Will Cat Grant Be Back in Supergirl Season 3?

“Yes, I’ve been gone for a while, but I’m back,” says Cat Grant to a live TV audience at a key moment in tonight’s episode of Supergirl, titled “Resist.”

Grant, played by former series regular Calista Flockhart, will appear in a total of four season 2 episodes — the first two and the last two — and has been sorely missed by the series’ fan base over the course of the season.

While the reasons behind Grant’s departure — Flockhart’s inability to relocate from Los Angeles to Vancouver when the show got picked up for its second season –are not story-driven, this week, her tale very much seemed like it was hinting at a more permanent return.

Besides “tidying up” her office, essentially complaining about and occasionally removing the tchotchkes placed there by her successor in the office, James Olsen, she ended her speech with a defiant “I’m not going anywhere.”

There has been no indication that Flockhart has changed her position on moving to Vancouver, although with upfronts coming on Thursday and The CW ready to announce a series of casting and scheduling moves, it’s not implausible that they found some sort of deal with the actress that would allow Cat to appear, if not as a regular then at least more frequently in season 3.

At this point, it’s just speculation but given the way her character was written, it almost seems like it ought to be a clue. After all, if Cat makes it sound like she’s back for good, but then Flockhart and the network don’t make that happen, it could frustrate fans, who have been eager for more.

The other possibility — and one that may aggrieve fans even more — is that Grant could end up dying in the finale next week. Certainly she has been in danger often, and in tonight’s episode openly acknowledged that she was putting herself there of her own volition. It has also been a season about mothers, and whatever happens next week, it seems likely that Mon-El will lose his. It might be a poignant (if painful) parallel for Kara to lose one of her maternal figures, as well.

A little less than a week until we find out what it all means…!

More Supergirl news:

• Superman Fights Supergirl In Season Finale Sneak Preview
• Supergirl EP Warns Fans To Bring Kleenex For Season Finale
• Supergirl EP On Superman And Cat Grant’s Roles In Finale
• Supergirl: What Happened Next In the Comics?

Distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. International Television Distribution, SUPERGIRL is executive produced by Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash), Ali Adler (The New Normal), Andrew Kreisberg (The Flash, Arrow) and Sarah Schechter (Blindspot, The Mysteries of Laura). Supergirl is based on the characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and appearing in DC Comics, by special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family.

The season finale of Supergirl, titled “Nevertheless, She Persisted,” airs Monday, May 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.