Inner conflict erupts within the Supergirl circle of friends as they try to reign in the super villain Reign.
Supergirl – “Shelter from the Storm”, Season 3, Episode 18
Airdate: May 14, 2018
Writers: Lindsay Gelfand and Allison Weintraub / Story: Robert L. Rovner
Production Company: Berlanti Productions / Warner Bros. Television
What You Should Know:
Supergirl and team were able to defeat the two Kryptonian Worldkillers, Purity and Pestilence, but the third World Killer, Reign, slipped through their grasp. The Legion is overjoyed, though, at the prospect of Pestilence being destroyed as she now cannot evolve into the future villain Blight, thus altering their history of thousands of deaths occurring in their future.
What You’ll Find Out (Spoilers):
Lena Luthor and James Olsen wake-up after a night of passion, only to find Reign crashing through Lena’s high rise apartment window. She demands that Lena tell her where Samantha’s daughter Ruby is so that she can kill her. Lena tells her that she’ll never find Ruby, then sprays a Kryptonite based gas into Reign’s face. This momentarily weakens her, but she manages to fly away. James then suggests that Lena come clean with Supergirl about her being able to manufacture a synthetic form of Kryptonite. Lena objects, saying that if Supergirl knew that she could generate new batches of a substance that could kill her, that she’d never forgive or trust her again. James rationalizes that it may be the only way to stop Reign and that she should think about it.
On board, the Legion space ship, Saturn Girl explains to Supergirl and the DEO team that the first Legion member to become infected by Blight was a team member named Chameleon. He and other infected Legion members were placed in cryogenic pods until a cure could be found. Now that Pestilence has been killed, they’ve discovered that all traces of the Blight plague have been removed from the sleeping Legion member’s bodies. Because their mission has been completed, Saturn Girl and Brainiac 5 make arrangements to return to their own time. Mon-El is obviously conflicted but knows he must stand by his wife and do what’s best for their marriage.
While at the DEO, Supergirl is surprised to see that Lena Luthor has arrived carrying a metal briefcase. When Lena tells Supergirl that there is Kryptonite inside the case, Supergirl instantly becomes frantic and defensive. Lena explains that it is contained in lead, so there is no need for her to worry about being exposed to the deadly substance. When Supergirl reminds Lena that she told her before that she had depleted all of Lex Luthor’s Kryptonite reserves, Lena explains that she was telling the truth. She then tells Supergirl that she’s discovered how to create synthetic Kryptonite herself, and she is bringing it to her as a means to help defeat Reign. Supergirl argues with Lena that she can never trust her again knowing that she can create a substance that can kill her at any time she wanted. Lena tells Supergirl to man-up, that humans face potentially dangerous situations like potential car accidents and fires all the time, but that it doesn’t stop them from living and using them in their everyday lives. They don’t come to a resolution on the argument, but Lena reiterates before leaving that she only brought the Kryptonite to help save Sam from becoming Reign and to stop Reign from killing Ruby, and that to her, everything else is secondary.
Realizing that if Reign can’t get to Ruby that she might try to kill Sam’s adoptive mother instead, Supergirl and J’onn travel to see her.
When they arrive at her home, they find Patricia Arias holding a shotgun. Patricia puts the gun down once she sees Supergirl, and tells them that she was expecting to see Reign instead. She asks for Supergirl to confirm her suspicions, that Sam is really Reign. Supergirl tells her yes, but asks her how she knew. Patricia explains that when she was younger, Sam would doodle Kryptonian Worldkiller symbols in her notebooks. Not sure of what it was, Patricia told Sam that she is to stop drawing the symbols in her books. A rebellious teen, Sam instead wrote a large version of the symbol on her bedroom wall.
Patricia explains that she knows she wasn’t a good mother, and that she regrets kicking Sam out of the house when she discovered she was pregnant. She tells Supergirl and J’onn that even if it means her death, she plans to apologize to Sam in the hopes that she will forgive her. Supergirl and J’onn are at a loss for words but understand her position.
When Reign does appear, Supergirl and J’onn manage to ambush her. Despite the two-against-one odds, Supergirl and J’onn realize that Reign has absorbed the powers of her two fallen Worldkiller sisters. Just when Reign is about to get the upper hand on Supergirl, Patricia appears. She runs over to Reign and speaks directly to Sam inside of her. She tells Sam that she is sorry for all of the wasted years and for not being a good mother. She asks that Sam come out so that she can tell her just how much she loves her. Reign, though slightly affected by her words, uses Pestilence’s powers to stab and kill Patricia before flying away.
At the DEO, Alex insists that Lena tell her where Ruby is being hidden. Lena explains to her that she is the only person who knows where she is, and that it’s safer that way. Alex won’t take no for an answer, telling Lena that she means to not only protect Ruby but be there as a friend to her. Submitting, Lena reveals that Ruby is being housed at Lex Luthor’s computer cloaked mansion, outside of town. When Alex arrives, Ruby is happy to see her but worried about her mother. Alex tells her that Sam is fine and that they are trying their best to bring her back home. When Alex isn’t looking, Ruby steals her cell phone and uses it to call Sam, asking her to come back to her. Reign manages to listen in on the call and traces Ruby back to Lex Luthor’s mansion.
In the Legion space ship, Mon-El and Saturn Girl have a heart-to-heart talk. Mon-El says that he’s ready to go back to the future, but Saturn Girl says otherwise. She tells him that she understands his feelings for Supergirl, but that if he’s to be true to who he is inside, he needs to stay behind until Reign is stopped.
Realizing that Reign has found Lex Luthor’s mansion, Alex takes Ruby to the mansion’s safe room. The mansion’s auto-defense systems aren’t enough to stop Reign, who manages to break into the safe room as well. Alex uses her new DEO weapons on Reign but is knocked to the ground anyway. Just when Reign is about to reach Ruby, Supergirl and Mon-El arrive.
They begin battling Reign, during which Reign’s mask comes off. Ruby sees that Reign is really her mother and begins crying uncontrollably. When Reign is close to killing Ruby again, Supergirl and Mon-El use Lena’s synthetic Kryptonite on Reign. This finally stops her, and they are able to take Reign into custody.
Back at Catco, Lena and Supergirl’s alter ego Kara Danvers run into each other in the elevator. They tell each other that it’s been too long and how much they’ve missed each other’s company. Things sour though when Kara suggests to Lena that things are getting better between her and Supergirl. Lena tells her that things aren’t good and that she doesn’t trust Supergirl at all. Confused, Kara asks why. Lena tells her that Supergirl went behind her back and had her boyfriend betray her by sneaking into her vault to see if Lena was lying about Lex Luthor’s Kryptonite. Lena explains that Supergirl caused the ultimate break of trust and that she doesn’t forgive her. When Lena exits the elevator, Kara looks completely crushed.
What Does This Mean for the Future?
With Lena’s now broken friendship with Supergirl, Kara is left in a difficult position of finding out where she stands in Lena’s life as well.
Reign is captured again, and now Lena Luthor and the DEO team are down to the wire to make sure that Reign is destroyed once and for all.
Mon-El has some serious soul searching to do, now that his ties to stopping the Worldkillers have ended. Will he return to the future with his wife and the Legion, or will he stay in our present to be part of Supergirl’s world again?
Rating: 7/10
Final Thought: Alex’s motherly instincts are in overdrive now that Ruby knows that her mother is really Reign. Something tells me that if Sam doesn’t make it out alive by the end of the season, that Alex’s wish to become a mother may finally be realized in Ruby.
The Patricia Arias storyline was just so tragic. Kudos to a memorable performance from actress Betty Buckley in portraying a defeated mother with regret at her past. I’m sure the Samantha Arias character will feel much the same once Reign is finally put to bed.
I was excited that this is the first time the other pods onboard the Legion space ship was finally referenced. Knowing that the other unseen Legion members are present, just sleeping is kinda cool.
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