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In a perfect use of a “Superman: The Movie” quote, the son becomes the father and the father becomes the son in this week’s episode “In Search of Lost Time,” as J’onn and M’yrnn come face to face with the reality of M’yrnn’s deteriorating memory and the damage it causes to those around him. We also get reality checks for Sam as she faces her Reign alter-ego and for Kara who lets Mon-El exactly what his actions did to her in the past. Yet, even among all of these weighty issues, this episode had a lightness and sense of humor that make our Supergirl show all it can be.

The son becomes the father and the father becomes the son:

The episode begins with Game Night in Kara’s apartment. [I hope one day we get a full episode of the cast hanging out and having fun – that would be really cool!] M’yrnn is cheating at charades since he’s shapeshifting into the characters his team is trying to guess. 🙂 It turns out that M’yrnn is using a mind technique that takes the emotions and memories from the affected parts of his brain into the better parts. His first use of this ritual affects a Calinorian who is swept up in anger for no apparent reason. His next use causes Winn and his fellow technician going to war with each other and Kara going all John Cena on Mon-El. J’onn admits that he knows what’s happening and that he brought M’yrnn to the DEO because he thought he could psychically shield everyone around him. Alex and Kara convince him that as hard as it is to do that he needs to take the step to quell his father’s mind before the damage continues. J’onn does confront his father and things go…badly. The entire DEO goes crazy, all of the alien inmates are let loose, and Kara unleashes a litany of offenses that Mon-El committed against her. M’yrnn finally sees what he is causing and relents to J’onn helping him with the ritual, giving up the one thing that kept him independent and free for so many centuries, his mind.

Sam is “contagious:”

Lena records a Captain’s Log and exposits that it’s been 3 days since she’s had Sam in a medically-induced coma. She just hopes that when Sam wakes up that she’ll be Sam and not Reign. Sam does eventually come around and also comes to find out that Lena has her in a glorified prison cell. Lena tries the direct approach telling Sam that she is becoming Reign -as in her DNA is morphing whenever she blacks out- but Sam isn’t having it. Lena also shows her a timeline of all of her blackouts and that these are the same times that Reign comes out to dispense justice. Sam will not accept. And then James Olsen comes around L-Corp and tells Lena about a roommate that he had in college. The only way he could get him to recognize his mess was by holding up a mirror. Lena then goes to the taunting approach and brings Reign out through anger. When Sam comes back Lena shows her the video evidence of Reign trashing the cell. Sam knows it’s true and breaks down sobbing. Lena assures her she will do everything she can to help her friend, Sam makes Lena promise to keep her away from her daughter, and our last moments with Sam are her on the phone with Ruby, explaining that she has to stay in the hospital because what she has is contagious. This story wraps up with James surprising Lena with dinner and her explaining that she wants to pursue this relationship but her work demands keeping secrets. He tells her he understands as he has friends in the world-saving business.

Kara finally barfs all over Mon-El:

Mon-El briefs the DEO team on the third worldkiller Pestilence. Scourges, plagues, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria, real Old Testament kind of stuff. Kara says it’s time to train! Oh, and Winn has done something okay, he’s fixed Mon-El’s suit. 🙂 We get a really cool 3D graphic presentation of the fight between Supergirl and Reign as the two of them try to come up with a strategy to take Reign down. They also work on fully utilizing Kara’s Super-Cape since Mon-El knows the power of her high-powered cloth. They have lots of training, lots of training, and when M’yrnn’s psychic overload causes Kara to Super-Punch Mon-El nearly caving his chest in she knows something is maybe simmering below the surface. In a second psychic attack Kara blurts out a long list of offenses that Mon-El perpetrated against her last year. It’s quite a list. The good news is that while all of the DEO prisoner aliens are wrecking the facility Kara figures out the whole Super-Cape thingy. After things settle down Kara tells Mon-El she realizes that she really never dealt with the different pains that he caused her and that she really did romanticize over all of those hurts instead of confronting them. Mon-El truly apologizes. So does Kara, which…why? They decide to hero together and while flying around National City we get our first display of the effect of Pestilence. Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

Closing Thoughts:

In Search of Lost Time was an incredible journey of family, loss, recognition of life-altering struggles, and at the same time a wonderful coming together of our characters to address these struggles in positive ways and stay committed to each other in the process. David Harewood and Carl Lumbly get the strongest kudos for carrying the story of a father who is losing the strongest part of himself by nothing he can control. Benoist and Wood had some great moments together resolving the past of their troubled relationship–Wood actually tearing up after Kara lays him out was a poignant moment. Finally, Odette as Sam brought me to tears with her realization of being Reign and the developing relationship between Lena and James is being deftly written and acted. There were wonderful light moments in this episode as well that made it overall an amazing chapter in this series.

Cougar’s Comic Corner:

In this latest trade collecting JLA 47-60 – JLA Heaven’s Ladder 1, the JLA has always been a team of superheroes that have relied on each other to defeat insurmountable odds. But with Batman’s betrayal and expulsion from the group, suddenly the team has become divided amongst themselves. Dealing with dangerous issues of trust, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Plastic Man must try and unite to face off against the twisted fairy-tale nightmare of the Queen of Fables and the world-altering abilities of Dr. Destiny. But even if they defeat these formidable foes, the JLA may be shattered by their loss of faith in one another.
Karen is recommending this for the contained storyline: “Terror Incognita,” One of the greatest threats the JLA has ever faced resurfaces after years of psychic imprisonment: the White Martians, last seen in JLA: NEW WORLD ORDER! And this time, they’re organized–and stalking the members of the world’s greatest super-team.
Get it on Amazon here!

News:

Episode 16 “Of Two Minds,” airs on Monday, April 30 at 8:00/7:00 central
Supergirl and Imra have different ideas on how to stop the third Worldkiller, Pestilence. However, when both Alex and Winn are seriously injured by Pestilence, Supergirl and Imra team up to stop the destruction.

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