The third season of The CW’s SUPERGIRL kicked off on Monday night, with Kara still recovering from last season’s finale, and doubting whether she’s doing enough to help the people of National City.

Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) had to make a crushing decision at the end of Season 2. With the Daxamite army taking over her hometown, she made the call to enact a lethal option against her opponents: release a concentration of lead – the fatal weakness of the Daxamites – into the air around National City and the world, to force them to flee the planet or die. That meant that her boyfriend, Mon-El (Chris Wood) was forced to leave as well.

As we open the season, the defensive act is still weighing heavily on her mind, as Kara dreams not only of Mon-El, but of her mother, Alura (now being played by former SMALLVILLE Lois Lane Erica Durance). As she continues to fly around National City saving people, it’s clear that her other responsibilities are taking a back seat. She’s been an absentee sister to Alex (Chyler Leigh), who’s readying for her wedding to Maggie; she’s let her duties as a reporter for CatCo fall by the wayside; and she’s blown off spending time with her best friend, Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath).

Her new concentration as Supergirl has dropped the crime rate in National City, and after years of fits and starts trying to keep the trust of the people, she’s being rewarded with a statue by the waterfront.

While most are excited about this, one developer isn’t wild about it. Morgan Edge (Adrian Pasdar) wants the waterfront land to build luxury hi-rises, a plan opposed by both LuthorCorp and CatCo. In retaliation, Edge tries to buy CatCo, since its founder Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) had to put her controlling interest in the company in a blind trust when she became press secretary for the President. Lena, however, steps in and saves the day, buying the media company herself, because she wants the opportunity to work with her best friend. Needless to say, she was disappointed to learn that Kara had quit her job.

Kara’s decision to quit CatCo is another part of her devotion to being Supergirl and saving lives. Pushing away her friends and family is how she decides to cope with losing Mon-El, and Alex, James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) and the rest of the team at the DEO decide to let give her some space, though Alex is clearly upset about not having her sister taking part in the wedding planning. Kara even blew off free pot stickers, her favorite appetizer. She clearly picked up some key brooding tips from Oliver Queen when she was on the other Earth for the INVASION! crossover last season.

Thankfully, there’s enough going on in National City to keep Supergirl busy, like attacks from freak-of-the-week Bloodsport. The mercenary goes after the unveiling ceremony of the Girl of Steel statue, and is thwarted in due course. But he’s working for someone, right? Kara goes after his benefactor, the slimy Morgan Edge, and leaves him on top of a shipping freighter in the middle of the ocean after warning him to not mess with National City.

In the end, Kara decides she doesn’t want to be emo Supergirl and reunites with her friends and family. I’m hoping the show has gotten the moodiness out of its system with this episode, because I would hate to see this show brought down with the gloom the same way The Flash was last season.

Show Notes:

• During the attack on the waterfront, a young girl runs into Alex, causing the girl’s mother to make her daughter apologize. Later, the girl is caught under scaffolding, and her mother gets a burst of super-strength to save the girl. Supermom was played b Odette Annabelle, and she’ll be playing a big part this season.

• In the comics, Morgan Edge is the head of a criminal organization known as Intergang, and also the head of the WGBS television network, which employed Cat Grant.

The Super Cinco

This season, we’re introducing weekly Power Rankings to the Arrowverse recaps. Each recap will include an individual ranking, with an overall ranking posted every weekend that shows air. Let’s take a look at who had the best week in SUPERGIRL‘s season premiere:

1 – Lena Luthor – Saves the day by buying CatCo and has the line of the night when she told Morgan Edge he had “all the charisma of a Michael Douglas movie from the ’90s.”

2 – Alex Danvers – Gives Kara the biggest push she needed to get out of her funk, reminding her sister that Kara saved Alex’s life more times than Supergirl ever could.

3 – James Olsen – Treads that fine line between being Kara’s friend and Kara’s boss, and also stood up to Edge. Bonus points for not having to deal with him as Guardian this episode.

4 – Supergirl / Kara Danvers – Sure, she saved the day and took down Bloodsport. And she dropped Edge in the middle of the ocean, but points are deducted for pushing her friends away when she really should have leaned on them.

5 – Hank Henshaw / Martian Manhunter – The head of the DEO didn’t have a whole lot to do this episode, but his alien-to-alien talk with Kara before the waterfront attack seemed to do its job.

That’s all for this week. Be sure to check out Joe’s recaps of THE FLASH and LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, and then I’ll be back later this week with ARROW and the inaugural ARROWVERSE POWER RANKINGS!