They want a love interest for Supergirl, but they overdid it last season and got backlash. So they kept him on this season but toned it down. He's still kind of bland, but at least his character is much more realistic now.

I think it's a mistake for her character to be romantically involved at all. It takes away from her character, and sidetracks everything. I think they are merely including it because it's an easy sell, given it's basically marketed for tweens and 20 somethings.

So, for the last few months, I've been deeply engrossed in Reign's storyline. I think it was the way she beat Supergirl half to death before the break. She whooped up on Kara so badly that I thought the producers went a little too far with it. My problem is I waited for Kara to whip up on Reign last night, but when it came time for Supergirl to shine, Mon-El took the kill shot. What is with that? This is Supergirl's show. It's not the Mon-El show.

@shenandoahok said:

So, for the last few months, I've been deeply engrossed in Reign's storyline. I think it was the way she beat Supergirl half to death before the break. She whooped up on Kara so badly that I thought the producers went a little too far with it. My problem is I waited for Kara to whip up on Reign last night, but when it came time for Supergirl to shine, Mon-El took the kill shot. What is with that? This is Supergirl's show. It's not the Mon-El show.

They've made her way too weak. From not being able to fight the baddies, to blowing up on Mon-El, to going behind Lena's back and trying to destroy her kryptonite...she's been devolved into a scared, reactionary, ineffective high school girl...and the whole thing is embarrassing. Does Supergirl stand for truth, justice, and the "American" way? It seems like she is more representative of a catty, lame, try hard high schooler.

Its just old fashioned nepotism since the actor is dating the actress who plays Supergirl in real life. He'll be in these stories whether it makes sense or not, at least until they break up (not saying I hope they do, but, kinda doubt he'll stick around if it happens).

@RodimusConvoy said:

Its just old fashioned nepotism since the actor is dating the actress who plays Supergirl in real life. He'll be in these stories whether it makes sense or not, at least until they break up (not saying I hope they do, but, kinda doubt he'll stick around if it happens).

It's not that. There are apparently a ton of Karamel-ers out there, so to throw them a bone they kept Mon-El in. My take is they weren't going to tone down his character this season, if not for the big backlash the show received for making him (and their relationship) too front and center.

Bringing him back at half capacity was an attempt to compromise and try to play the middle. Benoist isn't enough of a star, and the show isn't enough of a hit for such personal requests to be fulfilled. It's possible she had a hand in keeping him there, but my guess is there's no way they would if his character was seen as a definite reason why the show was losing popularity.

@Bunny Sprite said:

@RodimusConvoy said:

Its just old fashioned nepotism since the actor is dating the actress who plays Supergirl in real life. He'll be in these stories whether it makes sense or not, at least until they break up (not saying I hope they do, but, kinda doubt he'll stick around if it happens).

It's not that. There are apparently a ton of Karamel-ers out there

By what metric, exactly? Online forums like this? YouTube commenters? If so, there's also a "ton" of Kara and Lena shippers as well as Jimmy and Winn shippers.

, so to throw them a bone they kept Mon-El in. My take is they weren't going to tone down his character this season, if not for the big backlash the show received for making him (and their relationship) too front and center. Bringing him back at half capacity was an attempt to compromise and try to play the middle. Benoist isn't enough of a star, and the show isn't enough of a hit for such personal requests to be fulfilled. It's possible she had a hand in keeping him there, but my guess is there's no way they would if his character was seen as a definite reason why the show was losing popularity.

Well a few things. I'm not sure I buy this "throwing a bone" thing to a nebulous segment of fandom. At best they just didn't want to go through the trouble of building up a brand new love interest, at worst...nepotism. And no Benoist isn't big enough to write policy, but the headliner of a show does have some pull. Another thing, the show changed showrunners midseason, hence the break, something about a sex scandal. That will have an affect on the storylines as the new showrunner comes in. That might explain some of the choices we're seeing now ("half capacity"). True, its just as likely the scripts were already finished and the new guy just had to be there for autopilot, but...something to consider regardless.

Mon-El's return, regardless of why, could have been handled a bit better, by extension Imhra could have had her own agency besides basically existing to be the wall between Mon-El and Kara...it's kinda sloppy now that I think about it like they don't have a real goal or vision in place. Which I thought the OP was going for.

I've never cared for this Karamel stuff. But I'm in a bunch of groups on facebook where there are bunches of people fawning over the whole thing. I'm a male and in my 40s, so it's safe to say I'm not the target market for this show. The demographic is tweens, teens, and young 20 somethings (with perhaps some 30 somethings to boot).

Karamel is a teen puppy love romance (just like Dicaprio and Winslet in Titanic). There is obviously a huge market for it. But if I could be the show's lead writer, he would be off the show pronto.

On the other side of the fence, there did seem to be very palpable distaste for Mon-El and their relationship. I can't possibly vouch for this, but in my opinion, the writers intended on keeping him around the same as season 2. Season 2 set the stage for it, with them together all the time. But there were enough fans who wanted him written out, so the writers changed course a bit and reduced his screen time and their relationship. They played the middle.

A lot of things could have been done better on the show. I really don't care for this latest thing where she conspired to destroy Lena's kryptonite behind her back. It was very "un-Supergirl-ish" in the sense that the character is supposed to represent honesty and justice. It's created what seems like an irreparable rift, and made her character look bad.

The writer scandal you're mentioning probably didn't play a factor because around half of season 3 was already done when he was removed, so the essence of the season story and "arc" already seemed to be established.

At first I thought the topic was that being Mon El was good because he dated Supergirl and Saturn Girl, which are both very pretty