The Girl of Steel Didn't Disappoint, But (Almost) Everyone Around Her Did

After a heartbreaking finale and a frustratingly long hiatus, Supergirl finally returned to our screens on Monday night. I had reasonable expectations for the season 3 premiere, some of which were met and some of which were not, leaving me with mixed feelings and the overwhelming urge to write this very long, in-depth analysis. Before I jump in, I do want to make it clear that I'm not a theorist and I have limited comic book knowledge so I can't provide riveting theories regarding some of the Easter eggs that are thrown into this show, but I can hopefully provide an interesting analysis of what has already happened and ask questions that will get you thinking. So grab a cup of coffee or tea and make yourself comfortable!

The shots of the opening scene in the field were absolutely stunning, much like the effortless chemistry between Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood. I found several things interesting from just these first few seconds. First, the fact that Kara was walking along a path set through the middle of a field leads me to believe that there is a possible destination, even if it's a metaphorical one. You don't make a path for it to lead to nowhere. But perhaps the more important question is, did she know where she was? As the audience, many of us probably caught the faded image of Saturn in the sky above. But did Kara see it and understand the significance? Most likely not, but as we find out later in the episode during her conversation with J'onn, this had been a recurring dream for her over the past six months. I'm going to make an educated guess and say that we might see this dream again in the future, but next time Kara will start to piece more of these answers together.

Anyone that watched the promo knew that Mon-El was going to show up in Kara's dream. However, what the promo didn't show was the slight look of confusion and then amazement that crossed Kara's face when she realized that Mon-El was there, as if she wasn't expecting him. On the other hand, the look on Mon-El's face can only be described as pure contentment throughout the entire scene, even when Kara's mother, Alura, showed up on the path ahead and Kara once again looked confused and amazed. It's difficult to say yet whether this has any significance because it was Kara's dream, not Mon-El's, therefore the focus was on Kara's thoughts, feelings, and expressions. On another note, I was pleasantly surprised at what a natural Erica Durance is already as Alura, and I truly look forward to more of her scenes with Melissa this season.

Overall, this scene was a great way to start the episode. The only ways in which it slightly let me down were the lack of dialogue and the background music. Considering the internal struggle Kara is going through, getting some encouraging words from the two most important people she's lost would have meant a lot to her, just as we saw throughout season 1 and 2 how much she treasured their encouragement. The lack of dialogue coupled with the not-terrible-but-not-great-either music made the scene fall just slightly flat for me. I think something even as simple as Kara whispering "Mom?" when she saw Alura would have given a more natural feel to the scene and made it more emotional.

As with all dreams, daydreams or otherwise, they come to an end and we quickly saw that Kara was in fact hovering in the night sky, eyes closed. Unfortunately, it was once she heard sirens and took off that the episode became increasingly messy, to say the least. I was disappointed to see that Alex's comment to Maggie about date night was removed, as from a logical standpoint, it would have explained to the casual viewer who hadn't seen previous promos why Alex was in a cop car with Maggie chasing down a semi at night. Random question: what exactly was Alex shooting at?

Of course, Supergirl swoops in and saves the day just in time and throws Bloodsport 100 yards onto the roof of an SUV. It's confirmed a bit later that he is indeed human, which makes the fact that he got up and walked away with no injury laughable. It also doesn't make sense that Supergirl threw him off of the semi in the first place when she could have easily incapacitated him right there with one hand and still stopped the semi with the other. It seems like a minor detail but it once again annoyingly highlights how the show is too often driven by plot rather than the characters.

One minute later, the award for Worst Line of the Episode was given to the nameless boy whom Supergirl had just saved from becoming pulverized by the incoming semi. I seriously hope that that actor wasn't paid very much because that "Supergirl, you're the best!" line was the most cringe-worthy thing I've heard in a long time and it was wholly unnecessary. Kara's stony face in conjunction with her flying away almost immediately would have been enough to get the message across, honestly.

My first thought when Kara walked into the DEO afterwards and started talking to Winn was, does Winn get paid double for overtime? He's seemingly the only DEO employee besides Alex that Kara ever works with, and it doesn't matter if it's the middle of the night, Winn is always there. But logical questions aside, Jeremy Jordan is so terribly underused on Supergirl, it's truly a tragedy. Sometimes I'm surprised he's still a regular because it hasn't felt like it in a while. It's long past time that he's given a good storyline, not like that sad excuse for a relationship with Lyra in season 2.

I was disappointed to see Alex and Winn not being very supportive of Kara, but I was happy that at least J'onn expressed sympathy. His line of "grief doesn't have a deadline" should have served as a gentle reminder to them that everyone has a right to grieve in their own way and you can't rush the process. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to stick to either of them, Alex in particular.

Let's take a short break from Kara and talk about Morgan Edge. In order to understand why I already love him so much, you have to understand that I loved Maxwell Lord in season 1 and if I had the choice, I would bring him back faster than you can blink. But that isn't possible so fortunately, Morgan Edge has many of the same qualities as Max did, except with more of ruthless streak, which I'm sure is going to be fun to see. Right off the bat, he was suave and cool, easily slipping back and forth between his various facades of good guy, cunning business man, and downright evil dude. While Max kept me on the brink of good versus evil, often making me question whether he was actually a "bad guy", Morgan has me wondering to what evil lengths he will actually go to see his plans fulfilled. There were times when Max truly had good intentions, even if they didn't manifest in the best way possible. But with Morgan, we already know he doesn't have any good intentions, even if that's how they appear. It's all a facade to appeal to people to sway them. And he knows just the right buttons to push to get under someone's skin, as we saw with his remarks towards a certain Luthor. His transition back and forth from nice guy to cunning businessman was done so strategically and seamlessly, it was a delight to watch Adrian Pasdar pull that off so well.

Of course, I can't talk about Morgan Edge without talking about two other characters: Lena and James. In this particular scene, however, they were heavily overshadowed by Morgan which I partially think was the point. James' attempt to ooze Cat Grant-like confidence as acting CEO fell flat when Morgan pointed out his bias, and I honestly struggle to remember anything Lena said in this scene because I was cringing too hard at Katie's attempt at an American accent. Or should I say, lack of attempt? It was embarrassingly bad to say the least.

Regarding James, I will say that it's nice to see him finally dressing like he's the acting CEO of National City's largest media company. I will forever be scarred with the memory last season of him in Cat's office wearing a bro tank and turning the office into his own personal gym. Sadly, that's the only good thing I can say about him for this episode. Very little of what he did made remotely any sense. As it turns out he tasked Kara with the assignment to get an exclusive interview with Supergirl regarding the Daxamite invasion before the upcoming Supergirl statue dedication ceremony. Humor me for 45 seconds as I explain my confusion. First, it's been six months since the invasion...why would CatCo just now be reporting about it? Secondly, James knew exactly the aftermath of the invasion, yet he didn't understand how writing the article would bring up unwanted memories for Kara? He claimed that he was on Kara's side, but his actions told me otherwise.

On top of all of this, somehow James didn't even know that Morgan was planning on buying CatCo. Now, I'm no CEO, but I'm fairly certain that a CEO should be aware of what's happening with their company at all times, no? The saddest part of all of this is that frankly, James' character has done nothing but annoy me since the moment he was introduced in season 1, from acting cocky for no reason to emotionally cheating on Lucy to becoming Guardian to inflate his own ego. I'm happy to see that at least for now, the Guardian storyline is being put on the back burner, but the writers are going to have to work a lot harder if they want to make me actually care about James.

There continued to be no shortage of plot holes throughout the episode, and we were given several more when Kara went to see Lena regarding Morgan's plans to buy CatCo. I found this amusing because yes, Kara and Lena are friends, but why exactly did Kara Danvers The Reporter go to discuss official company business with Lena when it should've been James Olsen The CEO? And why exactly did Lena just now apologize to Kara about her involvement in getting Mon-El sent away...after six months? And if Lena knows that Mike was actually Mon-El, how does she still not know that Kara is Supergirl? So many questions! Sadly, the only conclusion I can make is that the storylines on this show continue to be plot driven instead of character driven, to the point where they literally make no sense.

Meanwhile, the DEO gang plus Maggie convened at the bar, and I was soon face palming myself in disappointment once again. Both Winn and Alex remarked about giving Kara "space" and even J'onn added that, "As frustrating as this is, we're not the ones who lost someone. Patience is the least we can offer her." I'm not even quite sure how to best express my frustration with just those few seconds of the scene. Let's put it this way: Alex and Winn sounded exactly like a frustrated boyfriend who's girlfriend told him a week ago that they should take a break from their relationship because she needs some time to think. Let that sink in for a moment.

Kara isn't going through some rocky teenage relationship drama. She suffered an immense loss, one that triggered a lot of emotions that she'd buried deep beneath a sunny personality for years. She doesn't need space. She needs support. And clearly, those closest to her have failed her immensely by not providing that support for the last six months. As her best friends, Winn and Alex should have been supportive and understanding towards Kara and they did not act that way at all.

I was only disappointed further at J'onn's remark of "we're not the ones who lost someone." It was the single moment during the entire premiere in which he disappointed me. That particular line absolutely crushed me because it completely disregarded the fact that Mon-El hadn't been just Kara's boyfriend. Mon-El was Winn's friend too. Alex had given Mon-El advice and encouraged Kara to take a chance with him. And according to J'onn in 2x17, Mon-El was part of their family. So tell me again, how is Kara the only one who lost someone? Of course, Mon-El meant the most to her but he also meant something to everyone else, and it's frustrating that the writers chose to throw that fact out the window. No doubt, it was done to emphasize the dramatic effect of Kara truly being alone in her pain, but it's poor writing when you completely disregard character relationships in order to force a certain plot point.

My disappointment was close to reaching record proportions in the next Kara and James scene. After hearing the emergency signal coming from James' watch, Kara left the military base in a hurry and flew straight to CatCo. Now, it's important to note that this happened in the evening (it was already dark outside) and that James conveniently forgot how to call or text, opting instead to use the emergency signal on his watch to get Kara to come to CatCo, only to tell her that she forgot to get her article in on time. When Kara became mad at James, and rightfully so, he tried to excuse his blatant misuse of power because "it felt like an emergency." I immediately thought back to 1x03 when James first misused this power when he called Superman during Kara's fight with Reactron and I have to wonder why James still has this capability when he obviously doesn't know how to handle it. Winn doesn't have a special watch. Alex doesn't have a special watch. So why does James when all he's ever done is misuse it? Sure, the first time it saved Kara's life. I'm not denying that. I'm more concerned with the fact that a thirty-something CEO needs a lesson in what is ethical and appropriate workplace behavior.

You also have to realize that Kara is currently subconsciously trying to bury her abandonment issues and not deal with the feeling that she loses everyone that she gets close to. Imagine the internal moment of panic she must've had when she heard that emergency signal coming from James...that after everything she'd already been through, it was possible that she was going to lose someone else...again. James may have had a point about Kara needing to do her job - after all, she had assured him earlier that day that she would get the article done - but as always, he went about it in the worst possible way, which left me hardly surprised when a fed up Kara announced she was quitting.

This next part is where my disappointment truly reached and exceeded record proportions. After she found out from James that Kara had quit her job, Alex came over and proceeded to go off on Kara, even after Kara calmly explained that CatCo just didn't feel important to her anymore. But before I get into the real reason why this scene disappointed me so much, I want to break down a few of the things Kara said.

"Kara Danvers sucks right now! Supergirl is great. Supergirl saved the world. So if I could choose to be her then why would I ever choose to be the sad girl who's boyfriend is gone. I don't like that girl."

This is completely the reaction that I expected and is normal for Kara to have. My only wish is that the writers would have made more of an effort to address her abandonment issues as well, even if only in a subtle way. Everyone processes grief in different ways and with Kara, her grief also triggered those long-buried abandonment issues. The emotion that losing Mon-El evoked in Kara was a culmination of everything she'd lost and it came like a slap in the face, considering that the theme of season two was if Kara could really have it all. In 2x12, Kara had gotten to a place where she thought she could. Despite losing her world and biological family when she was young, she buried her sadness and anger inside and chose instead to make a new life for herself on Earth with the Danvers. She finally embraced her powers and become Supergirl, she figured out what job she wanted and overall, grew and matured as woman, while also navigating her new relationship with Mon-El that turned out to be what she never expected but everything she wanted.

However, Mon-El had to leave Earth in the finale to escape lead poisoning, and she had to send him off. And just like that, the realization that she could never have it all dealt a crippling blow to Kara's carefully crafted life, shattering the glass case that had hid away all of the frustration, sadness, and anger regarding her past. But instead of finally dealing with those emotions, Kara chose instead to push them down even further and build a steel barricade around them this time. Breaking news: this is completely normal! No one wants to let themselves be vulnerable when they're in pain. This basic coping mechanism is nothing new or unique to Kara, as some variation of this has been done by individuals both fictional and otherwise for centuries because everyone experiences pain and sorrow at some point. Kara is not wrong for choosing to cope in this way. In fact, as she points out to Alex, she could have chosen a different, much more harmful way to cope.

"If it were Maggie, what would you be doing? You'd be at the bar every night. You'd be a wreck at work. You'd be broken."

In response to those that say Kara was too harsh for picking on Alex's vulnerability, I say that Alex asked for it. And I don't mean that in a snarky way at all. Think back to a few moments before this when Alex said, "Then tell me what it feels like. Please, let me help, let me help you get over him."

When Kara brought Maggie up she was literally asking Alex to put herself in Kara's shoes in an attempt to get her to understand the pain she was experiencing inside. And thanks to Melissa's incredible acting, for a split second during this entire exchange, you could see a crack in Kara's steel barricade before it was quickly masked by a cold disposition.

"I'm not. That's what humans do. And I'm better than that. Clark said it himself. The decision I made, he couldn't have made that sacrifice. But me, I couldn't have lived with myself if I hadn't. I will always make the decision I made. I am not a human. I tried to be but I'm not. Kara Danvers was a mistake."

Yes, Supergirl is indeed better than humans. She needs to be. Humans need Supergirl to be better than them so that they have someone to look up to when everything looks bleak, to give them hope, and to make the unselfish decisions for the greater good that they can't. There was nothing wrong with Kara saying that because she was referring to herself in the identity of Supergirl since that is currently the only identity she's claiming.

Although I wanted more in regards to the writing for Kara in this scene, Melissa's acting was phenomenal and delivered in all the right ways. Unfortunately, while Chyler Leigh also performed well, I found it difficult to enjoy her role in this scene due to the absolutely disastrous writing for Alex.

"I'm done walking on eggshells. I've kept my distance. I've given you time to grieve without prodding or making you talk about Mon-El, without forcing you to go to game nights or the bar...I've let it slide. Your pity party has gone uninterrupted."

While Alex's words and actions left me cringing even up to this point in the episode, this particular moment left me literally staring at my screen in shock and disgust. The Alex Danvers that I saw in this episode was not the Alex Danvers I know and love. In fact, that Alex Danvers has been missing for a while. If you're confused right now, let me explain where I'm coming from. In regards to the matter of "giving Kara space" I discussed my issue with this earlier so I won't get too much into the first bit of this quote. Besides, it's the second half that really left a bad taste in my mouth, starting from the words "forcing you".

You see, Kara is a grown woman capable of making her own decisions on how she wants to live her life. She didn't detach herself entirely from the world and just spend six months laying around in her apartment crying. She didn't stop being Supergirl either, which would've let criminals run rampant in the city. Truth is, she is very much still functional. She went to work, ate, slept, and saved dozens and dozens of people over the course of six months. Her style of life may have changed but it seems absolutely ridiculous for me to have to say that Kara should not be "forced" to do anything she doesn't want to, even by her sister.

However, what shocked and disgusted me the most was the last line, not just because it was unnecessarily cruel, but because of what it meant. It meant that Alex, or perhaps I should say, this version of Alex, truly likened Kara losing Mon-El to a silly teenage breakup, one which she thought Kara should stop having a "pity party" over. It meant that this version of Alex didn't understand at all that this wasn't just about losing Mon-El, but about losing again. It meant that this version of Alex stood by for six months and did nothing even as her sister exhibited multiple signs of depression.

That is not the Alex I know and love. The Alex I know would understand that Mon-El wasn't just a teenage fling. The Alex I know would understand that Kara's pain stemmed from her abandonment issues. The Alex I know would never have stood by for six months in frustration, while her sister suffered in silence. Perhaps you wonder how I am so sure of this. Take a moment to read this excerpt.

"Life isn't perfect. I know it can be hard and it can be lonely. Especially for you. You have sacrificed and you have lost so much. I wish you could've had a life with your family. But even if you did, Kara, it wouldn't be this. Because this isn't real. And deep down, Kara, deep down, you know it. I can't promise you a life without pain and loss because pain is a part of life. It's what makes us who we are. It's what makes you a hero. You fight every day to keep people from struggling like you have. I know you can remember, please...if you try. Please, please try, Kara. Because Earth needs Supergirl. Yes, remember that life. With James and Winn and Hank. Your friends need you. And I need my sister! Kara, I can't choose this for you. You have to choose it yourself. Please come back to us, Kara. Please."

You may recognize this as the monologue a desperate Alex gave to Kara when trying to save her from the Black Mercy in 1x13. What matters here is not the context of the situation that Kara was in, but the level of understanding that Alex displayed. That Alex understood Kara's sacrifice and loss, as much as one can without experiencing it themselves. That Alex would have understood that Mon-El was so much more than just a boyfriend for Kara - he was a link to her past and to a sense of normalcy. That Alex would have known how to support and reach Kara even in her darkest moments, without sitting around for six months only to break the silence with cruel and flippant words. Suffice to say, I miss that Alex. My suggestion is not to never make Kara and Alex argue, because that would be unrealistic. But their individual character personality and development should never, ever again be disregarded in such a way as was Alex Danvers' in this scene.

Thankfully, after that thoroughly disheartening scene, I was treated to what became my favorite scene of the episode. It was almost everything I wanted, with only one tiny exception. J'onn reached out to Kara in such a beautiful and gentle way, reminding her that she wasn't broken and that an aching and scarred heart still carried precious value. He let himself be vulnerable with Kara and it was enough to chip away at her steel barricade for a minute and she confessed that she'd been dreaming of her mom and Mon-El for the past couple of months. This entire scene didn't last more than two minutes, but it was the best two minutes of the episode for me. Finally, one character had acted in an appropriate way towards Kara and the reaction it drew from her was realistic and powerful, even if brief. Imagine if her loved ones hadn't waited around six months "giving her space" when what Kara needed was their words of encouragement! The one small area in which it didn't meet my expectations was when J'onn says that it was Kara Danvers who taught him that loss makes you stronger. This is such a complex subject and I will likely write a separate analysis of this, so all I will say for now is that it was not Kara Danvers who taught J'onn this, but Kara Zor-El.

One thing that I've hardly touched on so far is Sanvers so I'm going to take a minute to discuss them briefly, specifically in reference to Alex's personal dilemma with the upcoming wedding. I just have to mention Alex and Maggie's brief conversation in the bar tied to this, because it doesn't sit well with me. I was appalled at the way Maggie acted towards Alex when she seemed to express hesitation about the wedding. Instead of being concerned and supportive, Maggie remarked quite rudely that whenever Alex figures it out to let her know. It was a very immature response to say the least and not one that I would expect to happen between a couple that is about to get married.

Fortunately, I found Maggie a bit more likable in her next scene with Alex before the Supergirl statue dedication ceremony. It was both comical and frustrating from a writing standpoint that Alex clearly said that it wasn't the time or place to talk about personal matters when Maggie brought up the previous incident at the bar, but then Maggie continued to talk about it anyway over their comms. Random question: how exactly where Alex and Maggie talking over their comms when Maggie had a police comms and Alex had a DEO comms?

Technicalities aside, the conversation they had was sweet and heartfelt and I was glad that Alex opened up about her father. Maggie had a much more mature response this time, assuring Alex that she still had many people who loved her and that she had a unique opportunity to choose her family.

Fans who are aware of the impending breakup between Alex and Maggie may feel frustrated, but based on that conversation, I would say that there is a very good chance that Floriana Lima will be back in the future.

Coming in at second place for my favorite scene of the episode was the introduction of Sam and Ruby, and the way they were brought in was adorable. Odette Annable did an amazing job, all the way from the lighthearted beginning of the scene to the heart-wrenching end when she used the Kryptonian powers she wasn't aware she had in order to save her daughter.

Sadly, I couldn't fully enjoy the rest of the scene because I was too distracted by all the questions swirling around in my head. Why were Alex and Maggie just standing next to the rail watching the water instead of helping people get to safety? How did Alex expect Kara to respond while she was underwater? Why did all the people suddenly stop running and instead stand calmly even before Supergirl lifted the submarine out of the water?

The one bright spot in the underwater scene was the brief appearance of Mon-El that served to awaken an unconscious Kara and save her from drowning. His subconscious manifestation, right when Kara needed him most, also gives some weight to the theory that they are in fact connected in their dreams through Alura's necklace. However, it's still too early to say whether this is actually possible and what role it would play.

After Supergirl saved the day, Kara went on a business visit to L-Corp where Lena announced that she had indeed saved CatCo from Morgan Edge by buying it out from under him. Perhaps it's a trivial detail to mention, but I think it's relevant to clarify that Lena must have just bought a majority of the CatCo shares. It was mentioned in Kara and Lena's previous scene that Cat had placed all of her shares in a blind trust when she became Press Secretary, and that Morgan had been quietly been buying up shares recently. Depending on what kind of shares Morgan bought, it's possible that he could still have a say in the company, even if Lena technically owns it now via majority rule.

This scene overall was fairly amusing to watch. After Morgan had left Lena a little rattled earlier, it was nice to see her get the upper hand on him now and I can tell that this push-and-pull dynamic between them is going to be my favorite regarding Lena's character in season 3. I often said during season 2 that her character wasn't being written to her full potential, so hopefully this season will focus more on "Genius CEO Lena" and less on the "Kara's Friend Lena".

Just slightly missing out on the third place spot for my favorite scene of the episode (third place goes to the opening Karamel dream scene) was the scene between Alex and J'onn when she asks him to walk her down the aisle. Both Chyler Leigh and David Harewood were fantastic in this scene and conveyed the emotional gravity of the moment so well. While it's a shame that J'onn won't actually get to walk Alex down the aisle, the most important part of this was that Alex chose J'onn as her father.

The Jeremiah storyline is still an unfinished mess and at this time there doesn't seem to be any indication that it will be wrapped up soon, but I sincerely hope that if the show runners do decide to bring it up again, that they won't forget this particular moment and the significance for Alex.

Almost at the very end of the episode, we saw Kara sitting on her couch going through some things when she stumbled upon a photo strip of her and Mon-El, prompting her to remember his words to her when she was unconscious underwater: wake up. Seemingly inspired by his words, she "unquits'" her job and decides to go meet everyone at the bar with a smile on her face.

Now, I don't know how much insight the writers have into traumatic experiences and depression, but I'm a little uncomfortable with the implication that these are things you can just "wake up" from, like flipping a switch. Kara has buried these feelings under a smile and sunny personality long enough and it's time that she dealt with them, but that takes time and the last thing I want is for this essential emotional journey to be rushed or glazed over just to get Kara back to who she was before as quickly as possible. There is nothing wrong with Kara being distant and sad as she works through her feelings in a realistic way.

For now, it remains to be seen if Kara will actually face these issues and truly come to terms with her past, or if she will just put on a smile to please everyone around her. For Kara's sake, I hope that it's the former. With Supergirl battling Psi, a powerful psychic that preys on people's fears, in 3x02 the near future looks promising for Kara's emotional journey to healing.