Supergirl Season 1 — A Few Thoughts

The first season of Supergirl is now in the books and I have to say I’m pleased overall with the show. Having been a fan of Supergirl since I was introduced to her in the 60s, I was going to enjoy any respectful effort to bring the Maid of Might to the screen. That this production gave us some outstanding characters and marvelous moments throughout its rookie season only added to my satisfaction. So, now that we have a complete set of episodes, it’s time to take a look at the season as a whole.

I’ve tried to write this article many times. Every time, my enthusiasm becomes overwhelming — we’re talking 20,000+ words of overwhelming (this pared-down post will likely be long, but not that long). What can I say? I’ve waited a very long time for this. I’m happy with the result, and I want to talk about it. Shoot, if I were still a young screenwriter, I’d be hocking all my connections to try to get on staff (which I did do twice in the past, but I’m in NM and you need to be in L.A., so no staff jobs for me *sniff*).

The only way I can quantify my excitement is from a prior example: after what turned out to be the series finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I ended up spending a year writing 27 1-hour teleplays and a 2-hr screenplay finale (link)— basically a season and a half — to wrap up the story (I even heard I had studio lawyers checking it out to ensure they didn’t have a rogue ex-staffer on their hands). Even so, that doesn’t compare to my happiness that this show exists.

I’m not saying that the show is perfect. It’s not. There is definitely work to be done to improve on their foundation. In an effort not to examine every little detail all at once or turn this into an academic analysis, I’m going to try to just touch on the big things that I like and don’t like in no particular order.

I have nothing but praise for Melissa Benoist. As Lynda Carter did in the 70s with Wonder Woman, and as Christopher Reeve did with Superman, Melissa has taken an iconic, bigger-than-life character and played her with respect and emotional honesty. That Supergirl pays homage to that 70s-era, Donner-esque superheroic optimism only helps. In a media landscape filled with dark, gritty, angst-filled, dystopic views of superhero fantasy, Supergirl hearkens back to a time when voices were quieter and ideologies were less polarized. In this way, Supergirl isn’t so much a reflection of our time but an aspiration of where we could be if we work together.

El Mayara. Stronger together. The Kryptonian phrase that is the basis of the “S” coat of arms for the family El is the theme that defines this show. It also helps define what the usually nebulous phrase, “the American way” means. It touches on the earliest days of the nation: from E Pluribus Unum (in many, one) to the idea that if we don’t hang together, then we will assuredly hang separately. Kara even explained to James Olsen that she didn’t want to be a loner like Superman, that it was very un-Kryptonian. She wants and needs her friends so that all of them working together can achieve so much more than they could if they all worked on their own. It’s given the show a much broader palette than your typical outing with the Man of Steel.

I do sympathize with Melissa because of this exchange from the third episode where Kara bullies the last pot sticker from Alex despite having already eaten four:

Alex: I hope you get fat.
Kara: Not on this planet.

What saddens me are the expectations it puts on Melissa. Looking over the past few decades of SF/F action shows, if there is a clear lead, you usually see their weight fluctuate over the run of the show, and even in-season, in step with the time and energy the actor has available to train. Often this can be hidden because the costume is sufficiently bulky. Sometimes it means that the star doesn’t show as much skin as in the early episodes. Melissa is in a leotard (with superhero augments) and her character supposedly doesn’t gain weight despite her prodigious appetite. That combined with long, exhausting days on set and you can’t help but feel for what Melissa endures for our entertainment.

I like that this show doesn’t shy away from the fact that not only is Kara an alien, but because she spent thirteen years growing up on Krypton and visiting other worlds, her perspective is very different from her cousin. Kal El/Clark Kent/Superman is Kryptonian by birth but environmentally he’s very much of Earth. In contrast, Kara Zor-El/Kara Danvers/Supergirl is mostly Kryptonian in thought and culture. As a teen she learned how to blend in with humans, but she is still a true daughter of Krypton. I’d even venture to say that, in general, she might be more powerful than Clark owing to her having literally grown up in the light of Rao, Krypton’s red sun, instead of on Earth. As with humans, being exposed to critical stimuli while growing is bound to have repercussions as an adult. I suspect that it might allow Kara to utilize/metabolize Earth’s yellow sun in a different, perhaps more efficient manner than Clark can.

Reading comments on the interwebs, you find a very strong Superman contingent who would disagree with me. Some essentially want this show to be about Superman and his sidekick cousin in a skirt. Needless to say, I view it differently. For this first season the ways they kept the man in blue out of Kara’s hair worked well enough. Going forward, they have no choice to show Superman…or at least Clark. Not showing him, and the gymnastics involved to make it seem plausible, are becoming distractions. But enough about that other Kryptonian.

The actual interesting alien in Kara’s life turned out to be J’onn J’onzz (AKA the Martian Manhunter), the sole surviving green Martian. (Note: I lucked out that I called this very early on in forum comment sections when most were guessing Cyborg Superman. Yay me.)

J’onn’s relationship with Alex and Kara is fascinating. It seems that Alex is the one he favors. Perhaps it’s simply because he’s had more direct contact with her, or maybe it’s because as a human she’s more vulnerable. On the other hand, it’s Kara who seems to have greater kinship with J’onn. Perhaps it’s because they are alien refugees. Perhaps it’s because just as Cat Grant is arguably more of a surrogate mom than is foster mom Eliza, so too is J’onn more of a surrogate father than foster dad Jeremiah.

As a villain-fighting ally, J’onn J’onzz is formidable. He has many Kryptonian-level powers plus mind-control/telepathy and phasing. His phasing ability is almost cheating. Not only does it render most attacks on him useless, but it allows him to immediately position himself behind his foe — a fact that red-kryptonite-infected-Supergirl learned the hard way.

No matter how close Kara feels with J’onn, it’s obvious he plays second fiddle to Kara’s relationships with her sister Alex, and with her boss, the prickly and acerbic Cat Grant.

I don’t think you could find closer siblings than Kara and Alex. Despite Alex killing Kara’s aunt, and Kara almost killing Alex, they each choose to love each other…no matter what. Considering that, as a teen, Alex wasn’t exactly thrilled about having a new, weird, alien foster sister, and now she is remorseful about not having loved her sooner, it’s clear they’ve come a long way. It will be fascinating to find out what changed Alex’s mind. When did they choose to be full sisters and not just fosters? What’s interesting is it’s just between them as Kara makes a point of defining both Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers as her foster parents. Perhaps it was easier with Alex as there was no sister on Krypton (that we know about) who already filled that place in her heart.

It doesn’t hurt that Alex is a badass. She taught Kara how to fight and be better than she. Soldier Alex is willing to make the “hard call”, i.e. a life-or-death decision that sometimes turns out to be death. Also, she just up and piloted Kara’s spaceship to save her sister from vacuum exposure (I have to assume that she’s at least studied the specs). And perhaps most badass of everything: she’s willing to tell her sister the truth. Too often that takes more courage than facing a gaggle of ill-tempered Kryptonians.

As to whether Alex has enough courage to face Cat Grant…. Well, even her super sister has been know to try to beat a hasty exit at times.

Cat Grant is definitely a force of nature. I’ll admit that when it was announced Calista Flockhart was going to play the character, I thought it was stunt casting. I was wrong.

Miss Grant is more than J. Jonah Jameson in Miranda Priestly’s shoes. She actually has a heart…a very large one. This is most on display with her sons, Carter and Adam, around whom the CEO facade is replaced by that of a caring and attentive mother. Then there’s her close interaction with her beleaguered executive assistant, Kara (AKA “Keera”/“Kayra”/“Carla”/etc.)…

It is a surprisingly strong mentor-mentee relationship — one where Kara always gets quickly rehired after being terminated. What makes it interesting is the time Cat takes with Kara to explain her worldview to her younger employee. From why women can’t get angry at work, to her determined rise from were Kara is now (and its costs), to how to attract the eye of one James Olsen, Cat is a font of feminist experience to her nascent mini-me.

But Cat’s mentoring isn’t limited to her dedicated assistant. When Cat refers to Supergirl as her protegee, she means it. Cat is deliberately trying to guide Supergirl to be a better hero. More than that, I think she’s genuinely bonded with the Girl of Steel. Perhaps it’s just friendship. Maybe it’s a little more maternal. Over the course of the season, Cat has moved from treating Supergirl as a story to treating her as a friend and even, perhaps, as family. Kara has spent a dozen years with the Danvers learning how to be ordinary human Kara when in public, but it’s largely through Cat that she’s learning how to be the heroic woman, Supergirl. The DEO has helped Supergirl refine her skills, but it’s from Cat that she’s understood what it all means — not just to the Kryptonian herself but to those affected by her.

If only all the relationships on the show were as solidly presented. I am speaking, of course, about the attempts at romance. When you also look at other shows in the Berlanti/Kreisberg DC stable: Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, one thing is clear: love connection arcs are not their forte. That is partly because of the nature of TV storytelling: unless the coupling was made at the start it is difficult to make it happen later. It’s also partly due to the genre: this is an action/morality play, not a romcom. And, yes, it’s partly due to failed execution.

The first scene at CatCo finds Winn jealously pining for Kara. Over the first half of the season that ardor gradually complicates their interactions until he finally comes to make peace with being a permanent resident of the friendzone. What happened then? He became a much more interesting character.

The same cannot yet be said of James “Jimmy” Olsen. It’s not that Mehcad isn’t everything you’d want in a romantic pair up. I mean, just look at him! Unfortunately, he’s not been well-served by the creative team. The attempted rekindled romance with Lucy just fell flat from the start. There was no on-screen chemistry there at all and it was never played as anything other than a nice guy being pursued. Once that was over, little time was wasted in trying to get James and Kara paired up as has been teased since the pilot.

While James and Kara do have obvious chemistry, just going straight into spit swapping seems like a lot of steps have been skipped along the way. It didn’t feel earned. Yes, time has passed but while there has been intent, there has been little heartfelt progress. Consequently, when they did connect, it still felt a bit precipitous. All I can think at this point is that Kara and James are meant to burn out rather quickly just so it can be set aside for the rest of the show’s run. If that’s the case, then I think most fans will be OK with it.

The brief romance Kara had with Cat’s son, Adam, was more organic to the episodes he was in. They actually flirted and went out on two dates. Plus, he actually waited until the second date to kiss her (not that he had a choice with the first one). No wonder it currently has the largest fan rooting section, tepid as it might be.

Supergirl is in a bit of a tricky situation. You don’t want it to be about the romance. You don’t want the women to be defined by the men in their lives and the men they talk about. That said, you also have women in their mid-20s whose lives aren’t only about the work. Unless CatCo and the DEO are supposed to be some sort of cloisters, it’s unrealistic for the women not to at least test the waters and let their hair down. But in this, Kara can get a pass since she is an alien.

Jessica Jones showed the dissatisfaction and limitation that comes from being a gifted person in a mundane world. When super-strong Jessica and ultra-durable Luke Cage hooked up, their relief that, for the first time, neither had to hold back for fear of injuring their partner was tangible. And they aren’t nearly as over-powered as Kara is.

Of course Kara isn’t so over-powered that she can’t be hurt. Yes, like any Kryptonian she can be weakened by green kryptonite (why doesn’t she wear one of those kryptonite neutralizers the other Kryptonians do? But I digress…). Even absent that hunk of green rock, she isn’t omnipotent. She can get hurt and, if not given enough time to (quickly) heal, those injuries can accumulate to the point of fatality. Obviously this requires a suitably powerful adversary.

The common weak spot of superhero shows can be said in one word: villains. Batman arguably has the largest gallery of generally recognizable foes, but even when you count them up you discover that it’s not nearly large enough to sustain a show over many seasons without a number of reappearances. For just about every other hero, Superman included, the number is significantly less.

Also creating a difficulty is having to make a choice of being a villain-of-the-week episodic — which burns through available foes like crazy — or engage in one or more arcs through the season. The problem with the latter is that you can be saddled with a season-long arc that never connects with the audience and sucks away resources from exploring other avenues that might be more entertaining.

Supergirl tried a little of both. There were certainly a large number of villain-of-the-week stories most of which were a little anemic for a variety of reasons but usually because the villain just wasn’t that interesting. The larger story arc of the Astra/Non/Indigo/Myriad “salvation” of Earth intertwined with Maxwell Lord’s alien paranoia arc almost worked. Sadly, there were several plot holes not the least of which was the dubiously convenient “message of hope” method of stopping this device that can’t be stopped.

It didn’t help that the Kryptonians, save one, were a 2-d bunch (if that much). Only Kara’s Aunt Astra was allowed to grow as a character. Her death created a hole in the Myriad story that could have been filled with explorations of philosophy, of means and ends, and of loyalty. Her loss left us with Non of that (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun).

Max Lord is more of what a story-arc villain should be. Early on, I and others bemoaned the fact that he was a low-rent Lex Luthor. The second half of the season added more nuance. Just his accepting that Supergirl was more useful as an ally than an enemy went a long way toward character growth. He’s still a narcissistic scoundrel, but at least now there’s some there there.

Most of the other foes never really had enough weight to note, an exception being Bizarro. I even hesitate to call her a villain because she’s really more of a tragic figure. Created and manipulated by Max, she nonetheless shows compassion for Kara several times.

Of course there’s Livewire, who is the first multi-episode featured non-arc villain. The weakness here, again, is more from a lack of development. Why is Leslie (her alter-ego) so cynical? Does she have a heart? After all, it looked like Cat’s plea of not wanting to orphan her boys affected her. Even without that, there is the question of just how powerful is she? She takes down Supergirl rather easily in every encounter, but there are no other examples of how much power that is. The equivalent of one bolt of lightning? Four? Twenty? How much does it take to drop the “cape and skirt”? Quantifying her ability would help cement how much of a threat she is.

In an attempt to wind things up, notwithstanding some more random thoughts below, I have to say that this first season of Supergirl left me feeling very pleased. I’ve been a fan of the character for over fifty years and the television incarnation didn’t disappoint. While it would have been amazing if every aspect of the show had been perfect from the start, I like to think of how fantastic it will become once its minor flaws are corrected (yes, I’m assuming it’s getting renewed). I can only hope that the positive tone and message are maintained throughout its run.

And with that, I’ll end with a list of random asides that I still wanted to mention.

Hair and Makeup – How exhausting must it be to have to redo your hair, makeup, and nail polish whenever you switch from Kara mode to Supergirl mode and back? What if the disaster at hand doesn’t give you enough time?

The Suit – I like the design of the suit. The Kryptonian texture combined with the built-in augments (love those shoulders) give it a sense of strength that an ordinary leotard wouldn’t. We’ve seen on several occasions that Kara wears it under her street clothes, but the question begs to be answered: where does the cape go? And where exactly is the suit when Kara is wearing a form-fitting sleeveless dress?

Helen Slater – The first Supergirl still has a treasured place in my heart. I loved that she played Lara-El, Kal’s mother, on Smallville, but I especially love her being Kara’s foster mom, Eliza, on Supergirl. It seems so very right. She still has that aura of Supergirl around her. I wouldn’t mind seeing her in the suit at some point…if only to serve as a decoy for some bad, bad foe.

As a side note: I also love that they brought Laura Vandervoort (Kara on Smallville) to play Indigo (AKA Brainiac 8). She seems like a pesky villain (aren’t most of the Brainaics, really) who will entertain us for seasons to come. That she and Helen shared two episodes with Melissa, bringing all three Supergirls under one roof, was inspired.

And before anyone yells at me, it’s also cool that Dean Cain (the Clark/Superman of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) is Jeremiah Danvers. Seems like once the House of El gets into your blood, you will forever be part of an honorable family.

Mystery Pod Contents – The season’s end scene gave us a mild cliffhanger: a Kyrptonian pod (like Kara’s spaceship) crashes on Earth. When Supergirl opens it, she is gobsmacked by what she sees. We are left to ponder: who or what is in the pod? There have been a number of guesses. The front runner is that it’s Connor Kent or some other version of Superboy. A strong second place is that Alura, Kara’s mother, somehow escaped Krypton and just now landed here. Another frequent suggestion is any of the various super-pets, with Krypto the super-dog and Streaky the super-cat more likely than Comet the super-horse (the pod isn’t that big). Wilder speculation has a time-shifted or alternate-universe version of either Kara or Kal in the ship. Or it could just be a random Kryptonian. Or maybe another relative that hasn’t yet been mentioned.

Personally, I feel the show is Kryptonian-rich as it is. I don’t think adding any more would be helpful in the short term. I’d like to see this pod filled with Kryptonian artifacts. On the CatCo balcony, Supergirl bemoaned the fact that she’d not only lost her planet, she’d lost its culture. How cool would it be to have some of that culture restored? Obviously others will want to take some of it once it’s known or detected, but until then, why not help the displaced Kryptonian not feel so alone?

The Fortress – Now that Kara knows where Kal El hides the key for his Fortress of Solitude, I’m hoping that this becomes more of a regular base for her as well. While Kara’s “Closet of Solitude” (my term) at the DEO gives her a sort of remote terminal, the Fortress seems like a more suitable locale for someone who wears that “S” on their chest.

Kara’s Promotion – Whether Cat’s promotion of Kara is because of merit or to make life easier for Supergirl to get around, the question remains: what would be a good job for Kara?

The obvious choice is to become a reporter like Clark. She gets to be out in the world and no one would question her absence from the office. This seems way too on-the-nose for me. While Kara obviously has enough professional chops at this point to edit Cat Grant’s writings, I don’t think her passion is with journalism. Also, given the modern social net culture, you have to wonder about its relevance.

If Kara wants to create content while also having the freedom to be Supergirl, I suggest having her focus be on being the voice (as it were) for CatCo’s branding of Supergirl and related properties. Assuming Cat Grant has indeed filed for trademarks for “Supergirl”, “Bizarro”, and others, those brands need to be monitored and protected. Kara would be a liaison between Cat’s office, legal, photo, social media, and other departments in getting the stories out and corrected when necessary. She would also create content, though probably not the infamously titled Keeping Up With the Kryptonians.

This position would allow her to not be questioned when she’s near the scene of Supergirl heroics. Also, if any Supergirl stuff happens to be lying around the office, or if the Super-Friends are overheard, it can all be attributed to her job. And because she knows how celebrity can affect people’s lives, maybe she does it under a psuedonym — Linda Lee — so if any of the insiders are overheard calling Supergirl “Kara” in public, no connection will be made.

Also, since the Myriad incident is about a band of terrorists trying to solve a global problem in the wrong way, perhaps a side venture of all of this is Kara/Supergirl pressing the urgent need for coordinated global action on the environment to accomplish that “change the world” thing Cat mentioned. She doesn’t want to see another planet die, after all.

But those are only a couple of ideas from someone who has no clue where the powers that be want to see Kara in 5-7 years. I don’t know her major in college, what sort of includes she had with her CV when she was hired, or any of that. Backstory informs character advancement and without it, I’m just speculating into the wind.

Doin’ Digital – The quality of the CG needs to be improved. I realize that effects houses are stuck in the tech-production triangle: you can have it fast, you can have it cheap, you can have it good…pick two. Also, unlike the Marvel shows, they don’t have sister company ILM as an advisor. Even so, while there are times when the CG is very good (e.g. the overhead shot of Supergirl and Bizarro as the tram is falling), other times it looks like 40s-era Max Fleischer cartoons (e.g. the aerial portion of the Supergirl v Non showdown in the finale).

The fundamental problem is in convincingly simulating physics. Gravity, acceleration, drag, and other Newtonian effects often fall so short they don’t even cross into the uncanny valley. Solving this one deficiency would correct about 80% of the CG problems. The bulk of the remainder are armature/rigging refinements to make character movements look more natural/organic. The rest are the usual details like textures and the like.

Plot Holes – The creative team needs to work harder at closing up the obvious plot holes — the ones that cause live viewers (like me) to yell at the screen and don’t even require hindsight to uncover.

A glaring example came with Max’s plan to stop Myriad by detonating a kyrptonite dirty bomb over National City. The plan’s assumptions depend on all the evil Kryptonians actually being in National City when the bomb goes off, that they have no non-Kryptonian allies who are also operators in the plan and aren’t affected by kryptonite, that the plan isn’t already automated, that the anti-green-kryptonite devices previously developed won’t be effective (again, why doesn’t Supergirl sport one of those?), that other cities aren’t being enthralled during the delivery of the weapon, and so forth and so on. Supergirl should have pointed out any of these flaws so they could all dismiss it and immediately work on Plan B.

Continuity – Tighter reins on continuity would be very welcome. Given that pretty much everyone at the DEO knows Supergirl’s identity, as Henshaw often loudly calls her “Miss Danvers”, “Alex’s Sister”, “Kara”, etc., it doesn’t seem that keeping her secret is such a big deal except where it would impact her “normal” life at CatCo.

Still sticking with the DEO: how much kyrptonite is there in the world? Originally, it seemed to be a DEO-exclusive. Now, just about any inspired genius can whip up some synthetic kryptonite and anti-kryptonite in a variety of hues. How big of an issue is it, and how widely known is its existence and effect?

What does it take to cause a “solar flare”? Seems like an extended heat vision duel with a strong Kryptonian followed by lifting a million tonne spacecraft* into space should do it better than just a single one-sided heat vision attack on a robot. Yes, Supergirl is more experienced now, and there was exposure to pure sunlight without interfering atmosphere for a short time, but still…
* That’s over 2,000 International Space Stations.

The Stealth Superpower – Without a doubt, Kara has a superpower I’m not even sure she knows she has. When in full Supergirl mode, if she engages her earnest sincerity no one can resist her.

Red Sun – Since Kara was raised on a planet bathed in a red-orange hue, and her physiology is adapted for that light, you’d suppose that Earth looks different to her than it does to us. Sort of like the difference when you go from a room lit with the warm glow of a soft white light to one lit in cool, bluish daylight white. Then again, she has X-ray vision, which is way bluer than blue, so maybe she doesn’t see the difference at all.

Religion – The Kryptonians worship their sun god, named for their star, Rao. Variations of “In Rao’s light” are often said by these refugees. I wonder if there is going to be a deeper exploration of that?

Does Cat Know? – This is the unanswered question that colored the second half of the season: does Cat know Kara is Supergirl?

From the end of “Hostile Takeover” through most of “Blood Bonds”, Cat is certain that “Keera” is Supergirl. She puts Kara in a nearly unwinnable position: if she is Supergirl, she needs to quit and go save more lives; or prove she isn’t Supergirl, for if she doesn’t, she’s fired. If not for the timely revelation that J’onn J’onzz is a Martian shape-shifter, and his subsequent masquerade as the Girl of Steel, Kara’s time at CatCo would have been over.

I don’t think that fake-out detoured Cat for long. Kara’s absences and associations leave too much circumstantial evidence that she is, indeed, the Maid of Might, and Cat Grant isn’t stupid. In the balcony scene in “Myriad”, Cat’s long-held suspicions seem to be confirmed when, as she’s hugged by Supergirl, Cat can feel something very specific around the area of Kara’s right scapula. While Cat has rarely touched Kara, she notably did in “Livewire”, when, as they were escaping the first attack, Cat guides Kara by putting her hand on that same right shoulder blade. I suspect that Kara, or Kyptonians in general, might have a distinctive difference there compared to humans. That’s soon followed at Cat’s first TV station with Supergirl being helped by “Keera’s” sister. Then, rather conveniently, Cat gives Kara a new, private office with an acknowledgment that her name is “Kara”, and it’s not hard to suspect that Cat knows Kara is Supergirl and is willing to play along with the deception since world-saving Supergirl/Kara seems to feel it’s so important.

But the matter will likely be left unresolved for a while. The creative team seems content to walk the line of ambiguity with this — at least until Kara has to save Cat in a super way without a chance to change into her suit…or even update her hair and makeup.

My Favorites – People think I’m being flippant when I say my favorite scene of Season 1 was Season 1. Every episode has a number of scenes I like to revisit, so multiply that by twenty and you see my problem. Much to my surprise, given my initial trepidation, I like just about any scene with “Miss Grant”. I don’t think Calista is allowed to do a bad scene. Melissa’s range makes you root for her one minute and then want to give her a compassionate hug the next. Alex is the sibling you want on your side. J’onn is played with paternal compassion. The Flash dropped by and was perfect. Seriously…the Flash. And so forth.

I guess it’s easier to talk about what didn’t wow me. The forced relationship stuff with Winn and James comes first to mind. It just didn’t/doesn’t work. Then there are the villains. Many were pretty forgettable, and the most interesting is now floating in her space casket.

My Hopes For the Future – Well, that it gets its renewal — the first of many. Given that, a short list of bullet points, and then I’ll bid adieu.

• Improved CG (it seems I’m harping on it, but it’s one of my peeves for many effects-heavy shows and movies).
• Some exploration of the Kryptonian culture (maybe this is how to have Clark visit Kara)
• I hate to say it but less Lucy Lane, at least as currently written. The character just doesn’t quite work.
• More respect for military discipline and deportment. If nothing else have them remove their covers (hats) when inside.
• A wider variety of villains, both alien and human, with a variety of tactics, some needing more savvy from our heroes than hitting hard and heat vision/freezy breath.
• Supergirl staving off a natural disaster or two — maybe learn how to do superheroing in space.
• No magic. I know magic is a major weapon against the supers, but I think that would take it over the top for this series.
• For now, I’m not exactly keen on any more Kryptonians or Krypto-pets — though Alura might get a pass.
• I’d like the writing to be a bit more nuanced and have a little more depth. I’m not talking super deep, just a little more than we have now. Like going from ankle-deep to mid-calf-deep.
• A few overlapping story arcs might be nice. This allows a build and resolution without having to risk an entire season and helps address that depth issue I mentioned above.
• Keep the Cat Grant minutes about the same. Much less and we miss out. Much more and she’s overexposed.

Adieu.