Supergirl's Big Love Problem That No One Seems To Care About
The CW series Supergirl is part of the Arrowverse universe, which also includes Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Batwoman, and Superman & Lois. The show debuted in July 2015 and has delighted fans since, but there's been one consistent problem that a lot of fans just can't get past: The writers appear to be pretty bad at writing romance for the show's central character.
Kara Zor-El, who is played by Melissa Benoist, hasn't had the easiest time when it comes to love, and some fans are starting to get mad about it. Hypable has gone so far as to cite Supergirl's lack of a long-term partner as the "biggest failure of the show" and Catherine Palmer of the Johns Hopkins News-Letter already predicted this to be problem back in 2017, writing that a lack of a viable, consistent partner would "continue weakening the show."
However, it seems that not having a consistent boyfriend for Supergirl might be intentional, at least according to Benoist herself.
Melissa Benoist likes that there isn't a boyfriend for Kara
In 2018, Melissa Benoist told TVLine that she wasn't super bothered by the fact that there hadn't been a major love interest for Kara. "It's not that I don't think there should be any, but I like seeing a woman fending for herself and not thinking about [romance]. If it falls into her lap, great."
Of course, a lot of Supergirl fans just flat-out disagree, pointing out how "Lois" is so integral to Superman's storyline. Many were into the idea of Kara and James (aka Jimmy Olsen) ending up together after the first season, and they were pretty disappointed after learning the two were never (according to executives) meant to be (via Geeks).
Andrew Kreisburg, the executive producer of the show, didn't help matters when he tried to explain why this relationship didn't work out. In an interview with TV Guide, Kreisburg said, "We sort of felt like we were pursuing that relationship more because we felt like we had to than any of us was really truly feeling it. We realized that the best scenes between [Kara and James] were just the nice, sweet scenes where they were being friends."
The sixth and final season of Supergirl will air midseason 2021, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Will things change for Kara and her love life now that the series is ending, fans will need to tune in and see.