REVIEW: SUPERGIRL - SEASON 5, EP. 11: "Back From the Future, Part 1"
The Girl of Steel has been facing a new challenge post Crisis: Trying to prove to the new and improved world at large that Lex Luthor is NOT who he makes himself out to be: a hero of the people. He's got his sister Lena roped into his plan, unbeknownst to her, by giving her the means to manipulate people's minds into what she wants them to be: dolice little honest people. She is also coping with adjusting to the new world. Meanwhile, we now have a Brainiac 5 working with Luthor in order to "save" the world, but by doing so, is betraying his friends, and breaking Nia's heart in the process. And now...we get the return of one of our old friends with a VERY tricky issue to resolve...
We open up this episode with Braniac 5 on a highway at nighttime. He's apparently setting something up, as we see a bus coming along towards him. He lays in wait, as the trap he set is a piece of a tree or something, that gets tripped, and nails the driver through the windshield. The bus crashes, and it turns out it's a prison bus from National City. A man crawls out, and we discover that it's Winn Schott...son of the Toyman, and one of Supergirl's allies who had left to join the Legion of Superheroes in the future. Briany is there to meet him with his helmet on, telling him to go with him.
Kara is having a friendly gathering at her place, as they try and soothe Nia's feelings over being dumped by Brainy. Nia assures them she's fine, but Alex has been a little worried about him. He seems different. Somehow, the subject changes to Lex, and whatever scheme he has up his sleeve.
This Winn meets up with Lex, who comments that it didn't take long for him to get arrested 16 hours after arriving on Earth. Winn has no idea who Lex is, and Lex fills in the story about his father being the best toymaker in the world until his partners stole his patents. Lex wants to help Winn restore his father's legacy, by helping him become the biggest toymaker in the world. Winn seems interested, and Lex hands him a pamphlet for a toy show that is featuring an old enemy of Winslow Schott - Chester Dunholtz. Lex tells him that whatever he's going to do...make it splashy.
Lex then takes in a meeting with Lena, who is frustrated that she can't get her project going forward, because this newly created universe shifted the Q-Waves, and she can't harness them. Lex is more concerned with obtaining more information about Leviathan. He feels that if his sister helps him out, he can find a way to get the Q-Waves she needs to start her project back up, and that means cozying up to Andrea. Lena doesn't want to for personal reasons, mostly betrayal. But Lex strokes her ego by saying that she shouldn't let personal issues get in the way of her getting what she wants. Lex says that by the end of tomorrow, he'll have the answer to her Q-Wave problem. But he has to crash---gotta attend the toy fair tomorrow as they unveil his action figure.
Kara and William Day are talking about Lex and his dirty dealings when they come upon him admiring his new action figure. Kara is trying to keep the peace, and put up a good front interviewing him, passing off the fake smile. But William puts a wet blanket on it, by asking Lex about his dealings with Rogers Engineering--his friend's company--and how his friend refused to work with Lex and let him take over the company, and then suddenly disappeared. Lex calmly deflects and ends the interview, and then pulls Kara aside. He immediately tells her that if William goes digging into his dealings, William is going to get hurt...and he'll expose her secret ID. This forces Kara to crush her recording device in anger and frustration.
However, Kara has little time to ponder on it, because Alex contacts her, and says there's a shooter at the fair. Kara switches to Supergirl and joins Alex in the hunt for him. They come upon a group of toy monkeys with cymbals. Supergirl discovers that they're all linked together, and it's a bomb. She races over, and covers them with her body and cape. The bomb goes off in Supergirl's face, but there's no real threat, as it detonates harmlessly in front of her, thanks to her shielding it. They eventually spot the shooter, who is Winn, as he's got his laser sights on Chester Dunholtz. As Winn takes the shot, and the bullet is headed towards its target, Supergirl leaps into action to stop it, but it's suddently stopped the incoming of a spaceship that lands. Out of the ship comes a man dressed in a suit with a mask---it's the REAL Winn! He asks where the shooter is, and Supergirl goes after him. The evil Winn makes a beeline for safety, and Supergirl gives chase, only to catch up to a mannequin dressed like him, laughing as the head pops off.
Winn is doing an immediate scan of the area, trying to find this evil doppleganger, and wants Brainy to help in the search. Brainy comes off as hesitant. Winn is desperate to find this evil version of him. If he doesn't, his life will be over. Supergirl asks why, and he says he will lose his wife and kid. He shows them a picture of his wife Ila, and is daugher Mary. Winn goes on to say that he was at home when there was a knock at the door, and the time cops had come for him, and she was arguing with them, saying that he had killed Dunholtz on this day, and discovered it was him using his DNA. If this version of him kills Dunholtz, then he will go to jail, and he'll have never met his wife. Alex spots someone in a hood on the security camera, but it's not clear as to who it is. They give it Brainy to see if he can clean up the image, and they can get an idea. Brainy reluctantly takes it, and says he'll be at the DEO trying to do what he can to get a better image of Schott's accomplice. He also says he'll take the Legion ship to the DEO as well, but Alex says she's actually going to have it stashed elsewhere. Winn reunites with his friends, and is not aware as to what Lex is up to.
Lena meets up with Andrea, who is all to happy to see her. Lena puts her act into place by saying that she's sorry for how things happened, and that she'd like to be friends again, and that Andrea can tell her anything. She asks about Leviathan, and Andrea fesses up about knowing about them, and apologizes for not being upfront with her, but she says Leviathan hasn't contacted her. Lena says that IF they do, she'll be there for her, and for Andrea to let her know. Andrea has to take off, as does Lena, but Lena contacts Lex to let him know they haven't activated Andrea as yet, so she knows pretty much nothing.
Team Supergirl arrives at J'Onn's, where they find him in a secret room, one that he has set up away from where he, Barry, Kara, and the other heroes meet. Winn says he's heard of it, and in the future, they call it the Hall of Justice, which Kara likes. J'Onn has set up a new HQ for his Super Friends, dubbing it "The Tower". He then gets Winn caught up on what's going on, and Winn doesn't respond well to the mid zap, throwing up in the process.
Brainy is at the DEO getting a better picture of the Toyman's accomplice, but he knows what we suspect: the hooded figure was him. He goes to Lex, and says they SHOULD'VE caught the Toyman, but Lex can't be bothered with that at the moment. Lex wants to know where the Legion ship is, and Brainy tells him it's at a government black site 3 miles out of National City. He needs to know HOW to gain access, and Brainy tells him he has Winn's hair, so he has a DNA sample. He again inquires about the Toyman, and Lex says for him and is super buddies to take care of it themselves.
We see that Toyman has managed to capture a live video feed, and is welcoming people to subscribe to his channel. He's looking to get one million subscribers, so he can blow up the city. The Super Friends are trying to pinpoint a location, but it's no use. J'Onn decides to start looking for him physically by patrolling the city. This worries Winn, because he checks his wrist monitor, and it shows what used to be a picture of his wife and kid, to a wanted poster offering a reward for his capture. The fans, meanwhile, are eating Toyman's plan up, and commenting on him to go forward and doing it...gaining subscribers at an alarming rate. Brainy shows up at the Tower, and when they ask if he found Toyman's accomplice, he lies and says he couldn't get a decent shot, but he understands Toynman's tech, and he will try to locate him. Kara is called to CatCo, and she tells them to keep working on finding Toyman quickly.
Kara arrives at CatCo, and she is immediately met by William, who starts giving his theory about Lex working with the Toyman. Kara is urging him caution. If he goes after Lex too hard, there will be trouble and retaliation. William says this is what they do, report the truth. They are interrupted by Andrea, who scolds Kara for not heading to her office immediately. She then wants William to join her at her alma mater at the university, because she is accepting an award for the tech advancements that her family's company as accomplished. She is also planning the launch of the second phase of the Obsidian lenses. He is to write a report on that. She wants Kara to report on the Toyman, and get an exclusive so she can drive up internet traffic to the site. Kara tries to get out of it, but Andrea will hear no excuses. She wants a splashy headline. Kara says even if it involves bloodshed, and Andrea can care less.
While the Toyman is plotting his revenge, Kara takes Nia to the Tower, who is very impressed. Winn finally meets her, and says that he is friends with her descentdent. He tells her that she is a great Legionnaire. Brainy then comes in, and says that they will have to work fast to find Toyman. Nia goes to work using her powers, but in her dream, she sees Brainy, who then turns into a white tiger. She wakes up, and reveals what she saw, and when she does, she walks by Brainy, making sure she gives him the nasty brush as she walks out of the room. Winn goes to talk to her, and says that her descendent in the future and him got to talk about her powers. He even adapted some of her powers when he got his Legion flight ring. He's also good at being able to decipher dreams. She tells him that she saw a white tiger...which is her nickname for Brainy. She hates that he is in her head. Winn tries to assure her that she is a powerful woman, and to never question her own worth.
Winn and Kara catch up, and he says he almost named his daughter Kara. Says it's a fairly common name, which Kara is surprised. He says that Supergirl is such a legend in the future. She talks about working with William, and how Lex threatened him. She is worried for his safety if he keeps digging. Winn talks about all the times HIS life was in danger being around her. He says that just being in her orbit is inspiring. Talking about his late father and his work, Winn figures out where the Toyman might be. They find the location where Toyman's target will be. Turns out, that not only was Dunholtz one of the people on Toyman's hit list---but Andrea Rojas and her father. They see the counter, and the Toyman has his one million viewers.
Lex has made his way to the black site, Fort Hanson, and gets in to see the Legion ship. He gains access, and finds a cube with all the information about Leviathan he needs to go...but remembers one person from there...Jemma Cooper.
Andrea is giving her speech at the university, thanking them for the honor, and she begins to talk about the new Obsidian Platinum lenses. It allows you to live your dreams. The University's mascot, a white tiger, shows up, and unleashes robotic white tigers upon the crowd. It's Toyman. The Super Friends show up to save the day, and begin battling the robot tigers. Winn shows Dreamer a new way to use her powers to beat the tigers back. Supergirl assits with the tigers, as Winn goes after Toyman. Winn does everything he can to reason with Toyman, but Toyman says that he is eternal. He sets off the dead man's switch. Winn shields up just as the bomb goes off. Supergirl sees this, and goes into super speed rescue mode. She gets everyone to safety. They can't find William, who didn't even show up apparently when accounting for able bodies. The one good that comes out of it, is that Winn is no longer responsible for Dunholtz's death, they averted disaster, and Winn's future is intact.
Kara finds William digging through information he got while following Lex. She agrees to a teamup and share information, but they have to be low key about it. He agrees, and shows her that Lex paid off the guards at the Fort to gain access to the Legion ship. She invites him over for game night, but he passes. She encourages him after having a moment.
Winn is talking with Brainy about the fight they just won, and notices that Brainy looks like he lost something he loved. Brainy then confesses that he betrayed the team. It was him that helped Toyman because he was working with Lex. He brought Winn here, and risked his future in order to Lex to get information from the Legion's ship computer. He's breaking down emotionally, because he pushed Nia away, and that kills him, but the other Brainiacs told him he needed to work with Lex or it will mean the end of the world. Brainy is begging for forgiveness, and Winn lays into him a little bit, not happy that his friend put his life on the line. Brainy asks if he hates him. Winn says he SHOULD, but since things turned out, no. He talks about being in the future,and stopping Brainy's cousin. Winn takes off to Kara's for game night, and asks Brainy to go, but Brainy says he has work to do at the Tower.
Lex arrives at Lena's office with the box from the Legion ship, and gives it to her, whereas she connects with it, and finds out that there are Q-Waves she can obtain. Shifting to Kara's, we see the Super Friends having a game night, and relaxing, and William has joined in on the fun. Moving back to the DEO, we see agents putting away all of Toyman's equipment, and locking it up. However, the computer springs to life, with the image of the Toyman, saying that it's time to have some fun.
******************************************************************************************************************
Was it or was it not GREAT to see Jeremy Jordan back as Winn?! And for him to pull double duty in this episode---fantastic! A chance to see the Winn we've missed since taking off for the future to train and be with the Legion, and for him to dabble as the Toyman. Kudos to him this episode. We also got to see a more mature Winn, a smarter Winn. A FAMILY MAN Winn..which is a new twist. AND...he's best friends with Nia's ancestor. Overall, it was fun to have one of the OG's back for a storyline.
Lex is once again a few steps ahead of everyone else, including Lena. He manages to pull HER strings yet again, by getting her to work Andrea over for info on Leviathan. What's interesting here, is that in the wake of Crisis, and the universe reborn...Andrea hasn't been tapped by Leviathan yet. That's curious, and makes me wonder what's in store with HER down the road. Will she be used if Leviathan finds out that Lex is digging into their business? We DO know that Lex KNOWS who Jemma Cooper is, so I'm sure he's working overtime to find a way to get to her as well. Either way, Lex has managed to plan and scheme well ahead. He also feels he holds the key over Supergirl, as he threatens William's well being to her if he continues to dig into Lex's dealings....and expose her secret ID.
Lena now has a chance to restart her program with the Q-Waves...again, looking to questionable means to meet, what SHE feels, is an acceptable and perfect world. She will learn the hard way.
What in the hell did we see between William and Kara? Did they share a "moment"? I get them working together to expose Lex in some kind of "His Girl Friday" manner....but are the show runners tossing hints about SHIPPING these two? Not sure I like that.
Thank you to Winn for letting us know that the League officially referred to their HQ as the Hall of Justice. Hopefully, Supergirl helps that catch on. And now that Lex controls the DEO...the team needed a new HQ themselves---and J'Onn creates the Tower (which,for the newbies, the Tower is in reference to the Justice League HQ in space called The Watchtower). I guess we're now officially renaming Team Supergirl the Super Friends...okay, I'm cool with it. Also dug the part where J'Onn was leaving on patrol, and he said if they need to get ahold of him, contact him, tapping on the various hero logos on the wall. I guess those are signals for the League. Again, things are looking more and more connected. I love it!
That's about all I got for this episode. If you have any thoughts or questions or theories of your own, leave 'em in the comments below! Also...don't forget to subscribe to the page, and pass along the good word.
This, obviously, is Part 1 of our Toyman arc, with the next episode airing February 16th....no doubt a Valentie's Day episode (yeesh!).
Until then, kids----Up, up, and away!
No comments:
Post a Comment