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“Shelter from the Storm” gives us a lesson in trust and loyalty while Supergirl does her best to save Sam’s mother Patricia, her daughter Ruby, and the world from the three-in-one WorldKiller Reign. Patricia dies, Ruby is scarred, and the world is still unsafe. It was not Supergirl’s best week, but this was one heckuva episode.

Since “Shelter from the Storm” is a song lyric from Bob Dylan let’s get some song lyrics going for our story titles this week…

“Mama,” Genesis

James and Lena are finishing up their macking from the night before when Reign rudely interrupts wanting to know where to find Ruby Arias. Lena kryptonite sprays her away but the ensuing DEO crime scene investigating leads to two conclusions–that J’onn and Supergirl need to go protect Patricia (Sam’s mama) and Alex needs to get to Ruby to protect her. The dynamic duo head to the Arias farm and Mama Arias tells the tale of how Sam always had this inner demon that needed to get out. When it went from her doodles in books to a full blown WorldKiller symbol on her wall Mama decided it was better to get rid of Sam rather than love to her a different outcome. “When you bury something, it comes back even harder,” she tells J’onn and Supergirl. Reign eventually comes and brings out all of her powers so our team is now up to speed on her trinity-ness. She is surprised to find Supergirl waiting on her but overcomes their trap and gives Mama the killing blow after Mama pleads with Sam to rise out of Reign. Back at the DEO, Mama makes Supergirl promise to communicate her love to Sam and Ruby as she fades out. Supergirl shares with J’onn that she’s not sure how she’s going to take on Reign. He reminds her that usually her heart is the key. In another part of this story J’onn is still battling with M’yrnn’s failing mind but Supergirl uses M’yrnn to figure out why he survived the White Martians instead of them killing him outright. Supergirl and J’onn figure out that he used the White’s own beliefs against them.

“Wind Beneath My Wings,” Bette Midler

Alex is set on going to Ruby’s hiding place, which Lena reveals is Lex’s now empty mansion. (Aunt) Alex gets to meet Mrs. Queller and she catches up with Ruby and wastes no time in lying to her that Mom is fine but is still unreachable. Ruby is not having the runaround yet Alex persists and eventually thinks she has Ruby settled with the lie of Sam’s being OK. Ruby “borrows” Alex’s phone and calls Sam which get’s Reign’s attention because she’s been listening above National City trying to locate her. Reign heads to the mansion and all kinds of homage heck breaks loose. (In a direct retelling of a Superman: The Movie deleted sequence) Reign drills herself down from one floor to the next, faces gunfire, fire fire, and ice and finally breaks the door down to get to Alex and Ruby. Supergirl and Re-Arrived Mon-El come on the scene and the brawl is on. Ruby gets in the fight only to find that Reign, having lost her facial mask in the tussle, is in fact Mom. Supergirl uses Reign’s own mantra of dispensing justice and wiping out sin to say that she can’t kill Ruby as she is innocent, and it works. With the use of Lena’s kryptonite, Reign is subdued and taken back to L-Corp for Lena to “find a cure.” Alex and Ruby reset with Alex promising not to lie again, even to protect Ruby from the worst.

“Love The One You’re With,” Stephen Stills

Blight has indeed been blotted out. The remaining tubular Legionnaires are all free of the blight sickness and the Legion are set to go Back to the Future! Brainy has a gift of 31st century Earth dirt for Winn and lifts him from a 1.0 to a 1.42 level intellect. Kara tells Imra that she is sure that Imra has been a huge influence of Mon-El becoming a better man. They say goodbye and then there’s the soulful goodbye between Kara and Mon-El, except that it’s only soulful on Mon-El’s part, and Imra keeps looking over her shoulder with serious dagger-eyes. Even later hearing that Supergirl and the DEO are 51% certain to defeat trinity-sized Reign, Mon-El is satisfied that his place is to return Saturn Girl to stave off intergalactic WAR! Imra totally lets him off the hook. She tell him to go back and help with Reign, not because the chances of winning increase to 88%, but because she needs “a man, a partner, that is fully with me.” If it’s his destiny then he should stay, if he returns then she’ll know he has no doubt. She says he’s done nothing wrong and has tried to bury his feelings and that he has acted honorably. So long, Legionnaires! We barely knew ye…

“Bad Girls,” Donna Summer

James hears that Patricia has bought the farm (too soon, I know) and tells Lena that she has to let Supergirl know that she can make kryptonite. Lena laughs almost in his face and says that Supergirl can’t think straight to see this as an alliance to take out Reign. Despite her better judgement Lena takes her kryptonite to the DEO and she is proven right in spades. Supergirl says she needs to be the only one in charge of kryptonite on Earth. Lena says Supergirl has a real God complex. It doesn’t end well. Later, Mon-El takes Lena’s kryptonite to Lex’s mansion, they take Reign down, and Supergirl later admits to Lena that her plan worked, she apologizes to Lena, and says that she trusts her. In one of the last scenes Kara is on an elevator and Lena gets on as well. They have a very tense exchange where Kara brings up that Lena is working with Supergirl to take down Reign. Lena says she’s only working with her because she has to. She tells Kara that Supergirl had James break into her private vault – which he didn’t do – (Oooooof) and that she tried to use Lena’s personal relationships against her – something like her mother would do (double Ooooooof). Kara looks hurt and embarrassed, and, well, she should.

Closing Thoughts

The last scene sets up our next episode with a Coville disciple taking a very important looking journal and getting chased out of the scene while she does it. This episode was impressive on many levels. We got Reign stopped on her own mission statement which is an inventive approach to take. The train wreck that is Lena/Supergirl/Kara is well on its way to destruction. We got another small reminder that Lena never feels accepted as we learn that she’s been living in a hotel for the past two years. Her character arc is arguably one of the strongest of this third Supergirl season. The acting was stellar as usual and we are exploring some real character conflict with personal choices being examined for their selfish motives. I am not a fan personally with the decision to have Mon-El return as I am for sticking with marriage no matter the circumstances (personal safety notwithstanding) but I understand that this relationship is a cornerstone for the show at this time.

News

Episode 19 – The Fanatical, Monday May 21 at 8:00E/7:00C on the CW
When a disciple of Coville’s escapes from what’s left of his cult, she gives Kara and James a journal that could hold the key to saving Sam; someone threatens to expose James if he doesn’t do what they ask.

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