Supergirl Season 6, Episode 1: Will Lena Luthor join the Superfriends?

Supergirl is back on The CW for it’s final ever season premiere! The Girl of Steel is going to have a lot on her plate this season as the premiere kicks off with an intense episode that was originally meant to close out Season 5 but got pushed due to the pandemic.

Between Leviathan and Lex there was no shortage of villains to keep the Superfriends busy last season. But what they hadn’t expected was that Kara’s former best friend Lena was also going to be someone they had to deal with after Lena took a bit of a dark turn.

The show had always played around with the idea of whether Lena would go dark, but it wasn’t until Season 5 that Supergirl actually took her down a dark path. She did some things that were understandably very hard for Kara to forgive. So where does she stand now?

Lena joins the Superfriends on Supergirl Season 6

Thankfully by the end of Supergirl Season 5 Lena came to her senses and realized that not only was her plan of mind-controlling the world to not hurt each other not a good idea (shocking) but also that trusting Lex was a very very bad idea. Eventually, she understood why Kara kept her identity secret and apologized for all of her actions and the hurt she’d caused. But was it too late?

Season 6 picks up with Lena already having apologized and having promised that she’s going to help stop her brother Lex and Leviathan. So where does that leave her now after all the pain her actions caused?

Kara, being the kind soul that she is, has now completely forgiven Lena. I personally would have needed a little more time but Kara is basically a saint. As she tells Lena in the Season 6 premiere, she knows what’s in Lena’s heart and she knows that at the end of the day Lena just wants to help people. That has always been true, no matter how misguided her actions may have been, Lena has only ever wanted to help people.

More than just forgiving her, Kara also seems to have restored her trust in Lena as well. To Lena’s surprise, Kara even trusts Lena to use Myriad, which is what she had originally intended to use to spread her mind control. It looks like Supergirl has set Kara and Lena’s friendship back on track and it will likely come out stronger than ever now that Lena knows her secret. Lena now gets to join the Superfriends in The Tower as well as the Fortress and it’s nice to see her finally be part of the group.

Kara will be glad she trusted Lena because her faith was rewarded. Lena did use Myriad one last time before returning it, but only to wipe the minds of Lex and his associates of Supergirl’s real identity. That was something that had caused a big problem in the past for Kara, and something which Lex continued to use as a bargaining chip.

With the episode ending with Kara being sent to the Phantom Zone by Lex, it wouldn’t be surprising if Lena plays a big part in eventually bringing her back. After all, she is a genius and Supergirl has shown time and time again that what Lex does Lena can undo. It was the Lena Luthor protocol that ended up saving Kara after Lex attacked her with his newfound Leviathan powers.

Since Kara will likely be missing in action for at least a couple episodes, the Superfriends will need all the allies they can get and Lena is a good person to have on your side. So it’s a good thing that showrunner Jessica Queller told Entertainment Weekly that Lena will indeed be joining the Superfriends moving forward.

"Lena is going to become a more integral part of the Superfriends this season than ever before,” says Queller. “So I think that’s going to be really satisfying and have emotional resonance for her because she’s always kind of felt like an outsider, not just with Kara’s secret but with the whole group. Now she is going to be a full on insider, so that will change the dynamic for Lena and the group."

It seems the show is finally done playing around with the idea of Lena going dark and I couldn’t be happier. That arc is complete and now there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Lena Luthor is a good person who wants to help people. Besides, who doesn’t want a world-saving genius on their team?

With Lena becoming a more integral part of the Superfriends, it’ll be interesting to see what role she takes up. Maybe Lena will become the “woman in the chair” so to speak and be the one who guides the team via comms when they’re on missions. Every superhero team needs one! Or she’ll just stay their resident genius and create world-saving tech for them.

Whatever her role may be, it is refreshing to have Lena fully join the Superfriends and the premiere only gave us a taste of what is in store. Her friendships with Alex and Brainy are something I definitely hope Supergirl will explore more during the final season as her scenes with both of them stole the show in the Season 6 premiere.

What did you think of Supergirl’s Season 6 premiere? Are you glad Lena is now part of the Superfriends? Let us know!

Supergirl airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.