Yeah that's pretty much what I meant by holding pattern. You're right that we don't know what his real plot arc is going to be this season. The other Kryptonian may or may not play a part, but at somestage he's going to flip back into full enemy mode, surely?

I do buy his redemption to a certain extent, but I think it's clear that it relies on him actually getting Kara to be open with him--that's not going to happen so I suspect we'll see him slide into nefarious activities again fairly fast.