Supergirl Season 3 Episode 22 Review: Make it Reign

Heading into the finale, Supergirl suffers from a messy season-long arc, but finds its footing in the grounded character work

This Supergirl review contains spoilers.

Supergirl Season 3 Episode 22

Supergirl’s penultimate episode was emblemtaic of this season’s larger issues: the world killer storyline feels shaky. The best parts of Supergirl are the character-driven stories with a lot of heart that test Kara’s ethics, and those of her friends, as she matures as a person and a hero. This is what makes the Supergirl/Lena fight so interesting, but keeps the world killers feeling distant. We care about Sam and Ruby because we’ve spent all season with them, but the larger plot feels bloated.

Argo left a little something to be desired. The costumes were particularly weak, with Kara in a white maxi dress that looks like Old Navy and Mon-El was dressed for a beach wedding. From a plot perspective, Argo felt like a reason to give the rest of the earth-bound stories some room to breathe without Supergirl taking up all the oxygen in the room, and a way to plausibly keep her from immediately saving the day.

Speaking of earth, back at the DEO Winn has really been stepping up the R&D. His technical innovations help Alex to step up her game even more, but experimentation comes with a price. His personal shield protects him from one Kryptonian, but proves no match for all three when they attack Dimos simultaneously. Dimos has been a background player for a little while now, but if this is the first episode you remember him from, the writing managed to quickly build up affection for him, making his death more powerful than one might expect for a red shirt. Winn will likely be dealing with the emotional fallout from Dimos’s death for a while, especially since up until now, his creations have only ever made the world safer.

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Alex had by far the coolest fight sequences in this episode, including her double-barrel kick to the chests of two Kryptonions, right after shooting kryptonite bullets into their chests. It’s a little odd that the entire rest of the DEO was gone other than Dimos and Winn, but it certainly raised the stakes. Perhaps the most tense moment was Ruby and Sam hiding in the center of all of that chaos. Finally having Ruby in on the secret opens up more options, emotionally and narratively, and I’m hoping for even more payoff on that choice during the finale.

M’yrnn saying goodbye to Alex was incredibly heartfelt. In a season that has been all over the place, the love between these characters, and Myrnn’s story in particular, has been a grounding force. The memory transfer is a lovely but devastating concept, and the visual execution was fittingly beautiful. While he seems on track to sacrifice himself one way or the other, I’m glad we’ll get to see M’yrnn in action against the world killers in some capacity, even if it ends up being pretty passive.

I’m hoping that Supergirl will make more of Kara’s suddenly-alive mother. Her reaction to Alex was a great moment, and I’d love to see her meet Eliza and J’onn. Seeing her father’s lab and using some of his tech was a nice touch.

I’m hoping for more exploration of the culture and laws Alura represented and the ways she has put them behind her and tried to make amends. Like Mon-El, she’s done a lot of changing since we last saw her (or rather, her hologram) before this cluster of episodes. That makes for a believable way to remedy all the things Kara found problematic in a hurry, but there must be some remnants of that. I’d love to see Alure more directly recognize the way her beliefs actions play into those of the followers of Rao.

This week mostly put the Lena/Supergirl conflict on hold, though Lena did seem to put a little extra English on the fact that the three deadly people have Supergirl’s powerset in a way that felt plenty pointed. It’s looking like this conflict will need to carry over into next season. Otherwise, the resolution would likely feel rushed and unearned.

Coville was an interesting character, and the hints scattered throughout the season that he would play a larger role in the season-long arc were enticing. Unfortunately, his appearance he doesn’t live up to that promise. Once he’s done playing his part, he quickly realizes that he was just a pawn. I hope this flunkie comes back and makes good on a larger connection between the earthly and Kryptonian followers of Rao.

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It turns out that the title of world killer is quite literal – the dark Kryptonians need the earth to terraform so it can become habitable to them, a permanent replacement for their home in a way that Argo never could, and a place where their chosen religion can reign supreme. Will Sam be able to hang on? Can Supergirl really overpower the world killers? And can this season pull its disparate threads into a satisfying payoff? Tune in next week for the season finale!

Rating:

2.5 out of 5