SUPERGIRL - Episode 4.16

SUPERGIRL – Season 4, Ep. 16:  “The House Of L”

This episode is pretty much taking us on a journey over the past couple of years, as we see how Lex Luthor manipulated things from behind the scenes, and how his evil machinations have affected his sister Lena, and our Girl of Steel.

We pick up where we left off last episode, where Lex confronted Supergirl.  He jumps out of the helicopter, and has a suit that he flies off to escape in and heads towards the Daily Planet, with Supergirl in tow.  They battle and Supergirl finds out that Lex has powers.  He strikes her down.  Then grabs the Planet statue and drops it on her.

We got back three years in court, where James and Lena testify against Lex about the crimes he committed against Superman and the rest of the world.  When the judge is about ready to sentence him, he is seen writing Kryptonian on a legal pad.  He gets up and professes that aliens live among them, and that Superman made him do what he did.  He goes on to say that there are two times:  Before Superman, and After Superman.  Aliens will soon populate the planet, and he feels that what HE is doing is for the sake of the Earth.  The judge then is ready to pass sentence, but she has trouble getting the sentence out, as she is coughing and choking.  Soon, everyone is coughing and choking, dying.  Lex is taken into custody and James and Lena leave the courtroom in a haste.  As Lex is being led to prison, we see Eve Tessmacher and Otis Graves watching and talking to each other. 

Lex is then visited by Eve Tessmacher in this posh visitation room (Lex obviously has pulled A LOT of strings), and she tells him what she’s capable of, but he then has a plan for her.  He wants her to start working for CatCo, because James is there, and he’s close to Supergirl.  She agrees.  He then gets a visit from the warden, who thanks him for the basketball tickets, and the prisoners enjoyed the lobster.  He says he’s been teaching the inmates chess.  The phone rings in the visitation room, and it’s the Minister from Kaznia, who tells him they have found a clone of Supergirl.  They need him there as soon as possible.  Lex says he needs to go for 72 hours to the warden, but the warden isn’t going to let him go.  Lex threatens the warden with his family, and secures his release for those 72 hours.  As he’s leaving for his trip, he’s calling out chess moves to the inmates.  We also see a hologram of Lex appear in his cell to cover the ruse. 

In Kaznia, we see the Kara clone being discovered by the Kaznian Army.  The Minister recognizes her as the clone of Supergirl.  She keeps calling out “Alex”, but that’s all she knows.  We see a montage of how they begin to train and teach her in their ways, and how to use her powers.  But she still has trouble controlling them.  She then hears a child in pain, and she ends up saving the child.  She still doesn’t have full control of her powers.  Eventually, Lex discovers her.  She again calls out “Alex”, and  Lex says “sure”.

Lex and Kara talk, and he says he can help her with her powers, but she must learn everything about the Kaznian way.  He then talks to Miss Tessmacher and Otis as he has to leave to go back to prison.  Miss Tessmacher informs Lex that Lena is close to the Harun-El formula, and he informs her to help her finish.  As for Otis, he informs him that the needs to have America and Kaznia at war with each other, so that when Kaznia invades and tries to destroy America, Lex will be the savior.  He tells Otis to find a radical, a “hero” to drive people to hate against aliens, and Otis knows a guy…Ben Lockwood.  Otis gives him the pamphlet for the Sons of Liberty.  Lex starts putting things in motion from prison, because he’s going to need an alibi for all his plans.

Once again, we had back to Kaznia, where the Kara clone is reading their propaganda.  Lex wonders why she keeps liking The Great Gatsby.  She says she likes it, but he tells her to read it again, to get the message HE wants her to understand.  The brainwashing begins.

Once more, we see Lex return again, and they’re having dinner with the boy Mikhail that she saved.  Lex asks the boy why he was attacked.  He said they were thieves, and that his father was a bad man, that is why it is only his mom and himself.  The Kara clone says she will try to visit more, and has formed a bond with the boy.  Lex then takes her back to the Kaznian Military complex, and reveals to her that she is Kryptonian, and brainwashes her to believe that America is evil, and they are protected by Supergirl.  She wants to know more.  Lex agrees.

Four Months ago, Lex and the Kara clone arrive in National City, and she’s in disguise as “Linda Lee”.  She sees an AmeriTech logo.  He tells her that they make weapons.  They then visit Kara’s apartment, and the Kara Clone surveys it, and Lex tells her that Kara lives here on a reporter’s salary.  Just then, Alex pops in and asks her what she’s doing there, she thought she was in Smallville on vacation.  The Kara Clone, thinking quickly, made up a story about needing her journal.  Alex says okay, and takes off.  Lex has to go back to prison, and tells her to go back to Kaznia.  She ends up sticking around a little bit and reading Kara’s journal.  She then sees the entry about Lena, and goes to visit her at L-Corp.  She bumps into Lena and Miss Tessmacher.  She plays the part, and Lena then leaves the elevator.  Miss Tessmacher knows that it’s the Kara Clone, and tells her to go back to Kaznia, and she refuses, saying she wants to know more about Kara’s life.  Miss Tessmacher contacts Lex and tells him that the clone is going rogue.  Lex says that they’ll get her back by taking what she cherishes most away from her.  They target the boy’s house in Kaznia, and they destroy it using AmeriTech weapons. 

As the house is being destroyed, the clone hears Mikhail's voice, and races back home to Kaznia to save him, but the house is destroyed, and she can’t find the boy anywhere.  She is upset.  She then heads to the AmeriTech ship and plans on killing the men responsible.  Lex shows up to stop her, and they get into an argument, because she’s been exposed, and now he has to clean up her mess.  He then takes off.

We then see Otis talking to Mikhail, who is very much alive, and says that if you see a bald man, learn to play dead.  Three months later,  we go through the training montage for the Red Daughter, including the point where she stopped the drone, but got weakened because of it.  The Minister than calls Lex to let him know she’s in trouble.  Lex talks to Miss Tessmacher about getting the Black Kryptonite in order to save the Kara Clone, but Miss Tessmacher says that it’s not ready.  Lex then realizes that the only way he can get it is by giving himself cancer, which Miss Tessmacher is VERY much against.  He shuts himself inside a radioactive containment unit in order to douse himself.  He later appears as a hologram to Lena, and lets her know he's dying.  

Again, we see another montage of the events from last episode that led up to the current situation, with Lex’s plan unfolding before us.  Lex takes off, and Kara tries to give chase but he’s gone.  She flies to the hospital where Alex is with James, to let Alex know that Lex is loose, and she lost him.  Alex says she headed to the DEO to get info, and for Supergirl to find J’Onn and find Luthor.

We finally go back to Kaznia, where Lex is by the Kara Clone’s bedside.  He gives her the serum, and she eventually awakens.  Lex says he was angry with her, but he wanted to help her.  She was a gift.  She says she was wrong for what she did, and she will listen to him, and destroy Supergirl.  It’s then Lex presents her with her new uniform, and calls her his “Red Daughter”.

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This was pretty much a recap episode, with nothing REALLY new to uncover, other than how Lex had put what essentially has been the entire season thus far in motion.  The amping up of Lockwood’s Sons of Liberty crusade, Lena’s research, and the plot to brainwash the Kara clone to Kaznia’s political ideologies in order to make her hate Supergirl AND America….all to set HIMSELF up as the hero.  It’s been a pretty intricate plan, and well thought out---for Lex, anyway.  Now we see what happens now that the Red Daughter is in America, and looking to kill The Girl of Steel. 

We get to see how he met Miss Tessmacher and Otis Graves…and how they end up joining his group as his underlings in order to carry out his plans.  We see the Kaznian Government have a clone of Supergirl, with whom they’re brainwashing---with Lex’s help---to their mindset.  We also see the lengths Lex is willing to go through in order to carry out his master plan---even giving himself cancer.  THAT is a devoted supervillain.  Cryer has brought a much needed depth and psychosis to Lex that quite possibly hasn’t been seen in quite some time (and apologies to Michael Rosenbaum…but I’m starting to like Cryer’s portrayal MUCH better).  And the Lex suit---AWESOME that they brought that into play.  Lex is a lot like Tony Stark:  Brilliant, creative, narcissistic…but only sociopathic.  It’s a brilliant rendition, and I’m loving the hell out of it.

We see the little aspects of Kara’s personality manifest in her clone, but Lex is quick to wipe those out with the continued brainwashing in order to carry out his master plan.  Her confrontation with Supergirl WILL be epic.  Can we get a steel cage match?  Well…I suppose it’ll be more along the lines of “Last Woman Standing” and “Falls Count Anywhere” stipulations. It IS interesting, however, that the only memory she has when she's found is Alex....Kara's sister.  It will be a plot point I feel will be used in the future, I bet.  And props to Melissa Benoist for showing the innocence of a power woman being manipulated by a crazy man, and how she balanced that with being driven after Mikhail's supposed "death".

I wonder if the boy will reappear at some point to be the slight little foil in Lex’s plans?  That’s just ONE of the little things I’m curious about before the season ends.  Also…does James get powers?  We see he’s still laid up and recovering in this episode, so who knows when he’ll be back on his feet.

The one thing I also wanted to point out is how easily it was for Lex to influence someone who doesn’t understand the world around them, and was able to bend her will to his own.  It’s a big lesson about how propaganda and believing in something so strong, you’re willing to die for it can have dire consequences---such as a loss of self.  Maybe that’s just MY perspective on it, but it’s easy to see how believing in something someone tells you without finding out for yourself is how puppets and sheeple are made in the world.  But that’s a discussion for another time. 

All in all, this episode helps explain A LOT, and shows how much influence ONE man, with enough power and resources at his disposal---and Lex has PLENTY---to influence many to do his bidding, and for him to carry out his master plan.  He is maniacal, insane, crafty, and a freakin’ genius.  It’s amazing how well he could leave prison on a whim, brainwash the Red Daughter, help influence a revolution against the alien races inhabiting the planet, and help his sister find a cure while using the Harun-El to do it. 

That’s it for this week, and we get one more week before the show takes yet another short hiatus.  Subscribe, leave a comment, and hope to hear from you soon.

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Until next week….Up, up, and away!