Supergirl - Reign

Supergirl pulls out all the stops for its mid-season finale with a memorable first meeting between Kara (Melissa Benoist) and Reign (Odette Annable) that leaves the Girl of Steel broken, battered, bruised, and defeated. Prior to the "Crisis on Earth-X" crossover we finally got some information about just who and what Reign really is. Despite Sam being taken over by the Kryptonian programming it appears she's more of Jekyll/Hyde character keeping her humanity and only aware of her other self's actions in nightmares. Beginning by burning her symbol all over National City and leaving a trail of dead drug gangbangers, eventually this Kryptonian "devil" steps toe-to-to with Supergirl (and more than holds her own).

The extended fight sequence between Supergirl and Reign is impressive and reminds us just how powerful our heroine is when facing a foe she doesn't need to pull her punches against. The unknown Kryptonian symbols around the city provide a nice excuse for the return of Supergirl's #1 fan Thomas Coville (Chad Lowe) who foreshadows the beating Kara gets to close out the episode. The script does have to get tricky to not let Mon-El (Chris Wood) or Imra (Amy Jackson) weigh-in on current events (since their knowledge of the future, specifically that of Supergirl, would seem to be a resource worth mining by the DEO). Kara's fragile emotional state concerning the return of her boyfriend and his wife helps deflect this a bit, but it's still odd neither of them chip in any help with current events.

Although almost completely overshadowed, and nearly killed, by the threat of Reign, Moran Edge (Adrian Pasdar) does return to cause more trouble for Lena (Katie McGrath) who apparently has found a new love interest. I do wonder if the writers had planned to put Lena and Superman's black friend James "Don't Call Me Jimmy" Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) together or if it is a reaction the the shipping of an unlikely Kara/Lena pairing by the show's fans. Either way, both have bigger problems to deal with than James sleeping with the boss or Morgan Edge's media attacks given the state of National City's hero as the episode concludes.