The third season of the American television series Supergirl, which is based on the DC Comics character Supergirl / Kara Zor-El, focuses on a costumed superhero who is the cousin to Superman and one of the last surviving Kryptonians.
The season was ordered in January 2017. It was filmed from July 2017 to April 2018, and filming took place in Vancouver. Alongside Melissa Benoist, who stars in the title role, principal cast members Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Jeremy Jordan, Chris Wood and David Harewood return from the second season. They are joined by Katie McGrath, who was promoted to a series regular from her recurring status in the previous season, and new cast member Odette Annable. Former series regulars Calista Flockhart and Floriana Lima return as guest star and recurring respectively.
The season premiered on The CW on October 9, 2017, and ran until June 18, 2018, over 23 episodes. The series was renewed for a fourth season on April 2, 2018.[1]
On the parallel world of "Earth-X", a Nazi regime rules the planet where an archer, Dark Arrow, is the Führer, and personally hunts the resistance forces. Dark Arrow seizes a temporal gateway from the Freedom Fighters members including James' parallel universe doppelgänger, a device that allows interdimensional travel to other universes; he schemes to invade parallel Earths with the device to spread his reign so that it may last. Kara and Alex travel to Earth-1 to attend Barry Allen's wedding with Iris West. Alex meets the Legends' leader Sara Lance / White Canary, taking the first step to recover from her break up with Maggie. The wedding ceremony is interrupted by Earth-X Nazi invaders, led by Dark Arrow, his Kryptonian-powered wife Overgirl, and his partner Prometheus. After Kara defeats and injures Overgirl during the fight the Nazis retreat, and Alex and Sara capture Prometheus to interrogate. As Overgirl recuperates, she, Dark Arrow, and a yellow-clad speedster regroup and discuss their next move, Dark Arrow and Overgirl are revealed as parallel universe doppelgängers of Oliver Queen / Green Arrow and Kara, and the yellow speedster is Barry's nemesis from the 22nd century Eobard Thawne / Reverse-Flash.
As the earthquakes worsen, Supergirl, Alura, Guardian, and the DEO protect National City; Imra and Brainiac 5 return to help. M'yrnn gives J'onn one final memory before merging with the Earth to stop the terraforming; the heroes defeat the priestesses. Sam finds the fountain in Juru and makes peace with her mother. She drinks from the fountain and defeats Reign using the sword. However, this leads to Sam, Mon-El, and Alura dying, so Supergirl goes back in time and changes the outcome of their fight using the Harun-El. Brainiac 5 decides to stay on present-day Earth because a distant relative has started wiping out all other AI and asks Winn to take his place with the Legion. Winn accepts his offer and travels to the future with Mon-El. J'onn steps down from the DEO and promotes Alex as director. Offscreen, James publicly confesses that he is Guardian. Kara decides to stay on Earth instead of returning to Argo with her mother. Sam, completely rid of her Kryptonian side, returns to her life with Ruby. Lena gives Alura all of the Harun-El and a mathematical formula to create more, but synthesizes a portion for secret experiments. A duplicate Kara appears in Siberia at the same time Reign is defeated with the Harun-El.
On January 8, 2017, The CW renewed Supergirl for a third season.[58] Series co-creator Ali Adler decided not to return as showrunner for season 3, and instead remained as a consultant. Jessica Queller and Robert Rovner served as the showrunners alongside series co-creator Andrew Kreisberg.[59]
Jessica Queller described the theme of the season as being "What does it mean to be human?".[60] Robert Rovner and Queller also said that the season would continue to explore Lena Luthor's struggle with her family's legacy, with Rovner explaining, "I think one of the central issues about Lena is that she comes from this family of bad guys and I think her journey is – and we've see her grapple with it in Season 2 – is she on the side of good or is she on the side of bad?".[61] The season also sees Alex Danvers breaking up with Maggie Sawyer, who she met in season two. Kreisberg said the writers chose Alex wanting children and Maggie not wanting them as the reason for the breakup since he felt it was a "true human experience", considering that some employees in the writer's room broke up with their lovers because of differing views over wanting children. He also said that despite the breakup, Alex and Maggie still love each other, evident by them sleeping together after breaking up.[62] The season also sees Kara Danvers / Supergirl and Mon-El again parting ways; Queller compared this separation to that of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman's characters in the ending of Casablanca (1942), saying, "They both have destinies in different times as heroes. What they did was the sort-of Casablanca decision of putting what's most important to them – which is saving the world – first."[63]
Main cast members Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Jeremy Jordan, Chris Wood and David Harewood return from previous seasons in their respective roles as Kara, James Olsen, Alex, Winn Schott, Mon-El and J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter.[64] They are joined by Katie McGrath and Odette Annable, playing Lena Luthor and Samantha Arias / Reign, respectively.[64] McGrath was promoted from her recurring status in season two.[65] Floriana Lima, who portrayed Maggie Sawyer as a regular in season two, was demoted to a recurring role in season three as Lima wanted to pursue other opportunities.[66] She had been contracted only for one season (the second), but agreed to appear in five episodes of the third season.[62] This is also the final season to feature Wood, who Rovner said was intended to appear in only two seasons.[63] Jordan too exited the series as a regular with this season, as he wanted to begin "a new chapter in [his] life".[67]
Filming for the season began on July 6, 2017, and ended on April 28, 2018, taking place in Vancouver.[68]
In May 2017, The CW president Mark Pedowitz officially announced plans for a four-show Arrowverse crossover event, crossing over episodes of the television series Supergirl, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Arrow.[69] The crossover, Crisis on Earth-X, began with Supergirl and a special airing of Arrow on November 27, 2017, and concluded on The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow on November 28.[70] The crossover also sees Benoist, Brooks and Jordan playing the Earth-X versions of their characters.[52][71]
The season premiered on The CW in the United States on October 9, 2017,[2] and ended on June 18, 2018.[25] It premiered on October 16, 2017, in the United Kingdom on Sky One.[72]
The season was released on DVD on September 17, 2018,[73] and Blu-ray on September 18, 2018.[74]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the third season an 80% approval rating from critics with an average rating of 7.32/10, based on 13 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Heavier themes lead to higher stakes, but Supergirl gives its eponymous heroine and her fellow supers plenty of room for growth, creating a well-balanced, engaging third season."[98]
Jesse Schedeen of IGN rated the season premiere 7.5 out of 10, saying it "largely focusing on what's worked best for the show in the past – emphasizing Kara Danvers' never-ending struggle to balance her personal and superhero lives and the inspirational symbol Supergirl has become to National City", but added that "the lackluster debut of new villain Morgan Edge does little to suggest the series will improve on its perpetual villain woes".[99] In his review of the season finale he said, "Supergirl's third season ended on a fairly mixed note. The season has taken a recent downturn thanks to the shift in focus regarding Reign and her mistresses, and [the season finale] wasn't able to repair that damage. However, it did benefit from some great, emotionally charged scenes and a generally strong emphasis on Kara and her supporting cast."[100]