TELEVISION EPISODE REVIEW: Supergirl S3 Ep20 (Dark Side of the Moon)

Supergirl is shocked to discover a Kryptonian city during her race to save Sam from the Worldkiller Reign.

Supergirl – “Dark Side of the Moon”, Season 3, Episode 20
Airdate: May 28, 2018
Writers: Derek Simon and Katie Rose Rogers
Production Company: Berlanti Productions / Warner Bros. Television

What You Should Know:

After stopping a human led Kryptonian cult from creating another Worldkiller, Supergirl and team were able to discover a possible cure for Sam’s deadly dual personality. Now in need of a rare substance vital to completing the antidote, the DEO manages to trace more of the rock matter in deep space. Determined to help their friend, Supergirl and Mon-El race to retrieve a portion of the rock before Reign is able to escape from Lena Luthor’s makeshift prison, and kill more innocent lives.

What You’ll Find Out (Spoilers):

Using J’onn’s spaceship, Supergirl and Mon-El travel at an incredible speed to the coordinates of the rock matter that can cure Sam of her Reign persona. During their travel, Supergirl admits to Mon-El that it’s nice that she can finally relax for a short time. She doesn’t have to pretend to be Supergirl or Kara Danvers to anyone, just be herself. Mon-El tells her that in the future, he and the other Legion members don’t have secret identities. He says that they live out in the open as themselves, but that he still sympathizes with the idea of finally being comfortable in one’s own skin.

When they finally arrive at the coordinates, they find themselves locked in a tractor beam. It’s then that they realize that the substance they need is within a domed city, resting atop an asteroid.

Once they land, they outrun several voices asking for them to stay where they are. Venturing into the city, they grab a couple of cloaks to cover their costumes. Using Mon-El’s ring, they trace the rock signal and come across a building. Before they go in, Supergirl is shocked to see Kryptonian writing on one of the building walls. Reading the words, she tells Mon-El that it mentions the Kryptonian deity Rao. They are then confronted by a group of humanoid beings and several floating robotic sentries. It’s then that Supergirl sees her mother, Alura Zor-El, standing with the strangers.

Back on Earth, Alex and Ruby watch television together. The program mentions space, which Alex tells Ruby is where Supergirl is. She and the other DEO team are waiting for word back from her, in the hopes that Supergirl can bring back a cure for Ruby’s mother. Noticing that Ruby is starting to feel sad again, Alex suggests that they go shopping.

Alex takes Ruby to an outdoor mall, where they try on hats and sunglasses. It’s then that Alex notices a man dressed in black, watching them. Alex gives Ruby some money and asks her to buy them drinks. When Ruby leaves, Alex goes to confront the man. Seeing her approach, he leaves a sophisticated looking bomb instead and runs off. Alex quickly grabs the bomb and tosses it into a cement trashcan. Ordering everyone to get clear, the bomb goes off, but thankfully without any casualties.

On the newly discovered space city, Supergirl’s mother explains that they are in Argo City, the same Argo City from Krypton. When their world was close to exploding, there was an untested technology in place that could theoretically protect the city from being destroyed. Unsure if it would work, Alura chose instead to send Kara to safety in a space pod than possibly have her die with the rest of the doomed Kryptonians. Alura tells Kara that she feels guilty sending her off into space, and even more guilty that she’s since thought of Kara as long dead. Supergirl tells her that there’s nothing to feel guilty over, that neither of them had any idea of how things would play out. Supergirl tells her that she’s just glad that they’ve found each other again.

Supergirl explains that her space pod was temporarily trapped in the phantom zone, but she was somehow able to escape. She further explains that she landed on Earth, where she was reunited with Kal-El, otherwise known as Superman, and together they helped protect their adopted world. When Supergirl tells her mother that the Kryptonian prison Fort Rozz and it’s inhabitants also managed to crash land on Earth, Alura gets a look of sadness. She apologizes for helping to create Fort Rozz, and even more so for having to send her own twin sister there as well. Supergirl tells her that her sister is now dead, but that they were able to give her a traditional Kryptonian burial.

Alura then asks Supergirl what it is that brought her to Argo City. Supergirl explains that they didn’t know that Argo City still existed, that she and Mon-El were instead looking for a substance needed to help destroy a Worldkiller who was terrorizing Earth. They tracked the substance and stumbled upon Argo City. Alura explains that she knows what she’s referring to. She says that the item they’re looking for is the only thing that is keeping Argo City alive.

Taking Ruby to the DEO, Alex sends her off to a conference room to read while she confers with J’onn and Winn on who it could be that is trying to kill her. Winn scans through several of the humans and aliens that they’ve helped capture over the years, but none seem likely. When J’onn suggests that it could possibly be someone from before Alex’s time with the DEO, Alex tells Winn to pull up the file on a Ronald Collins.

Alex explains that she helped bring in Collins when she was only 17 years old. He was previously a police officer who murdered a child. Wanting to interrogate him, Alex asks Winn to watch Ruby for a few hours. Winn is highly annoyed and tries to refuse, but Alex doesn’t take no for an answer.

Tracking Collins back to a local bar, she finds him sitting on a stool, drunk. When Alex tells him that she knows he was the one who’s trying to kill her, Collins scoffs. He tells her that he’s done his time and doesn’t want anything to do with her. Alex eventually sees that Collins is heartbroken over accidentally killing the child years ago, and just wants to be left alone. When Alex leaves the bar, she discovers that her motorcycle has a bomb on it. She leaps out of the way just before it goes off. When the DEO team arrive, she tells J’onn that she’s tired of being the victim and wants to try being the hunter for a change.

J’onn disguises himself as Alex and jogs in a local park, while DEO agents secretly position themselves atop various buildings. J’onn jogs for some time, but no one tries to attack him. It’s then that Alex spots a non-DEO agent on a building near hers and he takes a shot at the real Alex with his gun. Alex chases the assassin and eventually discovers that he is the brother of an alien she previously arrested. The DEO take him in and Alex begins wondering if her life with the DEO is really worth keeping.

Back at L-Corp, Lena Luthor continues trying to find a cure for Sam, but Reign continues to play mind games with Lena, telling her that she will eventually escape and kill everyone she loves. Taking comfort with James Olson, Lena admits that she has a fail-safe plan to flood Reign’s system with Kryptonite should she escape. This will, unfortunately, kill Sam in the process. Lena tells him that she is loath to do it, but James asks her to think about what Sam would want. Lena says that she would want to protect her daughter, Ruby.

Ruby continually asks Winn if she can help him with his DEO duties, but Winn only finds her annoying and repeatedly tells her no. Seeing that he’s hurt her feelings, Winn apologizes. He explains to her that he too had a parent who was bad news and that he felt like he would one day turn bad too. Ruby says she understands, but that Winn is too good of a person to become bad. Feeling better about her, Winn asks Ruby to help him locate Supergirl after all.

On Argo City, Supergirl is given an audience with the council of elders to petition a request for aid. She tells them that a Worldkiller has been let loose on Earth and she requires their help. The lead councilman, Jul-Us, tells her that they have little resources and no warriors to speak of. When Supergirl tells them that she doesn’t need warriors, just part of the rock giving the city sustenance, her request turns sour. She pleads that her adoptive world is in jeopardy because of Kryptonian origins. Jul-Us balks, saying to her that Krypton doesn’t exist anymore and that they are not responsible for the Worldkiller. Supergirl then tells them that the legacy of their people still leaves blood on their hands. A vote is made, with the deciding vote is made by a sympathetic councilman named Selena.

Elated, Supergirl and Mon-El are given a portion of the substance they need. Saying goodbye to her mother, Supergirl heads back to Earth with newfound hope.

At L-Corp, Reign continues to taunt Lena. She tells Lena that she is just as evil as she is and that she knows about the Kryptonite poisoning she plans to give her. Just when Lena is about to dose Reign, Supergirl and Mon-El arrive.

Back on Argo City, Selena reveals herself to be a secret member of the Worldkiller cult and begins to pray to Reign.

What Does This Mean for the Future?

Supergirl and crew are SO close to providing Sam with the antidote she needs, but Reign is just as determined to stop them from finishing their task. Will the newly revealed cult member Selena somehow stop the cure from happening?

Rating: 8/10
Final Thought: This was a really fun episode, with a lot of great fan fodder to sort through.

I loved that Supergirl’s mother, Alura Zor-El, is revealed to be alive after all these years. With all the troubles Supergirl has faced, it was really great to see true happiness again. And it was fun seeing Mon-El play the part of gentleman suitor meeting the parents for the first time.

Anyone else catch that the new cult member’s name is Selena? The Worldkiller cult is steeped with mysticism and magic. Funny that the new member has the same name as the witch enemy from the Supergirl movie starring Helen Slater and Faye Dunaway.

One thing that bugged me about this episode though is that, for being geniuses, neither Lena nor Winn was able to figure out that if they wanted to weaken Reign without killing her, all they have to do is expose her to artificial red sun rays. Exposure to a red sun would, in effect, remove a Kryptonian’s powers and weaken them. This was already done to Supergirl in the past, one example being when she was held captive by her evil twin from the Nazi alternate dimension. I call ball drop.