written by Cara Russell

SPOILER WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT

We face the consequences of Alex’s Heroic Sacrifice, and ohhh they’re not good. Without the knowledge of Kara being an alien, without knowing she’s Supergirl, Alex’s protective inclinations turn against aliens. It also causes some pretty large memory gaps where Kara is concerned, and a coldness towards Supergirl in particular. So naturally, when J’onn has the opportunity to come clean…he tells Alex she’s fine, and the memory gaps are all due to stress. I also find it strange that his presence as an alien doesn’t trigger any empathy towards aliens in general from Alex; it’s specifically the loss of her connection to Kara that causes her behavioral change. Does J’onn just…not count? For Reasons?

There’s no respite from this unsettling revelation elsewhere in the episode. Kara and Nia take a road trip to Nia’s hometown of Parthas, a self-isolating community where humans and aliens live harmoniously in the idyllic American countryside. It’s here that we see why there’ve been some very odd setups in the previous episodes. While a Naltor female in every generation does inherit the dreaming powers, Nia and her family expected it to be her sister, Maeve, as Nia is trans and their mother Isabel had a vision while she was pregnant with Maeve. As a result, Nia hides the fact that she’s the Dreamer, preventing her from getting assistance from Isabel or Maeve in interpreting a dream that would’ve saved Isabel from a fatal spider bite. Maeve then takes out her inability to dream on Nia in the worst way you’d expect, and the fuzzy allegories surrounding Nia’s secrets come into sharp relief.

James is able to repay Lena’s meddling when one of his reporters comes to him with a scoop on some shady L-Corp operations. He kills the story, as she did with some of Guardian’s issues, and fails to tell her about it when presented with the opportunity. We don’t know how this will play out, except it’s an interesting moment to see how they’re more alike than they are different, whether they choose to admit that or not.

Russian Supergirl’s also in trouble. She’s injured during training, and her treatment causes bursts of radiation to circle the globe, irradiating some party pills to increase aggression and inhuman strength. While that particular thread is largely forgettable, the episode closes out with the Russian handler calling to the U.S. for help, which hopefully means we’ll see some Supergirl-on-Supergirl fight action soon.

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