What I’m Watching: Supergirl

Supergirl: Season 4, Episode 21 “Red Dawn” (B+)

As the end of the season approaches, the endgame is becoming increasingly clear and rather irreversible at this point. Kara did a cool trick to gain the upper hand while tied to a chair but opened the door to find Red Daughter there with a wig and holding Kryptonite, just the first instance of the two similar but opposite super-powered beings going head-to-head, as indicated by the opening credits with Supergirl’s name spelled out in a distinctly foreign language. Fortunately, three very strong women were working hard to find solutions to help while Supergirl was otherwise occupied. Lena bringing a truth-seeker and poisoning her mother to get her to help was clever, and it turned out to be extraordinarily useful when James went into a sort of shock after trying to stop Lockwood from taking out Otis. Dreamer was eager to risk everything to help those in need, which would have been great had Brainy not been immediately identified when he brought her in as Lockwood. Watching his reboot meltdown was intense, and now he’s so emotionless that he doesn’t mind putting both Dreamer and Hank in serious danger so that they have the best chance of success. Alex was the most crucial player, triggered by the sight of Supergirl fighting for her life to remember who her sister really is and able to encourage her to harness the power of the grass (I guess?) to save her own life. President Baker thanking Lex Luthor on TV for killing Supergirl is going to be a hard announcement to come back from, and I don’t think it’s going to end simply with Supergirl back in the public’s good graces.