The third season of Supergirl flies in tonight, October 9, at 8PM ET/PT on The CW. The season opener is called “Girl of Steel” and it picks up several months after Kara had to say goodbye to Mon-El after his mother was defeated.

The CW made the episode available for press late last week, and while it’s not the blockbuster that last year’s season premiere had been, there are some good parts. My own initial response, however, might not have been so bright. Read on for some thoughts

— The light and the darkness: The opening of Supergirl Season 3 is very, very bright. This is where we first see Erica Durance taking over the role of Kara’s mom, Alura. It is wonderful to see Erica on a Super-project again, but I can imagine the scene may be confusing for those who don’t follow the news on the Internet and are therefore unaware of the recasting. “Who’s that lady in the field?” one might wonder. It’s funny because it’s the opposite of the feeling I had when I watched the Supergirl pilot, when I was perplexed as to why the villain at the end looked just like her mother.

— Yes, Chris Wood appears in the season premiere. And Mon-El is certainly not forgotten.

— Have patience: As soon as the sequence with Alura is over, the season premiere gets very dark and uncomfortably dark. There is some gorgeous imagery of Supergirl hovering in the sky that looks like it’s right out of an Alex Ross painting, but then we get to everyday life and Kara is still super gloomy over what happened in last season’s finale. She actually becomes unlikable, which is the same trap Arrow and The Flash fell into in their third seasons. It had me worried that this would be the new direction for the show, but thankfully, I don’t think this is a long-term affliction. So, if it’s too dark for you, have patience; it gets better. I admit, though, I thought it was impossible to ever dislike Kara — much like I never expected to hate Barry Allen before last season of The Flash — but in a good portion of this premiere I really, really didn’t like Kara.

I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler, though, to admit that when Kara finally does smile in the premiere, it feels like a “win.” That’s the charming, happy Supergirl I fell in love with watching. I’m not suggesting that happy characters should never be sad, but I am saying that it’s a nice escape to watch a series where the good guys are smiling, and optimism is usually why I like them.

— Morgan Edge: Adrian Pasdar of Heroes fame joins the cast in the role of Morgan Edge, a ruthless businessman type. I’ve loved Pasdar in a lot of his past work — see Profit for a series that was well before its time — but I feel it isn’t until his second scene that Edge really clicks. Edge has some great scenes with Lena, and his storyline also seems to give James more to do that doesn’t involve the Guardian. All great things for the series.

— Lena! Katie McGrath is now a series regular on the show, and she has 95% of the best scenes of the episode. Like the friendship and interaction between Clark and Lex on Smallville, any instance of Kara and Lena is great for both of the characters. At least at this point, it seems Lena really does have all of the right intentions, though she seems a bit sad that Kara has distanced herself from everyone.

It does seem, though, that they’re barely even trying to hide Katie McGrath’s natural accent. Can’t we just say that Lena was adopted from the U.K.?

But yes, Lena is by and far my favorite part of the Supergirl Season 3 premiere.

— “Sanvers.” Alex is obviously distracted by Kara’s recent behavior, but there’s also something else that’s on her mind in the wedding plans with Maggie, who despite no longer being a series regular, is in the season premiere just as much as when she was one. I’m nervous to see how this one may end, but as always, Chyler Leigh, especially, brings out one of the best performances of the premiere, and a scene with J’Onn is heartwarming.

— Cat Grant. Calista Flockhart’s Cat Grant does appear in the episode, becoming, essentially, the much more attractive version of Sean Spicer on Earth-38. There’s a little political humor, though not as heavy-handed as it was in late Season 2, but it’s very timely as the words “moron” and “President” were in the same sentence, just like the news headlines of the real world.

— And finally: Odette Annable joins the cast as a young mother…. with dreams of her own. Annable seems to be a great addition to the Supergirl cast and brings a lot of heart to her character of Samantha in the scenes we see of her in “Girl of Steel.”

So, how is it? I’d rank the Supergirl premiere behind the Flash premiere which I have also seen, but I’m more excited to see what’s coming next. There are some great things set up here and I think week-to-week it’s going to be a fun journey if we can get through the slog of unlikable season premiere Kara. This one gets three Super-shields from me out of a possible five… though I have no doubt I’ll be liking future installments more.

Photos from the season premiere can be found here and you’re all welcomed to join the countdown and talk about the episode on our Supergirl forum!