[Review] Supergirl Episode 3×23: “Battles Won and Lost”

written by Dayna Abel and Cara Russell

SPOILER WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT

What hi yes I’m alive I’ve been working ANYWAY HOW ABOUT THAT FINALE? They even managed to kill off Mon-El! Everything is fantast–

–okay, you know what? Mon-El actually got a lot better this season. It’s how he should have been introduced in the first place, and I am so happy they didn’t hook him back up with Kara. Hopefully his return to the future (with Winn! I did not see that coming!) means that Season Four will bring us some great 31st-century Legion stories.

I love that Alex is actively making strides towards the life she wants to live. There’s been criticism levied towards the “Alex wants to be a mom” storyline that’s honestly anti-feminist, as far as I’m concerned. Of course not all women want to be parents (hi, sitting right here), but there are enough women on Supergirl that we see multiple ways women can live their lives. Alex’s journey is her choice, and it’s an option. People walk diverse paths, and motherhood is a common one. I hope she achieves her dream of being both a mother and a hero.

I’m also happy that Alura wasn’t killed off for shock value. Erica Durance filled the role admirably, and knowing Alura and everyone else on Argo City is still alive brought Kara so much peace and joy. Kind of wondering how Alura instantly knew how to use her powers on Earth, though. *side-eye*

I’m not sure where the finale leaves James. He’s now bereft of his best bro, and being the Guardian on top of running CatCo is going to be problematic at best for him. They haven’t really known what to do with him since the start of Season Two, and this doesn’t help. As for Lena, good lord woman quit doing stupid shady shit and maybe there won’t be trust issues with your friends.

Finally, the reveal in Siberia at the end makes me think that the Harun-el is going to act like Black Kryptonite, splitting Kara into good and evil versions. I was wrong about Doomsday at the end of last season, though, but I honestly can’t think of another way this could play out. Here’s to a Season Four that gets the show back to its roots.

-Dayna

P.S. Kara, has Barry Allen taught you nothing about time travel?

P.P.S. MAKE LENA GAY YOU COWARDS

* * *

We’ve finally reached the end, my friends – the Season Three finale! While there is a ton of flashy action from all parties, including a return of the Legion of Super-Heroes, we also manage to get a lot of character moments and closure to several of the longer-running plot threads while opening up several new paths. As we know the show has been renewed for Season Four, it’s nice to know we won’t be left in the lurch as we see some light in a few potentially less angsty stories on the horizon.

M’yrnn sacrifices himself to successfully stop Reign from boring through the earth, but not before passing on one last memory to J’onn: the origin of Mars’ religion. Of course, M’yrnn isn’t enough to stop Reign entirely, as she’s just taking a detour on the way to reunite with her makers, but it buys the home team time for Sam to wake with Kryptonian powers. Imra and Brainiac 5 show up to help with humanitarian aid, as well as deliver some ominous news from the distant future.

As it turns out, Sam is the key to holding Reign captive, but not before the initial plan fails spectacularly and Reign heat-visions Mon-El, Alura and Sam to death. It’s a short-lived “bad ending”, though, as Supergirl’s quick thinking has her travelling back in time for a do-over, allowing everyone to live and for Sam to save the day by defeating Reign in the shadow dimension with some good ol’-fashioned fisticuffs.

From there, Kara is able to admit that she belongs on Earth, and chooses to keep her heroic dual life here rather than returning to Argo with her mother. Mon-El informally inducts Supergirl into the Legion, complete with flight ring, before admitting that he’ll return to the future to face a new original-model Brainiac threat caused by their defeat of Blight.

With Brainiac 5 in direct danger due to AIs being targeted in the future, he’ll trade places with Winn in the past, while Winn goes to help develop fundamental life-saving tech in the future with the Legion. Alex assumes the mantle of Director at the DEO, allowing her to further her goals of having the time and fewer direct dangers to be able to start a family, while J’onn leaves to follow his father’s footsteps and become a sort of wanderer, learning from other places and cultures on earth. James settles the decision to out himself as Guardian after an encounter with a panicking woman during the earlier crisis, and a brief flash of a press conference lets us know that there’s no shoving that revelation back in Pandora’s box.

Lest you think that’s all, Lena and Eve Tessmacher continue their testing on the Harun-el after letting Alura think she’s taken the last of it back to Argo with her. Meanwhile in Siberia, a blanket-clad Kara doppelgänger shows up at a military base, giving us a good clue as to what will be the earliest conflicts when the show returns. I can only hope it’s a swift return for the next season, as I’m rather eager to see Kara unburdened by a will-they-won’t-they romance or mourning for one, now that she’s found some stability in herself.

-Cara

Supergirl airs Monday nights at 8 Eastern/7 Central on the CW. Dayna can be reached on Twitter @queenanthai and Cara at @virtualcara.

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