TELEVISION EPISODE REVIEW: Supergirl S3 Ep21 (Not Kansas)

With Reign now destroyed, Supergirl contemplates a new life on Argo City. Could Mon-El possibly be part of that package?

Supergirl – “Not Kansas”, Season 3, Episode 21
Airdate: June 4, 2018
Writers: Gabriel Llanas and Anna Musky-Goldwyn
Production Company: Berlanti Productions / Warner Bros. Television

What You Should Know:

On a mission to find a rare stone in space, Supergirl discovers that her Kryptonian home, Argo City, has been saved from destruction and is floating through space. Not only that but her mother Alura Zor-El is alive as well. After her mother provides her with the stone she’s after, Supergirl races back to Earth to use it to stop the Kryptonian Worldkiller Reign, who is out to destroy everyone on Earth.

Back on Earth, Lena Luthor attempts to hold Reign in a force field, but Reign’s resistance to her synthetic Kryptonite’s radiation is growing. Just before Lena can douse Reign with a lethal dose of liquid Kryptonite directly into her bloodstream, Reign breaks out her prison and is ready to kill her jailer.

What You’ll Find Out (Spoilers):

Now freed from her force field prison, Reign is about to kill Lena but is stopped by the sudden arrival of Supergirl and Mon-El. They hand over the rare stone they retrieved from space to Lena, and immediately start battling Reign.

While Reign battles Supergirl and Mon-El, Lena makes quick work of using her lab equipment to siphon off a portion of the stone and transform it into a liquid. She then pours the liquid into a syringe gun and tosses it to Mon-El.

Mon-El uses the gun to inject the liquid stone into Reign’s neck, with deadly effect. Reign immediately begins convulsing and writhing on the floor. The Reign persona physically separates from her mortal host, Samantha Arias. While Samantha lies still on the ground, the Reign persona rises into the air and burns into a blazing light. Soon there is nothing left of Reign but small bits of ash.

Rushing to Sam, she tells her friends that she’s hurt and exhausted. They take her to the DEO to be examined and assigned bed rest. While there, her daughter Ruby arrives with Supergirl’s adoptive sister Alex. When Ruby sees that it’s her mother and not her evil double Reign, the two embrace as Alex watches from afar with a look of melancholy. It’s obvious that she will miss taking care of Ruby, but still glad that she’s reunited with her now cured mother.

Satisfied that Reign is now dead and Sam safe, Supergirl contemplates reuniting with her own mother again on Argo City. Her friends and family are sad to see her go, but they understand what leaving will mean to her. The DEO throw Supergirl a going away party, while at Catco, Supergirl’s secret persona Kara Danvers is given an on assignment going away party to mark her upcoming absence.

During the festivities at the DEO, Supergirl has an aside with Mon-El. It’s then that Supergirl tells him that she understands that he’s needed back in the future now that Reign is vanquished, but that if he was open to it, that she would love to have him with her for a while as she acclimates to her new life on Argo City. Elated, Mon-El immediately tells her yes.

After Supergirl and Mon-El leave, Winn goes out on patrol with James Olsen, who is dressed in his Guardian costume. Bored due to the lack of crime, the two admit that things won’t be the same without Supergirl. Just before they are ready to call it a day, Guardian hears a commotion nearby. Winn tells him that he sees from his equipment that there is a bank around the corner. Going to investigate, Guardian discovers a man running from the police. When he tells the man to stop running, he turns around and begins firing an automatic weapon. Pushing a policeman to safety behind a nearby car, Guardian uses his shield to protect himself from the barrage of bullets. He knows something is wrong though when he realizes that the bullets are causing major damage to his bulletproof shield. The armed man then runs off as Guardian checks to see if the remaining policemen are okay.

Going back to the DEO with the news, James and J’onn surmise that the weapons the man used are actually the same custom automatic weapon issued for DEO use. Infuriated, J’onn and James go to the weapons manufacturer the DEO is contracted to ask if the weapons were also sold to anyone outside of the government agency. The company head tells them no, but that they have made a street variation of the government weapon for civilians to purchase, and that the gun used was most likely one of those models. Now enraged, J’onn and James make the case that the weapon is highly dangerous and is military grade, not safe for civilian use. The gun manufacturer stands his ground, telling them that guns are an American right to own and that all guns manufactured by his company are legal to sell. Seeing that they will not win their argument, J’onn insists that the gun manufacturer provide him with a list of all sales made with the gun model in question.

Alex visits J’onn and his father M’yrnn at their home to see how they’re doing with M’yrnn’s mental deterioration. She’s surprised to see that he is very lucid and is in his full mental capabilities. M’yrnn tells them both that it is clarity at the end of one’s life, and that he is ready to die. He then tells J’onn that before he goes that they must perform a Martian ritual called The Reach, in which the dying Martian telepathically transfers all of his thoughts and experiences into the mind of their surviving loved one. J’onn rejects his father’s hypothesis but knows in his heart that it could be true.

On Argo City, Supergirl is elated by all of the memories she has of the city and with being with her mother again. She shares all of her experiences with Mon-El, who is comforted at seeing Supergirl happy again. Supergirl is surprised to be visited by a childhood friend of hers, Thara Ak-Var. Supergirl is saddened to hear that Thara’s family were all killed in the destruction of Krypton, but happy to hear that Thara is now the head of security for Argo City and that she now has a husband and children. Supergirl later takes a walk around the city with Mon-El, taking in the sights. During their walk, several building structures begin falling from above and almost kill them. Supergirl questions if it was an accident or something someone made happen on purpose. Thara explains that accidents happen and that she shouldn’t worry. This doesn’t sit well with Supergirl, who still is suspicious. Mon-El tells her that she should always trust her intuition, and gives her his Legion ring in the off chance she may need it to fly to safety.

Back at the DEO, Winn displays photo IDs of the various persons who purchased the civilian version of the military DEO guns. James immediately spots the suspect, Arthur Willis.

Winn is surprised to discover that he is the shooter as he has no prior criminal record or reports of mental issues. After some further searching, Winn discovers a recent social media post Arthur made and displays it for the others to see.

The DEO team discover that he is a disgruntled former employee of a law firm and that he plans to get revenge on everyone he worked with by killing them with the guns he purchased. J’onn initially plans to send a strike team to take him down, but James convinces him that they must instead give him an opportunity to turn himself in first. The DEO arrive at the law firm but J’onn goes alone to confront Arthur. J’onn is able to talk sense to Arthur and he eventually does turn himself in before any more violence can take place. Realizing the damage that weapons can make, J’onn makes a new mandate at the DEO that they are to no longer use guns. Half of the DEO team disagrees with him and ask for transfers to other government agencies, but the other half stand by J’onn and his principles. It’s then that J’onn realizes that he must also come to terms with his father dying, and he agrees to perform The Reach with him. Elsewhere, Alex begins several computer searches, looking at sites for child adoption.

On Argo City Supergirl and Mon-El take a walk in a solarium. During their time there, Mon-El admits to Supergirl that he had a talk with his arranged marriage wife and that they both agreed that he needs to sort out how he feels for both her and Supergirl. He admits to her that his feelings for her never went away. Supergirl admits the same. Their intimate moment is broken when a re-programmed city guardian begins attacking them. Supergirl uses the Legion ring to fly her and Mon-El to safety as the deranged guardian robot crashes into the solarium dome. From their new vantage point, they see a cloaked figure running away. Supergirl flies her and Mon-El in front of the person’s path, stopping them from escaping. The figure removes its hood to reveal a woman underneath.

After turning the woman in to Thara, it’s revealed that the woman’s name is Felra. She admits that she’s part of a secret cult that created the Worldkillers and that Selena is their high priestess. Thara then gets a message from Alura that they’re needed. When they get to her, they see that the ship that Supergirl and Mon-El arrived in is now missing, and left behind is a scorch mark in its wake, the symbol for the Worldkillers.

Trapped on Argo City, Supergirl now has no way to warn Earth that more dark Kryptonians are heading their way.

What Does This Mean for the Future?

Supergirl’s sabbatical is cut short and now she must find a way to get to Earth to stop the dark Kryptonians from completing the task Reign left behind.

Rating: 9/10
Final Thought: I really liked this episode. It was a bit tragic in that Kara is finally reunited with her mother and kinsmen, has Mon-El at her side, and doesn’t have to be Supergirl anymore. That is all taken away from her by the end of the episode, and the prospect of Reign returning rears it’s ugly head. Just sad and poignant. Also sad is that J’onn must now come to terms with the oncoming loss of his father.