SUPERGIRL - SEASON 5.6

REVIEW:  SUPERGIRL - SEASON 5, EP. 6: "Confidence Women"


So far this season on Supergirl, we have gotten introduced to a woman named Andrea Rojas, who has taken over CatCo, and turned it into a clickbait site, taken over her family's business, and developed something called Obsidian VR Lenses.  Now, there have been a few theories as to what she's about.  From her family being involved in organized crime, to her acrimonious relationship with Lena Luthor.  We haven't really gotten to know just what skeletons this woman has in her closet.  This week's edition of the Girl of Steel peels back the layers, and shows us just how Lena and Andrea have gotten to where they're at.  Plus...our secret society known as Leviathan is showing a bit of their hand.

We start off with William having been invited to the DEO at Supergirl's behest, as they want to use him to get through to Russell, and figure out just WHO hired him.  However, that plan is cut short as the Shadow figure we saw a few weeks back reappears, looking to get to Riproar.  Supergirl manages to send this shadow figure away.  When we see the shadow figure reappear, she is in a mask, only to discover that the shadow figure is really Andrea Rojas.  She then looks to Lena for help, explaining that she needs to get Russell out of the DEO.  Lena inquires, and Andrea admits that it's the man she loves.  

We Flashback to 15 years ago to a female boarding school, where Andrea and Lena Luthor meet.  They talk about their respective families, and Lena discusses her goal of obtaining the power of the Shadow from an amulet that's only found in South America.  Andrea says it sounds like an adventure, so she's in whenever Lena wants to go.

Jumping head to 5 years ago, we see how each woman's lives are turning out:  Lena is with Lex and LexCorp, and showing her his plans to destroy Superman.  She's not on board with it, so he fires her.  Andrea, meanwhile, is with her father in Argentina, where he has a tech company that's about to go belly up, because Lord Industries (watch for that name later on), has developed a new chip to make their devices better.  He is weak, and feels that the company is lost, so he is letting Andrea go.  Lena contacts her, and says she found the location of this element she needs to stop Lex from destroying Superman.  Andrea is a bit reluctant to go, but finally agrees to head out on this excursion with Lena.  They manage to find the area where this element is supposed to be, and Andrea falls into a hole.  As Lena goes to find her a way out, Andrea discovers the medallion that Lena has been looking for.  While down there, she is approached by an old man, who tells her to take the medallion.  She says she wants it for Lena, the old man says that he can help her father, because he knows that if she doesn't agree...her father will kill himself.  He says that his group Leviathan will contact her when she is needed.  Lena makes her way down after the old man disappeared, and Andrea lies to her about finding the medallion.  Lena is crushed.

We scoot ahead in time once again to 4 years ago, and we see the scene from last season, where we see Lex arrested thanks to Lena's work in stopping his reign of terror.  Lena's boyfriend at the time feels it's better for her to leave Metropolis for the time being, and head to London with him.  She agrees.  Sometime later, she bumps into Andrea, whom she hadn't seen in awhile, and while catching up, she notices the medallion around Andrea's neck.  Andrea said she couldn't tell her that she lied, and Lena is upset, and promptly ends their friendship.

Skipping ahead once more with the flashbacks, and we meet up with Lena from 2 months later after Lex's arrest, as the news talks about the trial of her brother.  She tells her boyfriend that she can head LexCorp's offices being set up in National City.  She feels the Luthor influence there won't be as bad, and she can restore the name.  He isn't happy about it, but she's going nonetheless.  We jump into a flashback from 3 years ago when Lena and Kara first meet.  Kara wants to make friends with Lena, but knowing how she's been burned by friends in the past, Lena wants to keep it strictly business.  Kara won't give up trying.  Meanwhile, Andrea and Russell are happily in love, but he notices something off about her.  She passes it off as nothing, but he persists.  When he finds the medallion, he questions her about it, but then people from Leviathan show up with a job for her.  She doesn't want to do it, and threaten to kill Russell.  They state that their plans and secrecy mean more than any human life.  After bargaining for Russell's life, saying he would be an asset.  They decide to keep him around, while she goes and executes a prominent senator, per their wishes.  We then see him about to be experimented on using his biotechnology skills to turn him into a killing machine.  He says to Andrea it will be okay.  

We skip to the events of twelve weeks ago, where Lena is helping Supergirl take down Lex, only to have Lex show her that Supergirl and her friends lied to her.  She is going over the book that she used to track down the medallion.  She feels she doesn't need friends---that is---unless they're useful to her in some way.

Eight weeks ago, Lena calls a meeting with Andrea, and that's when she decided to sell CatCo to Andrea...to help her out.  But she's only using Andrea as a means to an end---by having access to her company's technology.  So, Andrea agrees to buy CatCo.

We reach present day, where we see Andrea has finished telling her story to Lena...filling in the gaps, and looking to see if Lena can help her get into the DEO to rescue Riproar.  Lena says she can, but it's going to cost her.  Andrea shows her how the power of the medallion works, and reminds Lena that the power is a curse...not a gift.  Lena puts a plan into place to help Andrea out, by luring Supergirl away from the DEO to give Andrea clean access.

Back at the DEO, Supergirl is trying to appeal to Riproar, and it's there that her compassion opens him up enough to reveal the name Leviathan to her.  But before she can get more answers, she has to respond to the call Lena sent her.  She's off, and meets Lena at her apartment, who fakes having been hurt in order to buy Andrea time to grab Riproar.   Andrea enters the DEO, and Lena has used her new technology with the lenses, combined with Malefic's powers, to freeze everyone there, thus J'Onn sensing his brother's presence.  Alex has managed to avoid being subdued and manages to catch Andrea, but with Brainy under Lena's control, he attacks, Alex, who has to take him down.  Supergirl, at Lena's, hears Alex's cries, and races off to the rescue.  Supergirl arrives to try and stop Andrea, but she and Riproar manage to escape.  

Lena wants the medallion as payment for services rendered.  Andrea hands it over, seeing as how it has caused her nothing but pain in her life, and she missed her friend.  Lena feels her friendship was a mistake, and takes the medallion.  Andrea then takes off with Russell, hoping to get him to safety before Leviathan shows up.  However, it's all for naught, as Russell is shot and killed on their way onto boarding a plane to fly away.  The old man shows up again, and tells her that they will not tolerate insubordination.  She's bound to Leviathan for all they did for her and her family.  She says she doesn't have the medallion anymore, and the old man says that the power of the Shadow did NOT come from the medallion...it only released the power eminating from her own dark soul.

Lena is in the VR simulation with her mother, seeing the happiness she once had.  Hope tells her that the medallion holds no true power, its properties gone.  Lena can care less, and has Hope translate the scribe on the medallion, which translates to LEVIATHAN.  Lena then wants Hope to access Eve Tessmacher's memories to learn all about it.  


This was a fairly solid episode---we finally get into the relationship between Andrera and Lena---and it started out good enough, but Andrea's desire to help her father from killing himself led her to betray Lena---something she has gotten used to.  We also find out just how the relationship soured, and how Russell came to be Riproar.  

Lena is another story.  She has severe trust issues, and when hurt, won't accept the reasons WHY.  From Andrea trying to save her father and their company, to Kara simply trying to protect her from harm when she's Supergirl, and even when Lex goes off the deep end (though he was ALWAYS off the deep end---she just didn't grasp it until later), with his plans to kill Superman.  She has always felt like her trust didn't matter...that she was taken advantage of.  That is what drives her now---the wrongs of her friends motivates her to want to control the thought processes of people so that they won't hurt or lie to each other.  But that's a path she's taking where more harm than good will come of it...she just doesn't realize it.  She is a very "one and done" person with friendships.  Betrayals...even lies...little WHITE lies...is not acceptable to her.  Those closest to her are not allowed to make mistakes or decisions that they feel would be in HER best interests.  Fool me once, shame on me as far as Lena goes.

Andrea comes off a TAD more sympathetic here---she's a woman desperate to save her father and their company, and later on---save the love of her life.  But in the process, she betrayed her best friend, and sold her boyfriend up the river to Leviathan to spare his life.  While HE is a bit more forgiving, she riding her own guilt here.  She never wanted to lose Lena's friendship, but HER wants and needs superceded Lena's---who wanted to have the medallion to stop Lex.  Andrea has always seemed to put her own needs first, even if the cause isn't as, shall we say, noble as someone else's.  She knows that getting into bed with Leviathan has been a curse, the power has been a curse, but she also...as the old man pointed out...a "dark soul".  So, while she may BELIEVE all her intentions were for good reasons...they're still selfish.  And now with Leviathan watching her more closely...she's going to have to eventually have a showdown with Supergirl on the horizon...providing she doesn't resist Leviathan again, and they go after her.  

We get a little more insight about Leviathan.  They've had their nose in world dominating affairs for awhile now.  They used Eve to get to Lex and carry out HIS master plan, only to have it fail because of Supergirl.  Now, they expect to have Andrea do the same.  When she resisted in killing Riproar, they did the job for her.  These are callous people, who have no interest in human life over THEIR anonymity.  What the DEO and Team Supergirl do with this information we shall have to see.

And does Leviathan tie in at all with the Monitor?  We know he likes to play both sides of the coin.  He's doing it with Ollie, he's doing it with Barry...why not Kara?  He revived Lex, so it's curious to see just what his intentions are.  CRISIS is not that far off, and I'm interested to see some movement on it from Supergirl's perspective.  

That does it for this week.  Subscribe...drop a line, and pass the word along...cheaper than a doctor visit.

Until next time...Up, up, and AWAY!