The problems with Supercorp’s current state and the death of Kara’s characterization

I need to get this off my chest and I will be addressing several things so if you ever come across this post, bear with me.

Anyway, as the title suggests, this will be about the current state of Supercorp’s relationship and its issues.

To start, I have loved this ship’s relationship and their dynamics since its introduction in Season 2 of Supergirl and has been one of its biggest supporters. I have seen its ups and downs, dealt with problems with the showrunners, the cast and even inside the fandom. Through it all, I still had hope.

However, it has been heartbreaking to witness what has become of it. So, let’s begin.

The Current State of Supercorp

Let’s start with a summary. In the finale of Season 4, we finally got what we’ve been waiting for, but also dreading for the longest time, which is The Big Reveal. Unfortunately, but also as expected, it was not in a way that was favorable to us because Lena learned about Kara’s secret in the worst way possible, which was through Lex, leaving her feeling more betrayed than ever. That was where we left it in Season 4, but when Season 5 began we learn that weeks had passed. Naturally, Lena, as Lena would, didn’t immediately lash out and bottled up these feelings for weeks. While Kara had been waiting for the right time to tell Lena because she herself could not stand the feeling of guilt any longer, we still saw hints of Lena being hopeful that Kara would finally come clean but she didn’t, which frustrated Lena even more. It never came. Not until she finally decided to formulate a plan to expose Kara. Because those past weeks, the anger had been eating up Lena on the inside and she was dealing with these feelings of anger in an unhealthy way which was her attacking Kara in the VR world through Andrea’s tech. Kara finally came clean however, and explained her side, which was that she selfishly wanted to keep Lena in her life because she knew she had messed up and broke Lena’s trust as Supergirl but still had faith in Kara. Despite being taken aback, Lena used this to her advantage and feigned ignorance for weeks, testing Kara’s loyalty and using her for her plans, which eventually became something that involved Myriad. She planned to use Myriad to change the nature of humans, removing their ability to hurt people. When Kara caught Lena, Lena also finally came clean and revealed that she had known for weeks that Kara had lied to her for the entirety of their friendship, along with their other friends. This led to Lena leaving Kara trapped in the fortress, Alex almost killing Lena to stop her plans, but these plans were halted when the crisis happened and Lex tampered with history.

Flashforward to the 100th episode, Lena has agreed to work with Lex believing he would be a safer bet for her plans to succeed than Kara who would never see things her way and would only compromise her plans due to her attachment and emotions. After a few apologies, Kara still hasn’t had any luck trying to convince Lena and she receives a visit from Mxyzptlk who shows her the different outcomes of telling Lena her secret in different points in time. The show tries to tell us that there is no ideal time to tell her because they all end in disaster and the episode ends with Kara watching a tape of Lena and Lex and having the realization that she’s done apologizing and done trying to convince other people Lena’s not like Lex and “would treat Lena like a villain if she acts like one”. Her stance hasn’t changed until the most recent ep where, more than ever, Kara only sees Lena as a Luthor.

So that’s where we are the moment. Now, onto the issues.

Kara and Lena’s Problems With Each Other

Kara feels a sense of responsibility to the world and feel that the safety of the world rests on her shoulders so naturally, everything that gets in the way of that would be seen as a threat. She feels betrayed that not only did Lena not accept her apology, but she chose to side with her evil brother instead. This feeling continually built up with each passing moment that Lena stayed on that side despite her warning until it reached a point where Kara had turned a complete 180 regarding how she views Lena.

Lena, understandably so, still cannot forgive Kara for lying to her for 3 years, and having also been deceived by their other friends which left her thinking that not only did they not trust her, but they only saw her as a Luthor this whole time which she had even discussed with Sam in the 100th ep. They seem to just keep proving this, such as when Alex had approached her for help during the Crisis and seemed to suggest that she had to be convinced to save the world rather than thinking that Lena would immediately jump at the opportunity when that was all she had been doing this whole time. Saving people. Not once had she hesitated to help, even when she wasn’t on good terms with Supergirl. Kara, especially, who was her rock and emotional support, had deceived her and played the part of the supportive friend who would never hurt her and had always defended her reputation, convincing her and others that she is not like the rest of the Luthors, was, all along, the same person (Supergirl) who betrayed her trust, doubted her good intentions and called her a Luthor, convinced her boyfriend at the time to also betray her, only apologized when she was called out for it, and then proceeded to stay by her side in the guise of her loving best friend knowing full well Lena wouldn’t want Supergirl anywhere near her, let alone touch her, but Kara continued on, keeping her close, offering comfort, hugging her, even when she was still at odds with Supergirl who still at times doubted her that it had to take her brainwashed sister to knock some sense into her about Lena’s good intentions and finally get her to apologize for how she was treating Lena. Kara on more than two occasions used her last name as a personal attack against Lena, perfectly aware that this was a sensitive topic for Lena which she had only revealed to Kara. This would have hurt Lena even more after learning the truth.

Kara’s God Complex

The writers have always had a problem with continuity, we’re well aware of that. It’s evident in how messy the storylines and characterizations of their characters are, but there’s no character that has been butchered as much as Kara. They also keep going back and forth with her characterization especially when she’s Kara vs. when she’s Supergirl.

We knew Kara as a person who always saw the good in people which is why her relationship with Lena worked so well. Lena needed that person who would see past her last name, see her potential and always understand that, as Lex has said once, “She will always fall into the light”. Kara is that person for Lena so in turn, we see Lena believing in herself, always doing the right thing, helping others in any way she can despite others doubting her because it’s okay, Kara believes in her. Through Kara, Supergirl ended up being one of those people too, who Lena could trust and work with, but this went up in flames in Season 3. Supergirl’s image in Lena’s mind was ruined. Lena couldn’t understand why Supergirl believed she could dictate what was right and what was wrong. She even calls her out on her God Complex (it should be important to note this isn’t the first time a character has called her out on this). Supergirl has also done questionable things such as convincing James to trespass into Lena’s lab, she called out Lena for keeping secrets but at that point, hasn’t even considered she had already been lying to Lena for two years. We can say that Lena didn’t need to know Kara’s secret yet at that point, but when Lena had a personal issue with Supergirl, Kara should have come clean or just distanced herself from Lena and not continue on, staying close to Lena and pretending everything’s fine because she selfishly wanted Lena to stay in her life despite knowing Lena was hurt by Supergirl. She swept those problems under a rug. Not only that, but Lena has shown vulnerability with Kara, admitted her mistakes regarding Lex every time she was made a fool of (Seasons 4-5), but we don’t see the same amount of vulnerability from Kara, especially while in the suit. 

Most recently, Lena found out about Kara using Myriad despite being told earlier that it cannot be used by anyone. Lena even offered her help with alternatives but Kara simply brushed her aside. This makes Lena realize that Kara hasn’t changed and calls her out for being “two-faced”. In the next ep, we see Kara has completely turned on Lena that even Alex is telling her they have no reason to doubt Lena yet. She is also angry at Lena suggesting she was a hypocrite, which, let’s be honest, she was. Kara can’t help being on a moral high ground.

Final Thoughts

We can blame the writing, but if this is what it is now, they’re still in a bad place. They will continue to do so until they can address the underlying issues. Lena won’t be able to forgive Kara fully until Kara can be vulnerable with Lena. Lena can’t put herself in Kara’s shoes if Lena doesn’t know the things Kara knows. There’s no denying that Lena had been problematic this season, with Project Non Nocere, Eve, Malefic, Lex, dealing with her pain in an unhealthy way but, Kara only gave up on her in the 100th ep because she felt helpless, defeated and betrayed. However, in Lena’s head, there were hundreds of times Kara could have come clean and she didn’t take any of those opportunities. We are still hearing “Luthor” from Kara and Lena is still the only one admitting any of her mistakes. As far as we know Kara has washed her hands clean. She also doesn’t consider Myriad to be a sore spot. No one from her ‘friends’ also stopped to consider Lena was once again being manipulated. Even Kara has stopped believing that.

I would hope that this season doesn’t end with them easily reconciling until they have addressed all their problems. Even then, it should take time because one episode is just too rushed. They need to unload all of their emotional baggage with each other until they can start fresh. This can’t be solved easily with favors and kind gestures, what they need is deep conversations and vulnerability from each other.