S05.E19: Immortal Kombat

[Trini]

SEASON FINALE - Supergirl realizes that in order to stop Lex and Leviathan she must work with the one person she never thought she'd trust again - Lena. Nia keeps dreaming about Brainy but struggles with what the dreams are trying to tell her. Meanwhile, Brainy realizes there is only one way to stop Lex.

David Harewood directed the episode with story by Derek Simon and teleplay by Emilio Ortego Aldrich & Nicki Holcomb.

Airdate: 5/17/2020

[bettername2come]

I think this of the three Arrowverse shows with seasons cut short, this one felt the most like an actual finale. The bad guy was defeated, relationships were repaired, Alex got a suit with an Arrow-esque hood and some killer eye makeup. I really liked it. Especially Tessmacher not being evil and Kara confronting Lena about why she kept the secret. 

I hate the stupid green makeup on Brainy. I think the weird blue-white makeup was better. Anyway, good scenes between Jesse Rath and his sister. I continue to think it's adorable how they show up on each other's series. 

I think John Cryer has worked his way up to being my third favorite Lex Luthor. 

I think Melissa was just barely starting to show during this one. When Supergirl was standing sideways her stomach looked curved just a little. I think the anti-kryptonite suit was originally coming into use for stunt double purposes for a while, but with the season cut short, they went ahead and defeated the villains. 

How long is this show going to be gone between Covid and Melissa's pregnancy? Are we gonna have to wait till fall 2021?

[Lady Calypso]

So, for a finale, this one was actually pretty good. I'll admit, I tried to play "which scene is from episode 20?" and could not quite figure it out. I know they included some scenes from the actual finale, so I wonder if the quickness of the Immortals defeat was from episode 20, not from this episode originally.

So, when Kelly said that Alex should wear a mask, I got worried. But her outfit is awesome and I really like the look that she had. I'm a fan of Alex's costume, even if it's still pretty obvious that it's her. 

I was surprised that Eve didn't just tell Supergirl "hey, btw, Lex tricked me into killing your dad. I just wanted to let you know BEFORE he tells you to turn on me." But I guess it wouldn't be a superhero show without a looming secret.

They definitely wrapped up the Immortals storyline quickly, but it worked for me. It annoys me that Lex isn't defeated, though. I am so sick of his character. 

So, Brainy's dying. He has a lot to apologize for to Nia and the rest of the team. But it's about time he came to his senses. I loved seeing Meaghan Rath again.

Also, super glad Kara got to tell Lena off. I was cheering her on for not outright accepting her apology. Lena deserves to sweat it out longer.

18 minutes ago, bettername2come said:

I think Melissa was just barely starting to show during this one. When Supergirl was standing sideways her stomach looked curved just a little.

I started noticing her baby bump in the last two or three episodes because Supergirl's suit definitely is form-fitted. I'm just glad that they won't need to write out Melissa for the first couple of episodes. Seeing as they created the Kryptonite shield suit again, I'm assuming that it was going to come into play somehow. 

18 minutes ago, bettername2come said:

How long is this show going to be gone between Covid and Melissa's pregnancy? Are we gonna have to wait till fall 2021?

Earliest is May/June 2021, but potentially Fall 2021.

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, while I think all of the D.C. shows have done as good of a job as possible with these rushed endings, it did feel like this one was able to pull it off the best, by at least being able to take out the Immortals/Leviathan, and just set-up Lex (and Lillian!) as the likely big bads for next season.  (Of course, Legends of Tomorrow will probably fare the best out of everyone, since they were actually able to finish production before the shutdowns happened.)

As I mentioned last week, I'm glad that Kara didn't automatically forgive Lena for her past actions and continued to hold firm here, by pointing out that, yes, while what she did was arguably wrong, Lena's retaliation went above and beyond the norm, and she didn't just put Kara in harms way, but endangered everyone else as well.  But I'm glad Lena took some big steps at trying to fix things and seem to pretty much acknowledge that she was wrong on every level.  Maybe there is hope for a true reconciliation after-all (although, I'm worried about that close-up of her holding Andrea's krypto-dagger.  What exactly happened to it...)

Speaking of trying to fix mistakes, I'm glad Brainy finally took a stand and took out the Immortals, even if ended up being all part of Lex's plan (of course.)  But it looks like he is now dying, which isn't good, but hopefully Nia and the gang will get to him in time.  He still has a lot to answer for also, but I don't want him to die.  Great seeing the other Brainy again too and the Rath siblings were great together!

Looks like Alex is taking a page from Oliver's playbook, by having her "suit" actually be mainly a hoodie and some fancy eyeliner!  Kelly's reaction was interesting: she looked kind of turned on, but also a bit nervous over how much Alex seemed to be enjoying herself.

Glad nothing bad happened to M'gann.  Hopefully, she'll be sticking around next season.

While I'm glad Gemma has been defeated, I'll certainly miss Cara Buono here: especially since she was rocking that outfit for this episode!

I wonder if Kara/Alex will ever find out about what Eve killing Jeremiah?

Sadly, we didn't get the answer to the question I really wanted to know: what did J'onn say to set off Rama Khan?!  Must have been something really harsh and personal, like how much his outfit sucked or made fun of some of Mitch Pileggi's previous work (J'onn: "Man, you guys failed worse than The Mountain and Tarzan combined!"  Rama Khan: "How dare you, J'onn!")

Hopefully the wait for next season won't be too long, with them having to delay for Melissa Benoist's pregnancy and, well, everything else that his happening right now.

[quarks]

Gotta agree that this felt more like a finale than the "finales" of Flash and Batwoman did, probably thanks to on-set rewrites and being able to incorporate some scenes from the next episode. But I still felt pretty meh about it.

1. Melissa Benoist's baby bump did make a few appearances in this episode, but overall I'd say they did a pretty good job of concealing it with various jackets and camera angles - not to mention the plot lines that helped limit her full body shots and ensure that the camera could stay on her face as much as possible. Much better work than on, oh, no show in particular, oh, hi there, Flash.

2. I gotta say, not a fan of the eyeshadow on Alex when she's in superhero costume. But that might very well just be me.

3. And happy that Lena is back on Team Supergirl. I prefer Kara/Lena as friends. 

But otherwise...I dunno. For whatever reason, this whole season of Supergirl has felt tired to me, and this episode was really no exception - as if most of the cast was just going through the motions. It also felt really choppy until the whole "believe in you" echoing scenes towards the end there - probably because of those last minute rewrites.

I'll probably be back next season, but not with the same enthusiasm as for Batwoman.

[tennisgurl]

I agree that of the Arrowverse shows, this one has felt the most like an official finale, with the exception of the stuff with Brainy, which felt like it was cut off before it could be finished, but the rest felt solidly like what I imagine the finale would be like without the production having to cut short. 

Looks like the Immortals are gone, and while their ending fight was suitably tough and I am glad we are moving to something else next presumably, I still feel like I only kind of understand what their goal or backstory really was. They want to kill tons of people and they hate humans, but I still dont really feel like I understand their motivations or even who or what they actually are/were. So they are actually gods of some kind? Actual elemental spirits? Ancient aliens? Just really powerful long living magic users? And they hate humans and want to kill a bunch of them, but what is their actual end goal? Give earth back to nature? Control humanity? Summon Captain Planet? Or the Avatar? For arc villains, I still dont feel like I know what their deal really was. 

Lex Luther gets foiled, but has a back up plan, as always. I think what Jon Cryer really does well with his Lex is showing the just barley contained rage filled bitterness that lurks underneath his cool, slick businessman exterior. For all he talks about how he wants to promote the progress of man or how he wants to stop aliens from imposing whatever their values are on humans, or how intelligent he is and how much he really could do for the world, he is really just another petty jerk who hates that there are people who can do things that he cant, especially this version. 

I was actually pretty worried about Brainy for a bit, but now that he managed to survive the episode and Nia is on her way, I think he will be alright. He owes everyone a big ass apology and needs to rebuild some major trust, but almost dying trying to make things right is at least a step in the right direction. As much as his story has been frustrating, it has at least given Jessie Rath a lot of really meaty material to work with. 

Speaking of the apology tour, I am glad that Kara didn't automatically forgive Lena completely, and is still clearly angry and hurt, even if they are working together again and Lena has admitted how wrong she was. Kara might have messed up not telling Lena the truth, but Lena went way too far in her anger, not only hurting Kara but also endangering and hurting others, and while Kara was trying to protect Lena, Lena was just trying to hurt Kara,even after she apologized. This is really a good thing in the long term though, it allows Lena to really say how sorry she is and take responsibility for her actions, which is really the only way that they can move past this and become friends again, which is still really what I want to happen. I really missed Lena as a part of the team and her friendship with Kara, and I am so ready for them to start rebuilding their friendship, and for Lena to knock this villain shit off. 

I also liked the little bit when Alex and Lena said the same encouraging thing to Kara, and Alex smiled a little at her and threw out a jinx. While Lena and Kara were the besties, Lena was hurt by everyone knowing about Supergirl and not her, and she did end up losing all of her friends and not just Kara in her hurt and need to get back at Kara, so its nice to see that maybe they can all start moving forward. 

I wasnt sure about Alex getting a costume, but she apparently took the Oliver Queen style of superhero costuming, with a hoodie and a smokey eye as a mask, and it looks pretty good on her.  

Edited May 18, 2020 by tennisgurl

[Lantern7]

3 hours ago, bettername2come said:

How long is this show going to be gone between Covid and Melissa's pregnancy? Are we gonna have to wait till fall 2021?

 

3 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Earliest is May/June 2021, but potentially Fall 2021.

Shit. Really? There is one thing that bugs me about the arcs on Supergirl these days: now that we have the one Earth (nobody tell those people about Stargirl! Or the rest of the DCU service!), should the stakes be as epic since other shows are in that world? They might have to tone it down. I can see a despondent Barry Allen going into Obsidian, what with the Speed Force dying and the wife kidnapped and the rest of the general MANPAIN, most of which he inherited from Oliver Queen. Does any of that make sense?

I'm calling it now: Alex's heroic identity will be Nightwing. Aside from potential conflicts with Titans, it would be a nod about how that name was originally an alter ego of Superman whenever he had adventures in the Bottle City of Kandor. Basically, it was a de-powered Superman doing Batman stuff in Silver Age stories, with Jimmy Olsen as Robin Flamebird. Her colors match a lot of Dick Grayson's post-Robin costumes. Kara squeeing was a cute touch.

Stupid thought: if Supergirl (the series) will be on the shelf for an extended time, and the TV industry winds up rebounding from the pandemic sooner rather than later (this is mere speculation, not optimistic wishful thinking), what happens to the characters and plotlines? Would those be absorbed into Clark & Lois? Does Kara trade places with her cousin and his wife and kids?

Damn, I'm forgetting a lot of details. Why did Brainy have to keep his hand on a pad for ten minutes? And why was it hurting him?

ETA: Funny that there was a lot of fuss over on Batwoman about what wa supposed to be the last shard of Kryptonite on Earth. Fast-forward to an hour later, where we see that Leviathan has what can be quantified as a "fuck-ton" of the stuff. This is Leviathan . . . there's probably stuff in the series bible about how Earthbender Skinner shits those out every other week or something.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Lantern7

[Trini]

I was glad they were able to wrap up a lot of things, but I was underwhelmed. Not because stuff didn't happen, but I just wasn't invested. Especially the poorly executed and confusing Leviathan arc, which introduced so many new things just in this one episode.

The only story I really cared about and I thought was executed well was Kara and Lena's reconciliation. I'm glad they had Lena own up to all the wrong she'd done, and made an effort to make up for it, and acknowledged Kara's point of view. Also glad Kara got to be mad and express her side.

Ugh - don't even want to talk about Lex 'I know everything' Luthor.

Well, it took all of the back half, but there's finally some positive signs for Brainy/Nia. Speaking of Brainy, nice to see Female Brainiac again. I would have said this was a good episode for Brainy, but he got played by Lex.

I see you show, with the Man of Steel parallels to Superman and Lois with Supergirl and William! 😏

I'm still kinda lukewarm on the idea of Alex becoming a vigilante, but the new suit is cool. Hate the eye makeup, though. I hope they change it, or give her a mask.

[Avabelle]

I’m not really big into the whole Eve redemption arc. I know her mother was in danger but it’s just not cutting it for me.. I like actress but I’m not really interested in keeping her around beyond this season. 

[angora]

Color me impressed. It didn't feel cobbled-together at all for me, and even with the stuff left in the air, it felt like a finale rather than an "episode 19-of-22 cliffhanger." Lex handing Lillian the Leviathan bottle was basically Kara opening Mon-El's pod at the end of season 1 or the emergence of Red Daughter at the end of season 3. I couldn't tell which stuff was originally intended for which episode, so they put it all together pretty seamlessly.

Loved the Kara-Lena stuff, especially Kara finally unloading on Lena for everything she did. I feel like they'd maybe made a little too much progress toward reconciliation by the end of the episode, but to be fair, Lena did come through for Kara in several big ways.

Some good comedy bits in this episode: the whole thing with the Kara decoys and The Deathly Hallows discussion, J'onn gossiping to M'gann offscreen about Nia and Brainy (hee!), and Alex "jinxing" Lena when they both said the same thing to Kara. I also loved Kara getting so excited over Alex's costume and Kelly later getting turned on by it.

I'm glad Brainy came through for his friends, even if he was still getting played by Lex. With the way things ended, I have hope that he'll survive, and bringing out MeaghanRath!Brainy because he didn't want to die alone was so sweet. (Also, Twelfth Level Intellect aside, I can't exactly fault Brainy for not figuring out Lex's plan, which, as always, required numerous flow charts to understand and an absurd level of everything falling into place just so to come together. To anticipate Lex's plan, you'd need Nia's predictive dreams, not Brainy's logic. His biggest problem was keeping at it after the first few times Lex played him.)

M'gann's still alive! That makes me so happy. She still feels tailor-made for a "we're not messing around" character death, so is it possible that the truncated end to the season saved her? Take that as a sign, show - keep Ms. Martian alive!

I actually liked William pretty well in his scene with Eve, including the save from Supergirl - I chuckled when he told her to "do it" (cauterize his wound,) then immediately yelled, "Don't do it!" when she hit him with the heat vision. His attempt to talk Eve down was good. Hope for him yet, or further proof that he works best outside the context of being a love interest for Kara?

[Humbugged]

46 minutes ago, angora said:

Color me impressed. It didn't feel cobbled-together at all for me, and even with the stuff left in the air,

 

Chyler hadn't finished filming this before the shut down .Apparently seeing what was about to come , her Nate, the kids and the animals got in the car and drove to Nashville

 

[Winston Wolfe]

11 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Damn, I'm forgetting a lot of details. Why did Brainy have to keep his hand on a pad for ten minutes? And why was it hurting him?

Not sure about the first question, but as for the second, it was the radiation in the room that was hurting/killing Brainy, not the pad.

[angora]

It took 10 minutes for the "shrink code"/whatever it was that put Leviathan in the bottle to load into their systems, and Brainy needed to keep his hand on the pad the whole time it was loading (Because Reasons) - MeaghanRath!Brainy pointed out that, if he took his hand off, it would reset and he'd have to start over. And like @Winston Wolfe said, the radiation in the room was what was hurting him (Leviathan's defense measures against anyone who wasn't one of them or had a pin to counteract it, like the one Gemma gave Lex,) and the longer he stayed there, the more damage it was doing to him.

[ottoDbusdriver]

So, Gemma Cooper is really some kind of robot -- so who does she really answer to ?  Whoever it is -- is not in the bottle with Rama Khan and other 2 unnamed elemental benders.
And what is she going to do now with Rama Khan gone ?

Andrea Rojas looked a lot like Reign in the that mask when she went to kill Supergirl -- and all I could think of was that meant Ruby was going to show up at some point.  Please, just no.

I'm kind of curious about the Obsidian VR -- why (in VR) was everyone orbiting the earth in concentric circles, yet they all thought they were in some other VR with loved ones.  So where the frak was the Unity Festival ?
 

16 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

 Great seeing the other Brainy again too and the Rath siblings were great together!

Megan Rath is so adorable.

[rlc]

I’d like to see Lex have a battle of wits with Vizzini from Princess Bride (and never return).

[Winston Wolfe]

2 hours ago, rlc said:

I’d like to see Lex have a battle of wits with Vizzini from Princess Bride (and never return).

As much as I'm enjoying Jon Cryer's take on Lex, the character is beginning to consume the show, similar to how Michael Fassbender's Magneto has devoured the current X-Men movie franchise. Not good.

[Cthulhudrew]

7 hours ago, angora said:

It took 10 minutes for the "shrink code"/whatever it was that put Leviathan in the bottle to load into their systems, and Brainy needed to keep his hand on the pad the whole time it was loading (Because Reasons)

I believe he was transmitting the code from himself into the computer via his palm. It's a Coluan thing.

10 hours ago, Humbugged said:

Chyler hadn't finished filming this before the shut down .Apparently seeing what was about to come , her Nate, the kids and the animals got in the car and drove to Nashville

That explains some of the editing, and that weird shot from behind CGI body double when the rest of the team rushed in to see what all the screaming was about.

[angora]

10 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

 

  17 hours ago, angora said:

It took 10 minutes for the "shrink code"/whatever it was that put Leviathan in the bottle to load into their systems, and Brainy needed to keep his hand on the pad the whole time it was loading (Because Reasons)

I believe he was transmitting the code from himself into the computer via his palm. It's a Coluan thing.

 

 

Oh sure, that makes sense. We’ve seen him do that kind of thing before, like find information online just by touching someone’s phone for a second.

Does anyone know if the plan is for Lex to move more to Superman and Lois next year? I enjoy Lex and continue to find Cryer great in the role, but I feel like Supergirl has gotten a bit Lexed out these last two seasons.

[Avabelle]

10 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

That explains some of the editing, and that weird shot from behind CGI body double when the rest of the team rushed in to see what all the screaming was about.

Oh yessss I was wondering why it looked so weird there.

7 minutes ago, angora said:

Does anyone know if the plan is for Lex to move more to Superman and Lois next year? I enjoy Lex and continue to find Cryer great in the role, but I feel like Supergirl has gotten a bit Lexed out these last two seasons.

Agreed but mainly because there's not much nuance to the character. Cryer is brilliant in the role and looks to be having the time of his life but there's only so many times you can see him be Evil and One Step Ahead of Everyone before it gets boring. Having said that I've no interest in seeing another side to him as I think Lena already fills the role of Luther with a Heart amongst Other Issues on the show. I don't know if I think he'd fit in Superman and Lois as I think he's too affiliated with Supergirl at this point but given he's meant to have bigger history with Superman it could be interesting.

[Rushmoras]

I'll be in minority and say:

Eh... I guess it was alright. Not on the level of Batwoman finale (seriously, that was dope), but alright I guess for what was portrayed this season (that is some nonsensical plots that led no where). I guess, the major thing to be taken from this finale is that Lena and Kara are back as friends and that Brainy sacrificed himself, because everything else Leviathan related... well... even more pointless (in the sense of why is it even here) as Alex wanting a baby sub-plot. To think they could have done much more with the whole VR addicts thing, but the show-runners decided not to... waisted potential... and still I have no idea what was Leviathan's end goal in all of this. As far as season villains go... they are even lamer than the tree idiots from the sixth season of Buffy. Waisted potential from Mitch Pilleggi as well. As I've said somewhere earlier, the show-runners are taking more and more liberties from Once upon a time show-runners, and this is not a good thing.

Speaking about Brainy... nope, I can't seem to find any good words for his character. For a supposed twelfth level intellect he's... yah... If I was him, I would have started to ask questions the moment where my alter-ego from another timeline came and said I have to work with a megalomaniac in order to defeat Leviathan, alienate all my friends etc. (Cause, this episode: "Oh, Brainy, you don't have to do this. You can help your friends". Really, bitch? Then what the fuck was all of that about after Crisis?)

Lex Luthor... I mean, I don't like him (this version at least). He's too... too... everywhere involved. At least in Smallville, that Lex version was more grounded in reality. This one... nope... straight out of Power Rangers. I mean, maybe... he's kinda better than he was in Season Four, because there was no over-the-top villainous moustache twirling, but... there was some over the top: "Surprise, surprise, it was me all along. I know you'd do that, cause I'm Lex Luthor. HAHAHAHAHA".

Anyways... I rate this season some where between a five and a six. WASTED POTENTIAL EVERYWHERE.

[Rushmoras]

21 hours ago, Winston Wolfe said:

Damn, I'm forgetting a lot of details. Why did Brainy have to keep his hand on a pad for ten minutes? And why was it hurting him?

His alter-ego/sister from another timeline said that if he moves it, he have to star the reupload process anew.

[Quark]

I thought this was great, seeing as it wasn't really supposed to be a finale.

Can't say I would care much if Brainy dies (I doubt he would). I've never really cared for him.

[MarkHB]

On 5/18/2020 at 1:06 PM, Humbugged said:

Chyler hadn't finished filming this before the shut down .Apparently seeing what was about to come , her Nate, the kids and the animals got in the car and drove to Nashville

 

Part of me hopes she crossed the border wearing that eye makeup....

[StarBrand]

I liked Alex's costume, although I am wary of yet another one of Kara's friends trying to be a superhero.  It pretty much ruined James, although with Alex I can sort of buy it better since she's trained for combat, She's not your everyday average person trying to pass for a hero. Kara's squeel of delight when seeing her suit was priceless.

But at least Alex has stopped talking about wanting babies, and as long as that keeps up, I'll go with this.

[Oreo2234]

Yes Alex is trained for combat and has years of experience as a field agent. She already fights bad guys with the other heroes. James had a black belt in Karate that was never mentioned before. I hope they do something interesting with this. Alex needs an actual arc or sublot that lasts more than a few episodes.

Quote

But at least Alex has stopped talking about wanting babies, and as long as that keeps up, I'll go with this.

I don't think she mentioned it once this season. Which is great. It was such a short sighted storyline decision that threatened to ruin Alex. Even if she still wants kids she doesn't need to do it anytime soon. And why would she rush in to it when she's still fairly young and in a newish relationship?

Edited June 1, 2020 by Oreo2234