Supergirl doesn’t return until October, so that gives us plenty of time to reflect on the past season and pick the 5 things what we want most from season 3.
Supergirl doesn’t return until October but thanks to the otherwise lame way things went in season 2, season 3’s going to have to work hard to earn our trust back. We started off pretty strong in season 1, which laid the groundwork for what we can expect from this modern female superhero show. But for the most part, The CW did away with some of CBS’s strongest seeds and pretty much burned the crops.
We stuck through it though, because we believe in Kara Danvers and want Supergirl to keep going. When it comes to nerd culture, superheroes take up a lot of space, and better representation for female superheroes is long overdue. On the big screen, Wonder Woman‘s doing a lot of heavy lifting, but on television, we look to Supergirl. In order to return to the glory days of yore and elevate the series to an even remotely comparable level to Wonder Woman, The CW needs to clean up its act and return to basics.
So while we may not be in the Supergirl‘s writer’s room, there are 5 specific things we want to see in Supergirl season 3. Here they are:
Supergirl — “Nevertheless, She Persisted” — SPG222b_0059.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant and Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl — Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW — © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Let Kara Danvers grow at her own pace
In the first season, Kara Danvers had a lot to deal with. She decided to follow in her cousin’s footsteps and become Supergirl, which meant she needed to make peace with Krypton’s history and the choices her parents made. She struggled with a lot, including work, romance and her relationship with her sister, Alex Danvers. And though she had a lot on her plate, Kara handled things organically and at her own pace. She made her own decisions, learned her own lessons. She grew close to her Alura despite her aunt’s plot to take over Earth and dealt with each loss as they came.
Most of that development came to a screeching halt in season 2 when Kara’s unnecessary romance with an even more unnecessary character took the spotlight. So in season 3, now that said love interest is gone, it’s time to get back to Kara again. Make her multi-dimensional again. Let her be happy, let her be angry, whatever, but if I have to watch her hold anyone else’s hand to boost their ego when everyone else should be catering to her, I’m going to revolt.
Supergirl — “Resist” — SPG221a_0435.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Katie McGrath as Lena Luthor and Brenda Strong as Lillian Luthor — Photo: Robert Falconer/The CW — © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved
More Luthors / Strengthen the secondary characters
Alternatively, this would easily just be “More Katie please,” but since she’s already a series regular in season 3, it’s a matter of spending our Lena Luthor time wisely. We do want to see her contentious relationship with Lillian carry over, but we don’t want to see her being manipulated by any other parental figures. Surprisingly, Lillian made some interesting moves in the last two episodes of season 2. Further, her exchanges with Supergirl left us wondering exactly what she expects to happen when her daughter finds out about Kara’s secret. Like, I’m pretty sure Lillian’s got a bucket of popcorn and a front row seat to the angst. And when she’s not doing that, she still leads Cadmus and she still has Jeremiah Danvers …
And speaking of Jeremiah, there are plenty of people who aren’t Kara Danvers who deserve fleshed out arcs on this show. I mean, I guess they tried to give Winn more to do, but then they made Lyra a thing, so that pretty much wrecked it all. As sad as it was, they were more on track with Winn’s PTSD. Since he’s such a funny and lovable character, exploring any lingering trauma would feel that much more weighted.
Supergirl — “Alex” — SPG219a_0153.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Floriana Lima as Maggie Sawyer and Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW — © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Don’t let Alex settle
That LGBT storyline isn’t over yet and needs more than two minutes of screen time.
Floriana Lima won’t be a series regular, but this is Alex’s story anyway. See, just because she came out of the closet and her family and co-workers all felt hunky-dory about it doesn’t mean the journey’s over. If anything, Alex has a much more difficult reality to face in that Maggie Sawyer may not be the one for her. While I can acknowledge how difficult Alex’s life tends to be on the regular, there are more conversations to be had. Chyler Leigh did a great job in those first couple of episodes, for sure, but the work doesn’t end there. The CW’s responsibility goes beyond that. And in order to be fair to the audience, they need to revisit that conversation for more than thirty seconds at a time.
Relationships are hard, period. However, Alex and Maggie’s seems to be rooted in queerbaiting and half-hearted pandering than the actual desire to give a voice to the community. The CW gave more time to a toxic heterosexual couple than a semi-healthy one with so much left to explore that it seems like a big waste of time. Luckily, they can course correct still.
Reign vs Supergirl. Image Courtesy of DC Comics.
A compelling storyline for the villain Reign
Supergirl cast Odette Annable as the villain Reign fairly quickly after the season 2 finale aired. Which means, they’ve been working on that for a while, they probably already have an idea where they want to go with the character and they trust Annable to be the perfect vehicle for that.
And so do we because Annable’s a dynamic actress. However, she needs a juicy storyline that transcends her character’s desire to destroy the world and/or Supergirl. First, she was created in a lab, and second, she doesn’t necessarily have a one-track mind in the comics. She dialogues with Supergirl, and like Kara, Reign struggled to come to terms with what happened on Krypton. Since they have quite a lot in common, it makes more sense within the context of the show to explore Reign’s morality than to watch her pummel things. Looking for answer’s is a more sympathetic motive than wanting your lousy son back. Sorry, Rhea.
Supergirl — “Nevertheless, She Persisted” — SPG222b_0497.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen/Guardian and Calista Flockhart as Cat Grant — Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW — © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Get a real boss and ally at Cat Co.
It’s fine if Calista Flockhart doesn’t want to shoot in Vancouver, but we need someone worthy to fill her seat. No offense, James, but you’re a photographer and you have no business sitting in Cat’s seat, especially if you’re also trying to be Guardian. With Space Dad J’onn J’onnz doing such a great job at the DEO and Snapper Carr doing such a terrible job at simply existing, we need someone in between that can give Kara Danvers, Ace Reporter the push she needs while also being a firm, guiding hand. Supergirl randomly made Kara a reporter in season 2, then gave her nobody interesting to report her reports to. She needs an ally at Cat Co. again and not a mentor who likes to kick her when she’s down.
One really good, effective, and multi-dimensional boss can take on the roles of Snapper the so-called mentor, Jimmy who knows Kara’s secret and can help with stuff, Lucy the female helper who supports both Kara and Supergirl, and Eliza the mother figure. If you have too many characters to manage, Supergirl, feel free to consolidate.
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So what do you want to see in the next season of Supergirl? Let us know in the comments below!