Supergirl Season 4, Episode 9 recap: Superman vs. Superman

Part 3 of the epic Elseworlds crossover draws to a close with a major Superman vs. Superman fight as our heroes struggle to fix reality. What happened on Supergirl’s fall finale?

In this week’s Supergirl, we start in yet another reality that Dr. John Deegan has set into motion. In this reality, Barry and Oliver aren’t each other any longer, but they’re also no longer The Flash or The Green Arrow. They’re being painted as criminals (it’s a good look on them, to be honest!) and after coming face to face with Dr. John Deegan who has re-imagined himself as a dark Superman, they realize they need help.

It doesn’t take long for The Monitor to bring Barry and Oliver to him. He’s amazed that even without their superpowers they were able to stand up against someone with Superman’s abilities. But that’s what heroes do, right? The Monitor sends them back, but not before imparting some ominous words about how self-sacrifice won’t be enough and survival will only be found by knowing your “true self”.

Oliver and Barry go to find Cisco, or as he’s called in this reality, “Mr. Ramon.” This version of Cisco is a crime boss and initially has his henchman James Olsen give Oliver and Barry a beating. But when Barry mentions Cisco’s brother Dante and Oliver mentions getting rid of Superman it gets Cisco’s attention.

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Barry offers to teach Mr. Ramon how to vibe to other Earths, obviously having a plan in mind. After 17 tries, according to Oliver, they finally make it to the Fortress of Solitude on Earth-38 and get Superman and Lois Lane for backup.

Meanwhile, Kara has been trapped in the pipeline prison at STAR Labs. In this reality, STAR Labs is now overseen by Dr. John Deegan as Superman and is staffed by none other than Agent Alex Danvers, Killer Frost, and John Diggle.

Unfortunately for Kara, in this Earth, she and Alex are not sisters and when she first tries to reach out to Alex her sister calls her dangerous and insane. Ouch. But nothing can keep the Danvers sisters apart for long on any Earth or in any reality. Kara starts talking about her own Alex and how amazing she is and eventually the two women bond.

The Alex of this reality is just as badass and caring as the Alex on Kara’s Earth (just ask Barry who she beats up later on). Kara persuades her to see past the fake Superman’s charade and let her out.

However, just as Alex and Kara are making a break for it the fake Superman, Killer Frost, and Diggle show up. Yikes. Kara tries to protect Alex and says that she tricked her into letting her go, but in what was a rather sweet moment Alex stands her ground and calls Kara her sister.

Luckily for Alex and Kara reinforcements arrive just in time as Cisco, Barry, Oliver, and Superman vibe to STAR Labs. Cisco makes a break for it, Superman takes on John Deegan in his Superman form, and Oliver takes on Killer Frost and Diggle while Barry, Kara, and Alex go to look for the magical book that is creating this whole mess.

The book happens to be hidden in the Time Vault of STAR Labs, which Deegan apparently calls the “Fortress of Solitude” much to Barry’s dismay. They retrieve the book but Kara, still weakened from her time in the pipeline, can’t use it. The only one who knows how to use the book is Clark.

Clark and Deegan are having a major – or should I say Super – fight outside, but Clark is not faring too well against his copy. It seems like Clark is about to go down when Kara shows up and zaps Deegan with her laser vision and gives Clark the book.

Clark begins to fix reality and Kara becomes Supergirl again and Barry and Oliver are finally their real selves as The Flash and Green Arrow once more. But it’s not a superhero drama without some last minute conflict. Deegan shows up (still as Superman) and threatens Barry. Oliver almost shoots Deegan but Barry begs him not to because he wants him to be better than his darkness. Barry thinks the monitor isn’t testing how strong they are, but rather how good they are.

Deegan manages to escape with the book again and starts changing reality back to how he wants it. This includes a robot with Superman’s powers who takes Clark down with one laser beam. Clark’s better half, Lois Lane, arrives on the scene with backup in the form of a big hammer, Brainiac 5, and J’onn J’onnz. Brainy finds the robot exciting and seems to take care of him fairly easily.

Kara and Barry decide that they need to slow down Deegan’s reality by flying in opposite rotations around the Earth. There’s just one little snag, Clark saw in the book that if they do this they will both die. Sacrificing yourself is practically rule #1 in the hero handbook, so of ccourse, arry and Kara decide to do it anyway.

Oliver has his own plan and he hopes that Barry and Kara’s destiny can be re-written. He goes to The Monitor for help and makes some kind of deal.

What exactly he trades for Barry and Kara’s life isn’t specified, but it’s heavily implied that the cost may be Oliver’s own life. It would be a very Oliver thing to do. I wonder how Felicity will feel about this new development?

Out in the city, Lois and Clark are still struggling against Deegan. Lois tries to Blast Deegan with the hammer she brought, the solar hammer from the cosmic anvil according to actress Bitsie Tulloch, and Clark tries to make a grab for the book. But Deegan blasts them with power from the book and Lois starts to slow-mo fall to the ground.

Whatever deal Oliver made with The Monitor was worth it because he shows up with a special arrow that he shoots right into the heart of the book which ends Deegan’s version of reality and returns everything and everyone to it’s proper state. And not a moment too soon, because Barry and Kara were both burning up as they flew around the Earth. Any longer and they both would have died.

With reality restored our heroes say goodbye as they crack a joke about this becoming an annual thing, and Oliver even smiles! Though he refuses to hug poor Barry. Give the man a hug Oliver! Also, we get the vital information that Kara happens to be Cisco’s favorite Kryptonian as she and her super-gang head back to Earth-38.

Back at the Kent Farm, there’s happy news as Clark and Lois reveal that they are about to be parents! Clark also reveals that after nearly losing Lois he thinks the safest place for them is Argo City. At least for now. A tidy way of explaining why Superman won’t be flying in to help solve any upcoming crises in National City.

We even get a glimpse of the super couple on Argo city and Clark proposes! Lois kisses him before he can even finish his sentence and it’s cute and sweet.

At least one couple gets to be drama-free and happy for a while. They’re far enough away where they’re safe but can still be dragged back for the yearly crossover. Unless of course, the CW decides to give them their own spin-off that the fans are now clamoring for.

The Supergirl fall finale wraps with Oliver and Barry getting drinks and as Oliver goes to leave he gets a call from Kate Kane. Looks like we definitely haven’t seen the last of her. She tells Oliver that Deegan has made a friend back in Arkham and this is our setup for the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover next year.

With Kara and Barry’s lives spared this crossover, it will be interesting to see how they do “Crisis on Infinite Earths” without killing any of our major heroes. Though we might be a little worried about Oliver.

Do you think Oliver traded his own life for Barry and Kara’s or did he trade something else on the Supergirl fall finale? Let us know what you thought of this years crossover and it’s new additions from the comics and if you’re ready for another one next year!

Supergirl returns in the New Year on Sundays at 8/7c on the CW.