Supergirl 5x17 : Deus Lex Machina review

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

Supergirl returns from it's extended hiatus since late March. And boy what an episode to return with after what did feel like an age away. The episode begins in present day which is 90 days post Crisis On Infinite Earths. Supergirl and J'onn arrive at the location of the warehouse where Leviathan's Margo (the old woman) has been keeping Obsidian North VR victims. We see various people talking to reporters and the like and it turns out that Lex has killed Margo in defense of everyone else in the room. He is deemed a real hero much to the dismay and disgust of William, Supergirl and J'onn. It's soon after this when we're brought 89 days back in time as we next see Lex awaken from a Superman induced dream. It is day 1 post Crisis On Infinite Earths and as we've seen from earlier this season Lex is now considered a hero. He gets the Nobel Peace Prize, he is working alongside Supergirl and he's a hero. What follows is the transition from post Crisis to the present day and much like last season this is some of the finest Lex Luthor related content we've ever gotten on this show. 

First off we see Lex recruit Eve Tessmacher as a Double Agent as a way to get info on Leviathan as he forces himself inside of the organisation step by step. His planning is precise as it's soon revealed that he has been behind everything that has happened on this show since at least episode 14. Starting off with him being involved with Supergirl becoming Andrea's bodyguard, the Obsidian Platinum glitch which removed it's failsafe all the way to being the one who provided the killer poison which Eve uses to kill Jeremiah Danvers. Why does Eve kill Kara and Alex's father?? well as told by Lex he is the one who killed her father with orders from Leviathan. In fact Lex tricks Eve so much throughout much to her not even knowing that I felt a bit tricked myself. Lex has been pulling all the strings from the shadows and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

The episode draws to a close as Lex's plan works out perfectly step by step. He even goes on a World Tour promoting Obsidian Platinum's VR tech which is done in a montage. Back at Kara's apartment things get more interesting plot wise as William along with Kelly are onto to something and it involves Lex. Basically with the help of Myriad and Q waves we learn that J'onn can use his powers to locate the location where various people are being kept inside of the the VR world. Alex gets shown photos of people she met inside of her Supergirl induced VR scenario. Supergirl soon heads to the Fortress Of Solitude and turns on Myriad much to Lena's anger and frustration and Supergirl had previously stopped her from doing the exact same thing not so long ago. It's all bad until it involves you says Lena as she leaves. But a Martian followed her through the portal she entered and it opens a sealed door which just so happens to house something called the Sun Eater. A giant creature who heads straight for the sun but not before it sucks Supergirl dry of her powers. Miss Martian soon arrives thanks to the Q waves which J'onn's brother picked up on Mars. Both Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian rush to stop the Sun Eater as Brainy and Alex provide Supergirl with a Lex-O suit capable of instilling sunlight into her. All 3 manage to stop the Sun Eater and reduce it to it's normal size just in time for Lex again as his plan continues to go swimmingly. Back at his home however we see Eve making dinner for Lex. She confesses her feelings for him but they are not shared by him. In fact he has zero time for her. Unlike before when he let Eve get too close this time he will not make the same mistake. Lex becomes the perfect bad guy once again in this scene as he tells Eve that everything he has done for Eve i.e giving her access to killing her father's killer and protection for her mother has like everything else just been a giant ruse. He has everything Eve has done on tape and if she dares defy him he will release everything to Leviathan which won't end good for her. This again was genius and further proved why Lex is this show's greatest ever villain in my opinion. The episode ends as Lex finds the location of The Fortress Of Solitude and enters it through a portal. What are his plans?? I can't wait to find out. This episode was amazing. For a first time directing Melissa Benoist really knocked it out of the park here. The writing was spot on for Lex in particular and as a whole I think this is the very best episode of season 5. It just gave me late season 4 vibes which at the time was peak Supergirl in my opinion. More episodes like this Supergirl and you'll be back to being one of the best DC shows in no time. 

★★★★★