S05.E18: The Missing Link

[MarkHB]

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Supergirl and the team go head to head against Rama Khan and Leviathan. Meanwhile, Lena and Lex must join forces when Project Non Nocere fails, leaving the two siblings in serious danger.

 

[bettername2come]

I loved the way Lena came back with an open honest statement about her actions and acknowledged her wrongdoing and reasons. Good way to start that.

I don't want Alex in a mask. "It worked for my brother." No, it didn't. That storyline sucked, he somehow had even less to do than before and he left the show! Pay attention, Kelly.

So I guess they'll work out of the DEO office that's still in the desert? No? We're gonna pretend that doesn't exist? Alrighty then. And, man, that Kryptonite is going to be a real pain, making it super-difficult for Kara to deal with a potential world ending crisis. If only she had a network of powerful, non-Kryptonian friends spread out across the country who could help her in this, her hour of need.

[legaleagle53]

43 minutes ago, bettername2come said:

I loved the way Lena came back with an open honest statement about her actions and acknowledged her wrongdoing and reasons. Good way to start that.

I don't want Alex in a mask. "It worked for my brother." No, it didn't. That storyline sucked, he somehow had even less to do than before and he left the show! Pay attention, Kelly.

So I guess they'll work out of the DEO office that's still in the desert? No? We're gonna pretend that doesn't exist? Alrighty then. And, man, that Kryptonite is going to be a real pain, making it super-difficult for Kara to deal with a potential world ending crisis. If only she had a network of powerful, non-Kryptonian friends spread out across the country who could help her in this, her hour of need.

Well, Barry's kind of useless at the moment because he's losing his powers, and the Legends hate getting dragged into crossovers. That would just leave Batwoman and Black Lightning, and I think Leviathan might be just a little out of their league.

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, bettername2come said:

And, man, that Kryptonite is going to be a real pain, making it super-difficult for Kara to deal with a potential world ending crisis. If only she had a network of powerful, non-Kryptonian friends spread out across the country who could help her in this, her hour of need.

Naw, Lena came back to her senses right in time to make that Kryptonite Resistant Armored Suit. Kara mentioned it during the episode, that she wished Lena would make her one. RIP Mozzie.

[thuganomics85]

Whelp, that's one set they won't be using anymore!  RIP, DEO headquarters.  Frankly, I'm impressed it lasted as long as it did, considering the abuse it's been through (really, there should be a contest over what gets broken into more, between this, S.T.A.R. Labs and the Arrowcave.)

Glad Lena finally saw the error of her ways, even if it involved her experiment turning all of the prisoners mad and Lex screaming at her like the madman he is.  I wonder if she'll find out about him killing them all at the end, including Steve/Willie Garson's character.  Also glad that Kara isn't completely "All is forgiven, so lets hug it out!" about it yet, but hopefully they can get back to that relationship down the line, once Lena really shows that she understands the pain she has caused.

Now, that just leaves Brainy as the only one that needs to start pulling his head out of his rear end.  Even if he does come back around soon, I don't know if he can repair the damage he has caused with his relationship with Nia, sadly.

Speaking of relationships, I'm already worried that J'onn and M'gann rekindling the flame means that something bad is going to happen to her.

Cool seeing the real Peter this time.  Hope he comes back.

Continue to enjoy the Kelly/William team and how it seems to bring the best out of the William character.  Too bad he apparently has no stealth skills whatsoever.

Sheesh, Rama Khan!  What's the deal with shitting on Gemma's choice of human body?  Maybe not everyone can work the Mitch Pileggi look like you can, but there is certainly nothing wrong with the Cara Buono look!

[Lantern7]

I hate to say this, but I'm not feeling invested. Could be due to COVID and the subsequent fallout, could be blah storytelling. Or maybe I'm not that into Director Skinner being an Earthbender.

Poor Lena. I mean, she made mistakes and she will no doubt own those mistakes, but she was clearly into her brother not being a total sociopath. And she was wrong. And watching her sob and lip-quiver, I kept waiting for Kara to hug her. I mean, she has the right to be skeptical of Lena, but that was rough to watch. Ditto Brainy and Nia.

I take it next week's finale wasn't planned? Seems about right.

[Trini]

Quick takes:

Yay! Finally they have the budget to show the Martians in Martian form! Aww, J'onn and M'Gann! I'm glad she got to be in this episode too.

Took the entire season, but it was great for me that Lena admitted to being the villain. Now we can start to work through this.

Yeah, Brainy/Nia seems like it'll be dead even longer; unless they give him another personality transplant.

I'm glad Brainy is seeing how partnering with Lex might not be worth it; but I'm still annoyed that he still hasn't leveled with the rest of the team.

Wow, so they just demolished the DEO?? That's one way to reset the show.

So I feel like the show has not properly explained this 'Leviathan ship' thing; I really have no idea what they are talking about. What is it? What's supposed to happen when they get there?

2 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

... (really, there should be a contest over what gets broken into more, between this, S.T.A.R. Labs and the Arrowcave.)

...

LOL! No contest. STAR Labs; all day every day.

[Lady Calypso]

I like to think that Steve somehow escaped from that explosion, because it would be a shame if he was fully gone. Maybe Lex spared him and got him out? I mean, yeah, it's Lex...but maybe he thought Steve could be good use to him.

Anyway, for an episode, it was...alright. I'm surprised they went and destroyed the DEO in the way that they did...but I'm kind of glad. It will be fun to get a new location, maybe one similar to season 1's DEO? That one was always awesome for me.

Brainy continues to say that he feels uncomfortable with Lex's actions but continues to do nothing about it. Please let that end next week. 

Alex...may don a mask, which...please no. Just get her back to the newly created DEO next season. Oh, maybe when Obsidian is destroyed, they'll take over that building! 

Kelly/William pairing up still works. Yes, William is still dull as dirt and I actually would rather he didn't appear next season, but he's been a better character when he's been with Kelly than with any other character on this show. 

Still waiting for the ball to drop with the Leviathan stuff. I feel like we're finally getting to the good stuff, but it's been a slow process. 

Lena apologizes! What a fantastic scene for Katie McGrath. It was superbly done on her end, and her apology was meaningful and honest. I'm also super glad that Kara didn't look thrilled but still allowed her to stay and hear her out.  

[tennisgurl]

Has it finally happened? Have Brainy and Lena finally found that clue that has been obviously alluding them for so long?! Well its still taking a minute for it to really sink into Brainys thick cyborg skull, but Lena has finally realized how badly she has screwed up! I am so happy, this whole thing with Lena has been going on for so long and has been so unpleasant to watch, I am thrilled that she finally not only admitted that she has, in fact, been acting like the villain, but apologized to Kara and said that she wants to help stop Lex! Katie McGrath really nailed that last scene, and along with the scene where she came to offer condolences to Kara last episode, its like we finally have the old Lena back. I am also glad that Kara didn't welcome her with open arms quite yet, but is also willing to hear what she has to say. Lena has done a lot of awful stuff to Kara, and while I understand that Lena was hurt, her reaction was so extreme, that she ended up hurting Kara the way Kara hurt her, in fact she has hurt her even worse, so it might take a minute for Kara to forgive her. I am also glad though that Kara is still willing to give her a chance again, and with Lena apologizing, it seems like they could be on the road to becoming friends again, and for Lena to stop living down to the Luther family name. 

Brainy seems to be getting closer to realizing that Lex is an untrustworthy sack of crap (shocking!) who is totally going to keep screwing people over for his own selfish desires, but he isn't quite there yet. So should he just put the implants back in? That doesn't seem right, but is it? It just seems weird, like his actual personality is worse than the one that was filtered through tech that was put in him because his father worried he would turn evil, and I guess his father was kind of right? He isn't evil, but he is making very poor and morally ambiguous choices that are clearly hurting his friends.  Again, seems very off to me. Its so strange the way its being framed, like we dont fully know what he is thinking and how much of this is because of the implants that block some aspects of his personality, so I dont know really what to think about it. I still miss him and Nia, it sucks to see them in such a bad place. Its like someone on this show has to be fighting with someone! 

No Alex, dont put on a stupid mask! That was one of Jimmy's worst story-lines! I dont think she needs to become a masked hero, she has so much else going on, and now with the DEO exploding and Brainy being a mess, they might need her again, or at least they can find something else for her to do besides wear a mask. I did like seeing her buddy Peter though, for real this time, Sean Astin is always welcome. 

So happy that M'Gann actually stuck around and got to be a part of the adventure and we got an update on Mars, I was worried she would fly off back to Mars right away after last week! And she and J'onn are back at it! I like them together a lot, and while if she goes back to Mars it would have to be a long distance thing (really, really long) I think they could make it work. Plus, I guess the budget allowed them to actually hang out in their Martian forms!

I knew right away that Rama Khan allowed himself to be captured so he could get into the DEO, no way does one of the Big Bads get taken out that quickly and easily. They have done a good job at setting up Leviathan as a big threat, I just really hope that it has a good pay off. Right now, I am still pretty confused about what their deal really is and what their endgame is. It sometimes seems like a big government conspiracy thing, but its also being controlled by these people who are super old, powerful, have some sorts of elemental powers, and hate humans, so...what actually are they? Gods? Elemental beings? Wizards? I am really hoping we at least get some kind of explanation, and a good payoff. 

Edited May 11, 2020 by tennisgurl

[angora]

Man, that scene at the end between Lena and Kara was fantastic. I appreciated seeing Lena so humbled by the realization of everything she's done - her villainous actions, the fact that she was manipulated AGAIN by Lex, and just the fact that she got things so wrong. So often in redemption storylines, the character in question wants to jump ahead to "I'm good now, why is everybody still talking about all the people I hurt??", so it's good to see genuine remorse on Lena's side. She's not a dyed-in-the-wool villain, but she let her feelings of hurt and betrayal push her WAY over the deep end, and she needs to reckon with that. Kara's reaction was good too. It's not all hugs and immediate forgiveness, but she listened, and she seems prepared to do what needs to be done to stop Leviathan/Lex without letting her personal feelings get in the way, leaving room for true reconciliation further down the road.

Now we just need Brainy to do the same. He's get a lot closer, although I'm guessing we won't get to see it yet (I bet that development was being saved for closer to the originally-planned finale, not the one we're getting next week.) Nice to see things coming to more of a head between him and Lex, and like Lena, I think he had a real reckoning this week; his face as he looked at the rubble of the DEO was devastating. It's such a shame for him that MeaghanRath!Brainy convincing him to secretly work with Lex "for the greater good" coincided so immediately with him ditching his inhibitor - I'm sure it's been a hard thing for him to grapple with understanding himself with it, and his self-imposed double-agent-ness means he's had to deal with it without any support from his friends or Nia.

Great to see Sean Astin again! The real Pete was so lovely. I enjoyed his linguistic nerd-rambles, how quickly he joined in on Alex's plan to break into the special archives, and his heart-to-heart with her about adapting to civilian life. I get why he and Kelly would be friends. Great that M'gann stuck around too, although, like @thuganomics85, I worry for her safety as she and J'onn get closer again. Don't bring her back just to kill her off, show!

William with Kelly continues to be the best William. It keeps us away from the lackluster scenes between him and Kara, and it keeps Kelly more directly in the plot beyond just being Alex's girlfriend. That said, remember back when Kelly had a two-second bonding scene with Nia when she had a triggering incident that brought back trauma over her dead fiancee? If there was no William, would all these have been Kelly-Nia friendship/working-together scenes instead? I'd take that over William any day.

[Trini]

46 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

They have done a good job at setting up Leviathan as a big threat, I just really hope that it has a good pay off. Right now, I am still pretty confused about what their deal really is and what their endgame is. It sometimes seems like a big government conspiracy thing, but its also being controlled by these people who are super old, powerful, have some sorts of elemental powers, and hate humans, so...what actually are they? Gods? Elemental beings? Wizards? I am really hoping we at least get some kind of explanation, and a good payoff. 

Agreed, except I'd say they have NOT done a good job setting up Leviathan; since there are so many questions unanswered even at the end of the season.

[Oreo2234]

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That said, remember back when Kelly had a two-second bonding scene with Nia when she had a triggering incident that brought back trauma over her dead fiancee? If there was no William, would all these have been Kelly-Nia friendship/working-together scenes instead? I'd take that over William any day.

Yes, it seemed like they were hinting at a friendship forming and then didn't follow up on it. 

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No Alex, dont put on a stupid mask! That was one of Jimmy's worst story-lines! I dont think she needs to become a masked hero, she has so much else going on, and now with the DEO exploding and Brainy being a mess, they might need her again, or at least they can find something else for her to do besides wear a mask.

This could be a cool story and I get why they are going there with the show seemingly getting rid of the DEO. But with how they handled the Guardian story and how weak the writing for Alex has been this season I am not confident it will turn out well.

Edited May 11, 2020 by Oreo2234

[Trini]

I'm not too fond of the idea of Alex becoming a masked vigilante; but it seems they'll have to do it since the DEO is being phased out.

[Starry]

Every time they destroy STAR Labs over on Flash, they always rebuild it after two seconds. They can do the same with the DEO but in this case Team Supergirl has its own place so that won't be necessary.

I don't care about Leviathan or Lex anymore. I've been struggling with the show this season.

I am curious to see where they are going with the Kara and Lena strained friendship. That last scene was promising.

It was nice to see Sean Astin again.

I admit I laughed when William said he had put crack in whatever it was that Kara was eating.

I liked the chemistry between J'onn and M'gann and at least they gave Nia some screen time in this episode.

[BaggythePanther]

All it took was her project imploding and a little verbal abuse from Lex for Lena to see the error of her ways. I’m disappointed that Lena only realized it’d be a bad idea to continue working with Lex after he literally describe his plan for world domination. Jon Cryer is a great Lex and he had me on edge when he was yelling at Lena. I think pushing her towards Kara will be his downfall. The final Kara/Lena scene was great. I love that Kara didn’t invite Lena in. She just left the door open and it was up to Lena to follow through. This storyline dragged way too long and now with the shortened season who knows if the resolution will be satisfying. If they had reconciled earlier they could have spent the past few episodes trying to work things out but who knows if we’ll see that happening on screen.

Now that they have the Tower they don’t really need the DEO anymore. Even if they originally planned to bring it back they probably won’t because of the new guidelines for filming during the pandemic. Now the only thing that all other Arrowverse HQ have that the Tower is missing is a place to hold prisoners.

[Rushmoras]

Hmm... someone should have told the writers they mixed-up the characters dialogues in the beginning: Alex should have been the one, who bashes Lena about being evil and Kara should have been the one, who: "no, no, you do not have any proof". Now, they changed places.

Hooray, finally... DEO got destroyed (what, you all thought I was gonna talk about Lena and Kara at the end? Pff...) after being useless since... IDK, S2 or something. Rama Khan should have poured some salt on that place as well, just to be sure that they do not sprout any more DEO.

Brainy... for being a 12 level intellect... is a moron. I mean, I knew he was a moron ever since he showed up and the script did not allow him to be intelligent (only when special occasions required him), but damn... I mean... jesus christ man, you suck at your job, you gullible idiotic bastard.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Rushmoras

[Rushmoras]

On 5/11/2020 at 9:19 AM, Lantern7 said:

Director Skinner being an Earthbender.

* Assistant Director Skinner. Now, that's a real X-File for ya'. For n years still in the same position. Tisk tisk tisk.

[Rushmoras]

On 5/11/2020 at 9:20 PM, Trini said:

I'm not too fond of the idea of Alex becoming a masked vigilante; but it seems they'll have to do it since the DEO is being phased out.

Why MUST she be masked vigilante? Doesn't Jonn have a detective agency? I mean, just rip off Angel and go solve alien crimes while detectiving.

[BaggythePanther]

23 hours ago, Rushmoras said:

Rama Khan should have poured some salt on that place as well, just to be sure that they do not sprout any more DEO.

Something about this really made me laugh. I’m glad they’re done with the DEO too, but not looking forward to vigilante Alex.

[ottoDbusdriver]

So was that kryptonite alway stored at the DEO ?  Because it appeared to be embedded in the walls of the building.  If so, how was Kara able to function within the the building -- because there appeared to be a lot of it ?

Does Alex get that the DEO is an organization and not just a building ?  Because the DEO still exists as it looks like everyone made it out of the building before it collapsed.  By the way that was THE most orderly building destruction on TV -- all the debris stayed within the confines of the building footprint.

I like how in Eve Tessmacher's Obsidian North personnel file they misspelled the word 'recommendation' -- as in 'hired on direct recomendation of Gemma Cooper (Board Chair)'.

What the hell is 'Protocol 5' ?  It might have helped if we knew what Protocols 1 - 4 were, so that we would know that they were insufficient to respond to a member of Leviathan trashing the building.

I wish Andrea Rojas would just go away -- she adds nothing to this show.  If you can't get behind my bullshit Unity festival, then may be you should find the door (paraphrasing).  Who talks like that ?

Could they pick a way to say 'Non Nocere' and stick with it ?  Lex pronounced it like he was saying 'Nona Cherry'.