Fair warning, there is a lot of Cori nerding out in this episode. This episode hit me on so many different levels of things that I love, so I can’t contain my excitement at certain things. The first of many nerd moments for me this episode was the Brainiac logo popping up on the dash of Kara’s ship. Brainiac is one of my favorite villains. Brainiac 5 is one of my favorite heroes. Brainiac 8 was there when my interest in comics was getting reignited. Any live action form of Brainiac has long been a pipe dream for me, and one that is now realized.
It took fifteen episodes, but we finally got to see Kara’s bedroom. I love it, and now want to redecorate my room. Mostly, I want her lights. I also loved how much guilt you could see in Alex’s face throughout their talk about Kara coming back to the DEO.
“I could throw her into space. I dream about doing that.” So comforting to see Kara’s all too genuine human emotions about Siobahn. But the comeuppance when Cat tore her down from the very advice Kara had just given her was beautiful. It was wonderful watching Kara step up as Siobahn was flustered too.
Easter egg alert. Number 1: Plastino license plate. Still waiting on a Jim Mooney reference in this show though. Number 2: THAT KEY! Oh my god, that key! I love it so much! A comically oversized (but not NEARLY as comically oversized as it used to be) key is a hallmark of the Fortress of Solitude, and one that I’m immensely happy made it into this show. “He just leaves the key under the door mat?” Yes, because that is my Superman, someone intimately trusting, even if the key can only be lifted by like four people on the planet. Number 3: Jor-El and Lara holding the globe of Krypton at the entrance of the Fortress. Another wonderful piece of Superman lore being represented here. The Fortress is everything I could have hoped it to be. Number 4: Superman’s baby rocket! Number 5: And this is the big one. This is the one that turned me into a giddy little school girl. This is the one that brought tears to my eyes and made me yet again, so very thankful that this show exists. The LEGION FLIGHT RING. For those of you who don’t know, the Legion of Superheroes are a team of young (usually teenage) superheroes from 1000 years in the future. Both Superboy (Superman as a teenager growing up in Smallville) and Supergirl were members of this team, who occasionally got pulled from the past to fight future evils with their friends. Supergirl’s interactions with the Legion are some of my very favorite Supergirl moments, and her long running relationship with one of the Legion members is probably my number one relationship in comics, which is saying something, since I have another relationship from comics permanently tattooed on my arm. That Legion member is of course, Brainiac 5; the great great grandson of the Superman villain, and great grandfather of Indigo. Wobbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey. To see a Legion flight ring in this show, made my heart soar and made me hope beyond all hope that maybe, just maybe, when we get a second season we might get an introduction to them. Told you that’d be the big one. Number 6: Fort Pemberton, a probably reference to Sylvester Pemberton, the Star-Spangled Kid, a creation of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel. Number 7: The Omegahedron, from the Supergirl movie.
As much I knew it was bound to happen, it was still a little painful to watch Lucy and James’s relationship crumble into dust. I do like that the relationship died not because of Supergirl, but because of his closeness to Kara though. It shows that James, like Lois before him, is able to see both sides of the person. That said, reference my above paragraph, because I will still sell a kidney to get Brainy on this show and in a relationship with Kara. I’m also a little leery of the burgeoning romance that started in this episode. I think I just enjoy disliking Siobhan too much to want her to end up with Winn.
Laura Vandervoort did a great job bringing Indigo to life. I loved that even though she didn’t have to, Kara did the shirt rip in the privacy of her own home. One of the best effects in the episode, in my opinion, was whenever Indigo traveled through the internet. It was visually stunning. On the other hand, I was less pleased about the Mr. Fantastic arms effect. That just seemed less impressive than the majority of the effects work on this show.
“Anyone ever tell you, you’re a lot faster than your cousin?” First, Melissa’s face in reaction to that statement was perfect. She was just beaming and glorious. Her smile is so infectious. Second, I have always liked the idea that she’s faster. She’s smaller, so you’d have to reason that she’s more aerodynamic, and some small part of that makes sense to me.
At first I was a bit upset that Superman brought his pal to the Fortress first, before bringing the only person he knows with as big (and in fact, bigger) tie to Krypton than himself. I’ve been rereading the original Supergirl appearances in the 1950s and 1960s, and that is very much a Silver Age Superman move. He was a bit of a jerk in those comics. But then Kara explained that he had offered, and she had refused, and I got hit right in the feels.
It was fantastic how they tied back to James’s statement about her speed twice during the climax. First when she got there as the DEO was saying that they’d never make it in time, and second when she chased the runaway nuke.
Winn saving himself was played very well. I like that he was capable enough to solve his own problem, and really, everyone else’s.
Chyler Leigh delivered brilliantly on Alex’s lines at the end of the episode. Once again, this show proved that it does the emotional moments better than any other show on TV.
It’s hard at this point for me to pick a favorite episode anymore. Nearly impossible even. But this one is one of the very best that we’ve gotten, and made me so very happy. No episode next week, so a new recap will come in two weeks, and hopefully I’ll actually come through on the comic review I promised next week.
Corinne McCreery has been a fan of comic books for over twenty years, and a fan of Supergirl in particular for just about that long. Other comic characters near and dear to her heart are the members of the New Teen Titans (Especially Nightwing), Kitty Pryde and Roy Harper. Other non-comic related interests include water skiing and tattoos, of which she has five, three of which are comic related. One of the best days of her life came when she met Dean Cain, and was able to recreate the famous Crisis on Infinite Earths cover with the Man of Steel that she grew up with. Currently she lives in Oakland, CA; a transplant from South Dakota. You can find her online on tumblr at effyeahsupergirl or Twitter at @corimarie21, where you will likely find her live-tweeting the west coast airing of Supergirl every week.
