How Supergirl Season 3 explored the identity of its characters

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Lena and her dark side

Season 3 continued to play with Lena Luthor’s allegiance; was she on Supergirl’s side, or was she more likely to turn evil? Lena lives her life in a bit of a grey area and this season we saw a lot of that. While trying to help Sam, Lena revealed that she knew how to manufacture Kryptonite. So, while she was doing something good, she immediately got on the wrong side of Kara.

She butted heads with Kara on more than one occasion this season because of her methods. It seems that even if she’s doing something good, Lena will often do something slightly bad at the same time. From where we leave Season 3, it’s possible that Lena could well be walking a more villainous path when the show returns.

It looks like she’ll continue her work with Eve into studying the black Kryptonian rock, but we don’t yet know her intentions. We know that the rock powers Argo City and can be used to create Worldkillers, but what does Lena intend to do with it? We’ll have to see when the show returns.

James and Guardian

The much-maligned James Olsen actually had a much better season. Though the spectre of Guardian still hung over his head, he didn’t actually do much with it. That was until he had a huge decision to make later in the season.

When Guardian reappeared, James decided to unmask himself in public. But, of course, there was a catch. He had to analyse how ready the public was for a black vigilante. Would the public have been so supportive knowing that there’s a black man behind that mask?

It was a very on-the-nose point, the kind that Supergirl often gets involved with, but it was a valid question. Ultimately, James decided to unmask himself at the end of the season and it was all thanks to his relationship with Lena. She recognized James as Guardian straight away (let’s not question how she spotted him but not the fact that Kara is Supergirl) and encouraged him to reveal himself when he was ready.

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