Supergirl 5x8 : The Wrath of Rama Khan review

Be warned there will be *SPOILERS* involved in this review. With that being said let's get into it. 

The mid season finale of Supergirl has come and gone and with it we got some true redemption for some characters and a peep into what the rest of the season in 2020 could hold. The episode begins outside of Lex's secret bunker which Lena and Hope are inside of. Supergirl shows up and gets targeted by Ion cannons which Lena refuses to stop from firing. Kara gets right back up however and stands her ground mid air. The cannons arm themselves again but this time filled with Kryptonite. We get a great visual of Supergirl in mid air her hands raised to surrender as Lena on the inside quickly rushes to turn off the cannons. She does as Supergirl flys off and returns to the DEO where she tells everyone what Lena did in taking Myriad and that she knows her identity. Rama Khan is then seen returning to Leviathan's HQ. Inside he is warned that he is losing his true potential as he has now been defeated by Supergirl on two occasions. He is appearing to be overthrown by another member if he does not sort things out quickly which leaves him coming up with a plan. He says he is going to extinguish countless lives much like he did many, many years ago in Pompeii. He even mentions that he has the perfect person to help him. Back at the DEO and Supergirl learns how Lena has been using J'onn's brothers powers as a way of mind control. Alex and Kara's relationship really gets put to the test throughout here as Alex is thinking with her head while Kara as always things with her heart which says that Lena is not dangerous at all. Alex thinks otherwise as after all Lena is still a Luthor. 

The last time we see Andrea Rojas she was by her boyfriend's side as after being awoken from his Riproar state he was then killed by Leviathan. We see her here again and she is interrupted by Rama Khan who says he has a job for her. Help him one final time and he will release her from Leviathan's curse. Andrea actually agrees but at the location of the imminent disaster she uses her shadow powers to warn everyone at the DEO that Rama Khan is coming. She gets pulled back to his location by him. He places her in a bed of rocks and restrains her before placing his spear on her head leaving her to die basically. Supergirl eventually turns up to stop Rama Khan along with J'onn but that is not before everyone at the DEO comes up with a plan to stop Lena from launching Myriad from Lex's bunker. Do they use Alex's weapon to blow up the bunker?? or use J'onn's brother's Q wave powers to disrupt Myriad's signal. They ultimately end up going with the latter as before going off to fight Rama Khan Supergirl convinced Alex to get help from J'onn and his brother. While Supergirl fights Rama Khan as in the background a giant volcano makes form J'onn frees Andrea from her captive state and pulls the spear out of the ground. Supergirl looks down and out as Rama Khan looks set to end her and thousands of lives but it's Andrea who steps up and helps Supergirl and J'onn fend off the Earth Bender. 

The episode draws to a close back at the DEO as J'onn's brother does indeed use his Q-waves to disrupt the signal of Myriad and stop it from being completely launched. He is successful even though Alex at first was highly against this approach. Back on the outside Andrea manages to make her escape from Rama Khan who is told that he is out and a new member of Leviathan is in leaving him in the dust. He is no longer needed as again Supergirl defeated him. The stakes felt incredibly high throughout here. Not only was Lena's arc tension filled but Rama Khan and Supergirl's battle felt like a proper mid season finale battle which was good. The episode ends with J'onn and his brother outside at night. It turns out J'onn is sending his brother back to Mars so he can help in the ongoing White Martian battle. He even mentions Miss Martian and how she is a White Martian. Unsure that he is the right person to do it J'onn reassures his brother that he is the right candidate as he knows the White Martians and could ultimately bring peace to the planet. J'onn also has one final surprise for his brother before he leaves...his car that we saw him using on more than one occasion a form of transport to Mars. With his brother Mars bound J'onn is interrupted by none other than The Monitor who tells him that it was him who sent his brother to Earth. The Monitor mentions how he saw J'onn fight in Elsewords and how he is a great warrior. He brought his brother to Earth as a way for J'onn to embrace his weaknesses and reconnect. So in summary it was all a test again by The Monitor who says that J'onn is now ready for the Crisis. But the episode doesn't even end there as we see one final thing. Lex Luthor playing chess by himself. As it turns out The Monitor did bring him back to life as he says the world needs a mind like his and that now it is time for him to be the hero. Lex says he has always been the hero as he mentions one final thing..his sister. No idea what Lex means but if it leads to him being on this show more than I am all for it. This episode was great. Like Batwoman it really felt like a mid season finale with high stakes, intense action and an overall good sense of storytelling. Next week begins the Crisis on this show with it being part 1 of 5 overall. Until then Kara!

★★★★