Supergirl season 5, episode 12 review: Back From the Future – Part Two

Supergirl and her Super-friends successfully cleared Winn’s name, but Toyman isn’t done with them yet. And, Lex Luthor inches closer to learning about Leviathan.

In part one of ‘Back from the Future’, Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan) was able to overcome his alt-Earth doppelganger and prevent the deaths of many innocent lives. But, Supergirl and her Super-friends were not prepared for how devious the other Toyman was. Through all this drama, Brainy (Jesse Rath) discovers what Lex Luthor’s (Jon Cryer) endgame is and how Toyman and Leviathan fit into Lex’s grand scheme.

Toyman Returns

Toyman allowed himself to die in the previous episode, and we find out why in this conclusion. Alt-Winn had promised to finish what his father started – digitally download himself and become virtually immortal. Now Toyman has control of the DEO and Lex Luthor keeps getting in Alex Danvers’ (Chyler Leigh) way because he needs to get Toyman’s code. For Winn-Prime to win, he has to take a leap of faith and trust his nemesis.

The entire Toyman saga was an exciting and sometimes emotional arc that provided Winn’s character some closure. The action in this episode was brilliant, and the point-of-view shots particularly elevate the tension of the battle scenes.

It’s easy to forget what an integral part of the Super-friends Winn used to be; after all, he made Supergirl’s first suit and helped Guardian become a superhero as well. Jeremy Jordan seemed to enjoy his return to the show as well. Despite relying on the villain-a-week formula, the second half of Supergirl is attempting to tie each villain into Lex’s umbrella scheme.

The Hunt for Q-Waves

Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) continues to hunt for Q-Waves and she needs Andrea Rojas’ (Julie Gonzalo) Obsidian Tech to succeed. While the two characters’ relationship is better in this new reality – and Andrea is still alive – the latter still doesn’t want to risk losing her newfound friendship. One of the best qualities of Supergirl is the ability to prioritise female relationships, especially female friendships. We have seen these bonds being forged and broken and though not all the characterizations are perfect, it’s a welcome change to see so many female characters with rounded personalities. Each one has their own agenda.

For a while, it seemed like the writers were intent on writing Lena as little more than Lex’s puppet, but she’s smarter than we give her credit for. The fear remains that Lena will be completely destroyed by Lex, who keeps pretending that he has her best interests at heart. But both Lena and the audience know Lex will only support others as long as their success furthers his. How will this affect Lena?

Time to Make Some Changes

In season four of Supergirl, Alex struggled with a new DEO boss, but that was nothing compared to putting up with Lex Luthor. Not only is he a micro-managing boss who many viewers may be familiar with, Lex is evil and the Super-friends have to keep guessing what his ulterior motives are. Alex’s decision at the end of this episode is hard to stomach as she has become synonymous with the DEO. But perhaps her joining Martian ManHunter (David Harewood) will see them build a league of their own.

What the Super-friends don’t realize is that Brainy is working for Lex in the hopes of stopping him. He’s not succeeding, and Brainy’s inability to tell his friends is driving a wedge between them. The faith that the team put in Brainy is unshakeable, but one wonders if they’re being written as too naïve. Then again, why would the Super-friends doubt Brainy’s intentions?

Brainy’s given Lex what he needed from Toyman, and Brainy has taken over Alex’s role at the DEO. Will Brainy keep an even closer eye on Lex, or will he fall into a rabbit hole of being yet another weapon in Lex’s arsenal?

Super Sentiments

• Kara’s fear that every future relationship will be jeopardised like her relationship with Lena is such a refreshing take! She uses her failures with Lena as a yardstick, which remains a novel concept even in today’s entertainment media.
• One gets the feeling that the William Dey (Staz Nair) romance subplot isn’t going away any time soon. Even though Kara has made it clear she’s not interested, the writers may have William pursue Kara anyway. If this relationship has to happen, can the writers veer away from regular tropes?
• Winn’s Legion codename was Computer Lad? No wonder he hated it. But his new codename is almost disturbing. Assuming Supergirl runs for several more seasons, one can almost expect Winn to reappear as a full-on supervillain.
• Where was Nia Nal? She would have been extremely useful in this episode. Nicole Maines is a regular on the show, but she often gets written out during important episodes. Perhaps it’s because she’s over-powered, yet she deserves more screen time.
• The showrunners also need to give Azie Tesfai’s Kelly Olsen more screen time. She should be playing a significant role in the Q-Waves subplot. Sometimes, the lack of time for some characters gives the impression that the showrunners have bitten off more than they can chew.

Supergirl is set to air its 100th episode with the greatest hits of the show’s supervillains. However, it looks like the characters may have underestimated the real villain of this season? Lex Luthor thinks he’s the smartest person on the planet, but his overconfidence has certainly clouded his ability to see that he may be walking straight into a trap.