Why James and Lena’s Relationship on Supergirl is a Problem and Not a Solution
Well there’s a definite problem in National City and it’s not that Supergirl is seemingly out for the count. Reign (Odette Annable) finally made her presence known on the Supergirl midseason finale Monday, as she staged an epic battle against the Girl of Steel (Melissa Benoist), but it was the episode’s B plot that really gave me cause for concern. Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath) and James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), possibly the only character not sparking on screen with the CEO until this point, were all the sudden making heart eyes at each other at a holiday party and later Lena even kissed him. Not only did the sudden emergence of this relationship give viewers a sense of whiplash, since up until now James has questioned Lena’s motives on more than one occasion, but it also felt like a direct slap in the face to fans who long to see Lena and Kara as more than just friends.
Since practically the moment McGrath joined the show in Season 2 there have been fans shipping Supercorp, and hoping that a Super and a Luthor may one day be more than just friends. While the show has never said Kara is anything but straight, and the writers have almost insistently made Kara and Lena call each other “best friends” and now even “sisters. However, the on screen chemistry between McGrath and Benoist has continued to rage on, leaving Supercorp fans continuously holding out hope. That’s why it’s very disappointing, and frankly transparent, that the show’s latest attempt to silence Kara and Lena shippers is to put Lena into a romantic relationship with James, based on nothing more than the fact that he is a man.
Now, go with me for a minute and consider the following characteristics when looking at a potential suitor for Ms. Luthor: this person works at CatCo, masquerades as a superhero, has a special connection to Superman, suffered parental loss at an early age and is kind, caring and longs for justice. None of those traits set James and Kara a part from one another. The only evident difference is the fact that Kara is the suitor fans have actually been clamoring for and the one that Lena has been building a friendship and relationship with. Instead, Supergirl wants us to believe that just because James is a guy that he’s the one who is great for Lena, and try as I might, I’m sorry but I just cannot buy what the show is selling this time. There’s a reason that the ‘ship name for James and Lena is “Lames.” It pretty much speaks for itself in regards to the heteronormative agenda the show is trying to push with this pairing.
Not only do the writers think by coupling up James and Lena that they will further silence vocal fans of Supercorp, but it solves another big problem in that they have absolutely no clue what to do with James as a character. With Supergirl being a CW show, the easy and natural answer is to put him in a relationship of course! However, audiences are smarter than that and definitely deserve more. Heck, the Season 1 James Olsen we all met and that Kara Danvers fell for deserves more than that! Putting him into a relationship with Lena feels forced on so many levels and it’s not the fix the show is looking for. Please Supergirl, stop forcing chemistry where it doesn’t exist, instead of leaning into it when it’s leaping off the screen at you.
There are many reasons that James and Lena taking things to the next level feels forced, but the least of which is James’ behavior regarding Lena in practically every episode we’ve seen until now. James, on more than one occasion, has questioned Lena’s true motives and allegiances to Kara, Supergirl and the greater good. He’s routinely doubted her and seen her as no more than her last name, the very thing that Lena has been actively fighting against since the moment we met her. Why would Lena, a brilliant woman, be so quick to change her mind about him solely because he helped her one time in regards to Morgan Edge? It just makes no sense.
While Supergirl is on the CW, it should look no further than fellow DC property Legends of Tomorrow to see that not every character must be in a romantic relationship. Ensemble characters can interact without a romance existing between them. Some of Supergirl’s best relationships have been friendships, and I think the show would be well served to go back to that for James. Remember how James was Guardian and Winn was helping him out? Let’s build that relationship back up, and in the process, you’d be solving two problems that plague the show. Both James and Winn deserve a better story than the one they currently have, which is almost non-existent at times.
I’m not even saying that there’s no storyline to be had for James and Lena. She is his boss at CatCo after all, and the show hasn’t known what to do there since Cat Grant left. Keep exploring how these two work together to take down Edge, but why oh why does it have to be in a romantic context? Again, the answer, while incorrect and extremely heteronormative, is simply because James is a man and Lena is a woman. Therefore, by all TV law, that dictates that they should date.
In stark contrast, if Supergirl ever allowed itself to actually explore a relationship between Kara Zor-El and a Luthor, that’s one story that would be so much more interesting. Kara may not be currently ready for a relationship, since she’s still clearly dealing with fallout from the one she had with Mon-El (Chris Wood), but that’s probably not always going to be the case. At its core, TV is about creating drama, keeping viewers engaged and wanting more. What is more dramatic than a Luthor and a Super working together and having a special connection?
Whether or not the special connection shared by Kara and Lena one day turns romantic remains to be seen. But I can’t fathom why Supergirl so defiantly and resolutely has closed itself off to the possibility of something more between them potentially happening by having the writers and cast constantly insist the characters are just friends and nothing more. One can argue all day long that McGrath just has chemistry with every actor she works with, but the difference between the glances given by James and Kara to Lena is evident with every scene.
The litmus test I constantly use when it comes to Supercorp is “If I described this scene to you and instead had one of those characters be a guy, then what would we be expected to believe?” More often than not, the answer to my question is that the two characters are unknowingly involved in the plot of a rom-com movie. Think about it for a second: they are from different backgrounds and families that were never meant to get along, yet somehow they’ve formed a tight bond. When everything else is against them and no one believes them, they know there’s one person who always will. For goodness sake, just last week in the DC crossover episode the vows said by The Flash’s Iris to Barry at their wedding were almost exactly the same to something Lena said to Kara in Season 2. To not acknowledge that feels like the latest in a series of slaps to the face for Supercorp fans.
As much as I don’t believe in setting Lena up for a romance with James just because he’s a guy, I also don’t believe that writers should do everything fans want either. Even though Supercorp is an insanely popular ship and many Supergirl viewers want it to come to fruition, that doesn’t mean the writers should automatically put them together if the story isn’t ready or right. All I ask Supergirl is that you not be cruel and please be mindful of the decisions you are making.
Storylines can have ramifications far reaching just what happens to the characters on screen. Unfortunately, for the time being, the fact that the James and Lena ship is setting sail comes across more as a result of the fact that he’s a guy than because the characters have any real spark or chemistry. You may prove me wrong in the future Supergirl, that remains to be seen, but now I can’t help but be left with a feeling that I have far too often when it comes to this show: just do better. I know you can and you have the potential, so just be better.
What did you think of the Supergirl midseason finale and the start of James and Lena’s relationship? Add your thoughts below!
Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Showcase and The CW.
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About The Author
Bridget Liszewski
Editor in Chief Bridget Liszewski comes from a long line of TV Junkies who fostered her love of television from a very young age. She's channeled that passion into covering both US and Canadian television shows, and is thankful everyday for the invention of the DVR. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, she loves college football and is a fan of sports in general. Bridget is always up for talking TV and you can follow her on twitter at @BridgetOnTV.
ugh, AGREED! Way to make up a ship that seldom people were rooting for, or even anticipated: Lames. Bridget, your care and understanding of the queer fanbase has been utterly needed and healing in the face of this all. I wish we had it better, too.
You mean her care for fanon ships that don’t exist like supercorp. That never existed except in the fans heads and that is fine. You can ship whatever you want but saying they were giving hope to fans it’s a lie. They never gave hope and the fans always said they knew it wouldn’t happen but like always now they are bitching about it. SQ all over again.
This all reminds me of Katie’s previous show, Merlin, where the fans were all shipping Merlin and Arthur which the creators paid off to the enormous detriment of the show itself. What was that ending? Why were there all these prophecies about how great a king Arthur would be and Merlin’s role in that when he was the King for less than a year and didn’t actually unite anything? Doing what the fans want is not always the way forward.
Take the time to plan out more than just the season’s big bad and hope that everything else will fall into place around it.
Laughable. Your article is laughable. It just a problem because you wanted Lena and Kara together. “Lena call each other “best friends” and now even “sisters. However, the on screen chemistry between McGrath and Benoist has continued to rage on, leaving Supercorp fans continuously holding out hope” well that is your problem, everyone, even the cast said it wouldn’t happen, you weren’t baited you baited yourself. Want to ship it go for it but then don’t go running to the writers calling baiting because you want it to happen when they told you it wouldn’t. So start writing about the show about what you don’t like and like but leave out your fantasies. This is why I hate fanon shipping, the entitlement that comes with if is baffling.
Even if Supercorp never be together, still is a lame story for a lame character (James), it feels forced. So, get your ship war away from here and start to ask yourself if you watch the show because your ship or because the story.
James is not a lame character. And that term is abelist.
Oh sit the ef down. The ‘entitlement’ you talk about is people wanting to see themselves represented, something you probably know f@ckall about. And talk about entitlement, when straight fans throw a tantrum anytime the pairing they ship is only given 95% of the focus (see, karamel, captain swan).
Also, baiting exists because while continuously telling people they are bffs, they sure as hell dragging supercorp fans along with scenes that would definitely be seen as romantic, if it was a dude and a girl (filling each others office with flowers, obvious parallels with Superman/Lois with the bridal carry, etc.)
I’ll be back to read your works when you actually champion and use your voice for the canon ships we have and lose not for fanon ones that were always told wouldn’t happen. What is with you and other like Heather Hogan that keep giving relevance to rizzolli and isles, SQ, etc when we should be focusing in the ones we have and what they did right or what can improve.
I hated the whole James with Lena thing. Not because I ship Supercorp, I do but I’m fine with it being in the hands of fic writers.
What I didn’t like was the whole Mills & Boon feel to it where because I guy has been nasty to the woman omg they must fall in love! or the “Jimmy keeps pulling my hair in class!”, “That just means he likes you!” vibe.
Did Lena not know of his mistrust? Did James conveniently forget it? What changed? Was there a whole conversation that happened offscreen again like for the Sanvers breakup?
Yeah their whole supposed romantic relationship is horrible. Every change James got he tried to undermine Lena and have her crap when she took over Catco, she is his boss. Yet he didn’t seem to care, and then he helps her like once and that not only makes up for all the crap her said about her, but also makes them romantic? James is a boring character to me, and I just think the writers had no idea what to do with him.
He defended her physically and verbally. And you talk about James underminding Lena (when???). But not how disrespectful she was to him?
…. people change. Oh my goodness. I am sorry because you just made one comment but this entire argument is overused and ridiculous. And if this is the only reason some people have for hating this ship then recognize straws are being grasped at.
1. People claim Lena is a genius but do not credit her with the common sense to figure SUPERMAN’S bff would mistrust her.
2. And he had every right to. Heck, even as an audience we did not know which way the show was going to play it.
3. James literally said in the season starter what lead to his change of heart. When he defended her.
4. When was he NASTY to her? Please tell me when because I will gladly take it into consideration. Do you mean when he was rightly frustrated by Lena swaning in and disregarding his position in CatCo?
Funny how you never wrote about the actual baiting that occurred through interviews given by the EPs after SDCC and while already filming S3, still telling us about a wedding and beautiful story and giving hope to an actual canon ship fans, when they broke sanvers but now are all offended because of a ship they said wouldn’t happen. Check your priorities, there will never be good representation if you give more coverage to fanon ships. Why would they?! They don’t have to do anything to have people there. Do it for your own enjoyment (fics, fanart) stop going to the writers, stop harassing actors like in 2×18, or the other day when David had to deactivate comments because of a mon el pic. I’m not a fan but going after people is never a good thing. You all need to check your priorities because when you ignore the canon and prioritize fanon you are doing more harm than good. I’m waiting for Heather Hogan, Valerie to come to your rescue and say the same and do exactly the same mistakes. You guys are part of the problem not the solution right now. Better yet as always.
dude, this is an article about James-Lena-Kara. Sanvers is a completely different topic?? With that logic they might as well include clexa too basically.
This was an excellent article explaining my thoughts on it too. I think what hit the nail on the head was, “None of those traits set James and Kara a part from one another. The only evident difference is the fact that Kara is the suitor fans have actually been clamoring for and the one that Lena has been building a friendship and relationship with.” Talk about not listening to your characters. Hell, give us Lena/James, but *develop* it first. This was just downright lazy.
Thank you for the article! It really put my…disappointment into words well. I feel like supergirl is coming up on all these crossroads, and continuously choosing the wrong path. They have such a great setup, many characters that they could tell so good characters with, and they keep choosing to stay mediocre. I am not even talking about how groundbreaking a romance between a Luthor and Super would be, but just look at this episode. The Regin-Supergirl bits were Awesome. Sam is such an interesting character, and a kind of villain we actually haven’t seen in the Arrowverse yet (and not really in other comicbook adaptations either). And what does it get overshadowed by? Kara being jealous of her stupid boring white bread love interest, and Lena being pushed into a completely unnecessary romance with a dude she had about 3 scenes before this. Why is any of this necessary? I know this is the CW but come on???
Or look at this season. The idea, to have Kara deal with what it means to be human, is sooo good. She has spent more time on earth now, than on Krypton. There is real good drama to unwrap there. YET, we see most of it in relation to her boyfriend, whom she not only dated for only about 4-5 months, but actually spent most of those 4-5 months arguing with. This show is supposed to be about Kara, and yet since Mon-el woke up in season 2, the majority of her story has been about, or at least closely tied to him. Why?? (I know why, because he was kreisberg self insert character, and now he is gone, queller basically has a crush on him).
This show is one of the biggest disappointments for me, ever, along with the 100 and once upon a time. I think this lames bullshit is really the final straw for me, and I won’t be back after the hiatus, no matter how much I love the characters, and how much I want to see where the Reign thing goes. And it’s really not about supercorp even, I never really expected the show would go for it, I have long learnt to not hope for this kind of stuff, but the show at this point really is just a teen drama of the dumber kind with a superhero backdrop.
Who’s Queller?
“Did Lena not know of his mistrust?” – I feel this is true Cath, the problem is James seems to have forgotten his and that’s an issue with consistency. To me the biggest deal is the fact James until recently did fault Lena with no evidence simply because of her last name and he never apologized for that yet we’re suppose to believe he now likes her – why? Lena’s got a great personality and is attractive so I get James liking her on those levels but why not show that versus saying they’re instantly in love; we have 13 more episodes to go, there’s time to build this organically.
I wouldn’t mind James/Lena if it was more organic but the problem is it’s like James just changed overnight to fit the plot versus it feeling like an organic growth on his part where we see him admit to Winn or Kara he was wrong to judge Lena; my fear is the second Lena does something questionable he’ll fault her instead of asking what’s going on and give her a chance to explain and it’ll feel like another toxic romance.
I’ve seen it said a lot and it’s true, it’s like the writers don’t know what to do with James and it shows and that makes it hard to connect to his plots; for me he’s best at CatCo as that’s his element and there’s great things you could do with him there such as have him question characters and how does that affect citizen’s views and the character’s ability to do their job as well as how does the group see things – ex: James took issue with the DEO handling Max in S1, where is that mistrust now when they do shady things? It is okay for James to just be a newsman!
Is the forcing of a ship just to put people off shipping another pairing an issue? Sure, but in this case it’s not the biggest issue to me with the pairing. Mine is the complete rewrite of James to make it happen and how it feels inorganic then and added issue is forcing it just to stop people shipping Lena with women even though that’s not going to stop them.
There’s also the option of as the article said why does Lena have to date anyone right now? It’s okay to be single, which you can still have sex with people during so you get physical moments if that’s what your really just want, as much as it’s ok to be in a relationship. They could have done more with the flirting and again given time to show us James has changed not just tell us but they had them kiss in the episode because why beyond people essentially forcing Lena into, it’s frustrating. That’s another huge issue I have with this plot right now, the fact it felt like everyone was pushing Lena into making a move on James versus us seeing Winn or Kara telling James to go for it with Lena as well, it was very one sided and heavy handed feeling in that regard and it was personally another turn off with this plot for me.
I can get why Lena might like the James she sees at work, again I don’t think she knows about this distrust, and I could get James/Lena if it was more organically written but as is this plot feels like wasted space to me because I don’t buy it. I would buy Sam/Alex even with the issue of Reign to discuss, because Alex doesn’t date people who try to kill her sister, before I would buy James/Lena at this stage. If they do more to explain James’s switch and show him not faulting Lena the instant she does something questionable I might give it a chance but if they continue to say “he changed because he did” then I’m going to continue to say James/Lena is inorganic and part of the episode I don’t like.
James/Lena aside I thought the finale was good; I didn’t care to see Kara-Mon stuff as that’s another romance I found forced on the show as they never explained why Kara Danvers would like someone who didn’t listen to her or respect her feelings most of the time and why Mon liked her beyond her body because he said he did but it didn’t feel that way watching, but I will say I’d rather watch this more mature version of Mon talk to Kara than their stuff in S2. I felt the reveal of Reign in her suit took to long only because we have seen it in promo stuff for months so that felt kind of like wasted time hiding her image; that said I did love the start where we see through her eyes and laser vision before Sam wakes up. I loved the fight though, it’s up there as one of the best Kara has done; Reign as a whole continues to be a great spot to the season and I look forward to seeing what happens with her next! I wish we’d gotten more Alex in the episode but overall I thought it was good, a solid 7 out of 10 if we’re rating.
It was great to see Vasquez back although I would have liked to have seen more of her too; also adorable in this episode – J’onn. 🙂
Amazing article it explained all my thoughts thank you..lena deserve someone who trust and believe in her not someone who doubted her since day one if they don’t want to make supercorp its fine but don’t force another unhealthy relationship on us yk what else is off that kara would never encourage lena to be with james when she knows he always doubted lena’s motivates
He doubted her once. Then he had a change of heart. People do that.
Once? He’s doubted her more than once.
I’ve never been a shipper of SuperCorp, but Lames is just the most aweful direction they could’ve taken. I hate to see all the potential this show had going down the drain…
The show went down the drain since season 2. And it wasn’t that amazing in season 1.
What a random romantic relationship. James never trusted Lena, he always doubts her decisions plus he wanted her out of CatCo when Edge Told the glade story about her hospital. Lames is a no.
I agree, it makes no sense for them to all of a sudden be romantically involved. Not to mention to me personally, he is a boring character.
1. He never trusted Lena: one time is never? I guess him defending her with life and words displays a lack of trust.
2. Always doubts her decisions: When? I am not recalling. Please share these moments.
3. He wanted her out of CatCo.: it is funny how perception works. I saw it as a logical point (that Lena agreed with!) that made sense PR-wise. As Lena herself stated, Luthor rage was so strong no one would trust CatCo if she were in charge. It wasn’t personal, for good or bad, it was business.
Again, it is more than once that he never trusted Lena.
James is the most boring character on the show, he could be taken off and I wouldn’t notice. I don’t really expect they will ever have Supercorp, though I would like to see it. It is moronic that James is an ass to Lena for so long and then he helps her once. And all of a sudden they are romantic? What is their story line going to be about, them trying to separate romance and work? Totally uninteresting to me personally. And the guy is nothing like the original Jimmy Olsen, he seems more like a new character instead. Just my opinion, but James is the least important/re memorable character on the show. I think they just don’t know what to do with him so they just pair him up. I rather see a read relationship, whether friendship between Kara and Lena or maybe more Jonn and his father. Either way Lena deserves a better story line then James romance interest. Guess they are just trying to make him relevant, personally hope it doesn’t last.
He literally got shot. He also defended her against Edge. And I have not checked out their latest scenes but from what I heard he stood with her. Again.
Now tell me when he was an ass to her. Because whenever people say that they have no canon evidence.
He hasn’t been an ass to her face, but in season 2 he was very set against Lena because she was a Luthor, because he was worried it would be Lex and Clark all over again and he didn’t want Kara to get hurt. Which is understandable considering his past with Lex.
I’d say since they’ve officially met since the beginning of season 3 he’s been less weary of her and if what he said in 3×05 when Lena ask’s him if he’s going to gloat to Kara is anything to go by he no longer thinks she’s like Lex (which is something everyone’s ignoring for some reason, true he later said something about her being a Luthor but that was more to do with understanding why others still didn’t trust her rather than his own distrust or that’s how I took it at least). I think few people realise opinion’s aren’t set in stone, you can think something of someone get to know them and discover you were completely wrong.
I think James and Lena/GuardianCorp (I’m not calling it Lames ’cause that’s stupid) could be a great ship, but currently, in my opinion at least, it’s being rushed. I want to see them grow together, see the chemistry rather than being told it’s there. I loved both James and Lena and I hope that CW does better with their relationship in the future.
And just in case there’s any curiosity I’m a hardcore SuperCorp shipper but I love others too 🙂 and I’ll be happy to add GuardianCorp to my growing list.
1. If you got whiplash, it was because you were in denial or not paying attention.
2. More than one occasion, huh? By all means, please name the moments of James doubts.
3. ‘Heteronormative agenda’ is my favorite. Because it loves to stress how James is a man. Talks about how as a man he disrespected her. As how it is typical heteronormative bs that an ‘antagonistic’ (since when is having legit concerns about someone is antagonistic?).
But forgets that James is black. And Lena is white. You cannot pick and choose which identities are valid in this conversation, especially when you are only doing it to suit your needs (you being the supercorp fandom). If you are going to see things through a gendered lense then apply race to it too.
4. Forcing chemistry is what the sg writers do. Why is it a problem now?
5. Man, I would be the first person for more platonic James/Winn but that would not mean Lena/James could not happen (I would be the first person for romantic James/Winn, but that is another convo). Stop using ‘concern’ for James well-being and SL as an excuse for this ship not to happen.
6. And I agree with the litmus test. It is true, if Lena or Kara were men they would probably be together by now. I sincerely believe that.
But please say white guy. Because James and Kara had all of those moments and not only did the SuperCat fandom shit on it/James, CW legit erased their relationship. So just ‘being a guy’ and having those soul declaring words does not equal relationship surety.
A number of articles have already touched on how the show dropped James as Kara’s love interest and how it seemed somewhat racist. But race has nothing to do with this particular topic. James simply has no chemistry with Lena. I’m a heterosexual guy who ships Lena and Kara together. But if James and Lena actually had good romantic/sexual chemistry, I’d ship that too, just like I ship Barry and Iris on “The Flash.” And that is an interracial couple that works for many.
If Lena had to be with a guy, then it should have been Winn. Katie and Jeremy have had more chemistry with each other in the few scenes they’ve had than Katie and Mehcad. It sort of seemed they were headed that way in the second season with Winn and Lena working to get her device going to disable the alien weapons the gang was using in 2×05. I thought it again when they were working on Lex’s device to disperse lead into the air over National City to get rid of the Daxamites. He also has something in common with Lena, besides the interest in tech and that’s trying to live down the reputation of his evil father, the Toyman.
DEAR GOD CAN THE PEOPLE RESPONDING TO THIS PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS IS ABOUT A GODDAMN TV SHOW AND NOT EVEN A PARTICULARLY GOOD ONE AND THAT THE AUTHOR VOICED AN OPINION WHICH IS COMPLETELY VALID. UGHHHHHH. i just read this because i was interested whether other people had a similar opinion to mine (aka that the relationship just seems kinda random) but the comments to this pretty damn elaborate and well explained article annoyed me a lot