I love a
good familial relationship, and the Danvers sisters have quite a good one. It has complexity and conflict, but it’s also
absolutely loving and comes from a continual place of support for and belief in
one another. This one gets extra points
for showing such deep ties between adoptive sisters, which doesn’t always get
its due in the media (some Kara-Alex-related spoilers.)
Kara has
friends, she has mentors, and she’s had love interests, but from Day One, it’s
always been her and Alex. It began in a
pretty unhealthy way, with Alex taught to sublimate her needs for the sake of
her alien adopted sister’s. Kara’s
childhood and Alex’s teen years were frequently about considering Kara’s
feelings as someone who’d lost her home and family, helping Kara understand her
powers while keeping them hidden, teaching Kara how to navigate “normal” human
life, and making Kara feel welcomed and loved in the Danvers family. All of this is important, obviously, but a lot of it came at the
expense of Alex’s emotional well-being rather than alongside it. It’s a pattern that continues to crop up today,
with Alex blaming herself whenever she “lets” anything bad happen to Kara, and
Kara not even realizing when she makes things all about herself without
considering what Alex might need.
But
they’re working on it. The series begins
with them starting to really get to
know each other. When Kara first reveals
herself to the world, Alex is immediately there to scold her for being reckless
and indiscreet, even though it was seeing Alex in danger that made Kara step
up. However, just as Alex needs to get
used to the idea that her “baby” sister believes herself to have the great
responsibility that comes with great power, Kara needs to meet the Alex she’s
never seen, the badass DEO agent who fights alien threats and works to keep
National City safe behind the scenes while Kara flies through the sky with a
red cape. More revelations. Kara isn’t incapable – she’s hugely powerful
and has an enormous drive to do good – but there’s a lot she doesn’t know, and
Alex’s experience and expertise is instrumental in helping Kara hone her raw
abilities into talents.
Working
side by side at the DEO, they’ve grown together so much. They look out for each other in the field
(sometimes to the other’s “I can take care of myself!” exasperation,) and they
make each other better, both as fighters and as investigators/agents (and now,
in Alex’s case, as director.) Kara’s
sunny impulsiveness is balanced out by Alex’s cynical practicality, and each
brings their own strengths to the table.
They can clash hard, but when they do, it’s usually because one thinks
the other is endangering themselves by going about things the wrong way, and
when they make up, it’s with mutual, heartfelt understanding.
Alex’s
relationship with Maggie also changed her relationship with Kara in some
interesting ways. It shook up their patterns
quite a bit, as Kara had to learn to be proactive in recognizing when Alex
needs support – Alex doesn’t often put herself in a position to be vulnerable
in front of people she cares about, and Kara got used to not having to look for
it. Additionally, while Kara will likely
always be Alex’s number-one person, Alex getting together with Maggie was the
first time Kara had any serious rival for Alex’s attention, and both struggled
a little bit with figuring out where the balances lies in Alex’s life between
her sister and her girlfriend.
Relationships
have come and gone on both sides – James, Maggie, Mon-El. Dynamics have changed, with Alex now
wrestling with the responsibility that comes with being DEO director and knowing
that her decisions could risk her sister’s life. But at the end of the day, no matter what’s
happened, what journey either character has been on, and what’s passed between
them, it comes down to two sisters sitting on a couch, eating takeout in their
bare feet as they offer one another advice, support, commiseration, or whatever
else they might need. Danvers sisters
forever!
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