Supergirl: Shelter From The Storm
I think that's for earthquakes, Ruby…
Supergirl starts rushing towards her season finale as the cast takes "Shelter From The Storm." The show starts with a scene removing any questions about what stage the relationship between Lena and James is at. I do like them as a couple. Their banter about secrets and finding a new place to live comes to a sharp halt when Reign smashes through the wall and demands to know where "the child" is. James' Guardian shield saves his life and then Lena pulls a great trick to drive Reign off.
J'Onn has a heartbreaking scene where we see how quickly M'Yrnn, the Martian Man-Father, is failing. The Legionnaires talk about their future now that Pestilence has been dealt with, and mention a few other Legionnaires we haven't seen but may possibly be elsewhere in the cruiser. There are jokes about Back to the Future, and Brainy gives Winn a gift. Brainy also shows he doesn't know everything, as he botches a simple social exchange. Supergirl and Saturn Girl have a talk about the future, and Mon-El changing. When J'Onn misses the big send off, Mon makes a comment Winn thinks is a joke but fits with a few different comic book timelines.
Lena, still cooperating with the DEO in spite of their best efforts, tells them about Reign's visit, her new obsession, and what Lena has learned so far about subduing her. They talk about other places Reign might go and Alex, despite being the professional government agent, pushes Lena on an operational security issue. Supergirl and J'Onn follow up on one of their guesses and have an unexpected start to a meeting with someone Reign might be after.
Alex, having succeeded in getting Lena to tell her things she doesn't really need to know, goes to see Ruby and her babysitter, Mrs. Queller. The hiding place is a cool one, and I see why Lena used it. Alex tries to reassure Ruby, but, as we've seen, she's a smart girl and doesn't buy the easy explanations or excuses. Supergirl commiserates with J'Onn about his father's health, and then they get a hint that things are not as they should be.
Reign has arrived, and she's being really, really creepy. Her bad guy rhythm gets thrown off when she doesn't find who she thought she would, and a big fight breaks out. Their contact tries to talk Reign down and that goes horribly wrong. The over-powered villain also manages to defeat the combined attacks of Supergirl and J'Onn. One of my ongoing issues with this show is that J'Onn is horribly underpowered. Yes, I get it, it's Supergirl's show, but why water down such a great character?
The Legion is in space and about to do whatever it is that's supposed to take them back to their own time when Brainy reveals a few things about the DEO, Reign, and something he did. There's some debate about what to do, and Mon-El says he has faith in Supergirl and goes to check on things. Supergirl has a teary farewell to a minor character who really should have been dead before this.
Lena and James confer about recent events and what to do. James has a suggestion, but Lena is opposed, and for good reason. This is one of the times I think James is overly optimistic and Lena a lot more clear-sighted. I don't blame her at all for her hesitation given her recent treatment by the DEO and her supposed Super-friend. Alex gets an update on what's going on, has an argument with Ruby, and then does something amazingly dumb for an allegedly elite agent.
Supergirl and J'Onn compare notes on what to do next. Supergirl is very understandably feeling overwhelmed at this point. Which brings up a problem with all this. The World Killers are serious business, not some random villain of the week. They threaten the world and even the future. Given all that, shouldn't they be calling for all the help they can get? We don't know if this world has as many heroes as the "main" CW Earth, but we also know Supergirl isn't the only one. Superman's around, why not call him? They've established he's a presence and used him a few times. For that matter, they've pretty much established Batman is on this world (and the only character so far on both Supergirl's and Flash's Earth). They need to at least come up with a reason for not contacting the Man of Steel.
Kara and J'Onn have come up with an idea, and it involves going to see M'Yrnn again. He's really out of it and talking about Ursula and the Eradicator, one of whom is a character with Kryptonian, not Martian, roots. They talk about M'Yrnn's history in the conflict with the White Martians, and get an idea about how to proceed. The Legion is almost ready to go home, and Saturn Girl comes to a decision that both speaks volumes about her faith in doing what's right and could cause her a lot of problems. Brainy worked out the DEO has better odds with Legionnaire help, so one of them is going to stay behind. As an aside, this whole Mon-El/Saturn Girl relationship keeps throwing me off. In all the Legion books, Saturn Girl has been with Lightning Lad, her co-founder of the team, while another of the Legion's big romances has been Mon-El and Shadow Lass. This one just keeps confusing my poor comic geek brain.
Lena takes a big risk and goes to the DEO with something to help, and Supergirl completely over-reacts. I really don't like how she's been treating Lena the last few episodes, and this is more of the same. She needs the Kryptonian equivalent of a Valium or something. They argue and Lena helps anyway. I have to say, Lena comes out of this scene a LOT more heroic than Supergirl does. Ruby capitalizes on Alex's error and does something that lets Reign find them.
Reign arrives and shows the hideout has some bad design in it. Someone taking out an entry keypad shouldn't disable a major defensive feature, and considering who designed the place, this seems really dumb. The designer is a genius. Reign attacks and plows through the defenses, which are disappointingly low-tech considering what this place allegedly is. Just as things look really bad, Supergirl and a friend show up to fight Reign (J'Onn is conveniently too injured from the earlier fight). It's an ugly fight, and it takes the two supers plus Alex to win the day, using Lena's gift. Ruby also learns a big secret in this battle, which crushes the poor girl.
Reign is captured and being held at the DEO. Lena is still helping, which is almost starting to qualify as being in an abusive relationship at this point. They talk a little, and Supergirl at least admits to some fault. She also talks to her ally about their surprise return. J'Onn has another really sad scene with his father. We get it. He's losing his mind. Do we need to keep seeing this?
Ruby and Alex have a talk, and Ruby's trust in Alex is shaken, which is fair enough. Alex makes some new promises. They've been largely ignoring Supergirl's secret ID for a while now, and they suddenly shoehorn in a clunky scene where Kara runs into Lena, and leans some unpleasant truths because Lena doesn't know Kara is Supergirl. Want to complain more about keeping secrets there, Kara? The episode ends with what appears to be bad news from another front we haven't seen in a while.
What I liked: Lena is really impressing me the last few episodes. I like her, and I like her with James. I was also impressed with Saturn Girl's decision. The Legion in general is impressing me, although I admit I've always liked them so I might be biased. Lena's idea for where to hide Ruby was great until Alex screwed it up.
What I didn't: Supergirl is not living up to her own, or her cousin's, ideals here. Lena is helping her and Supergirl is treating her coldly and with suspicion. Speaking of her cousin, where IS Superman in all this? Why does the Legion decide to leave with the fight not over? That's not very heroic. The defenses in the building Ruby was hiding in were disappointing. Alex screwed this up badly. The scene with Kara and Lena near the end felt forced. Where the heck did the babysitter disappear to when Reign attacked? I mean, I would have run, too, but she didn't show up and was never mentioned again.
A lot of the CW/DC shows have been slipping this season with the notable and fantastic exception of Black Lightning. The last few episodes of Supergirl, much as I hate to say it, have had some flaws. I'm giving this one a low 3 out of 5. I hope they snap out of this soon.
June 18, 2018 in DC, TV Shows. Tags: Brainiac 5, CW DC Universe, J'Onn J'Onzz, Legion of Super Heroes, Mon-El, Reign, Saturn Girl, Shelter From The Storm, supergirl
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