Kelly walks down the street, and looks nervously at the people passing her by. Malefic flies down and tells Kelly that she can't run, and "Kelly" transforms into John. He says that he won't let Malefic hurt anyone, and Malefic says that John can't touch him without hurting himself. Supergirl, Alex, and Brainiac-5 drop their hologrammatic disguises and reveal they're wearing psychic inhibitors, and John uses a Phantom Zone projector on Malefic. Malefic fries the inhibitors with a mind blast, yells "Syn'dar'k" at John, and mind-controls one agent to shoot Alex. As Supergirl protects Alex, Malefic phases through it and then phases down through the sidewalk, making good his escape.
James and the real Kelly drive to their Aunt Vi's, and John says that he doesn't know what would have happened to them if Aunt Vi hadn't taken them in after their father died. They drive into Calvintown and discover that it's gone downtown since the last time they were there. There's a new prison near Calvintown.
Back at the DEO, Brainiac-5 confirms that they are checking all agents to make sure they're not Malefic in disguise. Alex asks Brainiac-5 why the Phantom Zone projector didn't work, and Brainiac-5 says that he tried to allow for Malefic's unique Martian physiology. John doesn't recognize what Malefic said to him in their native tongue, and Alex says that she's bring the Verdex Blaster out of storage. Supergirl notes that Malefic could have incepted one of them to use it on John, and suggests that they let Brainiac-5 work on the Phantom Zone projector. Brainiac-5 says that he'll work on the projector to distract himself from his broken heart.
Nia calls Supergirl and says that William's marriage is a lie. She followed him pass a newspaper to some guy and is going to Mexico City to meet with an apparent assassination attempt against an Elena Torres. After Supergirl hangs up, Alex agrees that she should go to Mexico City to help William's next victim. Brainiac-5 asks if Nia asked about him, but insists that he doesn't care if she didn't.
In Lena's lab, Hope tells Lena that she's isolated the problem. She reports that the Q-wave frequency Lex notes is incorrect. Lena figures that since Alex asked her to assist the DEO in apprehending Malefic, who uses Q-waves to control minds. She figures that she can harness Malefic's abilities, and Hope warns that they will need to detain Malefic but the others won't approve. Lena agrees and looks at her Supergirl signal watch.
James and Kelly arrive at Vi's house, and Kelly sees someone moving inside and assumes that it's Malefic. Her brother goes in and two teenagers run out past him, and as Kelly comes in, they realize that the kids were squatting in the house.
Supergirl flies to Mexico and switches to her Kara guise. She discovers that Elena just died in a car crash, and sees William walking away. William gets into a car with the strange man and drives away. Kara checks in with Nia, who confirms that Elena was the lead accountant at Obsidian Worldwide. Nia tracked the license number and discovered that the strange man is Sergio Ramos, a local Intergang member.
Brainiac-5 tests the modified projector on John, warning that it will cause pain. Lena reinforces the psychic inhibitors, and Alex comes in and asks what happened. Brainiac-5 snaps at her, saying that he'll figure it out, and Alex tells John that she's bringing out the blaster. John says that she shouldn't, and Alex wonders why he's defending Malefic. She says that Kelly is danger because of Alex's job, and John promises that he won't let anything happen to Kelly. He says that he's not giving up on Brainiac-5.
As they walk through town, James and Kelly see a newspaper that lists James' mentor Nelson Stewart as the publisher. They go into a grocery store and the grocer grabs a teenager, Simon Kirby, and says that he was shoplifting. Kelly claims that Simon was getting the food for her and pays the grocer, and James recognizes Simon as one of the teenagers from the house. Simon knows who James is, gives them the food back, and James invites Simon to come by and join them for dinner. The teenager is surprised by the invitation.
Supergirl flies to Elena's apartment and finds a card with an account number written on it. A woman comes in and Supergirl quickly switches to Kara. The woman asks if Kara is Elena, and then air-blasts her out the window. Supergirl flies in through the door and uses her ice breath on her attacker The woman repels the ice breath and then creates a vacuum around Supergirl, asphyxiating her. Supergirl throws a table at her, knocking her out, and radios Alex.
Alex gets word that Supergirl is bringing in a prisoner. Malefic shapeshifted into a DEO agent, use his inception power to bypass the Martian protocol, and mind-controls Alex.
Supergirl brings the prisoner in and the DEO agents lead her away. Alex tells Supergirl that there's no news on Malefic, and Supergirl notices that she's acting unusual. Her foster sister dismisses it as nothing, and after Supergirl flies off Malefic tells Alex that it's time to learn about John's crimes.
As Kelly makes supper, Simon thanks her for intervening at the grocery store.. He notes that nobody in Calvintown does anything for anyone. As Kelly opens the stove, she gets a flash of the Verdex blaster in her mind. James comes in and she asks him to look after the pizza while she gets some air. Simon tells James that he and his friends crash in the house sometime and sometimes in the woods. He explains that his mother was arrested and sentenced for 10 years for stealing a space heater, and says that the authorities arrest people and convict them to keep the prison full. James insists that they have to stand up to injustice,
Brainiac-5 continues testing the projector on John, and Lena notes that he can barely stand. She tells John to go clear his head, and he reluctantly does so. Lena then tells Brainiac-5 that she's going to help him. He says that he needs to keep his mind occupied to avoid thinking about Nia. Brainiac-5 says that he's been trying to find a way to modulate himself. Lena says that he's in an infinite loop and is heading for a crash, and suggests that he ask for help. After a moment, Brainiac-5 asks Lena to help him and she agrees. Lena goes to work the projector. Once Brainiac-5 leaves, Lena puts a chip into the projector circuitry.
At the Calvintown Gazette, James visits Nelson and notes that a lot of locals are serving long sentences for petty crime. He figures that it's prison corruption, and Nelson tells him that it's complicated. James wonders what's going on, and Nelson says that things have changed for some people. He tells James that power of the press doesn't mean anything around Calvintown, and that the prison is the only thing keeping the town alive. If Nelson calls them out, his advertisers pull their ads and the paper shuts down. He tells James to go back to National City.
Kara tells Nia that Elena's body was burned beyond recognition. However, she learned that the body was a fake. Nia says that she ran the number and learned that it's an offshore bank account. Someone has been funneling money into it for the last year, and there are two names on the ledger: Elena and an "anonymous". Kara wonders if the other person is William. Nia says that the rest of the information is encrypted but doesn't want Brainiac-5 involved. She admits that being honest with Brainiac-5 has made things worse, and now he's trying to solve his problem on his own. Kara notes that human emotions throw Brainiac-5 for a loop and he needs time to realize Nia isn't leaving him. She tells Nia to get together with her friend who does encryption, while she goes back to the DEO and see if there's news on Malefic.
At the DEO, Alex joins Alex on the balcony. She tells him that she learned he lied and put them in jeopardy to protect themselves. Alex says that she learned John mind-wiped Malefic, and it tore her apart thinking that she was putting Kelly in danger when it was John's fault. She talks about how Malefic is a bad guy that John created, and John just stood there and let them suffer the consequences. John admits that she's write, and Alex tells him that he mind-wiped Malefic because it was easier than hunting him. She insists that John is the monster, not Malefic, and walks away.
At Vi's house, James tell Simon that the best lawyer in National City is taking Simon's mother's case, and he'll cover the bill. He tells the teenager that he's just visiting and can't stay, and Simon figures that James wouldn't want to stay in a "hellhole". Simon thanks James for the help and the food, and leaves.
Supergirl arrives at the DEO and sees John by himself. She asks him what the matter is, and he explains that "syn'd'ark" means "sinner". John explains how he and Nia explored his memories, and says that he failed everyone. Supergirl assures him that he saved them many times over, and says that John remembers Malefic now and can make different choices once he finds his brother. John figures that Nia told Alex, but Supergirl points out that Nia was with her. The Martian realizes that Malefic incepted Alex.
The group look for Alex but she's disappeared. Lena reports that the projector and the inhibitors are reconfigured, but the armory is cleaned out of anti-Martian weapons. John offers to psychically find Alex, and Brainiac-5 warns that could hurt him if he touches Malefic's mind. Despite that, John takes the risk and reaches out to Alex, calling on her to come home. The shapechanged Malefic, posing as DEO Agent Igle, reinforces his inception of Alex.
Kelly tells James that he did all he could, but James figures that it wasn't enough. He wonders if it should be his problem, and Kelly gets a mindflash of Igle. Kelly tells James that she's connected to Malefic and can see what he sees. She says that they have to go back to National City, refusing to listen to James' objections.
Psychic feedback knocks John down, and Malefic telepathically tells him to meet him at the planetarium alone. When John gets there, he finds the audience watching a film of how John betrayed the Martians. Alex steps out wielding the Verdex blaster and shoots John. He tries to get through to her, then says that he shouldn't have banished Malefic. John explains that he never found true peace on Earth because of what he did to Malefic. He says that he should have accepted Malefic, and now he does. Alex hesitates, and John tells Malefic that he's given them a second chance. He gets close enough to put an inhibitor on Alex, breaking Malefic's mind control.
Malefic is in the audience shapeshifted as a human, and reverts to his Martian form. He snatches up the discarded blaster, and asks John where his love and forgiveness came from. John says that it comes from his new family, and Supergirl heat-visions Malefic. Malefic mind-controls the audience into standing up and shooting with the DEO blasters. John deploys a shield matrix dome to protect himself, Alex, and Supergirl. Supergirl realizes that Alex is rigged with an exploding vest, and a stray blast knocks down the ceiling. Alex tells Supergirl to fix the ceiling.
Kelly and Guardian arrive as John tries to defuse the bomb. He warns that it's synced to Alex's molecular structure. Alex tells Supergirl and Guardian to gather the weapons when the dome collapses from the combined firepower, while Kelly uses her newfound ability to find Malefic.
When the dome goes down, Supergirl and Guardian get the weapon. John phases Alex out of the vest and Supergirl curls herself around the bomb. Kelly spots the shapechanged Malefic escaping, and John grabs the projector and sends his brother to the Phantom Zone.
Later back at the DEO, Alex tells John that she's sorry he couldn't save Malefic. John hopes that some point he can make things right, and Alex wonders how he could ever think she would say such things. The Martian tells her that he thinks them about himself, and Alex says that she knows who they really are.
Lena is collecting her equipment when Lean comes in and thanks her for fixing the inhibitors and the projector. She invites Lena to come out and have drinks with them, but Lena says that she has to get back to L-Corp. Once Supergirl leaves, Lena takes the chip she planted in the projector.
As they have drinks, Kelly suggests that she and Alex spend time cuddling now that Malefic is gone. Querl offers Nia a flower and his apologies, and says that he doesn't know how he will avoid submitting to his more obsessive qualities. Nia assures him that she's not going anywhere. They sit down and share a toast to being together. James says that he wants to help people and give back, and he's decided to go back to Calvintown, buy the Gazette, and fight to do the right thing among the people. He tells Kara that she never needed him to keep an eye on her, and Querl breaks into tears.
The next day at CatCo, Nia gets a text saying that her friend decrypted Elena's account and discovered that the location is in National City. Supergirl flies there and finds a board covered with photos of everyone at CatCo. William comes in and Supergirl switches to Kara at superspeed. She asks William what he's doing, and he tells her that it's too dangerous for her to be there. William explains that he's there undercover investigating Andrea. Kara tells William everything that she's learned about him, and William explains that he faked Elena's death because she thought she was onto them. Sergio is an undercover Interpol agent, and William hasn't found proof yet that connects the Rojases correctly. He joined CatCo to get into Andreas' inner circle.
William says that he pretended to be a jerk to keep people at a distance and maintain his cover, and hopes that Kara can forgive him now that she knows the truth. Kara tells him that isn't going to happen, and William says that her articles are honest and smart and he has craft while she has art. He asks Kara to promise to let it go, and she says that she can take care of herself. William assures her that he believes she can take care of everything she sets her mind to.
At the Gazette, James has the place set up and tells Simon that he likes a challenge. He hopes that the two of them can fix Calvintown together, and gives Simon his father's camera.
Malefic wakes up in a cell in Lena's lab. Lena tells him that he can't phase through the walls and they can help each other.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 30, 2019