SUPERGIRL- SEASON 5.17

REVIEW:  SUPERGIRL - SEASON 5.17:  "Deus Lex Machina"


We have arrived in National City once again, where we meet back up with our Girl of Steel.  When last we left off, Alex had a little trip in VR to work through her grief of losing her father, Jeremiah, Kelly and William were on the trail of the missing VR users, and Lex continued his play against Leviathan.  Now, after a LONG break, we return this week to focus on the one and only Mr. Luthor, and see what HE has been up to.  


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This episode marks the return of the show after a VERY LONG hiatus, do to the shutdown of production because of the virus, and it could be one of the last few episodes of the season, due to said production being short.  Like many of the other shows left to have a season to run, there's a good chance we will have a cliffhanger because there will be no chance to get a proper resolution to this season's stories until next season.  Be that as it may, we also congratulate Melissa Benoist on this episode about Lex...as this is her directorial debut.

This episode dives deep into the events that led up to present day involving Lex and Leviathan, but through Lex's point of view.  He wakes up post Crisis, to find out HE is actually the good guy (after having a nightmare about killing Supergirl and Superman), and sees that he now has a chance to put his long term plan for world domination to work.  He goes and visits his mother Lillian (after having noted that The Monitor kept his promise and saved Lena), and they begin to plot their takeover of the world, but Lillian warns him about exacting revenge on the Kryptonians.  She tells him to use their newfound association to his advantage.  Thus begins the long tale (which happened roughly 90 days ago), of how Lex began to manipulate and pull the strings of everyone around him (sans Lillian) in order to put his long term plan to work--especially taking down Leviathan.

We had opened the show with Margo - Leviathan's best agent - and the one who had been collecting all the people trapped in Obsidian VR, dead.  Lex had killed her as Supergirl, J'Onn, and William Dey arrive on the scene.  Police are talking to the people who had just been woken up from VR, and Lex is considered the hero.  We then begin to backtrack to the beginning as we see him begin to lay out his plan in intricate detail.  One of the people he needed for his plan was Eve Tessmacher.  He found Eve pummeling a guy and looking to kill him.  He informs her that he knows Leviathan recruited her by threatening to kill her mother.  He offers to find out who killed her father, and to protect her mother for her services.  So he has her infiltrate Obsidian, and we find out it was HIM that made sure the glitch in the VR was NOT repaired...all a part of his intricate plan to get Leviathan on his side.  We see him working Jemma, and putting all his pieces on the chessboard in play, including having Andrea threatened, and Supergirl protecting her, getting access to the Legion ship to get info on Leviathan and their agents (which is how he found Eve), and making sure he kept one step ahead of Supergirl and her finding him out. 

We witness how Lex used Eve to also plan on getting the bodies into a warehouse facility, and leave a clue to where William can pick up the investigative trail.  He also made sure that Eve got to Richard Bates, so that he could create the havoc in VR by playing on his insecurities.  He also made sure Eve gave Amy Sapphire the gauntlets to attack Andrea Rojas with, and to be able to battle Supergirl.  Then, he gives a vial of poison to Eve for her to kill the man Lex claims killed her father, and gives her the file on Jeremiah Danvers.  Eve, so desperate to please Lex, and to get away from Leviathan, and really doesn't WANT to kill, takes Lex at his word, and she goes after him.

We go back to the gala announcing the launch of Obsidian, and we see Lena and Kara make eye contact.  Kara leaves, and Lena goes after her.  Back at Catco, we see Lena approach her, and offer her condolences on the death of Jeremiah.  She offers her own grief about losing her biological mother, and gives Kara a book to help with the healing process.  Kara is very grateful, and it seems like the ice is thawing between the two---however, Lex is lurking about, and is NOT pleased with this development---it could push Lena and Kara back together as friends again, and he can't allow it.  He feels he must frame Supergirl, and Lillian again warms him about his obsession.  But, he has another plan: Frame the Maid of Might.  So, he goes to Brainy, and Brainy wants an update on finding Leviathan, and Lex coyly says that using the Q-Waves in reverse might help them find the missing people trapped in VR, since Brainy is helping Alex and J'Onn, and Brainy goes to the Super Friends with said info.  Kara, Alex, Kelly, and William at this moment are discussing Lex and his plans, and William talks about the hospital bracelet he found that belonged to Richard Bates, but he never made it to the hospital.  They know Lex is up to something shady, and Eve is spying on them the whole time.  Lex at this moment is talking to Jemma, and playing his cards right with her, letting her know that they are onto her.  She wants to just put everyone in VR and kill them, but Lex has an alternate plan, of course.  The team figures out that if they use Myriad, they can reverse the Q-Waves, and allow J'Onn to find the missing people telepathically.  Supergirl goes to the Fortress to use it, and it's just right then that Lena just happens to be using her experiment, when Lex shows up, playing dumb, and Lena gets wind of Supergirl using Myriad...she's pissed, and she goes to the Fortress using Lex's portal on his watch to confront her.  Supergirl isn't interested in having an argument, there are people who are missing, and she aims to find them.  Lena is upset that she feels that Supergirl is two-faced, but Supergirl says that Lex is responsible...Lena won't have it and leaves.

Supergirl, however, has another problem:  what Lena didn't know, is that one of the Dominators who was an agent of Leviathan, snuck through the portal, and attacked Supergirl, thus releasing the Sun-Eater from it's cell at the Fortress.  It goes on a rampage and is about to cause worldwide havoc.  It's then that people get text messages all over the world to use their VR lenses, and escape, which they do.  Supergirl is out of it, and the team witnesses the Sun-Eater arrive, as J'Onn tries to find the missing people.  We get the return of M'Gann, and she assists J'Onn (and Supergirl, who is revived thanks to a Lexosuit from the DEO), and they manage to stop the creature by shrinking it.  Supergirl then returns it to the Fortress and locks it away.  J'Onn then reads the Dominator's mind, and it turns out that it was sent by Leviathan.  

Then we arrive at where we were at the beginning of the episode, where J'Onn and Supergirl arrive with William, and discover that Lex had killed Margo, and that she worked for Leviathan.  Lex says that if she had worked WITH him, they would've found that out.  He asks if they had taken care of the Sun-Eater, and they said they did.  But they will have to keep investigating Leviathan.  Lex's plan works.  He then pays Jemma a visit, who's NOT happy Lex disposed of Margo, but he said it was necessary.  Now, they can't be tied to any issues regarding the VR mishap.  Jemma zaps Lex for good measure, but he assures her things will work out right.  He then says that putting everyone into VR and killing them is a good idea, and should implement it now.  But, he warns her that Supergirl will stop them, and that will NOT be easy to kill her.  She says she has a way and leaves.  Lex tells his mother to give him some props, because he's going to get what he wants, and he did it HIS way.  

In one last bit of business, he comes home to find Eve has cooked for him, and she admits her feelings for him.  He rebuffs her, saying that he can never love her, and that he used her as a pawn to get what he wants.  He informed her that the guards looking after her mother aren't protecting her, they're ordered to kill her should Eve betray him.  He also lied to her and said that Jeremiah Danvers never killed her father...he has no idea who did.  But lets HER know that he was Supergirl's father.  So, if she tries to betray him, she's screwed.  She says he's worse than Leviathan---but he simply replies "No...just BETTER."

For her first directorial debut, Melissa Benoist had a tough assignment:  diving into the deep and devious mind of Lex Luthor.  And man, did she hit it out of the park.  Honestly, I HAVE to credit the writers.  When it comes to Lex...they just GET IT.  They wove a VERY intricate and masterful story about HOW Lex has set things in motion from post Crisis on---and how he continues to stay one or two steps ahead of everyone.  He has EVERYBODY on the hook:  Supergirl, Lena, Eve, and Leviathan.  He and Lillian make a devious pair, and Lex is just that villain you LOVE to hate right now.  And Jon Cryer continues to just nail it.  He chews up the scene like Pac-Man, but does it in such a delicious way that you cannot WAIT for him to fail.  It's sad to see that poor Eve Tessmacher is getting the VERY short end of the stick on THIS deal---all because she fell in love with the WRONG MAN.  And now...SHE is on the hook for the death of Jeremiah---and when Kara and Alex find out---oh crap on a cracker that's gonna be bad.  Lex has also made a HUGE fool of a goddess.  You know, for someone as smart as Jemma is...with her power...she's allowed a human to outwit her.  That will be Leviathan's undoing as well....but now he got what he wanted:  Leviathan against Supergirl, and he hopes they wipe each other out, so that he can reap the rewards.  

And poor Kara and Lena---just when we thought the bridge between the two could be rebuilt...Lex bombed it again.  Whether or not Lena will eventually find out she has been played this whole time is unknown.  But CAN her relationship with Kara be fixed?  Especially in regards to the whole Myriad situation?  Time will tell, but time is running out.  It was EXCELLENT to see M'Gann back.  She's been missed.  Overall...and A-plus show, and my hats of to Melissa Benoist on such a fantastic job with this episode!

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Okay, folks.  That wraps it up for this week.  Subscribe and leave some comments!  Love to hear from ya!

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