As Ben Lockwood leads the charge to repeal the Alien Asylum act, an Alien Rights march forces every character to consider where they stand on the issue.

I am an absolute sucker for the platonic ideal of the journalist. Someone honest and compassionate who sits outside the system to help you understand it is one of the heroic ideals I’ve been fond of my whole life. So the moment this episode where Jimmy, with half a smile, says ‘Hey, you need a photographer?’ got me right in the chest. It wasn’t the only moment either.

The march, and the way everyone deals with it, is heartfelt and sincere in a ways only this show can be. Kara joining the march, not as Supergirl, but as Kara Danvers, is a circuit in her identity closing in a way we haven’t seen for a long time. She’s at home with herself even as other people are cut away from her and it’s a testament to how strong she is emotionally, even as she doubts hat exact quality. Likewise Brainy’s revelation that he arranged the march under a pseudonym and his not quite romance with Nia. There’s a lot of complex emotional algebra this season and it’s all being worked out on screen in ways that both drive the pot and define it.

But the moment this episode that truly works is the moment the march and Lockwood’s rally clash. The way we see people change sides, see people do their jobs and see the chaos of the two ideologies clashing is fascinating. It wears its heart on its sleeve, may well present as cornball (‘Mad World’ is used which is going to make or break the scene for some) but it’s the show’s core laid bare for us to see. Complex, kind and gloriously weird it’s another season highlight and one that has one hell off a cliffhanger.

Verdict: This whole run has been great but this episode is a different level and one the show deserves to be lauded for. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart