The CW has released photos for "Reality Bytes", the upcoming Sunday, March 15 episode of Supergirl. Last season on the Arrowverse series saw Kara Danvers/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) targeted by anti-alien extremists, but this episode will see a different sort of hate targeted at one of National City's heroes when a terrorist targets Nia Nal/Dreamer (Nicole Maines) for being transgender, prompting her to protect her community even if that means putting herself in the line of fire.
"Reality Bytes" is also not the first episode of Supergirl to deal with Nia's trans identity. Episodes in Season 4 explored not only Nia's relationship with her family -- particularly her sister -- in the context of her as a transwoman but also directly with Dreamer's identity, but also as her status as an American alien who also happens to be trans in an effort to show the people of National City that they were more alike than they were different no matter what their identity.
"Nia's transness is a big part of her identity," Maines explained shortly after she was cast. "I think for all trans people, it's not our only defining feature but it is a defining feature, so it's a big part of I know who I am and who Nia is, so it would be inappropriate to completely ignore that. But like I said, it is not the only part of her identity. Not every episode or every Nia storyline is focusing on her transness, which I like, but we do have episodes coming up where her transness plays a big part. And her transness plays a really big part in her powers and how her powers manifest and her relationship with her family."
You can check out the synopsis for "Reality Bytes" below and read on for photos from the episode.
DREAMER STEPS UP TO PROTECT HER COMMUNITY AFTER HER ROOMMATE IS VICIOUSLY ATTACKED – Nia's (Nicole Maines) roommate, Yvette (guest star Roxy Wood), is attacked by a man targeting Dreamer because he doesn't like that Dreamer is transgender and wants her to quit being a superhero. Determined to protect her community from additional harm, Dreamer refuses to give into his threats and puts herself in the line of fire to stop him. Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) stands by Dreamer and enlists additional help from Brainy (Jesse Rath). Meanwhile, Alex (Chyler Leigh), J'onn (David Harewood) and Kelly (Azie Tesfai) attempt to rescue a man stuck inside a virtual reality escape room. Armen V. Kevorkian directed the episode written by Dana Horgan & Jay Faerber .
Supergirl airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday nights, following episodes of Batwoman on The CW. "Reality Bytes" will debut on March 15.