Supergirl Season 3: Will Lena Luthor be a Missed Opportunity?

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Supergirl Season 2 was very rocky with the departure of both Cat Grant and Lucy Lane after production moved to Vancouver, but Lena Luthor helped recapture some of the magic that was missing.

As well as providing another strong, female presence, Lena also has quite the background with being Lex Luthor's sister and the daughter of Lillian Luthor.

Even then, Lena still managed to bring something else to the show that was missing before: friendship.

Friends - Supergirl Season 2 Episode 18

Lena and Kara

Now I am not someone who wants Kara and Lena in a romantic relationship (though I do not really want her with Mon-El either), but I do understand those who do.

Lena has offered Kara something we haven't seen her have: a best friend.

The secret is still being kept from Lena (for now), but their relationship was what Supergirl Season 1 desperately needed. Her friendships (if you can call them that) with Winn and James weren't satisfying for anyone who genuinely wanted to see Kara have a best friend.

Playing Along - Supergirl Season 2 Episode 18

Kara was in love with James, while Winn was in love with Kara. They were the love triangle, even though they were considered the "super friends" of the show. 

With Lena, Kara has someone to be her best friend without competing motivations.

We love Kara's relationship with Alex, but they're sisters more than they are best friends. Lena offers this new type of relationship to Kara; something which it doesn't seem like she's ever had on Earth.

Not to mention what Kara offers to Lena. Lena has always been an outcast. Her family cast her out (and made her think she was adopted when she was really related to Lex's father), and then Lex turned evil and went mad casting a vast shadow on her last name.

Lena has only had people get close to her for the sole purpose of using that relationship against her. Kara isn't doing that, so Lena finally has someone she can trust with her doubts and fears.

With Lillian still out there knowing about Kara's secret, it'll be interesting to see the path their relationship takes.

Lena Behind Bars - Supergirl Season 2 Episode 12

Season 3

After Lena stood out in Supergirl Season 2 and has been appointed to a series regular for Season 3, where can she go?

It's been teased her guilt over helping Rhea and her plan to invade and take over Earth as "New Daxam" will haunt her. As will the guilt of being the reason Mon-El had to leave her best friend Kara Danvers behind.

Lena is always tempted to turn evil due to her family heritage, so Season 3 will probably expand on that urge and the threat it holds on her wellbeing. The guilt won't help with that either.

Perhaps Kara will divulge her secret identity to Lena after seeing how broken up she is over being "the reason" Mon-El had to leave. It would certainly open up a door for Lena to be much more involved with super heroics and even the DEO.

Lena Luthor - Supergirl Season 2 Episode 1

Lena has the power and resources to be a great source of good in National City, and a great ally for Supergirl, so hopefully she'll become involved in acts of goodness throughout the season.

Whether or not she finds out about Kara, Lena has the ability to be a great hero on her own, as well as a great villain.

It's really soon to turn Lena into one of Kara's greatest enemies, but hopefully, the writers don't go down that path at all.

Since Cat and Lucy aren't ever going to be returning in their season 1 capacity, it's important that Supergirl captures the feminist power it had during that season that was missing during Season 2.

Katie McGrath is a talented actress and Lena is a talented, powerful woman whose mind rivals next to no one on Earth. She has the power to do so much and offer so much to the series.

Supergirl Questions Lena - Supergirl Season 2 Episode 15

Lena is a different type of badass than Kara, Cat, Alex, or Lucy because Supergirl exceeds at writing strong women with competing personalities, but they fail at balancing these women.

Lena has a rough past, villainous family members that she's drawn to help even though she knows what they stand for is wrong, and a mind that was able to figure out how to transport Daxamites to Earth.

No character is able to challenge Lena's intelligence, but they can challenge her moral compass. Here's to seeing more of that during Supergirl Season 3.

It's rare to see a series with so much female talent at its disposal and so many interesting female characters only to see it go to waste for the men on the show to take over.

Mom and Daughter - Supergirl Season 2 Episode 21

Don't get me wrong. The men on this show are talented actors, but their characters don't offer the same level of intrigue as the women.

And Supergirl is the only female-led superhero show on television, and they pride themselves on that fact, so shouldn't they be more interested in the feminist message the series sends?

If Season 3 turns out like Season 2, it'll be like the writers completely forgot what their show stood for during Season 1.

Supergirl season 3 premieres Monday, October 9 at 8/7c.

Jay Ruymann was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He retired in January 2018.

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Supergirl Quotes

Braniac-5: Well the good news is, her mind is active and alert.
Alex: Oh, thank God.
Braniac-5: The bad news is, she is very angry.
Winn: Well, I'm sure she loves being trapped inside a mind prison.

You had me fooled, Danvers. I thought you were a soldier. But then I find this out. All the lies you must have told. You have undermined everything that we stand for, all to protect your own sister. Supergirl.

Colonel Haley