The Gaurdian storyline: what was the point? Why does James have to be an action hero?

Can someone please explain to me what goal the Guardian story line accomplished? I can't be the only one who saw it as an enormous time suck.
This is all the more galling because the "character growth" this arc gave James came from overcoming a flaw that he never had before the guardian storyline was introduced.
Really? James can be a hero without a suit? Duh!!
We already knew that!! So why put James in the suit in the first place? Are they afraid that if we don't see him punch bad guys on a regular basis we will see him as less of a man?
Then again maybe it's more of an age thing because it would appear that on this show nearly everyone under fifty is a good fighter. Even Lena ("did I ever mention that I'm a Luther" ) manages to hold her own in a fist fight despite her being season 2's most frequent damsel in distress.

Cat Grant, Elisa Danvers, Snapper Carr, and President Marsden are the only recurring characters that we haven't seen throw a single punch, and they're all middle-aged. (Well perhaps not President Marsden, what with her being an alien shape shifter it is unclear what her actual age is as well as her expected lifespan)

If the point of the Gaurdian storyline was that there is more than one kind hero why not just show James out in the field with his camera being a different kind of hero. As CEO, Cat still wrote articles when she felt like it, and so did James so why not just show him out in the field instead of having him shill the Gaurdian.