For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

In the wake of the battle at Garfield High, Jefferson Pierce is barely clinging to life as Tobias Whale marshals his forces to move against Martin Proctor and The ASA.


Influences

The Black Lightning comics of Tony Isabella, the Green Lantern comics of Geoff Johns (the new Tattoo Man) and The Manchurian Candidate (Whale's control of Lala through a trigger phrase.)


Goofs

So the ASA has special weapons to take down both Black Lightning and Thunder, but they don't bother taking any of the Black Lighting weapons to storm Gambi's cabin just in case it turns out he isn't dead?


Performances

Again, it has to be stated what a delight that Marvin "Krondon" Jones is in the role of Tobias Whale. Krondon has made Whale into one of those rare villains you find yourself rooting for just because he's so amusing even as he's being a total bastard.


Artistry

The opening sequence in which we see Jefferson use his powers for the first time as a child and how Gambi saved him is perfect. The black and white filming, heavy rain and music give the whole thing a Film Noir feel that's very gripping. It also makes it stand out all the stronger when the blue lightning effects kick in. The same is true of the later flashback scenes and the moment in the afterlife where Jefferson seems to talk to his father.


Trivia

The DCTVU version of Tobias Whale is said to take a special serum which has given him the strength of three men. In the classic Black Lighting comics, Whale was a large man weight close to 400 pounds and while he was described as being incredibly strong, his strength was within standard human limits.

The DCTVU version of Tobias Whale is also said to take a serum that slows his aging. This appears to be based on The 100 in the classic Superman and Black Lighting comics - a cabal of mystics who were able to gain immortality by feeding on the suffering of others. The same name was used by a gang in Metroplis' Suicide Slum district, which was overseen by Tobias Whale, who was ignorant of the power wielded by his bosses.

The DCTVU version of Syonide is said to have been found in a dumpster when she was an infant, with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. She was adopted by Tobias Whale at the age of eight and trained as his personal assassin. He later had carbon-fiber body armor implanted under her skin - a painful process Gambi says stripped away what little sanity she had left.

This background most closely resembles that of the second Syonide - an unnamed female assassin who was an enemy of Black Lightning and The Outsiders. Though she was not raised by Tobias Whale, she did work for him almost exclusively and took up the weapons and name of the first Syonide after the original died while working for Whale. She did not, it should be noted, have any metahuman powers or physical enhancements.

Tobias gives Khalil the codename Painkiller. This is also the name of a super-villain from the 1995 Black Lightning series, who first appeared in Black Lightning (Vol. 2) #2. In addition to having his spine healed, Painkiller has the ability to secret a neurotoxin and fire darts that paralyze a target. (Strangely enough, this is similar to the methodology of the original Syonide from the first Black Lightning comics.)

The original Painkiller was a metahuman who had the power to temporarily anesthetize any part of the human body. He could use this power to shut down his target's ability to use any of their five senses or cause a person to become unable to run as they lost all feeling in their legs. This effect was temporary, however, and did not last long. Neither did Painkiller, who was killed in Black Lightning (Vol. 2) #4.

Tobias refers to Lala as "Tattoo Man". This would seem to be the DCTVU version of the classic Green Lantern villain The Tattooed Man.

Lala most closely resembles the third version of The Tattooed Man, Mark Walters, who first appeared in Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #9 (April 2006). A former Marine who was presumed dead after his helicopter exploded, Walters emerged years later in Gotham City working as a hit man who attacked people with a series of seemingly animated tattoos. Walters claimed that his tattoos were formed from the sins of the people he had killed and that he took them upon himself through a process called sin-grafting, bringing their souls peace.

Rather than having the ability to bring his tattoos to life, Lala's tattoos of the people he killed are said to be a side effect of the reanimation process Tobias used to bring him back to life. Tobias claims that every person Lala ever killed will come back to haunt him, tattooing themselves onto his body until there's no skin left.


Technobabble

Metahumans are people whose superpowers come from within.

Tobias Whale and his team all gained their powers through artificial means.

Tobias Whale takes a super steroid serum that slows his aging and makes him stronger over time. He currently has the strength of three men. 

Gambi guesses that Khalil was given a spinal implant with a synthetic liquid metal. It braces his spine but also causes his body to produce a neurotoxin that causes instant paralysis like a snake's venom.

Thanks to a brown out, all the Stage-One subjects from The ASA's experiment are ten hours away from death without a stable DNA profile to overwrite the bad DNA. This would leave them with four Stage-Two subjects.

The ASA is able to track Jefferson by searching power company records for electrical surges following Tobias Whale's attack on Garfield High.

The ASA agents sent to Gambi's cabin are armed with guns that generate a force-field that neutralize Thunder's ability to generate sonic attacks.


Dialogue Triumphs

Gambi: Take my advice and leave this alone. Think about your son!
Alvin Pierce: I am thinking about my son. I had Jefferson take that damn vaccine and it was tainted. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?!
Gambi: There's no reason to get yourself killed over it.
Alvin Pierce: No. There's no reason for YOU to get yourself killed! All the reason I need in the world is sitting in that car over there.

Tobias Whale:"I am unlike other men. The laws of conventional morality do not apply to me." That's Napoleon. And he was a weak ass Frenchman. You're Painkiller. Never apologize. So you killed Black Lightning when Proctor wanted him alive? I'm not mad. Martin Proctor was down with Lady Eve. I always knew sooner or later he had to go. Just gonna have to be sooner, that's all. Real soon.

Jefferson: I always wanted to tell you... I'm so sorry.
Alvin Pierce: There's nothing to be sorry for, son.
Jefferson: Black Lightning. All the violence...
Alvin Pierce: Peace ain't always peaceful, son. All the blood, broken bones, pain you suffered...? Only you'll ever know if it was all worth it.
Jefferson: Was it worth it for you? Your death?
Alvin Pierce: I don't know. What i do know is that I'm proud of you, son.

(Jefferson announces his intention to draw the fire of Proctor's men while everyone else escapes.)
Gambi: This is suicide, Jeff.
Jefferson: Light me up, old man.
(Reluctantly, Gambi slides the programming module into Jefferson's suit, powering it up.)

Jefferson: Now, you are making it a habit of saving my life, young lady.
Jennifer: (smiling weakly) Well, this is... this is what we do.

Anissa: They call us heroes, but the real heroes are you - the people, who despite their everyday struggles with life, continue to find hope - maybe even purpose - in what can be a challenging world. We've been given a gift. A blessing from God. And we intend to use it to protect this city and its people.


Dialogue Disasters

90% of Martin Proctor's dialogue. At least. The worst line of the episode? "You want to save Freeland? I want to make America great again!"


Continuity

Peter Gambi approached Alvin Pierce with the expectation of him exposing The ASA's experimentation. He did not expect him to expose the corruption of Tobias Whale that helped enable it.

The only lead the ASA has on Tobias Whale's location is Lala.

Thanks to a brown out, all the Stage-One subjects from The ASA's experiment are ten hours away from death without a stable DNA profile to overwrite the bad DNA. This would leave them with four Stage-Two subjects.

Jefferson Pierce first manifested his powers shocking two riot cops who were attempting to beat him. Later, they manifested again, after he grabbed an electrical fence which should have killed him. Instead, he reflexively absorbed the shock.

Jefferson Pierce didn't fully manifest his powers until 2003.

Lynn says that she had a cold feeling in her stomach at the same time Jefferson flat-lined.

Tobias Whale can control Lala by saying the phrase "The Devil deals the cards." He claims to have spent a million dollars on the process that brought Lala back to life.

Jefferson Pierce was once suspended for breaking the nose of a boy who was picking on him.

It is revealed that the mantra that Jefferson Pierce teaches to his students was first taught to him by his father.

Lala is used as a suicide bomber to take out Proctor, force-fed det-cord.

When Jefferson awakes from his weakened state, he says he can't feel his powers working anymore. Lynn says his vital signs are normal, but Jefferson compares himself to a battery that can no longer hold a charge.

Jennifer has a flare up of her powers as Jefferson gets ready to leave to face the ASA troops. She latches onto Jefferson until the flare-up ends. A few seconds later, Jefferson finds that his powers have been restored.

Lynn knows how to use a rifle after hunting with her father.

Jennifer is able to shoot a focused lighting blast to save Lynn from one of the ASA troops. Her lighting is yellow, in contrast to the white/blue lighting Jefferson seems to redirect. She's eventually able to make an electro-magnetic lasso and throw people around, just like her father.

It is revealed that Martin Proctor was a rogue operative working outside the purview of The ASA.

Gambi kills Martin Proctor.

The ASA's previous operation and Martin Proctor's current group are exposed to the public.

Tobias Whale is revealed to have Martin Proctor's briefcase and - thanks to his agent in the Freeland Corner's Office - the thumbs needed to open it. He says that what is inside will make him the King of Freeland.


Location

Gambi's cabin in the woods north of Freeland.


The Winnick Factor

Martin Proctor is a classic Winickian mustache-twirling villain, unable to speak without uttering a racial slur and about as subtle as the villain in a DARE anti-drug comic.


The Bottom Line

A solid episode that sets the stage for Season Two. The most annoying elements of the series have been cut loose, with the sides set for the on-going battle between Jefferson Piece and Tobias Whale. The villains have been given some much-needed definition, with Synoide starting to show signs of characterization beyond being a silent badass and Khalil reworked into a much more interesting version of Painkiller. It remains to be seen if Lala survived being turned into a suicide bomb but it would be interesting to see this new version of The Tattoo Man played out a bit longer. All in all, it's going to be a long wait for more of this series but I suspect it will be well worth it.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

With the discovery of the final Bus Meta, Team Flash may have a way to get into The Thinker's pocket-dimension hideaway. This leads Ralph to considering crossing a dangerous line in the bid to stop him, as Joe becomes concerned about an increasingly erratic Harry.


Influences

Return of the Jedi (the whole idea of beating the bad guy by not killing him, Ralph's "you already saved me." line to Barry.


Goofs

Barry's talk about there always being a better way than killing your enemies comes off as rather hypocritical given that every single one of his confrontations with his major enemies to date has ended because of someone else killing them.  Reverse Flash in Season One?  Eddie Thawne killed himself to erase him from history... for all the good it did. Zoom? Killed by Time Wraiths after Barry attracted them by creating a Time Remnant who killed himself. Savitar? Iris West straight up shot him!

The green-screen effect of Ralph running from the dinosaur skeleton is of very poor quality.


Performances

This is Hartley Sawyer's best turn yet as Ralph Dibny. I could quite happily watch a spin-off centered around him instead of another season of The Flash at this point. Naturally, this is the point at which they kill him off.


Artistry

The final shot of an empty glass on Ralph's desk is a powerful one.


Flash Facts

The title of the episode comes from the title of a song by Eminem.

Ralph makes reference to being able to use his powers to go to the bathroom without leaving the couch. While Ralph Dibny in the comics wasn't quite so lazy, he did stretch his neck to continue talking to his wife in another room while he was using the bathroom... much to her disgust.

Edwin Gauss a.k.a. The Folded Man first appeared in The Flash Vol. 2 #153 (October 1999). Considered the greatest mind of his generation, Gauss was a physics major at MIT determined to prove Albert Einstein's theories regarding The Unified Field Theory correct. Using resources stolen from tech billionaire Norman Bridges, Gauss constructed a suit that enabled him to fold space-time around him, transforming himself into a two-dimensional or four-dimensional state. This enabled him to become invisible to three-dimensional beings by flattening himself or becoming impossible to surprise as he can see in all directions in his fourth dimensional state. He was also able to teleport through space at will. 

The DCTVU version of Edwin Gauss is a metahuman with the same powers as his comic-book counterpart. He was something of a hippie who appeared to be high when he paid for Ralph Dibny's fare on their bus, speaking of walking paths in colorful terms.

Gauss describes The Thinker as "this bald dude in a Professor X floaty chair." This is a nod to Professor X aka Charles Xavier - the wheelchair-bound leader of Marvel Comics' X-Men.

Ralph makes a reference to Marvel Comics'Thor, referring to Barry as "Thor, Son of Odin" after Barry beats him up.


Technobabble

Cisco designed a new scanner that detects dark matter anomalies.

Edwin Gauss' residual dark matter signature on the bus suggests that he was there one second and gone the next.

Harry builds a sonic scepter - a tuning fork that replicates the powers of Izzy Bowin. Harry claims to have laser-shaved it down to the last angstrom. The best part about it is that since it is non-electronic, it cannot be influenced by Kilgore's powers.

Harry scripted a sub-routine on the pocket-dimension predictor that he thinks will enable them to predict where DeVoe will appear next.

Caitlin says she thinks she has determined what triggers her transformation into Killer Frost.  When her body enters a fight-or-flight state, catecholamines (aka The Stress Hormone) are released into her system. Analyzing her brain chemistry, Caitlin determined that the dark matter reservoirs in her body were primarily focused around her adrenal glands. Guessing that adrenaline triggers her transformation, Caitlin can now give herself a shot of epinephrine to trigger it without Cisco or Harry trying to upset her.

Cisco says that Gauss' powers have given him access to his own pocket dimension. Every pocket dimension is unique unto itself. He guesses that DeVoe needs Gauss' power so he won't be dependent on his chair to create his own safe space anymore.

By simply tracking the two lanes of identifiers, cross-referencing the fluctuation migration patterns and the temporal displacement in the energy app, Harry is able to create a map of Edwin Gauss' pocket dimension activity.

Harry has a set of quantum decryption keys he can use to unravel any sort of hacked code.

Iris has an explosive concealed in her earring which she had Cisco make for emergencies. She uses it to blow the sealed door out of the lab.

The Mechanic fights with some kind of electrified katana.

Null's powers could be used to increase the pull of gravity as well as negating it. The Thinker uses her powers to make The Flash weigh as much as a cement truck, rendering him unable to stand.


Dialogue Triumphs

(After Ralph suggests killing DeVoe.) 
Barry: Ralph, you think we're going to kill DeVoe?
Ralph: The way you're saying that makes me think I'm supposed to say no?

Ralph: Uh, thanks.
Edwin: (bowing his head) Namaste, hermano.
Ralph: (cringing) Nama-stay in the back of the bus.
Edwin: (laughs) Funny fat dude.

Caitlin: (reading Killer Frost's note) Thanks for the badass new jacket. I got some blood on it. Don't worry!  It's not ours.
(Caitlin chuckles as Iris looks disturbed.)
Caitlin: (composing herself) I guess her humor is sort of an acquired taste.

(Team Flash stands ready as a portal opens, expecting DeVoe to emerge. Instead, a funny looking man with long hair clad in a robe, slippers, pajama pants and an over-sized T-shirt emerges. He is whistling happily and moves to a mailbox, placing something inside it. The team just look to each other as Barry finally decides to speak.)
The Flash: Edwin Gauss?
(Gauss spins around, startled and falls backward, another portal opening, which he disappears into.)

Cisco: I'm sorry, but that's too big even for your britches, Harry.
Harry: My britches are plenty big, okay? I fill my britches!
(Barry blinks at this. Caitlin looks at Ralph as if to say "Are you going to comment on that?")

Ralph: Unwashed flower child? Have you seen this man?
(Ralph holds up a picture of Edwin Gauss)
Hippie: Nope. I've seen the soul that belongs to this man. (laughs) Dude's aura is a trip!
Barry: Wait, so you know Edwin Gauss?
Hippie: Sure do. Round here we call him "The Folded Man"!
Caitlin: Folded Man?
Hippie: He is everywhere... and nowhere. (shrugs) But mostly he's around here.

Barry: Look, I know you're worried about DeVoe. About what he might do to you. But there are some lines we can't cross-
Ralph: Wow. You really don't know as much as you think you do, Rookie.
Barry: I know what killing DeVoe would do to you. You would be throwing away everything you've done to become a better man, to become a hero. You've got to realize that!
Ralph: You... are a moron.
Barry: Ralph-
Ralph: I am not afraid of DeVoe! Or what he might do to me. I am afraid of what he might do to you... and Iris. And Caitlin. And Cisco. Joe. Harry. Cecile. DeVoe has taken out everyone who has gotten in his way. And Team Flash? It will always be in his way.
Barry: (in realization) This was never about protecting yourself...
Ralph: I know that killing DeVoe would mean throwing away everything I've done to become a hero. But aside from my mom, this team is the only family that I have ever had. And I would throw myself into a furnace to keep them safe. (determined) DeVoe cannot have them. They are mine.
Barry: What about what we want?  You may not care about losing who you've become, but we do. We like hero Ralph. (sighs) Please don't take him away from us.

The Thinker: You are no threat for an intellect of my magnitude.
Ralph: Please. Everyone I fight is smarter than me, but no bad guy has beaten me yet.

The Thinker: You were born for me, Mr. Dibny. And now, you will die for me.
Ralph: (pained) You! First!
(Ralph grunts and rips open his jacket, revealing the weird pattern of the Sonic Scepter embossed in his chest. Ralph pulls it out and stares DeVoe down.)
The Thinker: What is that?
Ralph: A big ol' fork, to shove up your-
(Ralph strikes the ground and aims the fork, sending DeVoe flying into the wall.)

(DeVoe begins to download his brain into Ralph's body.)
Barry: Ralph! Fight it! Alright?! Fight it!  I'll save you!
Ralph: (quietly) You already did, Barry.


Dialogue Disasters

Continuity

Ralph remembers Edwin Gauss from the bus ride, though he lies about paying for his fare. In truth, Edwin paid for him.

Caitlin is now communicating with Killer Frost through notes.

Edwin Gauss has no college history or known addresses - just a couple of backpacking photos from an old message board from the dial-up era of the Internet.

Barry, Ralph and Caitlin track one of Gauss' portals to a hippie commune.

Caitlin is stabbed by The Samuraoid from 401, shortly after she, Barry and Ralph locate Edwin Gauss.

Ralph refers to the events of 413 and how DeVoe easily broke into a maximum security facility.

Gauss likes spicy ranch Pringles.

Gauss accidentally found a way into DeVoe's lair the second time he used his powers.

Joe confronts Harry about his use of the Thinking Cap and how the way he is acting reminds Joe of his wife, Francine, and how she acted when she was using drugs.

The Thinker attacks Ralph with the animated dinosaur skeleton from 406, shrunk down by Dwarfstar's powers and released into The Pipeline.

The Mechanic refers to her conversation with Iris in 410 about what they were each willing to do for their husbands.

The Mechanic is revealed to be an accomplished sword fighter, capable of parrying multiple blasts from Iris' energy gun.

Harry has been revealed to have been using Gideon in The Time Vault to power his Thinking Cap with Dark Matter.

By the time Ralph wins free of the dinosaur, it is revealed that The Thinker has absorbed Melting Point, Null and The Folded Man.

Joe takes out the Samuaroid robot.

Iris impales herself on The Mechanic's sword to grab hold of her and trigger the teleporter on DeVoe's chair.

Ralph does not kill The Thinker despite having the chance to do so. Unfortunately, Ralph still screws up making sure the power-dampening cuffs he put on The Thinker activated properly.

The Thinker is able to use The Folder Man's powers to open a portal to absorb Cisco's vibe blasts and redirect them back at him.

The Thinker uses Melting Point's power to take away Caitlin's powers, effectively killing Killer Frost.

The Thinker now has the power of all 12 Bus Metas, except for Meltdown, and his mind resides in Ralph Dibny's body.

Barry goes to pack up Ralph's office - a chore he does alone and at regular speed.

With Ralph's powers, not only is DeVoe now immune to the effect absorbing multiple superpowers has on his body, he is also able to shape-shift himself to resemble his old self.

The Thinker now has a container full of dark matter, taken from The Time Vault thanks to Harry's tapping into it to fuel his Thinking Cap, which he will use for the next stage of his plan.


The Bottom Line

For all the complaints that people have about The Legends being a bunch of screw ups, I think Team Flash has them beat at this point. There's a lot of powerful moments here and some great acting but that still doesn't negate Barry's hypocrisy or the fact that I'd gleefully see Iris die to get Ralph or Izzy or Hazard back. I suppose that is a complement to the writing team that I feel such passion for minor characters who were created to die, but damn it I thought we'd at least see Ralph survive all of this. Funny how for all of the jokes that were added to this season, it seems to be the most joyless exercise yet.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Seeking to expand his empire in the wake of Mayor Queen's impeachment, Ricardo Diaz and Black Siren meet with The Quadrant - an international cabal of organized crime families. Meanwhile, Felicity and Curtis try to mend their broken fences to get their company back on track as Oliver begins to wage war on "The Dragon" alone.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Jeff Lemire (character of Ricardo Diaz)


Goofs

So, Quentin isn't going to question Black Siren disappearing for several days? Granting that he's probably got his hands full running the city in the wake of Ollie's impeachment, you'd think this is something he'd be trying to stay up on.

You'd also think it's also something Dinah would be doing, particularly since she doesn't have her job as a cop keeping her busy anymore.

The fight scene in which Black Siren attacks the FBI agents has got to be one of the worst in the show's history. Ignoring the poor lighting and odd camera angles (presumably used to hide the face of Katie Cassidy's stunt double), we clearly see the stunt men playing the agents discharge their guns inches away from Black Siren without hitting her!

One does wonder why Cartier's men don't shoot Baylor and Diaz in the head as well as the chest, as Black Siren pointed out.

The final scene, in which Black Siren is apparently meant to be disturbed by Diaz setting his childhood bully on fire - does not ring true at all. And for once it's not because of Katie Cassidy's inability to show any emotions beyond annoyance and dull surprise. It's because it does not make a lick of sense for Black Siren - who has worked for three obsessive sociopaths without complaint before Diaz and spent the better part of this episode complaining about not being allowed to kill for the hell of it - suddenly having reservations about setting a man on fire.


Trivia

The episode name is taken from the nickname Ricardo Diaz gave himself in Jeff Lemire's Green Arrow comics. 

The episode reveals that Diaz was raised in a Zandian orphanage in Starling City. In the DC Comics Universe, Zandia was a European nation which was the home of The Church Of Blood in the Teen Titans comics. Depending on the story, Zandia was said to be east of Sicily or was an island nation in the Baltic Sea. 

Diaz and Black Siren travel to Bludhaven to meet with The Quadrant. In the DC Comics Universe, Bludhaven is a city in New Jersey, even more corrupt than Gotham City, which becomes the adopted home of the vigilante Nightwing.

The DCTVU version of Bludhaven is similarly lawless and has been depicted several times on Arrow as a haven for various criminal organizations.

The bar where Diaz meets The Quadrant agents in Bludhaven is called Hogan's Alley. In the Nightwing comics, when Dick Grayson (aka Nightwing) first moved to Bludhaven, he took a job a bar called Hogan's Alley which was frequented by cops. Dick used his position to get a feel for which cops were clean and which were dirty as well as a source of information.

The title card for this episode features a stylized Eastern dragon icon rather than the usual Arrowhead symbol.

Diaz says the he called his fear of the bully Jesse "The Dragon". It was from this that he took his street name later on.  In the original Jeff Lemire Green Arrow comics, Ricardo Diaz took the name Richard Dragon to honor a martial artist by that name who trained him and was later killed by him.



Technobabble

Felicity is still trying to stabilize the neuro-interface of her and Curtis' latest project.

Curtis theorizes that the serotonin interface is a result of the pathogenic reaction.

Working together, Curtis and Felicity stabilize the pathogenic reaction completely.


Dialogue Triumphs

Baylor: I didn't say nothing! I swear to God!
Cartier: (laughs) Tell him yourself.
(Cartier's driver pulls out an assault rifle and shoots Baylor and Diaz.)


Dialogue Disasters

Black Siren: Oh. So more waiting then. (accidentally voicing the thoughts of most of the audience during this episode.)

Black Siren: And what would you have done if they'd shot you in the head?
Diaz: I'd be dead. probably.


Continuity

Black Siren is capable of picking locks.

Ricardo Diaz has been working on his plan to take over Star City for five years.

Black Siren has heard of The Quadrant but thought they were an urban legend.

The Quadrant have control of a bar in Bludhaven called Hogan's Alley.

Rene is still in the hospital.

Diaz offers The Quadrant free access through Star City's ports and airports in exchange for a seat at the table.

Diaz is instructed by Cartier to retrieve information on where the FBI is holding Robert Baylor - a Quadrant agent who was captured.

Diaz gets the information from Former D.A. Sam Armand.

Felicity has been fired from Team Arrow by Oliver.

Cartier asks Diaz to capture Baylor for debriefing. Diaz objects but when Cartier threatens to end the deal, Diaz agrees but insists he be allowed to meet Cartier's father later.

Cartier double-crosses Diaz and shoots him an Baylor. Diaz is saved only because he had body armor.

Diaz claims to have fought for every scrap of food he ate as a kid.

Diaz tells Cartier about Jesse - a bully in the orphanage who burned his arm.

Cartier reveals that he and his father never gave The Quadrant Diaz's proposal. They just planned to use him to take Star City for themselves.

Black Siren compares Diaz to Zoom, saying that they are both controlled by their hatred.

Cartier is turned into a suicide bomber by Diaz, clearing the path into the meeting of The Quadrant leaders.

Diaz kills the older Cartier, taking his seat on the board of The Quadrant.

Oliver survived the explosion in The Glades.

Diaz tracks down and kills Jesse, his childhood bully, soaking him in lighter fluid and setting him on fire.

Diaz reveals that he tried to save the only picture that he had of his father after Jesse burned it.


Location

Zandia Orphanage, Star City - 1986
Bludhaven - 2018


Untelevised Adventures

Green Arrow is seen in the background as Felicity is watching the news, dealing with an explosion in The Glades.


The Bottom Line

Easily one of the worst episodes ever. Quite possibly the worst of this season.

Too little, too late, in terms of trying to develop Diaz and make him a compelling villain. Instead, this episode makes him seem whiny and weak, which makes it all the more aggravating that he's being set up as some kind of criminal mastermind capable of taking down Team Arrow.

Worse yet, it seems like the Black Siren redemption arc has been resurrected yet again as Black Siren - a psychotic maniac who we'll remind you worked with Zoom, Prometheus and Cayden James without complaint and spent most of this episode complaining about waiting, planning and NOT mindlessly killing people - being disturbed by Diaz's savoring the death of his childhood bully.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.


Plot

As Lena continues to work with Sam to discover what is causing her to lose track of her life, Kara begins learning the fighting techniques developed to fight Worldkillers in the future. The training will be put on hold, however, when Kara must help J'onn contain the chaos caused by M'yrnn's increasingly erratic mental state.


Influences

Superman: The Movie (The theme of parents raising children and the children coming to care for the parents.)


Goofs

Katie McGrath's Irish accent slips into Lena's angry speech to Sam at a few points.

The CGI of J'onn fighting the White Martian is a big too fluid.


Performances

As always, the chemistry between Chris Wood and Melissa Benoist is a highlight of the episode, despite their subplot being the weakest and not having any great dialogue.

That might be the best part of the episode, were it not for the pathos inspired by Carl Lumbly's performance as M'yrnn.


Artistry

There's a lot of arty slow-motion shots as Kara and Mon-El train and during the battles in the DEO that work surprisingly well.


Super Trivia

M'yrnn makes reference to J'onn having an imaginary friend named Zook. In the Silver Age Martian Manhunter comics, Zook was the name of an alien being who acted as a pet/sidekick to J'onn J'onzz. Zook was a creature that resembled a cartoonish dog, who had the powers of temperature manipulation (he could freeze or super-heat objects he touched), limited shape-shifting abilities and he could track anyone whom he had met before, no matter how they had disguised themselves.

In the 1998 Martian Manhunter comic series, Zook was the name of a Martian plant that could be fashioned into clothing that could shapeshift in tandem with a Martian.

M'yrnn says that J'onn's imaginary friend Zook was a 5th dimensional being, who caused mischief like moving around the pieces on the O'kk Rotokk board. In the classic DC Comics, there are several 5th dimensional imps who do cause trouble for various heroes. These include Mr. Mxyzptlk, Bat-Mite and Qwsp.

The alien who Kara fights at the alien bar in the pre-credits sequence is described as a Kalanorian. In the original DC Comics, Kalanor is the home-world of the Justice League villain Despero.

Mon-El's caped costume is based upon his classic costume from the original comics.

The cloak which M'yrnn wears has two rounded metal clasps with a chain that resemble the clasps on the classic Martian Manhunter costume from the comics.

Kara quotes something that her uncle Jor-El used to say when agreeing with Alex that it is time for J'onn to become a parent and guardian to M'yrnn - "The son becomes the father and the father the son." This is, of course, a line Jor-El famously said in Superman: The Movie.


Technobabble

Lena's preliminary studies of Sam find a karyokinetic anomaly, confirming that she has been transforming - mutating into something else.

Kalanorians are psychically sensitive empaths, prone to outbursts during astronomical events. Their physiology can be manipulated by complex luminal and gravatic shifts.

Most of Sam's blood tests seem normal, so Lena studied her salt replication process. Lena determined that Sam's cells have undergone a mitotital mutation that Lena had only ever seen occur in insects. This indicates that when Sam blacks out, her body undergoes a literal metamorphosis and changes on a cellular level, transforming her into Reign.

Brainiac 5 was able to use 31st century technology to scan every security camera, satellite image and cellphone video he could find to construct a realistic three-dimensional hologram of Kara's fights with Reign.

The Ta'ar Ka'riq is a Martian meditation technique that can slow the deterioration of a Martian's mind by moving their memories from the decaying parts of the brain into fresh cells. Unfortunately, it can cause discomfort in nearby psychic races like Kalanorians. At close range, it can even effect non-psychics like Earthlings and Kryptonians.

The cape of Mon-El's costume is modeled on Kara's. It is made of a Krytponian meta-material - Smartcloth.

The Legion Flight Rings also act as a psychic shield. This is why Mon-El was not effected by M'yrnn's psychic attack.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Alex has just gotten a trouble alert on her phone.)
Kara: Well, time to get back to the salt mine.
(Everyone looks up as Kara... slowly unbuttons her shirt rather than just ripping it open to reveal her costume.)
Kara: What?! I like this shirt!

(Winn steps into the room and stands proudly.)
Winn: I have done something amazing!
Kara: You found Pestilence.
Winn: (pauses) I have done something okay.

M'yrnn: Play a match with me. I never tire of beating you.
J'onn: I've got to get back to work. Why don't you bring the game to the DEO and we can play later?
M'yrnn: (nodding) As soon as I finish my game against... Zook.
(M'yrnn glances around.)
M'yrnn: (concerned) He was right here...
(J'onn looks at his father and freezes up.)
M'yrnn: (worried) Where is he?
J'onn: (worried) Dad?
(M'yrnn looks up at J'onn... and winks before grinning widely.)
M'yrnn: A joke.
J'onn: (exasperated) Not funny, Dad.
M'yrnn: Only because you did not see your face.

James: No matter how bad you want to help somebody, all you can really do is hold up a mirror.

M'yrnn: I am sorry. For the pain I caused. I hurt you. All of you. I was so fearful of losing control of what's left of my life, I refused to accept what was happening. And it nearly cost me everything I hold dear!
J'onn: I'd hoped I would've been able to protect you all better.
Alex: You protect us all the time, J'onn.
Kara: Tonight was our turn.

Kara: I thought I had dealt with my feelings about us. But M'yrnn's... episode made me realize that... our relationship was not perfect. You know, maybe I knew that, deep down... But especially when you were gone, I was so busy missing you and romanticizing us... (sighs) I do feel... a big weight off my shoulders. So, in a way, I'm grateful that it happened. And I'm really sorry that it took a Martian attack (chuckles) to make it come out. And I'm sorry it was so brutal.
Mon-El: Yeah, well, the truth can be brutal. (pauses) It's not news to me that I used to be a jerk. And I'm sorry... I'm sorry. For all of it. I didn't really grasp your perspective back then.
Kara: Yeah, but still, I ... I shouldn't have hit you and I'm sorry for that. And I'm sorry for... (sighs) I'm just sorry.
Mon-El: Can we make an agreement?
Kara: Yeah.
Mon-El: (offers her a hand) No more apologies.
(Kara takes the hand and shakes it. She smiles.)
Kara: Do you want to go be heroes?
(We cut to the skies over National City, as the two of them fly next to each other in full costume.)


Continuity

As the episode opens, Lena has been working with Sam for three days.

J'onn had an imaginary friend as a child - a 5th dimensional imp named Zook.

The DEO Profile of the alien Kara fought at the alien bar gives her name as Finhead.

Finhead was a Kalanorian with no criminal record.

The Kalanorians are said to be psychically sensitive empaths, prone to outbursts during astronomical events.

The sensors on the Legion ship are unable to detect Purity or Reign.

Mon-El says that of all the Worldkillers, Pestilence should be the easiest to see coming as her presence causes plagues and diseases of all kinds.

Lena is able to pair up Sam's blackouts to Reign's appearances. The timeline matches perfectly.

Watching the hologram of Kara and Reign's first fight, Kara and Mon-El determine that Reign was toying with Kara. Her fighting style is all power and aggression, She is stronger than Kara, but she doesn't bother with footwork and places all her strength on one foot when she attacks.

Winn fixes Mon-El's costume.

We finally get to see an O'kk Rotokk board. M'yrnn first mentioned the Martian strategy game in 307. It resembles Chinese checkers, but the pieces are rolled telekinetically.

James had a roommate in college who had a drug abuse problem. James tried to help him but ultimately all he could do was clean up the messes he made.

When M'yrnn prays, he causes Winn, Agent Demos, Alex and Kara to become more aggressive.

J'onn has Winn recalibrate the mental inhibitors used against Psi in 302.

Mandrax - the alien art-smuggler from216 - is seen in the DEO cell-block as Kara and Alex check on Finhead.

Lena attempts to provoke a reaction in Sam to awaken Reign. She is successful.

Sam learns the truth of her secret identity after Lena shows her video of her transformation.

J'onn tells Kara and Alex the truth about M'yrnn being responsible for the psychic attack on the DEO.

J'onn can use the DEO power inhibiting technology to stop M'yrnn from being a threat, but he is reluctant to do so given what the loss of telepathy means to a Martian.

Alex recalls how her grandmother began to lose her ability to drive herself and how one of the most difficult things her mother had to do was take away her car keys.

Kara refers to how Mon-El skipped out in training at the DEO (206) and how she tried to get him a job at CatCo (207).

There is a woman named Pam in the DEO's HR department. For some reason, she seeks out Winn to fight him as everyone in the DEO goes crazy during M'yrnn's second psychic attack on the building.

J'onn eventually locks a power-inhibiting bracelet on M'yrnn.

Lena promises to keep Ruby away from Sam until they find a way to stop Reign.

James brings Lena dinner, saying he has a lot of friends who forget to eat when they're busy saving the world.

Lena tells James that she will not be able to tell them everything going on in her work in their relationship. James accepts this.

The episode ends with dead birds falling out of the sky - a sign of the coming of Pestilence.


The Bottom Line

Not strongly written, but strongly plotted and very strongly acted. There's not a false note in the whole hour. Even James' cameo in Lena's office proves necessary to the overall theme and every character gets one moment to shine, which is something of a miracle given the size of the ensemble at this point.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 



Plot

With only one Bus Meta remaining - the radiation emitter called Fallout - Barry needs help moving him to a more secure location where The Thinker can't get him. This calls for the help of an unexpected ally and who could be more unexpected than Citizen Cold - Len Snart's heroic counterpart from Earth X? Unfortunately, when they retrieve him, the Nazi Black Siren of Earth X comes along for the ride. Meanwhile, Cisco begins to grow suspicions regarding Harry's use of The Thinking Cap as Harry is reluctant to let him build a second one.


Influences

Mad Max: Fury Road (title and general chase theme)


Goofs

For the past few episodes, Cisco was the one character warning everyone else about how dangerous The Thinking Cap was. Now, suddenly, he's all about using it and wants to use it himself.

 Apart from needing Black Siren on the loose to add a further complication to this episode, there is no good reason why Barry couldn't have taken out Black Siren before he and Citizen Cold left Earth X.

Despite having an apparent mad-on for everyone involved in overthrowing the Nazi Regime on Earth X - especially Citizen Cold (whom she followed to another Earth just to kill him) - she is content to just take Citizen Cold's cold gun and leave him and The Flash unconscious in a gutter rather than shooting them with the cold gun, blasting them with a Sonic Scream or doing... well, anything that would result in them dying!

Why isn't Black Siren incapacitated by Fallout's radiation?

See The Boomerang Factor for details how the heroes were made ineffectual during the final fight with Siren-X.

One big question this episode raises that will probably be ignored by The Flash and Arrow - doesn't the capture of Siren-X pretty much screw up Black Siren's efforts to pose as Laurel Lance? She made a rather big show of coming back to Star City claiming to be held captive for two years and now a metahuman who looks just like her shows up trying to blow up a police station in Central City? That should attract attention and raise questions that Joe can't deflect. We know Snart didn't take Siren-X back to Earth-X with him, so where is she? Did ARGUS take her? Is she in The Pipeline? We don't know! But someone should have noticed a second evil Laurel Lance running around Central City.


Performances

Wentworth Miller. 'Nuff Said!


Flash Facts

The title of the episode is a pun on the movie Mad Max: Fury Road.

Katie Cassidy - who plays Black Siren on Arrow - appears playing the Black Siren of Earth X, aka Siren-X.

Apart from being a literal Nazi and having super-hearing powers and wearing a mask, there doesn't seem to be any difference between Siren-X and her Earth Two counterpart. Citizen Cold says that she's the only surviving member of The Reichsmen. An elite assassin gone mad, she had an unrequited love for The Dark Arrow, and is out to kill everyone involved in his death - Citizen Cold especially.

Iris says that ARGUS has a secure facility in New Brighton that should be able to contain Fallout and keep him safe. In the DC Comics Universe, New Brighton is a borough in Central City that is primarily residential and commercial in nature, housing the main Central City Rail Station.

In the DCTVU, New Brighton is a city on the other side of the state from Keystone City.


Technobabble

The excessive infusion of Dark Matter into Harry's neural system has disrupted the area of the brain where general intelligence and executive function occur. This is inhibiting his ability to integrate new information, or, in simple terms, Harry is losing his intelligence and will eventually need to relearn everything he ever learned.

The Thinker has not suffered any decline in his metabolic processes since his transference into Ralph's body. He claims that Ralph's elasticized cells could contain the power of another bus full of metahumans.

The Siren-X can use her powers to disrupt a Vibe portal long enough to hold it open so she can use it before it closes.

Caitlin is working on a modified radiation hazmat suit to keep Fallout's core temperature from rising to the point of detonation.

Harry blames the failure of the second Thinking Cap on a hyper-limiter valve.

Cisco notes that the second Thinking Cap was made with promethium ion diodes. Harry claims these probably overloaded the cap as well.

Caitlin created a cocktail of atomized DTPA and potassium iodine. With any luck, if the Fallout containment suit fails, the solution should flood the thyroid with enough non-radioactive iodine to offer them some protection from the radiation. This protection will only last for 2-3 hours.

The Fallout suit also prevents Fallout from being tracked by satellite due to his radiation signature.

Caitlin's tests determine that there is still a cryogenic anomaly in her DNA even without any traces of Dark Matter. This means that there is still a trace of Killer Frost inside her - she just has to figure out how to get her to appear.


Dialogue Triumphs

(The Thinker pulls up a display for some manner of device.)
The Mechanic: We start today?
The Thinker: Yes.
The Mechanic: But we have time, my love. Could we not spend time together? (purring) As husband and wife? I think
The Thinker: Mmm. That is... that is your first mistake. Leave the thinking to me.

Citizen Cold: War's over. Bad guys and girls lost. Nazi regime's been dismantled. And The Rebellion's in charge now. Why don't you turn yourself in? Save us the Tom and Jerry? Find some other misguided cause to get all aggro about?
(Cold hears and noise and fires a blast too late, being knocked to the ground by a sonic blast.)
Siren-X: Not this night. I will fight until every last one of you finds the same fate as my brothers and sisters.
(Before Siren-X can finish him off, there is a golden burst of lightning as The Flash carries Citizen Cold off to where Vibe is waiting on the far side of the room.)
Citizen Cold: Your timing is impeccable.
The Flash: We need your help on our Earth.
Citizen Cold: Right now? I'm kinda busy.
Vibe: With what? Dying?
(Citizen Cold turns around, toward the sound of Black Siren's footsteps.)
Citizen Cold: Touche.

Citizen Cold: So. You're trying to stop a guy who thinks he's smarter than everyone and his true-believer lover, who are hell-bent on achieving their evil machinations at any cost? (pause) Well, that's right up my alley!

Barry: Winning this battle might just win us the war.
Citizen Cold: Here here! Let's all make sure we keep our heads in the game, so we can stay safe out there.
(Everyone else breaks up as Barry walks up to Snart.)
Barry: I know what that was about.
Citizen Cold: It was a good speech, Barry. Just making sure you heard it, just didn't give it.
Barry: What's that suppose to mean?
Citizen Cold: If you don't confront your feelings, they will confront you.

(Caitlin explains how she's adjusting to Killer Frost not leaving her post-it notes anymore.)
Citizen Cold: Do you miss her?
Caitlin: It's not that. It's just that... we were starting to become close lately. And I know how crazy that sounds considering we're talking about someone who actually lived inside of me!
Citizen Cold: I'm on an alt-Earth transporting a human bomb with an escort who can literally run back to the future. Your story is the least crazy thing I've heard all day.

(Citizen Cold is explaining everything he knows about Siren X.)
Iris: So she has the same powers as Black Siren?
(Citizen Cold looks confused.)
Iris: The Laurel Lance of Earth Two.
Citizen Cold: And Earth One's Laurel Lance?
Barry: She died.
Cisco: She was the second Black Canary after her sister.
(Citizen Cold looks confused.)
Cisco: Who also died and came back. But as White Canary. Because-
Barry: Cisco!
Cisco: ... it's complicated.

Cisco: Harry, how could you be so stupid?
Harry:'Cause I felt so stupid!
Cisco: We all feel stupid right now!
Harry: Yes, but you're Vibe! Allen's The Flash! Who am I? My only job is to be smarter than all the villains who want to hurt this team and without that I'm nothing! I am about to lose the only part of me that has any value to this team. The only part of me that matters! And so, yeah! I destroyed The Cap! So you wouldn't make the same mistake I did.

The Mechanic: You really don't see it?! You can calculate near-infinite outcomes across multiple Earths, but you cannot account for how someone is feeling?

Citizen Cold: Barry, trust me. There's no outrunning grief. (pause) That was a pun. I'm sorry.

Citizen Cold: Well, look at that. Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something... navy.


Dialogue Disasters

Black Siren X: A nuke is a terrible thing to waste.

Black Siren X: CCPD. Home of the brave. Land of the dead.


Continuity

Harry discovers that using the Dark Matter powered thinking cap has damaged his brain's ability to absorb new information and will eventually erase his mind completely.

Barry and Iris go to see Dr.Sharon Finkel about Ralph's death.

Iris still has her arm in a sling following her injuries in the last episode.

The Mechanic is happy without needing to be drugged, much to The Thinker's surprise. She credits this to it feeling like he had gone away when he was in the other Bus Meta bodies.

Cisco has the idea to build his own Thinking Cap. Harry reluctantly agrees to help him with it.

Tracy Brand's lab is revealed to be in Keystone City.

Team Flash decides to retrieve Citizen Cold from Earth X, as they can use his cold gun to keep Fallout from going into a nuclear meltdown.

Citizen Cold last appeared in L310.

We discover that the Nazi regime on Earth X has been overthrown. The Rebellion is now running the world government and is in the middle of cleaning up the Nazis, like Black Siren, who refuse to surrender.

Citizen Cold did propose to The Ray, as he said he would during his last appearance. They are getting married in one day.

The plan is to transport Fallout in the special suit Caitlin made, with Leo Snart's cold gun as a back-up to keep Fallout's temperature down, to a special ARGUS facility in New Brighton.

According to Cisco, the Thinking Cap inspires a tingling feeling like his conditioner working when active.

The Mechanic wears The Thinker's favorite dress to please him. He tells her to change into something more appropriate.

Highway 14 is the most rural route between Keystone City and New Brighton.

18,322 rebels died fighting the Nazis on Earth X. 3,679 were under Citizen Cold's watch.

Neil Borman (aka Fallout) makes his first appearance since410.

The Sonic Scepter is not powerful enough to disturb The Thinker in Ralph's body. He is, however, affected by Black Siren's sonic blasts.

Harry finally confesses to Cisco that he used The Thinking Cap while it was powered by Dark Mater.

The Thinker predicted everything that happened in his confrontation with The Flash and Citizen Cold - even the arrival of Siren-X. The only thing he did not account for was Barry freezing up at the reminder of Ralph's death.

Siren-X tries to use Fallout to blow up CCPD HQ.

Fallout is taken into custody by ARGUS and moved to a different off-the-grid black ops site.

It is unclear what happens to Siren-X. Leo Snart doesn't take her with him when he returns to Earth-X, so presumably ARGUS took her into custody as well.

Cisco invites all of Team Flash to his wedding.

Cisco gives Leo Snart a Inter-Dimensional Extrapolator, identical to the one he gave Supergirl, in case Leo ever needs to travel to Earth One.

Leo Snart also takes the spare costume belonging to Captain Cold.

Harry agrees to tell the team about his losing his intelligence, but not today.

Barry makes another appointment with Dr. Finkel to discuss Ralph's death.


Location

Earth X - An Unnamed Warehouse
Tracy Brand's lab in Keystone City
Highway 14, between Keystone City and New Brighton.


The Fridge Factor

Even on a world where she's a born and bred Nazi super-villain, Laurel Lance still isn't free to be evil on her own terms, driven crazy by her unrequited love for Oliver Queen. Yay co-dependence!


The Boomerang Factor

Barry could have easily taken out Black Siren when they came to pick up Snart from Earth X. But since she's needed to add tension to the story, he didn't.

Tasked with finding a truck on a remote rural freeway, it never occurs to Barry to... run along the freeway and see if he can catch up to it. This becomes even more maddening when it turns out that Siren-X drove the truck back to Central City where Cisco's usual tracking software should have found it long before she got to CCPD HQ.

Barry somehow manages to run head first into a sonic-blast.

Caitlin grabs a hold of the cold gun that Siren-X dropped... and uses it on Fallout, who is already being blasted by Citizen Cold, instead of the unoccupied Siren-X.


The Bottom Line

Proof that even a Wentworth Miller guest spot can be spoiled by the inclusion of Katie Cassidy. It's not all bad but the sad truth is that Siren-X's role in this episode feels entirely tacked on and only serves to cause the rest of Team Flash to be dumbed down to accommodate her cartoonish antics.

It's a crying shame though because there are so many scenes that are magical, particularly Citizen Cold's interactions with the team. Though this is reportedly going to be Wentworth Miller's final adventure as any version of Leonard Snart, the door is left wide open for his return if his schedule frees up enough. Unfortunately, the fate of Siren-X is also left open. (In fact, they don't even bother saying what happened to her!)

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

Oliver turns to an unexpected old friend for help in dealing with Diaz. Meanwhile, Rene leaves the hospital but has trouble readjusting to life as Wild Dog and Quentin discovers the true nature of Black Siren's relationship with Diaz.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick (Ollie deciding to work with criminals rather than other heroes to accomplish his goals.)


Goofs

Quentin points out the biggest problem with the keystone idea of The Black Siren Redemption Arc - the idea that Black Siren can honestly feel threatened by Diaz. That idea might have washed with Zoom. It might even have worked for Prometheus last year. But there is no way that Black Siren couldn't reasonably wipe the floor with Diaz AND his immediate circle of bodyguards given what we've seen her do to against whole mobs in his service. She was able to overcome a helpless metahuman with a healing factor at point-blank range. She could easily liquefy Diaz' brain in his sleep if she wanted to.

Once again, we see characters learning the wrong lessons and forgetting lessons they learned for the sake of a story. First, with Ollie continuing to believe he is stronger alone.  Next, Quentin forgetting how nothing good ever comes of doing bad things for good reasons.

The idea that Ricardo Diaz is somehow more inhuman than Zoom (the super-fast serial killer who enslaved an entire world, vibrated the hearts out of countless people and stole a superhero's identity just for the fun of it), Prometheus (the man who tortured and killed countless people in the name of avenging his father's death)  and Cayden James (the man who dispassionately plotted to destroy an entire city because of the death of his son) because he killed the man who tortured him every day of his life as a child is the most eye-rollingly stupid thing to come out of Black Siren's mouth yet. And that, to quote Anatoly, is saying something!


Performances

The high point of the episode is David Nykl and Stephen Amell playing off of each other. After five seasons, it is still amazing to watch Nykl go from being sinister to snarky in the span of a sentence.


Artistry

The sequence of Mister Terrific tagging The Quadrant trucks is probably the best use of the character to date in an action sequence.


Trivia

One of the Quadrant leaders is identified as a gun lobbyist named Lydia Cassamento. In the DC Comics Universe, The Cassamentos are one of The Five Families making up the Gotham City Italian Mafia. This Five Families are The Bertinellis, The Berettis, The Cassamentos, The Inzerillos and The Galantes.

The Arrow logo in this stinger of this episode lacks the usual addition of the other Team Arrow icons.

The weapons brought in to Star City by Cassamento are said to be of Kasnian origin. Kasnia is a fictional country first introduced to the DC Comics Multiverse in Superman: The Animated Series. It has since then been used in The Arrowverse where Kasnia is a Republic in Eastern Europe.


Technobabble

Curtis hacks a thermal-sensing program from the NSA to try and track Diaz.

Curtis has a laser microphone of better quality than anything the CIA has.

The Quadrant's guns are equipped with stealth-adapters making them invisible to ASMs.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver: I just want to talk.
Anatoly: We stopped talking year ago. How you find me?
Oliver: I got a tip. From a friend of yours in Russia.
Anatoly: I have no friends in Russia. Your doing.
Oliver: That's fixed. (places a dagger on the counter) Also my doing.
Anatoly: (looking at the dagger) This is Pakhan's. How you come to have it?
Oliver: You told me that The Bratva exiled you because of your friendship with me. I owed you a debt. I owed them a debt. I paid it. You can go home now, Anatoly.  (pauses) You said you were an honorable man. Now, I think you know deep down that Diaz isn't. Help me stop him.
(There is a long pause before Anatoly sighs and steps closer to Oliver.)
Anatoly: Well, you were right. I was an honorable man.
(Before Oliver can react, Anatoly pulls a taser and zaps him in the chest, knocking him out instantly.)

Oliver: My mission was always supposed to be solitary. Put with a team? Fill it with people that I care about? It splits my focus.
Anatoly: Is that why you think Diaz was able to beat you?
Oliver: He took over the city while I was distracted.
Anatoly: If you seriously believe that, then you are an even bigger fool than I thought. And that is saying something.

Anatoly: Time to go see Diaz!
Oliver: (sarcastic) Think he'll give you a reward?
Anatoly: A man can dream. But I'll settle for satisfaction.

Rene: You got a kid. Younger than Zoe. How do you deal with it?
John: I don't, man. Not out here. When I put this holster on, I leave Daddy at home. 

Quentin: Don't pretend like you give a crap about me, alright? Are you proud of yourself, huh? Turning a father's grief against him? As far as I'm concerned, you're worse than Diaz!
Black Siren: You have no idea what he's capable of.
Quentin: I know what you're capable of. You can bring walls smashing down. You really expect me to believe that you are scared of a thug like Diaz?

Anatoly: You say I betray myself working with Diaz. I think much on this.
Oliver: Yes?
Anatoly: You may be right. But I realize moment things went wrong. Last year when I trusted you to bring me into city. So if I betray myself, Kapiushon? It is because you... you betray me first.

(Anatoly enters into Oliver's cell. He is carrying bandages and antiseptic spray.)
Oliver: Thank you.
Anatoly: Bandages least I could do.
Oliver: Not for the bandages, Anatoly. Thank you for giving me the chance to take out Diaz.
Anatoly: What makes you think that's what I was doing? Maybe I wanted to see for myself.
Oliver: See what?
Anatoly: Which one of you has honor.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

With the arrival of the third Worldkiller, Pestilence, Kara and Imra butt heads over how to go about dealing with the crisis. When Alex and Winn fall prey to the disease unleashed by Pestilence, the two heroines will put aside their differences to save the day. Meanwhile, Lena continues her analysis of Sam and tries to find a way to stop her transformations into Reign.


Influences

The Supergirl comics of The New 52 era (idea of World Killers)


Goofs

Wouldn't killing Pestilence before she becomes The Blight trigger a paradox, since she'd never exist in the future for The Legion to develop a cure for her?

Imra's previously reverential attitude towards Kara has been suddenly replaced with an attitude about her being "too naive", so as to force a conflict between them based on something beyond the Mon-El love triangle.

Ignoring Imra's issues with Kara, her failure to coordinate with the DEO seems out of character as well based on her past characterization.

We were told in previous episodes that the 31st Century has few historical records regarding the 21st century. How then can Imra be so sure that Kara's plan to stop The Worldkillers by appealing to their human halves will fail when she doesn't know what Kara's original plans were or what her presence is doing to alter the past?  It could be that The Worldkiller's presence wasn't originally known until it was too late for Supergirl to do something!

You'd really think Brainiac-5 would know enough about basic medicine to know how vaccines work and how The Blight cure probably wouldn't work on the earlier plague Pestilence generates.

Even if they don't think Pestilence's virus is airborne, shouldn't everyone in the DEO lab be wearing scrubs and masks? Even if the non-humans can't be infected, they could still be acting as carriers.

Shouldn't they also be keeping James Olsen out of the lab where the sick, possibly contagiousm people are?


Performances

Mehcad Brooks hasn't always had a lot to do on this show, but the middle section where he lends a dying Winn an ear and then talks to Lena about her secret work offers a welcome bit of honest humanity in an episode that's a bit too heavy on forced melodrama.


Super Trivia

Pestilence strongly resembles a Worldkiller from the original New 52 Supergirl comics called Perrilius. Perrilus had the power to generate toxins and poisons, killing those around her.


Technobabble

The Blight is preceded by mass wildlife death and plant life, crops rotting in the ground itself.
It has a short incubation period and is 100% fatal and extremely contagious.

The dead birds Alex examines show no signs of having any disease, yet they all underwent catastrophic organ failure. 

Imra's plan is to weaponize the cure for The Blight in her DNA and use that to kill Pestilence before she becomes a major threat.

Brainiac-5 has a personal image inducer which he uses to make himself look human.

The symptoms of The Blight include high fevers and bloody noses.

The genome of Sam's DNA is rewritten whenever Reign is triggered. Lena theorizes that there is a special enzyme that triggers this change and that it can be isolated and eliminated.

Sam's transformation into Reign seems to be brought about by a pain response, Lena triggers the transformation with 500 volts of electrical current.

All of the victims of Pestilence show signs of having been scratched. This backs Alex's theory that The Blight is passed through blood - not through the air or person-to-person contact.

The dark valley of Sam's dreams is a parallel dimension her mind goes to when Reign takes over her body. With Lena repressing Sam's ability to transform physically, it stopped Reign's ability to manifest fully in the real world. This enabled Sam and Reign to speak to one another and for Reign to deliver a warning that someone was coming for both of them.

Alex's analysis of Winn suggests that the scratches don't manifest until the rest of the symptoms do and the only trace evidence she could find was a mild anesthetic.

Brainiac-5 claims that the odds of stopping The Blight from existing by killing Pestilence are 98.459% The odds of stopping Pestilence by appealing to her humanity are 52.744%.

The Blight vaccine doesn't work on the Pestilence plague because it is not technically the same virus but the ancestor of it. This means they need a sample of Pestilence's DNA to adapt the cure to save Winn.

When Supergirl last fought Purity, Winn was able to identify the frequency of Purity's sonic scream. This enabled him and Braniac-5 to program the DEO satellites to scan for that frequency and alert them once it was detected.


Dialogue Triumphs

Alex: We have a lead on a treatment.
Doctor Grace Parker: You do? Already?!
Winn: Well, we work really fast on account of being really smart. (laughs)
Doctor Grace Parker: Some people find humor charming during stressful circumstances.. I find it's a mask for a lack of confidence.
Winn: (forced chuckle) Well, I find that... I have no retort.

Brainiac-5: Winn. You're a slightly smarter than average human. Tell us you remember who scratched you.
Winn: (mock gasp) Oh! There was a guy with the gloves! And the knives! And the burnt face!
Brainiac-5: Go on! (To Kara and Alex) This sounds like a very promising lead. (To Winn) What else do you remember?
(Kara is biting her lip. Alex looks annoyed as Winn continues to ham it up.)
Winn: Oh, so scary, man! I couldn't even look at it!
Alex: It's Freddy Kruger!
Brainiac-5: You know him too? Eureka!
Kara: It's a character in a movie.
(Winn laughs.)
Brainiac-5: Facetiousness. My greatest weakness.

Kara: Do you think I'll get through to Pestilence?
J'onn: There's no way of knowing. You just have to try.
Kara: That's not what Yoda would say.
J'onn: (scoffs) Oh, yeah. Yoda. "Do or do not." He was wrong about that one.
(Kara chuckles lightly.)
J'onn: You know, these days... I don't know what my father will remember. I wake up and have the same conversation with him every day. I keep at it because sometimes he remembers that we've had that conversation before, and we actually laugh about it. I keep trying. I keep talking. So that he can find those moments of clarity. And laugh. Just because something is hard, doesn't mean it's impossible. You break through impossible every day. You inspire the rest of us to do the same.
Kara: You're a good son. And thank you.

Brainiac-5: Are you two having a marital conflict which I should stay out of, or is this a work-related quandary where my intellect might be of use?

Mon-El: Some decisions can't be made with a math equation.


Dialogue Disasters

Imra: Whatever you do in this time to try and stop her fails. You fail. So if I get the chance, I will end this.

Pestilence: They say that surgeons have a God complex, but it's simple. I am a god!


Continuity

The early evidence suggests Pestilence  to be a woman named Adelaide "Addy" Swanson who works in the National City Mayor's Office. She is famous for her lemon poppy-seed cookies. She is later found dead of the plague by Supergirl.

Kara refers to the confrontation with Purity in 313 and how that went badly because they were too aggressive.

Winn somehow recognizes who Brainiac-5 is when his image inducer is active.

The mayor, chief of police and five city councilman of National City are among the first human victims of Pestilence.

Sam tells Lena about her reoccurring dreams of a dark valley. She says that this time she saw it was a real place and Reign was there. Lena says this dark valley is a parallel dimension where Sam's mind goes when Reign takes over her body.

Imra says she has no reason to listen to anything Supergirl wants to do because clearly whatever she wanted to attempt in the past to stop The Worldkillers failed.

Mon-El says that Imra sent The Legion on this mission for reasons of vengeance, but does not specify what that means. He does reveal that Imra is hiding her real reasons for wanting to kill Pestilence from Kara.

Winn talks about making peace with his mother in 314.

Social media does not exist in the 31st century. Brainiac-5 finds the concept "delusional".

Pestilence is revealed as Dr. Grace Parker - first in her class at Metropolis School of Medicine, now an emergency surgeon at National City General Hospital.

As of this episode, Pestilence only has the power to retract her fingernails and creates some kind of venom. Her touch can also cause plant-life to wither and die. She appears to have some degree of enhanced durability as well. At the end of the episode, she is revealed to have super speed.

Purity is somehow able to negate whatever Imra injected Purity with to kill her. Still, the needle gives them the DNA sample they need to create a cure for Pestilence's plague.

Imra had a sister named Preya, who died of The Blight. She was quiet and stuck to herself. This is why Imra was so determined to kill Pestilence. 

Together, all three World Killers can unleash a psychic attack that renders great pain in the people around them along with a blinding light.

Reign is also revealed to have the power to will a costume to will around her.


Untelevised Adventures

Brainiac-5 apparently nearly caused a riot when he went out in his normal form and attempted to buy apple cider vinegar from a Piggly Wiggly.


The Fridge Factor

It seems like most of Imra's real issues with Kara are sub-textually about her worrying about Mon-El wanting to be with Kara rather than Pestilence.


The Kryptonite Factor

Honestly, most of the problems in this episode would have ended in about five minutes of Imra would just be honest with Kara.


The Bottom Line

Largely bland filler up until the last two minutes. As has been typical this season, the best moments of the episode were those dealing with the character interactions and the personal subplots rather than everything to do with The Worldkillers. The Worldkillers really aren't that interesting as a concept (there's a reason why they were never used again after their initial appearance in the second Supergirl arc in the New 52 era) and there's nothing here to make us care about Dr. Grace as an individual like there was in the episode with Purity. Throw in the nonsense with Imra fighting with Kara just to add drama for the sake of drama and you have one flat, but not painfully awful, episode.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

Gypsy arrives from Earth-19 to have a long overdue talk with Cisco about their relationship and the job her father offered him. She also gets recruited to help battle The Thinker, whose plan to bring about his so-called Enlightenment has entered its final stages.


Influences

Flowers For Algernon (the idea of a man's intelligence being artificially accelerated only for him to lose everything he gained - both for Harry and DeVoe)


Goofs

The opening scene depicts the scene where The DeVoe's first met as being set "Eight Years Ago" (i.e. 2010). Yet Episode 413 had The Thinker distinctly recalling that their first dance and first kiss was in 1997!

How is Joe allowed to bring his kids to a crime scene investigation? Especially Barry, who was still persona non grata with the CCPD by the order of the mayor last we checked?

Much as I love the idea of giving Iris something useful to do on this show, having her tell Barry to knock The Thinker out and cuff him seems kinda stupid... even ignoring that The Thinker can hear their communications with his technopathy.

How did Caitlin get to Mercury Labs almost as fast Cisco, Barry and Gypsy without breaching?


Performances

Neil Sandilands and Kim Engelbrecht do a fantastic job of playing a young couple in love in the flashback scenes. It only makes the horror of their relationship in the modern day all the more disturbing.


Artistry

The flashback scene of The DeVoes' first date is well-shot and orchestrated.


Flash Facts

The episode title is based on a declaration by philosopher Rene Descartes - "I think, therefore I am."

The first company that The Thinker robs to get what he needs for his device is Vandermeer Steel. In the original DC Comics universe, Vandermeer Steel was a corrupt technological/industrial firm run by a man named James Hancock Finch. Finch is notable for having been an enemy of Firestorm, who financed his own personal corporate metahuman team - The Captains of Industry - to protect corporate interests against environmentalist vigilantes.


Technobabble

Harry and Cisco plan to use Cisco's Vibe powers to vibrate Caitlin on a molecular level and see if that triggers an adrenaline spike that reawakens Killer Frost.

Cisco lowers the amps on the glove Harry built for him.

Harry confirms that the Dark Matter infusion into his brain is now overwhelming his synapses, slowing them down rather than speeding them up. Cisco believes the process is reversible, however.

Alloy 1771 contains gallium antimonide substrates which can harness power at 400% efficiency. As Iris explains later, this metal is being used to make experimental solar panels.

In order to co-vibe, the breachers must focus their minds on precisely the same thing. Even when successful, it still causes an odd sensation, according to Cisco.

Cecile says that when she tries to read Harry's thoughts, it is like they start to form and then the more the ideas appear, the faster they disappear. This suggests that the more Harry tries to use his brain, the faster his intelligence decreases. She later realizes that she can use her telepathy to read Harry's thoughts and see them before they disappear.

Barry deduces that The Thinker is building multiple satellites  The satellites being able to speak to one another would require a massive amount of computational power - something to triangulate communication between each satellite, like a quantum computer.

The Mechanic describes the computers at Mercury Labs as running on polynomial time computing.

Each individual satellite possess a 30 cubit quantum system, capable of redirecting concentrated Dark Matter back to Earth in 10 million megawatt bursts. This is toxic enough to effect each and every human brain on the planet and reboot them back to a simplified state.

The Mechanic fractures her scaphoid during the fight with Team Flash.

The Thinker's chair can be used to accelerate The Mechanic's healing.


Dialogue Triumphs

Clifford DeVoe: The Taoists, in pursuit of immortality, discovered gunpowder. Alfred Nobel created The Nobel Prize so he wouldn't be remembered as the man who invented dynamite. History has shown us time and time again that whenever a technological advancement can be used to hurt humanity, it will be.
Marlize: You can't blame technology for the way people choose to use it, Professor.
Clifford DeVoe: You can't ignore that the best of ideas by the smartest of men often have a way of becoming corrupted.

(Cisco and Barry look at the crime scene at Vandermeer Steel.)
Cisco: Okay. So... where should we start? I'm thinking, if we can gain acc-
(Barry blurrs into motion as everything around him freezes. We see him run around the room searching drawers before stopping at a computer monitor. Screen load quickly as Barry reads through an inventory list.)
Cisco -ccess to their files?
Barry: Alloy 1771? It's the only item missing from the inventory files.
Cisco: Or I can just stand here and look pretty.

Marlize: I miss those days. I was young and foolish and brave!
Clifford DeVoe: And now you're just foolish? (chuckles)
Marlize: To agree to a date with someone I first met as they were so rudely disagreeing with my professional opinion? Foolish, maybe. (She pauses for a moment as she regards Clifford and smiles) Yeah, no one's ever challenged me like that... It was refreshing.
(Clifford leans in and touches Marlize's shoulder. Their lips are about to meet as the song "Out Of My Head" starts to play on the radio when her phone rings.)
Marlize: (laughs as she checks her phone) Ah. Maybe you are right about technology distracting us. It certainly can destroy moments.
Clifford DeVoe: (reaching over, taking Marlize's phone away.) Although... sometimes, technology can create them as well.
(Clifford stands up and offers Marlize his hand. She laughs and lets her pull him up as the two begin to slow dance to the music.)

(The Flash, Vibe and Gypsy emerge from a breach at the Central City docks.)
The Flash: Alright. It looks like we made it in time. Whatever is in this container, we can't let DeVoe have it.
The Thinker: Actually...
(The three spin around to see The Thinker standing behind them, on top of a different shipping container.)
The Thinker: It's what's in (kicks the box behind him twice) this container you can't let me have. (chuckles as he holds up a small piece of electronics) Well... what was in this container.
(The Flash charges at The Thinker only for him to open a Folded Man portal in his path. Suddenly, The Flash is standing in the middle of a snowy landscape. It is night and the Aurora Borealis are visible in the sky. The Flash shouts in annoyance and starts running back to Central City.)

(The Thinker is telekinetically strangling Gypsy.)
The Mechanic: Our plan is to save them.
The Thinker: Well, you can't save everyone, my love.
The Mechanic: Perhaps. But I won't watch you kill an innocent life again!
(The Mechanic turns around and starts to walk way. The Thinker reaches out with his free hand and grabs her with Null's gravity powers, forcing her to turn around.)
The Thinker: Yes. You will.

(Marlize has just said that she's come to agree with the logic of Clifford's manifesto.)
Clifford DeVoe: You believe.
Marlize: I believe in you. Enlighten them, Clifford. You the only one who can!
Clifford DeVoe: (taking her hand) I'm nothing without you.

The Mechanic: Initially, we set out to enlighten the world. Now you want to rule it. (pauses) I am leaving you, Clifford.
(The Thinker approaches her and bumps into a force-field.) 
The Mechanic: Nothing can get in or out.
The Thinker: You dare orchestrate an exodus on the eve of humanity's greatest reckoning? You made a vow.
The Mechanic: To my husband! But my husband is dead. The Thinker's first victim.
The Thinker: The Enlightenment will come for you too, Marlize. I will be all that remains.
(The Thinker's chair begins to levitate away.)
The Mechanic: Oh, Clifford. You are nothing with me.
(The Mechanic teleports away as The Thinker presses against the force field with one hand.)


Continuity

A flashback shows that Clifford and Marlize DeVoe met at Oxford University in while engaged in a debate over technology's ability to improve the lot of humanity.

Gypsy sends Cisco a hologram cube, asking if he's thought about the job offer her father gave him in 417.

Gypsy last appeared in404.

Harry briefly forgets the term for The Scientific Method, though he can still name the individual steps.

Harry also calls Melting Point Null and completely forgets that Caitlin doesn't have any Dark Matter in her system, so his plan to jump-start her powers with an adrenaline spike won't work.

The rest of Team Flash learn about Harry's decreasing intelligence.

Barry has the idea to bring in Gypsy to help double Cisco's effectiveness so they can safely Vibe The Thinker's whereabouts.

Joe asks Harry to distract Cecile because he has no idea why he need to distract her from a surprise Joe is arranging.

A flashback sequence shows The DeVoes' first date, which The Thinker discussed in 413. As he mentioned in the earlier episode, the two experienced their first kiss shortly after their first dance to the song "Going Out Of My Head." We also see The "favorite dress" that The Mechanic was wearing in 418 is the dress she wore on this date.

Marlize DeVoe aced her Intro To Heat Transfer class her first year in college.

Gypsy and Cisco are able to Vibe that The Thinker will be going after a shipping container at the Central City docks with the number 16. This later turns out to be the wrong number.

Barry learns about Breacher's retirement and the job offer he gave Cisco.

Cisco says he wants to be with Gypsy more than anything but is uncertain about everything else - i.e. moving to Earth 19, taking Breacher's job, etc.

When Marlize and Clifford move in together, Marlize discovers a book Clifford wrote by hand titled "Promulgations of Our Future." In it, Clifford describes his theories on how technology is killing humanity. He says the brains of the masses must be rebooted so they forget their technological crushes. 

The second and third sites DeVoe robs are Boeing Labs and The Jamison Institute.

The second time Gypsy and Cisco try to vibe together, the feedback knocks them both across the room.

Barry figures out that DeVoe is building multiples of one thing rather than one big thing. He eventually figures out that the things in question are five satellites. 

It is revealed that Marlize left Clifford to develop water filters for poor villages in Kenya. Clifford called her to try and win her back, but she was reluctant until she was nearly killed in a bombing by a militia group who wanted the filter for themselves. This causes her to adopt Clifford's philosophy of technology pushing humanity towards greater depravity. She later claims that she saw the truth of his arguments then but was too afraid to admit he was right given her life's work.

Cisco and Gypsy both agree they don't want Cisco to take Breacher's job.

Cisco says that he wants to wake up next to the woman he loves. Gypsy says she is content with how things are with their distance relationship.

Mercury Labs has an entire system of quantum computers at their home base. The last mention of Mercury Labs came in 412.

Barry's thrown lightning and Gypsy's vibe blasts are shown to be able to hurt The Thinker.

The Thinker is also vulnerable to the Cold Gun, but it only slows him down - presumably because of Ralph's ability to shrug off most forms of damage.

The Thinker says that his plan requires The Flash living for a while longer.

The Collector Agency HQ on Earth 19 resembles Central City Police HQ. The usual mural of the Roman Gods is covered up by a Russian-style propaganda poster depicting Breacher and the words "Happy Retirement, Breacher!"

A woman resembling Killer Frost is being escorted by a Collector just before Cisco and Gypsy arrive in Collector Agency HQ.  We also see a Speedster, who resembles The Accelerated Man from 314, before he runs out of the shot in a burst of purple lightning.

Gypsy and Cisco officially break up.

Joe's surprise turns out to be a baby shower for Cecile.

Caitlin says that she's determined to get back Killer Frost when Iris confronts her about her going to fight DeVoe with the Cold Gun.

The Mechanic leaves The Thinker.

The mystery waiter from Barry and Iris' wedding in S308 shows up with a diaper bag for Cecile. She says Cecile looks like she'll give birth in 21 days.. just in time for the Season Four Finale. She says the bag was sent by someone thought they were special who realizes that time is precious and right now is all we have "relatively speaking". This seems to be another hint that she is related to The West Family somehow. The waiter runs off before Iris can see her. We then see the waiter vanish in a flash of lightning, revealing that she is a speedster.

Wally sent Joe and Cecile a bassinet which was apparently owned my Moses.


Location

Oxford, England - Oxford University -  (1997 or 2010?)
Kenya - ?
Earth 19 - Collector Agency HQ in Central City - 2018


The Boomerang Factor

In a bid to make Iris seem useful, Barry is portrayed as being too dumb to think of knocking a guy out at super-speed while he's helpless.

Irony or Stupidity? The Thinker hates technology and thinks people are becoming stupider because of it. So he devises a way to make himself smarter, using advanced technology, so he can create even more advanced technology to make people too stupid to use modern technology.


The Bottom Line

Apparently the writers became worried that The DeVoes were too sympathetic based on their earlier portrayal and the fans who found their relationship better realized than that of Barry and Iris. That's the only way I can explain the 11th hour reveal that The Thinker's plan to enlighten the world is actually meant to make people stupider because he's a Luddite who hates technology, even though the only reason he's still alive is because of advanced medicine and technology.

I don't mind DeVoe being a hypocrite. I mind that despite this he's still the most logical and well-developed character in the show right now and that his romance with Marlize was far better developed and more heartbreaking than Cisco and Gypsy's break-up in this episode.  I could have done with far less of Barry trying to force the two Breachers to patch up for his own selfish ends and far more of Caitlin coping with the loss of her better half.

Despite everything, I generally liked this episode if only for the contrast between the Thinker/Mechanic relationship between then and now.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

The Trial of Oliver Queen begins, with Black Siren posing as Laurel Lance acting as the prosecution's star witness! An unexpected ally may help sway the jury, but with Diaz running the DA's office and the judge in his pocket, does Oliver have any chance of getting out of this one


Influences

The Fall of Green Arrow storyline (Oliver Queen exposed as Green Arrow, facing murder charges) and the Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick (Oliver Queen forced from office after being revealed to have sponsored vigilante activities, general theme of heroes fighting each other instead of villains who are portrayed as being far smarter and more competent to a comical degree.)


Goofs

Rene's justification for suddenly wanting to help Oliver after being ready to see him die last week don't make a lot of sense, as Dinah points out. It would be far more believable for Rene to see he feels guilty for having betrayed Oliver (which he sort of hints at) than the wishy-washy "I still hate him, but I don't want to see him in prison" speech he gives.

Quentin tries to goad Black Siren into standing up to Diaz by saying that his Laurel is like Black Siren in that neither of them would tolerate being ordered around. This flies in the face of every bit of characterization we've seen of Black Siren so far, despite it being totally illogical that she should let a powerless punk like Diaz boss her around. The hell of it is Black Siren also has a point about Laurel having been kind of an idiot who got in way over her head and died because of it.

Reference is made to John Diggle's child being abducted at some point in the last four years.. Oliver abducted Lyla and left Baby Sara Diggle alone back in Season 3, but there is no story where either John Diggle Jr. or Sara Diggle was abducted. (Perhaps this was a change caused by Flashpoint?)

Diaz gets upset about Black Siren not saying Oliver Queen is Green Arrow on TV, yet he's having her held in reserve as a witness at the trial, where her saying he's Green Arrow would actually do some good in his grand plan to send Oliver Queen to prison.

There's so much irony to Diaz criticizing Black Siren for being an unconvincing actress.

Again, there's no reason for Black Siren NOT to kill Diaz once she has her breath and some distance.

It's unbelievable that Dinah and John would take the chance of attacking Diaz in broad daylight on the courthouse steps while the trial is going on, given how many cops are around.  Nearly as unbelievable as the fact that there's no media around to notice this happen!

Granting that it's possible for Diaz to have connections that let him get a hold of CIA records, how on Earth will they explain Laurel Lance - captive Assistant DA for two years - having access to those kind of records legally?

Again, we have to wonder why ARGUS isn't brought in to testify that "Laurel Lance" is a wanted fugitive from a parallel Earth after there's a threat of CIA files being turned in. It's not like the trial could get any more convoluted or crazy with the prosecution claiming that a master of disguise is impersonating a dead man to protect a superhero mayor's secret identity.

Black Siren and Quentin talk about her plan to "bury Oliver" some 15-20 feet away from a horde of reporters who are taking pictures and filming their conversation.

It's also unbelievable that nobody, except Curtis, thinks that Diaz might also be threatening the jury after also taking control of the judge and the DA's office.

Technically. since Oliver is being tried in a criminal court, Jean Loring should be requesting a Judgement of Acquittal rather than a Judgement Notwithstanding Verdict. They amount to the same thing, but a Judgement Notwithstanding Verdict is used in civil court cases.

Why doesn't Diaz kill Black Siren for turning against him once he has her powers neutralized?


Performances

Brief though it is, it's nice to see Colin Donnell smiling his way through a performance as "Tommy".

Emily Bett Rickards hasn't been given that much to do this season, but she turns in a powerfully understated performance in this episode even though she has little to do but be the dotting wife. Still, she gets some very powerful speeches.


Artistry

The muted camera tint on the opening sequence of John Diggle in Kasnia is a nice touch, putting a grey aura over everything that suits the gloomy tone of the episode.


Trivia

The episode title - Docket 11-19-41-73 is a reference to the very first Green Arrow appearance in the comics. Oliver Queen's first appearance came on November 19th, 1941 in More Fun Comics #73.

The episode's opening scene is set in Kasnia - a fictional Eastern European country which was first introduced to the DC Comics Multiverse in Superman: The Animated Series.

Jean Loring - Oliver Queen's lawyer - is quite a different character in the original comics. She was the original love interest and eventual ex-wife of Ray "The Atom" Palmer. She later went insane and became a host for Eclipso.

The episode's opening title stinger once again only has the Arrowhead symbol rather than all the symbols for Team Arrow.

The special prosecutor brought in to try Oliver Queen is said to have taken down Intergang and Bruno Manheim. In the classic Superman comics, Bruno "Ugly" Manheim was a crime boss in Metropolis and the leader of Intergang - a criminal organization who acquired high-tech weaponry from Apokolips.

Ironically, the end result of this episode is the opposite of the trial in The Fall of Green Arrow. There, Oliver Queen is found innocent of murder charges despite the evidence against him and a full confession, because the jury felt he was saving their city in the wake of an attack by the villain Prometheus who killed thousands of people in their city. The judge in the case says that he cannot send Oliver Queen to prison with a verdict of Not Guilty, but he can exile him from Star City for the rest of his life. This is, to put it mildly, a major violation of basic legal rights under the United States Constitution.


Technobabble

A pixel-level analysis of a digitally altered photograph will show almost undetectable light shifts and resolution inconsistencies that would not be present in a natural photo.

Judgement Notwithstanding The Verdict is a type of legal judgement that is sometimes rendered by the judge at the end of a Federal Civil Jury Trial. This allows the judge to override a jury's verdict in the rare circumstances in which a jury's response seems unreasonable in the face of the evidence presented. While defense attorneys often request this, it is rarely done. A Judgement Notwithstanding The Verdict can only be used to overturn a guilty verdict. A judge has no power to declare a person guilty after they have been found innocent by a jury trial.

It is revealed that Diaz has some kind of device that can cancel out Black Siren's sonic scream.


Dialogue Triumphs

(John enters into a hovel. He sees a shirtless man, his face hidden in the shadows, tied to a chair.)
Mystery Man: John!
John: I'm getting you out of here.
(John moves forward and starts to cut at the man's bindings.)
Mystery Man: (laughing) What the hell are you doing here?
John: I need your help. In Star City.

(Rene, Curtis and Dinah walk into the courtroom.)
Curtis: This looks bigger than The OJ Trial.
Dinah: How would you know? You were in, like, fourth grade?
Curtis: Yeah, but I watch American Crime Story.

Alexa Van Owen: Oliver Queen is a hero. He is. He's saved this city more times than anyone can count. But he's done it all from behind a mask, so that he could take the law into his own hands. In fact, he's taken as many lives as he's saved. So yes, Oliver Queen is a hero. But that doesn't mean he's not also a criminal.

Jean Loring: Three weeks ago, Oliver Queen was mayor of this city. In that time he has gone from being under indictment, to impeachment to being on trial. How?! How could everything go wrong so quickly for him? I think intuitively you know the answer. Corruption. It runs through this city like a cancer, compromising some city officials while discrediting others. Like...  ike the defendant. Even the anti-vigilante law that he's being charged under is the work of the corrupt men and women who are holding our city in their grip. This may sound like a conspiracy theory, but at the conclusion of this trial I'm going to ask you what is most likely - that our city's government has been compromised or that we elected a superhero as our mayor?

Oliver Queen: I'd be putting a target on my back. I'd be putting a target on my wife and son's back. I've been The Green Arrow for six years. I didn't plan on doing it forever! I thought that one day my mission wound end and I would finally, after all this time, get a chance to actually live my life! (pauses) That will never happen if I tell the whole world that I'm The Green Arrow.

Oliver: I don't want you in a position where you perjure yourself because of me.
Felicity: (sarcastically) Oh well. Let me add it to the long list of felonies I've already committed for you.
Oliver: Look, John has something planned. You don't have to take the chance.
Felicity: I will take any chance if it keeps you from being taken away from me and William.

Alexa Van Owen: If you're The Green Arrow, how come Rene Ramirez testified under oath that Oliver Queen is?
Tommy: Well, I would suspect that he was being pressured to.
Alexa Van Owen: Are you saying he perjured himself?
Tommy: Well, I don't know. I'm not a lawyer. I'm just The Green Arrow. And I am telling you I am the only man that has ever worn this hood.
Judge McGarvey: Mr. Merlyn, you are  under arrest on suspicion of murder, assault, and violation of the Anti-Vigilante Act of 2017. The bailiff will remand Mr. Merlyn into custody.
Alexa Van Owen: Objection, Your Honor! It is The People's contention that Mr. Merlyn here is not The Green Arrow.
Judge McGarvey: Be that as it may, I can't just let him walk out of my courtroom.
Tommy: (smiling) You know, if it's any consolation, my team is going to extract long before I ever get to prison. So...
Judge McGarvey: Get him out of here!
("Tommy" obligingly puts his wrists out for the bailiff.)

(Felicity says that she can take care of protecting herself and William so Oliver doesn't have to worry.)
Oliver: That's not how wedding vows work.
Felicity: Well, we didn't exchange vows. But if we did, exchange means "goes both ways." So we fight for each other, Oliver. We protect each other. We're gonna save each other.

John: Thanks again man. I owe you another one.
Christopher Chance: Yeah, well - after Kasnia, let's just call it even.
Oliver: Chris. Thank you.
Christopher Chance: Yeah. Always happy to help. Just try not to need me again... for at least... another year. Okay?


Dialogue Disasters

Diaz: (as he strangles Black Siren) When you take the stand, I want you to give the jury a much better performance than the one you've given me.


Continuity

The opening sequence sees John rescuing an unseen man who recognizes him from a hovel in Kasina. John says they need his help in Star City.

Jean Loring, Oliver's lawyer, was last seen in615.

Alexa Van Owen is a special counsel brought in to try Oliver Queen's case on behalf of the Star City DA's office. She has prosecuted both CEOs and Serial Killers in her day and employs a team of CIA-caliber investigators that can find out anything about anyone. She has a 99% conviction rating. Loring does not believe her to be in Diaz's pocket.

Oliver is offered a plea bargain - a single count of manslaughter with a 15 year minimum sentence. Oliver refuses to take it.

Loring says that Judge McGarvey, who is trying the case, almost certainly is under Diaz' control.

Rene and Dinah have both been called to testify against Oliver in court. They agree to lie to protect Oliver, because as mad as they are at him, they don't want to see him go to prison. Rene also feels guilty about having betrayed Oliver earlier in the year when dealing with the FBI in 609.

Quentin gives a television interview where he says that Oliver is not Green Arrow, pointing out that he arrested Oliver on charges of being The Arrow six years earlier and that Oliver passed a polygraph saying he wasn't in 105.

The first witness for the prosecution is John Diggle. He is not present and a bench warrant is issued to have him brought to court.

The second witness for the prosecution is Dr. Eliza Schartz - the doctor who has secretly helped patch up various Team Arrow members. She last appeared in 615. She is an attending physician at Starling General Hospital. She refuses to testify regarding Oliver's medical history and any injuries he might have suffered, citing Doctor/Patient confidentiality.

Dr. Schwartz is asked about the events of 418 and an incident in which The Green Arrow brought The Black Canary to her for treatment. Schwartz says she was too focused on treating Laurel Lance to pay attention to who The Green Arrow was under his mask.

John arrives at the courthouse just before he is declared in contempt of court. He apologizes for being late, saying he was delayed by business out of town.

John testifies that Oliver Queen is not The Green Arrow, saying that as Oliver's bodyguard from 2012-2016, he'd know if he were running around with a bow and arrow at night.

The prosecution brings up John's abduction at the hands of Damien Darhk (409), the abduction of his child (a lost adventure caused by Flashpoint?)  and his hospitalization with nerve damage (601), saying he either runs in dangerous circles or has the worst luck ever.


Dinah is the third witness called by the prosecution. She claims to have had limited interaction with Oliver as Mayor, despite being head of his security detail at City Hall. She is later questioned about the death of Sean Sonus in 511 (over Jean Loring's objections of relevance) and pleads the 5th Amendment when asked if she murdered him.

Raisa - Oliver's housekeeper - knows that Oliver is The Green Arrow.

Rene says he will go to jail before screwing Oliver over again. He changes his mind after Diaz shows up in the court room escorting Zoe.

Rene apparently still has immunity from prosecution, but Curtis says that won't mean anything if he tries to plead the fifth or refuses to testify.

Rene winds up testifying that Oliver is Green Arrow, that he was part of his vigilante team and that he saw Oliver Queen kill and/or maim too many people to count.

Oliver tells Jean Loring that he is The Green Arrow. She suggests he confess to that and they restructure their case around proving that he doesn't deserve to go to prison and hope they can nullify the jury. Oliver refuses, saying that he'll never be able to live in peace if the world knows he is Green Arrow.

Felicity graduated Summa Cum Laude from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Masters Degrees in Cyber Security and Computer Sciences. She is accepted as an expert witness who testifies that the photo of Oliver as Green Arrow from 601 is a fake.

The prosecution challenges the relevance of a faked photograph showing Oliver Queen is Green Arrow. Felicity responds by pointing out that there's no reason for anyone to create a fake photograph of Oliver Queen as Green Arrow if he actually is Green Arrow.

Felicity is questioned about her wedding to Oliver being rushed, occurring as it did one week before his indictment. She is also questioned about her father, The Calculator, and denies having known he was a master hacker criminal until he reformed.  She also denies having committed any cyber crimes herself.

Oliver testifies that Roy Harper was not a vigilante. He says that Roy sacrificed his life to protect the identity of a man who was alternatively called The Hood or The Arrow at that time. He says that he has learned since then that The Hood/The Arrow has taken up the name The Green Arrow. Oliver says that he is not The Green Arrow. He says he does know who The Green Arrow is but that he has promised to keep that information secret.

Alexa Van Owen acquired a photograph from Susan Williams - the reporter Oliver dated briefly during Season 5 - which shows him in Russia during his fifth year in exile away from Starling City, when he claimed to be trapped on Lian Yu.

Oliver admits that he spent part of his five years missing in Hong Kong and Russia.

The trial is disrupted by the arrival of Tommy Merlyn, who claims to have faked his death during the events of123 so as to better hide his identity as The Hood. He confirms Oliver's story that Roy Harper lied and died to protect him.

"Tommy Merlyn" is revealed to be Christopher Chance AKA The Human Target, who was last seen in 505.

Black Siren tells Quentin that she is being forced to testify, pretending to be Laurel, and that Diaz somehow got his hands on The Human Target's CIA file to bring into evidence regarding the stunt they just pulled.

Felicity refers to how the team broke John out of prison in 504.

Oliver asks John to take Felicity and William into ARGUS Protective Custody if Oliver goes to prison.

Black Siren testifies that Tommy Merlyn is The Green Arrow. She claims that Quentin inspired her to stand up to Diaz.

Oliver is found guilty of all 26 charges against him.

Jean Loring moves for a Judgement Notwithstanding The Verdict. Judge McGarvey grants it, freeing Oliver.

It is later revealed that Christopher Chance replaced Judge McGarvey. He and John Diggle agree to call it even on the owed favors, but he does ask that he not be asked for any favors for at least another year.

It is revealed that the plan to have Chance replace the judge was all Rene's doing.

Rene and Oliver make their peace over everything that happened between them.

Diaz kills Judge McCready.

Black Siren tries to make a move against Diaz. It turns out that he has some sort of device that cancels out her sonic powers.


Location

Kasnia - 2018.


Untelevised Adventures

Apparently John Jr. was kidnapped at some point in the past. (Perhaps, as a result of Flashpoint, Oliver kidnapped John Jr. instead of Lyla when he was with The League of Assassins?)


The Fridge Factor

Black Siren finally stands up to Diaz, only to have her powers negated and be totally useless after that.


The Winick Factor

Black Siren's not killing Diaz long ago is justified by his just happening to have a device to negate her powers when she finally does turn on him. Despite this, he does not kill her.


The Bottom Line

It says a lot about a show when the most stupid and unbelievable aspects of it do not involve a master of disguise pretending to be a man that's been dead for five years in order to protect a superhero mayor's secret identity.

The fact of the matter is that this episode's biggest accomplishment is making the second half of Season Six an even bigger waste of time by having Diaz abandon his grand scheme of putting Oliver Queen in jail (something he could still presumably accomplish by having the police raid his bunker, which he should - based on this episode - know the location of) in favor of just killing him and all the vigilantes whose identities he's known for at least a year.

The one bright side in all of this is that the show is finally taking steps to bring Team Arrow back together, albeit in an incredibly rushed and half-assed way. Still, I'm beyond caring. Just as I'm beyond caring that Black Siren finally chose a side only to be rendered completely useless because it's more important to sell that Diaz as a threat than to sell her competency.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Still reeling from the revelation that Lena had kept Sam's "illness" a secret from her,  Supergirl asks James for a favor that could jeopardize his romance with Lena. Meanwhile, with all three of the Worldkillers united in an effort to block out the sun, the DEO prepares for an epic battle.


Influences

The Michael Green/Mike Johnson run on Supergirl (character of Reign and the idea of Worldkillers), The Krypton Chronicles (information on Old Krypton and The Valley of Juru) and the writings of Douglas Adams (Brainiac-5's dialogue has a very Adamsian tone to it).


Goofs

Katie McGrath's American accent falters a bit during her debriefing at the DEO.

The whole conceit of this episode - that Kara would suddenly stop trusting Lena after everything she's done to make up for the sins of her family - doesn't fly. Ignoring that Lena didn't really know anything about The DEO and their resources and what they'd do to Sam if she turned to them for help, you'd think Kara might prefer for a friend to be keeping a hold of the last bit of Kryptonite on Earth rather than chancing it winding up in some random government office's control. Especially since Lena had no way of knowing about the DEO destroying all their Kryptonite.

It's also incredibly hypocritical on Kara's part, given that she's refused to trust Lena with her secret identity. And Lena calls her on this later.

James has a point - why DID Kara waste energy flying to see him at CatCo during an eclipse when she could have just called him?

Kara asking James to try and find out if Lena has any more Kryptonite as Guardian seems doubly out of character - first for her encouraging James to play superhero when she was so dead set against it before then for her refusing to take Lena at her word and asking James to act in an untrustworthy manner regarding his girlfriend. What makes this even worse is that Alex, who understands the value of subterfuge better than anyone and is way better at it than Kara, confronts Lena directly about why she wasn't honest with everyone and is given an honest and frankly good answer.

The idea of exercise and physical exhaustion shouldn't be that alien to Kara, no pun intended. We've seen her undergo physical training with her powers negated in order to learn how to fight with Alex. And that's ignoring that Kara did age into her early teen years before she gained superpowers.

The pacing of the episode is all over the place, with a cut to the comedic banter of Winn and James breaking into Lena's lab just after Kara, Alex and Lena discover Sam and Julia in The Valley of Juru.

It's a bit convenient that when Sam wakes up in The Fortress of Sanctuary, she just happens to figure out how to use the technology that is just lying there to send out a signal of some kind.

Why doesn't Mon-El show any of the same signs of weakness that Kara does as the sun is blocked out?


Performances

There's some nice non verbal acting as Chris Wood and David Harewood regard each other while standing watch over a sleeping Kara, Lena and Alex.


Artistry

The Valley of Juru set is suitably spooky.


Super Trivia

The group responsible for creating the Worldkillers is officially identified in this episode as a group of Kryptonians who practiced dark magic. While Krypton is traditionally seen as a world ruled by science and logic in the DC Comics Universe, the world of Krypton did have its own magicians - The Wizards of Juru.

Kara also identifies the dark dimension from her nightmares this season, which the Worldkillers' human selves go to when the Worldkiller personality takes over, as The Valley of Juru.

In the original comics, The Valley of Juru was an unexplored region of Krypton on the continent of Lurvan. Some property of the valley and its mists and the craggy peaks that surrounded it made it impenetrable to Kryptonian technology but not magic. This made it a perfect home for the Luddite Wizards of Juru.

Living apart from most of Kryptonian society for generations, the Krypton Magi had dispersed into the great cities of Krypton and conducted their magical rituals in secret by the time of Jor-El.

In the Supergirl comics which introduced The Worldkillers, Supergirl found that the only thing that could harm a Worldkiller was another Worldkiller. This prompted her to use the poisonous tentacles of the Worldkiller Perrilus to injure the Worlkdkiller Deimax.  Something similar happens here with Julia, taking control of Purity, using her powers to kill Pestilence, after Pestilence deals her a fatal blow.


Technobabble

Dark magicians on Krypton had rituals that enabled them to move the moon to create eclipses (i.e. a blessed darkness)

A lengthy solar eclipse will cause the planet Earth's temperature to drop 50 degrees, at least.

Martians shared memories, emotions and experiences with their telepathy. Sometimes they could pick up the thoughts of a particularly strong mind completely by accident, like a radio broadcast.

Brainiac-5 says it will take him fifty minutes to alter his mind-reading technology to act as a broadcast device that can send someone's mind into an alternate dimension.

Kryptonian demons are black-robed, pale faced ghostly figures that swoop down upon figures in The Valley of Juru.

The vault in Lena Luthor's lab is made of acetylene-resistant cast iron. It has no internal mechanisms, no keypads and no locks.

Winn builds a pin-drop pulse-bomb that can open even Lena Luthor's vault.

Winn builds a super-suit for Alex that has magnetic gauntlets capable of pulling the ring off a person's finger from across the room. They also enable Alex to retrieve her guns if they are knocked from her hand. While the defensive properties of the suit are not described in detail, Alex is able to take a punch from Reign and survive.

Winn also built Alex a special pair of guns with bullets that erupt into fireballs capable of knocking-back and hurting Reign. They are also able to negate one of Purity's sonic screams.

A Legion Flight ring costs more than The Legion's spaceship.


Dialogue Triumphs

J'onn: So, for three weeks, you've been harboring and abetting a mass murder?
Lena: (testily) I helped a friend.
J'onn: And you didn't think to bring this to our attention?
Lena: The attention of a clandestine organization that's never formally acknowledged its existence to me? No.

(Lena tells James about her work to save Sam from Reign.)
James: And you're telling me this now why?
Lena: Because I gambled everything - my reputation, Supergirl's trust in me, my relationship with you - on fixing Sam and I failed. I really needed to hear your voice today and I didn't want you to look at me like I was a Luthor.
Supergirl: (in the distance) Lena?!
Lena: I've had enough of that today.

Brainiac-5: Let me get this straight. You want me to broadcast your consciousness into a magical dark valley dimension, using the 31st century technology which allowed me to access your mind when Reign punched you into a coma. Technology specifically designed to enter human consciousness - not alternate realms - and you want me to do this all before the solar eclipse achieves totality, which will happen in less than two hours.
Supergirl: ... yes.
Brainiac-5: Okay. No problem. Sounds fun. To The Legion Cruiser.

Lena: You want to know why I didn't come to you when I found out what Sam really was?
Alex: I'm the one who did the first tests on her. And I'm the one that told her to come to her friends about her illness. So why not just tell me the truth?
Lena: Same reason you didn't tell me you were really DEO.
Alex: You knew.
Lena: My mother's DEO Enemy Number One. Of course I knew. But it was your secret to keep. Just like Sam's true nature is hers. It wasn't my place to say anything.
Alex: Fair enough. Just tell me one thing. Is Ruby safe?
Lena: Yes.
(Alex nods softly.)

Alex: Is it going to hurt?
Brainiac-5: The chances are better than 50%.
Alex: (sarcastically) Well, that's comforting.
Brainiac-5: Really? I didn't think so. Would you like for me to count to three?
Lena: Will it help?
Brainiac-5: No. Not at all.

Supergirl: I thought I knew everything I needed to know. But you have secrets. It changes things.
Lena: Oh, right. You don't like secrets.
Supergirl: Nope. I don't.
Lena: Good. What's your real name?
(Supergirl hesitates.)
Supergirl: That's not a great question for a Luthor to ask someone in my family.
Lena: (nodding) You have secrets. I can get on board with that. I have secrets too.


Dialogue Disasters

Supergirl: (panting) Is this what it's like when humans exercise? This is terrible! Why would you ever exercise?
Alex: One foot in front of the other.
Supergirl: (grunting) This is worse than, like Kryptonite poisoning.


Continuity

Lena's full name is Lena Keiran Luthor.

Lena studied Sam over the course of three weeks in secret.

Alex refers to her analysis of Sam in 312.

Lena used Kryptonite to keep Reign subdued while she was in her lab.

Pestilence completes her transformation, with what was left of Dr. Grace Parker within her giving up without a fight.

Sam and Julia meet in the dark dimension from 316, waking up near Dr. Grace Parker's body. Kara later identifies this place as The Valley of Juru.

Julia is haunted by a vision of a young boy - one of the people she killed as Purity.

Lena tells James about how she had been working with Sam to stop Reign in secret after discovering the two were connected.

Kara enters into The Valley of Juru after passing out when she first sees the eclipse.

There is no Apocalypse in the Book of Rao but there are parables about trios of witches joining hands to create a blessed darkness.

Brainy refers to the events of 310 and the technology he used to awaken Kara from a coma.

Julia and Sam both start to lose their memories in The Valley of Juru, with Julia forgetting the name of her favorite song and Sam forgetting the name of her daughter.

Kara asks James to find out if Lena is hiding any more Kryptonite, as The Guardian.

Lena knew that Alex was a DEO agent but kept her secret because it wasn't her place to say anything.

Kara asks Mon-El to pull Alex and Lena out of the Valley of Juru if things go badly but to leave her in, no matter what.

Kara determines she can be hurt physically in the Valley of Juru after she cuts her hand on the park of the makeshift spear Alex makes for her.

Mon-El confesses to J'onn that he still loves Kara but he refuses to do anything that will hurt Imra.

James refuses to break into Lena's vault after breaking into her lab but he lies to Winn about having done so and not seeing any Kryptonite.

Sam awakens in The Fortress of Sanctuary and somehow sends a signal revealing it to The Legion.

Purity and Pestilence kill each other, as Julia Freeman briefly retakes control of Purity's body.

The Fortress of Sanctuary is destroyed, as the power of Pestilence and Purity seems to go into Reign's body.

Supergirl and Lena make peace with one another.

James tells Lena that he is The Guardian and that he broke into her lab at Supergirl's request but did not look into her vault.

Lena confesses to James that the Kryptonite she used on Reign wasn't left over from Lex's supply - she learned how to synthesize it herself.


Location

The Fortress of Sanctuary.


The Kryptonite Factor

There's a lot of forced drama based around neither Lena nor Kara being honest to one another. This is because if they could get past the whole Luthor/Super thing, the episode would end in about five minutes.


The Bottom Line

This would be a solid episode if Kara weren't so out of character or if Lena had done anything up until this point to suggest she was not 100% worthy of Supergirl's trust. Structurally, there's also some issues with the story, as the threat of The Worldkillers has been reduced to one super-powerful enemy after a single episode of dealing with the "Trinity". Then there's all the sudden tonal shifts as we go from the horror of the Valley of Juru to Winn and James snarking on each other...

Despite this, this episode still works better than this season's episodes of The Flash that have seen Barry Allen acting similarly suspicious and out of character. Chalk it up to the strength of the ensemble and everyone else being on-point, even as we want to shout at Kara to quit treating Lena like a bad guy, lest she push her into becoming one. This episode is far less than the sum of its parts, but some of those parts - Chris Wood's performance as Mon-El, all the Brainiac-5 humor, Alex reveling in her new toys from Winn - make it work far better than it should.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

Team Flash recruits an unlikely ally in the battle against The Thinker, when they discover that Amunet Black is immune to The Thinker's powers. Meanwhile, Harry is kicked out of the Council of Wells for being a "dum-dum", leading Cisco to develop a different group - The Council of Harrisons.


Influences

Rick and Morty (The Council of Harrisons gag) and The Flash comics of Geoff Johns (character of Amunet Black/Blacksmith)


Goofs

Iris' plan to report on DeVoe's plan with an article is idiotic. We have no idea how big Iris's audience for her Flash news blog is, but it's unlikely to be more than a few thousand people. at best. Ignoring that, the other problem can be summed up with two words: fake news. And that's ignoring that DeVoe's technomancy powers - the same ones that require Team Flash finding organic weapons to bring down his satellites - would probably also allow him to alter a website, shut down an Internet server or do any number of things to keep Iris' article from being published.

The one thing more idiotic than Iris' plan to tell people about what DeVoe is doing?  Barry's worries that this is somehow going to make her into a target. DeVoe already knows about everyone on Team Flash and they've been powerless to stop him before. How is Iris' article going to put her at greater risk?

Regarding the metal Blacksmith manipulates - Why would a special metal heading to a military facility be transported in the cargo bay of a commercial airliner?

After repelling all the metal shards Amunet sends at him, Norvok puts his anti-magnetic gun down... even though there's nothing to stop Amunet from summoning the metal back to her, through his body!

Nobody goes chasing after Norvok after his eye is cut off?

Amunet's entire characterization seems to be built around allowing Katee Sackhoff to ham it up as badly as possible from scene to scene, attempting to play Loki by way of an impression of Michelle Gomez as Missy from Doctor Who. There is no logic to her sudden decision to run off at the end of the episode, apart from the show not being able to schedule Sackhoff for another episode this season. She reveals to Caitlin that she lied about using her tech to help her turn Killer Frost into an alternate personality, even though it doesn't profit her to do so. There's no consistency at all.

The people of Central City responding to Iris' article by writing in with reports on seeing DeVoe is stupid even within the "gee-whiz" world of comics where most people are inherently decent. Did DeVoe not see this coming somehow? Is he not bothering to disguise himself ? So many questions...


Performances

Say what you will about Katee Sackhoff's performance as Blacksmith containing so much ham it can't be Kosher, but she does seem to be having fun, which is more than you can say for most of the other actors in this episode. The one exception being Tom Cavanagh, as the various Wellses.


Artistry

Playing Here Lies Man's "I Stand Alone" in the background as Caitlin goes to try and find Amunet in the illegal gambling hall is a nice touch.


Flash Facts

The title of the episode is a play of the 1987 movie Harry and The Hendersons.

The idea of an inter-dimensional think-tank, as represented by The Council of Wells', is probably best known to fans of the show Rick and Morty. This show had The Council of Ricks - a governing body made up of the multiverse's various versions of super-scientist Rick Sanchez who took it upon themselves to police themselves while protecting themselves and the multiverse from other threats. 

The Council of Ricks was itself a parody of an idea introduced in Jonathan Hickman's run on the comic book Fantastic Four - The Interdimensional Council of Reeds. This body was made up of various versions of super-scientist Reed Richards, who gave up all ties to their world in order to protect reality.

The two new Harrison Wells that we are introduced into this episode are said to be from Earths 24 and 25 respectively. In the current DC Comics Multiverse, Earths 24 and 25 are two of the seven deliberately undefined alternate Earths - presumably being held as placeholders for any future Elseworlds that prove popular enough to become established reoccurring settings.

H.Lothario Wells - a Hugh Hefner style playboy - is said to come from Earth 47. In the current DC Comics cosmology, Earth 47 is home to Prez Rickards, Brother Power The Geek, Sunshine Superman and other counter-culture inspired superheroes. It is unknown if these characters exist in the DCTVU version of Earth 47, but H. Lothario Well's "free-love" attitude would seem to be a good fit for the ethos of the comic book Earth 47.

Norvok - the snake-eyed henchman of Amunet who comes for Killer Frost - shares a name with a comic character named Hunk Norvock.

In the original Flash comics, Hunk Norvock was a crime-boss in Keystone City whom employed Clifford DeVoe as a "thinker" who could help him find the loopholes in laws to keep him and his men out of jail. Eventually, he became paranoid of DeVoe's intelligence and tried to kill him. He was tricked into killing himself, however, and Norvock's followers elected DeVoe as their new boss.

The DCVTU version of Norvok's eye-snake is revealed to generate a hematoxic venomous mist that is strong enough to melt locks.


Technobabble

Harrison Wolfgang Wells asks Harry how the thinking cap accounts for the resonate inductive coupling of the dark matter transfer.

Cailtin describes Amunet Black's power as "psychic-powered alnico shards."

Amunet Black used a piece of black market technology - a transmodulator genetic splicer - to separate Caitlin and Killer Frost into separate personalities.

Barry determines that some kind of substance was placed on the lock pin of Amunet's storage unit to break the lock. Caitlin identifies it as a hematoxic venom. This leads Amunet to conclude that Norvock is responsible.

Norvock has some kind of special gun made that allows him to repel Blacksmit's metal shards.


Dialogue Triumphs

(H. Lothatrio Wells reads one of his poems.)
Harrison H.P. Wells: I never knew you. I never taste you.
H. Lothatrio Wells: Mmm. Taste!
Harrison H.P. Wells: I never smell you.
(Sonny wells sniffs loudly.)
Harrison H.P. Wells: Until I do. And now... I am hook-ed!
Cisco: (slyly) Hmm. Saucy. And, uh, what is this poem about?
Harrison H.P. Wells: Bread.

(Harry is cynical about the feeling-sharing exercises the other Harrisons are running him through.)
Harry: This isn't making me any smarter! Harrison H.P. Wells: But... aren't you smarter, Harry?  You must channel your aggression into love!
Harry: I feel like you're mocking me.
Sonny Wells: Oh! An "I feel" statement! Winner! Winner!

(The other Harrisons have signed out of their meeting.)
Harry: (sighs) Ramon, remind me again. (snaps fingers) What's another word for huge?
Cisco: (tired, knowing what is coming and dreading it.) Colossal?
Harry: Colossal. Great. Thank you. This - (suddenly shouting) was a colossal waste of time!
(Harry storms out of the room and kicks a metal trashcan. Cisco just sits there.) 


Continuity

Iris hits upon the idea of writing an expose article to tell people the truth about DeVoe's plan.

Team Flash decides the best way to deal with The Thinker's satellites is to bring them down with some sort of organic missile. Mechanical ones could be disabled by Kilgore's powers.

The Council of Wells last appeared in 406.

Harrison Wells of Earth 12 (aka Harrison Wolfgang Wells) last appeared in 406. He refuses to help Harry because he's not intelligent enough to be worth his dealing with.

Harry says that he's lost most of his science and math knowledge. He thinks languages skills will be next and he's already losing vocabulary.

Cisco suggests forming a new council from the Harrison Wells of other Earths they hadn't spoken to yet.

Caitlin is using acupuncture to try and awaken Killer Frost.

Joe's suggestion of trying another angle leads to Caitlin having the idea to contact Blacksmith about stopping The Thinker.

Barry refers to the events of 413and Amunet trying to sell him into meta-slavery.

Barry also refers to the events of 409 and Amunet kidnapping Caitlin to perform surgery on Dominic Lanse.

Iris refers to the events of 405 and Amunet ruining her bachelorette party.

Norvock - Amunet's third favorite henchman - last appared in 413

Norvock has taken over Amunet's club and redirected it. He says that nobody has seen Amunet in months and for all he knows she is dead. Apparently she dropped out of the metahuman trafficking game after her deal with Warden Wolfe went south.

Amunet Black's real name is Leslie Jocoy.

The Council of Harrisons is made up of Harrison Wells who were rejected from The Council of Wells. The include the Harrison Wells of Earth 47, Earth 24 and Earth 25.

The Harrison Wells of Earth 47 is a billionaire inventor, publishing tycoon and general champion of free speech named H. Lothario Wells. He dresses like High Hefner, is an apparent womanizer and has the mannerisms of actor Matthew McConaughey.

The Harrison Wells of Earth 24 is nicknamed Sonny Wells. He says this is on account of his "Sunny" disposition. He dresses like a modern-day Italian gangster stereotype, with a Queens accent, dark clothing, slicked back hair and sunglasses.

The Harrison Wells of Earth 25 is named Harrison H.P. Wells. He is French, has a small mustache and wears a beret. He is also a poet, and opens the meeting with a poem he wrote about bread.

The Council of Harrisons agree to help Harry.

Joe accesses Caitlin of only wanting to find Amunet Black because she thinks Amunet might be able to help with her Killer Frost problem.

Amunet Black last appeared in 413.

Amunet recognizes Barry as the speedster she was going to sell-off, despite his mask.

Amunet is confirmed to have been working as a flight attendant when she gained her powers.

The metal that Blacksmith manipulates with her powers was in the cargo bay of the plane she was on when the STAR Labs Particle Accelerator exploded. She later discovered it was en route to a military facility. She has a larger collection of shards she keeps in storage for big jobs, but it was broken into and stolen just before Team Flash approached her.

Caitlin makes a bargain with Amunet - she and Killer Frost will do her one favor in exchange for her genetic splicer.

Amunet's storage unit is revealed to be an abandoned train car.

Harry starts to consider thinking about how DeVoe must feel rather than matching how he thinks.

Amunet reveals that her genetic splicer didn't actually do anything to Caitlin apart from act as a placebo.

Amunet guesses that Norvock  is hiding in the abandoned Reynolds substation.

Barry has to phase through Norvock's venom before it reaches his heart.

Amunet cuts off Norvovk's snake.

Amunet backs out of her deal, but does give Caitlin one compact sample of her metal - effectively one bullet.

Cisco cannot breach the bullet into outer space as his energy field doesn't extend that far.

Harry guesses the reason DeVoe hasn't launched his satellites yet - he's focusing his energies on finding his wife.

Caitlin decides the key to finding Killer Frost is within her - not out somewhere waiting to be found.

Iris publishes her article and immediately gets several leads on where DeVoe was sighted.


The Bottom Line

Somehow, the series is managing to get stupider and stupider as we limp toward the Season Finale. There's no consistency to Amunet's character. Iris' plan to tell the people of Central City about DeVoe is just plain idiotic. And the best part of the episode is the throw-away gag that has nothing to do with the plot. That's an apt description of most of Season Four, really. All the best bits have nothing to do with the story.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 


Plot

With his plan to put Oliver Queen in prison thwarted, Ricardo Diaz decides to just kill Green Arrow and all of his former allies. The heroes of Star City must put aside their differences to finally join forces against their common enemy.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick. (Invincible bad guys who are far more clever than the heroes.)


Goofs

Lyla says that she can't bring in ARGUS to help with the fight in Star City because what Diaz is doing is a law enforcement matter outside of their jurisdiction. While this does make sense from a legal and logistical standpoint (The CIA is not allowed to get involved in affairs on American Soil, to give a real world example), surely Ricardo Diaz is a person of interest as a known associate of the cyber-terrorist who recently threatened Star City - a matter which ARGUS could act on?

For that matter, surely as the Director of ARGUS, Lyla knows who to contact at the FBI, the DEA, the ATF or countless other government agencies that would be empowered to arrest Diaz legally? (It might have been easier for Lyla to say she'd have to coordinate with the FBI to operate and it would take too long or for Oliver to point out there's no way to know Diaz didn't have connections in the local FBI as well.)

Kirk Acevedo goes full Shatner with his pauses and line breaks in this episode. (Why would she tip off Queen (pauses) and then DRAAAAG OUR AAAAAASES (pause) out of the fire?)

Diaz surviving the explosion at point-blank range and going flying down a staircase into a stone wall is complete and total bullshit.

Lyla doesn't have authority to bring ARGUS agents in force to deal with Diaz yet somehow orders a forensics team to investigate the ruins of Helix?

Why do The Quadrant leaders agree to a meeting with Diaz on his own turf with none of their own bodyguards close at hand?


Performances

Honestly, the whole heroic ensemble is on point this week, but we'll given an MVP shout-out to Juliana Harkavy, who gets the first chance in far too long to show how awesome Black Canary is and should be played.


Artistry

All the opening action sequences are amazing.


Trivia

As is tradition for the penultimate episode of every season of Arrow, the title is taken from a Bruce Springsteen song. As usual, the song ties into the theme of the episode, as The Ties That Bind is about someone who has been trying to stand tough on their own because they're afraid of the pain that relationships with other people can cause.

The Arrow logo card at the end of the first segment once again only shows Ollie's arrowhead symbol and not the rest of the Team Arrow symbols.


Technobabble

According to Dr. Schwartz, all signs of the nerve damage, loss of arm strength and loss of motor control that John had in his injured arm are gone.

Helix Dynamics now owns a polyrase inhibitor. Felicity and Curtis had to take out three loans to get it.

Diaz's "necklace" is a GRV-657 Solid State Drive. Felicity describes it as a military grade data storage device with dynamic encryption.

Felicity reprograms her sniffer to specifically couple with the digital signature of Diaz's drive.

Felicity determines that the encryption on Diaz's drive is Corto Maltesian in origin. She guesses the drive is carrying Diaz's books.

The SCPD use a tricelic gas in order to drive Team Arrow out of the Helix hideout.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Open on a thug urinating in an alleyway. Black Canary comes up behind him.)
Black Canary: I'll give you the courtesy of putting that back in before we start this. 
Thug: (smirking) Does it have to be in that order?
(He starts to turn around, but Black Canary kicks him in the stomach, knocking the wind from him.)
Black Canary: You work for Ricardo Diaz.
Thug: (still smirking through the pain) Who?
Black Canary: You want to play that game? Good.
(Black Canary grabs the thug by his shirt.)
Black Canary: I need to blow off some steam.

(John runs into the hallway towards the sounds of the shots. He sees Lyla with her guns drawn, one aimed toward each end of the hallway.)
John: Lyla!
(John runs towards her, and grabs her, spinning around as he shoots a man who was coming from the other direction.)
Lyla: I had him!
John: I know you did, honey.

(Three of Diaz's men have their guns trained on Black Canary's back. She has her hands up.)
Thug: One bullet. Back of the head. You won't even feel it.
Black Canary: (smirking) You know the cool thing about sound waves?  They bounce.
(Black Canary lets out a Canary Cry against the wall in front of her. It echos and knocks her and the thugs back, but she's able to roll with the force and comes up in a roll as the thugs are sent flying and knocked out on the other side of the alley wall.)

Oliver: If we just press ahead like this.. we are going to die out there.
Felicity: We haven't worked together in months.  You know Diaz isn't expecting that, at least.
Oliver: But he's planned for everything. Us getting back together? Working as a team? It's a start, but this guy's got an army.He's got the officials. He's got the police.  He's got everything.
Curtis: Please tell me there's a "but" coming at the end of this pep-talk.
Oliver: Anatoly Knyazev.
Rene: I thought he hated your guts?
Oliver: I think we've come to an understanding. I also think he might be the one move Diaz does not see coming.
John: Well, Oliver, if that's our tactical advantage, we need to press it.
Oliver: Let me set a meet with him, ok? Let us make a move off of his intel. But until we have it, I want you guys to stand down, and... I'm asking you to trust me. I know that that trust does not come easy after everything that has happened. Let's put all of that aside... and get this done.

Anatoly: "You cannot wage revolution in white gloves." Lenin had his faults, but he was right about that.

(Felicity has just asked Lyla for advice on how to cope with Oliver being nervous about her going into the field.)
Lyla: We always knew our lives would be high risk. Eventually, we got to a point where worrying about that seemed less important than enjoying the time we had together. Even if it was on a battlefield.
(Felicity closes her eyes as if savoring the romantic thought.)
Lyla: (pauses) Also, getting divorced helps.
(Felicity's face drops.)

Oliver: You promised me you would stay put.
Felicity:Well, I didn't exactly promise -
Oliver: Fine. You promised me you wouldn't do anything stupid. You charged into a fire-fight.
Felicity:Which was a calculated risk.
Oliver:  Calculated - (stammers) Did you calculate how close Ricardo Diaz came to shooting you in the back of the head?!
Felicity: We got what we wanted.
Oliver:  That's not - (bites his lip)
Felicity:And if I'm right, what we wanted has the list of everyone in the city that Diaz controls.This could help us get our home back from Diaz, Oliver. We could actually save our city this time around. I think that's a little more important than "what ifs."
Oliver:  This is why I started working alone again.
Felicity:Yeah. You know what? I tried convincing myself that that was the right move too. But it's not. Because we're married and we're supposed to be each other's strength. So there is no "alone" for us anymore.
Oliver:  It's not that simple and you know it.
Felicity: God, I'm really going to need you to start seeing it that way.

(Dinah is trying to talk Curtis into resting.)
Curtis: He almost killed my man! What do you expect my reaction to be?
Dinah: Exactly the same as mine.
Curtis:... I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about Vincent. I'm so sorry, Dinah.
Dinah: You shouldn't be thinking about Vincent. You need to be thinking about Nick. (sighs) Just please don't go about this the same way that I did, Curtis - blind with rage. (pauses) Remember how you had to talk me down?
Curtis: I remember my advice not really taking.
Dinah: (chuckles) Yeah. Well, you're a lot smarter than me.

(Oliver is trying to justify his keeping Felicity out of the field.)
John: The truth is you were there for her tonight. The same way she's been there for you as Overwatch. (sighs) And, look, when I said that your focus was split, I didn't mean throwing away everything and everyone that gives you strength.

(Lyla and John are moving down a corridor, Suddenly, Lyla, grabs John, throws him down and spins to shoot one of Diaz's men who was approaching them in the same way John did earlier at the hospital.)
John: I had him, honey. (kisses her cheek)

Oliver: I shouldn't have pushed you away. I should have trusted you to keep yourself safe. And I should have trusted my abilities to help keep you safe.
Felicity: Thank you.
Oliver: Yeah.
Felicity: It's good to know that after all these years, you can still learn something. (kisses his shoulder)
Oliver: Well, I still have a ways to go.
Felicity: That's true.


Dialogue Disasters

Diaz: Should've done this months ago. (The sentence that pretty much sums up everything about his "plans".)


Continuity

As the episode opens, Felicity, Oliver and William are cooking dinner together, John and Lyla are meeting with Dr. Schwartz before their date night, Curtis has taken Nick to Helix Dynamics office, Rene is watching a hockey game with Zoe and Dinah is questioning one of Diaz's men alone.

Anatoly sends Oliver a text warning him of Diaz's attack.

Nick is wounded trying to save Curtis from Diaz's men. Lyla has them sent to ARGUS Med-Bay so he can get surgery.

Nick and Curtis are officially boyfriends.

Lyla has Zoe, William, Raisa amd John Jr. sent to the NORAD bunker in Colorado.

Diaz's men are seen trashing The Bunker before setting it on fire.

The ARGUS Charter does not cover law enforcement.  What resources John has were provided by Lyla stretching the rules as far as she could.

Anatoly tells Oliver that the the SCPD has "kill on sight" orders regarding him and the rest of Star City's vigilantes and their family members.

The Quadrant is not happy with Diaz's turning Star City into a war zone in a bid to take out the vigilantes.

Curtis is stabbed by Diaz after trying to fight him one-on-one. Somehow, the team is able to get away from the SCPD and Quadrant forces carrying him.

Felicity says she can use her data sniffer - last seen in 612 - to get the information from Diaz's necklace.

Diaz's "tech kid" is a younger man named Crosby, whose grandmother is being held hostage in exchange for his cooperation.

Anatoly convinces Diaz that the spy in their organization is Lydia Cassamento, after Diaz accuses him of slipping information to Oliver.

Dinah refers to Curtis talking her down during her fight with Black Siren in 614.

Crosby is able to trace Felicity's system to the former Helix hideout used by New Team Arrow.

Diaz kills Lydia Cassamento.

Curtis had the entire Helix hideout rigged to explode. Rene gives Oliver the trigger to activate it.

Oliver blows up the Helix hideout when confronted by Diaz.

Lyla sent a forensics team into The Helix hideout. They did not find Diaz's body.

Felicity did not finish the decryption in time. There was nothing salvageable after the Helix hideout blew up.

Diaz kills another of the Quadrant leaders. The last one swears loyalty to him.

FBI Agent Samandra Watson last appeared in 607.

Watson agrees to help Oliver retake Star City in exchange for two things. The first is his saying "I am The Green Arrow." The second one is unrevealed at the end of the episode.


The Winick Factor

Averted, but this episode only goes to prove that had it not been for all the forced drama making all the various heroes fight with each other for most of the second-half of the season, Diaz would have been easily dealt with in two or three episodes, tops.


The Bottom Line

The best episode in recent memory and not just because there's no Black Siren Redemption Arc nonsense weighing it down. The only downside of the episode is the forced stupidity of The Quadrant Leaders in the final segment, the plot contrivance that prevents ARGUS from being brought in gangbusters and that most of this episode proves how easily Diaz would have gone down if it weren't for all the forced drama that drove the heroes apart and kept them from working against a common enemy. The damnable thing is I'm actually excited for the finale, though I suspect I'll wind up not liking the direction of the show as we go into Season 7.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

When Reign begins to hunt for Ruby in an effort to destroy what remains of Sam's personality within her, Alex will take up the role of Ruby's guardian. Meanwhile, as Kara and J'onn seek out Sam's mother in search of any information that might help them reach Sam within Reign, The Legion of Super-Heroes prepare to return to the future.


Influences

Superman: The Movie (elements of Lex's panic room under his mansion in this episode resemble Lex Luthor's lair in the movie)


Goofs

In 307, it was said that there were six total Legionaries in suspended animation on the Legion ship including Mon-El.  This episode, Imra says that there were seven Legionaries who were infected by The Blight and put into suspended animation, not counting herself, Mon-El and Brainiac-5. While nothing says that all of the infected Legionaries had to be on the ship, why put any of them on the ship at all? (It enabled Brainiac-5 to check and make sure The Blight was defeated in the future, as none of them would have shown signs of infection if they succeeded.)

Again, the question of the paradox caused by The Legion going back in time to prevent the incident that inspired them to go back in time in the first place, is completely ignored.

Brainiac-5 claims that there have been 783 uninterrupted Major League Baseball seasons since before the current year of his time. This is impossible, unless The Legion came from the year 3238, as the date given for the disaster that uprooted all civilization on Earth back in 310 was 2455. Even then, that assumes that the MLB got regular games up and running again within a year of society collapsing. (Maybe Earth had started colonizing space by that point, and the MLB continued playing on colony worlds?)

Alex's gloved finger doesn't quite hit all the buttons as she is keying in the code to reveal Luthor's mansion.

Patricia Arias must have been storing oily rags, gasoline cans and surplus US Army napalm in her attic for it to explode as quickly as it did after Reign was thrown into it.

I know Superman is once again off-limits to DC Comics Television shows, but you'd think Kara would remember there's ONE other person on Earth who might want to have a say in what is happening to what Kryptonite still exists?

Kara's suddenly losing all trust in Lena because of the Kryptonite issue is even more annoying and illogical than last week. (At least this time she apologizes and admits she was wrong.)

Give Lex Luthor's notorious paranoia and the security precautions we've seen at his other secret facilities, it seems highly unlikely his private mansion would only be protected by one keypad and a hologram with nothing to prevent him from being overheard. His arch-enemy does have super-hearing, after all. Never mind that the panel being destroyed shuts off the hologram...


Performances

Betty Buckley is quite frankly wasted in her role as Patricia Arias.


Super Trivia

Imra says that the first Legionnaire to fall prey to The Blight was Chameleon. This is a reference to Reep Dagle aka Chameleon Boy/Chameleon - a shape-changing alien from the planet Durla in the classic Legion of Super-Heroes comics. 

Brainiac-5 makes mention of his being a 12th level intellect. By way of a comparison, the average Coluan of the 31st Century in the original Legion of Super-Hero comics has a Level 8 intelligence. The average Earthling of the 31st Century has a Level 6 intelligence. Winn is said to have an Intellect of 1.42, making him nearly half-again as smart as the average human of the 21st Century.  (It may be worth mentioning that Lex Luthor, in the DC Animated Universe, was also a Level 12 Intellect.)

Mon-El makes a reference to seeing J'onn in 1000 years. In the DC Comics Universe, Martians are longer-lived than humans but the exact extent of this is unknown. Differing accounts have said that they live on average for hundreds of years, thousands of years or millions of years. In the DC One Million future, J'onn would achieve oneness with his home planet and became an immortal guardian spirit of sorts.

M'yrnn makes reference to something called The Eradicator Project. In the original DC Comics, there are several beings called The Eradicator, all but one of whom had ties to Superman. (The unrelated one was a Flash villain - a vigilante with a touch that could melt anyone into protoplasm.)

The first Eradicator was the product of the technology of a dying race, who sent a number of containment devices into space in an effort to preserve their culture. One of these devices landed on Krypton, where it was found by the militant and xenophogic Kem-L. Following his example, the artificial intelligence within the device became devoted to preserving Kryptonian culture and eradicating anything that might bring danger to it. In time, it wound up in the hands of Superman, and would eventually evolve into a replacement during the time when Superman was presumed dead.

The second Eradicator was a robotic probe created by Supergirl's Fortress of Solitude in the New 52 Supergirl series to destroy Power Girl, as it sensed her to be an impostor of Kara Zor-El.

The third Eradiactor was a villain introduced into the Superman comics in 2017. It was a robotic probe with the same purpose as the original - protecting Kryptonian culture - but it attempted to kill Jonathan Kent, aka Superboy, seeing his half-human/half-Kryptonian biology as an abomination.

M'yrnn makes reference to someone named Kemler when discussing The Eradicator Project. This could be a nod to Kem-L, the Kryptonian responsible for creating The Eradicator in the comics.

M'yrnn also mistakes Kara for someone named Ursula. While this is a common Earth name, the way he pauses as he says it (Ur-su-la) suggests that maybe he meant Ursa La.  Ursa was a notable Kryptonian criminal, most famous as Zod's right-hand woman and lover in Superman: The Movie and Superman 2 and the Superman comics written by Richard Donner and Geoff Johns. 

The sequence in which Reign storms Lex Luthor's panic room is a tribute to the scene in Superman: The Movie where Superman enters Lex Luthor's hideout. Reign reaches the entrance the same way - spinning around very quickly to drill down to it. She then faces machine guns, flame throwers, and cryonic cannons, much as Superman faced machine guns, flame throwers and some kind of ice trap meant to freeze him to death. Even the panic room interior is something of a tribute to Lex's "home" in the movie, featuring a library and a private gallery of apparently stolen artwork.


Technobabble

Lena developed a Kryptonite aerosol weapon, which she uses against Reign.

Lex Luthor had a mansion that was hidden from satellites and passersby by an advanced hologram.

Lena says she was able to use high voltages of electricity to wake Sam up and force Reign back down.

Winn develops some kind of electrical net gun with enough force to knock Reign back several dozen feet. She is able to break free of the net, however.

One of the projectiles for Alex's new gun creates a net of fire.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Brainiac-5 has just said that Winn has 1.42 Intellect instead of a mere Level 1.)
Winn: Wow. Thank you.
Brainiac-5: Hmm. It is I who is expressing gratitude for all of your help. With this gift.
(Brainiac-5 pulls out a jar of what appears to be dirt.)
Winn: What's this? Space dirt?
Brainiac-5: Earth dirt. But it is from the 31st Century.
Winn: Are you serious? (stammering) This is - this is... future dirt?
Brainiac-5: Yes!
Winn: How did you - did Mon-El tell you about my dirt collection?
Brainiac-5: No, I ran a diagnostic of your personality, and calculated with a 98.7% certainty that you either collected dirt or New York Mets baseball cards. And judging by the last 783 uninterrupted Major League seasons, I figured dirt was more likely to hold its value.

Mon-El: Well, you would think that we would be experts at goodbyes now.
(Mon-El laughs nervously, warranting a backwards glance from Imra as she's leaving the room.)
Kara: It's no secret that I struggled when you got here.
Mon-El: Yeah, you weren't the only one.
Kara: But I can honestly say now, truthfully... I'm really happy I got to see you again. Witness the... the man that you've become.
Mon-El: It meant the world to me. To be back here with you. (speaking a bit faster) And uh-with, with everyone. To fight by your side.
Kara: I'm really going to miss your friendship.
(Mon-El makes the exact same face you'd imagine a man making when the woman he loves tells him she only thinks of him as a friend.)

(Imra asks Mon-El to go back and help Kara.)
Mon-El: You must know that I would never do anything to dishonor you.
Imra: I know. But I need a man - a partner - who will choose me with a full heart. Go back. Help her fight Reign. If you stay, then that's your destiny. If you return, I'll know you have no doubts.

(Supergirl freaks out when Lena tells her that she figured out how to make Kryptonite and created a super-charged batch to fight Reign.)
Lena: You know, I knew this is how you'd react. But James Olsen convinced me that we were on the same side. He thought you'd actually  that you'd be grateful.
Supergirl: (scoffs) You think I should be grateful that you learned how to make the one substance on this planet that can kill me?
Lena: Thousands of things can kill me, Supergirl. And everyone else on this planet. Fire, but we don't go around banning bonfires or candles. Cars kill people every day, and yet we still have the courage to get in one every morning and drive ourselves to work. There is one element on the planet that kills a Kryptonian and you can't tolerate its existence.

Supergirl: You know, even if I did trust you, even if we were on the same side, this substance is so lethal to me that I can't risk encountering it by mistake.
Lena: Trust is hard for me too, Supergirl. But since we seem to need each other, we're just going to have to figure it out.

Supergirl: I owe you an apology. For being so hard on you. Without your Kryptonite, we wouldn't have stopped her. You just have to understand that when it's Kryptonite,...to me that's more than a gun or any of the other dangers you were talking about. It's personal.
Lena: It's personal for me too.  It was a way to help my friend.
Supergirl: I do trust you Lena.
Lena: Good.

Supergirl: Why did you come back?
Mon-El: Uh. (laughs) Well, it seems that, ah, Brainy might have put a nanny-cam in Winn's dirt.
Supergirl: That's... upsetting.
Mon-El: So Brainy ran some calculations and mathematically the odds of you beating Reign in her new form exponentially increased if one member of The Legion comes back to help.
Supergirl: (smiling) Well, as always, I am thankful for Brainy's calculations.


Continuity

James and Lena's relationship is confirmed to have become physical.

Lena has been living in a hotel penthouse for most of the last two years, having been uncertain that she would stay in National City.

James and Lena agree to hide no more secrets from each other.

M'yrnn likes Sidamo Guji coffee beans.

M'yrnn mistakes J'onn for someone named Rokar.

J'onn offers to help his father perform the Ta'ar Ka'riq (last seen in 315), but M'yrnn says he does not have the energy.

Imra says that Chameleon was the first Legionnaire to fall to The Blight, with six more following. They were placed in cryogenic suspension until a cure could be found. This was why Imra, Mon-El and Brainiac-5 did not wake the other Legionaries on their ship after they woke up.

Mon-El determines that the Legionaries in suspended animation are free of The Blight and they can now return home, their mission accomplished.

Braniac-5 says they have to return to their time soon, as with Imra away, there is no way of knowing The Titan Alliance (first mentioned in 313) has held in the revised timeline.

Kara makes reference to the cape-fighting tricks that Mon-El taught her in 315.

According to Braniac-5, Winn has a Level 1.42 Inellect, compared to his Level 12. (Braniac-5 is later revealed to have been lying about Winn being a 1.42.)

Winn has a dirt collection. Calculating this, Brainiac-5 gives him a sample of Earth dirt from the 31st Century as a thank you present for his help.

Coluan embraces in the 31st century are quite different from human hugs in the 21st Century. Either that or Brainiac-5 is unfamiliar with how embraces of any kind are meant to work.

Mon-El tells Winn to tell J'onn that he will see him in one thousand years. Winn thinks Mon-El is joking but Mon-El's expression says otherwise.

Patrica Arias is revealed to live on a farm outside National City. This location was first seen in 307.

Lena reveals that she hid Ruby in a secret mansion that only she and Lex knew about.

The code to reveal The Luthor Mansion is 052627.

Patricia Arias has had issues with a neighbor named Francis Pierce trying to steal her medication.

When she was 10, Sam began doodling the same design over and over on her books. When she was punished for this, she drew it onto the wall of her bedroom.  The design is revealed to be Reign symbol.

Patricia Arias admits that she was a terrible mother, kicking Sam out of the house when she got pregnant as a teenager. She tells Supergirl and J'onn that she knows about having a granddaughter, but has never met Ruby.

Mrs. Queller was a neighbor of Sam's who helped her out by picking Ruby up from school and taking care of her. She was mentioned in several earlier episode but makes her first physical appearance here, being revealed to have been staying with Ruby in The Luthor Mansion.

The are 5,000 steps from wing to wing in The Luthor Mansion. It has an indoor pool.

The dining room of the Luthor Mansion has a rather severe looking portrait of Lillian Luthor. Mrs. Queller says the eyes follow you like The Mona Lisa, but not in a good way.

Alex lies to Ruby about not knowing what is wrong with her mom.

J'onn say that he has been preparing Martian medications for M'yrnn, but that his father still feels depressed and useless with his telepathy dampened. He notes that M'yrnn's memories of the past are clear but his present thoughts are chaotic.

Reign's presence is now foretold by the immediate withering and death of nearby plants, as it was with Pestilence.

Despite not having met Ruby, Patricia still has a picture of her and Sam on her mantle.

Reign is also confirmed to have Purity's sonic scream power, which is strong enough to cause J'onn's ears to bleed at close range. While it doesn't make Kara bleed, it does cause her intense discomfort and leaves her deafened for a short time.

Reign mortally wounds Patricia Arias.

Brainiac-5 planted a bug in the dirt that he gave Winn, so that he could keep tabs on Supergirl and her allies in The DEO.

Brainiac-5 says that Supergirl and The DEO only have a 51% chance of defeating Reign now that she has the powers of all three Worldkillers. He says their odds jump to 88.8% if just one Legionnaire remains in the past to help them.

Brainiac-5 says that Supergirl is stronger than any single Legionnaire.

Patricia Arias dies, begging Supergirl to tell Ruby that her grandmother loved her and to tell Sam that she's sorry for everything.

James tells Lena about Patricia's death and tries to persuade her to tell Supergirl that she figured out how to synthesize Kryptonite, despite Lena's fears that it will kill what little trust remains between them.

Young Frankenstein is one of Alex's favorite movies of all time.

Ruby figures out that Alex is lying to her.

J'onn says that Reign is as soulless and merciless as a White Martian. He admits, however, that some White Martians, like M'Gann, proved capable of mercy and compassion. He then remembers that M'yrnn survived only because he was able to talk the White Martians into sparing him.

M'yrnn makes reference to something called The Eradiactor Project and mistakes Kara for someone named Ursula and refers to someone named Kemler.

M'yrnn recalls that he did not really persuade The White Martians of anything. He knew that they held a certain series of scrolls as sacred. As the only person who had knowledge of the secrets of those scrolls, M'yrnn forced the White Martians to spare him lest that knowledge be lost forever. In short, he abandoned his beliefs to appeal to theirs.

Imra tells Mon-El to stay in the 21st Century, saying that she knows he has done nothing wrong or behaved dishonorably but that she wants a partner who will chose her with a full heart - for love, not duty.

Lena reveals that she can make Kryptonite to Supergirl. It goes as badly as she predicted, with Supergirl saying she no longer trusts Lena at all and sees her as an enemy.

Reign overhears Ruby's voice when she uses Alex's phone outside the Luthor Mansion to try and call her mom.

Supergirl tries to appeal to Reign by reminding her that her purpose is to punish sin but that Ruby is an innocent who does not deserve to die.

Mon-El crushes the Kryptonite into shards and uses them as make-shift ammunition to take down Reign.

Reign is moved back to Lena's private lab so Lena can work on a cure, with Mon-El putting a futuristic power inhibitor on her.

Mon-El says that he intends to stay in the present until Reign is defeated, one way or the other.

M'yrnn's memory loss is getting worse, not remembering his conversation with Kara and J'onn about The White Martians or that he told J'onn earlier about his discovery of mocha.

Alex admits that she lied to Ruby and promises to protect her and be honest in the future.

Lena tells Kara that the only reason she is working with Supergirl to save Sam and that she's lost all reason to trust or respect Supergirl after she had James break into her private lab. 

The final scene of the episode shows a woman named Tanya stealing a journal filled with images of Reign, being told to stop "In the name of Coville" by another man. This is likely a reference to Thomas Coville - leader of The Cult of Rao - last seein in 312.


Location

Patricia Arias' farm outside of National City.

Lex Luthor's Mansion.


Untelevised Adventures

Supergirl apparently keeps her promise to Patricia and tells Ruby about her grandmother off-camera.


The Bottom Line

Good acting salvages an otherwise annoyingly written episode. It's clear the writers intend to drive a wedge between Kara and Lena because there is no reason why Lena should not have realized Kara is Supergirl at this point unless Lena is playing dumb to make Kara feel guilty about lying to her. The performances suggest this to a degree, but it doesn't excuse how horribly out of character it was for Kara to ask James to betray his girlfriend last week and I fear the lesson Kara will take from this is that she can't trust James anymore. Still, between Carl Lumbly's frightening accurate portrayal of an Alzheimer's patient, Chris Wood's silent suffering as he is torn between love and duty and Melissa Benoist managing to portray everything except Kara's anger convincingly, this is a surprisingly solid episode.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

When The Thinker attacks the ARGUS facility holding Fallout disguised as John Diggle and starts using him as a battery to fuel The Enlightenment, it falls to Team Flash to stop him. The problem is that after the death of Ralph Dibny and Caitlin's depowerment, Barry is reluctant to risk the lives of his friends any further. But The Flash can't face The Thinker alone... can he?


Goofs

As the episode opens, Barry, Cisco and Irish are checking space launch facilities for signs of DeVoe... apparently having forgotten that with his gravity control powers, DeVoe shouldn't have trouble getting his satellites into orbit.

It's a bit weird that Caitlin refers to Ronnie as her fiancee since they did get married. (Albeit it for only the better part of a day.)

Caitlin tells Dr. Finkel that her father died of ALS, yet in 211, it was said that he died of multiple-sclerosis - a similar but distinct condition. (Perhaps this is another thing that was changed by Flashpoint?)

Caitlin says that Melting Point's DNA powers could allow him to trick a DNA scanner. There's no evidence of this from anything we saw Melting Point do in earlier episodes. Perhaps it could be done, but he'd need to have a sample of the person's DNA for that to work.

Barry suggests absorbing electrical current to boost his speed. It has never been suggested that he is capable of doing this while in Flashtime.

Iris West is officially the worst reporter/detective in the world if she has to be told that the best way to find someone in hiding is to search territory that is familiar to them... or their apartment.

So... ARGUS just stands by and does nothing for 12 hours as a metahuman terrorist takes over one of their secure facilities and begins trying to push a living nuclear bomb towards exploding? (I am beginning to see why Oliver Queen didn't think to call them in to deal with Ricardo Diaz over on Arrow sooner.)


Performances

David Ramsey has a brief but fun moment playing the disguised DeVoe.

Both Grant Gustin and Carlos Valdes give powerful performances as Barry and Cisco unload on each other about their respective burdens regarding the current situation.


Artistry

The sequence of The Thinker storming the ARGUS site to Hallelujah is perhaps the best of the season. The music, the effects work and the fight choreography all work together perfectly.


Flash Facts

Barry mentions Blackhawk Island as a potential launch site for one of DeVoe's satellites. In the original DC Comics Universe, Blackhawk Island was the base of operations for The Blackhawk Squadron - a team of made up of the pilots of many nations, led my a mysterious man called Blackhawk, who flew against the Axis Powers during World War II.  The original Blackhawk comics were second only in popularity to Superman during World War II and have the distinction of being one of only four DC Comics series (the other three being Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) to see continuous publication from the 1940s through at least the 1960s.

Cisco makes reference to The Thinker being a "one man Legion of Doom" and says that means they have to send in The Superfriends. This is a reference to Challenge of the Super Friends - a 1978 superhero cartoon starring various DC Comics heroes and villains, who made up The Legion of Doom and The Super Friends. Apparently some form of this cartoon series exists on Earth One in The Arrowverse, which is interesting as two of the main characters in the original cartoon were The Flash and Captain Cold.

The theory that Caitlin and Cisco propose about how Barry can lend his speed to other options is perfectly in-line with how The Flash's powers work in the original comics.  Wally West developed the ability to temporarily loan The Speed Force to other people. He could also drain the velocity from objections already in motion to boost his own acceleration or accelerate them using his own speed.


Technobabble

In order for The Thinker to place five satellites into a synchronous orbit around The Earth, he will need to do so from an airfield south of the 39th Parallel.

The Thinker plans to use a shrunken Fallout as he goes nuclear as a battery to power up his satellites before launching them.

The floors of The Castle are equipped with motion-activated electro-shock plates. Each plate administers a 70,000 volt shock. Their activation pattern is randomized every few hours. The plates also cause an electrical explosion when touched.

Caitlin and Cisco theorize that Barry does not just tap into The Speed Force when he moves - he generates The Speed Force, like he's generating electricity to power an aura that protects him from friction.

Barry's physical touch, while helping him to focus his ability to lend his aura to other people, is not necessary.

Caitlin guesses that they would only last 55 milliseconds of real time before they lost the aura after Barry let go of them, but they think that would be ample time to rescue the hostages while Barry chased down The Thinker.

Caitlin theorizes that the increased presence of the hormone Relaxin in Cecile's body is causing her to inhabit minds rather than just reading them, causing her to act like people her telepathy connects to. She gives her an albuterol inhaler to try and calm her down.

The Cold Gun will not operate in Flashtime, due to a need to offset the friction.

Cisco builds an wrist-mounted ice-shooter (Barry calls it The Frost Bite) for Caitlin to use in lieu of The Cold Gun. It solves the friction-offset problem of the cold gun by shooting ice. Cisco is content to call it an Ice Shooter, but Caitlin doesn't like the name.

Upon seeing Harry, The Mechanic confirms that he is in the penultimate stage of The Enlightenment and that he will soon lose his memories completely and be a total blank slate to be molded by The Thinker.


Dialogue Triumphs

("John Diggle" starts to pass through the gates into the ARGUS site. Suddenly, the phone of one of the guards goes off, playing a stream of rap music.)
"John Diggle": Modern music. (scoffs) So lacking in the harmonic resources necessary for expressiveness.
(The headset of the guard starts playing George Handel's Hallelujah instead. We see Diggle's eyes flash purple - a sign that it is really The Thinker using Kilgore's technopathy.)
The Thinker: For profundity.
(The guards began to gasp as if being choked.)
The Thinker: Timpani in Handel's orchestra weighed 140 pounds. The exact gravitational force that I am now exerting on your lungs.
(Quick cut as the guards collapse to the ground. The Thinker now has the face of Clifford DeVoe.)
The Thinker: Music Appreciation 101. This evening's recital will be conducted by... your beloved professor.

(Caitlin is trying to talk to Dr. Finkel about Killer Frost.)
Dr. Finkel: So "your friend?" Is... she with us here right now?
Caitlin: Oh no! I'm not schizophrenic. She's more like... another personality.
Dr. Finkel: Disassociative Identity Disorder. That IS usually caused by trauma and... from your history you've had quite a bit.
Caitlin: Yeah. I did see my fiancee die. Twice. And then my next boyfriend turned evil.
Dr. Finkel: I actually meant childhood trauma. Tell me about your father.
Caitlin: My dad? He was the best. Loving. Supportive. Always pushed me to get smarter.
Dr. Finkel: And how did you feel when he passed?
Caitlin: He had ALS. He was always hiding his symptoms from us. He never wanted us to see him suffer.
Dr. Finkel: Sometimes when we're young, we repress things that scare us...
Caitlin: Oh, I'm not repressing anything from my childhood! My missing friend just appeared a couple of years ago.
(Caitlin's phone goes off inside her purse.)
Caitlin: It's my adult life that's got me like this.
(Caitlin looks at her phone.)
Caitlin: I'm so sorry. I have to go. Umm... do you charge by the hour?
Dr. Finkel: (forced polite smile) For you and your friends? The quarter hour.

Joe: Okay. So, I've got snacks. I got clothes for you. I got clothes for the baby. (snaps fingers) Damn! I forgot something!
(We hear the sound when Cecile's telepathy activates as Joe heads for the stairs.)
Cecile: Joe! We are not going to need a katana at the hospital!
Joe: Okay, so you're in my head again. And it is entirely possible that we get attacked by samurai at the hospital.

(Regarding Wally not returning his calls.)
Joe: He's literally on a time machine! So he has no excuse to not show up on time to meet his new baby sister!

Barry: It takes more than ten hours to learn Super Speed, okay? You guys could die in there.
Cisco: And if you don't take us, we'll die anyway. Our brains get wiped and that's it! That's the end of our world!
Barry: No! Losing both of my best friends and having it be my fault? That's the end of my world! You may think it's worth the risk, but I couldn't live with myself.
Cisco: (angrily) Barry. You cannot sideline us because of what happened to him.
(Cisco points to the picture of Ralph among the other Bus Metas) 
Barry: All right. I don't need another therapist.
(Barry gets up and starts to leave the room.)
Cisco: Look, we all lost somebody, okay? But that never gives us the excuse to shut each other out.
Barry: I said, drop it! Alright?!
Cisco: You think you're the only one who feels bad about Ralph dying?
Caitlin: Guys...
Barry: You know he came to see me in Iron Heights? He told me he was afraid. He warned me he wasn't ready. But I pushed him anyway! I said to go back out there and do my job! My burden!
Cisco: We made the Bus Metas. We gave Ralph his powers. You want to talk about burdens?! I started this!
(Barry stammers trying to speak but Cisco keeps going.)
Cisco: I shot that bazooka! I opened up The Speed Force! And I didn't do it so that you could stand here and tell me that you're going to save the world alone! Again!
Barry: (sighs) I ... I know. I know that. And I know we're running out of time, and... I can't do this by myself, but... everybody I've tried to teach has ended up worst than when I found them.
Cisco: And what about Ralph? Was he worse? You taught him that when his back was against the wall and the world was ending around him, he could always make the choice. Make the choice to be a hero! We deserve that same choice! All we need is someone to show us how.
Barry: (looking to Caitlin, who has been quiet this whole time) You guys really want to do this?
Caitlin: It's not a burden if we shoulder it together.

(Team Flash is running through the plan.)
Caitlin: And I'll protect the ARGUS agents from the blast, using this (looking at the device on her wrist)... ice shooter?
Cisco: (nodding) Ice Shooter.
Caitlin: Do I have to call it an ice shooter?
Barry: I thought "Frost Bite" sounded good.
Cisco: Guys, it solves the friction offset problem by shooting ice. Therefore it is an ice shooter.
Barry: (raising a hand at Cisco) Relax.
Cisco: It's just not that hard!

The Thinker:"Once upon a time, in some remote corner of that universe, there was a star, upon which clever beasts invented knowing."
The Flash: You're quoting Nietzsche at me?
The Thinker: You destroyed a satellite! Top Marks... quick boy. You can destroy a thousand more and you will still march closer to The Enlightenment.
The Flash: (sarcastic) I forgot what Nietzsche said about wiping minds. I must have skipped Philosophy class that day...
The Thinker: Did I teach you nothing this year? Did nothing pierce your thick cowl?! Think of it! Or rather, don't. You'll only end up hurting yourself, so let me explain...


Dialogue Disasters

Iris: She stabbed me with a katana, Harry! Our lives are what we have to lose! We can't save anyone if we're all dead! We are going to bring her in and we're going to stop her so she doesn't hurt anyone ever again! (Truly, the noble and heroic spirit of The Flash at play here.)


Continuity

The Castle - the ARGUS Black Ops Site holding Fallout - is hidden inside of Wellbiss Paper Products, 1000 miles from anything.

The passwords at ARGUS appear to be built around the names of musicians and foods. (Elvis Banana, Hendrix Spaghetti.)

The Castle uses DNA scans to identify their agents. Presumably The Thinker uses Kilgore's powers to overcome the scanner or Ralph Dibny is capable of replicating someone on the molecular level with his shape-shifting powers.In either case, reference is made to the events of 322 and how one year earlier someone (i.e. Barry Allen and Len Snart) broke into an ARGUS base using s personal transmogrifier.

The Thinker is able to bluff his way into The Castle pretending to be ARGUS Agent John Diggle.

The Thinker somehow knows about John Diggle's injuries from A601 and the experimental microchip used to treat his nerve injuries.

One of the ARGUS scientists at The Castle is a follower of Iris' blog and attempts to post about DeVoe attacking the base.

Team Flash checks Cape Canaveral, Space-X, The Xichang Space Center and Blackhawk Island for signs of The Thinker attempting to use them as launch sites for his satellites.

Apparently, the cartoon SuperFriends exists in some form on Earth One. This was already suggested in Legends of Tomorrow's second season when Nate Heywood called the villain team made up of The Reverse Flash, Malcolm Merlyn, Damien Darhk, Heatwave and Captain Cold "The Legion of Doom" in honor of some cartoon he liked as a kid. Cisco actually mentions The Superfriends fighting The Legion of Doom, however.

Harry's memory has deteriorated to the point that he forgot about Iris's blog, forgot that she asked him to proofread her latest article and forgets Cisco's name. He also seems to be losing control of his fine motor functions, tripping over a chair he claims "jumped right in front of him."

Iris's blog about The Flash has over 400,000 views. Iris is fielding sightings of both The Thinker and The Mechanic.

Caitlin is now seeing Dr. Finkel about her separation issues with Killer Frost.

Caitlin's father dying of MS (or ALS) was first mentioned in 211.

The running gag of John Diggle throwing up whenever he is moved at super-speed continues.

Barry has apparently mastered the trick of absorbing electrical current while in Flashtime to fuel his speed.

The Thinker has six ARGUS agents (five guards, one scientist)  held hostage, suspended by his gravity control powers over the electrical plates in the entrance of The Castle.

Wally has missed over a dozen calls regarding being there for Cecile's delivery.

Cecile is apparently now imprinting on the thoughts of people telepathically. This causes her to talk like a stoner pizza delivery boy. (This is revealed to be the source of Barry's "This house is bitchin" comment from 401.)

Harry suggests that Iris can locate The Mechanic by researching her past and figuring out where she might go to feel safe, given her apparent falling out with her husband.

Cisco and Caitlin suggest that Barry bring them into Flashtime with them and that they can rescue the hostages before they freeze up.

Cisco encountered difficulty trying to open a breach in Flashtime in 415. He has apparently figured out a way to compensate for the usual lack of time that makes creating a breach in space-time impossible (or at least very difficult.)

Cecile says she sensed Caitlin was trying to ignore something big and suggests she has to confront it.

The Mechanic is finally given a full name - Marlize Malan.

Marlize Malan was born in Cape Town, South Africa. She graduated with a PhD in inflationary theory and engineering. She was tenured as a professor of Engineering at Oxford.

Harry suggests trying to turn Marlize and use her love for her husband and desire to save him from himself to stop The Thinker.

Caitlin prescribes an albuterol inhaler to try and calm Cecile down to where she won't imprint on people with her telepathy. Instead, it causes her to become focuses on one mind, thinking that she is Joe. Joe is able to bring her back to being herself

Caitlin has a repressed memory of getting her leg stuck in her bike and falling while young and getting hit by a car.

Iris eventually tracks Marlize Malan to England.

Team Flash has one extrapolator left. Iris takes it to go to England.

Fallout dies when his body goes nuclear.

Barry's plan works and he is able to destroy one of DeVoe's satellites.

The Thinker explains that his ultimate goal is not to destroy intelligence but destroy emotion, having concluded that it is the father of all error. He says Love is the worst emotion of all.

Cisco helps Caitlin to vibe into her repressed memory. She finds out that she somehow transformed into Killer Frost as a young girl - decades before The STAR Labs Particle Accelerator Explosion.

DeVoe utilizes the Gideon AI in the Time Vault, his stolen Dark Matter, the battery made of the shrunken Fallout containment chamber and STAR Labs satellite to begin the Enlightment.


Location

The Castle - an ARGUS Black Ops site hidden 1000 miles from anything.
Oxford, England.


The Bottom Line

Too much to cover and not enough time just about sums up this episode. Unfortunately, the best parts are the ones that have the least to do with the actual plot, to the point where the scenes with DeVoe and Barry and Iris feel like distractions from the fun bits with Joe and Cecile or Caitlin's efforts to restore Killer Frost. Even the cameo appearance by David Ramsey as John Diggle seems totally tacked on and unnecessary despite being one of the episode highlights.

Really, the biggest problem with this episode - and this season as a whole - continues to be the ridiculous lengths that the show has taken to try and make Iris into an active member of the team. Note that I have no objections to Iris helping out (and indeed I criticized the show for not doing that in earlier seasons) but she could do far more good as a reporter giving Barry Allen tips on where he could so some good than as a cheerleader on her blog.

Given that the next episode is called We Are The Flash, I doubt this will change anytime soon, particularly since this episode doesn't bother to draw any ironic parallels between Iris's thirst for revenge on The Mechanic and the path of revenge on the warlords who destroyed her work that drove her into agreeing with The Thinker. But whatever...

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

With a new ally on his side, Green Arrow may be able to bring down Ricardo Diaz and save Star City, but even though the war may be won, not everyone may survive the final battle...


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Judd Winick (invincible villains who win even when they lose) and Jeff Lemire (character of Ricardo Diaz, mention of Longbow Hunters)


Goofs

Again, one wonders why Diaz hasn't just killed Black Siren by now? It seriously undercuts the idea that he's a dangerous lunatic who overacts to any slight or act of treachery if he spares a dangerous metahuman serial killer with no qualms about killing who turned on him once or if he has enough coherence to try using her as a bargaining chip to manipulate Quentin.

I know Agent Watson is meant to seem unreasonable, but she's not wrong in pointing out that Black Siren is a known murder, a wanted criminal, a fugitive from justice and that the only person who believed her "I could be good" act is Quentin. And even he isn't buying it anymore and is just pissed because he does not want to see someone who looks like his daughter die yet again.

How in the name of the many ridiculous gods of the DC Universe did Diaz survive getting blasted off a roof by a concussive sonic blast at close range, after being beaten half to death to Green Arrow and still manage to survive a water landing to swim away to safety?

Why doesn't the FBI arrest Black Siren? (Did Oliver's deal give her immunity too?)

How did Black Siren get a hold of Sara Lance?

Why had nobody told Sara about Black Siren?

Katie Cassidy's expression (or lack thereof) as everyone else is having an emotional response to the news of Quentin's death and Oliver's arrest defies belief.

So... the next step is Team Arrow exposing Agent Watson for refusing to do her job without a quid pro quo, right?


Performances

Paul Blackthorne gives a stellar final performance as Quentin Lance.

Caity Lotz's presence in this episode is largely wasted, but she does a fantastic job with the brief moments she has.

Stephen Amell has a great performance here, but the scene between him and Paul Blackthorne as Oliver once again calls Quentin the father he never really had is truly heart-breaking.


Artistry

Good effects work and choreography on the opening fight scene, particularly in regards to the Canary Cry effects and the T-Sphers are used.

The script is solid, with a reoccurring theme of Oliver making his peace with everyone and shaking hands with them.

The lighting and rain effects during the final Green Arrow/Diaz fight look good, even if the slow-motion effects are a bit much.


Trivia

Once again, the title card only features Oliver's arrowhead symbol and not all the symbols of the other Team Arrow members.

The Longbow Hunters were a villain group formed by Ricardo Diaz during Jeff Lemire's run on Green Arrow, made up of villains who had a grudge against Green Arrow. The line-up included Diaz himself, Brick, The Red Dart, Killer Moth and Count Vertigo.

In The Arrowverse, The Longbow Hunters are some legendary group that Diaz has made contact with. Anatoly has heard of them but thought they were just a myth. Oliver says that they are three assassins whom even The League of Assassins were afraid of. The last one reportedly died in The 1950s.

Oliver makes a second Green Arrow costume for John, saying there's no rule that there can't be more than one Green Arrow.  For a time in the comics, there were two Green Arrows, with both Oliver Queen and his son, Connor Hawke, using the name. The same legacy ideal applies to Flashes, with both Barry Allen and Wally West using the name The Flash in the current DC Comics Rebirth reality. Even before that, there was the Jay Garrick Flash working with his younger counterparts.

Ricardo Diaz's third hideout is said to be an abandoned chemical factory on the border of Pennytown. In the Green Arrow comics by Benjamin Percy, Pennytown was a borough of The DC Comics version of Seattle. It also the name of a district in Star City in The Arrowverse - one that has fallen on hard times and lies near an airfield, but is not as bad as The Glades.

The prison Oliver Queen is sent to at the end of the episode is Slabside Maximum Security Prison. In the original DC Comics universe, Slabside Penitentiary was the name of a maximum security prison for Metahumans, which first appeared in Green Lantern #51 (May 1994). It is nicknamed The Slab, because those who are sent there only leave it once they are "on the slab". (i.e. dead)


Technobabble

Felicity is given control of the FBI's Keyhole Satellites.

The bombs in Diaz's booby trap are said to be made of Triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) As a dry solid, TATP is an extremely sensitive white crystalline powder that can explode under heat, friction or mechanical shock. Being difficult to detect and made from reasonably common chemicals it has gained notoriety as a weapon used by terrorists, some of whom have dubbed it ‘The mother of Satan’ because of its instability.

Felicity is able to piggyback of a radio signal going to the explosives, saying she can probably fool the triggers into thinking the people inside the warehouse aren't moving by cloning the signal. She winds up having to bounce the signal off of several satellites, delaying it long enough for everyone to flee the warehouse.

Oliver was able to get close enough to Diaz for long enough for a digital sniffer that Felicity made for him to read Diaz's drive. They have all the information on his entire network.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Green Arrow is addressing the FBI agents and everyone else in SCPD HQ. His mask is off and his hood is down.)
Green Arrow: Diaz clearly has a third base of operations we don't know about.
Wild Dog: Yo, Hoss? Mask?
Agent Watson: Mr. Queen and I have come to an understanding. Even if we didn't, your identity is hardly a well-kept secret, Mr. Ramirez.
(Wild Dog pulls of his mask.)
Wild Dog: So... you're done trying to throw us in jail?
Green Arrow: Everyone has immunity from prosecution, Rene. The FBI recognizes that Diaz is the clear and present danger.
Wild Dog: Better late than never, I suppose.

(John looks down at the second Green Arrow costume Oliver made for him.)
John: I really thought I wanted this mantle. It means something. (looks up to Oliver) You've made it mean something. When our city looks at it, it gives them hope, Oliver. And it would be diminished if there was more than one.
Oliver: For everything along the way... thank you.
(The two shake hands.)

Oliver: When I first met you, (chuckles) I didn't think you were much more than a thug in a - heh - ridiculous costume.
Rene: You're no prize yourself, hoss.
Oliver: I judged you. For far too long, I judged you. And that was a mistake. I'm sorry. I think that you're a good man, Rene. I think you're the type of man this... this city deserves.
Rene: I know it seems like I don't give a crap about what anyone thinks. But this means a lot.
Oliver: Good.
(The two shake hands.)

(Quentin hangs up his phone and looks straight ahead.)
Quentin: Anyone ever tell you it's rude to sneak up on people?!
(Behind him, Oliver has the decency to look embarrassed as he walks around in front of Quentin.)

(Oliver asks Quentin to trust him when he says he can save Black Siren.)
Oliver: We've known each other for a very long time, Quentin.
Quentin: (snorts) A lifetime. Yeah. We've come a long way, you and me.
Oliver: (smiling) It's been getting better, since the first time you arrested me.

Oliver: The FBI's only objective is Diaz. They're going to do their best to keep Quentin safe, but they don't care if Black Siren is collateral damage.
Dinah:Your point?
Oliver: My point, Dinah, is that it's up to us to keep her safe.
(Dinah gives Oliver a side-eye glance.)
Oliver: I know you have put your vendetta aside for the sake of the mission.
Dinah: And you want to make sure I keep it that way?
Oliver: I want to say thank you.
(Dinah looks stunned.)
Oliver: It takes a very big person to not... seek vengeance for someone they love. If I haven't always been sensitive to that, I'm truly sorry.
Dinah: I'm sorry I was so hard on you. (pauses) You know, the truth is... I respect you more than you could ever know. You've put together a team of heroes. That's no small thing.
(They shake hands.)

Felicity: What is going on?
Oliver: What do you mean?
Felicity: I mean you've been doing the Oliver Farewell Tour all around this place, including giving John "The Hood". You know, everyone is wondering what did you have to give Watson to get her to give us immunity? I'm just going to go out on a limb here... and guess that it was giving up being The Green Arrow.
Oliver: ... sort of.
Felicity: You can't be serious! What happened to becoming your best self?
Oliver: I don't know if I believe that anymore.
Felicity: Oliver, this is who you are! You can't let Watson get in the middle of that!
Oliver: She's not. It was my idea.

Quentin: You did good, Oliver.
Oliver: Thank you, but it's not over yet.
Quentin: It is for you.
(Oliver looks at him and just raises an eyebrow.)
Quentin: Am I wrong?
(Oliver shakes his head.)
Quentin: I've been dealing with Samanda Watson for months. There's no way she was gonna help you without strings attached. (sighs) But those strings, Oliver... that's a hell of a sacrifice.
Oliver: I had to look at the way I've been doing things. It's not working. I lost my city. I lost my team. There's a penance for that.

Oliver: Quentin, I hope I took the time to tell you , uh... you're a really good father.
Quentin: So are you.
Oliver: (choking up) I had a good example.
Quentin: Yeah, your dad was a good man.
Oliver: (on the verge of tears) I'm not talking about my dad.
(Quentin looks surprised but just nods.)

Felicity: During your trial, you said that you didn't want to go public, because you wanted a life after Green Arrow. This is that life! You could-
Oliver: I wanted to stop Diaz. And I wanted to save you and William more.


Continuity

The FBI and Star City's vigilantes all attack SCPD HQ and Diaz's hideout together.

Oliver secured immunity from prosecution for all of Star City's vigilantes.

Lyla, John Jr., Zoe and William are at the NORAD Bunker.

Oliver makes another Green Arrow costume for John, saying there's no rule that there can't be more than one Green Arrow. John refuses it, saying that having more than one would diminish it.

Anatoly gives Oliver the address Diaz gave him for the meeting with The Longbow Hunters.

Diaz threatens Black Siren to get Quentin to kick the FBI out of Star City. Quentin refuses.

Diaz somehow gained access to a metahuman power inhibiting collar.

The address Anatoly gives Oliver turns out to be a booby-trapped warehouse full of explosives. Wild Dog and Agent Watson are trapped inside when the trap triggers.

Diaz figured out that Anatoly was the traitor and promises to take days to kill him.

Ricardo Diaz can speak some Russians.

Rene becomes shell-shocked again, after nearly dying pulling an FBI agent who was paralyzed with fear from the exploding warehouse.

Oliver tells Quentin that he was able to beat the lie-detector five years earlier by controlling his heart beat.

It is revealed that Quentin has had a pacemaker ever since Season Three.

Quentin tells Diaz that The FBI is tracking him by satellite when Diaz doesn't bring Laurel to the meeting site and insists that Quentin hold a press conference to order The FBI to leave Star City.

Oliver realizes later that Quentin told him about his pacemaker, so that Felicity could track it, because Quentin knew that Diaz wouldn't honor his agreement and that he'd be searched at his meeting with Diaz.

Diaz's third hideout is revealed to be an abandoned chemical plant on the border of Pennytown - a district of Star City when has been mentioned before in 405 and 505.

Quentin is shot by Diaz when he refuses to deliver his press release.

Diaz is about to shoot Black Siren when The FBI and Star City's heroes arrive.

Black Canary removes Black Siren's collar and helps carry Quentin out of the base.

Green Arrow has Diaz beaten when Black Siren sonic screams him off of the roof and into the bay.

Diaz escapes, but Oliver got to him close enough with a digital sniffer to get all of the information from his drive.

Oliver hands the information on Diaz's network over to Agent Watson, who says that Diaz escaping doesn't alter their deal. Oliver says he is aware of that.

Quentin is septic as a result of his wound. He asks Rene not to call him Hoss at his funeral if the surgery goes bad.

Black Siren called Sara Lance to tell her she might need to come be there in case her father died.

Sara Lance had apparently not been told about Black Siren's existence.

Quentin Lance dies during his surgery.

Oliver is revealed to have made a plea bargain with the FBI - turning himself in and a full confession on a list of federal charges in order to save everyone else.

Felicity refers to how they broke John out of prison in 504.

Oliver says he's being transferred to a Supermax and that Agent Watson has already threatened to arrest the rest of Team Arrow if he ever tries to escape.

Oliver confesses to the public that he is The Green Arrow.

The prison Oliver is sent to is Slabside Maximum Security Prison


Location

Slabsite Maximum Security Prison


The Winick Factor

Heavy. From the invincible villain who accomplishes his goals even in defeat (Diaz has gotten Oliver Queen out of office and into prison is still running The Quadrant, even if he's lost his foothold in Star City's government) to the government officials that are more concerned with bringing a good guy down than serving the common good.


The Bottom Line

An ugly, bittersweet mess. There's a lot of good moments here, but they are moments that should have come earlier in the season and only serve to telegraph what is blatantly obvious - that Ollie sold himself to save the rest of his team. The grand irony is that after everyone else except Felicity abandoned him, he chose to sacrifice himself to save everyone... except he one person he should have spoken to before making this kind of decision. Then again, Ollie wouldn't be Ollie if he didn't do the wrong things for the right reasons for the sake of protecting people who don't need his protection.

It's apparent now that they are are going to use Season 7 of Arrow to play out the "Green Arrow in prison" movie that David Goyer never got to make. Hopefully that will be short-lived, because as the first few episodes of the middle half of Season 4 of The Flash proved, things get dull when your main hero is in prison.

Apart from that, it's pretty clear what happens next. John bcomes the new Green Arrow. Roy Harper comes out of hiding to help. Diaz continues to be invincible. New Team Arrow will kinda just be there. And they'll probably use Quentin's death to fuel Black Siren becoming a hero.... even though by all rights she should be in jail with Ollie, if only for having facilitated Diaz's escape.

I suppose it will be too much to hope that this was all according to plan. That Black Siren and Diaz are still working together and that everything we saw before was a play. That Black Siren didn't blast Diaz but carried him to safety with her cry (a trick we've seen Black Canary do) and that all of this is just to get her in with the rest of Star City's vigilantes so Diaz can stick the knife in later.

Unlikely, I know, but that thought will keep me warm over the next few months.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

A former disciple of The Cult of Rao named Tanya escapes from what remains of the fanatical group, with a journal that may hold the key to freeing Sam from Reign's influence.As Kara and Mon-El start to investigate the cult, James tries to protect Tanya, only to have his identity as The Guardian exposed. Meanwhile, Alex and J'onn try to get Ruby and M'yrnn out of their respective shells with a day out.


Influences

The movie Ransom (Winn refers to the plot in discussing James' plan to out himself before The Cult of Rao does.)


Goofs

Kara's hypocrisy about being upset that James would chose to not lie to his girlfriend over indulging her paranoia is horribly out of character. Her justification that she's protecting Lena by denying her that knowledge doesn't hold water either, given how Lena is already at risk as the outspoken leader of a major company and scion of a family of famous criminals. Mon-El somehow manages to top this with his line (which Chris Wood doesn't sound like he believes either) about how lying to Lena is noble because it is meant to protect her.

It defies all the laws of ballistics for Olivia to shoot The Guardian in the face and to have his helmet just open up and bounce off his head in the manner we see.

James' justification for revealing himself to the world is nearly as nonsensical as Kara's reason for hiding who she is from Lena. Granting that representation is important, James would be put in a lot more danger by revealing his secret identity than Kara would. And the idea that Kara is somehow protecting her friends doesn't really wash given that all her friends are, with the exception of James and Lena, government agents who are continually risking their lives and at risk from their association with Supergirl anyway.


Performances

While the Guardian subplot of this episode feels entirely tacked-on and far too preachy, Mehcad Brooks still does a fantastic job delivering his speeches.

While it's totally unbelievable that Ruby just accepts M'yrnn's talk about what Mars is like with no cynicism at all, Carl Lumbly does a fantastic job with the dialogue.


Super Trivia

The two books on child psychology that Alex is reading in an effort to relate to Ruby are Kids & Trauma by Emmet Falconer and Coping With Emotional Childhood Trauma by Agnes Debinska. These are not real books, but they are clever nods to two members of the Supergirl production team. Emmet Falconer is a boom microphone operator on both Supergirl. Agnes Debinska is a set designer on Supergirl.


Technobabble

Lena's latest plan to cure Sam utilizes a biolistic delivery system, usually used for overwriting genes in crops.

Kryptonian cels are closer to plant cells than one might think, due to how they process sunlight.

Lena's process takes particles of heavy metals, coats them in DNA, and then uses that to overwrite the Reign DNA with Sam's. It doesn't work, but Lena insists it should with the right metals and the right vectors.

The cell Lena put Reign in has a refractive scatter field. This prevents anyone from seeing into the cell or being able to see out of it, even with X-Ray vision. The wavelength interference of the force-field hurts any Kryptonian who looks at it.

The ashes and wall-markings Mon-El finds in the Cult of Rao hide-out resemble the remains of a body caught in a nuclear bomb. As Kara notes, there is nothing on Earth that could destroy a body in that manner without also destroying the building around it.

Tanya's father and brothers were all shot by the police.

J'onn says that the brain of a Martian wearing a psychic inhibitor is basically identical to that of an ordinary human.

J'onn says he read about a study which said that playing three-dimensional video games can reverse the decline of dementia.

As M'yrnn points out, the word Arcade originally referred to a series of arches carried by columns or piers, a passageway between arches and a solid wall, or a covered walkway that provides access to adjacent shops in Ancient Rome.

The woman whose ashes Mon-El found was not killed by a nuclear bomb. After Lena identifies the reside, she determines that it was generated by a heavy metal reaction. The heavy metal in question is not one found on Earth.

Kara recognizes the formula for the otherworldly metal from Coville's Journal. It is the chemical composition for the stone used to make The Rock of Yuda Kal.

Kara guesses that The Cult of Rao was using The Rock of Yuda Kal to make a new Worldkiller.

The Cult of Rao van has some kind of scrambler on it that keeps it from being tracked by The DEO.

The recipe for making a Worldkilelr includes one oronc of Sedenach dust and seven lak-mar of nitrogen.

Mon-El is able to generate a frequency only Kara can hear using a Kryptonian Sunstone.

The Rock of Yuda Kal was drained of all its power. Luckily, Lena and Winn copied its charged radiation signature and found a sample of the same rock five light years away from Earth.

Reign's Pestilence powers act like an anti-virus scanner to Kryptonite, slowly allowing Reign to develop an immunity to it.


Dialogue Triumphs

Supergirl: I don't - I don't like this tension between us, Lena. And I know it's my fault. I know James told you what I asked him to do and... look, I feel terrible about it. I made a huge mistake. And I'm sorry.
Lena: (cooly) Well, it's easy to admit your mistake when you've been exposed.
Supergirl: (quietly, taken aback) That's fair. (pauses) I just don't want one mistake to ruin our friendship, that's all.
Lena: It won't.
Supergirl: (smiling in relief) Good.
Lena: We don't have a friendship, Supergirl.
(Supergirl's face drops.)
Lena: All this time we've been working together, it's been about work. We have a mission to complete. And I'm not about to let any tension between you and I get in the way of that. Are you?
Supergirl: Of course not.
(Lena moves past Supergirl, who bites her lips and turns to follow her.)
Supergirl: I - I - I just hope, um, when we solve this, we can work to rebuild our trust.
Lena: Why is it so important to you that we're friends? I have friends, Supergirl. Friends that don't scheme behind my back or lie. Given my family history, they know how painful that would be. They also know I would never enter into a friendship with anyone who's already breached that trust.
Supergirl: ... understood.

(The cultist puts handcuffs on Mon-El.)
Mon-El: Owie.
Cultist: We'll deal with you after the ceremony's done.
(The cultist turns his back on Mon-El.)
Mon-El: Just one question.
(There is a noise of handcuffs clanking. The cultist turns around to see Mon-El standing there, now in his costume.)
Mon-El: Do you, by chance, know where I can find the Rock of Yuda Kal?
(The cultist draws his gun. Mon-El snags the man's gun hand with his cape and pulls the man close, placing him in a sleeper hold.)
Mon-El: Soooo... no?


Dialogue Disasters

Kara: I'm supposed to stand for Truth! How am I supposed to be truthful? Really truthful? 
Mon-El: Well, if you tell Lena the truth, you'd be doing it to make yourself feel better, not her. So maybe, in this case, it's uh...not telling her the truth that is the noble thing. It's a sacrifice you're making to protect her.


Continuity

Kara refers to what Lillian Luthor said in 221 about how Lena would never forgive Kara for lying to her if she ever found out Kara was Supergirl.

Tanya, a former member of the Cult of Rao, steals Thomas Coville's journal, and takes it to James Olsen. She says that she thinks The Cult is using it to build another bomb, like in 304.

Tanya was a linguistics and semiotics teacher, who helped Thomas Coville to learn Kryptonian. She was the only person who knew how to read Kryptonian besides him in The Cult of Rao.

Tanya says that Thomas Coville just disappeared and it was believed that he died serving Reign. Coville was last seen in The Fortress of Sanctuary in 312.

In his last communication with The Cult of Rao, Thomas Coville said that they had been worshipping the wrong god and that Reign, not Supergirl, would be their salvation.

Alex buys a 1962 Item - a vintage bike she always wanted.

Sam is allergic to cats.

Mon-El finds evidence of The Cult of Rao building an advanced nuclear weapon that destroys bodies but leaves inanimate objects intact.

Olivia - one of the cultists from 304 - is seen again as she leads the raid on CatCo to recapture Tanya. She apparently took over the cult after Thomas Coville disappeared.

James had Cat Grant's private elevator altered to hide a storage space for his Guardian armor.

James's face is revealed when The Cult of Rao break his helmet and the police show up.

Tanya recognizes the jewelry Mon-El found in the ashes as belonging to a woman named Liza who was her friend. 

M'yrnn has a PTSD panic attack watching a video game that involves shooting aliens.

The Rock of Yuda Kal is a statue of the ancient Kryptonian goddess of life, which Coville found in Addis Ababa.

Lena says the Kryptonian mineral used to make The Rock of Yuda Kal is what she needs to cure Sam.'

James says he was seven years old the first time he was put in handcuffs. He and his cousins were arrested at a resort while playing hide and seek. James was the youngest at 7. The oldest cousin was 11.

There are no cork trees on Mars.

Mon-El goes with Tanya when she turns herself into The Cult Of Rao, pretending to be some random guy who thought their van was an ride-share vehicle.

One of the ingredients to make a Worldkiller is Sedenach dust. The planet Sedenach was mentioned in 209 as home of The Bismuth Mountains - a place of great beauty with natural crystal staircases.

Olivia transforms herself into a new Worldkiller.

When Supergirl touches The Rock of Yuda Kal, it causes her to lose control of her powers, as her heat vision turns on and she cannot shut it off. Mon-El is able to handle it just fine.

Supergirl is able to remove The Rock of Yudal Kal from Olivia's hand with a focused heat vision blast.

James tells Kara that he intends to reveal his identity as The Guardian to the world someday, on his terms.

Ruby dyes her hair with blue tips.

Reign is becoming immune to Kryponite. Lena guesses that she can only keep her contained for a few more days at most.

Mon-El tells J'onn that he wants to admit that he still has feelings for Kara, but that telling her will only serve to make him feel better. J'onn agrees it is best to keep it quiet.

Kara and Mon-El borrow J'onn's spaceship to retrieve the charged Rock of Yuda Kal.

The end of the episode reveals that Thomas Coville is still alive, as he arrives at the site of the ritual to turn Olivia into a Worldkiller.


The Kryptonite Factor

Why can't Kara reveal her secret identity to Lena? Well, because that would solve all her problems immediately. And her justification that confessing the truth now would cause Lena to abandon her completely does not excuse the original lie.


The Bottom Line

A series of poorly written scenes are saved by some fantastic acting. I know it's a running gag about how the heroes of The Arrowverse never seem to remember the lessons about how much trouble keeping secrets from the team causes in the long run, but it is taken to truly ludicrous extremes in this episode as everyone justifies everyone else's lies with some incredibly flimsy logic.

The most vexing thing is that every moment of this episode feels like filler, even the bits that nominally tie into the main plot! The revelation that more Worldkillers can be made is never treated with the gravity it deserves and the grand irony is that the best performances involve the least necessary parts of the story (i.e. Carl Lumby's speech about Mars, James' talk about how rough is is for black superheroes, etc.).

The main problem in all of this is that James' story as Guardian has been so deeply buried by the events of Season 3 and the Cult of Rao hasn't been referred to in so long that there's no sense of urgency like there is with Ruby's life being threatened and Sam slowly becoming more and more like Reign. At least Kara finally realized the hypocrisy of her refusal to share her secret identity with Lena but it's likely too late to do anything but be another source of drama as we wait for the day Lena inevitably goes "full Luthor" in response to Kara's betrayal of her trust.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

With The Enlightenment underway, Team Flash acquires an unexpected ally to help them stop The Thinker. Will it be enough?


Influences

The film Inception (projecting someone into another person's mind, directly referenced by Cisco), The Matrix trilogy of films (Ralph and Barry fighting multiple Thinker clones resembles Neo's fight with Agent Smith) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (referenced by Harry and Cisco with the famous "friend" speech between Kirk and Spock being quoted) and the Johns/Goyer run of JSA and The Flash comics of Geoff Johns (the holographic Thinker.)


Goofs

Captain Singh knows that Iris is behind The Flash Blog, despite it being established last week that she was posting to it anonymously. (Perhaps Joe told him about the blog?)

While not really a continuity gaff, it is still worrying that the mayor of Central City is willing to give Barry Allen his job back because of information posted to an anonymous blog, but not on the recommendation of his former boss or the basis that he was completely innocent of the crime of which he was accused. While what we've seen of the new mayor indicates that she is wholly obsessed with appearances and publicity, one would think the revelation of a murder victim appearing in court to defend the innocence of the man he once claimed was stalking him would be a bigger deal than some blog that only has a few thousand total views proposing that a respected college professor is a super-villain!

The Mechanic claims that there was a time when Clifford DeVoe was nothing but good and truly wanted to help the world. That claim is directly contradicted by the flashbacks in 420, which revealed Clifford DeVoe to be a cynical, misanthropic Luddite.

In earlier episodes, The Thinker claimed that he had to leave The Flash alive for some reason. In this episode, he claims it was because, with Barry now in his head, he had the capacity to take his powers and gain access to The Speed Force. If that was DeVoe's ultimate goal, why not just take Barry's powers like he did The Bus Metas at literally any other time before now that Barry was at his mercy?

As cool as Ralph and Barry fighting the hordes of Thinkers is... why didn't Barry just run for the Nexus dragging Ralph behind him in the first place?

Shouldn't Ralph have all of the powers that The Thinker stole from the other bus metas now?

Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to have Barry evacuate the site of the STAR Labs satellite impact and have Cisco focus on breaching away the larger mass of the satellite? (Of course then we wouldn't get to see the daddy/daughter sonic team punch...)


Performances

The moment where Cisco and Harry hug as Harry burns out the last of his brain with the Thinking Cap to help Team Flash one last time is magical and a great bit of silent acting for both Tom Cavanagh and Carlos Valdez.


Artistry

The lighting and lens flare effects used to create the world inside The Thinker's brain are quite effective at establishing an otherworldly effect.


Flash Facts

The idea of The Thinker existing as an electronic artificial intelligence is taken directly from the JSA comics of David Goyer and Geoff Johns. Here, the Justice Society of America developed an artificial intelligence to oversee the state of the art security system for their new base. Mister Terrific personally designed the system, which was based around the reformed Clifford DeVoe's "thinking cap" technology. Unfortunately, the AI achieved sentience, went evil and created a holographic form similar to what we see in this episode. It would return several times to fight the Wally West incarnation of The Flash and Cyborg and also served in The Injustice Society.

The mystery speedster woman, who first appeared as a waiter at Barry and Iris' wedding is revealed to be Nora West-Allen, their daughter from the future. This character seems to be loosely based on Nora West II - a future speedster and daughter of Barry Allen, who goes by the code-name Cruise. Cruise was first introduced in Justice League #26 (Vol. 3) (October 2017). Physically, she resembles the New 52 version of Iris West.

A more famous daughter of Barry Allen and Iris West is Dawn Allen. She, along with her twin brother Don, inherited their father's powers and went on to be known as The Tornado Twins. They first appeared in Adventure Comics #373 (October 1968).

The Flash show-runners confirmed that they decided to go with Nora being the future daughter rather than Dawn Allen, because it seemed more likely that The Arrowverse version of Barry would want to name his daughter after his mother.


Technobabble

Using Harry's cerebral inhibitor as a baseline, The Mechanic is able to construct a "one-way brain radio" that will amplify Cecile's telepathy so she can put Barry inside The Thinker's mind, used in conjunction with The Thinker's chair.

Barry's mind is put into The Thinker's amygdala - the part of the brain that connects emotional significance to memories.

The contractions Cecile experiences as she goes into labor put a strain on her trans-cranial link, disrupting Barry's connection to The Thinker. Caitlin is able to counteract this with the inhaler she gave Joe last week, which contains the drug terbutaline, which can be used to slow contractions.

Kilgore's power to control technology also gave him the power of technological reincarnation - i.e. backing up his brain as a digital intelligence. The Thinker was able to transplant his mind into his chair using this power. The Mechanic is able to overcome this by destroying the power source for the chair.

It is revealed that the strange picture-language Barry was writing in at the start of the season were symbols that could be translated into a binary programming polynomials. These were used, in conjunction with The Thinking Cap, to reprogram Harry Wells' brain. This is the same language used by the mystery speedster in her journal in 411. (There's a rather fascinating post about this on reedit.)


Dialogue Triumphs

Vibe: (determined) I won't lose anyone else today. I won't.

The Thinker: In this place I do as I please, Mr. Allen. I must say the fact that you thought I wouldn't have calculated you and your team making this feeble attempt is somewhat... insulting. There will be no defeating the big bad this year, Mr. Allen. See.. you are in my mind now. And there's no escape.
(The Thinker fires an energy blast from his chair. Barry grabs Ralph and runs for it.)
The Thinker: Run, Mr. Allen. Run.

Ralph: Allen, listen to me. I'm stuck here. But you're not. You should go. Be with your family for whatever time is left.
Barry: No. No. Okay, first of all, it's our family. And I'm not leaving you behind. There's got to be another way.
Ralph: Allen, you said the only way to save the world is by finding the good that's left in DeVoe. It's right here. With a hole in its chest.
(Barry thinks about this and then looks up at Ralph, realization visible on his face.)
Barry: It's not the only good left in him.
(Barry grabs Ralph and carries him to just down the street from the Nexus of DeVoe's mind.)
Ralph: Why the breaks? Are we there?
Barry: Almost.
Ralph: (looking to the Nexus) So that's the Hellmouth?
Barry: That's the nexus of DeVoe's mind. Marlize said we can take control of him if the good in DeVoe passes through it.
Ralph: Allen, we know that's not possible anymore.
Barry: Why do you think he's keeping you alive?! I couldn't figure it out, but think about it! If you get out, you take back control of this body. Because it's yours! That's why he won't let you leave! Once you get out, DeVoe will cease to exist! All you have to do is make it through that portal, and you''ll regain control. Remember who you are, Ralph. A hero.
(Ralph nods and closes his eyes. There's a sound of stretching rubber and Ralph is in his Elongated Man suit.)
Ralph: Let's go get control

As the episode opens, Captain Singh is calling Barry to tell him that the Mayor of Central City has agreed to give Barry his old job as a CSI back.

Captain Singh specifically credits Iris' blog and everything she wrote about Clifford DeVoe bringing about his rehiring, though it is unclear how he knows Iris is behind the blog when it was confirmed in the last episode that she posts to it anomalously.

The Thinker uses Kilgore's powers, in conjunction with his satellites, to shut down most of the electronics on Earth.

The title card for this episode, rather than the usual red streaks and yellow lightning motifs, features crackling synapses suggesting thinking.

Caitlin has all the materials needed to deliver a baby in STAR Labs' medical bay.

The Thinker is revealed to have predicted that Harry would build his own Thinking Cap and attempt to augment his intelligence further with Dark Matter. Through this, The Thinker used Harry as a guinea pig to see if his plan to use Dark Matter to decrease the collective intelligence of humanity could work. It also allowed him to use STAR Labs resources to siphon off the Dark Matter he needed.

The Mechanic explains that The Thinker specifically created The Bus Metas to give him the unique combination of powers needed to counter any of Team Flash's allies. This is why Barry can't call Supergirl or Green Arrow or The Legends for back-up.

The nexus of The Thinker's brain manifests as the opening to The Speed Force from which Barry emerged near the 405 CC Metro Bus.

Barry checks The DeVoe's house in Central City first for signs of Clifford DeVoe. He finds it empty of furniture or any kind of decoration apart from an empty picture frame with cracked glass.

When Cecile touches Caitlin, she says "I found Thomas. He's been this way all the time." Caitlin seems to have some idea what this means but shrugs it off when Joe asks her about it.

Harry uses his Thinking Cap one last time to make himself articulate enough to tell Cisco that Barry should go to the place where Clifford DeVoe first kissed his wife to try and find the good that is left in The Thinker. This leads Barry to Ralp Dibny.

Ralph and Barry find the good part of Clifford DeVoe in his classroom, dead of a wound to the chest.

Barry determines that The Thinker had to keep Ralph's consciousness alive in order to keep his body alive. This means that Ralph should be able to pass through the nexus and reassert control over his own body.

Iris refers to Joe's line about strength, without faith, meaning nothing from 401.

Ralph is able to fight The Thinker by clearing his head and thinking about something he loves - i.e. shrimp. Barry does the same thing by thinking about Iris.

Cisco recognizes the random words Harry says as being identical to the stream of words Barry said when he first emerged from The Speed Force in 401.

Caitlin assisted with several births in medical school.

The Thinker briefly returns as a hologram through a back-up of his mind stored in his chair. The Mechanic destroys it by pulling out the power supply of the chair. Before it "dies", however, the hologram is able to take control of STAR Labs computers and pulls their satellite, "Sally" out of orbit, by increasing its mass by 1000 fold, setting it on a collision course with downtown Central City.

The mystery speedster is seen running behind Barry as he attempts to punch the falling STAR Labs satellite, helping him to atomize it with a supersonic punch. Barry realizes, after the fact, that another speedster was there helping him.

The Mechanic develops a treatment to restore Harry's mind. She says it is the first of many things she must make amends for.

Iris offers The Mechanic a place on Team Flash. She declines, saying she is going to go somewhere she can use her talents to help people in need, like she did before she signed on with her husband's crusade.

The Mechanic's treatment is able to restore Harry Wells' to an average level of intelligence. Harry says he thinks his mind and heart are in balance for the first time in his life.

Iris gets Star Wars and Star Trek confused.

Harry elects to return to Earth Two and rebuild his relationship with his daughter, Jesse.

Wally West arrives just in time for the party celebrating the birth of Joe and Cecile's daughter.

Joe and Cecile's daughter is named Jenna Marie West.

Wally says that he thinks he found what he was looking for and that being a Legend has helped him to become comfortable with just being himself and not worrying about being in Barry's shadow.

Iris says she doesn't want to have children for quite some time.

The line "This house is bitchin'" from 401 is revealed to have been said by the mystery speedster.

The mystery speedster is revealed as Nora West-Allen - Barry and Iris' daughter from the future.

Ralph and Cisco remember seeing Nora at C.C. Jitters in 411 when she paid for their coffee.

Caitlin remembers Nora spilling a drink on her in 415.

Joe and Cecile remember Nora delivering a gift to them in 420.

Wally makes reference to Nora having posed as a waiter at Barry and Iris' wedding in S308.

Nora wears the jacket from Iris' costume from 416.

Nora makes reference to having screwed something up with the timeline.


Location

The pocket dimension The DeVoes created.


The Bottom Line

A surprisingly solid conclusion given how uneven the season as a whole has been. There are quite a few logic gaps and plot holes, but very few things that can't be hand-waved. We have Ralph back, which is good. We don't get any resolution to Caitlin's storyline, which is, sadly, par for the course for her, it seems. Still, with Blacksmith still at large, we may see Caitlin having a larger role in things in Season 5, which would be welcome... assuming they decided to bring her back, which is a big if.

Sadly, the big lead-in to Season 5 - Barry and Iris's daughter from the future has followed in her dad's foosteps in breaking reality by changing the past - was wholly predictable and doesn't suggest that the show will be treading any new ground next year. Then again, given how badly trying to break the mold this year went... well, maybe another season of dealing with paradoxes won't be so bad.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 



Plot

Seeking another piece of The Rock of Yudal Kal, Mon-El and Kara discover that an entire Kryptonian city has survived within a force-field in space and Kara's mother Alura Zor-El is among the survivors! Meanwhile, back on Earth, someone is attempting to kill Alex, prompting Winn to babysit Ruby as J'onn and Alex start laying a trap for the killer and Lena considers just how far she will go to put a stop to Reign.


Influences

The Supergirl comics of Al Plastino and Otto Binder (Argo City) and Michael Green and Mike Johnson's run on Supergirl (character of Reign)


Goofs

It seems a little out of character for Kara and Mon-El - noble heroes that they are - to resort to shoplifting clothes without even making a token effort at offering payment. What's even stranger is that they don't really make an effort to conceal what they are doing and nobody in a crowded marketplace notices or objects to it! (At least Mon-El goes back later to pay for the clothes and tries to return them and makes an effort to compensate the merchant.)

So Kara didn't recognize any of the architecture, clothing or anything else about Argo as Kryptonian until she saw the writing on the memorial?  Shouldn't she have recognized the language the people were speaking as Kryptonian?


Artistry

The design for Argo City as seen from space is perfect.

The Kryptonian costumes are interesting.


Super Trivia

The title of this episode comes from the title of the eighth studio album released by the band Pink Floyd.

In the original Action Comics which introduced Supergirl, Argo City was Supergirl's home town on Krypton. It was introduced, along with Supergirl, in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). One of the three largest cities on Krypton (second only to Kandor and Kryptonopolis) it was spared from the destruction of Krypton thanks to a force-shield built by Zor-El, brother of Jor-El. Argo City would go on to survive, until the ground underneath the city was transformed into Kryptonite. Though the people were able to delay the inevitable by lining the ground with lead, eventually this protective layer was breached, forcing Zor-El to try and save his daughter by sending her to space in a rocket, where she eventually arrived on Earth and became Supergirl.

A later story, in Action Comics #316 (September 1964) said that Argo City's dome had already existed even before Jor-El warned his brother of Krypton's impending destruction and that Zor-El had built the dome as part of a measure to control the city's weather. Thankfully, it proved just as handy at providing an artificial climate when the entire city drifted into space.

The Post-Crisis origin of Supergirl changed this story slightly, with the shield Zor-El and Alura used being a piece of re-appropriated Brainiac technology rather than their own creation. When Braniac detected his technology being used, he discovered Argo City and abducted its inhabitants, shrinking them and transplanting them into the Bottled City of Kandor.

The DCTVU Version of Argo City also survived the destruction of Krypton within a giant force dome constructed by Zor-El.

It is worth noting that the name Argo City takes its inspiration from Argo - the name of the sailing ship built by Argus, which carried the Argonauts on the quest for The Golden Fleece. Some versions of the story claim that The Argo was the first ship in history. In any case, it is a fitting name for a city set adrift.

The Dark Priestess who has been guiding Reign and the other Worldkillers is revealed to be an Argo City Councilor named Selena. The main villain of the 1984 Supergirl movie was a witch named Selena.


Technobabble

Winn retasked six military satellites to scan the airspace around the meteorite Kara and Mon-El traveled to.

Argo City is protected by caretaker robots who resemble the robots in The Fortress of Solitude.

Argo City is also equipped with a tractor beam that holds approaching ships.

Zor-El created a force shield that protected Argo City when Krypton exploded, after Kara had been sent into space.

The Black Rock of Yuda Kal is also known as Harun-El.

Zor-El found a way to use Harun-El in conjunction with his domed force-field to shield Argo City from outside detection while purifying the air and generating heat.

A Dar Essa is a Kryptonian flower.

Thalonite Lung is a Kryptonian/Daxamite disease. It was nearly eradicated before Krypton's destruction, but reemerged in the children of Argo City. It requires the patient be hooked up to an oxygen tank at all times.

Mon-El has a device, built by Brainiac-5, which acts as both a vaccine and booster for multiple diseases. It automatically detects hostile cells and deploys antibodies. It can cure any condition within one week and then be used on another person safely.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Winn is reassuring J'onn that he is listening for any word from Kara and Mon-El)
Winn: And yet you seem... uh more stoic and grave than usual. Which, if we're being honest, is making me, like a little bit queasy. (stammers) What haven't you told me?
J'onn: Reign is becoming immune to Ms. Luthor's synthetic Kryptonite faster than we expected. 
Winn: ...oh.
J'onn: To be on the safe side, I've evacuated L-Corp and I have a strike-team standing by with sound guns, body boots and red sun grenades.
Winn: (fliply) Because that's worked approximately zero times before.
J'onn: (sarcastically) Do I seem appropriately stoic and grave to you now, Mr. Schott?

Alex: You want me to feel sorry for you?
Ronald Collins: Why would you!? I don't even feel sorry for me!

Kara: Your point is well made - that Krypton is dead. But it's legacy lives on. For good and ill. My own mother sentenced prisoners to Fort Rozz. Prisoners who broke free and took their anger out on Earth. Many of whom we're still trying to apprehend. There are people on Earth who work every day to solve the mistakes of Krypton's past. People who are trying to make Earth fairer. Or just better. These people dedicate their lives to this work. And some have even given their lives to it. This planet... these people... they took me in. An alien immigrant from a world they knew nothing about. A world whose legacy threatened their way of life and their safety again and again and again. And now, they deserve it in kind. Because their very existence is threatened by this World Killer of Kryptonian making. My mother tells me Argo City has changed. That it has learned from the mistakes of Krypton's past. So I beg you... give us the gift of Harun-El. We don't need very much. And this bit of charity... it will save Earth.


Continuity

Ruby is considering becoming an astronaut. Alex teases her about how she gets motion sickness too easily for that but Ruby counters that only happens when Alex is driving.

Someone attempts to kill Alex with a grenade while she's taking Ruby out for ice cream.

Reign is now able to see and hear through the refractive scatter field in her cell from 319.

According to Mon-El, The Legion of Superheroes don't bother with secret identities.

Alex got Ruby a book on Ada Lovelace - the first computer programmer in history.

Winn runs through a list of people with a grudge against Alex. This includes Griggs (215), The Hellgrammite (102) and Hannibal (217). Alex responds that Griggs and Hellgrammite are still locked up and Hannibal was deported after the Daxamite invasion.

Winn guesses it might be Rick from 219, until J'onn reminds Winn that he mind-wipped Rick.

Alex guesses that the assassin might be Ronald Collins - the murderous sheriff from 306.  He is said to now be 56 years old and was let out on parole after six failed attempts.

By a strange coincidence, Ronald Collins moved to an apartment six blocks away from Alex's upon being release from prison.

Kara realizes that the strange city she and Mon-El discovered is Argo City.

Argo City was mentioned in 119 as the site where Astra attempted to test Myriad.

Alura explains that the last she saw of Kara as a child was her pod being knocked into The Phantom Zone. Kara explains that she was there for a time but that she eventually made her way to Earth along with Fort Rozz.

Alura recognizes Mon-El as The Prince of Daxam.

Mon-El says there is no more Daxam. Alura says all that remains of Krypton is Argo.

Following the destruction of Krypton, ashes and destruction poisoned the air within Argo's dome. The young and the elderly became sick because of the new atmosphere.

Kara recognizes the structure they track The Rock of Yudal Kal to as a Kryptonian memorial.

Alura tells Kara that her father died in his efforts to save Argo City.

Argo City is ruled over by a High Council. Alura is one of the councilors.

Alex confronts Ronald Collins. He claims to be innocent of trying to kill Alex, saying that he deeply regrets what he did.

Alex's new motorcycle from the last episode is blown up by her would-be assassin.

A Dar Essa is a Kryptonian flower. Kara had one in her bedroom when she was young - a gift from her grandmother for her first birthday. Her father used it as a guide for measuring her height.

Kara was tall for her age and quickly outgrew her Dar Essa.

Alura describes Fort Rozz as her deepest shame.

Kara tells Alura about the events of Season One, her battles with the Fort Rozz escapees, her aunt Astra and her Uncle Non.

Alura says the people of Argo now look to their past for edification - not a blueprint for how to do things.

Mon-El gives a vaccine device to the merchant from whom he stole clothing upon first arriving in Argo City, testing it on her ill son and apparently curing his lung disease.

James talks to Lena about how she can kill Reign with a Kryptonite overdose now, but that would kill Sam as well. James asks what Sam would want and Lena says that she'd want her daughter and the world saved, no matter what.

Winn talks to Ruby about his murderous father and how he shares her fears about there being something bad inside him just waiting to come out.

Alex and J'onn set a trap for her assasssin, with J'onn posing as Alex.

The Worldkillers are figures of legend to the people of Argo.

Alex's assassin is revealed to be the identical twin brother of an alien criminal she brought to justice once. He was a Fort Rozz escapee who killed 12 people. Their species is not identified by name, but they are from Naja Falk 7. They have a strong sense of smell which allowed him to distinguish between J'onn and Alex from a distance.

The High Council of Argo City agree to give Kara some Harun-El.

Alura gives Kara a box before she returns to Earth. We do not learn what is inside it.

Alex talks with J'onn about how she can reconcile her inner adrenaline junkie and her nurturing side.

Alex refers to the flashback in 117 and how J'onn approached her about joining The DEO at a time in her life when she was a bit of a mess.

Selena - the councilor who broke the tie to give Kara The Rock of Yudal Kal - is revealed to be The Dark Kryptonian Priestess who has been influencing Reign and the other World Killers.

Lena attempts to use her kill-switch to destroy Reign. It doesn't work.

The episode ends with Kara and Mon-El arriving just as Reign breaks free of her prison, and Kara engaging Reign as Mon-El runs to Lena with the Harun-El.


Location

Argo City


Untelevised Adventures

Zor-El is revealed to have sacrificed himself in some manner in order to provide for the people of Argo City with his research.


The Bottom Line

Generally good, but it feels like there's a bit too much going on or, at least, that there should be more focus on the fact that a whole Kryptonian city is still intact and Kara's mother is still alive. The Kryptonians, in turn, don't seem at all phased by two strangers entering into their city who turn out to be a Daxamite and a Kryptonian from another world. It's all very muted and it doesn't help that we keep cutting away to Alex dealing with a mystery assassin, Lena wondering if she should try to kill Reign now and Winn babysitting Ruby. Ignoring that, the performances are all top-notch and the cliff-hanger is one of the show's best.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here. 




Plot

With the threat of Reign seemingly resolved, Kara returns to Argo City with Mon-El as she considers where she truly belongs. Meanwhile, back on Earth, J'onn discovers that DEO weaponry is making its way into the streets of National City and seeks James Olsen's help in discovering how.


Influences

The Return To Krypton storyline from Superman (Clark restores the city of Kandor and its people to proper size, only to discover that he doesn't fit in there.) and the on-going real-world debate involving gun control in the United States.


Goofs

Kara describes Argo City as the city where she grew up and says that while a lot of it was destroyed, most of it has been rebuilt. This doesn't jibe with what we saw in the previous episode, where Kara didn't even realize she was in a Kryptonian city (much less her home town) until she saw the writing on the memorial.

Why do they throw going-away parties for Kara in both of her identities when she hasn't decided if she's returning to Argo City permanently or not?

J'onn's decision to disarm the DEO doesn't make a lot of sense on multiple levels while simultaneously seeming like a step that should have been taken years ago. While The DEO might require standard weaponry when posing as FBI agents (which they do most of the time when they are in the field), most of their targets tend to require more specialized weaponry and equipment to deal with in any case.

It also bears mentioning that Winn is not a weapons designer by training or inclination, so throwing the job of designing non-lethal weapons at him seems a bit strange but well in keeping with the "a genius can do anything" ethos of the show.


Performances

As usual, the chemistry between Melissa Bennoist and Chris Wood is fantastic.


Artistry

It's a subtle thing, but Winn playing with a NERF gun and nearly shooting himself by accident while talking to Guardian is a neat bit of foreshadowing for the theme of the episode.

The sequence of Kara and Mon-El in the garden perfectly mimics the scene that opened Season 3, right down to the music.


Super Trivia

The title is a reference to a line from the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz - "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Kannar-Onn is a Kryptonian rite of passage that is meant to be conducted every decade of a person's life. Superman once made reference to this ritual and teaching it to his daughter Cir-El in the comics.

The DCTVU version of Krypton on Earth 38 has a ritual called Kannar-On as well. Kara finds a certificate indicating that she passed it while sorting through various mementos in her mother's house. This version of Kannar-Onn sounds something like the Bat Mitzvah of Jewish culture, requiring hours and hours of study of Kryptonian history and heritage.

This episode introduces a new character - a woman named Thara Ak-Varr. We are told that Thara was one of Kara's closest friends during her childhood in Argo City. She is now the Chief Peace Officer of Argo. All of her family died during the destruction of Krypton. She is married to a man named Lir-Al and has two children.

The name of Thara is one of some significance to the Kryptonian saga in DC Comics. The first woman to bear that name was Thara Gem-Zee. A native of the city of Kandor, she was the niece of Van-Zee and the wife of Ak-Varr. Van-Zee and Ak-Varr were the secret identities of the Kryptonian vigilantes Nightwing and Flamebird during the Pre-Crisis Era.

In the Post Crisis Era, Thara was the name of Kara Zor-El's best friend in childhood - Thara Ak-Varr. This Thara was the daughter of Ak-Varr and a woman named Tes. She was also a resident of Kandor and was reunited Zor-El and Alura when Brainiac captured and shrunk Argo City as he had Kandor and combined the two populations. Kara's parents raised their daughter's friend as if she were their own daughter, due to the deaths of her family. She would later take up the vigilante identity of Flamebird for herself.

The boy whom Mon-El cured of his lung disease is revealed to be named Val. Val is a common name on Krypton, shared by two previous characters. One of Superman's ancestors in the Pre-Crisis Superman comics was an explorer named Val-El. A scientist named Val-El, who is now a character on the Syfy series Krypton, is depicted as one of Superman's ancestors.Val-Zod is also the name of the second Superman of Earth 2 in The New 52 reality of DC Comics.


Technobabble

Argo City has artificial gravity powered by some kind of synthetic gravity manipulator. Since gravity can be used to bend space-time, Mon-El can use that to send a message to the future.

Winn conducts a ballistics test that confirms that the gun which dented Guardian's shield is the same type of assault rifle used exclusively by The DEO.

The Heel 14 is a civilian version of the assault rifle exclusively produced for the DEO. It can be modified with a bump-stock to create a gun identical to a DEO assault rifle.

According to Lena, Harun-El is more than just a a biolistic delivery system. It could be revolutionary for reasons she does not explain.


Dialogue Triumphs

Kara:  (To Alex) When I first got here, I was alone and scared, having just lost everything. And I would walk around and feel this dull.. empty pit. A hollowness. And yeah, we got off to a rocky start, but once we got close, that hollowness just disappeared. That was you. You filled my heart. And no matter where I go, you will always be in it.

Alex: You have given all of us so much as Supergirl. Reign is gone. You have dedicated your whole life to taking care of others. It's time for Kara Zor-El to take care of herself. And no one deserves that more than you. But. Selfishly? I don't know what I'm going to do without you.

Mr. Preston: I wouldn't dream of standing in the way of your investigation.
James: No, you just dream of a world where everybody is armed to the teeth, right?
Mr. Preston: And you dream of a world where person reads CatCo Magazine. We're both businessmen, Mr. Olsen.

Alura: Kara, you've had to live your life as a warrior. Surviving on a foreign planet. Defending others. You have to take in the fact that you don't have to live that way anymore. You've spent so much time taking care of others. Maybe it's finally time that you take care of yourself?
Kara: It's funny.. my sister, Alex.. she almost said the exact same thing.
Alura: Well, I know why you love her so much.

Arthur: They never respected me!
J'onn: You think that gun gives you respect? It has no power. It's just a tool for spreading fear and fear is not respect.

Mon-El: I know you've moved on. From us. But I didn't just come back here to help you fight Reign. When I left Imra, she asked me to... sort out how I felt. And not just about her. (pauses and takes a breath) About you. And I've been trying to convince myself that friendship between us was the right thing... but I think I've been lying to myself.
(Kara bites her lip and looks down.)
Mon-El: I'm sorry to spring this on you in the midst of you trying to acclimate here...
Kara: Don't be sorry.
Mon-El: I just don't want to hide things. Pretend like they don't exist.
(Kara nods and sighs.)
Kara: After you left... I had a dream where I was walking down this path. A lot like this one. It was peaceful and serene and... you were there waiting for me. And all I wanted was for you to be in that field with me.
(She takes a step closer to him.)
Kara: Now you are.
Mon-El: (nodding) Now I am.
(Kara reaches up and strokes Mon-El's beard.. as a beeping is heard in the distance.)
Mon-El: What's that?
(The two look away from each other to see a robot with red eyes flying toward them.)


Dialogue Disasters

James: I heard what you said about strength and peace, and I believe in that. That's why the only weapon anyone needs is a shield.
J'onn: That's something my father taught me a long time ago. Thank you for helping me remember that, James.


Continuity

Lena is able to use the Harun-El sample to make a cure for Sam, seemingly destroying Reign.

Supergirl asks Lena if she can synthesize more of the Harun-El and tells her about Argo City. Lena says she will try.

It is revealed that the box Alura gave Kara when she returned to Earth in 320 contained a Dar Essa flower.

Kara decides to return to Argo City. She invites Mon-El to come with her.

Officially, Kara Danvers goes on some kind of special assignment to explain Kara's absence from her job at CatCo.

Kara discovers her best friend from childhood - Thara Ak-Varr - is still alive. Thara is now married with two children and is the Chief Peace Officer for Argo City.

Kara hates Opera. Alex loves it, especially Puccini.

M'yrnn has built up a taste for opera. J'onn thinks the complex rhythms and orchestrations of the musicare helping him with his memory problems.

M'yrnn claims that a surge of clarity comes before a Martian with his dementia issues dies.

M'yrnn asks J'onn to perform a Martian ritual called "The Reach" with him. This ritual allows a Martian to telepathically pass all of his knowledge and memories on to his children.

J'onn is in denial about his father being close to death.

J'onn refers to the events of 205 and a gang that utilized alien weapons.

James identifies the weapon that the bank robber used as an assault rifle exclusively used by The DEO, which possessed enough power to dent his Guardian shield.

J'onn says that he had all of the DEO's weapons microchiped following the events of 314 and Winn's mother stealing a gun from the DEO Armory.

Val, the boy whom Mon-El helped in 320, is revealed to be entirely healed of his lung disease.

Kara learns about what Mon-El did to help heal Val.

An out-of-control girder nearly crushes Kara in the Argo City marketplace.Kara saw someone in hooded dark clothing running away from the scene after it happened.

Mon-El gives Kara his Legion Flight Ring to wear in case she needs it.

The manufacturer of the DEO assault rifle makes a civilian version, The Heel 14, which is legally classified as a hunting rifle, that can be modified with a bump-stock to be identical to an assault rifle.

Clark Kent was somehow able to track the private sale of an assault weapon despite the lack of a central gun registry. This confirms that Earth 38 USA has similar gun laws to the real world.

Lena is firmly pro-gun ownership, owning a personal gun that she claims to have used in self-defense before.

James is firmly pro-gun control, not seeing how a government gun registry can hurt non-criminals.

Eve Teschmacher - James Olsen's personal assistant - is revealed to have studied nuclear physics at Yale.

Ol-Irus is an electronics merchant in Argo City who is a bit of an oddball. He was apparently once a science teacher, who taught both Kara and Thara as children. He once assigned them to take insect samples home to study and they wound up reproducing in the hundreds.

Laura is the name of the landscape architect working on Thara's lawn. Thara complains that she built a stone gazebo so that it was facing  south so they could enjoy the view of the lake off their orchard. Instead, it is facing north towards the woods.

Kara spots another hooded figure watching her at dinner. This woman is later revealed to be Felra. Her husband owns a grocery store.

There is no digital trail or paper trail for the purchases of Heel 14 rifles. This leaves the DEO having to call every individual gun store in National City and hoping the owners kept accurate records of who purchased that gun recently. Even with all the DEO's resources, the are only able to identify 10% of the people who purchased the weapon.

Winn is, however, able to pull photographic records of every person who bought more than one weapon at once including a Heel 14.

The girder that almost hit Kara is blamed on a faulty part.

Felra was at work at the time of the construction accident.

James identifies the shooter as Arthur Willis. He passed his background check with no problems and had no history of mental illness. He bought four guns at the time he purchased his Heel 14. He is revealed to be a lawyer with Vang and Morales whose wife left him due to his workaholic habits trying to earn a partnership at his firm, only to be fired once they thought he was no longer useful.

Vang and Morales claim they offered Arthur Willis mental health counseling after several outbursts at work but he refused it.

Mon-El tells Kara that he still loves her.

Kara refers to her dream from 301 and how she saw herself in a meadow with Mon-El.

Mon-El and Kara are attacked by a robot in the garden. They escape thanks to the Legion Flight Ring and spy Felra watching them.

Felra says that she is a Daughter of the Night and a Child of Juru and that Selena is the high priestess of their order.

When Kara says that Selena helped her to defeat Reign, Felra says nothing is as it seems.

J'onn declares that The DEO will begin phasing out all lethal-force weapons and destroying all of their guns. This results in several DEO agents quitting, despite J'onn offering to let them transfero into another unit of federal law enforcement.

J'onn places Winn in charge of developing a line of non-lethal weapons for all DEO agents to use in place of standard handguns.

Lena brings Eve Teschmacher into her private lab to help her with studying The Harun-El.

Lena thinks she can use the Harun-El toward revolutionary ends.

J'onn begins preparing to undergo The Reach with M'yrnn.

Alex makes the decision to adopt a child and begins looking at agencies on her computer.

We see Sam and Ruby watching Singing In The Rain together, when Sam suddenly freezes up and drops a glass.

J'onn's spaceship is stolen from Argo City by the Children of Juru, including Selena. The burning symbol of Reign is left behind where it was parked.

Selena and the Children of Juru (two other women) use a crystal, provided by a waiting Thomas Coville, to create a new Fortress of Sanctuary.


Location

Argo City

The forest where the new Forest Of Sanctuary is erected.


Untelevised Adventures

Where Thomas Coville has been since 312 and where he acquired the crystal used to make a new Fortress of Sanctuary.


The Bottom Line

There's a lot about this episode that doesn't add up, but the performances - as with most of Season 3 so far - does a lot to sell it.

The chief oddity is that the fact that Supergirl's mother is alive isn't played up nearly as much as it should be and Alura has an amazingly small role in the events of this episode. The fact that Kara asks Mon-El to return to her with Argo City in a social capacity and not Alex is also odd, as you'd think Kara would want the two halves of her family to meet!

The gun control subplot doesn't quite work either. While I have no objection to a television superhero series like Supergirl trying to tackle social issues (my favorite comic is Green Arrow, for crying out loud), the lines drawn between the characters don't quite work. Naturally, Lena - as a strict individualist who has had her life threatened continually - is firmly behind people's right to arm themselves for self-defense... yet Lena is more than capable of creating defensive technologies to render guns obsolete!

Likewise James, as a black man who is used to being viewed with suspicion even when unarmed despite his relatively high-society position, has some fairly strong views about less guns being a good thing... but his position about the only weapon a person really needing being a shield doesn't quite work since not everyone has access to the technology and training he does.

What's really weird is that Alex isn't given a chance to weigh in on this question, when you think that she - as someone who depends upon using guns in her day job who is thinking of becoming a parent - would be the perfect point-of-view character for a story line involving guns and the pros and cons of owning one and how society responds to gun violence. It makes way more sense for Alex to be the one coping with this issue than J'onn, whose edict at the end seems remarkably short-sighted ignoring that Winn isn't a weapons specialist and ignores that The DEO is already using a variety of non-violent weaponry as regular bullets don't work on a lot of aliens.

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

With Selena's plans for Earth revealed, Kara, Mon-El and Alura must find a way to escape Argo City. At the same time, J'onn prepares to say goodbye to his father, M'yrnn.


Influences

Supergirl: The Movie (Villain named Selena trying to take over Earth, while Supergirl is trapped elsewhere), Superman 2 (three evil Kryptonians menace the Earth) and the film Man of Steel (Kryptonian invasion of Earth meant to terraform the planet into a new Krypton)


Goofs

Why do the Daughters of Juru need to terraform Earth? Isn't Kara proof that Kryptonians can survive (and indeed thrive) in Earth's atmosphere? (You can't argue with religious fanatics and they're sort of committed to their prophecy demanding they conquer Earth and change it... even if they do have super powers as it is now.)

Kara and Mon-El are strangely unphased by the explosion in Selena's secret room and their white clothes are surprisingly unsullied by the fire and dust kicked up by the collapsing ceiling.

If Reign's whole purpose was to ultimately terraform Earth into a new Krypton, what was the point of her going around enforcing a more lethal form of justice when she first awoke?

The death of Agent Demos is played up as being far more significant than it should be. While the character is one of the few named DEO background agents, he's hardly had enough screen time for his death to have much resonance.

The heat-vision blasts in this episode act more like concussive beams than heat-rays, knocking people back rather than setting things on fire.

James Olsen has nothing to do in this episode but come in and try and give Winn a pep-talk.

Honestly, a lot of the emotional moments in this episode seem to misfire or are played off far faster than they should be, such as Alex and Alura meeting face to face for the first time.


Performances

Carl Lumbly has stolen virtually every episode he's appeared in this season. This episode is no exception, though the interactions between him and David Harewood are easily the high-point of this episode and - speaking as someone who is losing his father to Alzheimer's - all too realistically portrayed.

Chris Wood has prove far better at underplaying Mon-El this year than he was in overplaying the cocky frat-boy in Season Two.  The moment in which he says everything while saying nothing while talking to Winn is a quantum leap forward in what we've seen him do with the character.


Super Trivia

The base idea of this episode bears some slight resemblance to the plot of the 1984 Supergirl movie, which briefly saw Supergirl trapped in The Phantom Zone and helpless to do anything about the villain - a witch named Selena. This episode sees Kara briefly trapped on Argo City with no way back to Earth, as it is threatened by a Kryptonian priestess with dark magical powers named Selena.

There's also some superficial resemblance to Superman 2, with three evil black-clad Kryptonians menacing the Earth with the assistance of a human stooge. (Lex Luthor in the movie. Thomas Coville here.)

The ultimate goal of The Daughters of Juru is revealed to be that of General Zod in the movie Man of Steel - terraforming Earth into a New Krypton.

A new version of Selena was introduced into the reality of DC Comics Rebirth in Supergirl #10 (August 2017). This Selena was a powerful sorceress, described as Heir to Ataxia. She was convinced to join the villain team The Fatal Five, which was being led by Emerald Empress against Supergirl. She abandoned the team in mid-mission, however, wishing to avoid a losing battle and having no real grudge against Supergirl or loyalty to her new comrades.

One of the three Daughters of Juru besides Selena is named Vita. This may be in honor of writer Vita Ayala, who co-wrote part of the DC Rebirth Supergirl series with Steve Orlando.

At one point, Selena muses that Supergirl "actually cares for these humans." This line is a paraphrase of one of General Zod's lines from Superman 2 -  "He actually cares for these Earth people."

M'yrnn proposes merging himself with the planet Earth in order to stabilize it in the face of Reign's attacks. This is what J'onn J'onzz eventually did with the planet Mars in the reality of DC One Million.


Technobabble

Harun-El is made toxic to Kryptonians by Earth's atmosphere.

M'yrnn says that The Reach will allow him to live forever within his son's mind.

Lena determines that Sam's body cells are reverting back to their natural state (i.e. Kryptonian) but her blood cells are oxygen deprived and shrinking, with some of them having become dormant. At Ruby's suggestion, Alex decides to try exposing Sam to the intense yellow sun lamps the DEO used for speeding Supergirl's healing.

Winn develops an omni-directional self-maintaining sub-atomic personal shield - i.e. a belt-mounted force-field. It is based around a frequency conversion of some sort and is the cornerstone of the new non-lethal tech that Winn is building for the DEO. The dumbed-down explanation is that it is like a magnet for atoms.

Zor-El had been working on a transmat portral - a teleportation device that could work across interstellar distances to send the people of Krypton to another planet.

Lena uses her refractive scatterfield to test Sam's eyesight. Since Sam is able to see through the field and see Lena waving at her, we know that her body is not reacting like a Kryptonian's should. If Sam were a healthy Kryptonian, she would have hurt her eyes just trying to look at Lena through the field.

Lena says that environmental factors can influence gene expression, turning it on and off. She theorizes she can use Harun-El to rejuvenate Sam's blood cells.

Kara is able to use the cache crystals as a sort of impromptu radio, allowing her to talk through the hologram of Alura in the DEO headquarters.

A multi-phase descrambler which links to a power source is part of the transmat mechanics. The insulator or Zor-El's transmat is cracked, meaning it will only be good for one trip.

Alex's new gun fires ammunition that generates an electrical net capable of briefly restraining three Kryptonians. It works until the net is blasted by heat vision. She also has Kryptonite bullets and the glove of her costume can generate a Kryptonite energy field.

Winn's personal force-field is shown to be strong enough to protect him from a Kryptonian heat-vision blast. It also keeps him from being killed when he is thrown against the wall by a Dark Kryptonian, though the concussive force is enough to knock him unconscious. The focused energy of three Kryptonians' heat vision, however, is too much for it, as Agent Demos tragically discovers.

Eve Teschmacher reworks the Harun-El to try and jump-start Sam's blood cells. It does not work. Lena thinks perhaps she can make it work by adjusting the ratio of the solution she used before and reinject Sam with it.

Lena determines that Sam and Reign are still connected by a symbiotic non-local entanglement. This means that Sam is getting weaker as Reign is getting stronger, despite Reign no longer being contained within Sam.

M'yrnn and J'onn interrupt The Reach to help evacuate National City.

Mon-El speaks of a world called Zune, who terraformed their world by digging to the planet's core, creating a Genesis event. The process took hours.
M'yrnn says that is he uses his shape-shifting and phasing powers to merge with the nexus point of Reign's attack, he can help to stabilize the Earth by merging with it.


Dialogue Triumphs

M'yrnn: Home is not a place. It is living among those who love and honor you. I can depart this world with peace because I know my son is home.

M'yrnn: These are happy memories. They should make you happy.
J'onn: And they do, Father. But they also remind me how much I'm going to miss you. Every memory that passes between us brings us closer to that eventuality.
M'yrnn: By the end of this, you will not feel loss, J'onn. You will feel complete. I promise.
J'onn: How do you know?
M'yrnn: Because I know the hole that comes with not knowing this. The way I felt when your mother was taken from me. When you were taken from me. Be patient, my son. Let the memories fill you up as you have filled me up.

(Winn is asking Mon-El why he hasn't returned to the future.)
Mon-El: Uh-yeah. Yeah, I was but then the time beacon broke and... Kara ran into some trouble, so I uh, I decided to stay back to...
Winn: (unconvinced) Uh-huh. Always the hero.
Mon-El: Yeah.
(Mon-El pauses, before speaking in a more quiet tone.)
Mon-El: I lost her once, man. I'm not sure I can do it again.
(Comprehension dawns on Winn's face, as he glances to where Alex is working.)
Winn: Wow, really?  Dude.  Dude, forget Reign! You need to get back here fast so we can get a drink!
(Mon-El chuckles.)

Selena: Give me the blood.
Kara: You want the blood? You can have it.
(Kara throws the blood vials into the air toward Selena. Her heat vision catches it in mid-flight as Selena catches it, wincing as it begins to burn and melt in her hand.)

M'yrnn: This planet is my son's home. I intend to save it with him!


Dialogue Disasters

Eve: More bad news?
Lena: Yeah. Sam's no better. And now three people in National City with the same powers of Supergirl have just murdered somebody.
Eve: Oh. That is not good.


Continuity

The Daughters of Juru had a prophecy which foretold of three of them standing on Earth in order to bring about the rise of Reign.

The three members of The Daughters of Juru are revealed as Selena, Vita

Harun-El is made toxic to Kryptonians by Earth's atmosphere.

Selena had an atlas of Earth in her secret quarters.

Kara identifies some of the writings on the atlas as being identical to those in Coville's journal. She recognizes them as the instructions to create a Worldkiller from 319.

Sam is not feeling well but has not transformed into Reign again.

M'yrnn comes by the DEO to say goodbye to Alex.

The Reach ceremony requires a Martian artifact called The Staff of Kh'ollar.

Alex is left in charge of the DEO while J'onn is away performing The Reach.

Among the items on Selena's secret room, Kara finds a scabbard which has "Whoever wields this sword shall bathe in the blood of the old worlds and reign with might over the new." written upon it. Alura identifies this as The Scabbard of Juru and the line as a quote from an ancient Kryptonian religious text.

Selena leaves behind a hologram of herself that speaks to Alura along with a fire-bomb trap that wounds Thara.

Selena explains that she gave Kara the Harun-El because it was necessary for Sam and Reign to be separated in order to enact the final stage of her plan and helping Kara saved her the trouble of doing it herself.

Sam says that she was feeling totally normal but now feels so weak she can barely hold her head up and that her insides are melting away.

Agent Demos has some kind of grudge against Winn.

The gravity manipulator Mon-El purchased in 321 is destroyed by Selena's trap. This means he cannot use it to contact The Legion and have them come to help get him and Kara to Earth.

Kara spent many afternoons watching her father work in his lab. He often used her as a sounding board for his ideas. She remembers him always talking to her as if she were another scientist.

The ritual to bring back Reign fails because they do not have the blood of Purity and Pestilence. Luckily, Thomas Coville knows that blood samples can be found at the DEO.

Lena uses her refractive scatter field from 319 to test Sam's vision.

Selena was able to get Zor-El's transmat mostly-functional. The problem is that it would require another transmat portal at their destination in order to function.

The DEO has a transmat portal, which Winn recovered in 209.

The DEO also has Kryptonian cache crystals, like the ones in Zor-El's lab.

Kara is able to use the cache crystals as a sort of impromptu radio, allowing her to talk through the hologram of Alura in the DEO headquarters.

There are 500 million potential moves on an Ok'Rock'Tock board.

Alura comes to Earth with Mon-El and Kara.

Agent Demos dies after being hit by the heat vision of all three of the Daughters of Juru. This turns out to be too much for Winn's new force-field belt to cope with.

Eve Teschmacher is still working in Lena's lab, helping her with trying to save Sam.

Enough of the dried blood of Purity and Pestilence remains on Serena's hand after Kara's heat-vision blast for her to sprinkle the ashes of it into the fire being used to reform Reign.

The Fountains of Lillith are two fountains from ancient Kryptonian mythology said to be in The Valley of Juru. Alura learned of them from Jindah Kol Rozz, who ranted about them at her sentencing. One fountain gave infinite strength. The other gave weakness. Rozz spoke of a woman born of the fountain, who had the power of destruction - i.e. Reign. Kara theorizes that this may be the source of Reign's power rather than Earth's yellow sun.

Sam asks for Lena to help her return to The Valley of the Juru (where she went in 317) so she can use the fountain to indirectly weaken Reign.

Thomas Coville is killed by The Daughter of Juru once his usefulness is ended.

Reign's awakening triggers an 8.0 earthquake in National City, super-storms and tornadoes in Madagascar and a tsunami warning.

M'yrnn declares his intention to merge with the nexus point of the disaster, allowing him to stabilize it.


Location

The new Fortress of Sanctuary


The Bottom Line

On the one hand, the plotting of this episode is utterly nonsensical, with the reasons for Reign's existence having completely changed amid a host of minor things that don't make sense like concussive heat vision and the expectation that we're supposed to be deeply moved by the death of Agent Demos while undercutting emotional moments that should be more powerful, like Alex and Alura meeting.

And yet... for everything this episode borrows from earlier Superman and Supergirl stories, the execution here is far stronger than in those earlier stories. By making the Kryptonians trying to destroy the Earth to create a New Krypton into religious fanatics rather than soldiers adhering to some elitist eugenics program, Supergirl Season 3 has corrected the biggest flaw with the plot of Man of Steel. For all its flaws, this episode largely works in spite of itself.