What I’m Watching: Supergirl

Supergirl: Season 4, Episode 11 “Blood Memory” (B)

We haven’t seen too much of Nia Nall since she was introduced, and, honestly, it’s impossible for me to remember who knows that Supergirl is really Kara given the many, many people in her extended friend and work circles. Going back to her hometown to meet her family reminded me of something that I had flagged but then let go as a potential plot hole, which is that Nia had mentioned to James that she was a trans woman, which made her inheritance of a female-only gene in the family that allowed her to dream the future potentially illogical. But leave it to this forward-thinking show to posit that true gender identity can be understood more deeply by alien races than human genetics, allowing her to dream the future as she would have if she had been born and identified as a girl. That did not sit well with her sister, of course, but she did get a firm stamp of approval from her dying mother, who I didn’t recognize as Kate Burton but should have figured would be cast in that maternal role. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Alex’s memory wipe is having side effects which are reframing her personality, and I actually think that she’s going to press so hard to figure out what’s wrong with her that she’ll end up relearning the information that she’s now no longer able to recall. James’ fact-checking into Lena’s work is a bit suspect, and he should realize that he’s in a difficult position that can’t simply be escaped by quashing investigations that could uncover things he doesn’t want to learn.