Last episode, Dreamer and Brainiac 5 went back in time to hunt up some Kryptonian DNA to power a scanner to find the lost Supergirl in the fractured Phantom Zone (yes, that sentence was complicated. That’s where we are now). The show ended with Brainy and Dreamer getting trapped by alien zookeepers (really) while trying to preserve the timeline as a nosy Cat Grant is coming close to uncovering Kara’s secret far too early. The two time traveling heroes have a host of problems to try and solve in part two of their trip, “Prom Again!”

The show did a great job of casting the younger versions of Kara and Alex, who play major parts in the two episodes. It was also directed by Chyler Leigh, who plays the modern-day version of Alex. The only regular cast members in the episode are Brainy and Dreamer, which is an odd choice to make in the show’s final season. It also felt a bit like they were padding out the end of the show.

In the past, where this entire episode takes place, young Kara hears her new friends in trouble and races off to the rescue. As she battles the other aliens, somehow Kenny and Alex, with no powers, arrive right behind her, and Cat Grant gets a lot of footage via rented drone. One interesting thing that cropped up in the battle was that Kenny and Kara have done this so much they have their own code phrases and maneuvers. Later, Kenny shows Kara the new base of operations he’s set up for them to use after they both gradate. Kara is once again trying to figure out how to tell Kenny she has other plans for college, and not finding the words. Alex apologizes for being grumpy, and then ducks out to deal with a phone call from Eliza, their mother, who only “appears” off screen over the course of this adventure. Brainy spins a reassuring story for Kenny and Kara, and then lets Nia in on his real plan, which takes the evil aliens out of the picture and helps keep the timeline on track. Nia gets another worryingly vague premonition that she can’t puzzle out.

Gearing up for the big titular event, Alex drops Kara off at the high school, which raises a lot of questions. Where’s Eliza? Does Kara not have a license as a high school senior? Is this when their dad is missing believed dead, or did Crisis shift that, too? At any rate, the sisters have a good talk and Alex opens up about some of the things that have been bothering her. As they both go about their planned evenings (when did Alex become a photographer among her other myriad skills and talents?), Nia and Brainy have a dance and a talk and get ready for what they think is the end of their mission. But considering the show isn’t even half over…

In the grand tradition of pesky journalists on action shows, Cat goes poking around where she shouldn’t and manages to set a lot of bad things in motion, never once seeming to realize she’s both in danger and over her head. Now freed, the aliens make new plans to cause problems for our assorted heroes. Kara finds Kenny at the high school, and they have a talk about being normal as they exchange flowers for the big dance. The tender moment gets interrupted by the forecast meteor shower that brought Nia and Brainy back here in the first place, and, right on schedule, Kara has her first run-in with Kryptonite. While Alex tends to Kara and Brainy and Nia reveal they’re still here after all, Kenny runs outside and does something heroic to buy time for our heroes.

Kenny’s distraction doesn’t last long, and turns into something the aliens are going to use against Kara fairly quickly. The others play hide and seek with a rather odd teacher and then start arguing about what to do next. Kara’s bravado runs full tilt into Nia’s experience and power, and the wounded Kryptonian goes down for the count and Nia and Brainy tell Alex and Kara to stay put. The unflappable Cat narrates a story into her Blackberry and then gets joined in her cell by the captured Kenny. Cat does her own spin on a morale speech, mixing general encouragement and a bit of egotism/self-interest. Kara and Alex talk more and then, after some surprising skills from Alex that make me wonder exactly what she’s doing at collage, Kara gets much better and flies off to the rescue.

Our two time travelers track the alien ship and Nia has more weird visions that aren’t making a lot of sense. As the aliens menace our heroes, Nia’s powers go in new and utterly unexpected directions, even surprising Brainy. While Nia is notionally based on Legionnaire Dream Girl, the two have less and less in common all the time. Things build to a head with Cat’s demands, Kara’s arrival, and a few mishaps in the fight against the aliens. Nia comes up with a desperate plan that Brainy is absolutely against, but he doesn’t have a better one. They try it as Kara does something rash.

We’re not quite in time loop territory, but they do jump back a few hours to try and stop everything from going off the rails. This risky idea gets even more complicated when it turns out they have a stowaway. With a bit of misdirection, they embark on a new scheme, with Brainy playing distraction and Nia blasting away a minor problem. Nia then has a very unplanned meeting and probably affects the future, but only in terms of the way things were supposed to happen anyway. Evidently they managed to get everything lined up right, as everyone disappears and ends up back roughly where they were before the latest wrinkle in the chaos. As our heroes worry if they fixed everything, we see Cat taking the first steps toward becoming the woman we got to meet for season one (and I still miss on the show).

In a sort of replay of what we saw before, Kara goes to deal with a wayward meteor, gets injured, crashes into the school gym, and is cared for by Kenny and Alex. Kara finally manages to have her heart to heart with Kenny about the future, and they both handle it remarkably maturely, especially for high school kids. Brainy and Nia reflect on their mission and things they’ve learned. Brainy offers a lot of encouragement to Nia about the leaps forwards she’s made with her powers, and he reflects on some emotional growth of his, and then they go back to the future, sadly without a DeLorean.

What I liked: The casting on young Alex and Kara was astounding. The actress who played young Cat was good, but with less of the immediate resemblance. I’ve found myself enjoying Brainy and Nia’s relationship a lot more than I thought I would, and it was nice to see them together. Alex admitting what was bothering her was nice, and it was good seeing the bond between Kara and Alex.

What I didn’t: I’m not sure why Eliza was banished off screen. The aliens were a bit madcap and odd for the show. What I’m most curious about now is what happened to Kenny. If he was this much a part of the superhero world, what’s he been up to? I get that people lose touch, especially between high school and college, but I don’t see him settling for the normal life and running the family store. Where is he?

These were two decent episodes, but they felt like filler to an extent. They were essentially an extended scavenger hunt to find one thing so we can get back to the main story of the season.

I’ll give this a 3 out of 5, and hope they bring back adult Kenny before things wind down.