Her moment of existential crisis is interrupted when she gets a phone call…from Cat Grant!
She’s in scuba gear and scolding Kara about the coral reefs and stupid humans, steamrolling her and calling her Kiera, like the good old days. Kara waits until a break in the rant to ask why Cat called her, and she tells her that she bought CatCo back, and she wants Kara to help her report on what really matters. She wants her best reporter, Kiera, to be her Editor in Chief, and she’ll be back in National City in two weeks to get to work.
When Alex shows up to find a stunned Kara standing in her apartment with unfinished arrangements, she asks what gives, but Kara promises that with her superspeed everything will be fine.
She tells her about her distraction: Cat Grant’s offer and Alex points out that this is Kara’s dream job, so why isn’t she jumping up and down? Kara says she’s not sure if she’s going to take Cat up on her offer; she sees her Superfriends flourishing and she feels so…lost. Splitting her time between being a reporter and being Supergirl wasn’t working, and even though she’s not the city’s only hero, she still has a lot of supervising and teaching to do. Ironically all this empowering is making her feel less powerful.
But Alex knows that isn’t true. That lighting someone else’s candle doesn’t make yours burn any less bright. Alex isn’t worried about her baby sister. She knows Kara is amazing, both parts of her, Danvers and Zor-El. She believes in her heart Kara will make the right choice, and Alex will be there for her just in case she doesn’t. Kara settles into her sister’s lap and asks, “What would I do without you?” which is what I’ve been asking both of them all week.
And so we come to wedding day, with J’onn using his magic to skywrite congrats to the happy couple. Esme is in a pretty little flower girl dress, Kara and Mama Danvers are taking in how beautiful Alex looks. Mama couldn’t be prouder of her two strong, brave girls, and her newest bravest little one.
Far from superstitious eyes, Kelly is in her stunning wedding dress, and her brother is there to give her a gift. Something new, a communicator watch so they can always have each other’s back.
The rest of the guests file in, Lena wearing a suit that implies she was told this would be an outdoor daytime wedding with pastels and flowers and she said, simply, “No.”
And then Nia is surprised and delighted to see a familiar green face amongst the partygoers. Brainy learned a lesson that would make Gideon proud and decided to choose love over logic. Nia is worried about the timeline but Brainy says that is quite literally a problem for future us and says they’ll rewrite the stars if that’s what it takes, he just knew he had to be with his girl.
As the wedding begins in earnest, Kara and Winn sing Pat Benetar’s “We Belong.” And why yes, thank you for asking, this is another place that the floodgates opened for an eyeball waterfall, realizing this was the last time we’d hear Kara Danvers sing, and maybe the last time in a while we’d hear Melissa, too.
J’onn walks Alex down the aisle, Esme is the flower girl, James walks Kelly down and Alex and Kelly exchange such loving glances.
J’onn officiates, and starts choking up when talking about being Alex’s Space Dad and how Kelly complements her, balances her, grounds her. He calls them the epitome of love and then says that since it’s the finale, as a wedding gift, they can talk for a longer stretch of time than they’ve talked to each other this entire season combined.
Kelly tells Alex that she is her rock, her reason, her agent of chaos. She might have known she loved Alex that one night at Al’s bar, but the moment she knew it was forever was the night Alex came home and held space for Kelly when she asked for it, didn’t push her, didn’t try to “fix” her, simply let her be. She vows to be that person in return for Alex, forever and ever.
Alex says she spent too long living inauthentically, and it took her a long time and a few heartbreaks to figure out who she was, and Kelly gave her the space to keep learning about herself. Kelly is her truth, and Kelly makes her feel like herself. She promises to return the love Kelly gives her, and never take the joy in their lives for granted.
With that, J’onn pronounces them wife and wife and the brides kiss.
Kara leaps up and whoops with joy, everyone claps, Nia and Lena beam at their friends. Esme yells, “WE’RE MARRIED!” and it’s all very cute and sweet and gay and happy and I love it. This is now the fourth finale in two years (two season finales, two series finales) that ended in a gay wedding (Station 19, Wynonna Earp, Legends of Tomorrow, now this) and I, for one, am here for it.
Esme shows her moms the birdhouses her and Aunt Kara made for the lovebird theme, and they all giggle and laugh at the unbearable cuteness of Esme.
Winn reflects on how terrified he used to be of Alex, which feels like as good a time as any to talk about Alex’s trajectory over the course of these six seasons. Alex used to be angrier, harder, snapping at her friends, pushing Kara to be stronger. She built sharp, opaque walls to protect her heart because she thought if it filled up too much it might break. She was a soldier and a protector, because that’s how she was taught. But as she came out to herself, to her family, as she fell in love and did indeed get her heart broken, as she healed and found an even greater love… Her heart grew stronger and her angles got softer. Her walls have more windows and doors, and she is quicker to welcome people in. She has matured and grown but hasn’t lost her sense of fun and excitement. She’s a mother, a sister, a friend…and still a protector. Because that’s what she has learned.
Winn, the worst time traveler in the history of time traveling, tells J’onn that he and Alex will lead the DEO to greatness, according to J’onn and M’gann’s future son.
In a scene that I had in my screener but apparently aired in Canada (one of three, actually) and now is on the CW site, Esme runs off from her moms to bring Uncle Jimmy a special birdhouse, and in return he gives her a little camera. Maybe I’m just a messy, nostalgic bitch but none of the men bothered me nearly as much in these scenes as they did the first time they were on the show.
In another scene that inexplicably did not air in the US but is on the CW site, Lena tells Alex and Kelly that theirs is the best wedding she’s ever been to, and I bet she’s been to some rich-ass weddings.
The newlyweds tell Lena they want to ask her something, and she says, “You want to adopt me, right?” which is hilarious on a lot of levels, not the least of which being she like JUST became an orphan and is already leaning into the humor of it. But no, that’s not what they want; they want Lena to be Esme’s godmother.
I don’t want to undersell the importance of this scene. Lena went from claiming to hate aliens, to claiming to hate Kara and the Superfriends because they kept Supergirl’s identity from her, to not only BEING one of the Superfriends, but being the GODMOTHER to Kara’s niece! I just really felt like Alex and Kelly hugging Lena tight and tell her they loved her was a pivotal moment in their journey as friends and I loved it very much.
And then it’s time to dance! Everyone is happy and joyful and it’s a beautiful thing to behold.
The three original Superfriends, Kara, Winn and James, sit down together and talk about how far their journeys have taken them, and when they say they are finally starting to figure out what they want in life, Lena calls them over to join the fun.
Before Kara can get back to wildly flailing her arms on the dance floor, Cat calls again and asks why she hasn’t signed the contract yet. Kara hems and haws until Cat tells her to use her words (a favorite line of mine I use on my friends that I stole from my days of teaching) and Kara admits that she has always felt torn, like she was two people fighting for space and she wasn’t sure it would make her a very good Editor in Chief.
Cat suggests that perhaps it’s because Kara is weighed down by the burden of her Supergirl secret, and Kara can hardly believe her Super ears. Cat laughs at her for thinking her little glasses fooled her after years of actively interviewing Supergirl and working day to day with Kara and watching her whiz off whenever danger was afoot.
Cat says that she knows she feels like she hasn’t been able to be fully Kara or fully Supergirl, so why not be both? Being 50% a hero and 50% a Pulitzer award winning journalist is still more than most people ever accomplish, but it doesn’t have to be that way. She turns some of Supergirl’s own words against her, and asks Kara to consider living her truest life and being her brightest and boldest self. It’s what she wants — nay, hopes — for Kara.
Kara thanks her mentor for saying exactly what she needed to hear, and Cat says she believes in her. She always has. (And for those playing the Drink when Valerie Cries Harder game, start waterfalling here.)
In the last deleted scene from the CW airing, Kelly throws the bouquet and Nia uses dream energy to catch it.
One of the guys tries to do that macho thing of like “oh no Brainy you’re next” but Brainy just smiles at Nia and says that he knows in a way that you know means it’s his dream come true.
And what’s interesting about this scene being taken out of the US airing is that it goes from Kara hanging up the phone with Cat to consider one of the biggest decisions she’s ever had to make, directly into Lena coming to find her. Lena sits down and starts to make jokes until she realizes Kara is doing her serious eyebrow scrunch thing and she matches Kara’s tone.
Kara confesses that she doesn’t feel strong, that she feels like she’s been hiding behind her glasses. Maybe Alex was right and living this closeted life isn’t the best or fullest way to live. It’s gotten in the way of so many things, kept her from being the best journalist she can be, kept her from being the best friend she could be to people, including but not limited to Lena.
Kara realizes now what the Courage Totem’s gauntlet was trying to tell her. Her cowardice wasn’t not saving the citizen who needed her help, her mistake was creating a secret identity in the first place.
Lena understands; she hid behind the Luthor name for a long time. She was always framed by someone else, but now coming into her own magic and leaning into her own power, she’s starting to live her own life.
Kara is scared; the reasons she hid are still there. The reasons she lied to Lena in the first place. What if she reveals her identity and someone gets hurt?
But Lena says the difference between Kara when Alex’s plane was going down and Kara now is that now she has a team of Superfriends with magic and science on her side, and a city full of everyday heroes who quite literally would have her back if she needed them to. Kara doesn’t have to be the one to fix things anymore; they’re one big happy family now, and they can face anything. El mayarah. Stronger together.
Overwhelmed with being so understood and supported, Kara breaks a little. She takes off her glasses and lets out something like a sob; the sound that comes when you mix a gasp of panic with a sign of relief. Lena comforts her as Kara tries to regain enough composure to explain what she’s feeling. Kara is so grateful for Lena; she’s the person who has challenged her the most and taught her the most. They had ups and downs in their relationship, but one thing is certain: they are who they are because of each other, and they’re better for it.
Is made of what I learned from you. You’ll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart. And now whatever way our stories end, I know you have re-written mine by being my friend.”
Lena and Kara wipe away their tears as Alex and Kelly call them from their honeymoon car to say goodbye. Kara is about to put her glasses back on, but she thinks better of it. She puts them down and walks away from them, once and for all.
She joins Lena and the rest of their family as they all wave goodbye to Alex and Kelly as they fly away in J’onn’s magic car.
Cut to the next game night, with everyone laughing and having the best time. Kara is feeling a little nostalgic, but she knows they still have plenty of adventures ahead of them.
And Alex says that just because she’s cute and sappy doesn’t mean she’ll go easy on her on game night.
As the camera pans away from the Superfriends, we see CatCo has dropped an exclusive interview, where she reintroduces the world to Kara Danvers, aka Supergirl.
And the show ends on Kara’s beaming face, finally one person, finally whole.
And that’s a wrap on Supergirl. Not unlike Kara, the show has gone on quite a journey, with ups and downs and ups and downs. But I’ll never forget that feeling I got the first time I saw the pilot in 2015. The rush of excitement to see a character that was more like me than any character I’ve ever seen — nerdy, excitable, hopeful — be a superhero. Unlike her Arrow counterpart, she thrived on friendship and wanted nothing more than to build a team, which she did. This show is what got me well and truly into superheroes; I had seen some X-Men and Avengers stuff before but Supergirl made me realize something plenty of nerds had known for years: comic book heroes aren’t all men. Their stories don’t have to be about brooding in the dark and punching your enemies’ teeth out. Sometimes it’s about inspiring the people around you and being more clever than your foe. And that’s an important lesson that I’ve carried with me. (Sometimes even literally, in the form of a quote scribbled onto a cardboard sign before going to a march or protest.)
Rao, so much has changed in the past six years. In the world at large, in my own life, in the landscape of television. Some for the worse, but a lot for the better. Supergirl isn’t the only female-fronted superhero show on the CW anymore. Season One of Supergirl didn’t have any canon queer characters at all, but the series finale was set almost entirely at the titular character’s sister’s big gay wedding.
Some things have stayed the same. The friends I first saw the pilot with are still some of the best friends I’ve ever had and some of the most important people in my life. Kara and Alex Danvers are still incredibly important to me. Probably always will be.
Are there things about this final season I wish I could change? Absolutely. There would have been less men, for starters. Kara would have been pushed just a bit further to the forefront. National City would have become West Gotham and made everyone gayer, especially Lena and Kara. But knowing how the season had been, I had four big wishes for the finale, and they all came true.
First, I wanted Alex and Kelly to have a happy ending. I didn’t realize we’d get a whole wedding that took up most of the episode, so that was a pleasant surprise! I love when queer love is celebrated and is the thing that brings everyone together, especially knowing how hard Chyler fought behind the scenes for the queer representation to be done right, and how hard Azie worked behind the scenes to make sure the Black representation was done right.
Also, I wished for the return of Eliza Danvers. My favorite TV mom. And I was so happy to see her.
My third wish was: no roadblocks to eventual Supercorp endgame. I knew the show wouldn’t do it; they’re NOT Batwoman, and based on its DC origins and possibly even its original creators/networks, I didn’t foresee them letting the show end with two main queer couples and a trans superhero all in the main cast. Unfortunately. Even though they accidentally(?) wrote a beautiful friends-to-enemies-to-lovers tale for a Luthor and a Super. But they ended in such a way that could have simply been, as the old legend has it, the start of something new.
And my fourth wish stemmed from my biggest fear going into this finale: that Kara was going to hang up her cape at the end of the series. That she would decide to be Kara Danvers full-time and retire the Supergirl mantle. I also didn’t want her to be Supergirl full time. Because the joy of Kara was that she was both. She was Alex’s little sister and the fastest girl on Earth. She was a Superfriend and a game night champion. She was the plucky reporter and the Girl of Steel. So I was beyond grateful that in the end, she found a way to be both.
So while the show did plenty of things I hated over the years, it did so, so many things I loved. Like Alex’s coming out story, valuing found family, and knowing that there’s strength in hope. It gave us a Luthor who’s a hero instead of a villain, Kelly as Guardian, and Dreamer, the first trans superhero on the CW. Plus, it gave us so many incredible acting (and in some cases, also writing and directing) moments from Melissa Benoist, Chyler Leigh, Katie McGrath, Nicole Maines, Azie Tesfai, and so many others.
To the cast and to you, gentlereaders, I say thank you. I hope you take what this show has taught us and keep fighting for what’s right. I hope you remember that there’s strength in letting your found family support you. I hope you keep being brave enough to hope. And I hope you do extraordinary things.