Supergirl season 3 episode 10 recap + review: Legion of Superheroes

In its return from hiatus, Supergirl delves into Kara’s subconscious and delivers a narratively uneven but emotionally engaging episode.

Did Earth get sucked into a wormhole at some point during December? Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like approximately 7 billion years have passed since the last Supergirl episode. Not that I am complaining; to be honest, keeping up with TV can be draining, and I needed the opportunity to recharge.

Still, I’m glad to have Kara Danvers and (super) friends back, even if the midseason finale left things on a sour note. To review: after a trip to the Fortress of Sanctuary, Samantha took a step toward fulfilling her destiny, unleashing her Kryptonian alter ego Reign. After a brutal battle that demolished a large section of National City, the so-called Worldkiller defeated Supergirl.

“Legion of Superheroes” picks up with our heroine in a deep coma. Thanks to technology that Mon-El and Imra brought from the far future, she will survive. Until she wakes up, however, the team at the DEO remains in suspense.

Attic of the mind

From Kara’s point of view, she is home. She wakes up in bed, her spacious apartment bathed in unusually bright sunshine. It doesn’t take long for the illusion to shatter, as a blue-skinned alien arrives at the door and introduces himself as Brainiac 5, a twelfth-level intellect gifted with technological savvy, an exceptional memory and all-around superior mental capabilities. Mon-El, he explains, roused him from hyper-sleep to help communicate with Kara while she is comatose.

Kara reacts the way most people would if told they’ve been in a coma for two days — are, in fact, still in a coma: she panics. Bombarded by memories of her fight with Reign, she realizes that her city is in trouble and she’s AWOL, which is even worse than being defeated. As James said in “The Faithful,” one of Supergirl’s powers is her presence, her ability to show up when and where she is needed; it doesn’t matter that you can stop bullets if you can’t get to the bullets.

But the apartment door won’t open. Actually, it’s not an apartment at all, but a manifestation of what her subconscious “finds most comfortable.” Only when she’s physically and mentally ready can she leave. Of course, Kara refuses to accept this. There’s a bad guy to stop; Supergirl has no time for introspection. So, she tries to force her way out, first by punching (the door wobbles, as if made of Jell-O) and then by using her heat vision. Brainiac 5 watches with awe and concern as colorful debris flies around the room in an image like something from FX’s Legion.

Finally, having exhausted her options, Kara resigns herself to thinking instead of just acting. If this is her subconscious, she reasons, there must be some important information here, something she wants herself to find. The answer emerges in a photo. (No one said the subconscious was subtle.) It depicts young Kara with a black cat named Streaky, a stray that she found shortly after coming to Earth. At first, she hesitated to touch it, afraid that she would accidentally harm it, but they soon formed a bond.

“I felt like an alien on Earth for so long,” Kara remembers. “He helped me feel like a human.”

As it turns out, this time, Kara saves Supergirl, not the other way around. Her memories of fear, loneliness, and love — parts of herself that she keeps trying to suppress — literally unlock the door of her mind. While the moment doesn’t quite compensate for all the weeks we had to endure gloomy, aloof Kara, it provides a moving payoff. In general, Supergirl soars when it explores its heroine’s interiority, rather than viewing her as a symbol or figure. Look, alienating Kara from the audience makes thematic sense, but it’s still boring.

Ending a reign

Back in the conscious world, J’onn and Alex are at a loss. Reign continues to terrorize National City, attacking various criminals and sowing chaos. With Supergirl indisposed, the match comes down to a super-powered living weapon and a bunch of ordinary humans with Kryptonite-laced weapons that turn out to be ineffectual. Mon-El declines to participate, disclosing that a planet’s future depends on information embedded in his and Imra’s DNA. And Coville renounces his devotion to Supergirl, interpreting her fight with Reign as a failed test of faith.

Director Jesse Warn tries to inject the action sequences with style (i.e. lots of slow motion), but this plot simply lacks the urgency of Kara’s. For starters, why is a villain capable of obliterating worlds going after petty thieves? Reign throws around words like “justice” and “sin,” but they carry all the weight of confetti. How does her conception of justice differ from Supergirl’s or the DEO’s? What exactly makes someone a sinner? She has no real moral or ideological stance, no method to her madness. Perhaps, later episodes will reveal nuances, but so far, Reign is a major disappointment.

The Legion of Superheroes remains similarly vague. Even though the episode takes its title from them, the “Legionnaires” mostly stick to the sidelines, both as a group and as individuals. We get little insight into Mon-El and Imra’s relationship, making it hard to invest in their work; whether due to the chemistry-free acting or the wooden dialogue, there’s no sense of history, intimacy, or, really, humanity in their interactions. That said, the close-ups of the glowing Legion Flight Rings were amusing, and I wish Supergirl would embrace its cheesy side more often.

The kiss

James and Lena together still makes me slightly ill. (Sorry, I don’t see the supposedly amazing chemistry!) But I can never resist this show in rom-com mode, so I will put my prejudice aside, just this once.

Long story short, Lena is worried about Kara, who has coincidentally been absent from work at the same time Supergirl is missing. To make matters worse, James has been acting strangely ever since the kiss (which, if you remember, happened on the same night as Kara’s fight with Reign). We know that Kara, not the kiss, is on his mind, but his behavior triggers Lena’s insecurity about her family history. Does he regret what happened? Why else wouldn’t he want to tell Kara?

Despite James’s futile protests (she has a very, very bad case of the flu!), Lena decides to check on Kara. This leads to J’onn, alerted to the situation by Winn, impersonating Kara in a hilarious scene that requires Melissa Benoist to adopt a low voice and say things like “the indignity” and “Olsen can be enigmatic.” It provides another unnecessary yet welcome reminder of the actress’ infinite charm and versatility. (Come to think of it, it’s an outrage that she and Tom Cavanagh have never shared the screen. Make it happen, 2018 Arrowverse crossover!)

More to the point, though, Kara keeping her identity as Supergirl a secret from Lena is getting increasingly far-fetched. They’re best friends, for Rao’s sake. Maybe now that Kara has decided to embrace her human side again, the beans will spill soon.

Bullet points:

Mon-El arrives at the prison for a climactic fight with Reign blasting Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” I approve. The consistency of his liking Shakespeare is also a nice touch.
Samantha appears in one scene, engaged in an ominous toy gun shootout with Ruby. It’s still unclear whether she’s aware of Reign.
Brainiac 5 has a light, fun dynamic with Kara, and I look forward to seeing more of him.
I maintain that Coville worked better as a one-off antagonist.
Kara cleans her glasses with a sweater. Don’t do that at home, kids, unless you want your vision obscured by scratches. (Granted, it was in her subconscious.)
Kara laughing over wine with Alex warmed my heart. In the same scene, she says that she’s finally ready to move on from Mon-El. Could we be reaching the light at the end of the tunnel?
I hope Supergirl goes deeper into the notion of lost history/memory.
J’onn preparing to confront Reign: “I just had a conversation about James Olsen’s extraordinary kissing ability. This will be a Sunday picnic.”

Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.

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