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How do you follow one of Supergirl’s most action-packed episodes to date? Add even more action. Episode 10 of the show’s third season picks up from the hard-hitting midseason finale, with Kara out cold in a coma, after Reign roundly trounced her. That brutal fist fight ringing in our ears, she wakes up not in hospital but in her flat – because she’s currently being kept alive by 31st century technology that allows her brain to heal itself, while giving itself a safe, recognisable space.

31st century technology, you say? That would be courtesy of the Legionnaires – the Legion of Superheroes in the episode tile – which comprises Mon-El, Imra (Amy Jackson) and Brainiac 5. If your Spidey senses are tingly, that’s because Supergirl is doubling down on its fan service this season, as Brainiac 5 marks the introduction of a major love interest for Kara in the original comic books. He’s played by Jesse Rath wth a cute, detached logic, but that doesn’t stop him generating some sparks with Melissa Benoist. Mon-El, meanwhile, is performed by Chris Woods with his typical charisma, and seeing him and Benoist together again not only talking but also fighting is a real treat.

Fighting, you say? Why yes, because Kara does eventually recover (unsurprisingly – the show’s called Supergirl, after all), leading to a team-up between her, Imra, Mon-El, Alex (Chyler Leigh) and J’onn J’onzz (David Harewood) versus Reign (Odette Annable). That’s as epic as you could hope, combining punches, kicks, Kryptonian daggers and Jon Bon Jovi to impressive effect. A brief glimpse of Imra’s powers, too, bodes extremely well for her development into more than just a corner of a love triangle.

There’s comic relief too, as J’onn has to morph into Kara and pretend to be her with the flu, as James Olsen tries to cover for Kara’s absence at work – Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) promptly seizes the opportunity to talk to Kara about kissing James, something that Harewood’s DEO chief is amusingly awkward about, and Benoist’s performance as J’onn performing as her turns into a delightful little scene. James and Lena, meanwhile, continue to get it on, as she moves past the stigma of her surname and onto the couch in his office.

But what about Reign? Mon-El and Imra reveal that in the future, Reign was defeated by Supergirl – but, due to some data corruption, nobody in the 31st century really knows how that happens. (They also drop some exposition about how the secret to stop the world-ending creatures called the Blight has been encoded into the DNA for safe-keeping, so they can’t risk dying and losing that information for future generations. You know, as you do.)

Reign, however, is far from down and out. Annable still manages to carry an intimidating air of danger, given confidence and purpose by the powers behind her, which order her to “cleanse the world of evil-doers” stop people “looking the other way” when evil should be punished. She also gets additional support from Coville, who is only too happy to be her creepy, snivelling disciple. Oh, and the other Worldkillers that she learns about at the very end of the episode. On the big screen, scaling up hasn’t proven the most successful path for DC to take. With the hugely fun Earth-X crossover in recent memory, though, and with Supergirl upping the adrenaline and the stakes with its rapidly expanding cast, we’re not about to turn down the offer of extra villains. Bring on the bad guys.

 

Supergirl Season 3 is available on Sky 1 every Monday at 8pm. Don’t have Sky? You can stream it live or catch up on-demand through NOW, as part of a £7.99 monthly subscription, no contract. A 7-day free trial is available for new subscribers.

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