Supergirl Show 614: Magical Thoughts

This week Supergirl episode 614, 'Magical Thoughts' aired. It was another fun super-hero episode with the Super Friends working hard to stop Nyxly from uniting a universe-threatening weapon.

We are in the back 9 of this show so I am glad that we are ending the show on a wild ride. This is a sort of cosmic level threat that is fitting for an ending arc. Thankfully, the show is giving Melissa Benoist some extra time and extra drama on screen. She will be missed.

But given this is the last hurrah, I like how the show is pulling out all the stops. This episode made me actually kind of like and respect William. That is no easy feat. I don't know of I like Lena becoming a sorceress but why not. We may never see her again. 

I also love the character of Nyxly as she is portrayed by Peta Sergeant. It is such a wild ride of emotions, moving from despair to joy, and always chewing up the scenery. Perfect for a 5th dimensional imp. 

I still can't believe I have lived in a world where Supergirl got a prime time show. I feel blessed.

On to the show.

 We start with an old school game night for the crew. Yes, Nyxly is out there and they have Brainy monitoring for any events. But they need to relax too. Especially Kara who everyone recognizes needs to decompress.

In the midst of it, Kara begins laughing uncontrollably. She is linked to Nyxly and any extreme emotion Nyxly has will effect Supergirl. I like how Benoist is able to flip her emotions on and off so well. 

The team divides the tasks at hand. Lena will try using her mother's spell book to help find the magical imp. Nia realizes that perhaps magic and dream interpretation have some overlap. The two will work together.

And there is another wrinkle. William is going to be embedded with the team. They have to control what he reports. They need to keep Lena's involvement hidden. It won't be easy.

But why was Nyxly laughing? Because she has learned that the totem of humanity is in National City!

William arrives and he has a lot of questions!

How does the Watchtower get funded? They have access to satellites to watch the planet?

Everyone seems a little nervous about this. (It makes me wonder why they would even agree to it.)

I mean, J'onn even says he will wipe William's mind if he has to. That is pretty crazy.

 The Totem of Humanity is some piece of polished wood an MMA fighter wears. He obtained it when he studied with monks, trying to become 'one with humanity'.

Nyxly arrives and quickly grabs it. She activates it by saying 'cgyrzyx'. Interestingly, there is no emotional or hallucinogenic gauntlet. It simply asks if she has a ready heart. When she says yes, the magical energy pulses out.

Suddenly, everyone nearby is drained of their humanity and start to riot. Supergirl arrives to try and stop Nyxly but it is too late, the imp teleports away leaving a brawl in her wake.

I don't quite know if I can follow the totem idea. From a biblical weapon to a knickknack? From needing a gauntlet to not needing a gauntlet.

And I also find it interesting that being drained of humanity defaults to violence to others and not ennui or despair. It does lead to some decent fighting sequences throughout the episode.

Nia and Lena are trying to figure out how to track Nyxly and maybe undo what has happened. They have figured out that with their humanity drained of compassion, the people in the area are just gleeful in the destruction they are causing

 I like Nia showing some tech where she has tracked the energy which exploded out. When Lena and Kara act surprised, Nia says 'I'm smart too. You guys just show off.' I love that little character moment! I suppose with Jesse Rath not in the episode, that plot point would have gone to Brainy.

 You know I love balcony scenes.

William has a balcony scene with Supergirl! That means something important is happening!

He wants to report on everything! The people deserve to know about Nyxly, the threat she poses, and what the heroes are doing. Once more, the idea that secrets lead to more harm is pushed to the front.

Kara says if he reports it and there is no progress by the heroes, they look like they are losing. He will inform Nyxly of their plans. The public will worry.' She thinks it is no win. 

Again, why allow William to even come if he can't write about anything!

Meanwhile, the riots continue downtown. Guardian and Sentinel are there.

When William submits his bland story, Andrea calls him out. He tries to tell her that he needs more time to build trust. To write about everything now would burn any bridge he has made.

She knows he is probably holding out on her. She reminds him that the super friends are not his friends. Either he brings her a story or he is gone.

I don't know if I quite understand Andrea this season. But wanting a real story for CatCo makes sense.

I do like that the arena the whole riot is taking place at is Burnett arena. A name drop for Alan Burnett, of BTAS fame?

 I would love to know what people think of Lena becoming a magic character. I guess with Brainy around, there are too many 'intellects' on the team and magic diversifies the team.

But seeing Katie McGrath in a lab setting looking at a grimoire is so weird.

Seeing her struggling as a novice after years of her being so brilliant is an interesting new wrinkle. But it is strange too. Here she is trying to cast a spell to find the totem and instead makes Nia not be able to tell her left from right. Nia gets another great line. 'Lena broke my brain.'

It turns out that the spell robbed people of their humanity but gave all that compassion to Nyxly. She is struggling with her new feelings! But then another totem pops up. The Hope totem is in the Hague.

As I said, Lena continues to struggle with her magic. Imagine the pressure she is under. She just found out she has some ties to magic and she is being asked to use it to save the universe. She doubts herself. Lena!

In a scene I thought I would cringe at in retrospect but I actually like, William helps her. He says Lena is trying to hard to copy the spells in the book rather than using her instincts. He talks about how his baking improved when took his father's recipes and made them his own. She thanks him for the advice!

Maybe it is because I have been cooking and baking a lot but that resonated.

How crazy though! William helping Lena! I did not have that on my Season 6 bingo card.

Earlier we were re-introduced to Esme, the little alien girl who had been in the evil social worker home. Now she has been placed in a loving family. Kelly has kept in touch.  

But as the rioting people stream farther and farther out of the city, violence hits the suburbs. Here, Esme stops an angry fire-breathing alien with fire breath of her own.

I doubt she has the ability at baseline. She must have some Amazo-like copying power. 

Lena figures out what she was doing wrong. The seeds she needed for the spell were from a packet rather than gathered by hand. She, William, and Supergirl head to the National City Botanical Gardens to gather them. Then Lena can do the spell to track the totem. 

People are rioting all around them and Supergirl (and even William) are protecting Lena while she gets the seeds and casts the spells. Nice to see Supergirl effortlessly take out normal folks.

But she has super-speed. Couldn't Kara have flown her anywhere on the planet where the shrub grows? Maybe one not in the middle of a riot?

At the Hague, Nyxly is dressed as a security guard. The plan is easy, kill the security guard next to her and find a statue.

But Nyxly can't do it. She is too filled with compassion. The humanity is limiting her. 

 On her ship, Nyxly is just overwhelmed with compassion. I just love Sergeant chewing the scenery talking about her feelings.

Meanwhile, back in the Watchtower, Lena figures out what the spell did. It amplified the totem. No more people are lacking compassion and Nyxly is feeling more compassion!

Lena doesn't want to hurt anyone else even though Kara says it might be their only option.  

It actually gives Kara an idea. Lena should perform the spell again. While it will be dangerous because more humans will be heartless, the surge of compassion in Nyxly will effect the imp. She will either give up or show herself.

But again, Lena can't be part of something which could hurt people. It is a crazy plan. Let's rob humans of their compassion to catch the bad guy knowing riots will erupt.

 Supergirl tells Lena she needs to do the spell for 'the Greater Good'. Given Lena's whole arc last year, 'greatest good' is a loaded term. It actually seems to anger Lena.

I love that the writers have leaned so hard into the show's continuity like this.

And I love, knowing the friends are about to fight, Nia grabs William and leaves the room before he can see anything awful or awkward.

I love that, at least initially, Lena stands her ground saying that Kara can beat Nyxly without this spell just like she beat Lex. Supergirl can do it by doing the right thing.

 But then Kara has an idea.

If William puts out everything that is going on, in the papers, then it will help people know why what is happening is happening. People can trust the heroes. And it might draw out Nyxly.

What I love is he stands his ground.

If they want him to do this, he has to do it his way. He has to say the whole truth. He sets the ground rules.

I know ... unexpected ... but I like William in this episode.

The superfriends fly out in the city to protect people from further rioting while Lena casts the spell again. 

We see a lot of great hero action, especially from J'onn and Nia. 

And once more, Nyxly, now stuffed with compassion, over-emotes how the world is filled with suffering and how could she add to that.

 Somehow Alex and Kelly get suburb duty and end up at Esme's house where the foster parents have kicked her outside to protect their house.

But Esme seems suddenly powerless. Thankfully the heroes are there.

Seems a little convenient.

 In the city, things are going crazy ... not to be unexpected. We get a nice bullet grab from Supergirl. Look at the annoyed face!

Nyxly realizes she cannot survive or move on with her plans given the sheer compassion she is suffering from. She decloaks, reactivates the totem, and flings it towards Earth. It reverts to the necklace and is grabbed by Supergirl.

Immediately Nyxly regrets what she has done. She has given up a totem. Angry at herself, she flies off again. She knows where the next totem is.

 Nothing left but the wrap-up.

The team locks the Humanity totem in the Watchtower.

They know that Nyxly will double down on her quest to get more totems now. Nia decides to investigate the Dream totem.

William's story is a huge hit. But now he has to stand up to Andrea. He tells her that he will write his stories his way. She can't tell him what to do. I mean it. William is a strong character in this episode.

Lena and Kara end up thanking each other as they eat chinese food on the Danvers couch. I am sure that will delight a certain portion of the fandom.

Esme is sent to a new foster family but it can't be for long. As I guessed when we first met her, I am guessing she gets adopted by Kelly and Alex.

So another solid episode.

This was a good show to move Lena's story along. It was a very good episode for William. And Nyxly gets to emote a bit as well. I don't know if the heroes' plan was great. But this was enjoyable.

What did you all think.