SUPERGIRL - SEASON 5.5

REVIEW:  SUPERGIRL - SEASON 5, EP. 5 - "Dangerous Liaisons"


The adventures of our Girl of Steel sure take some interesting twists and turns, and this episode is no exception.  We get super-villains, mysterious clandestine meetings, a little twist, all with Andrea Rojas' Obsidian VR Lens' launch as the backdrop.

Andrea is in full promo mode this episode, as she is having CatCo hype up the launch of the Obsidian VR Lenses by having everyone work it into their stories--regardless of what they are--so she can get clicks to the site AND promotion of the Lenses for the company.  As per usual with her, it's all about traffic to the site, and paying customers to her product---integrity be damned.  Kara and Nia groan, but at the same time, Nia is disappointed they didn't get more on William.  Kara, however, secretly texts him, and they chat, telling him that she has a way of getting some info on Andrea through her sister Alex.  So, off to the DEO they go.

Lena and Hope are running tests on Malefic to find out the right frequency in his powers where he can manipulate people to do his bidding.  He's not all in on the deal unelss he can get the mental block on him removed, and have a chance to kill his brother.  Lena, knowing what it's like to be betrayed, agrees.  They go to work.

Kelly, meanwhile, is looking forward to her "date-a-versary" with Alex, and hits Kara up for advice for a gift.  Kara suggests a motorcycle helmet.  Kelly is excited and she's off.  Kara and Dey then arrive at the DEO, where Alex interrogates the meta Supergirl nabbed last week named Breathtaker.  As they try to pry info out of her in regards to who hired her to kill Dey's informant last week, she says she had no idea who hired her.  The only thing she reveals is that there was a thief and killer named Riproar who was also involved.  William presses about him to the point that Alex has him leave the room.  He let's Kara know that Riproar is the one who killed his friend Russell.  

Lena and Hope finally are able to tap into Malefic's powers, and get the right frequency for their plan.  Malefic is looking forward to having the mental block removed, and killing J'Onn.

Kara and William are in Andrea's office sniffing around, and Kara's x-ray vision reveals a secret panel that has some cash, jewelry, and a picture of Russell and Andrea---the two had been dating.  William recalls the last conversation with Russell, and the next day, going to see him at his place, only to find it ransacked and Riproar inside, saying his friend was dead.  But there was no body found.

We see Riproar at Fort Summit breaking in, and making off with a weapon Lex created.  Supergirl tries to take him out, but he stuns her with the weapon just long enough to escape.  J'Onn comes in with a save, and him and Kara discuss what's going on.  He agrees to look into Russell's disappearance, and they focus on trying to get the weapon back from Riproar before he hurts someone.

At the DEO, Brainy and Alex are having trouble getting the info they need from Breathtaker.  So Brainy suggests using the spider-alien to see what it knew.  Brainy offers himself up as a host, and the alien isn't quite as forthcoming as they would have liked.  Alex and Kelly have a quick chat, and they are both looking forward to spending their date in VR.

Brainy manages to track the weapon to Antarctica, where Riproar is set to fire a blast into Lake Vostek facility, causing a seismic rift, thus melting the polar ice cap, and causing a massive tidal wave capable of wiping out the Pacific Coast.  J'Onn and Supergirl head to the bottom of the Earth to stop Riproar, while the DEO plans for the worst along the coast.  Dreamer is called in to see if she can take out the tidal wave before anyone gets hurt.

At Lake Vostek, Supergirl and J'Onn arrive just late enough for Riproar to get a shot off.  He gets taken out, as Supergirl races to prevent a disaster.  Back home, Kelly and several others are all tied into their VR Lenses, as Andrea begins the launch.  Dreamer arrives when the wave comes in sight, and begins blasting it to destroy it.  Meanwhile, Alex and the DEO are valiantly trying to get people away from the danger.  Kelly, oblivious, hears something, and ends up taking the lenses off, just fast enough to see the disaster coming, but also seeing Alex doing her job---saving people.  Alex almost has a crane fall on her as she's saving someone, but Dreamer comes in with the save.  Back down under, Supergirl and J'Onn have finally quelled the threat, and they seal the lake again, thus preventing the disaster.

Back at the DEO, Alex informs Supergirl that there is no connection between the Rojas Family, and Riproar OR Breathtaker.  Supergirl was so sure, but it's back to the drawing board.  Brainy, however, tells them to come into the interrogation room.  What's discovered is shocking, as later on, Kara reveals to William that not only was Andrea not involved--simply because having this incident occur during her launch, and where her business is at, her family would stand to lose millions.  But it turns our Kara has one more bomb to drop on William---Riproar is actually Russel, his friend.  He, much like Breathtaker, had no idea who hired them.  What we DO know that Tess's contact from Leviathan...the old lady...had something to do with it.  A connection they have not made yet.

Kelly is visibly upset after what she witnessed earlier with Alex in peril, which reminded her of her fiance', but Alex assures her things will be alright.  Alex and her have their date, and Alex gets HER a motorcycle helmet, wishing for her to be her riding partner.  Kelly is happy.

Back in Lena's lab, Malefic wakes up, looking forward to being able to kill J'Onn...however, Lena has turned the tables on him, and says she never removed the block, and that she won't allow him to hurt anyone.  She then uses her new and improved lenses to manipulate Malefic into submission.

Andrea is leaving the office, and gets into her limo, and is met by the woman from Leviathan, and wants Andrea to "handle" Riproar---seeing as how he is a problem now.  She wants Andrea to do what Lex couldn't---change the world.

This episode was fairly simple and straightforward, and wasn't packed with a lot of "umph".  We did get some more insights into William's background, Andrea's (to some extent), as well as Lena's plan moving further along.  We see some of the backlash of Kelly's trauma with Alex being in danger...something that I had THOUGHT might end up being a deal breaker for their relationship.  But that would honestly be a cop out---Alex's relationship with Maggie was all to brief, and Alex deserves something more than what she's had in the relationship department.  

Riproar was yet another new villain-of-the-week, and seemed like a Doctor Octopus wannabe.  The only interesting thing about HIM is the reveal that he was Dey's friend Russell...which didn't come off as much as a surprise.  

Kara and Dey working together was cool, but I wasn't cool with her keeping Nia in the dark about it.  Dey's trying to keep it under wraps himself, and didn't even want Kara involved.  But they're in thick as thieves now, and they will have to get to the bottom of Andrea Rojas at some point.

Lena is very saavy.  She is a Luthor true and true...working all the angles.  As much as Malefic thought he got the upper hand in their deal, Lena managed to flip the tables on him, and pretty much neuter him for the time being.  Her plan is coming along nicely.  But it's the LONG TERM we're looking at here in regards to the battle for her soul.  What will be the overall ramifications of her master plan once she implements it?  

The only dangling question right now is about Leviathan.  Who and what ARE they?  We just know this old lady seems to be their face, and she's already had a chat with Eve Tessmacher, as well as Breathtaker AND Riproar.  Now, they'll have Andrea in their back pocket, looking to do the work Lex couldn't.  What this is, what it means, and where it goes is something we're apparently going to have to wait for.  I just hope the payoff is worth it.

It was an okay episode, and did what it was supposed to in order to move the bigger story along, but it didn't jump out at me as a great episode.  Okay would be my best offer as an opinion.

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Until next week...Up, up, and Away!