S05.E10: The Bottle Episode

[Trini]

The subsequent complications from the Crisis leave Supergirl to face a chaotic threat.

Tawnia McKiernan directed the episode with story by Derek Simon and teleplay by Nicki Holcomb & Jen Troy.

Airdate: 1/19/2020

 

[bettername2come]

Supergirl is enjoying having these very specific music cues this season, between N'Sync and Muse. Jesse Rath did really well with his roles this episode. I'm always amused when he and Meghan guest star in each others's series.

I had other thoughts but they all went away because WINN! WINN!

[Jediknight]

Anti Life Equation, and Lex mentioning apocalypse?  Darkseid's gonna be the next crossover, isn't he?  He's the reason that all the heroes are gonna have to work with Lex.

Winn is with Leviathan?  Winn is with freaking Leviathan?  It's like they saw what Batwoman did and said "We got a way to top that."  It can't happen.

Kara's got a lot of powers.  She can fly, she's strong, she can shoot fire from her eyes, she can rock a dress like nobody else, she can run fast, she's got freeze breath, she's always optimistic, but her true power is pep talks.

[Lady Calypso]

This...was a weird episode to come back to. Honestly, I don't think I like ANYTHING that transpired. 

First off, Lex. Urg, Lex. No, show, I DO NOT want more Lex Luthor. He's basically the new Mon-El of season 2, taking over until he pisses me right off when he takes over Kara's screentime. I didn't mind him in small doses, but now that he's here to stay, possibly until the end of the series, I'm just getting upset.

What upsets me as well? Brainy's arc. I HATE stupid tropes like Brainy having to lie to everyone and work with the enemy who will absolutely betray everyone by the end of season and everyone will be mad at Brainy for next season. Yeah, I'd rather pass on that stuff. 

I didn't like new chick who's Andrea's mentor either. And so many characters got so little to do. 

Otherwise...I DID enjoy the many Brainy doppelgangers, including Meaghan Rath's Brainy. 

And, that ending. Winn is the Toyman in this new universe? Say WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? 

Otherwise, 10000% excited to see Jeremy Jordan reappear as Winn. I don't care if he's good or evil. It's Jeremy freaking Jordan. He's rocked every single role he's been given. I have missed him so much. I'll take whatever version of Winn that I can get. I just wish he was back full-time. Ok, I'd rather our Winn was back. 

[quarks]

1. Wow, it's going to be tricky to remember who remembers what on Supergirl, and by tricky, I mean it will be tricky for the show even if most of the major characters were at least slightly clued in by the end.

2. Jesse Rath clearly had fun with this one, and it was entertaining to watch him jump through the different Brainiacs.

But awww, breaking up Brainy and Nia? Awww.

3. Come on, Lena. You're smarter than this! And more cynical!

4. I am glad that at least one show remembered that yes, by merging earths, Crisis on Infinite Earths did leave people dead. 

5. And yay, Winn is returning! YAY!

 

[thuganomics85]

The random NSYNC choice might have almost stole the entire show here, honestly.  That was unexpected!

Certainly looks like Supergirl post-Crisis is going to be going through a lot of changes.  Lex large and in charge, and beloved by everyone who isn't Kara and in her social circle.  Characters having multiple versions of themselves in the same universe (did like the duo bartenders.)  Lillian is back!  I pity anyone who didn't watch the crossover for whatever reasons, because they really dive right into things.  Curious to see how the other shows play out.

Enjoyed the multiple Brainy stuff and Jesse Rath was a blast playing the various versions.  Having Meaghan Rath play a female Brainy was a fun bit of casting as well.  But once Brainy became his "true form", I knew it was going to end with him ending things with Nia, in order to "protect her", since he is aligning himself with Lex now.  They really do love their romantic angst, huh?  No couple is allowed to just be happy and normal!

Oh, Lena!  You're anger with Kara is now making you align yourself with Lex, but really, you're likely just a pawn in his and Lillian's new scheme.  This isn't healthy!

Cara Buono's character is now going by the name Gemma Cooper, and is a board member in Andrea's company, and wants to use her device for what I'm sure isn't sinister at all!

Of course, William is the only person (other than Kara and friends) who thinks something is suspicious with Lex.  They really want me to like this character, huh?

Winn is back?!  Or, a version of him?!

[Primal Slayer]

Not a bad episode, more Crisis than COIE actually was funninly enough. Love Brainys new look with the blonde hair, let him keep it!

BUTTTTT.....this was to soon after COIE..we just got these merged Earths only for a bunch of them not to be merged and an entire planet managing to escape it. We are given this new "continuity" only for every character we know to be fully aware of it which kind of takes what little punch COIE had..gone.

They did a great job casting the female Brainy, she legit looked like his sister and it was a great Brainy episode overall.

[Lady Calypso]

11 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

They did a great job casting the female Brainy, she legit looked like his sister and it was a great Brainy episode overall.

I mean, it helps because it actually WAS Jesse Rath's sister. Speaking of...I guess she got a week off of Hawaii Five-0 to make an appearance. Hello, Meaghan Rath! I would not hate to see you come back! Somehow!

It was a very solid Brainy episode. I just didn't love the ending.

24 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

Cara Buono's character is now going by the name Gemma Cooper, and is a board member in Andrea's company, and wants to use her device for what I'm sure isn't sinister at all!

I totally forgot about Cara Buono's role in the first half of the season until I read your post. Ooops!

[angora]

Yes, there was stuff that annoyed me, but overall, I liked it a lot.

Okay, so rather than having Lena wake up assimilated into Earth Prime like everyone else, believing Lex is a good guy and that they're partners, Lex specifically rebooted the universe in such a way that she would remember him being evil/killing him and knowing the good-guy stuff was just an act? He wants to work with her, but he WANTS it to be with her disgusted by him and going against her better judgement. That is a total Bastard Lex move.

I'm glad Kara's first instinct was to fill Lena in, even if it meant telling her about the rift between them in the old timeline. She's learned from past mistakes, and although it didn't go as planned ('cause once again, Lex beat her to the punch in the reboot,) I liked that she didn't try to pretend everything was happy-shiny between them and they never fell out.

I haven't watch tonight's Batwoman yet (Doctor Who - Sunday nights have too many heroines for me to watch them all in one sitting!), but Supergirl is definitely going all in with post-Crisis shake-ups and has me interested in seeing what the other shows have in store. Obviously, Lex is the big thing here, but we also got the Al's Bar doppelgangers and whatnot here. Although, side note, didn't Crisis show us that

Spoiler

there are still multiple Earths? Doesn't necessarily mean that all those Brainys' Earths are among the ones that survived, but Earth Prime isn't the only one left.

So I guess this is what Jesse Rath was doing while Crisis was filming? That was great. I loved all the different Brainys he played - they were all clearly different characters, but all recognizably Brainy too. PLUS, you had Leather Jacket Brainy having different personas pre- and post-bottle reveal, not to mention the shift in our Brainy when he removed the inhibitor. Jesse Rath was like, "Okay, I'm just gonna give you ALL the acting!" And I always like seeing him and his sister appear on one another's shows! When I first heard about Meghan Rath coming on the show, I thought she might be playing someone from Brainy's family coming to the 21st century, but given the events of Crisis, the multiple-Earths thing makes sense (and we still got stuff about Brainy's family on top of it, so win-win!)

Apparently Brainy's dad was Elsa's parents in Frozen? Frightened of something he saw in Brainy as a child, so he stifled/repressed Brainy for his entire life and made him afraid to be himself? Score another one for fictional parents! (And an expressly-evil mom, too - Brainy is quite the self-made hero.) I really like how they explored the stuff with the inhibitors here, both in his conversation with Female Brainy and his admission to Kara. And so interesting that removing the inhibitors made him less manic and more in control. You'd think it'd be overwhelming for him (that's clearly what he was afraid of, losing control of himself,) but I guess it was like, with the inhibitors, everything built up inside him and he didn't know how to deal with it, but getting rid of them was like having a pressure-release valve.

And I laughed at the switch from blue/platinum to green/blond after he took the inhibitors off, an "Okay, we GET it already!!" to everyone who complained about the blue makeup when he first showed up.

But yeah, getting close to Lex in secret and breaking up with Nia to do it? Boo! Sheesh, how many roadblocks have Nia and Brainy hit now? One of the benefits of being supporting characters in a couple is usually LESS relationship drama/interference than the protagonists have to deal with. How long before these two can just be fun and cute together for a while?

[BaggythePanther]

I’m torn. On the one hand I’m glad Lena’s memory wasn’t wiped, so the first part of the season wasn’t a waste. However, I hate Lena and Kara being at odds and wish the storyline was over.  Also not a fan of Lena being reduced to the family puppet. Glad to see Lillian back and out of jail though.

1 hour ago, Lady Calypso said:

I didn't mind him in small doses, but now that he's here to stay, possibly until the end of the series, I'm just getting upset.

I know you shouldn’t assume, but I figured that Lex’s only here till the end of the season and he would move to the Superman and Lois show next season.

So. Many. Brainys. Jesse Rath did a great job portraying them all. I feel like the explanation for his blue skin was a retcon, but regardless it was cool to see him with the classic Brainy look. Female Brainy telling our Brainy to give up all his connections was so contrived. I’ve lost count of how many times Brainy and Nia have broken up.

10 minutes ago, Primal Slayer said:

They did a great job casting the female Brainy, she legit looked like his sister and it was a great Brainy episode overall.

That was his sister, Meaghan Rath. Now if she could take a break from Hawaii Five-O to guest star, I’m taking it as a sign we’ll see Katrina Law again some day.

Pep talks aside, did Kara do much this week? I can understand the episode be Kara light because it’s a post crossover episode but in general I don’t like it. And teaming Kara and William up to do the same investigation again won’t make me like him anymore the second time around.

When the *NSYNC music started during the fight scene. I actually said “What the fuck is going on?” That usually only happens during Legends episodes. Make of that what you will.

[Cthulhudrew]

I'm really not sure what the hell happened this episode; I'm just happy we got a green and blond Braniac finally.

(I don't quite understand why his accent dropped, though.)

Edited January 20, 2020 by Cthulhudrew

[Cthulhudrew]

He also got a better wig as NuBrainy. 😂

Edited January 20, 2020 by Cthulhudrew

[AnimeMania]

I hate that this crossover smushed all the Earths, now there are meta-humans, Green Light meta-humans, Doppelgangers from other earths, aliens, and whatever is going on with the DC Universe streaming shows all in the same world.

So did Kara really say that Brainy's mama put that planet in a jar because his father didn't love her or was I extra extrapolating.

So Lex said all the Kasnia stuff happened, but nobody hated him for it. What about the Red Sun stuff, just water under the bridge?

The stupid planet in a bottle stuff hurt my brain, it was so stupid. If they are so connected why couldn't they sense which Brainy was killing the others? Why were the witches so willing to open the bottle one second, then thinking this is the stupidest idea they have ever heard the next second?

[Trini]

Well, my speculations about this episode were completely off! I thought this was a really interesting set up for the rest of the season, even though there are some things I don't like.

Besides post-Crisis set up, this was mainly a Brainy episode, and I thought Jesse Rath did good here, and I'm glad he got to have a good number of scenes with his sister.

Nice to get a little more backstory and fleshing out for Brainy. It was cool to see him look more more like his comic appearance. Although I didn't necessarily need him to be green, I'm glad they got a better looking wig!

More angst for Brainy/Nia - *sigh*  And Lena's already working with Lex (not to mention, he's running the DEO), so I'm not happy that Brainy is going to be working with him in secret too.

Speaking of Luthors: yeah, not thrilled that Lex is here to stay. It'll probably be just for the rest of this season, but that's still way too long. And one Crisis change I was hoping to get was a retcon of Lena's ridiculous attitude and plans for a planet-wide mindwipe, but nope, they're still plowing ahead with that - now with extra Luthors involved. *SIGH*

Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel about so many people remembering the old timeline.

I don't know if they are actually going to go in a romantic direction with William and Kara, but I'm glad they didn't try to do anything with that before the reset.

The Anti-life equation... Darkseid?? It's interesting that they're teasing that, because would DC let the CW TV universe use those stories, since there's a New Gods film in development right now?

Another interesting thing they introduced was the idea that there are "orphans" from other worlds on 'Earth-Prime'. So it seems like doppelgangers may not be completely off the table even with the earths collapsed.

Edited January 20, 2020 by Trini

[Primal Slayer]

5 minutes ago, Trini said:

 

Another interesting thing they introduced was the idea that there are "orphans" from other worlds on 'Earth-Prime'. So it seems like doppelgangers may not be completely off the table even with the earths collapsed.

Oliver should've taken a class in how to properly merge Earths. So many doppelgangers getting through somehow is messy.

[BaggythePanther]

2 hours ago, Trini said:

And one Crisis change I was hoping to get was a retcon of Lena's ridiculous attitude and plans for a planet-wide mindwipe, but nope, they're still plowing ahead with that - now with extra Luthors involved. *SIGH*

Now with Lex and Lillian involved I’m hoping the plan goes sideways sooner rather than later and Lena finally learns the hard way that this is a dumb idea.

If William’s friend Russel’s death is related to Lex, I wonder if Andrea never got powers from Leviathan. And if not, does Lena still have the amulet?

[Jediknight]

3 hours ago, Trini said:

The Anti-life equation... Darkseid?? It's interesting that they're teasing that, because would DC let the CW TV universe use those stories, since there's a New Gods film in development right now?

With the failures they've had, they could be getting more lax with their rules.  Perhaps letting there to be more expansion.  I remember hearing that they're focused more on stand alone movies right now, and not so much a shared universe.  Just in Crisis we got Donner's Superman, Green Lantern, DCEU Flash with a Victor name drop, and we actually saw Batman.  Actually seeing Batman used to be a massive no-no, and we not only got Batman, we got a Batman that straight up has no morals.

So they could be setting up Darkseid as the next crossover.

[UNOSEZ]

5 hours ago, BaggythePanther said:

I’m torn. On the one hand I’m glad Lena’s memory wasn’t wiped, so the first part of the season wasn’t a waste. However, I hate Lena and Kara being at odds and wish the storyline was over.  Also not a fan of Lena being reduced to the family puppet. Glad to see Lillian back and out of jail though.

I'm not,  I'm glad she has her memories and isn't left in the dark.. What I am upset about is Kara still apologizing and Lena still sticking her chest out... Kara comes to her to tell her what's going down.. So Lena is caught off guard again... Doing what Lena always says she wants ( hearing the truth) Kara is exhibiting some growth here.. And Lena's response?...  To act the ass... I was over her nonsense before COIE... I'm well past it now... If she wants to be huffy fine.. But  show... Plz let Kara check her at least one time... Lena is walking all over her and its maddening... Kara dumped James with no explanation almost immediately hooked up with another guy basically stopped speaking to James for almost a season and when she did it was to tell him he couldn't be a hero because he was a human... I don't remember her groveling to him for that... She and J'onn wiped Alex' mind without consent.. Had her sister thinking she was crazy.. And didn't apologize this much... I know she's this beacon of positivity and hopeful ness.. But this is ridiculous 

[Writing Wrongs]

Did Alex say that the DEO has a Hellmouth now? WTF?

[Lady Calypso]

2 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

I'm not,  I'm glad she has her memories and isn't left in the dark.. What I am upset about is Kara still apologizing and Lena still sticking her chest out... Kara comes to her to tell her what's going down.. So Lena is caught off guard again... Doing what Lena always says she wants ( hearing the truth) Kara is exhibiting some growth here.. And Lena's response?...  To act the ass... I was over her nonsense before COIE... I'm well past it now... If she wants to be huffy fine.. But  show... Plz let Kara check her at least one time... Lena is walking all over her and its maddening... 

I agree with this. Part of the reason why I was hoping for some change with Lena from Crisis is to stop her bitching at Kara. I was tired of it by episode 5 and it looks like it'll just continue. I GET that it's realistic and, on paper, I like the idea of a character being mad at another for a respectable amount of time. But it's just not working on this show, especially with how they trashed Lena's character by making her do shady things in the first half of this season. So it tarnished Lena as a character for me completely. 

I get being angry. I don't get being perpetually angry for months to the point where she's openly trashing Kara. It's not fun TV to watch. I now understand why things don't work on TV very well, such as two main characters fighting all season long. It's just not being done well enough for me to care. I just want it to be over.

7 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I hate that this crossover smushed all the Earths, now there are meta-humans, Green Light meta-humans, Doppelgangers from other earths, aliens, and whatever is going on with the DC Universe streaming shows all in the same world.

I do think that smushing the Earths (not the DC Universe Streaming shows, as those are all on separate Earths) was a good idea in theory, but it also now completely complicates things, since we're now going to see a whole bunch of continuity issues crossing shows. Because now, you can't have one show mention something happening in the world without the worry of another show retconning it. It'll be hard to fanwank that kind of stuff. 

[UNOSEZ]

8 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

So did Kara really say that Brainy's mama put that planet in a jar because his father didn't love her or was I extra extrapolating.

Nah... She basically did.. I caught it too and was wondering why brainy prime didn't say something about it.. At least something when she said he was loved and supported something like " so was she"

[Rushmoras]

3 hours ago, Writing Wrongs said:

Did Alex say that the DEO has a Hellmouth now? WTF?

Buffy's universe crossed-over? LOL

[BaggythePanther]

6 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

I'm not,  I'm glad she has her memories and isn't left in the dark.. What I am upset about is Kara still apologizing and Lena still sticking her chest out... Kara comes to her to tell her what's going down.. So Lena is caught off guard again... Doing what Lena always says she wants ( hearing the truth) Kara is exhibiting some growth here.. And Lena's response?...  To act the ass... I was over her nonsense before COIE... I'm well past it now... If she wants to be huffy fine.. But  show... Plz let Kara check her at least one time... Lena is walking all over her and its maddening... She and J'onn wiped Alex' mind without consent.. Had her sister thinking she was crazy.

 

3 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I agree with this. Part of the reason why I was hoping for some change with Lena from Crisis is to stop her bitching at Kara. I was tired of it by episode 5 and it looks like it'll just continue. I GET that it's realistic and, on paper, I like the idea of a character being mad at another for a respectable amount of time. But it's just not working on this show, especially with how they trashed Lena's character by making her do shady things in the first half of this season. So it tarnished Lena as a character for me completely. 

I get being angry. I don't get being perpetually angry for months to the point where she's openly trashing Kara. It's not fun TV to watch. I now understand why things don't work on TV very well, such as two main characters fighting all season long. It's just not being done well enough for me to care. I just want it to be over.

Lena believes her whole friendship with Kara was a lie, so if this were real life Lena would either accept Kara’s apology or cut Kara off and never talk to her again. But because this is TV and we need drama we’re stuck in an obnoxious middle ground where Lena is still pissy but still interacting with Kara. Lena is a smart, capable woman with the emotional maturity of a teenage girl and that is not fun to watch. My hope is that when Lex screws Lena over she comes back to Kara and admits some fault in how everything went down. That might be a pipe dream though. 

Also, Alex did give her consent to have her mind erased. Everyone was just really stupid and no one thought to have Alex leave a note to herself.

[AD35]

Another vote for the Lena hates Kara storyline to be over and done with. Between her memories of Lex and Kara one would think she would be a bit more forgiving towards Kara in the light of their shared new reality. Hopefully soon she'll stop acting like Kara burned down her she shed and messed with her discount.

[MarkHB]

10 hours ago, Trini said:

The Anti-life equation... Darkseid?? It's interesting that they're teasing that, because would DC let the CW TV universe use those stories, since there's a New Gods film in development right now?

According to rumors...

Spoiler

The New Gods film will focus on Scott Free (Mister Miracle) and Big Barda and their escape from Apokolips, so I think that leaves plenty of room for other Darkseid stories.

But the extra doppelganger refugees bother me, because the Paragons literally went back to the Big Bang and stopped those universes from ever forming at all. Except for possibly the new Earth 2 (Stargirl), the other remaining universes are all separate DC shows, movie worlds, etc. that won't ever directly interact with the CWverse.

[Aeryn13]

I`m confused. I thought the multiverse montage at the end of Crisis means the multiverse is back so why did this episode pretty much say the opposite? And how did Doppelgangers from other Earths (presumably before their destruction) make it to the newly formed Earth Prime? Were they in a wait line while it happened and then re-routed? The logistics don`t make sense to me. 

Sigh, Lena. This will go on all Season, right? Urgh.

And why wouldn`t Lex know at least of Leviathan? 

Good Brainy ep, though.

[shantown]

17 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

First off, Lex. Urg, Lex. No, show, I DO NOT want more Lex Luthor. He's basically the new Mon-El of season 2, taking over until he pisses me right off when he takes over Kara's screentime. I didn't mind him in small doses, but now that he's here to stay, possibly until the end of the series, I'm just getting upset.

Okay, I agree with pretty much all of @Lady Calypso's post and also didn't dig the majority of this. 

I'm really sick of Lex Luthor. Jon Cryer has done a great job at the role, no doubt, but the lead on a superhero show shouldn't be the villain. I'm hoping after this season we're done with him (on Supergirl at least). What's more, I'm really sick of Lex and Lillian and their abuse of Lena. They are always scheming new ways to manipulate and use Lena, while being overly nice to her face - wanting to be a mother, a partner, a companion. And then in the same sentence where they offer a closeness with her, they also continue insulting her desire to do good, her intelligence, her friendships, even her basic desire to have a mother or a brother in the first place. I get it, they're evil, I would just like to see this storyline of Luthor family drama wrapped up and not be dragged into season 6. Let Lena go off and be happy or let her find happiness here, either way PLEASE please please let 5B be the end of the abuse of Lena from the Luthors.

That being said, I loved Jesse and Meaghan Rath and the multiple Brainy's. I wouldn't mind seeing Meagan again, just please don't let this become a "Council of Wells" situation. And the N'Synce fight scene was good!

Edited January 20, 2020 by shantown
Wanted to add some good things

[Starry]

Not all the Earths merged but I assume the characters don't know and that's why they are claiming there's no multiverse anymore? That's the only way I can make sense of the retcon. Good for them for merging Earth-38 with a couple random Earths but my problem with the multiple versions of the same character all in one universe thing is that technically every single one of them is in the wrong reality.

Good episode for Brainy. I liked Jesse's portrayal of the various Brainys. I guess now we know why he isn't green like he was in the comics. The personality inhibitors made him blue! I think Jesse is a likable actor and I am glad that he's getting a multi-episode storyline. My only issue is that they broke up Brainy and Nia again!

I agree that Kara is too much of a doormat for Lena. I understand why she wanted to tell Lena the truth and I even applaud her for her honesty ( even though realistically, I get why Alex was against it now that there's a reality where there's no drama ) but this relationship is so unbalanced I am running out of patience. I think both women have already said their piece. If Lena wants nothing to do with Kara anymore that's her prerogative but I need Kara to stop beating herself up over it.

I think the Kara and William team-up can be interesting and I hope Nia can be a part of it since she's a reporter too but I don't want them to make it so that Kara is trying to expose Lex to save Lena. I really need that dynamic to be more balanced.

[BaggythePanther]

4 hours ago, Aeryn13 said:

I`m confused. I thought the multiverse montage at the end of Crisis means the multiverse is back so why did this episode pretty much say the opposite? And how did Doppelgangers from other Earths (presumably before their destruction) make it to the newly formed Earth Prime? Were they in a wait line while it happened and then re-routed? The logistics don`t make sense to me. 

Sigh, Lena. This will go on all Season, right? Urgh.

And why wouldn`t Lex know at least of Leviathan? 

Good Brainy ep, though.

The characters don’t know other worlds still exist. For whatever reason they can’t detect the other Earths (which is the real world work around for keeping the CW shows separate from the other DC shows).

Lex was in the Monitor’s space prison when Leviathan popped up. So he doesn’t know anything about Lena and the amulet or Supergirl’s fight with Rama Kahn.

[iMonrey]

Wow, I'm lost. I did not watch the cross-over event, which appears to have changed this show in a fundamental way that those cross-overs usually do not. I watched the first episode of Crisis that aired in Supergirl's time slot and couldn't follow it because I didn't know any of the other characters. This is the only DC show I watch on the CW. I have never watched any of the others, or had any interest in them. Not a comics reader either.

So, I might have to be done with this. Apparently the CW was banking on the idea that everyone who watches Supergirl watches all their other DC shows too.

[MarkHB]

I have created a brief summary of how Crisis affected Supergirl here, in hopes it will help those of you who didn't watch it enjoy the show going forward.

[secnarf]

22 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

The random NSYNC choice might have almost stole the entire show here, honestly.  That was unexpected!

...

I pity anyone who didn't watch the crossover for whatever reasons, because they really dive right into things.  Curious to see how the other shows play out.

 

Yes the NSYNC piece was my main takeaway from this episode too. It was...unexpected.

I didn't watch the crossover because I just don't care enough nor do I have the time. This is the only one of those shows that I watch. I was fine with the crossovers when it was just with The Flash, but I watched the first multi-show crossover and was incredibly confused, and have not wasted my time on them since. I could follow the main points enough, at least to tell where we ended up, but I'm sure I am missing a lot. It does seem clear that they really don't care about the viewers who don't have the time or desire to watch a million other shows just to follow the plot on this one.

13 hours ago, Writing Wrongs said:

Did Alex say that the DEO has a Hellmouth now? WTF?

I couldn't tell if she was being literal or figurative.

[ruby24]

Okay, couple things.

1) WOW that makeup job is SO much better for Brainy than the shitty blue one! Leave him like that all the time, please! Seriously, he can always look like that now. Comics accurate and actually looks good on him.

2) He acts different as this Brainy and please let him act like that from now on too! If they basically reboot him as New Brainy who is really the "true" Brainy, than maybe he can be a better character and have more to do. You can take him seriously enough to the point where they could even try pairing up him and Kara like they're supposed to be in the comics! I would love that. They should try it and Jesse Rath is a capable enough actor to basically do a new version of Brainy. No one cares about him and Nia, so I hope that's done for real.

[UNOSEZ]

3 minutes ago, ruby24 said:

Okay, couple things.

1) WOW that makeup job is SO much better for Brainy than the shitty blue one! Leave him like that all the time, please! Seriously, he can always look like that now. Comics accurate and actually looks good on him.

2) He acts different as this Brainy and please let him act like that from now on too! If they basically reboot him as New Brainy who is really the "true" Brainy, than maybe he can be a better character and have more to do. You can take him seriously enough to the point where they could even try pairing up him and Kara like they're supposed to be in the comics! I would love that. They should try it and Jesse Rath is a capable enough actor to basically do a new version of Brainy. No one cares about him and Nia, so I hope that's done for real.

I've enjoyed this toned down brainy so much more in like 3 scenes than anything from the character before... Of course he's gonna be helping Lex so not sure I love that.. If only because I don't want Lex swallowing up bandwith alas Mon-el.... As for a potential romance... I doubt it.. I don't think the show would have Kara do that to Nia... But that also means there is a possibility for William.. And that just won't do... So I nominate Luke Fox let berlanti and his geniuses figure out how to do a cross show long distance thing... 

[ruby24]

Oh god, please just get rid of William now. When I saw him again this episode I realized I'd completely forgotten his existence. And now his storyline is the exact same thing as before, only it's Lex he suspects and has no evidence for? Are you kidding? Come on, writers. Just admit you made a mistake with this doofus and get rid of him please.

I don't see why, if this rebooted, more serious, toned down Brainy with the cool look and reminder that he's got powers (right now I forget what they are half the time) and is from the future proves popular then I don't see why they can't try out him and Kara. 

[Lantern7]

So . . . apparently, inhibiting emotional and/or mental growth makes Coluans change colors. Okay, then. Also, Lex Luthor still loves power, even if he got it by merely scrawling stuff on a page from the Book of Destiny. I'm thinking Kara wishes it were a Death Note instead. Yeah, I think she could be an otaku.

Of course, we now have refugees from other universes now. Great, so we're gonna get another Agent Liberty story next season. And Lena still has a mad-on for Kara, which . . . of course she does. Bright side: Crisis of Infinite Five Four Brainiacs was fun, even if we had an old comic trope (the original Brainiac's obsession with shrinking and bottling worlds). Of course, with great stability comes great amorality . . . and a breakup with Nia.

I did like the episode . . . I just watched Doctor Who, and with the Monday holiday, I figured I could hit Batwoman and Supergirl off the DVR . . .and then I never got around to posting. Who knows what a merged Earth would mean for Supergirl . . . maybe Cat Grant is at the head of Leviathan. Who knows?

[Trini]

1 hour ago, ruby24 said:

2) He acts different as this Brainy and please let him act like that from now on too! If they basically reboot him as New Brainy who is really the "true" Brainy, than maybe he can be a better character and have more to do. ...

I think that's exactly the plan. Although, I was fine with the previous version.

 

Quote

... You can take him seriously enough to the point where they could even try pairing up him and Kara like they're supposed to be in the comics! I would love that. ...

Ha! I've said that they'd have to change his entire personality if they were ever going to pair him with Kara. They don't want to go there, for whatever reason. They haven't really hinted at that since Brainy's first appearance 2 seasons ago; and BraiNia is definitely a Thing.

[bros402]

18 hours ago, Writing Wrongs said:

Did Alex say that the DEO has a Hellmouth now? WTF?

I thought she said it is a Hellmouth now?

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Wow, I'm lost. I did not watch the cross-over event, which appears to have changed this show in a fundamental way that those cross-overs usually do not. I watched the first episode of Crisis that aired in Supergirl's time slot and couldn't follow it because I didn't know any of the other characters. This is the only DC show I watch on the CW. I have never watched any of the others, or had any interest in them. Not a comics reader either.

So, I might have to be done with this. Apparently the CW was banking on the idea that everyone who watches Supergirl watches all their other DC shows too.

I watched them even though I haven't watched the others. Basically, every universe was destroyed. Supergirl & some of the others, including Lex, got trapped in a place that is outside of the multiverse, and they got out of it with the help of Flash going super duper fast. Arrow also got possessed by some godlike thing. After that, they fought the Anti-Monitor at the beginning of time, they won, and as he was dying, Arrow brought back the universe - however, he didn't do it perfectly, and merged all of the known universes (Outside of some shown in a coda) - and all of the CW DC Heroes are on the same Earth now. Some other things were changed - Lois & Clark now have two sons, for example.

Lex also got a page from a reality altering book and made it so he is now loved on this new Earth. Nobody knows he is a villain.

[Perfect Xero]

I was hoping that they'd go the direction that the Lex of this earth actually had been a good person until paragon Lex replaced him. I think it would be a more interesting dynamic for the character than just going straight back to Lex the over the top villain. 

Edited January 21, 2020 by Perfect Xero

[MarkHB]

Honestly, I think that Lex made the same transition that he did following the original Crisis in the comics. The Lex we had last season was the mad scientist supervillain with the Lexosuit, and now he's John Byrne's beloved businessman who is only secretly evil.

[Rushmoras]

I only have one word summing up this episode post-Crisis. TERRIBLE.

[Josh371982]

19 hours ago, ruby24 said:

Okay, couple things.

1) WOW that makeup job is SO much better for Brainy than the shitty blue one! Leave him like that all the time, please! Seriously, he can always look like that now. Comics accurate and actually looks good on him.

2) He acts different as this Brainy and please let him act like that from now on too! If they basically reboot him as New Brainy who is really the "true" Brainy, than maybe he can be a better character and have more to do. You can take him seriously enough to the point where they could even try pairing up him and Kara like they're supposed to be in the comics! I would love that. They should try it and Jesse Rath is a capable enough actor to basically do a new version of Brainy. No one cares about him and Nia, so I hope that's done for real.

LOL I cant stand when people say NO ONE CARES about something like they know every single person and that they don't care. There are people who like Brainy and Nia and dont need the show to copy the comics 100%. 

[Trini]

I thought it was bad writing that they had the same Brainiac that told Brainy that love is good, etc., also tell him he had to break up with his girlfriend.

---

Unrelated:

The closed captions had "Kor-El' instead of "Querl"; aren't they supposed to provide spellings for those sort of things?

[Trini]

 

[tennisgurl]

The Council of Braineys will now commence! 

So we now enter the post-crisis era of Supergirl, with some things changing and some things not so much. I admit, as cheap as it might be, I was hoping that they would use this fresh start to end this Lena and Kara fight, or make some progress towards Lena forgiving Kara and avoiding this slide into supervillainy. I was glad to see consequences for Kara and everyone lying to Lena, and her being pissed was understandable, but this whole plot has gone on and on for seemingly ages now, and I just want her to finally make peace with Kara already and stop with the free will killing robots or whatever! We have enough plots already! 

It was great seeing Jesse Rath getting to shine more, as I always think he does a good job, especially when they dont just use him as comic relief (as good as he is with that) and really dig more into his character and his history, which is quite interesting. Being one of the only non-evil people in your famously evil family, and still having mental connections to them is certainly a good source of drama, and the backstory with his dad apparently messing with his programming/personality to keep him from joining the family tradition of supervillainy is quite interesting. I get why Brainy wanted to get to his full potential, but this is all going to send so badly. Dont listen to the other Brainys, they apparently haven't watched the show! Working with Lex will never end well, breaking up with people "for their protection" just leads to needless angst, and, if we have learned nothing else from this franchise, dont keep secrets from your friends and loved ones!! No matter how noble it seems, it always ends up making everything worse! This is all such a bad idea, remember what happened when Brainy got his personality mixed up with all of his evil relatives? Yeah, that was bad! This will be bad! 

I will always love a random NSYNC musical interlude! They seem to be doing some interesting stuff with the post crisis world, like the two bartenders and the witch sisters from the other world, even if, honestly, it will all probably be put in the background pretty soon, so dont be too scared, people who dont want to watch the other shows or the big crossover! Interesting that they seem to think, in universe, that the Crisis killed the whole multiverse, when we know that the multiverse survived (maybe its just smaller?) so hopefully they can figure that out soon, even though there probably wont be much more universe jumping now that the Arrowverse shows all exist in the same universe. 

WINN!?!? A Winn from another universe? Alternate Winn? Is he the Toymaker in the universe he came from? No matter what, I am so excited!

Edited January 22, 2020 by tennisgurl

[MarkHB]

10 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Interesting that they seem to think, in universe, that the Crisis killed the whole multiverse...

I think they're planning on writing it that way across the board.  The remaining Multiverse is all places they can't go, like the Doom Patrol world, and it still exists because, as MG said, they had to promise to put all the borrowed toys back in the box when they were done. I don't know what that's going to mean for Stargirl, though, if she's never going to mingle with the others or not (and since she's on new Earth-2 where the JSA was, wouldn't a crossover with Jessie be cool!)

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 1/20/2020 at 12:51 AM, AnimeMania said:

I hate that this crossover smushed all the Earths, now there are meta-humans, Green Light meta-humans, Doppelgangers from other earths, aliens, and whatever is going on with the DC Universe streaming shows all in the same world.

So did Kara really say that Brainy's mama put that planet in a jar because his father didn't love her or was I extra extrapolating.

So Lex said all the Kasnia stuff happened, but nobody hated him for it. What about the Red Sun stuff, just water under the bridge?

The stupid planet in a bottle stuff hurt my brain, it was so stupid. If they are so connected why couldn't they sense which Brainy was killing the others? Why were the witches so willing to open the bottle one second, then thinking this is the stupidest idea they have ever heard the next second?

As we saw during Oliver's monologue near the end of Crisis Part 5, the streaming shows are all on separate Earths, still (though apparently our heroes on Earth-Prime can't detect that there are still other Earths out there). Stargirl is Earth-2, Titans is Earth-9, Swamp Thing is Earth-19 and Doom Patrol is Earth-21. Earths 2 and 19 may be different from the ones we saw before in the Arrowverse that had those numbers.

Extra extrapolating. She put that planet in a bottle because Brainy liked the snow. But Kara may have been implying she was evil in general because no one loved her. Or maybe no one except her family loved her.

Lex only referred to the Kasnia stuff when talking to other people who had their memories back. We can assume it's not part of the new timeline.

The Brainies explained why they couldn't sense that Evil Brainy had been responsible for the virus. He piggybacked something using our Brainy's personality inhibitors that masked his intentions from the Big Brain. That's why our Brainy said it was all his fault.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Noneofyourbusiness

[angora]

Jesse Rath posted some stuff on his Instagram about the parallel Brainys he played - mostly ideas that went into their costumes, but he also includes some other details, like inspiration he used for playing some of them. In interviews and on social media, I love how he treats playing Brainiac-5 on Supergirl as basically his Hamlet. Whether or not you like his work on the show (personally, I love it,) every choice he makes is a deliberate one that he can gladly tell you his reasoning for.

 

[ruby24]

So.. does this mean Brainy is toned down from now on then, with the voice? Because I would SO love that to be the case. I mean, he should be, right? Now that his personality inhibitors are gone? 

[Rushmoras]

Addendum, as a side note, all of this do you wanna be partners with me from Lex, Kara, Lena and Lillian reminds me of do you wanna marry me and have my kids thing. I mean, no one in the proof-reading department found it strange...