Supergirl (TV Series)

Magical Thinking (2021)

Katie McGrath: Lena Luthor

Photos 

Quotes 

• Kara Danvers : William Dey is going to be embedded at the Tower, covering all of us for CatCo.

  Lena Luthor : A reporter? At the Tower? Are you sure that's such a good idea?

  Alex Danvers : We think that it would be good for the mission. We need the public support. Especially if things continue to spiral with Nxyly.

  J'onn J'onnz : But still, he'll have to work within our parameters. Which means keeping your identity and your connection to us off the record.

  Kelly Olsen : Well... good luck tomorrow.

  Nia Nal : You won't be at the Tower?

  Kelly Olsen : I have a home check with an alien orphan named Esme. I met her at Joey's group home. And she was placed with a foster family last week. Hopefully, she ends up with a family where she can really blossom.

  Alex Danvers : [Kara inexplicably starts laughing]  Why are you laughing?

  [she starts laughing more hysterically] 

  Alex Danvers : Like that?

  Kara Danvers : It's Nxyly. I can sense her and she's... she's really happy.

• Kara Danvers : [surprised to see Alex and their friends in her loft]  What are you guys doing here?

  Alex Danvers : It's game night, remember? We thought that it would cheer you up.

  Kara Danvers : Oh, that's... guys, that's really sweet. I-I... I just figured with Nxyly still out there, we would cancel our plans.

  Kelly Olsen : We all need to relax and decompress. You most of all, Kara.

  Kara Danvers : Yeah, but there's still no sign of Nxyly and she already has one totem.

  Alex Danvers : Brainy is on the Legion ship and he's scanning for Nxyly's ship. So if she or Mitch pop up anywhere, we'll know.

  J'onn J'onnz : Besides, the mental tether you share with Nxyly could be a benefit to us.

  Kara Danvers : Yeah, but I... I can't read her mind. I-I can only sense her extreme emotions. And it's not like a light switch I can just turn on and off. I feel like I'm constantly just waiting for it to happen. I can't think of anything else. We have to find her.

  Lena Luthor : Well, I might have something that can help. My mother's book of spells.

  Kelly Olsen : Have you found anything useful?

  Lena Luthor : Not yet. I'm trying to figure out the underlying scientific logic, but I'm beginning to think magic is mainly just instinct and intuition.

  Nia Nal : Honestly, that sounds a lot like dream interpretation. Maybe I could help you try to sort some of that out?

  Lena Luthor : I'd really like that. Maybe we could start tomorrow.

• Supergirl : J'onn stayed back at the arena to get things under control.

  Dreamer : Sentinel and Guardian did, too.

  Lena Luthor : What happened, exactly?

  Supergirl : Nxyly got ahold of another totem and activated it like it was nothing. And then... and then she used it. And it turned people depraved. Not cold or unfeeling, but they're actually gleeful. They're taking joy in theft and violence and destruction.

  Lena Luthor : Humanity is everything we think of as compassion and empathy. Exactly the things that Nxyly drained from her victims.

  Dreamer : So the humanity totem is probably the one Nxyly got.

  Supergirl : There had to have been at least 10,000 people in the blast radius of the arena. But luckily, it seems to have only affected a couple hundred.

  Dreamer : Patching into the NCPD's CompStat technology, we can track real-time crime incidents represented by the blue dots.

  [seeing their looks] 

  Dreamer : Well, don't look so surprised. I'm smart, too. You guys are just showoffs.

• Supergirl : Nxyly is overwhelmed with feelings. It's almost like all of the humanity she took from her victims had to go somewhere, and now it's going into her.

  Lena Luthor : Wait, you said that Nxyly used the totem immediately. But that would mean that there's no gauntlet. And from all of our research, we know that there's always a gauntlet.

  Dreamer : That could mean that using the totem itself is the gauntlet.

  Supergirl : And we may be able to use that to our advantage.

  William Dey : How?

  Supergirl : By repeating Lena's mistake at the botanical gardens and taking more humanity away from the original people that were affected at the arena in the first place. And in the same way that National City is overrun by chaos right now, if we flood Nxyly with emotions, it might be too much for her to handle. And-and... and it might force her to restore everyone's humanity and get rid of the totem.

  Dreamer : It'd be sure to draw her out. We could capture the totems and Nxyly.

  Supergirl : We can end this today.

  Lena Luthor : Can't do it.

  Supergirl : What?

  Lena Luthor : I won't do it. It's wrong.

  Supergirl : Lena, people need help now. This... this is for the greater good.

  Lena Luthor : For the greater good? Do you hear yourself right now?

  Supergirl : That's not what I meant.

  Dreamer : Um...

  [leading him out to give them privacy] 

  Dreamer : William, have I shown you the kitchen yet? We have a new coffee machine that is literally out of this world. Brainy picked it up from Corvon-4...

• William Dey : I did not come here to report on the Tower's kitchen appliances.

  Alex Danvers : Excuse me?

  William Dey : Why did you even allow me in here if you won't let me report on what's really going on?

  J'onn J'onnz : You agreed to our ground rules.

  William Dey : The situation has changed. The violence in the city is getting worse. You guys have no plan.

  Supergirl : [coming in with Lena]  Yes, we do. Lena is going to amplify the totem's power... so that everyone who was within Nxyly's blast radius at the arena will lose their humanity, too.

  Lena Luthor : We believe that Nxyly is being infused with the compassion that she's drained from her victims. With more people affected, we think she'll get overwhelmed and then use the totem again to restore everyone's humanity.

  Alex Danvers : Okay, but doing so will cause even more chaos and destruction throughout the entire city.

  Supergirl : So, we'll have to spread out and try our best to keep the city safe.

  Alex Danvers : Until when?

  Lena Luthor : Until Nxyly's drawn out.

  J'onn J'onnz : If she comes out. She might not. And the longer people are affected by the totem's power, the less they seem to care about anything. This is a dangerous situation.

• Supergirl : You sure you want to be out in the open to do this?

  Lena Luthor : I've gotta get out of my head, and I can't do that in a lab.

  Supergirl : Okay. We'll keep people from getting hurt when your spell hits them.

• Lena Luthor : [swirling ingredients in a test tube]  Invenire res amissa.

  [the power goes out, then comes back on] 

  Lena Luthor : Was there just an energy spike?

  Dreamer : Let me check.

  [turning to leave, she bumps into a tray, knocking beakers to the floor] 

  Lena Luthor : Dreamer!

  Dreamer : Uh... I can't... I can't tell my lefts from my rights.

  Lena Luthor : Okay, I am so sorry. I will... I will fix this.

  Dreamer : I mean, it's kind of hilarious. Um... it's not permanent?

  Lena Luthor : No, no, no. It... I just must have miscalculated the ingredients. It should wear off in about an hour.

  Supergirl : [coming in]  Any luck with that spell?

  Dreamer : [turning to face a wall behind her]  Not yet. But...

  [realizing her error and turning back around] 

  Dreamer : Lena broke my brain.

• J'onn J'onnz : The chaos is spreading out from the arena to the waterfront.

  Supergirl : Have the satellites picked up anything?

  William Dey : Spy satellites?

  Supergirl : [covering]  We, uh... we borrowed some satellites to track Nxyly's ship.

  J'onn J'onnz : Yeah, that's off the record. And, uh, no, nothing.

  Supergirl : No Nxyly, no totem. We're still at square one.

  Lena Luthor : [coming in]  Maybe not. The seeds we used came from a big-box store. They'd been packaged, processed, and made dull. That's not how they would've been gathered when my mother wrote the spell. We need seeds from the wild. Sheep Laurel is a flowering shrub from the Limestone Barrens of Newfoundland. Here, it would have to be grown under the right conditions.

  J'onn J'onnz : The Botanical Gardens. That's close to the arena. Ground zero for the violence.

  Supergirl : I'll go get you some.

  Lena Luthor : No. I need to come with you. The effective particles are unstable and diminishing in potency. I need to be on site to make the spell work.

  William Dey : I'm coming, too.

  [Supergirl looks at him curiously] 

  William Dey : I was a war correspondent. Closer I am to the action, the better my reporting.

• Lena Luthor : I thought the spell would locate the humanity totem by amplifying its energy signature. But Latin can be interpreted in a lot of ways. I mean, I got it wrong. The spell amplified the energy's potency.

  Supergirl : So the people already affected were made more callous and vicious?

  Lena Luthor : Yes. My spell backfired, and it drained the humanity from more people in the arena, and now those people are running wild in National City, and it... it's my fault. I'm responsible.

  Supergirl : Maybe... maybe you can undo it.

  Lena Luthor : How? I don't even know how the magical abilities I *can* harness will interact with fifth-dimensional energy.

  Supergirl : Maybe there's a-another spell in your mother's book you can try.

  Lena Luthor : You want me to try more magic?

  Supergirl : Nxyly already has two totems. She's probably close to getting a third. Science has gotten us nowhere. Your magic is our only option.

• Supergirl : I can't believe you would not help.

  Lena Luthor : Not if it means losing who we are in the process, because then we're no better than she is.

  Supergirl : I know that you are still processing the fact that you can use magic, and I know that I have been pushing you out of your comfort zone. But that's only because I believe in you, and... I'm... I'm terrified. She makes me feel powerless. Nxyly's magic is unlike anything I've ever faced. I feel like I don't know how to beat her, and if she gets all seven totems, I won't be able to. You can do something I can't. I need your help, Lena.

  Lena Luthor : From everything you've told me about Nxyly, she's more than just her magic. She is cunning and manipulative and cruel. And who does that remind you of?

  Supergirl : [getting her point]  Lex.

  Lena Luthor : You've beat him before, and you will beat Nxyly, too, but not by doing whatever it takes to win. By doing the right thing. My mother hurt people with her magic. Unintentionally, but... she hid the truth of what happened, and that secret destroyed lives.

  Supergirl : I'm so sorry.

  Lena Luthor : Nxyly has caused so much pain. And I don't wanna hurt anybody with my magic or deceit.

  Supergirl : You're right. Mm, you're right. We-we can't cross lines in darkness, however good the reasons.

  Lena Luthor : Secrets are hard to hide in the light of day.

  [getting an idea] 

  Lena Luthor : But maybe... but maybe the light of day is just what we need.

• Supergirl : You find anything in your mom's book?

  Lena Luthor : Uh, yeah, there is this one spell. It's "finding which was lost." Which, if I understand my mother's writings correctly, uses the discharged energy of the humanity totem to track it.

  Dreamer : So, we find the totem, we find Nxyly.

  Supergirl : Like a homing beacon. Lena, this is great. Can you do it?

  Lena Luthor : It's... it's a bit advanced, but we've been readying the lab. And the air within 30 feet of where Nxyly used the totem would have been hyper-ionized. I just need a sample of the particles.

  Dreamer : I'm on it.

  Supergirl : See? Maybe you can find science in the magic after all.

• William Dey : Supergirl brought me up to speed. So, Lena Luthor can do magic.

  Lena Luthor : That's off the record.

  William Dey : Of course. You can trust me.

  Lena Luthor : I'm not sure how accurate that statement is, anyway.

  William Dey : So, what else are you working on?

  Lena Luthor : It's a spell from my mother's book. I'm trying to track the humanity totem's energy, and hopefully, Nxyly as well.

  William Dey : This is your mum's book? Reminds me of a family recipe book.

  Lena Luthor : Yeah, I guess you could call it that. Except I have followed this spell's recipe to a T, I have checked all the directions. I have measured all the ingredients twice, and... all I managed to do was break Dreamer.

  William Dey : Hmm. I remember when I was a kid. Every Sunday, I'd wake up and my dad was already in the kitchen tossing something together. Muffins, scones, the occasional pie. You name it. After he died... I would try to recreate his pastries, but they always came out... off. What I eventually realized was that I was being too technical. I was so focused on the exact measurements, I'd forgotten the ingredients. Berries he'd picked from our garden. The crust he'd make by hand. And he wasn't just baking. He was creating. Put his heart into it. When I stopped comparing my skills to my dad's, and I began to trust myself to make his recipes my way... I finally became the baker I'd always hoped to be. Next time you try one of your mum's spells, put your heart into it. Maybe you'd be surprised at the result.

• Kara Danvers : How's William's article?

  Lena Luthor : Well, it's fantastic. I saw J'onn reading it earlier on, but I couldn't tell if he liked it.

  Kara Danvers : Yeah, he likes to play it close to the vest. But it's out there now. There's no turning back.

  Lena Luthor : I just hope people will understand why we did what we had to do.

  Kara Danvers : Some will. Others will accuse us of abusing our power. But at least we can debate about it in the open.

  Lena Luthor : Yeah. You know, I wanted to thank you for helping me get outside my comfort zone and embrace my magic.

  Kara Danvers : And thank you for reminding me that it's important to have clear boundaries with friends. Potsticker me.

  Lena Luthor : [offering a food container]  Here, take it. I don't wanna use my fingers.

  Kara Danvers : I'm going to.

  Lena Luthor : Oh, that's classy.

  Kara Danvers : Mm-hmm. You know me.

• Lena Luthor : Hard to believe a small piece of wood from the bodhi tree can cause so much chaos.

  Supergirl : Well, now that Nxyly's back to her old self, she'll no doubt be on the hunt for another totem.

  J'onn J'onnz : And now that she's lost the humanity totem, she'll be angrier than ever.

  Alex Danvers : When William publishes his article, everyone in National City's gonna know about her and the totems.

  Dreamer : And that the Super Friends have evened the score.

  Supergirl : It's time we get a head start on Nxyly. Any ideas how?

  Lena Luthor : I still have some of those ionized particles left. They're still active. Each of the totems has the same energy signal, so we could use the particles to track another one. There's just enough left for one, though.

  Alex Danvers : Okay, so, which one do we go after?

  Dreamer : Well, there's the Dream totem. Sounds like something I might be able to help with.

• William Dey : Lena, you were against this plan before. What changed?

  Lena Luthor : You. You have to write about what's going on here, so people can't accuse us of operating in secret.

  Supergirl : The time has come for full transparency. By shining a light on our actions, the people will be able to make up their own opinions about our methods.

  William Dey : If I agree to this, I tell the story my way. Nxyly's identification, her search for the totems, and the role of magic in all this. Those are *my* ground rules.

  J'onn J'onnz : All right, tell your story. I'll set the computers to search for Nxyly's ship and alert us if she, uh, shows up. I hope this works.

  Supergirl : You wanted closer to the action, you got it.