Gaith said:
Bob, you never did give your final thought on
Supergirl S3! Just going to leave us hanging?!
Careful what you ask for...
Lots of thoughts, some very convoluted... so I will break it into two parts, the firstly being the season finale and then the whole season in general.
SUPERGIRL SEASON 3 FINALE
"Battles Lost and Won"
Very similar to the Flash finale, a frustrating and anti-climatic season ender. I had high hopes going in after the FANTASTIC previous episode, "Make It Reign" and it started out strong with all the heroes fighting together (love Alura's silver age costume design!!!) to save National City, even if it did repurpose some FX shots from other episodes. But after the opening 10 minutes, (in which we FINALLY got a Superman reference/explanation!!!) the remainder of the episode started to go down hill. Of the 42 minute episode, I think only 25 minutes was actually dedicated to the Reign storyline, the last 10-15 minutes seemed focused to saying goodbye to characters and setting up a new status quo for season four. The conclusion to the Reign arc was clunky, both narratively and visually -- the final fight choreography was awful and time travel solution was completely left field and wonky. And worst of all, Supergirl felt more like a supporting character than the driving force of the story. Though I give writers props with not going the obvious route of killing Reign and having Alex adopting Ruby, as most online fans were predicting. The strength of the episode, as it has been all season, was the character relationships, while the actual season big bad arc resolution went out with a whimper instead of a bang.
All in all, easily the weakest finale of the Arrowverse shows this year. I give the Finale a 7 out of 10.
SUPERGIRL SEASON THREE IN GENERAL RAMBLINGS...
Of all the Arrowverse shows, Supergirl has always had the biggest/obvious challenges, particularly in terms of forgotten characters, story plot point and internal continuity.
The production move from L.A. to Vancouver, attributed to the loss of Cat Grant, Lucy Lane and Maxwell Lord and with it their storylines.
Season three, much like season four of The Flash, started out very strong but became unfocused in the second half. I speculate the firing of Andrew Kreisberg had a greater impact on the writing of these shows than anyone expected since he was the main creative driving vision of both shows.
Season three saw the mysterious loss of the Alien Immigration story thread from season two ( what happened to the alien president Lynda Carter? or Winn's alien girlfriend???), which was a real strength of the show in season two. (though based on the comic con trailer, it looks like they will be returning to this story for season 4) In fact, there was no real social commentary this season until it returned for it's last quarter. The discussion of race in the United States was handled well, but the Gun Control episode was horrible. But the inclusion of the ongoing Alzheimer storyline was very tastefully done and very heart wrenching.
Mon-el and the Legion storyline, again started with great potential. They teased that several Legionnaires were aboard the Cruiser in status, but in the end we only saw three of them. (BTW loved Mon's comic accurate costume!) While the inclusion of the Legion had some fun moments, by adding them to an already large ensemble, Supergirl felt pushed more to the background than usual. I also have some serious continuity issues with the Legion's appearance. In season one, they clearly show a Legion Ring in Superman's Fortress, so if the producers are being true to the mythos, Superman as a boy was member. Why doesn't Kara know anything about them? Her cousin never shared any stories of his Legion adventures? Or why didn't Superman recognize Mon-el when he met him in season two? Or why has there never an explanation why Mon-el shares Kal and Kara's House Name???
As for the Kara and Mon-el relationship, it was handled okay-ish lol. It was very flip-floppy at times, with no clear narrative message. But by far the most frustrating element of it, after they struggled to reconnect all season, they both decide to end it with a few throw away lines of dialogue because duty is more important than their personal desires.
One of biggest gripes of season three is lack of balance to Supergirl as a character, even though that was supposedly the main underlying theme of the season. For reasons unknown to me, the writers/producers of the Arrowverse shows do not seem to like Secret Identities. The secret identity is the corner stone foundation of all great comic books. It is gold mine for both drama and humour. And yet, the Arrowverse shows seem to all eventually drop this element. The best part of Supergirl season one was the Kara Danvers aspect and interacting with people at CatCo. In season two, this eroded slightly with the departure of Cat Grant, but we still saw Supergirl being Kara as she endeavoured to become a great reporter like her cousin. But is season three, Kara's new mentor Snapper Carr disappeared without explanation, and the only time we really saw Kara being Kara was when she needed to investigate something for the D.E.O., and even then she was behaving more like Supergirl with glasses on. This was a real loss to the show imo. Benoist is absolutely heart stealing as Kara, and the show desperately needs to reinstate this element.
As I said before, the strength of the series is in characters and their relationship with each other. Kara and Alex, their sisterly bond, is powerful and believable. Their relationship with J'onn has become a high point of the show, and it is this trinity that makes the show work. Both Alex and J'onn had rich, emotional and satisfying story arcs this season. Winn, less so, but his character went off on a very strong note. As always, the series struggled with what to do with Jimmy... I mean, James Olson, but found a niche for him to fill in the last third of the season. Lena continued to evolve and go down the dark path all Luthor's seemed doomed to travel, even when they are adopted. And I really enjoyed the majority of the Reign character, particularly the mother/daughter relationship between Sam and Ruby.
Mythology wise, the show often dropped the underdeveloped ball. The reveal of Argo City and Kara's mother being alive should have been the most monumental, emotionally powerful event of the season. Instead, it was completely half-baked and treated as a run of the mill filler episode. A truly lost moment by the producers. But on the other hand, the Chad Lowe Supergirl worshipping cult and the Kryptonian Witches (great to see Sara Douglas again) brought something new and fun to the table.
So while Supergirl season three ended on a weak note, the overall season had some truly nice highlights.
I would give the overall season a
B-Minus.