Supergirl recently shocked fans when it sent away not one, but two characters in its third season finale -- we miss you already Winn -- announcing that Chris Wood would also officially exit the series as Mon-El of Daxam, I found myself conflicted over this choice, wondering whether his story was really over, or if his character's exit felt kind of... off?
After sending Mon-El into a mysterious vortex that turned out to be the future at the end of Season 2, he spent the first half of Season 3 off-screen, with Kara (Melissa Benoist) working through her anger and sadness over their separation. When he returned to the past with a wife in tow, it seemed as if the writers had found a new way to throw yet another creative obstacle in that path of this relationship, while also giving Mon-El some meaty story to dig his teeth into.
Supergirl Season 3 Finale: A Major Character Exits
For the most part, Mon-El spent the back half of the season at war with himself over his duty to his wife and his lingering feelings of devotion to Kara. In fact, the longer the storyline progressed, the stronger Mon-El's feelings for Kara grew, and he genuinely started leaning towards choosing to remain with her in the present.
Perhaps that's why it was so confusing when Mon-El made an abrupt about-face in the Season 3 finale and decided to part ways with Kara and return to the future, which was facing a new evil. It was an anticlimactic way to end the story arc, but if we look only at Mon-El's love story with Kara, it also feels like viewers were cheated out of something good.
Chris Wood, Supergirl" data-image-credit="SHANE HARVERY, SHANE HARVEY/THE CW" data-image-alt-text="Chris Wood, Supergirl" data-image-credit-url="" data-image-target-url="" data-image-title="Chris Wood, Supergirl" data-image-filename="180621-chris-wood-supergirl.jpg" data-image-date-created="2018/06/21" data-image-crop="" data-image-crop-gravity="" data-image-aspect-ratio="" data-image-height="1380" data-image-width="2070" data-image-do-not-crop="" data-image-do-not-resize="" data-image-watermark="" data-lightbox="">Almost every time two lovers are torn apart and then kept apart by endless plot devices and obstacles, it's so that we can feel the satisfying "awww" moment when they reunite in an epic kiss of passion and longing under a banner of stars and fireworks as the happily-ever-after credits roll. It's the stuff 'ships are made of. In that respect, fans of the Karamel relationship did get thrown for a loop, since the standard laws of love stories seemed to indicate Kara and Mon-El would find their way back to each other eventually.
However, when you remove that love story from the equation, you get a clearer picture of why this story ended the way it did; Mon-El had established a life in another time (seven years there versus the few months he had on Earth), and that story was consistent with the comics that placed his character in the Legion of Superheroes. The show has deviated from the comics often enough that doing so in this instance wouldn't have been out of the question, but I'm honestly glad it didn't.
CW Fall Premiere Dates: Here's When Supernatural, The Flash and More Return
I've often complained about female characters who enter TV shows as love interests and fail to ever get the development or storylines that constitute a fully-formed character outside of said love story. There's a big difference between creating a love story for a character and creating a character for a love story. It would be hypocritical not to fight for that same concept for male characters -- though they admittedly fall victim to this problem a lot less -- which is what I keep coming back to for Mon-El.
Story-wise, his character had a mission, a career, and a life built in the future, and he had nothing but Kara tying him to the past. While it would have been super romantic to watch him leave all that behind for the woman he loved, what exactly was he supposed to do in Season 4? Help Kara at the DEO? Return to mixing drinks at the alien bar? Outside of his ties to Kara, his storyline had run its course, much in the same way Winn's (Jeremy Jordan) storyline puttered out. It would set off my rage-alarm had a female character shoved her life aside for a dude only to float through future seasons as strictly a love interest. I have to hold Mon-El to that same standard and admit that as adorable as his, "I'm so in love with Kara Danvers" face is, it was just not enough to keep him on the show for another year.
Do you think Mon-El's story came to its natural conclusion? Or were you ready for more?
Supergirl returns Sunday, October 14 at 8/7c on The CW.
(Full Disclosure: TV Guide is owned by CBS, one of The CW's parent companies.)
Other Links From TVGuide.com SupergirlMelissa BenoistChris Wood