Alex and J'onn search for a man trapped in Obsidian's virtual reality, while Nia hunts for a bigot targeting the trans community to try to force her to stop being a superhero.
Tropes:
- And I Must Scream: Richard gets back at Trevor by trapping him in a simulation where Trevor's body heats up and explodes at random, with Trevor unable to escape or exit the VR world until Richard is defeated and Alex talks him through taking control.
- Batman Grabs a Gun: Nia, for most of the episode, is perfectly willing to kill Bauer.
- Being Good Sucks: Kara tells Nia that being the good guy can suck due to it including not killing unrepentantly evil people.
- Broken Bird: Nia's emotional ordeals over the past year, including her mother's death, being disowned by her sister, Brainy suddenly ending their relationship, the attacks on her community then being narrowly dissuaded from killing a person all catch up to her at the end of the episode, and she breaks down crying in Kara's arms.
- Bullying a Dragon: A transphobic normal human decides it would be a good idea to call out and later outright attack a transgender half-alien capable of defeating a Dominator without breaking much of a sweat.
- Bus Crash: Jeremiah Danvers (played by Dean Cain) is found dead.
- Call-Back: The simulation has two people trapped in a Drowning Pit, just like Alex was back in season 2's "Alex".
- Continuity Nod: Further cementing the fact that Supergirl is now in the same universe as the other Arrowverse shows, Nia's roommate mentions that she met her new boyfriend on Upswipz, a dating app occasioanlly featured in the third season of Legends of Tomorrow.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Richard's wife describes him as "possessive", which is putting it mildly; after his wife cheated on him in VR, Richard used the same technology to trap Trevor in a horrifying simulation as payback.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Dreamer easily trashes a Dominator at the start of the episode, and even more easily subdues Bauer at the end.
- Alex takes out Richard in VR with one shot, and J'onn takes him down in the real world with even less effort.
- The fight between Dreamer (an experienced and powerful superhero) and Bauer (a bigot with a pocket knife and a big mouth) lasts about as long as one would expect.
- A Day in the Limelight: This episode focuses on Nia.
- Dirty Coward: Bauer catfishes and assaults trans women to try and force Dreamer into retirement, and when confronted with the hero herself, tries to attack her with a hidden knife, and when that fails, he turns tail and runs.
- Failsafe Failure: Obsidian Platinum is supposed to have a failsafe measure that removes users from the VR world if they're under too much stress. It doesn't work. Kelly is assured that it was fixed, but Leviathan ensured that it wasn't, and Richard Bates later used it to torture a man his wife had cheated on him with.
- Finally Found the Body: Jeremiah's body was found dead after his disappearance.
- Flashback: A small one to a few months back, with Richard discovering the failsafe glitch.
- Hate Sink: Gregory Bauer is a vicious transphobe who catfishes and assaults transgender women to try and force the transgender hero Dreamer into retirement. Confronted by Dreamer herself, Bauer shows his bigotry and his cowardice in equal measure, taunting Dreamer's gender identity and her status as a hero, trying to kill her with a hidden knife, and trying to flee when he fails. Despite Bauer's weak claims that "someone needs to stand up to you people", Dreamer sees him for what he really is: a small, petty man with a fragile ego who acts out of nothing but hate.
- Heteronormative Crusader: Bauer rants about Dreamer being a bad role model for being a trans person and accuses her of "tricking dudes" by "lying" about being an attractive woman, trying to paint himself as nobly "stand[ing] up to you people". Dreamer easily sees the reality, that Bauer is just a transphobic bastard who hates her because his ego can't handle things outside his narrow worldview, with the idea of a transgender superhero being an encapsulation of that.
- Hollywood Law: Nia and Kara act like it's a sure thing Greg will serve time for assaulting Yvette. However, without more evidence (which the police might uncover, like video tape from security cameras nearby) it would still be just her word. Sadly, transphobia exists in the courts too and just the testimony of the victim is not guaranteed for a conviction.
- How Do I Shot Web?: Alex struggles with using J'onn's Martian weapon.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Kara talks down Nia from killing the villain of the week.
- Irony: Yvette claiming in her online profile that Dreamer is her BFF, which is actually true.
- It's Personal: Gregory Bauer targeting trans people, her roommate Yvette in particular, is obviously very personal for Nia. It may also be this for Brainy, given that he personally delivers information to Detective Rivers about the members of the hate group Bauer was part of.
- I Will Find You: Nia tells Bauer that she will be watching him when he gets released from prison, and if he does anything to her community again, she'll trap him in a nightmare he'll never wake up from.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Nia at the end of the episode breaks down in tears over almost having killed somebody, among other things.
- No, You:Dreamer: You make me sick!
Bauer: No, you make me sick! - O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The attacks on the transgender community being one emotional hit too many, normally sweet and good-natured Nia turns cold and grim after Bauer's attack on Yvette, expressing a desire to kill him and setting out to do it after the police don't arrest him quickly enough for her.
- Out of Focus: Despite a big thing being made about Kara's date with William, other than the very brief date scene and helping Kara with research, he barely appears in the episode.
- Police Are Useless: Nia certainly thinks so, as Detective Rivers' police work to find Bauer is very slow.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Bauer attacks trans people to try and force Dreamer to stop being a hero because he feels that "the world doesn't need a trans hero". When she confronts him, Bauer spends the entire encounter spouting hate speech, and even at her mercy, snarls that she's a "twisted freak".
- Shipper on Deck: Nia is pretty giddy about Kara going on a date, demanding pictures.
- So Last Season: Once again, a Dominator is dealt with fairly easily.
- The Stinger: Margot takes possession of a comatose Richard, whom she places among various other comatose, floating bodies for an unknown purpose.
- Too Dumb to Live: Gregory Bauer deliberately targeted trans people to lure out Dreamer, then, when finally confronted with the very angry hero who had recently gotten a lot of media attention for curb-stomping a Dominator, he attacks her with nothing bigger than a pocket knife. He only leaves the encounter alive because Supergirl talks Dreamer into sparing him.
- Very Special Episode: This episode tackles the very real facts of trans people still frequently not being wholly accepted in society, being targeted for their identity and assaulted or even killed.
- Villainous Breakdown: Bauer doesn't react well to getting beaten by a trans person.
- You Are Not Alone: Supergirl manages to talk Dreamer out of murdering the villain of the week by reminding her that the two of them are in the good fight together.
