Kara's investigation into William Dey's "criminal" activities results in the shocking revelation he is not who she thinks. Meanwhile, the conflict between Malefic and J'onn J'onzz reaches a boiling point.
Tropes:
- Big Damn Heroes: Kelly and James arrive via Lex's portal watch to help their friends against Malefic.
- Blow You Away: The superpowered assassin who mistakes Kara for Elena Torres first blows her out of the house and then sucks the air from her lungs.
- Book Ends: James entered the series after being recently hired by CatCo and asked Kara to refer to him as James in order to make a name for himself outside of "Superman's best buddy". After returning to his roots and buying the Calvintown newspaper James tells Simon Kirby to refer to him as Jimmy.
- Broken Pedestal: James is naturally quite disturbed to learn that Nelson Stuart, the man who mentored him and taught him the importance of journalistic integrity, won't report on the prison corruption scheme because he's afraid of the backlash this might receive (Nelson likely has a point however in that it could get his paper shut down due to ad revenue being pulled).
- Call-Back:
- Lena recalls the "little boxes" method of sequestering mental distractions that Brainy taught her when trying to understand his problems.
- It was established in season one that, yes, Supergirl does need to breathe.
- Chekhov's Gun: One of Lex's transmat watches can be seen on Lena's desk in her lab. She uses parts from it to covertly sabotage the Phantom Zone projector, causing it to transmat Malefic into her lab instead.
- Dying Town: The only thriving enterprise left in Calvintown is a private prison that wasn't there during James and Kelly's childhood.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: A tragic example tied into Malefic's Freudian Excuse; when J'onn says that his family on Earth helped him learn forgiveness, Malefic snaps that family is supposed to "destroy you".
- Faking the Dead: William helps fake the death of Elena Torres to save her. Turns out he has been doing this with quite a few people.
- Gagging on Your Words: Brainy has to force himself to ask Lena for her help. The first try, he's unable get the 'H' word out.
- Good All Along: Turns out William Dey isn't involved in a conspiracy — he is trying to uncover it.
- Heartbroken Badass: Brainy is on the edge through most of the episode due to the fight with Nia. Luckily, they get together again at the end.
- Internal Reveal: J'onn's friends learn the truth about what he did to Malefic.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: William Dey was acting like a jerkass towards Kara and a Yes-Man for Andrea all to gain the latter's trust. After the mask falls, he seems like a genuine Nice Guy.
- Lured into a Trap: The heroes try luring Malefic into a trap at the beginning of the episode, having J'onn pose as Kelly and the rest as civilians. It doesn't work out because Malefic is able to phase through the Phantom Zone projector beam.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Alex, when she awakens from Malefic's thrall.
- Mythology Gag:
- Simon Kirby’s name is taken from two iconic comic book writers, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Most relevantly, they were the creators of DC's first Guardian.
- After being hired as the paper's photographer, Simon calls Jimmy "Chief." Jimmy quickly tries to dissuade him of the habit.
- No-Sell: The precautions that the DEO try to take against Malefic are laughably ineffective; before long, he's not only infiltrated the place, but placed Alex under Mind Control, all completely undetected.
- Oh, Crap!: Kara and J'onn, when they realize that Alex is under Malefic's control.
- Old Friend: Nelson Stuart, an old colleague of James, runs the local newspaper. While he doesn't like it, he turns a blind eye to the town's rampant corruption to protect his business.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Alex viciously chews J'onn out while under Malefic's control, but J'onn doesn't notice. After all is said and done, she points out that it's very out of character for her to say those things, and J'onn admits that he didn't see through it because he was already thinking everything Malefic made her say.
- The Picture Came with the Frame: A modern version as Nia realizes the photo of William's "wife" is just a stock image from a website.
- Psychic Link: Kelly feels it when Malefic takes control of Alex.
- Put on a Bus: Inspired by Simon Kirby, the kid whose mother got imprisoned for 10 years for petty theft, James decides to return to his birthplace of Calvintown and lead the fight against corruption.
- Redemption Rejection: J'onn tries to reach out and apologize to his brother, but Malefic ultimately rejects his offer and tries to kill his friends, forcing them to send him back to the Phantom Zone.
- Take Up My Sword: After buying the local newspaper in Calvintown, James gives Simon the camera his father gave him to work as a reporter for him.
- Third Line, Some Waiting:
- The A Plot is about apprehending Malefic.
- The B Plot is about uncovering what William Dey has been up to.
- The C Plot is about James deciding to help his hometown Calvintown.
- Villain Team-Up: After abducting him, Lena offers to team up with Malefic to further her plans.
- Wham Shot: The Stinger shows that Malefic wasn't taken back to the Phantom Zone, but to Lena's lab, explaining what she was doing to the projector earlier in the episode. She wants his help and his abilities to carry out her mass brainwashing plan.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: So... did Aunt Vi ever show back up?
- What the Hell, Hero?: J'onn is pretty distraught when Alex wants to use Hank Henshaw's blaster designed to kill Green Martians.
- Why Am I Ticking?: Malefic straps a bomb on Alex as a contingency plan when she breaks free from him.
- You Monster!: Alex, while under Malefic's thrall, calls J'onn a monster. How much she meant it is in question.
