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O Brother, Where Art Thou Recap

Tonight was a momentous occasion! The world's most infamous super-villain made his debut on Supergirl and his impact was huge! Jon Cryer did the talk show circuit last week and spoke about how playing the character would be an interesting challenge for him. Traditionally, the character of Lex wasn't someone well liked but Jon Cryer's acting skills as well as his history ... well he's simply a likable guy. The showrunners wanted to explore what a sociopath would be like if he could wield likability as a weapon! Did that come across to you as well? Of course Lex wasn't the only thing that happened today, here's what stood out to us:

  1. Lex Luthor is Dying: After a very interesting flashback four years ago (where Lex turned the sun red to kill Superman and was caught), we catch up to Lex visiting Lena. He is dying and needs Black Kryptonite to be cured from his disease. Lena seems to be much more willing to help Lex despite his insanity. He's held up in the mansion under lock and key and with two guards at all times.
  2. James at the Hospital: Whoever shot James knew he had the signal watch and didn't want him to die. The shooting activates the watch before leaving. Supergirl is able to get to him in time and take him to the hospital. Lena, Alex, J'onn, Brainy, Kara and Nia are all called in. J'onn assumes Manchester shot James and scans for him. Supergirl and J'onn head off to confront him even though he now has the staff from season 3 that Supergirl used on Mars.
  3. Lena and Lex Have Been Working Together: Lena returns from the hospital after talking with Alex. They realize how bad the situation is and that it might be only Lena's cure that could save James and Lex. Lex has more knowledge about Kryptonite than anyone.
  4. Manchester Seeks Martian Vengence: J'onn has opened his mind to Manchester by accident when hunting for him. As a result, Manchester is learning new tricks to help him. Manchester knows that on Mars, the god there would sometimes use violence to enforce a moral law. With the Staff from Mars, Manchester's next move might come from the sacred texts of Mars that J'onn must now search through.
  5. Surgery: Kelly, James' sister, decides not to bet on Lena but to let the doctors begin the surgery that is needed to save his life despite it being likely he will be paralyzed. Lex continues to be a loving and kind brother working with Lena. After sharing a lovely story about Lena's mother, he reminds Lena that she will continue to land on the side of the light. He then encourages her to go be by "Jimmy's" side.
  6. Attack on The Power Plant: Just about everyone has returned to the hospital when the power starts to fluctuate. Without power, James' surgery is almost 100% going to fail. In order to get the power back, J'onn and Supergirl head to the power plant where Manchester is waiting to call out J'onn yet again! After Manchester enrages J'onn by making him relive the death of his family on Mars, J'onn takes the staff back from him and stabs him in the chest. Of course, we don't think that is the end of Manchester but we aren't clear what happened to him.
  7. James is Saved: Lena's cure is administered to James in a last minute effort to save his life. Kelly trusts Alex and gives the go-ahead. Lena, after throwing out the entire surgical team, steps in and gives the cure to James. He shortly later wakes up gasping for breath!

Lex Luthor reveals that he ended up pulling all of the strings! The power outage at the hospital, Ms. Tessmacher being under his employ, Otis being alive! All of it was so Lex could be cured. He even orchestrated James being shot to motivate Lena to test on a human. The episode ends with Lex and Otis in a helicopter and Supergirl arriving in air to meet them.

Let us know what you thought of the episode and Lex Luthor in the comments below and in the forum! Keep us advertisement free and visit the support page!

Eric Johnston
Author: Eric JohnstonWebsite: https://supergirl.tvEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Executive Editor/Owner
About the Author
Eric is the primary author for Supergirl.tv. He has been covering the Supergirl show since 2014, but been a fan for decades. "Hope, Help, and Compassion for All, El May Arah!"

Comments

+1 #41 RE: O Brother, Where Art Thou RecapLittlegoldfish666 2019-03-21 12:29
Well Jon Cryer really nailed it as Lex Luthor. He even came across sympathetic at times. I'm not surprised he waqs able to manipulate people so easily. Poor Lena, always the one to pay and all she wants to do is help people. She has such a big heart and because of that gets hurt so easily, even though she tries to hide it at times. It's ironic that it's Alex that seems to trust her the most now. At least someone does. She doesn't deserve to be villified just because of her surname. Maybe now after this episode the will she/won't she nonsense can finally be put to bed.

But saying all that why did she have to save James? Couldn't we have kept Manchester Black and got rid of James? He's a much more interesting character

Anyway I hope it's Lena that is finally able to take down her Brother

The dynamic between Lex and Lena was intriguing. Jon Cryer and Katie McGrath done an excellent job.

Oh and almost forgot. MISS TESSMACHER???? I did not see that one coming
+2 #40 Dam fine episode!Constance 2019-03-21 04:41
WOW! Another great episode! So many twists and turns! This show is just SO entertaining!
Loved "dam(n) it" and "What is a reporter going to do when you find Manchester... interview him?" It must break Kara's heart to have to keep hiding her identity from Alex.
Nia and Brainy are hilarious.
Kara, grab that helicopter right now and throw it into space!
+1 #39 Another case of "Don't judge the casting until you've seen the performance"Jukebox John 2019-03-19 16:46
I have probably said this on this forum before, but fandom needs to not get its Fruit Of The Looms in a bunch when they jump all over the actor who gets cast for a role of a cherished character, but they don't agree with casting. Who would have thought that (mostly) comic actor Michael Keaton would make such a great Batman (or Ben Affleck for that matter)? Who would have thought that George Clooney would bomb? Jon Cryer's performance as Lex L was the best Luthor I can remember, and that was the best episode of Supergirl I've seen in a long time. Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey are great actors but not great Luthors. I partially blame the scripts; they treated like Lex like a joke and maybe hamstrung the actors. John Shea, from Lois & Clark, was physically wrong (small with a full head of hair), but he did a fine job in the John Byrne - Man Of Steel inspired portrayal. Michael Rosenbaum was interesting and a good take, but we never got to see the full blown Superman enemy (we never got to see the full blown Superman, either). Jesse Eisenberg was never given a chance to move beyond his quirky, twitchy, silicon valley start-up portrayal. If the series had gone on, he might have grown into the role. Jon Cryer seemed an incredibly odd and wrong choice to play the role. He's a TV comedy actor, for gosh sakes. However, he nailed it. He looked the part. He hated Supergirl for all the right reasons. He was bald. He did the advantage of getting to play a Lex Luthor who was fully developed and had a past we could relate to. Maybe the best Lex ever.
+1 #38 RE: O Brother, Where Art Thou RecapSully 2019-03-19 15:09
Quoting LibertyPrime:
Quoting Zoya:
What the hell does Alex do all day anymore?

That is a good question.

One of the things I was looking forward to this season was how Alex would lead the DEO. With Haley around, we haven't had as much opportunity to see that as I'd hoped.
Well, she did have that mind-wipe. So, it's possible that has trouble remembering what she's supposed to do, where she's supposed to be, during the work day. Basically, she had to have had what, around 90% of her workday memories erased because they were connected to Kara - it's no wonder why the woman might struggle to do her job. I haven't had a mind-wipe and I have difficulties remembering to stop by the store after work. ;-)
#37 RE: O Brother, Where Art Thou Recapmuckle9999 2019-03-19 15:05
Quoting kdickerson87:
Soooo OMG!!! Loved it. However like everyone else said, since it's about Supergirl, what about Supergirl villains not Superman villains. I agree with everyone else that we should see more supergirl superhero save the day action like Season 1 and 2.

J'onn, my man J'onn. Martian Manhunter is my favorite DC superhero anyway sooo this episode I was hype about. We really got to see the Martian capabilities/powers down to the telekinesis with the staff. Like I was hype. I want to see more. David is awesome.

I dont think this is the last of Manchester. It ended too quick for him. If it is over, then I was expecting more from him because the acting and actor was great. Loved his work. Umm... I also thought I would see more telepathy from him too. I know he didnt get his telepathy from J'onn. So anyway, I dont think this is the last of Manchester. He did such an awesome job.

Nia and Brainy's scenes..umm.....I could do without them this episode. Seems like a filler.

OMGGG!!! Eve surprised the heck out of me but when I started to see her more on the show, I was like hmmmm....what are the writers thinking for her. What secret does she have and now we know. Smh...wow... what would Cat say about that. She probably already knew Eve was no good. The line about her saying "eavesdrop is a bad habit"made me chuckle. That was clever.

I wonder what this "cure" will do for James and Lex.

Overall, I cant wait until next Sunday. This should be interesting!


Great Review. You got me all hyped up for next week's episode.
#36 Just a thoughtsuperbill 2019-03-19 13:44
Since Otis is alive and was disguised as a DOC agent by using an image inducer, might Mercy also be alive and be disguised as Miss Tessmacher?
#35 RE: O Brother, Where Art Thou RecapLibertyPrime 2019-03-19 04:48
Quoting Zoya:
What the hell does Alex do all day anymore?

That is a good question.

One of the things I was looking forward to this season was how Alex would lead the DEO. With Haley around, we haven't had as much opportunity to see that as I'd hoped.
+3 #34 RE: O Brother, Where Art Thou Recapkdickerson87 2019-03-18 22:42
Soooo OMG!!! Loved it. However like everyone else said, since it's about Supergirl, what about Supergirl villains not Superman villains. I agree with everyone else that we should see more supergirl superhero save the day action like Season 1 and 2.

J'onn, my man J'onn. Martian Manhunter is my favorite DC superhero anyway sooo this episode I was hype about. We really got to see the Martian capabilities/powers down to the telekinesis with the staff. Like I was hype. I want to see more. David is awesome.

I dont think this is the last of Manchester. It ended too quick for him. If it is over, then I was expecting more from him because the acting and actor was great. Loved his work. Umm... I also thought I would see more telepathy from him too. I know he didnt get his telepathy from J'onn. So anyway, I dont think this is the last of Manchester. He did such an awesome job.

Nia and Brainy's scenes..umm.....I could do without them this episode. Seems like a filler.

OMGGG!!! Eve surprised the heck out of me but when I started to see her more on the show, I was like hmmmm....what are the writers thinking for her. What secret does she have and now we know. Smh...wow... what would Cat say about that. She probably already knew Eve was no good. The line about her saying "eavesdrop is a bad habit"made me chuckle. That was clever.

I wonder what this "cure" will do for James and Lex.

Overall, I cant wait until next Sunday. This should be interesting!
+2 #33 largely boredZoya 2019-03-18 21:25
wished Kara had done more superheroing, seemed like she just fretted over J'onn and Alex and then made excuses for her disappearance. tired of seeing J'onn so weak and whiny and without purpose, why is he taking advice from a 25yold? What the hell does Alex do all day anymore? the intro of Kelly left me hoping this was just a guest appearance. Hope the writing picks up.
+1 #32 Bravo!LibertyPrime 2019-03-18 16:57
For me, it was the best of the season so far!

The Good Stuff
John Cryer as Lex - No disrespect to any of the series’ past villains intended--but he has grabbed the crown and run away with it. Jon and Katie worked magic together.
Eve(il) Teschmacher – Great heel turn. She’s even perky when she’s murdering federal agents. ;)
Otis - Wha--????
Zombies! - They were creepy and awesome! Crawsome?
Kara’s arc - Did we see some actual character growth for the title superhero? We did! :applause:
Supergirl saves the dam - Dam, girl!
J’onn’s arc - Wow. Props to David Harewood, he totally sold the rage J’onn keeps hidden.

The Ambivalent Stuff
Nia and Brainy - This felt a little shoehorned in to me. Brainy’s (over)reaction to James’ predicament seemed off. I don’t know--none of it worked for me, even the Speed reference.
Kelly Olsen - I can’t say she made a bad first impression, but I’m gonna need some time to see whether she grows on me.
Manchester’s arc- Not convinced he’s gone. I would like more clarity on what exactly he’s hoping (had hoped) to accomplish.

The *ahem* Not Quite So Good Stuff
Inconsistency - As noted by others, a red sun represents a Kryptonian’s natural habitat. Clark and Kara would be de-powered, certainly, but barring accident or illness, they would conceivably live out a normal lifespan.
The Jello speech - Not the best analogy, alas... It did not help that old Jell-O jingles played in my head through the scene.

Bring on next week. :-)


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