Things go from bad to worse in Supergirl’s “All About Eve.” Despite being in the title, Eve Tessmacher doesn’t actually show up much in the episode, although she’s certainly talked about a lot. We see some friendships mended, an ugly plan looking worse and worse, one ally resolving a crisis, and another just starting one. There are a lot of moving pieces in this episode.

The episode opens with a DEO team raiding L-Corps’ offices, and finding an out-cold Lena at her desk, and not-so-much-love note from Lex. Alex starts learning the depth of Lex’s connections and betrayals, and gets help for Lena. Supergirl and J’Onn search more directly for Lex, but one of them suffers an unexpected power complication and needs a last minute save. Back at Kara’s apartment, J’Onn and Supergirl talk about what sounds like the history of Durla, the world Legionnaire Chameleon Boy is from.  By the end of it, J’Onn is going to deal with a philosophical matter, and Kara is back on the hunt for Lex.

 

James leaves the hospital, and has a confrontation with sister Kelly about what’s going on with him. James is determined to cover the looming repeal of the Alien Amnesty Act, which he worries is being lost in the noise about Lex’s escape. The Lockwoods are now in Washington, DC, and father Ben is impressing son George with his high-level contacts and meetings. Alarms blare at the DEO offices, as Supergirl arrives to offer refreshments and assistance. In one of her fits of rationality, Colonel Haley splits Alex and Brainy off from the agency’s suddenly-assigned busy work in DC to help the Girl of Steel find Metropolis’ public enemy one. They decide to focus on Eve, but Alex insists on handling their best lead, given recent strains between Supergirl and Lena. Supergirl gives Brainy something he’s been missing, Alex something she borrowed from James, we learn Dreamer is sitting this one out at the Fortress pursing dream-leads, and J’Onn tries some meditation but gets a most unexpected visit.

 

J’Onn’s conversation keeps veering off in unexpected and amusing directions as he tries to make sense of what’s happening. The news blasts non-stop coverage of Lex’s escape, which inspires Lena to check herself out of the hospital and pay a call on her mother. Lillian hurls nasty barbs at her adopted daughter, and Lena finally leaves. Alex pays Lena a visit, and reassures her that not only is Alex not there to arrest her, but wants Lena’s help. Alex summons Supergirl, and they agree to work together. They discuss Eve, and Supergirl makes a joke about “Crazy Lex Girlfriend,” both a decent joke and a nod to another of the CW’s shows. They find a lead to hopefully help them figure out where Eve is hiding.

 

Ben Lockwood gets a lesson in DC politics, and his Children of Liberty threats don’t get him anywhere. One part of the government threatening another isn’t all that unbelievable given current events. J’Onn’s weird side trip continues with him still one step behind his visitor while J’Onn tries to get his bearings. The three musketeers follow up on their lead, and see some of the uses Lena’s work has been put to. After some veiled threats and a lot of denial, they get another lead on Eve’s recent activities. Eve herself is spending time with our heroine’s doppleganger.

 

Kelly pays a call on James at work, and makes some observations he’s not comfortable with, but scores some good points. Supergirl, Lena, and Alex find Eve’s hidden lab, Lena’s Harun-El secret is revealed to the Girl of Steel, and Supergirl gets called on some of her attitude issues. To her credit, Supergirl actually agrees and admits why she’s done some of the things she has, and why she acts the way she does. Her heartfelt admissions make an impression on Lena, and they hopefully make a step towards the friendship they used to have. J’Onn finally loses his cool and comes to an important realization. Lena finds some important clues, they learn what happened to the prototypes before Otis, and it takes the three of them to get out of the mess they’re in, with an entertaining callback to a classic kids’ cereal.

 

The three women return to the DEO, bringing Brainy a gift, although not what he first thought. They make several disturbing connections and discoveries, one of which means Supergirl has unpleasant news for James. J’Onn’s weird visit finally ends, and we see it wasn’t what it seemed like at all. Kara visits James in person for the update. McKenzie, the fledging reporter who mostly seems to serve as a plot point, comes in to say the Alien Amnesty Act has been repealed, and James turns the tvs to cover it. Kara sees a familiar face in the crowd at the press conference.

 

`               Lena goes back to see Lillian, and this time gets the upper hand with some developments that shock even the Luthor matriarch. Supergirl hovers over protests at the White House, while James somehow made the cross-country trip just as fast even without superspeed. Olsen is in the press corps covering things, because big CEO’s go out to cover stories all the time, right? Didn’t we see Cat in the field a lot? No, we didn’t, because the CEO is supposed to run the company. Anyway, Lockwood tries to find out what happened to a foe turned ally, and gets stonewalled. James then tries to talk to Lockwood, who isn’t feeling cooperative. Supergirl thinks Eve has done something stupid which turns out to be pretty damn smart, and the heroine gets a nasty trap sprung on her. While she’s out of action, Snowbird does something that’s going to make Supergirl’s life much, much harder. During the chaos, James finds out how right his sister was, and this seems like it’s the end of Guardian, not that we’ve seen James in costume for quite a while.

 

The press coverage of the debacle in DC isn’t kind, and it looks bad for Supergirl. Alex doesn’t buy it, and apparently the good side of Haley’s coin came up and she doesn’t either. James visits his sister and asks for help. J’Onn does something important to him but the way he does it is amazingly out of character and deprives Supergirl of yet another ally. Alex calls Supergirl, and, echoing Lena’s earlier question for Alex, our hero asks if she’s about to be arrested. Alex and Lena both don’t believe what’s being said about Supergirl and agree to work with her to uncover the truth.

 

What I liked: I’m glad some of the tension between Supergirl and Lena is gone. I never liked that development. Supergirl getting called on her behavior and admitting it was a great touch. J’Onn’s entire subplot was entertaining. Eve’s trap for Supergirl really showed the woman isn’t just some minion, and hopefully Kara knows not to underestimate Eve again.  I was glad Brainy got that present.

What I didn’t: Haley flip flops on so many things, I really am starting to wonder if she has some ritual like Two-Face’s coin to determine what her motivations are each day. J’Onn’s actions at the end of the episode were really out of character. I get pride and wanting to give the man a break, but Kara really needs to call her cousin for help, and maybe pop over to Earth 1 for some backup. Or have Brainy call the Legion. Or something. They seem to have backed away from the idea, but I’m hoping this doesn’t actually mean we don’t see Guardian again, even though I’m pretty sure it does.

 

I found this an uneven episode. The past few have been made better with Jon Cryer’s Lex Luthor, and he didn’t show up this time around. While the extremely unsubtle moralizing that has been getting old this season was absent, this wasn’t their best story. I’ll give it a low 3 out of 5.