8) Superman Returns (Again)
Fans went wild when it was announced that, after a year of fairly contrived explanations for his absence, Kara’s cousin Superman would finally be appearing on the show. His subsequent debut in season 2’s opening two-parter made the episodes some of the highlights of the entire series as Tyler Hoechlin’s Man of Steel was a delight to see. Not to mention that it was a novelty to have an on-screen Superman who wasn’t afraid to smile again.
Sadly, that was all we got from the Big Blue Boy Scout until the final moments of the penultimate episode of the season. And even then, he was under the thrall of evil Queen Rhea, so it wasn’t even actual Superman. In the finale, the Man of Steel then took a backseat as Kara stepped up to be “champion of Earth.” That was probably the right move for the show – it is called Supergirl, after all – but we still want more from the character.
Perhaps next year they could feature Hoechlin in a multi-episode mini-arc, maybe somewhere in the middle of the season so as to give it a boost. Or maybe bring back Mark Gibbon as General Zod and have both Superman and Supergirl face off against the Kryptonian criminal.