TV Show Review: Supergirl - Season 3

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Entertaining the entire way through

Cons: Lots of angst, eye rolling liberal agenda moment late in the season

The Bottom Line:

This angst filled season

Has entertaining stories

So still fun to watch

“I’ve Saved Your Life!”  “To Be Fair, So Has Everyone Else Here.”

I've noticed that the shows in the Arrowverse have a tendency to start out light and happy and slowly go darker with each passing season.  That certainly happened with Supergirl in season 3, although I wouldn't call all of it darker as much as I would call it more angst filled.

I'm sure some of that won't come as a surprise to fans of the show considering how season 2 ended.  Yes, some time has passed, but Kara Danverse, aka Supergirl (Melissa Benoist), is still mourning the loss of her boyfriend Mon-El (Chris Wood), who had to leave Earth at the end of last season.  Meanwhile, her sister Alex (Chyler Leigh) is planning her wedding to Maggie (Floriana Lima).  Kara has decided that it is her human side that is causing her pain, so she is going to focus on being Supergirl.  Meanwhile, Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) adds to her business empire by buying CatCo, making herself Kara and James' (Mehcad Brooks) boss.  She also hires Samantha (Odette Annable), a single mother with a huge secret of her own that even she doesn't know about – yet.  At the DEO, J’Onn (David Harewood) is about to make a startling discovery and Winn (Jeremy Jordon) continues to provide comic relief.  But there is a new mysterious powerful person in the city.  And what about the ship that crashed into the nearby ocean?

Yes, there is plenty going on this season, and plenty to keep us tuned in from week to week.  In fact, they managed to surprise me with the on-going storylines this season.  I really thought they moved forward too quickly on some of them, but they had enough plot to keep me tuning in each week and a wonderful climax to the season.

The angst I was talking about earlier?  It seems like just about every character this season had a storyline that was filled with grief in some way.  This is especially true of Kara, Alex, J’Onn, and Samantha.  Some of the others might have only gotten one or two episodes of grief, or they interacted with those who were dealing with some heavy stuff.  I'm not going to spoil what that was, but be prepared.

But, with the angst comes hope.  These storylines all had some measure of hope to them, or at least beauty in the pain.  While certain episodes or moments might be painful since we love the characters so much, overall, I found them worth watching.

This also seems like the show in the Arrowverse that showcases the liberal agenda the most, flirting with the line between entertainment and preaching.  This is nothing new, but it reached new lows late in the season when J’Onn made a ludicrous proclamation to the DEO.  I'm sorry, but it was laughably stupid.  I'm hoping they show how stupid it is as season 4 unfolds, but I have a feeling that it will be quietly forgotten about.

The actors are still in top form here.  They get quite a bit of meat to play with here, and they all do wonderful jobs with it.  Also, for those keeping track, they have recast Kara's Kryptonian mother, and she is now played by Erica Durance, best known to comic book fans as Lois in Smallville.

Overall, the 23 episodes that made up season 3 were entertaining.  Supergirl has never been my favorite of the superhero shows that I watch, but it continues to be entertaining.