Supergirl’s 100th episode teaches Kara Danvers a hard lesson

Supergirl’s milestone 100th episode finally aired this week, and among all the action and guest stars it also packed a major lesson for our heroine Kara Danvers to learn.

After five seasons Supergirl has finally reached its 100th episode! The episode, titled “It’s a Super Life”, is a big milestone for any show to reach, so Supergirl went all out for the big affair with action and guest stars galore. Picking up the season-long arc of the fight for Lena Luthor’s soul, the 100th episode gives us the return of the imp Mxyzptlk who wants to give Kara a chance to repair her friendship with Lena.

Kara, fueled by her guilt over hurting her friend, agrees to take Mxy’s help in an attempt to undo the damage she’s done to her friendship. Mxy’s help comes in the form of allowing Kara to redo the past. Essentially, Kara is given the chance to go back in time and see how it would affect her friendship with Lena if she revealed her Supergirl-sized secret earlier on. That all sounds well and good…except it’s not.

Each scenario Kara tries has consequences and disastrous results that are each worse than the next. They range from Kara dying, Lena, Mon-El and Sam all dying, all of Kara’s loved ones including Winn, Cat, Alex etc. dying, all the way to a practically apocalyptic world where Lena is the evil overlord (a good-looking one, but an evil overlord nonetheless).

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Kara finally has to accept the fact that no matter what scenario she tries, there will be terrible consequences. It makes her come to terms with the idea that maybe she didn’t make such a big mistake in keeping her secret after all. There will always be consequences, but this episode proved that they could have been much worse.

It sets up the ending of the episode and a final confrontation between the two former friends. Kara goes to Lena’s apartment and as Lena icily asks her if she’s here to ask for forgiveness again, or to warn her against working with Lex, Kara informs her that she’s not here for that this time.

Kara has finally let her guilt go and she tells Lena point-blank that she’s done being responsible for her bad decisions. And as much as I love Lena, let’s be honest, she’s made more than a few bad decisions this season. In a moment of real tough love, Kara says she’ll be there for Lena if Lena decides to forgive her, but if Lena keeps working with Lex then Kara will stop her just like she would any other villain. Ouch.

It was a moment a long time coming and something that needed to be said. Kara’s secret is hers to tell when she’s ready and only when she’s ready. She shouldn’t be made to grovel for keeping it and trying to protect her loved ones. Now, hopefully, Kara can finally move forward again after shedding the weight of the guilt she never should have had to carry.

It’s a message also bolstered by her heart-to-heart with Mon-El earlier in the episode. Kara seeks Mon-El’s perspective on her deteriorating friendship with Lena and he gives her some very sage advice. He reminds her that no matter how many mistakes he made, she always forgave him. She needs to remember that she deserves that same compassion that she shows to others. It’s a sweet moment that reminded me why I loved Kara and Mon-El together so much (please bring him back!) and it’s good to know that the chemistry between Melissa Benoist and Chris Wood is better than ever.

We can only hope that the final moment of tough love will also be enough to spark something in Lena that will create a change in her attitude and her actions. Lena truly doesn’t believe she’s a villain, she thinks she’s saving the world, but it’s clear something in her cracked when Kara called her a villain. Her actions this season have certainly been verging on villainous (locking Kara in a cage of kryptonite is something I find hard to forgive), but maybe now she’ll gain the perspective she needs to get herself off this path before it’s too late.

Lena is one of the show’s most fascinating characters, it’s a shame to waste her on this storyline of holding a grudge because Kara kept her Supergirl identity a secret. The 100th episode did a great job in addressing this and moving both Kara and Lena to a point where hopefully the story can now progress.

Did you enjoy Supergirl’s 100th episode? Who was your favorite returning guest star? Where do you think the show will go from here? Let us know!

Supergirl airs Sundays at 9pm on the CW.