Supergirl brings back Lex Luthor for Love Week

“In all the timelines, in all the dimensions, in all the universes, you were the only one that could match me”

Plotwise, not a ton actually happens in “I Believe In A Thing Called Love.” The episode-long battle over the Love Totem basically amounts to a draw. Plus we learn that totems can’t actually be permanently destroyed anyway—so the Super Friends chucking the Hope Totem into the sun back in “Hope For Tomorrow” was pointless too. On the other hand, six seasons into Supergirl, does anyone really watch this show for plot anymore? I suspect not. We’re here to follow the final journey of the characters we’ve come to know and love. And on that level, at least, “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” delivers.

That starts with everyone’s favorite bald baddie Lex Luthor, who arrived at Nyxly’s side in last week’s stinger. It turns out that when Lex casually portaled away in search of “more” back in the season’s third episode, he traveled to the 31st century and fell in love with a future version of Nyxly who wound up dying thanks to something involving the AllStone. Now Lex has traveled back to the past (er, well, the present) to ensure his future love doesn’t make the same choices that will lead to her untimely demise. And that means trying to befriend a fiercely independent woman without coming off as a creep in the process. It’s basically Pretty In Pink all over again.

Given that Jon Cryer’s take on Lex Luthor has been one of the highlights of Supergirl’s latter years, it makes sense that the show would return to him in its final run of episodes. And having him team up with Nyxly is a nice bit of streamlined storytelling. Even more importantly, having Lex be in love with Nyxly gives Cryer some new notes to play as the well-trod character. Lex may not be reformed, but he certainly is changed. In the past we’ve only ever seen him use the idea of love as a tool to get what he wants, as he so often did by manipulating his relationship with Lena. Here, however, Lex is willing to sacrifice the Love Totem to save Nyxly’s life, in what feels like a genuine move of selflessness not just a step on a grand masterplan.

Lex’s love for Nyxly makes him vulnerable in a way we’ve never really seen before. And while this episode mostly uses that for comedy in his hilarious scenes with Otis (“But you love toxic relationships!”), there’s the potential for it to be used for something more dramatic down the line too. There’s also potential for this pairing to do some interesting things for Nyxly’s character as well. It remains to be seen whether the imp princess is in for a full-on redemption arc. But her shock at the notion that someone would do something selfless for her does seem like a step towards melting her icy heart—even if it’s melting in Lex’s direction at the moment.

This episode’s love fest isn’t entirely dominated by villains, however. In fact, one of the best things about “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” is that it manages to serve just about all of the show’s main characters well. Even Brainy and Nia—who initially seem like they might be relegated to “offscreen Super Friend of the Week” roles—ultimately get a moving scene together on the Tower Balcony of Deep Thoughts. But the real stars are Alex and Kelly, who wind up planning mutual surprise engagements on the anniversary of the night they both named Hans Gruber as the best movie villain of all time back in the show’s fifth season premiere. (It was the moment they first realized they were in love.)

The whole thing is sweet but also low-key in way that feels fitting for these two world-weary women who’ve been through so much together already (including literally adopting a child). Their engagement was inevitable at this point, so the show is smart to give us a sweet surprise that Kelly is the one who booked out Al’s Dive Bar (which totally got me!) and otherwise keep things simple, with J’onn, Kara, Brainy, and Esme there to watch and celebrate. It’s just the right tone for the moment.

Another smart screenwriting choice is to circle back around to the totems as tools the Super Friends can use in their fight against Nyxly, which isn’t something that had even occurred to me before. That Kara activates the Humanity Totem while J’onn uses the Courage Totem helps make the magical stones feel like more than just generic MacGuffins. And it allows Supergirl to use the totems’ qualities as an in-road to exploring character. Though this episode is first and foremost about love, it’s also about fear. J’onn fears losing his Earth family the way he lost his family on Mars. Lena fears losing control of her magic and hurting someone the way her mother did. And Kara fears losing her humanity and becoming as coldly monstrous as the phantoms who still haunt her nightmares.

“I Believe In A Thing Called Love” ultimately lands on a pretty nuanced thesis: True strength comes from the ability to face the part of yourself that you’re most afraid of, and move past it with the help of your friends and family. J’onn passes the Courage Gauntlet not by finding a way to save his Martian daughters from their deaths, but by coming to peace with the fact that there was nothing he could’ve done to change what happened and that the best way to honor their memories is by protecting his Earth family. Kara, meanwhile, has a similar realization about her time in the Phantom Zone: Though it was a traumatizing experience, it also gave her faith that her Super Friends will always pull her back from the edge, no matter what happens. And that gives her the courage to use the Humanity Totem, even though it has the potential to mess with her humanity in the process.

It’s wonderful to see J’onn get some more prominent screentime tonight, and for his perspective to be the thing that helps Kara gain some inner confidence of her own. Kara, meanwhile, goes on to empower Lena to fully severe her emotional ties with Lex and use her magic from a place of love for the Super Friends, rather than hatred for her brother. It’s a similar idea to the one Nia eventually passes on to Brainy: Doing things openly, honestly, and with good intentions is different than doing them secretly and nefariously, even if the actions are the same. Like Lex himself, the Super Friends are now seeing life through a whole new lens.

It’s another nice touch that this love-centric episode doesn’t just celebrate romantic love, but love of all kinds, with Alex emphasizing her love for all of the Super Friends in the lead-in to her proposal to Kelly. “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” might not have much plot, but it does have heart. And that’s a fitting tribute to the theme of the week.

Stray observations

• While Lex manifests a new version of the Hope Totem for Nyxly, we learn that Esme has become the new Love Totem. So technically the goodies and baddies both add one more totem to their score this week, even if the Super Friends don’t know it yet.
• I’m glad J’onn got a scene to explicitly narrate what happened in his Courage Gauntlet because the visual storytelling wasn’t the clearest there.
• In general, I like using CatCo as a location to explore Kara and I don’t mind William as her journalism BFF. But now that Kara has quit, William’s scenes with Andrea felt very superfluous tonight. (Also weird to use him in the Kelly/Alex proposal throughline too.)
• Of the seven totems, the show has now dealt with love, dreams, hope, humanity, and courage, so that still leaves truth and destiny on the docket.
• We also get a mysterious cliffhanger that sees Acrata Andrea break into Lex’s mansion (I literally forgot she had those powers), while William ominously meets up with Otis.