written by Cara Russell

SPOILER WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT

Escalation is the name of the game this week in Supergirl. Now that our heroes know Lena Luthor has been conducting experiments on Sam Arias, Lena’s forced to admit to possessing Kryptonite, and Kara & co. are forced to reveal the existence of the DEO – and the direct complicity of a bunch of people Lena had started to trust. Ouch. To make matters worse, it’s James who Supergirl calls on to verify Lena’s story that she had used the last of Lex Luthor’s Kryptonite to sedate Sam, a twist that nobody deserves, but still not one that I can see an alternate path to avoid.

Meanwhile, back at the Worldkiller base, the trio of evil has been reunited in the flesh, while their human hosts are trapped in a phantom-type dimension. There, they’re slowly losing their grasp on their memories until they die and give full control to their respective Worldkillers. I’m starting to feel like someone on the writing team has an issue they’re trying to work out, considering how frequently the loss of memory and self is a theme this season. While Grace gives up instantly, Sam manages to stop Julia from panicking, and they both begin using rocks to engrave their memories on stone so they don’t forget more.

Back at the ranch, Supergirl and Brainiac 5 hatch a plan to use Legion technology to project her consciousness, along with those of Alex and Lena, into the shadowy dimension to rescue Sam before the sun fully eclipses and the Worldkillers destroy the planet. They succeed, but it’s a close call as sending Sam back to her body to send a signal flare returns Reign to the shadow dimension to murderize the rescue party. Supergirl and company are pulled out just in time as Sam is successful at calling for the Legion, and the crew readies for a brawl at Worldkiller HQ. Alex finally gets a suit upgrade, which she puts to great use, but it’s still Julia who saves the day by reclaiming her body. She manages to retain control over her Worldkiller powers while the sun is eclipsed and Supergirl is powerless. Julia takes out Pestilence at the cost of her own life, causing the cavern they’re in to collapse and send hero and foe alike to flee and fight another day – although it looks like Reign may have inherited the powers of her compatriots in the process. With Pestilence gone, the Legion’s mission is complete, but even if they’re able to return to the future quickly, I suspect someone else will have taken on the mantle of Blight.

Later, James and Lena come clean to one another. James confesses that he’s the Guardian and had broken into her lab, but refused to look into her Kryptonite locker, telling Winn that it was empty. Lena tells him that she figured out how to manufacture Kryptonite. I can appreciate that they’re coming to trust one another, but this is information I don’t think James can sit on, and if Lena doesn’t already suspect that Kara is Supergirl, it’ll become an extra messy heartache real quick.

I have to give a(nother) special shout-out to Brainiac 5’s image inducer, letting us see Jessie Rath’s glorious features without the heavy paint and prosthetics that were far more a distraction than anything. Good move, production department!

Supergirl airs Monday nights at 8 Eastern/7 Central on the CW. Cara can be reached on Twitter @virtualcara.