'Supergirl' Season 5 Episode 16 Review: Chyler Leigh gets a massive boost as she suits up as Super Alex
Spoilers for 'Supergirl' Season 5 Episode 16 'Alex in Wonderland'
From the promos and the preview images ahead of the episode, Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) suiting up as the Girl of Steel came across as one of the episodes to be watched. Safe to say, the episode was definitely not a letdown. With 'Alex in Wonderland', it's two back-to-back fillers in 'Supergirl' and both of them lend depth to the two main characters.
The spotlight is firmly on Alex as the episode picks up from Jeremiah Danvers's (Dean Cain) death. While Kara (Melissa Benoist) and J'onn J'onzz (David Harewood) attempt to convince Alex to go, she refuses angered by the fact that he treated her differently from Kara and that she's mourned the man's death multiple times. 'Alex in Wonderland' is a predictable episode, except there's a major twist once Alex enters the VR world.
The episode alternates between Alex's time in VR while William Dey (Staz Nair) is investigating Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) for placing a lot of satellites into space. William approaches Kelly Olsen (Azie Tesfai) for help who also has her doubts about the diabolical villain. Seeing Alex in a suit comes as a refreshing change, especially with the bangs hairdo and a black suit being the standout features.
The plot is simple and straightforward. Alex is in VR living out her fantasy as Super Alex or should we say Supergirl. However, the failsafe glitch has been an issue that hasn't been taken care of and this makes coming out of the fake reality practically impossible. Over the course of the episode, we see Leviathan show up as it is revealed they are behind the whole glitch and Lena Luthor's (Katie McGrath) AI assistant, Eve Teschmacher (Andrea Brooks) has managed to infiltrate Obsidian as an employee.
In the end, it's a bit of an eye-opener for Alex as she is pulled out of VR by Kelly, who by programming an NPC younger version of Alex makes her realize that she needs to get out of the flawed scenario. And it does so while also exploring the character a lot more deeply. Alex has always been under Kara's shadow but has no idea what it means to be a superhero. The message is quite similar to what Kara gives Nia Nal (Nicole Maines) in 'Reality Bytes'— sometimes hard choices have to be made.
Post 'Crisis on Infinite Earths', the Arrowverse show has put Alex in an identity crisis and with 'Alex in Wonderland', she knows what she has to do. As Kelly rightfully calls her, she is a warrior and a vital cog in team Supergirl. As far as the Leviathan storyline goes, their team-up with Lex and Lena makes the trio the ultimate baddies of the season.
'Alex in Wonderland' is another heartwarmer and Leigh's screentime gets a massive boost with the episode that just strongly cements her position as one of the fan favorites.
'Supergirl' Season 5 airs Sundays 8 pm on The CW.
