Supergirl season 3 episode 11 recap + review: Fort Rozz

On Supergirl this week, someone died, someone found redemption, and someone turned to the dark side. Here are our thoughts on “Fort Rozz.”

Last week’s episode of Supergirl took its heroine on an internal journey. Rendered comatose by her catastrophic battle with Reign, Kara was imprisoned in her own mind, unable to leave until she fulfilled an obscure purpose. With Brainiac 5’s help, she eventually escaped by remembering and embracing her human side. By the time she awoke in the real world, she seemed more like her old self — not healed, perhaps, but better.

This week, Kara embarks on a different kind of journey — into outer space. Once again, she is isolated from her closest friends, now physically as well as mentally. However, a few unexpected allies come to her aid.

A little help from my enemies

Right now, Reign seems invincible. Not only did she beat Supergirl, but it was no contest. And if the Girl of Steel can barely put up a fight against her, who can?

But that’s why heroes don’t work alone. J’onn and his fellow DEO agents refuse to falter, even when Supergirl does. This is their job, after all; hope has nothing to do with it. So, they waste no time searching for a solution. Examining the Fort Rozz manifest, Winn identifies a priestess that might be the “Lilith” described in Coville’s prophecy. Jindah Kol Rozz is so notorious that the Kryptonian prison derives its name from her.

Unfortunately, Kara can’t simply walk into Fort Rozz, given that she threw it into space back in season 1. What’s more, it ended up near AZ-336XB12, a star that emits blue radiation poisonous to “anyone with a Y chromosome.” In other words, she would be a) without her powers and b) without J’onn or Mon-El.

Still, desperate times call for desperate measures. Swallowing her pride, Kara recruits Livewire, now a diner waitress going by the name “Rosanne”, and Psi, who has been detained in the DEO, to accompany her and Imra. The former reluctantly agrees because she wants to avenge the deaths of several friends at Reign’s hands. Plus, the prospect of Supergirl being powerless is too intriguing to pass up. The latter has no choice, her abilities checked by a special restraint.

While it’s frustrating to see J’onn, Winn, Alex, and James sidelined, I was pleasantly surprised by this makeshift team’s dynamic. For starters, it means we get a storyline that revolves entirely around women with powers — a rarity even in female-led superhero narratives. In addition, the snide banter between Psi and Livewire offers a refreshing contrast from Kara’s amiable yet stiff interactions with Imra. Director Gregory Smith neatly sums up the various relationships with a single shot: the “villainous” women sit opposite each other in the foreground, and the “heroic” women stand side-by-side in the background.

Also, the episode heavily hints that Livewire/Leslie is attracted to women. From the first words they exchange, I was ready to ship her and Psi/Gayle. Morally ambiguous lesbians who flirt by bickering? Yes, please. But, well, that gets complicated by later events.

Flying too close to the sun

Kara and frenemies find Fort Rozz in disarray, all the cell doors open. After wandering around for an indeterminate period of time, they run into an escaped prisoner who resents Kara’s parents and attacks her. They eventually manage to subdue the prisoner, but in the process, Psi (freed from her restraint) uses her powers on Imra. Although she claims it was an accident, Kara takes precautions, putting the restraint back on and deciding to split up.

Following the prisoner’s instructions, Kara and Livewire find Jindah in a dark corridor beyond dark fog, dressed in an ominous hooded cloak. After spouting cryptic warnings like, “uncertainty will be your doom,” the priestess hints at the existence of other Worldkillers. Her speech is interrupted when Reign appears and, to Kara’s dismay, kills her. “My powers aren’t dependent on something so trivial as the sun,” she smirks.

If Kara’s futile attempts to “get through to” Reign come across as naïve, it’s nonetheless a relief to see a trace of the optimism that made her a hero in the first place. It appears the lesson she learned while in the coma stuck. As Mon-El later points out, even if she failed with Reign, she did succeed in connecting with Livewire, who battles Reign while Supergirl is powerless. (No doubt, it helps that Leslie has her own reasons for opposing the Worldkiller.)

Meanwhile, Psi convinces Imra to take off her restraint and joins the scuffle, prying into Reign’s mind. For a moment, Samantha emerges, bewildered and terrified. Smith cross-cuts between her face and her psyche, visualizing the latter as Ruby stranded in a black void, à la Stranger Things’ Upside-Down. (I suspect that at some point in the season, Ruby will serve a plot function as well as a character one.) Then, the moment passes, and Reign flees.

The trip wasn’t for naught, though. At least we know that Reign remains tethered to her human identity, however tenuously. Having faith in people is a risk, but it’s one worth taking.

We’re all suckers

Overall, I enjoyed “Fort Rozz”. It let Supergirl be Supergirl again and sprinkled plenty of humor amid the pontificating. However, a certain plot development puts a major damper on the episode — namely, Livewire’s death.

Until now, I had no special attachment to the character; as a villain, she was entertaining (largely due to Brit Morgan’s charisma) but fairly two-dimensional. There’s something callous about the way “Fort Rozz” invites us to care about her, only to kill her off. It’s a waste. Who knows where her relationship with Kara could have gone?

More importantly, though, does the “Bury Your Gays” trope apply if the show never got beyond very loud insinuation?

Bullet points:

Any use of Heart’s “Barracuda” gets a thumbs-up from me.
While Samantha is off being Reign, Alex takes care of Ruby. Besides letting her charge watch The Shining (aka the scariest horror movie ever), she makes quick work of a school bully. I’d say threatening a teenager should constitute an abuse of authority, but teens are awful.
Between that plotline and Psi and Livewire’s chat on the spaceship, “Fort Rozz” was full of Mean Girls references.
Brainiac 5 is unimpressed by our surveillance state.
Kara and Mon-El’s heart-to-heart is nicely shot, with the characters occupying opposite sides of the frame. It also provides a reminder that Chris Wood can be super charming.
The episode ends another woman revealing herself as a Worldkiller. I guess that’s cool, but I really just want more of her judging her friend’s career decisions.
Psi: “You got a problem?” Livewire: “I’ve got 99, and you ain’t one of them.” Honestly, I have never boarded a ship so fast.

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

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