The CW's "Supergirl" is fresh off the high of it's best season yet. Season four was an in-depth exploration of the 'Fear of the Other' theme as well as indoctrination. It hit many beats other shows have yet to cover when addressing the current sociopolitical crises of America. When asked if season five will have another overarching theme, executive producer Jessica Queller answers in the affirmative.
"The theme for season five is technology. We're calling it our 'Black Mirror' season. We're exploring how technology is literally changing the fabric of humanity and our addiction to our devices. At the end of last season we took down the bad President and it's time to rebuild the world. However that job is so overwhelming, people tend to want to escape in technology and that might be exploited against them."
Robert Rovner is first to speak about Kara's new costume. "We think it's awesome!"
"We're so excited about it," adds Queller. "It's something we've been wanting to do for a long time. We just needed to find the right time in-between seasons to build it and conceive it and create it. We think it is so powerful and iconic and suits Melissa's interpretation of Supergirl. We're just thrilled. The idea has been in development for a long time."
Supergirl Producers Jessica Queller and Robert Rovner Interview:
Another development in season four was the relationship between Alex Danvers and Kelly Olsen. Their initial bond was entirely platonic but by the time the season wrapped it was clear that something more had blossomed.
"I think it's inevitable for anybody to hit bumps in a relationship," says Chyler Leigh. "It's very new so they're still trying to figure [things] out and get to know one another. They both live in such a crazy world, that's just the dynamic of what they do and I think it's just a matter of figuring out how those two pieces fit together and learn a lot along the way."
When asked about if their shared story will involve any of the show's action, the possibility seems open.
"For the first part of this season it's a bit more about the relationship and towards the latter half, cause so much happens with the crossover," begins Leigh before Azie Tesfai chimes in.
"A little bit in the beginning. See this is why I'm not allowed to talk because I'll tell you everything. I didn't do anything action-wise, [Chyler] is a pro, but I do a little bit. Remember I threw myself on the ground and it wasn't necessary? They were like, 'Don't do that!' I was like, 'Sorry, I got too excited!'"
Leigh is also excited about the return of Jeremy Jordan, who will be appearing as a guest star for a still-undisclosed storyline. "It makes my heart so happy. Everybody's been my favourite scene partner. We're so lucky because we have such phenomenal actors and actresses on the show. But with Jeremy being there from the beginning, he's like my buddy, he's like my little brother. I've always loved that dynamic and we've missed him terribly since he's been gone. To know that he's gonna come back for a bit and the capacity in which he's coming back and that dynamic, the storyline, I'm so excited. It's gonna be awesome."
"And I can't wait to hear him sing on set," adds Tesfai.
Chyler Leigh and Azie Tesfai Interview:
Another cliffhanger revealed at the end of season four was that another Martian was lying in wait to collide with J'onn. David Harewood promises this plot point will start up right away.
"It takes him a while to figure it out and there's some torturous self-examination going on to find out exactly who this person is. But once he realises it it's a major thing. He's quite angry so it's gonna be interesting to see how this plays out and a difficult adversary because he's as capable as J'onn but more deviant."
Brainy's relationship is back on with Dreamer, despite his foray into going bad when being electrically tortured. Rath has a lot to say about the process of developing this Bad-Brainy performance.
"I'd spoken a lot with Eric Carrasco at the time, we were planning the scene. I had told him about an episode of Legion of Superheroes, the cartoon. He had this whole Little Boxes storyline and we realised it was the perfect culmination of both things. The freak-out scene, he had written in the script that everything he says has the opposite emotion of what it should be. I had to plan out what I was going to do. In terms of the post-alignment Brainy, I just wanted to do something that was void of all emotion. That was something almost monotone, I did this thing to my voice, coincidentally, I had lost my voice with all the screaming I had done in the scene prior. It worked in my favour to have this zero-emotion voice. I even thought of different ways he would move, like he would look at you before he would turn his head. I had a lot of fun playing around with things like that. In that freak-out alignment scene, there were a lot of things I wanted to hit. I wanted to hit the OG Brainiac, I wanted to do a Keanu Brainy at one point..."
"I've never known an actor to be SO into this. He knows so much about comic books and about Brainy, it's literally like an encyclopedia. It's quite extraordinary," interjects Harewood.
"I also did an Indigo Brainy. There were a couple lines from that freakout scene that got cut out. Originally I was doing like a Laura Vandervoort impression where I wanted to have sex with the guard that was torturing me. For some reason they cut that all out, I don't know why! There also exists a version where I did it in French. I did a French version of the freak-out. That also didn't make the cut."
"It was quite great to see on the day," adds Harewood.
Jesse Rath and David Harewood Interview:
Season five will also see Melissa Benoist stepping into the role of director for the first time, after four seasons of learning a lot about the role in unofficial preparation.
"Our show is so massive to produce, it really is a monster. What I've been so impressed by, I've loved our crew already but seeing how everyone interacts and what it takes to get all the moving parts oiled and running well and the train moving is a massive effort. I'm so proud to work with the people I do. That's been the biggest lesson for me. I think every actor should shadow and go through prep even if they're not going to direct."
Benoist is also proud of the socially relevant writing of season four and picking a favourite piece of that proves difficult.
"It's so hard because I was really proud of a lot of it. I felt like Red Daughter was some of the most fun I've had on the show. It was something so different. Exploring the idea of indoctrination and how people come to believe what they believe so devoutly was really fascinating. Any scene with Kara standing up to President Baker felt good, any scene with Kara writing to expose the truth, it was kind of like acting out wish fulfillment. A lot of the journalism scenes I felt very proud of as well."
Kara's relationship with Lena is one of the most popular topics of discussion in the Supergirl fandom and many are eager to know what will happen in the aftermath of Lena discovering the truth about Kara being Supergirl. Executive producer Jessica Queller says that it will be a major part of season five.
"It will be hugely important. One of the central stories this season is the friendship between Lena and Kara and whether or not it can survive. Lena's achilles heel is betrayal and she has made that clear to her friends from the beginning. The way she found out about this betrayal with Lex twisting the knife and sort of pouring salt in the wound affects how she feels about it so that will be a huge central story."
Benoist is coy when asked about the upcoming tension between the two characters. "Choppy waters. Storm's on the horizon. That's what we can tease!"
Melissa Benoist and Sarah Schechter Interview:
