where she belongs. Whew! This is what this whole season was about. I was glad we actually got to hear the words.

Meanwhile, Mon-El says he cannot abandon the future. This time, even with Kara, is not his home.

Thankfully (and trust me I almost wrote a curse word here), there is no hug or kiss. The two just walk apart.

But not before Mon-El gives Kara her own Legion ring.

Sam is alive, cured, and 100% human. I guess those super-powers which got her to the Fortress wore off? Sigh.

In another powerful scene, we see Alex about to quit the DEO. She never gets aroudn to saying it because J'onn pauses her. He says that he needs to honor his father by living up to the Martian ideals of living among the people. He cannot hide in the DEO anymore. He tells Alex he is stepping down and she is now director.

This also means Alex won't be in the field as much so she can more easily be a mother. He says a lot of great thing about Alex, appropriately so. She will protect the helpless.

I actually liked this turn of events a lot.

Now my next least favorite scene happened. Alura says goodbye to Kara. She has to return to Argo to try the witches fairly. She is proud of Kara and all she is. But bye bye. This all happens way way way too quickly. It is hard for me to just reconcile that Argo is out there with Alura and Supergirl and Superman are content to just have it float along with limited resources and reliant on a rock to stay alive.  Plus, how can you say goodbye that fast!!!

Winn has decided to head to the future. The quickness of the Alura goodbye is compounded  when we see Winn get a long goodbye from all the characters. Kara says a lot of things to him and they hug. While I get we have known Winn and he deserves this moment, Kara had way more things to say to him than she did to her mom she thought dead. This all seemed rushed.

Thankfully, we get to something which did feel right. Kara and Alex on the couch. We see James has come out as the Guardian. We a fedora-wearing J'onn walk among the people. And we see Kara and Alex talk about how much they have grown, how much has changed. They wonder if they are going to be okay.

And then we get the crumbs of next season.

Despite being warned by Alura that the Harun-El is dangerous and not clearly understood, we see that Lena can manufacture it and has a chunk. I like this a lot. The 'is she evil' Lena thread continues!!!

We also see that a side effect of Kara grabbing the Harun-El from the Fortress fight is that it created a duplicate Kara, one wandering in Siberia. Perhaps we are going to get a Red Son/Daughter arc next season??

Okay ... I have talked enough. I think I have showcased what I liked and didn't. But one thing that sticks is that we just didn't get enough of Kara this episode or this season. Everything was boiled down to brief interactions. 10 seconds to console J'onn about his dad, to say goodbye to Winn, to say goodbye to her mother, to not even say goodbye to Sam. No closure with Lena. No scene with Imra.

On to more fun topics. I have to remind people that I was going to bet cash money on the following happening:

1) Alex giving Kara a 'you're human' speech to contrast the 'be an alien' speech when Kara fought Reign the first time.

2) Alex adopting Ruby

3) Sam taking over Reign to show the power of humanity. Sam begging Lena to kill Reign to end the threat. Lena doing it. Lena and Supergirl splitting.

It is a good thing I am not a gambling man.

I'll probably do an overview of the season at some point. But let's end it here.

What did you think?