Supergirl #3.22 “Make it Reign” Recap & Review

Kara, Mon-El, and Alura chase Selena to Earth to prevent her from resurrecting Reign, while Alex and Lena run experiments to save Sam. Stepping out of the DEO, J’onn and M’yrnn perform “the reach.” Here is a recap and review of the Supergirl episode “Make it Reign.”

RECAP & REVIEW:

The second to last episode of the season should hype up the finale, create excitement for the season’s conclusion, but it was rather lackluster and a noticeably formulaic series of obstacles that passed time without providing many answers. As a viewer, this season has been a rollercoaster of emotions; however, as we approach the finale, I’m apathetic. After last week’s episode, it feels as though we’ve collectively spent our emotional capital. The storylines intended to be hugely emotional have so frequently skimmed the surface of a deep lake instead of diving into the depths they have to offer. The occasional glimmers of hope (Alex rejoining the DEO action, Lena being her usual genius self, Sam making a return appearance) have been overshadowed by Kara’s power and authority being literally and metaphorically sidelined in situations where it wasn’t her choice.

“Make it Reign” begins when Selena and two Kryptonian witches join Thomas Coville in the Fortress of Sanctuary. Not as cool as summoning a giant Beebo, they attempt to materialize Reign from a fiery pit, but the recipe’s not complete without the other Worldkillers’ blood. Investigating Selena’s house on Argo, Kara, Mon-El, Alura, and Thara discover a hologram of Selena that accuses Alura of disregarding her culture. Selena plans to rebuilt Earth as New Krypton, where her religion will reign free.

Paralleling last season’s final when Rhea aimed to create New Daxam, this season’s closer also deals with a woman attempting to reshape the earth in the image of her home planet after its destruction. The series seems to be avoiding these similarities and continuing to sweep Daxam under the rug rather than taking the excuse to work Mon-El’s feelings and history on Earth into the main plot in a relevant way.

Ruby checks on her mom, who hasn’t recovered from getting hit by a metaphoric bus. Sam will call Alex and Lena for help and promises Ruby she’ll never keep her in the dark again. Welcome back, Sam. We’ve missed you.

The J’onzzes enter Alex’s lab, prompting her to close the adoption site she’s browsing at work instead of being at Thursday morning knife practice and say, “I always have time for my two favorite people.” Poor Kara Danvers, gone and forgotten. M’yrnn says it’s time for goodbye, but not time for waterworks because he’ll live on within his son.

The relationship between Alex and M’rynn has been a blessing this season, so this goodbye stung. Dear Chyler Leigh, if you could stop being so good at emotions, that’d be great. Just kidding. Please, continue. When M’yrnn mentioned that Alex would make an excellent Green Martian, it became apparent just how little the series explores cultural preservation, especially when Kara, Kal-El, and J’onn were assumed to be the last of their kind and this season revolves around a villain connected to Kryptonian religion. It’s a missed opportunity for education and acceptance, for a discussion about freedom of religion so easily tied into this story about immigration and refugees.

Lena realizes that Sam’s oxygen-deprived blood cells are transforming back into Kryptonian. Ruby, amateur Supergirl expert, suggests fixing her with the yellow sun. Alex, actual Supergirl expert, agrees. It doesn’t work, and neither does black rock plan B, which involves fuzzy science, but Lena sounded smart, so I’ll just go with it.

Winn tests out his newest invention, an omnidirectional, self-maintaining, subatomic personal shield (originally invented by Brainiac 5 in the comics). It’s essentially a personal force field that’s the cornerstone of the DEO’s new non-lethal tech.

Last week’s gun control episode ended in a manner destined to change the series moving forward, so I wondered how much change we would actually see. The answer is not a lot, but more than I expected and in an unexpected way. It’s odd that they chose to have Winn first develop technology used in a defensive manner when it was the DEO’s offensive weapons that were taken away, not their bulletproof vests. Wouldn’t it have been more logical for Winn to develop technology that renders their opponents’ weapons inert, something akin to a compact blackbody field generator? Rather than using Winn’s storyline this episode to support the decision made in the previous episode and affirm his ninety-nine percent certainty that he could succeed, it questioned his abilities by reattributing a technology that was ineffective when it counted. If this was a ploy to push Winn toward a potential exit, I wish it didn’t come at the expense of backtracking on last week’s political statement.

When Kara realizes Selena had a way to travel to Earth without her ship, Alura shows them Zor-El’s transmatter portal intended to evacuate Krypton. Kara recalls the hours she spent in her father’s lab being his sounding board and feeling like the most important person in the world. Although Argo’s protective shield is impervious to outside communications, Kara uses some stray crystals to activate the DEO’s holoMom and inform Winn and Alex of their Selena problem.

With Winn’s guidance, Mon-El (who has his Legion ring back) fixes the transmatter portal as Kara and Alura stand in the background and watch. Moving into their closeups, Alura decides that feelings are the appropriate topic of conversation. Kara mentions that there’s “a history” and “complications” between herself and Mon-El (i.e. marriage, his wife, a lifelong promise to another woman), which Alura wants to hear all about once they save the world.

Supergirl has an omnipresent “show, don’t tell” problem this season, but what this scene succeeds in showing us is a problematic statement about female value. Regardless of the fact that Kara grew up in her father’s lab, regardless of the fact that Alura would have the most knowledge of Kryptonian technology, it’s presented as if Mon-El is the most capable person to fix the portal. Why? Because he had a broken spaceship that one time? Both the writing and the framing play into the unfounded and undying belief that men are more capable of fixing problems, while women are expected to stand in the background and discuss their feelings. This is the antithesis of the feminist message this series set out to send when it placed the Girl of Steel, the champion of Earth at the center of the show. This is a message that unfortunately hits close to home for many of us in today’s society.

Television has the power to reflect and object to the world we live in. I don’t turn on my TV to see the perpetuation of the exact problems I am actively fighting against without seeing the added acknowledgement that there is a problem to be fixed. As someone who also works in a retail environment, it is astounding the number of times that my abilities have been questioned simply because I am female. It is astounding the number of times that people of all gender expressions have directly asked me if there was a man who could help them out instead. It is astounding the number of times that people have been surprised when I have proven myself capable at the job I was hired for. I don’t expect one scene, or one series, to change a problem rooted in centuries of sexist thought. I only expect to see a flicker of hope that change is on the horizon from a show that promised to do just that.

This scene could have gone a variety of different ways to re-establish Kara as a capable protagonist. It could have been turned into a mother-daughter science project with Kara and Alura utilizing their collective Kryptonian knowledge while bonding over the loss of Jor-El. It would have been equally as interesting to allow Kara the chance to carry on her father’s work and work to improve his legacy while Alura learned more about her daughter from Mon-El’s perspective. Kara intended for her return to Argo to reconnect her with the world and with the people she lost as a child, but it has been turned into a journey to reconnect her with Mon-El and prevented the opportunity to show Alura being proud of the woman her daughter has become.

Sitting with the Staff of Kolar, J’onn and M’yrnn begin “the reach,” starting with his newest memories, then working backwards through everyone he’s connected to. Relieving the painful memories will teach J’onn lessons he can share with others. J’onn laments that every memory brings them closer to the end, but M’yrnn says J’onn won’t feel loss; he’ll feel complete.

For a storyline revolving around the transfer of memories, it surprisingly lacked the exploration of these memories. If budget constrains prevented a visual representation, I would have settled for Martian story time and listened to the memories and lessons. This storyline wasn’t necessarily meant to be sad; it was meant to be profound, but it turned out to be neither.

The Kryptonian trio drops into the DEO and wreaks havoc. One nears Sam and Ruby, so Ruby distracts her while Agent Demos grabs the Worldkillers’ blood. Alex takes on two Kryptonians with her warrior spirit and kryptonite bullets (hmm… interesting). When one Kryptonian knocks Winn out, Kara finally gets the chance to drive the story and uses holoMom to trick the Kryptonian into starting up the transmatter portal. Mon-El heads through the portal before the protagonist and punches out the Kryptonian. Supergirl and Alura trail behind him. Sigh.

Demos throws the blood to Supergirl, who stands by yelling “no” while the three Kryptonians sear through his protective shield and kill him. Supergirl fries the blood, which lands all over Selena’s hands. Back in the Fortress, Selena drizzles the crispy blood onto Reign’s writhing body and kills Coville because he’s weak. How did Supergirl not succeed in destroying that blood? It should have been the easiest thing she’s done all season.

Lena escorts Sam to the DEO Agents of the Roundtable, saying that Sam’s cells grow weaker as Reign’s grow stronger. Mon-El theorizes that the opposite could be true, which Lena already knows. The Fountains of Lilith in the Dark Valley have the power to grant infinite strength, so Sam volunteers to go back under despite the risk because she’s determined not to die today. Not all heroes wear capes. A giddy Kara introduces Alex to Alura, who wraps her in a tight embrace and thanks her. It was a moment too brief, but it was beautiful.

I’d consider myself a reasonably astute television viewer, but the Worldkiller logic isn’t quite clicking. So… Sam and Reign are still connected, even though the black rock separated them because… magic? And Sam’s cells are reverting back into Kryptonian form, even though they’re not expressing as Kryptonian enough to capture the yellow sun because… science? Back in “Reign,” Reign set out to enact justice on the city, but why bother trying to fix the world if the big bad plan was to destroy it anyway? Also, I’m still pondering a question I’ve had since “Both Sides Now” (episode 3.13)… why do the Worldkillers needed a human form if they existed just to be killed off or separated once it was time to reign? A disguise on Earth would be the best guess, but the Worldkillers can pretty much pass as human in their Worldkiller form, so it’s a complication adding no benefit. Why are there three Worldkillers if their powers can be combined into one? Lastly, why can’t Selena destroy and rebuild Argo instead of Earth? Hologram Selena couldn’t have slipped any of this information in there when she was explaining her evil plan?

In his sole scene this episode, James pays a visit to Winn, who’s doubting that he can change the world. James reassures Winn that he’s saved many lives, including his own.

Reign rises, grabs the Sword of Juru, and jumps into a burning ring of fire that leads to the Earth’s core. The DEO only has hours to stop the world from falling apart.

ODDS AND ENDS:

– When is the last time we saw Kara use a power other than flying and laser eyes? Shouldn’t she have superspeed like Selena’s cohort?

– Maybe I’m just expecting her to be Lois reincarnated, but Alura as a character has underwhelmed me to the point where I haven’t had anything to say about her. Although, Erica Durance nailed her Kara impersonation and is doing well enough in the role.

– M’yrnn: Home is not a place. It is living among those who love and honor you.

– M’yrnn: All of life is change.

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