“Supergirl” Episode 510 Recap: A Whole New World

Previously on Supergirl, there was a bit of a CRISIS, a trio of witches tried to start a band called The Worldkillers, and a mysterious entity called Leviathan was up to no good.

We open on a commercial for the DEO, voiced over by Lex, starring Supergirl, and featuring Lena. Alex and Kara are walking down the street while this plays on a giant billboard outside and Kara absolutely cannot stand it.

Alex is trying to reckon with the two versions of reality in her head, but after spending a few months not remembering her own sister was Supergirl, she’s probably grateful to know the truth. Kara wishes J’onn could fix everyone in the world’s memories so no one would buy Lex’s shtick, but J’onn says that would be too dangerous, because not everyone would be equipped to handle such an existential… well, crisis.

Alex isn’t sure what they can do, and calls the DEO a Hellmouth, which makes her a canon Buffy fan, no take backs. Kara reports that things are mostly the same as she remembers at CatCo except for all the Lex Luthor hero worship. And speaking of Luthors and worship, Kara has to go talk to Lena and tell her everything. Alex says maybe she doesn’t have to, because Lena and Supergirl are partners in this timeline, but Kara won’t spend another second lying to her like she did the last time around. (Also when Alex said ‘partners’ at first my heart skipped a beat but when Kara didn’t react I realized she meant literally partners.)

Lena, as it turns out, doesn’t need to be told anything. Because she wakes up on the couch of her apartment and is very confused as to why the brother she killed is standing there.

Lena remembers everything, and apparently Lex drugged her so she has been asleep for as long as it takes for Paragons to take down a giant Beebo.

Lex tells her that it was part of his deal with the Monitor that she stays safe and with her brain fully in tact, so now they’re in his version of the perfect world, which she decides is her own personal hell.

Lena tells him to get out of her life but he tries to convince her that she needs him. He says he knows what went wrong with her last plan, and that she doesn’t need friends; working with him will solve both of those problems. Lena says that Lex was a Leviathan puppet before and asks what would stop him from being one again, but he has no idea who or what the heck Leviathan is.

Meanwhile, Brainy and Nia are having a cute, romantic walk down by the water when they run into… another Brainy. It takes Nia a second to process what’s in front of her.

The Brainys… well, Brainy, eventually deciding they need to go to the DEO but having different opinions about who is taking who there.

Supergirl flies to see Lena and tell her everything, but she stops her; she already knows everything. Lena asks if she thought it would make things right, being forthcoming this time around, but to Kara’s credit she never matches Lena’s barbs with being overly hurt or even defensive. She just calmly, and plainly says, with kindness in her eyes, that she will never hurt Lena again.

She will never lie to her. Kara thinks they should work together, and Lena smirks and points out that Lex gave her a very similar speech asking her for the same thing.

Kara is mildly horrified but quickly backs down because she knows a lecture isn’t the way to get Lena to trust her again. So instead she just bids her to be careful and leaves.

When the Brainys storm into the DEO to demand action from a very confused Brainy, they soon learn that they’re not the only two; on top of our Brainy and Nu-Brainy, there is also a Lady Brainy.

(Fun fact: Lady Brainy is played by Jesse Rath’s real life sister Meaghan.)

More Brainys show up, including an Emo Brainy and a Brainy with an eye patch, who stumbles in warning something about a bottle then dying in front of them. Our Brainy, who the other Brainys start calling Brainy Prime, looks a bit overwhelmed as Alex and the other Brainys realize that the dead Brainy was killed by a biosynthetic virus called the anti-life equation, and that they all must have gone through a wormhole of some kind.

What they don’t realize, until Our Brainy tells them, is that the multiverse is gone; so while yes they traveled from another Earth to get here, there is no going back.

While the Brainys try to process this news, Lex calls Agent Danvers and Supergirl into a conference room. He tries to get them to stand by his side voluntarily, and when it’s clear they feel resistant to this plan, he threatens them instead.

Across town at CatCo, Andrea is talking business plans when in walks her college mentor, who she introduces as Gemma Cooper, but is actually Gamemnae, the woman who took over Leviathan. Whether that means she’s not actually part of Leviathan in this timeline or that Leviathan is done working from the shadows is anyone’s guess.

At the DEO, the Brainiacs talk quickly and hivemind and realize they’re the only Brainys left, but Our Brainy can’t quite keep up. But still he goes with Supergirl to a bar, where there was apparently a wormhole, so everyone who was in any Al’s Bar in any universe, ended up here on Earth Prime in Als’ Bar. (There are multiple Als now.)

Included in this group of wormhole jumpers are a version of the three witches that tried to re-terraform the Earth using the Worldkillers. But, after a moment’s hesitation, Supergirl realizes this version of them do parlor trick magic for extra cash and seem relatively harmless. That’s when she realizes that the people in this bar are just orphans; their worlds were destroyed and they have nowhere left to go.

One of the Brainys, who I guess I’ll call Hip Brainy because he’s got a bit of a 70s vibe and a chill ‘tude, sees the glass a little more half full than that. These people are a miracle. The entire multiverse was destroyed but somehow, some way, these people survived.

Realizing that she’s no longer in jail, Lena goes to see her mother, who is in her ivory tower and dressed like a Desperate Housewife. Lillian didn’t have the pleasure of having her memories retained by her son or restored by the Martian Manhunter, but Lex did tell her everything and she took it at face value. Lena tells her that she wants to fix people at their core, and wants her mother to help her. But Lillian likes her life here and isn’t interested. Lena, I guess hoping that this version of Lillian will be a better source of motherly advice, tells her that she’s considering partnering up with Supergirl.

I’m hoping that really Lena was doing that thing where you ask someone you don’t want to emulate what THEY would do to know what not to do? But I guess we’ll find out. Lillian tells her that sure, she could work with Supergirl again, but the chances are pretty high that she’ll eventually let her guard down, because she’s seen Lena and Kara together and knows that chemistry is undeniable. Whereas with Lex, there’s already no hope and no chance of ever trusting him, because that trust was never really built in the first place.

Speaking of parental advice, Alex is on the other end of the spectrum going to a healthy parental figure and asking her Space Dad what she should do about having to work for Lex; she doesn’t want to support him in any way, but she also doesn’t want to let the DEO down. He tells her a story about a time he broke the rules to do what’s right, He tells her to do what’s right, to listen to her own truth… and then makes a metaphor about running toward the bomb to be a hero, which I feel like is taking this good advice to a bad place when we’re talking about Alex “sure I’ll just jump out this window backwards” Danvers.

Next page: Lady Brainy’s… wife!

At the DEO, Lady Brainy and Our Brainy have a little heart to heart; she notices that he’s a bit different than the rest of them, and he admits that he wears personality inhibitors. He says it helps keep his anger and rage at bay, but she tells him he’s missing out on connecting to the Big Brain, a vital part of being Brainiac 5. Lady Brainy says she was married back on her earth. She says she was stronger, smarter, and better just by being around her. THAT’S RIGHT. SHE SAID HER. A delightful turn of events, to be sure. Anyway, her wife is gone now, but because Lady Brainy is tapped into the Big Brain, it’s like she’s still with her all the time.

Lady Brainy assures Our Brainy that the people who love him wouldn’t want him to be less of who he really is. They would want him to reach his full potential.

Elsewhere in DEO HQ, Nia is walking around looking for some Brainys because she brought lunch, when she catches Emo Brainy with the bottle that Dead Brainy warned them about. She fires up a lil dream energy just in case and he drops the Emo act and goes from skittish to calm, cool, and calculating instantly. Bad Brainy tells her that he had bottled up the seven billion souls from his Earth before the anti-matter wave hit, and saved them, but right now they’re in stasis, so he has to release them. Nia tries to talk him down but he fights her and Supergirl ends up having to save her from his chaos, though in the bustle, he gets away.

The other Brainys explain that if Bad Brainy succeeds in opening the bottle on this Earth, both Earths (aka Bottle Earth and the ONLY EARTH LEFT IN EXISTENCE) will be destroyed. They have a little time because the thing Bad Brainy needs to open the bottle most easily was destroyed, but they still need to find and stop him.

Over at CatCo, old “friends” Andrea and Gemma talk business, and Gemma suggests a truly virtual world where people could live our their fantasies indefinitely which surely is a very innocent suggestion and not part of an evil plot at all.

Kara goes to find Our Brainy, because she can tell something is bugging him. He tells her a story about a vacation his family went on to a snowy planet when he was eight years old, and how his mother had bottled the planet for him when she saw how much he loved the snow. His father was appalled at this, and saved that planet from becoming the plaything of a wee child, and little Brainiac 5 got so angry that his father got scared that he’s grow up to bottle planets of his own, so he put the three orbs in Brainy’s head, the personality inhibitors. Brainy thinks this why he’s been one step behind all the other Brainys, this inability to connect to the Big Brain, and why Bad Brainy got away with his misdeeds.

Then Supergirl looks right into the camera and says, “Valerie Anne, listen to this part, okay?” and then looks back at Brainy and assures him that he will never be his mother, because he is so loved, and that the people who love him will fight for him. They won’t let him go down a dark path. They know who he is deep inside, and they will ring the alarms if he starts to stray too far from that.

Brainy appreciates those words more than she’ll ever know, and calls Kara’s ability to instill hope practically magic. At the same time they realize who Bad Brainy might turn to for help: the witches.

So Supergirl, Dreamer, and Brainy head to Als’ Bar, where the witches are, in fact, trying to open the bottle with magic, and then have a bar fight… to the song It’s Gonna Be Me. At first I thought my TV was glitching but then when I realized they were really leaning in, I was here for it.

Supergirl tries to talk Bad Brainy down, saying you can’t undo the past, and that ruining the future won’t help.

Our Brainy gets thrown to the floor and one of his inhibitors cracks again and he’s feeling overwhelmed and scared, but Nia tells him that it’s okay to take off his inhibitors if they’re starting to feel like they’re hurting more than helping.

So he does, and as he connects to the Big Brain, his skin turns green and his hair turns blonde and he… looks… AMAZING??? I don’t even have any feelings whatsoever about the fact that he now matches the classic comic character more closely, I just thought he looked very suave and badass… maybe I have a secret Elphaba kink, I dunno.

Our Brainy talks to Bad Brainy, telling him that his choices don’t have to defy him. Supergirl adds that it’s not too late to make a different choice. They all agree that they can still find a way to open the bottle, but safely and in a more thought-out way that won’t put anyone in danger. So he gives in and hands them the bottle. Then he and the witches go inside to await their fate with the rest of their Earth.

Supergirl and Dreamer take the bottle to the Fortress, while Hip Brainy and Lady Brainy give Our Brainy their life projectors and leave their earthly bodies behind to go into the Big Brain.

Before she goes, Lady Brainy warns Our Brainy about Lex Luthor, and how fighting him did her no favors on her Earth, and that working with him is the only way forward.

She tells him to push away everyone he loves, and focus on Lex and Leviathan, reminding him that he’ll never truly be alone now that he’s connected to the Big Brain.

In the Luthor Lair, Lex tries to butter his sister up, but she’s over it and him.

Lex promises that he’s changed, that he’s using the new lease on life the Monitor gave him to change his ways; he doesn’t want revenge on her, he wants to work with her. He even brought a Truth Seeker to prove it. Lena asks her questions, confirming her assumption that he’d betray her if he had to, and her last question is why he wants to work with her at all.

And he admits he just doesn’t want to be alone. They shake on it, but I still think Lena has a few tricks up her sleeve.

Later, Brainy shows up at Nia’s apartment, and she’s so happy that he’s here and he’s safe and he’s the only Brainy left and that he’s free to be who he is.

Brainy solemnly says that things will have to change, and she says they can handle whatever change they have to if they face it together, but he insists there can be no “together.” He leaves her crying and wondering if this is even her Brainy and I loved Lady Brainy but this was BAD ADVICE. El mayarah or bust baybee!

At some other ceremony or speech or whatever, Lena is introducing Lex when Kara finds William lurking close to the door. He’s wary of Lex, and on this Earth, he didn’t come to CatCo to investigate Andrea, he came to keep an eye on Lex. He thinks Luthors are no good, but Kara comes to Lena’s defense, again, still, always.

She says Lena is in just as much danger as anyone else, and Lillian and Lex’s chit chat in the wings seems to prove her right.

After the ceremony, Brainy goes to see Lex and says that he’s willing to work together to defeat Leviathan. Lex is thrilled to have a twelfth-level intellect on his side, and says their next step is to get future knowledge from another Crisis paradox: a criminal that looks an awful lot like Winn Schott.

I really enjoyed this episode and I think it will be really fun to spend the rest of the season trying to parse out the Crisis aftermath. What’s new, what’s missing, and what that means for our National City friends. And all the cities for that matter… did you see that Lena Luthor was mentioned on the cover of the issue of CatCo magazine where Batwoman gave Kara Danvers an exclusive interview? What’s up with that??