The CW has released the official synopsis for “Reality Bytes,” the March 15 episode of Supergirl. In the episode, a terorrist targeting Dreamer for being transgender attacks her roommate, who is seriously injured. Supergirl and her allies rally behind her, while the DEO work on rescuing a man who is trapped inside of a virtual reality escape room. The Dreamer plot sounds a bit like a famous Green Lantern story written by Judd Winnick, in which Kyle Rayner’s assistant Terry and his boyfriend were viciously attacked for being gay. It allowed fans to view the issues from the perspective of somebody who they cared about, without making it the central focus of the comic (as it would be if the victim were Kyle).
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While Nicole Maines (who plays Nia Nal) is transgender in real life, the downside of anti-LGBT sentiment has not played a big part in her story up to this point.
“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 it out below.
“Reality Bytes” — (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET) (TV-14, LV) (HDTV)
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 Batgirl on The CW. “Reality Bytes” will debut on March 15.
