Though Supergirl season 3 is only five episodes in, the introduction of Samantha Arias AKA future Big Bad villain Reign has possibly been the strongest start to any villain thus far in the DCTV universe. Like Harrison Wells, or Reverse Flash, and Slade Wilson, Sam is also starting out as an ally to the hero, but her story has already begun to take a more interesting turn than the others.
Friendly Foes
Slade Wilson and Reverse Flash have been formidable foes to Oliver Queen and Barry Allen, respectively, but their buildup had none of the interest or intensity of Sam’s. Slade began as Oliver’s friend on Lian Yu, where he was stranded for years, and they grew close attempting to survive the many horrors on the island, but slowly we began to see their friendship fade away piece by piece until Slade showed up in Starling City during Arrow season 2 ready to kill Oliver.
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Likewise, Harrison Wells (the fake one, also known as Eobard Thawne) began The Flash series as Barry, Caitlin and Cisco’s mentor, who they later learned was holding knives in their backs all along. Like Slade, Harrison showed up evil, as do all of the villains we generally see on these shows, but Samantha hasn’t, which is going to complicate things later on.
Sam has started season 3 of Supergirl as a loving mom, devoted employee and dedicated friend to Lena Luthor and Kara. There’s no evil on her mind; however, it seems as though the evil resides within her and is fighting to the surface after her powers were unexpectedly channeled. We’re seeing Sam resist this while it’s overpowering her will and taking over her mind, all while she has a growing friendship with Kara. Unlike Harrison and Slade, Sam has no intention of killing or hurting Kara, and at some point in the season we’re going to see that change.
Family
Another complicating factor about Samantha is her daughter, Ruby. Sam has put her life in danger to save Ruby, thrown herself into the path of destruction to find her daughter, and got lucky by having powers to save her and having Supergirl in town to save them both. For a dedicated mother to turn pure evil, something drastic is going to have to happen, which could possibly involve Ruby. Stakes are higher because of how much her daughter means to her, and when Sam turns into Reign, where is her daughter going to be?
It’s not like, for instance, Damien Darhk, who had a daughter during Arrow season 4 and couldn’t have cared less. Sam genuinely loves her daughter with all of her heart, and to have such a dark turn take place inside of her could destroy that relationship, or it could turn Ruby with her, too. Any option is so bizarrely complicated that it’s going to be intriguing to see it play out.
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All of that aside, Sam, too, is from Krypton, was adopted and is discovering powers she doesn’t understand. It really puts her on a similar level to Kara or even Superman (whom she most closely resembles due to her age when she landed on Earth.) This kinship is similar to Astra since she was Kara’s aunt, yet unfamiliar because the two aren’t family. Does being from the same planet and in a similar predicament change how Kara handles this villain?
Why She’s the Best DCTV Villain
At this point, Sam/Reign is shaping up to be the best villain on the many DCTV series. Each season of every show, the villain gets so much buildup for an unsatisfactory takedown because they’re introduced with an evil agenda in the very first episode out of 22 or 23 per season. Supergirl is taking the time to fully develop its villain instead of having her attack the hero right off the bat, which hasn’t been done before.
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Seeing Sam’s journey to evil is going to put more fans on her side, rather than everyone being against the villain and ready to take them down immediately. Going forward, fans and the characters on the show are going to be questioning whether to save Sam or stop her because of the way Reign is showing within her, which adds a layer of concern, fear and hope to the show that none of the others have been able to capture.
What do you think? Is Sam progressing to be the best villain, or are you uninterested in her journey to evil? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Supergirl airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW. Like our Supergirl Facebook page!
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
