"Triggers" Was a Journey on the Spectrum of Feelings

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from 3x02. The premiere left me largely disappointed, with the majority of what I found enjoyable being the subplots of the episode. Therefore, I was a little surprised when I found that generally what I enjoyed from 3x02 was the opposite of 3x01. So without further ado, let's analyze this episode!

The opening sequence was just beautifully done. Alternating between Sanvers to Sam and Ruby and then to Kara spoke volumes even without dialogue and this time, the song choice was a perfect fit. It was light-hearted and happy and completed the contrast between the three different settings. Alex and Maggie were smiling and happy as they woke up in bed together and set about making their morning coffee. Even the warm lighting choice represented the mood. It was picture-perfect romantic love.

The next setting painted a lovely picture of familial love as Ruby woke up next to her mom, and they spent their morning together with breakfast (who eats only one waffle for breakfast?) before heading out for the day. I have to make two ironic notes here regarding Sam because my overly technical self can't let things like this go: 1) apparently Sam can't cook either as she's feeding Ruby Eggo waffles - considering neither can Kara or her father, so I'm starting to wonder if this is a cursed gene of the House of El (oops, spoiler alert), and 2) as I recall, Sam is supposed to be a single, working-class mom who got pregnant when she was a teenager...how then does she afford a nice car and a huge house that is entirely too big just for her and Ruby? Would it be too much of a stretch to wonder if she perhaps has a mysterious benefactor?

Ironies aside, the picturesque image set forth by these two settings was a harsh contrast to Kara's morning as she woke up alone, the covers on what used to be Mon-El's side still pulled up. After spending nights with Mon-El and her mother in her dreams, mornings are a cruel reminder of both the romantic and familial love that she has lost. Whether it was staring at Mon-El's empty side of the bed rather than his smiling face or eating a simple lonely breakfast instead of one of the indulgent meals he used to make for her, these parallels to last season were heartbreaking to watch.

I was wholly unprepared for what came next, despite the reference in the opening of the episode to the end of 2x17 when Kara and Mon-El were sitting on her couch and talking about Romeo & Juliet. In lifting up her bed to find a pair of shoes, Kara also came across Mon-El's copy of Romeo & Juliet that he'd been reading. Flipping through it, she saw that Mon-El has marked her name next to the line: "The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars". As expected, Kara didn't allow herself to fall under the emotional gravity of the moment, choosing instead to drop the book back under the bed, and go off to work where she could focus on anything but Mon-El.

At the end of my 3x01 analysis, I mentioned that I hoped that Kara wouldn't simply bury her pain and sadness under a smile for everyone else's sake as she had done before, and that rather we would get to see her walk this long emotional journey to healing. But of course, this is Kara-I-Don't-Like-Being-Vulnerable-Zor-El we're talking about, so opening up isn't going to be easy for her. It's the biggest reason as to why having Psi as a villain was so effective, which I'll get to in a bit.

Last week, one of the subplots that I enjoyed the most was Sam and Ruby; however, this week I was left disappointed and honestly confused by just about everything that had to do with Sam and Ruby. The ironies mentioned previously regarding the opening scene are humorous and dismissible. But the two storylines that followed with Sam and Ruby in this episode were downright appalling. It started when Sam dropped Ruby off at school and mentioned that she wouldn't be able to pick her up later because it was her first day on the job at L-Corp and she couldn't get out early. This certainly piqued my interest as I began to think about what kind of job Sam could possibly have at L-Corp, a research and development company that would mean her "making a lot more money".

The scene only continued to become stranger when a clearly uncomfortable Ruby brought up the incident at the waterfront the other day, asking Sam if anyone helped her lift the steel structure. Sam's response of claiming an adrenaline rush was normal and realistic (similar incidents have actually happened in real life). But her answer left Ruby unsatisfied.

Meanwhile, Lena showed up at CatCo that morning after buying the company to save it from Morgan Edge, and things continued to go downhill for our subplot storylines. The one bright spot was Ms. Eve Teschmacher, the winner of this year's Best Assistant Award (last year's recipient was Kara Danvers of course), after demonstrating that she clearly knows how to do her homework. I will never not wish that we could see Andrea Brooks as Eve more often on Supergirl, which would allow her to fulfill the potential she has as an amazing friend to Kara.

Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed in the writing for Lena in this episode. Even more sad is the fact that I actually mentioned in last week's analysis that I hoped we'd get more of a focus on "Genius CEO Lena" and less on the "Kara's Friend Lena", yet somehow the writing managed to fail spectacularly in both aspects. To explain why, I also have to include James and before I start explaining, I have to give a kudos to the writers on one small thing: you actually managed to make me feel sorry for James...for the first time, I think, ever.

James found himself in a difficult position, yet still managed to remain respectful of "Ms. Luthor", even though he was caught off guard, first by thanking her for saving CatCo from Morgan Edge and then offering to hold weekly meetings to keep her up to date. In return, Lena all but threw that offer back in his face, saying that it wouldn't be necessary because she'd gotten things in line at L-Corp to be able to dedicate herself to learning the ins and outs of CatCo everyday.

The irony was thick when Kara came in, handing Lena a planner as a gift saying "first day of school, you get a planner" because Lena's actions in this episode were nothing like a student's, but rather of one trying to play the teacher. From not contacting James beforehand to let him know she'd be coming by to refusing help and instead imposing her own leadership style the second she got in the door to later alerting literally everyone except James about a staff meeting, these were not the actions that should've come from someone who said they "literally know nothing about running a media empire" less than 24 hours prior.

In case you're still confused about my point, let me give a quick personal example. I worked as an office assistant for four years while I was in university. My boss when I started was kind of like Cat Grant (but nicer). She had a dozen years of experience, was successful in everything she did, worked the hardest out of everyone in the office, and pushed each employee to be their best with a sense of care and respect that I've encountered in few people. I'd been working there for two years when she decided to pursue another opportunity.

The woman that came after her was at least ten years younger, and was hired largely for her expertise in a certain department of our office. She didn't know as much about the department I worked in, but she wasn't afraid to ask my coworkers and I questions about something she didn't know. A year later, her boyfriend proposed and she left the office for an opportunity closer to home.

My next boss was a young man in his upper twenties, with an impressive amount of experience for his age and more charisma in his finger than I have in my entire body. By that time, I was the last of the original group from three years before, and as my department slowly downsized over time, I took on the tasks of former coworkers making me knowledgeable about everything that happened in my department. Because of this, I was frequently the go-to person for questions and my boss often expressed his level of respect for my work.

The point of this isn't to highlight myself, but rather the behaviors of the three very different bosses that I worked under, in comparison to Lena, James, and Kara. Despite both already coming in with field experience, my two last bosses did not in any circumstance display the level of entitlement that Lena Luthor did when she walked into CatCo that day.

I will be the first to say that logically speaking, James wasn't the best fit for CEO of CatCo, and that's on the writers for not being creative in integrating him into the story. But I give credit where credit is due and the facts are that James had years of experience as a photojournalist at the Daily Planet before serving as CatCo's Art Director for a year. His lack of leadership skills aside, he'd been immersed in the journalism field for some time and knew how things worked.

Before starting as a reporter, Kara was Cat Grant's assistant, arguably one of the toughest jobs at CatCo. And it's significant to mention that not only did Kara survive that experience, but she thrived, actually becoming the best assistant Cat had ever had. Whether it was fulfilling Cat's constant demands, planning official company events, or arranging meetings among many other things, I firmly believe that Kara actually knows more about running a media empire than she thinks she does.

Both James and Kara were more than willing to help Lena in this new endeavor, and instead of at least letting herself be guided through an orientation on her first day - you know, like normal people - she refused their help repeatedly and proceeded to give Kara orders about how to do her job. In their obvious attempt to write a strong and confident female character, the writers instead portrayed Lena as someone who doesn't work well with others, especially authority. Being strong and confident doesn't mean that you disregard those with more experience than you because you think your way is better. Being strong and confident means that you're aware of your own strengths, as well as the areas you're clueless in, and you have no qualms about asking for help from those with more experience. Yes, even if that person is a man. Lena asking James for help on how to run CatCo would not have been "un-feminist" or a sign of weakness. It would have been a sign of a smart and mature businesswoman.

The poor writing for Lena is why I later found myself rooting for James as he called her out on her blatant incompetence and disrespect, reminding her that he's been the one running CatCo for the past year. While I fully support a storyline that represents workplace differences between two or more people, it needs to make sense. The show can't keep dismissing character development just to force a certain plot to happen. As the audience, we've been told many times how Lena is a genius confident businesswoman that is trying to make a better name for herself. However, rarely have we been shown this. Instead, we're shown someone who is egotistical, disrespectful, makes obscene accusations, and is in fact, not a very good businesswoman at all (more on this later).

Frankly, the CatCo scenes left a bad taste in my mouth so I was relieved when the view switched to Maggie and Alex arguing at the DEO over having a band or a DJ at the wedding. "Relieved" may seem like an odd word choice but I'm always a fan of when Supergirl doesn't sugarcoat the romantic relationships on the show, so yes, in a way it's a relief. While I may not always agree with the creative choices for the storylines, I appreciate that relationships are portrayed in a manner where the couple fights and gets mad, but at the end of the day, their love can overcome any frustration or anger.

It was also interesting to see Maggie get much needed interaction with Winn and J'onn, as one of my biggest disappointments with her character in season 2 was the lack of interaction with the other characters besides Alex. Unfortunately, while it seems like this is an issue the show runners and writers are now trying to remedy to some degree, Floriana Lima's impending departure from the show looms overhead.

We were soon treated to our first glimpse in the episode of Yael Grobglas as Psi, a thief that preyed on people's worst fears to get her way, as Supergirl confronted her in a bank vault. As it turns out, no one, not even the Girl of Steel, was immune to Psi's metahuman psychic powers as Supergirl was rendered frozen in fear without a physical fight.

There was much speculation on what Kara's deepest fears might be, and I'll be honest, my first thought was that it would be losing people closest to her like Alex. However, I was not expecting what it turned out to be and it was built up in such an emotional, heart-wrenching way that left me in tears. It began with claustrophobia, a disorder which according to Alex, Kara had previously suffered from briefly when she first came to Earth. But of course, Kara insisted that she's stronger than that and refused to dwell on Psi's psychic attack.

Perhaps that's why she so fearlessly set out to confront Psi again after the DEO located her in a parking garage. Of course, Psi immediately went on the offensive, sending out a psychic wave to cripple Supergirl, but J'onn was able to momentarily create a psychic shield until Psi overpowered him, breaking the shield and exposing her to a psychic attack.

This time we were able to see into Kara's mind as Psi triggered her fears once more. Building upon her initial claustrophobia, Kara suddenly saw herself back on Krypton as her parents were sending her off. While we've always had an outsider view of this scene, we were given Kara's view from inside the small pod this time as it took off into space, Krypton burning beneath her, and then as it was knocked off course by the final explosion.

Kara's reluctance to accept her fear led her to lie to Alex later on when asked if she remembered anything from Psi's attack. Thankfully, she felt comfortable enough to briefly open up to Winn about what really happened, even if it was just to aid him in his task to modify the psychic dampening technology. It was a much needed moment between them after practically being strangers in 3x01 and while the writing still has a long way to go in regards to Winn, the most important part of this scene was that Kara finally acknowledged her fear.

"I saw my mother. I saw Krypton explode. I relived my last moments there....and then being stuck, floating through space for so long, knowing that I could never have my life back. Psi put me back in that pod, completely trapped and alone. It was so quiet...silence was the worst part. I felt completely cut off from everything and everyone I'd ever known."

Often times, there are many layers to fear, and that was very much the case for Kara as well. What we saw initially as claustrophobia, we learned now stemmed from the most traumatic experience of her life - one that she had buried deep inside for over a dozen years. As a child, it was unlikely that she understood everything that happened that day. But now as an adult, Psi forced her to relive that experience, and with it came the understanding of just how much it affected her. We saw glimpses of this understanding in season 1, but Kara was never forced to relive that trauma quite in this way. For example, the hallucination that Kara entered via the Black Mercy was actually based on her dream of a perfect life. But here, Psi was using the most traumatic experience of Kara's life to trigger deeply rooted fears that she had long kept hidden. The Black Mercy created a fantasy for Kara to live in. Psi made her relive her nightmares.

As Winn got to work on the psychic dampeners, Kara headed back to CatCo, where she was immediately confronted by Lena who told Kara that one of her contact at Morgan Edge's bank came through and that she'd like Kara to go interview him. A very distracted Kara agreed to do it later, but her distracted state came off like a red flag to Lena who began to comment on her behavior of "rushing in and out of the office, not focused on work" saying that she understood what was going on, thinking it was about Mon-El. I honestly have to wonder if the "I can tell when someone's lying to me" line was written as comedic relief, because it was probably the highlight of the many ludicrous things that Lena said in this episode (for obvious reasons).

Even after Kara told her that it's wasn't about Mon-El, Lena continued to press her until Kara snapped saying that it was personal and she didn't want to talk about personal things at her job because she had work to do. Instead of maturely letting the matter go, Lena gave a response that was inappropriate on so many levels that I have to break it down into pieces just to analyze it properly.

"This is unacceptable behavior for an employee. You ran off this morning when I gave you an assignment."

In case anyone forgot, Lena has been at CatCo less than a day, meaning that Kara has been her employee for less than a day, so I'm not quite sure why Lena acted like Kara had a string of workplace offenses dating back three and a half weeks. She also, to quote her own words, "knows nothing about running a media empire" so I'm not entirely sure why she was giving out assignments on her first day. And to quote James, "[Kara's] a reporter, she's doing her job." Lena doesn't seem to understand that being a reporter means that Kara isn't going to be sitting pretty at a desk all day at Lena's beck and call.

"You missed a staff meeting."

For anyone that hasn't worked in an office before, allow me to let you in on a little secret. Staff meetings should be planned at least a week in advance, if not more, so that everyone knows to block that time off in their calendar and I have no doubt that someone like Cat Grant ran a very tight ship when it came to this matter. Every single CatCo employee has their own tasks and deadlines and time is of the essence in the media world. By forcing everyone to disrupt their busy schedules for an impromptu meeting for the sole purpose of a "pep talk" (her words, not mine), Lena further demonstrated her glaring incompetence. It's also noteworthy to mention that Kara actually apologized for missing the meeting and said she tried her best to make it, but this didn't seem to matter to Lena.

"And now, when asked to do a job by your boss, you act like it's an inconvenience."

I'm writing this a week later and I'm still having trouble understanding why Lena treated Kara like her personal assistant. Every other CatCo employee got an impromptu pep talk, but Kara got tasked an assignment and then was reprimanded for having the audacity to prioritize other work over Lena's not-urgent-at-all request. Perhaps if Kara had flat out refused to do the assignment, then this kind of response from Lena would have been warranted. But she didn't. Kara literally said "I can [do it]. But there's something I have to do first."

This leaves me with the only logical conclusion being that Lena is an egotist who believes everyone else's priorities should revolve around hers and is used to immediately having her way all the time. Thus, when Kara didn't conform to this as Lena probably thought she would since they're friends, Lena lashed out calling Kara's behavior "unacceptable" and berating her for not acting according to her expectations.

A clearly annoyed Kara headed out subsequently, and after enduring two psychic attacks by Psi and a senseless confrontation with Lena, it was no surprise that her anxiety was at an all-time high, causing her to have a panic attack in the CatCo elevator. Struggling to breathe and feeling trapped, Kara opted to crash through the elevator shaft and roof until she was in fresh air. Despite the hilarity of the Supergirl-sized hole left behind in the roof of CatCo, there was nothing hilarious about Kara's panic attack. It was a significant turning point for Kara, as we found out a little later that it wasn't directly caused by Psi, but rather her anxiety about everything she'd been through manifesting itself in a realistic way.

As Kara grappled with what the panic attack meant, Winn reassured her that it was nothing to be ashamed of, especially after the trauma that she'd been through. It was once again the kind of moment between Winn and Kara that was sorely missed in 3x01 and I sincerely hope that the writers keep building on this. I also have to add that an absolutely massive kudos goes out to Melissa Benoist for portraying the elevator scene so well. She has been given some truly raw scenes to work with just so far in the first two episodes and she has delivered beautifully in every way. Week after week, she continues to carry this show on her shoulders.

I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about Alex intimidating Winn for information on Kara. Part of me couldn't help finding Winn's nervous rambling comical while the other part says that Alex had no right to ask Winn for that information when it wasn't his to share. It was something very personal to Kara and Kara should have been the one to open up to Alex herself, even if it took her a while. It may not have been right, but Alex's behavior was understandable given that she was worried about her sister and Kara was barely speaking to her.

Nonetheless, it led to the most heartwarming moment of the episode when Alex headed over to Kara's apartment to talk to her. Seeing Kara engaging in a Kryptonian meditation to strengthen her mind when Alex walked in was such a simple but beautiful moment. Too little do we get to see Kara Zor-El sadly, which was why I truly enjoyed when Kara could be her true self with Mon-El last season as they talked about planets they'd visited or customs that they'd grown up with.

The conversation that ensued between Kara and Alex was emotional and soul-baring and a testament to their relationship. It was perfect and it was a difference of night and day compared to the Alex we saw in 3x01. That selfish and uncaring Alex was gone, and the loving and supportive Alex from season 1 returned in her place and I could not have been happier. I desperately hope that we will never again see the Alex from 3x01, and that the writers will continue to do justice to Alex's character as a pillar of strength for Kara this season.

In case you haven't noticed, I've been putting off bringing up Sam and Ruby again because it's so frustrating but alas, I can't put it off any longer. The last place we saw Sam was when she received a call from Ruby's school just as she got into an elevator and then rushed out. As it turned out, Ruby got into an argument with Stephanie Harrison about her mom having superpowers and Stephanie called her a liar, at which point Ruby decided the best course of action was to punch her in the face.

One interesting moment in this entire outlandish ordeal was when Principal Coburn asked Sam if this strange and new behavior from Ruby was possibly tied to Sam being a single mom. Sam became visibly uncomfortable when saying that there was no father and it was just her and Ruby. It made me wonder if we'll ever find out who the father is and if he'll play any kind of role going forward, even if not a tangible one.

Ruby's confession about what the fight had concerned left Sam, and myself, dumbfounded. To understand my issue with this whole subplot, you have to remember that Ruby is around thirteen years old, and like Principal Coburn mentioned, she'd always been very well behaved. There was really no grounds for her to act this way. Her insistence on Sam having superpowers was reminiscent of a six year old that is obsessed with superheroes and still believes in Santa Claus. Even in a fictional place like National City, where Supergirl is canonically real, Ruby's obsession with Sam being "special" came off as cringeworthy and illogical for a child of her age.

Ruby continued to act irresponsibly, somehow leaving home unnoticed and walking to a diner near a construction zone for a slice of pizza. She was so desperate to prove that Sam had superpowers that when Psi attacked right outside, she texted her mom to come save her, and proceeded to walk towards the most dangerous zone, disregarding not only her own life, but also Sam's.

Luckily, Supergirl flew in and saved them both at the last second, leaving Sam and Ruby shaken up but unhurt. The conversation that the pair had afterwards further demonstrated the ridiculousness of Ruby's behavior as we found out that she really wanted her mom to have superpowers because she thought Sam would no longer have to work and it would let them spend more time together.

Needless to say, I was not a fan of how this painted a misleading picture that somehow Sam is a bad or absentee mother that doesn't care enough about her child since all of her actions so far have proven the exact opposite. Sam is extremely devoted to Ruby and everything she does is for her daughter. So I have a hard time understanding why Ruby would act this way, not only because she should know better but also because based on what we know and have seen from Sam, Ruby should have no doubts on how much her mother loves her.

At the end of the episode, it seemed like Ruby's obsession got a little under Sam's skin as for a brief second she doubted her own convictions about not having superpowers, and tried to bend a steel crowbar in her hands. It was no surprise when nothing happened, leaving Sam to shake her head at her own silliness. So far, we've yet to see any major transformation in her, with only the waterfront incident and her nightmare at the end of 3x01 giving hints towards her descent into evil. It will be interesting to see what continues to trigger her transformation into Reign and how that will affect her life.

While Sam was dealing with Ruby, Supergirl faced off against Psi again, Winn's psychic dampening technology in hand. Unfortunately, we quickly found that the newly modified inhibitor ray wasn't enough to stop Psi and her subsequent attack was strong enough to send Supergirl flying through the air, culminating in a vicious assault on Kara's psyche.

Over time, our fears can disappear or become more powerful, as well as be affected by the events we experience. Such was the case for Kara. Initially, the severe and unanticipated loss of her parents, her world, and everything she knew, along with being stuck in a tiny pod all alone in space for years gave rise to her claustrophobia and abandonment issues. With the more recent send-off that she had to give to Mon-El, her initial fears melded with her new ones and Psi took full advantage of this.

For six months, Kara has lived with the guilt and fear of sending Mon-El away, not knowing what would happen to him or where he would end up. It had gnawed at her heart, but under Psi's power, she was now forced to see a nightmare where all of her fears combined in a truly paralyzing sensation. Being sent away by her parents as her world crumbled. Being stuck in a tiny pod in the vast and silent space of the Phantom Zone, knowing she would likely be stuck there for the rest of her life. And finally, being aware that by sending Mon-El off like her parents had done to her, not only had she put him through the same traumatizing experience but that she'd sent him to certain death.

The way in which Alex was able to reach Kara in that moment of absolute despair was so, so beautiful and powerful. Whereas Psi used this trauma to prey on her worst fears, Alex offered Kara a different perspective, one of hope.

"You saved him, just like your mom saved you when she put you in that pod. She knew you were going to be okay. She knew you were going to live. Mon-El is alive because of you."

It was once again, a stunning reminder of the deep bond that Alex and Kara share, one where they inspire each other when they are at their lowest and support each other to be the best women they can be. And as it turned out, Alex gave Kara the best weapon to fight Psi with: hope.

"Fear is not a lie. Fear cripples, annihilates spirits. It is the only weapon that matters. Fear made me stronger than you! No one is safe from it!"

Psi said some heavy words, and she wasn't entirely wrong. Fear makes you feel hopeless. It crushes your will to fight. It is a weapon that can end the battle before it even starts. And we all have the capacity for it. But we also have the capacity for hope. And armed with hope, Kara was able to defeat Psi once and for all.

Psi was a unique villain in that few have ever personally affected Kara's story as much as she did. She came at a time when Kara was struggling the most and forced her to face issues that she'd been burying for a very long time. While the impact of having Psi as the villain was significant and relevant to Kara's current story, her origin story and motives for becoming Psi in the first place were flimsy at best leaving me unsatisfied. Not to mention that her constant analogy of wanting to "play" with people was creepy and an odd choice, since we were given no reason for it. I also found it a bit strange that J'onn called her the most powerful psychic he'd ever encountered after she overpowered him.

Few probably remember Jemm from 1x07, self-proclaimed "Master of the Faceless Hunters and Conqueror of Twelve Worlds", whose psychic abilities Alura said surpassed any living species, "able to read and control minds against their will." Yet, the DEO was still able to contain him in a cell with neural shielding and had portable neural disrupters that were effective in blocking his abilities. Considering that Jemm was able to actually talk through people as well as kill multiple DEO agents, I find it hard to believe that Psi is somehow the most powerful psychic J'onn has ever known.

On a different and quick note, it was disappointing to see how there seems to be a rift growing between Alex and Maggie, which will no doubt, lead to their imminent breakup. When Maggie confessed to Alex that she's never seen herself as being a mom in the future, Alex brushed it off with a laugh saying that it was okay when it clearly wasn't.

I don't know if this will be the ultimate deciding factor in their choice to end their relationship in the near future, but I have to admit that it would be poor writing if it was. Yes, Alex and Maggie's relationship did move rather fast, especially considering that Alex had just recently come out, but to believe that in all the months that they've dated, the topic of kids never came up between them is unlikely, seeing as all it took was for Maggie to see Alex interacting with Ruby. Just logically speaking, there are kids everywhere and Maggie and Alex were bound to be around them before, which would have likely brought up the topic. For now, it remains to be seen how the show will handle their breakup and what it could mean for Alex going forward.

As we near the end of this analysis, I return to the CatCo subplot with much irritation because it was the final nail in the coffin in regards to Lena this episode. But before getting into that, I would like to give a friendly reminder that earlier that day Kara canonically blew a hole through CatCo's roof yet absolutely no one seemed to have noticed it nor Kara's glasses and purse on the elevator floor.

To my frustration, Kara proceeded to apologize to Lena for her behavior earlier that day even though she'd done nothing wrong. To make matters worse, Lena didn't apologize but attempted to excuse treating Kara like one of her "minions" on not having friends because she's a Luthor, as if having friends is somehow related to having common sense and respect in the workplace. So I have to vehemently disagree with Kara on one thing in this episode: in no way, shape, or form was Lena a "really good friend" or a "great boss".

Unfortunately, just when I thought that the subplots in this episode couldn't get any worse, I was proven wrong when Sam walked into CatCo and Lena formally introduced her to Kara as the person who would be taking over for her at L-Corp. Remember when I briefly mentioned earlier that Lena actually isn't even a smart businesswoman? This is what I was talking about. Take just a moment and let it sink in that after acquiring and renaming Luthor Corp, a company based in scientific research and development, Lena chose to hand over the reins of CEO to a most likely unqualified stranger, because she decided she wanted to spend $750 billion dollars and become the CEO of a media company she knows nothing about. I was, am, and will continue to be baffled by this until the end of time.

Essentially, the show runners and writers gave Lena and Sam an extreme version of the "James treatment" by putting them in positions where they don't belong and make little sense, in an attempt to make the characters more relevant to the main storyline. At this point, I'm not quite sure how else to express my frustration with this debacle.

Fortunately, at least the episode left us on a positive note as we were treated to another Danvers sisters moment as they cuddled on Kara's couch watching Wizard of Oz. In addition, we also caught a glimpse of M'gann as she appeared psychically to J'onn at the alien bar, alerting him that he needed to come to Mars immediately which is where 3x03 will take us.

Overall, 3x02 was an improvement from the premiere and while the subplots were a failure of dreadful proportions, the main plot with Kara and Psi exceeded my expectations. Melissa Benoist delivered one of her strongest performances in Supergirl to date and Chyler Leigh was once again a delight to watch as the real Alex Danvers returned. Even Yael Grobglas had a strong performance, despite the sometimes mediocre writing of her character.

If the show continues to build from this episode and takes heed to its missteps, then season 3 is on the right track to being a great season.