Supergirl Name-Drops the Anti-Life Equation in "The Bottle Episode"

"Crisis on Infinite Earths" has officially come and gone in the Arrowverse, and each of its solo shows are feeling the impact in a pretty major way. Supergirl has certainly been no exception, thanks to the show's entire world being folded into the new Earth prime. This week's installment dealt with the aftermath of "Crisis" from a very specific angle, thanks to an ever-growing set of doppelgangers tied to Brainiac-5 (Jesse Rath). If that plot twist wasn't enough, it relied on a pretty integral - and surprising - part of DC Comics lore. Spoilers for this week's episode of Supergirl, "The Bottle Episode", below! Only look if you want to know!

The episode saw Earth-Prime's Brainiac-5 accidentally run into another Brainiac-5 while picking up a breakfast order, which led to confusion when they both tried to arrest each other for the DEO. When they arrived, they were accosted by several other Brainys - an Emo Brainy, a female Brainy, and a Brainy with an eye patch, who proclaimed not to "open the bottle" before disappearing into dust.

As the Brainys soon realized, they were all sent through a wormhole at Al's Bar as the Crisis was happening, and were all being killed off one-by-one thanks to the Anti-Life Equation.

Yes, you read that right.

Later on in the episode, Emo Brainy snuck into the DEO archives to grab a bottled version of his own universe, which Nia Nal/Dreamer (Nicole Maines) tried to stop him from opening. The other Brainys found out about this, and tried to find a way to stop Emo Brainy from making it happen.

In the comics, the Anti-Life Equation is sought after by Darkseid, as a way to gain total control over all sentient races. The equation is largely associated with proving that existence is futile, sending the person's brain to shock. The Equation plays a pivotal role in quite a lot of DC Comics storylines, namely in Final Crisis.

Could this mean that, even though the metaphorical body is barely dead on "Crisis on Infinite Earths", Darkseid and the Final Crisis could be lurking in the shadows? At this point, it's way too early to tell. But either way, it provides an interesting homage to how much of the DC Universe is still out there in a post-Crisis world.

What do you think of Supergirl mentioning the Anti-Life Equation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Supergirl airs Sundays at 9/8c on The CW.