As if Supergirl didn’t already have enough to deal with in trying to keep the peace between aliens and humans, she has to put up with other people on Earth taking advantage of aliens, too. Viewers will meet one such person in the Oct. 31 episode of Supergirl when Roulette comes to National City and proves that she means business. And by "means business," I mean "is trying to channel the mid-2000s and bring back Fight Club."
TVLine reported that Roulette, played by guest star Dichen Lachman, is the powerful ringleader of a fight-club esque entertainment spectacle in which she puts two aliens together in an arena to fight to the death. Why? Well, mostly so rich and powerful humans can watch it. Apparently, Supergirl and Alex Danvers get wind of this alien fight club after an unknown alien is assassinated, and of course, they dress up in fancy human clothes and go investigate. From the looks of the trailer below, Supergirl is quickly discovered and is then forced by Roulette to fight to the death against this horrific, monstrous creature. My guess is that Supergirl defeats the monster handily, but will she stop Roulette before she is responsible for the death of more innocent aliens?
If you’re thinking that Lachman, who plays Roulette, looks familiar, well, you’re right. The 34-year-old actress is certainly no stranger to the science fiction world. She appeared as Sierra/Priya Tsetsang on Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, Suren on Being Human, Tani Tumrenjack on Last Resort, Anya on The 100, Jiaying on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Jesse on The Last Ship. It’s not really a stretch for Lachman to don that red dress and some snake tattoos to play Roulette — she’s played plenty of badass (and sometimes evil) women before. Still, Lachman’s Instagram shows that she's very excited for this latest role.
Though many of Lachman's previous characters were totally original, Roulette comes from DC Comics where she also went by the name Veronica Sinclair and was known as a big gambler. Though, according to TVLine, Lachman is only slated for one episode in Supergirl Season 2, the comics make me think there's a chance she could pop up again. Roulette is very smart, calculating, and manipulative, so even if her fight club is broken down by Supergirl in the span of one episode, I think she'd figure out a way to start something new.
It's also worth noting that Lachman isn't the first person to play Roulette on TV. Steph Song portrayed the casino owner, under the Veronica alias, in a Season 9 episode of Smallville. She seduced the show's version of Oliver Queen, trapped him in a box, and took $3 billion from him, all as part of a rich person's deadly game of revenge (I sense a theme here, don't you?). Eventually, Oliver escaped and came to a truce with Victoria, as the ordeal was meant to help him rediscover his sense of purpose. However, she returned in a Season 10 episode with much more villainous intentions.
Lachman's Roulette will likely diverge from this story, but one thing I think it may borrow from Smallville is bringing this quick-thinking character back to Supergirl sometime in the future.
Image: Diyah Pera/The CW
