Kara clashes with Red Daughter. Brainy, J’onn and Dreamer find themselves on the wrong side of the law and Brainy pays a terrible price for it. Alex, meanwhile, makes a breakthrough.

It is a credit to everyone who works on this show that the big emotional moment here lands as hard as it does. It comes after Kara gets what is starting to look like her traditional once a season ass-kicking, this time from Red Daughter. Down, badly hurt and near death she’s only saved when her Russian counterpart sees something she can’t explain…

What follows is a moment where Alex literally wills her sister back to life, as Kara draws visible sunlight from her surroundings to heal her. It should be absolutely hokey but the show is so honest, so up front and kind and Chyler Leigh is so good at what she does that you buy it completely.

This week’s other MVP is Jesse Rath who will break your heart as Brainy. After a wonderful cameo from Sam Witwer as Brainy disguised as Lockwood, he and Dreamer are captured. Brainy is tortured so badly he reverts to the present day approach his people take. He becomes emotionless. Ruthless. Brutal. Rath doesn’t just sell that perfectly (and his triumphant return to form in the next episode) he also shows you how terrified Brainy is of regressing. It’s smart, nuanced writing and the episode is crammed full of it, even in the hokey moments.

Verdict: Rambunctious and enthusiastic, heartfelt and honest this is a great episode in a great series. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart