Contemplating her life and her choices at CatCo, Andrea decides to call the smartest person she knows: Lena Luthor.
I swear Lena Luthor is the only one putting in WORK at the Tower.
As if it’s a former-almost-villain support group, Lena encourages her not to fall back into bad behaviors, even though she does think it’s kind of great that Lex’s stupid journals are public now.
I can’t believe we’ve had an excuse for Katie McGarth to speak directly to camera all along and this is the first time we’ve utilized it.
Lena tells Andrea not to betray her friends, and tells her to think about why she did what she did, what path she’s on, and if it’s a path to the person she wants to be. And if the answer is no…change it. After all, Lena did.
Andrea’s hair looks amazing in this episode. For the record.
After flying around the entire Earth a few times, casually, Kara still can’t find the glam rock spaceship, and she’s about to go for another spin when J’onn catches on and asks what exactly she’s avoiding. Kara tells J’onn about the fight she had with Alex, and how she doesn’t understand why Alex didn’t want her advice as someone who has been an alien child on Earth. She does feel bad about overstepping, but in a moment that was VERY TRIGGERING for me as a Sweet Marley Rose stan, J’onn doesn’t tell her that she didn’t do anything wrong! He just tells her to clear the air with Alex!! When frankly I don’t think Kara did anything wrong at all! Alex could have said “Cool I’ll talk about it with Kelly and Esme” and walked away instead of snapping! If she had told me about that fight, I would have said, “She’s probably feeling very sensitive as a new mom and wasn’t ready for unsolicited advice yet, or the reminder that she won’t ever fully be able to understand exactly what Esme is going through; your heart was in the right place and she’ll realize that eventually.”
It’s not your fault we lost Sectionals, either.
Downstairs, Esme is playing hide and seek with Mama Kelly when a CatCo reporter shows up and reminds us that no one has taught Esme about stranger danger yet. That will be important later.
Kara takes J’onn’s advice and goes to see her sister, who is doing science in the lab, trying to figure out what’s going on with Esme.
Can I nominate a frame of a TV show for an award? Any award. I’d like to submit this.
Alex still hasn’t gotten the results of Esme’s blood test back so she wants to cancel the bachelorette party tonight, but before she can, she gets a message that there’s a new alien student in Esme’s class whose powers are tantrum-esque in nature. So Alex rushes off to get Esme to her baking competition, leaving Kara still feeling very weird about where things stand with her sister.
Luckily, Lena is there to save the day yet again by giving Kara a task. She uses Lena’s intel to fly up to the glam rock spaceship, but it’s a trap, and Lex immediately shoots her Lenasuit with nanobots, ruining it. She fights Lex and Nyxly and eventually manages to put Nyxly in enough danger to get Lex and her to leave, and she grabs the Truth Totem before J’onn gets them to safety.
So now the Superfriends officially have five totems.
Lena, Alex, Kelly, and Esme come to the tower, excited that Esme won her baking competition.
Everyone being so genuinely sweet with/about Esme is a light in my life.
They leave Esme with the reporter and get ready to head to the party; but first, Kara wants to talk to Alex. Kara apologizes for overstepping, but Alex admits her reaction might have been disproportionate to the advice given. The thing is, even though Kara was coming from a place of giving Esme respite from the overwhelm powers can cause, all Alex could hear was the suggestion Esme hide part of herself to fit in.
It’s okay Alex, I also act irrationally* when people give me unsolicited advice or negative opinions about the thing I just said I loved. *aka I mute them
Alex might not be an alien, but there were times she felt like one, because she was trying so hard not to directly look at an entire part of herself for so long. She explains to her sister that it sounded, to her, a little too much like “staying in the closet is better” and that’s why she lashed out. Kara understands now, and reassures Alex that she’s a great mom, and Alex reassures Kara that she’s a great sister, and they hug it out.
The relief they both had in this hug was palpable.
They head to the bachelorette party, where all of the Superfriends are dressed to the nines in their exclusive suite. They toast to the couple, and Alex and Kelly dance.
I’m sorry these are blurry but there was so much wiggling! And it was all too cute to not include at all.
Inexplicably, when they go to the dance floor, Lena…leers? after them? I don’t even know what word you would use to explain what Lena is doing, and maybe I’m projecting, because try as I might I cannot separate my SuperCorp feelings from the reality of this television program, but it almost looks like longing.
At this point I’ve stopped asking for heterosexual explanations from one Lena Kieran Luthor-Walsh.
Brainy, however, has the opposite reaction,and runs off with tears in his eyes, Nia following close behind.
Kara, however, decides to dance with her sisters, and after some coaxing from J’onn encouraging her to take the night off, Kara soon follows.
Kara, your Benoist is showing.
When Nia catches up to Brainy, he admits he can’t shake the sadness that will come with his inevitable goodbye. Seeing everyone so happy feels bittersweet to him. But Nia encourages him to not waste the moments they do have by thinking about the moments they won’t. Stay in the now, celebrate your friends, enjoy it while you can. Don’t let the inevitable end keep you from enjoying the middle. Which I think is good advice for all of us, even if we’re not about to time travel, ya know?
Nia Nal deserves a happy ending.
Brainy had been starting to regret turning off his emotion inhibitors, but he’s now feeling grateful that he’s able to feel this pain, because it means he’s also able to feel the warmth of the love he feels for his family.
And so, with that, Nia and Brainy join the dancing. Just three couples enjoying a jig while their Space Dad looks on.
I love them, your honor.
At the Tower, Esme’s babysitter notices that the security system has been breached so he has her hide like she was earlier. Lex and Nyxly appear and they split up; Nyxly to find Esme, who they now know is the Love Totem, and Lex to deal with the reporter, who he calls Paperboy, which I quite enjoyed.
Nyxly finds Esme and aforementioned lack of stranger danger comes into play, because Nyxly says she’s a friend of her moms’, and Esme just believes her. My mom instilled such a fear of strangers in me that sometimes I would second-guess my best friend’s mom when she tried to pick me up on a day I wasn’t informed she was driving me home. But sweet little Esme, possibly imbued with Nyxly’s imp energy because of her powers so hopefully able to defend herself, somewhat reluctantly goes with the pretty lady.
I can’t wait for Esme to save the day.
Meanwhile, Lex shoots Paperboy, whose ego has caused him to set up his phone to record a video instead of to call one of the Superfriends. Now, I don’t have an iPhone, but on my Android, it takes three taps to open my camera, switch to video, and hit record. Possibly two taps if the last thing I did with my camera app was also make a video. Presuming this man has his “phone” app on his home screen (I surely do not; the only person I call is my dad), that’s also three taps. I can call my most recently texted people in four taps. All I’m saying is, if he wasn’t as committed to “the story” as I am to “the bit” he could have called for help instead of recording what happens next.
Especially because he had to know what was about to happen. After revealing that Lex used his sister’s intellect against, and other too-convenient, demoralizing supervillain stuff, Lex shoots Paperboy twice in the chest.
At the party, Alex and Kelly are being cute and taking a selfie when Alex gets another alert on her phone.
“I need a woman who’ll take a chance on a love that burns hot enough to last.”
Esme’s blood test results are finally in, which Lex had somehow purposefully delayed.
It reveals that Esme has fifth dimensional energy in her, and then they put together that Esme’s new marking looks a lot like the Love Totem. They all rush back to the Tower to save their little girl.
With his dying breath, once again instead of just yelling “Supergirl!” the way the literal child knew how to do, he uses voice commands to send his own snuff movie to Andrea, traumatizing her for life.
The Superfriends fly back to the Tower, but they’re too late. There’s no sign of Lex, Nyxly, or Esme, and the reporter/babysitter is definitively dead.
And on one hand, the fact that they spent the back half of this season shoehorning Paperboy into a one-on-one conversation with almost all of the Superfriends just to fake a bond so that his loss would be impactful to everyone is a move that is usually reserved for women. The particular refrigerator he’s in is actually quite spacious. However, I happened to notice that they made a point to remind us that Paperboy was a man of color earlier in this very episode. Also it is not lost on me that the white cis straight man who was supposed to die but somehow did not is the one who killed him. Lex was already evil incarnate, there was no need for him to cross this particular line, except that in the video he says that the reason he is killing this reporter was because he leaked his journals, which we know was actually Andrea, the receiver of said video. So even though the reporter is the one who died, Andrea will feel guilty for stealing a byline and blame herself for the shooting, Kara will feel guilty for taking a night off, Nia will feel guilty for not seeing this coming, Alex and Kelly will feel guilty for leaving Esme behind. So the question is, who was really the victim in this episode? Because I think it wasn’t only the man who was shot. A man who has done nothing but feel entitled to the Superfriends’ lives and be rude to his (female) boss all season.
I hope the Shadow joins forces with the Superfriends for the big boss battle.
Sometimes I wonder if I’m being too hard on Paperboy, but then I remember how much I love Brainy and how much I understand J’onn’s purpose and actions and I know it’s not just my misandry. He’s an anomaly in this show, especially the back half of this season, and while I appreciate how they pivoted away from him being a love interest for Kara, I never found myself particularly endeared to his character. I won’t lie, between Landon on Legacies and Lex on this very show, I have little faith that he’ll stay dead, but in the meantime, I’m not excited to see our Superfam in mourning, and now the series finale of this show called Supergirl, including the episode that is called Kara, is still somehow going to be all about this man., when they should be enjoying a gay wedding instead.
That said, as frustrated as I’ve been with this show from time to time, there’s still so much about it I love, specifically the women at the core of it, and so when the preview for next week’s two-hour event said “series finale” it felt a bit like a punch to the gut. I’ll get into the nostalgia of it all next week, but this show has been an important part of my life for the past six years and will probably honestly always be something I list as one of my favorite shows.
All I can hope for is a slew of happy endings. I’m too jaded to legitimately hope for Supercorp endgame, but I can hope for it to stay open-ended. I hope for Nia and Brainy to find a way to make it work. I hope for Alex and Kelly to live happily ever after with Esme. I hope for Kara to realize how very loved she is, and how much good she’s done for the planet during her relatively short stint on it. I hope.
See you next week, Superfriends! One last time.
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That last paragraph, ugh, so good. Hope.
another thing that got me down this episode was how much time we wasted on Lex and Nyxly romance. why??? the show is about to end and doesn’t feel like it’s supergirl/kara’s show anymore :( can’t believe the last ep are gonna be about a funeral for this random dude, who honestly didn’t even had to die lol that last paragraph was so good but unfortunately i have no hope :( i’m watching the finale because i came this far
“Nyxly yeets them through a dream portal, but Nia makes one of her own and gets them back to the Tower safely, Hope Totem in hand.”
So confusing, all these fights and Totems (and nothing is ever really decided). But in THIS particular case, it was the DREAM Totem the Super Friends made it back to the Tower with.
“I appreciate Esme’s moms letting her keep Lovey with her all the time.”
Not to mention, how much more on the nose could the name of Esme’s stuffed friend be?
“But on the other hand if we spent less time with Lex and more time with the Danvers sisters, we’d all be better for it.”
So. Say. We. All!!!!! [That said, I really liked this Danvers Sisters scene. It’s part of what make Alex and Kara feel like REAL sisters: even as they outgrew most of their adolescent snarking, it’s still not sunshine&roses all the time.] This was the first time I can remember, however, when Alex really expressed how she’d been chafing in the CLOSET, as opposed to just not understanding herself, pre-S2 (though absolutely, the same oppression that shoves some into the closet, makes other delay coming to self-understanding, and self-acceptance).
“It’s not your fault we lost Sectionals, either.”
Being almost the only ASer who didn’t watch Glee, I can’t comment on that . . . but Melissa did do that little voice quiver thing in this scene, and I just about lost it right there.
“she grabs the Truth Totem before J’onn gets them to safety.”
OK, here *I* was legit confused. Kara says she’s grabbing the HOPE totem (y’know, the one they were surprised to find out still existed, after Kara yeeted it into the sun?). But, by count, it seems they got the Truth Totem too? [I had been putting so much stock into the Truth Totem—as being The Secret to Supercorp Endgame, Le Sigh—that it feels very painful to make it a “too” thing.]
“Inexplicably, when they go to the dance floor, Lena…leers? after them? … At this point I’ve stopped asking for heterosexual explanations from one Lena Kieran Luthor-Walsh.”
Same, and same. [Not unlike the longing you saw one LKL-W do in 5×19, when she saw Kara&Alex hug]. All I know FOR SURE, is how much leering *I* was doing, when Lena said she was going to go dance, showing us 1) Katie’s sublime decolletage, and then 2) Katie shaking her inexpressibly *THUD* badonkadonk. Firefighters, hose me down!
“With his dying breath, once again instead of just yelling “Supergirl!” the way the literal child knew how to do”
Sigh, am I always to be placed in the “defend ‘The CatCo Reporter'” role (heh, I do know it’s the LAST time): the literal child UNDERSTOOD what yelling “Supergirl!” could do, in a way *very few* humanoids do.
“I’m too jaded to legitimately hope for Supercorp endgame”
I’m fighting the jadedness right now (it’s like an attack of 31st century nanobots). But I said I would remain hopeful for Supercorp Endgame until the *final second* of 6×20, and dammit, that’s what I’m going to do. 💙💗 Clowning All The Way! 🤡
One more time, Dearest V.A. , one more time…
It feels like the writers are rushing to get as many story ideas in before the finale as they can. And it leaves them with no time to breath. William’s spat with Andrea about ethics in journalism could have been an entire episode. Kara and Alex disagreement over parenting style could have been a mini arc. There’s so much to unpack in the subtext.
—-
– I’m sure more than just Alex’s ears turn red when someone mentions Sara Lance. ;)
– I know you may retch at the mere thought of it, but are you sure you want Nia Nal on Legends? Half of the women added since season two have ended up relugated to the role of “Nate’s girlfriend”.
– Bless you, cinematographer, for centering Alex’s engagement ring in the frame. You understood the assignment.
– I’m sure more than just Alex’s ears turn red when someone mentions Sara Lance. ;)
– “I hate the space time continuum.” Girl, mood.
—-
The writers did William wrong. Whatever his original arc, it got derailed by Crisis and he spent the last season and a half like most of the men on the show have – floundering without a reason to be in the story. And then they decided to butter him up as the sacrificial lamb. But between Esme’s peril and BraiNia’s impending end, it’s too much.
If the writers wanted to ratchet up the tension for the finale, they should have done something they know would grab the fandom by the box.
They should have had Lena babysitting Esme.
—-
And so our journey nears its end. The first part of the finale is titled “The Last Gauntlet”, and the last totem is the Love Totem. Will all the subtext rapidly become text? I certainly hope so. I would even be okay with it being implied – a nervous Alex, stopping by Kara’s apartment the day of the wedding, totally missing the fact that her little sister is wearing the exact same shirt Lena had on the night before. It doesn’t have to be much. It just has to be canon.
Until then…
At this point, after Alex&Kelly are off on their honeymoon, the 31st centurions head home, J’onn is off to Mars, and Kara and Lena are the last ones on stage, and they just look at each other, and smile. Really, I’m asking for THAT LITTLE, now… 🥺
I can’t watch the last 2 episodes. I want to but am afraid to! Brainy being taken from the super group now supercorp again? That stupid main brain, that big blob and the other brainies calling him away again? Come on! They just got all back together, a little super family and it is being wrecked again? William shot again?? If things go in this direction it is a Debbie Downer ending, no hoopla! A funeral too? Hope it is going to go the upbeat positive way SuperGirl has been! I was liking this Seasom 6 very much, till this episode! Dumb move writers!
“And since apparently they can’t just wait 60 years and then have Brainy go to the 31st century for timey wimey reasons”
100% THIS. It makes absolutely no sense why Brainy has to leave now of all times when it should be possible to take care of this at any point. It reminds me of Legends a few weeks ago when Gloria pointed out how the rest of the team should’ve been able to just time travel to the moment right after they left to pick up Spooner and Astra, so the fact that they didn’t tells them that something was gonna go wrong. This acknowledgement of the basic principles of time travel and understanding that you have to write around stuff like this to make it work is just another thing that continually sets the writing of these 2 shows apart
And totally agree about Paperboy’s death. I also breathed a sigh of relief when they steered him away from being a love interest for Kara, but the attempts to endear him to us this season just completely fell flat. He was still the same useless character he was last season, and all he did was drag the show down these last 2 years
Also, did anyone else think the finale preview was super underwhelming? They’re capping off 6 years and it just felt like another pretty basic teaser. The preview for this week’s episode had a lot more dramatic weight to it. It might seem like a weird nitpick, but it’s just been bothering me
Referring to William as “the reporter” throughout this cracked me up but unfortunately represents how much I cared about his character in both life and death. I think I enjoyed your recap more than the episode itself which was a disappointment at so many turns, but those little moments I love so much between these characters I love so much make it so difficult not to tune in every week as shown in so many of your screengrabs. As exhausted as this season has made me, you put into words how sad it is going to be saying goodbye next week.
Thanks for a great read!
I am furious that, once again, bad writers go for the cheap heat of child endangerment. This season has been mostly terrible, based on a plagiarized story arc at the expense of developing the relationships among the superfriends that would show them as fully ones-of-us. So we get comic-book fanboy convenience, disaster every two minutes, instead of growing beyond that into serious presentation of what it means to be responsible to one another.
I really liked your article.
How dare the writers endanger Esme?!?! Poor baby girl never did anything wrong in her life.
There was too.much.Lex in this episode. And it does drag Nxly down as a character really. Sad.
Well, I appreciated the 5 min of joy in this episodes, where everyone was just showing off their dorkiest adult dance moves :)
All the women front and centre in the finale pls! I know there will be cameos of some former cast members, but let it be about the Superfriends and -lovers saving the day once more with feeling.
Valerie Anne…..Just gotta say how much I enjoy your synopses. They fill in holes for me, and they just plain entertain me. Love the humor. Love the writing. In fact….love it more than I’m loving the wrap-up of Supergirl. With the incessant encouragement to me courageous, to be humble, to be true to yourself, to be gay if you’re inclined, to be trans and accepted, for sisters to be understanding of each other….I feel like I am watching a self-help video! What’s happened to this show? I feel qualified to ask that, because I’ve watched every single episode. That said, keep up the great writing!
hard agree, been saying it for years, Nia should join the Legends, and Lena should 1000% show up on Batwoman, just as a guest star every now and then. You know, for business reasons.