CBSChange has come to Supergirl.
Superman's heading back to Metropolis. (Come back soon, Tyler Hoechlin!) Cat Grant has left the building. (Again, come back soon, Calista Flockhart!) Jimmy Olsen is keeping Cat's seat at CatCo warm while she's away. Kara's (Melissa Benoist) got a herself a new boss who isn't much of a fan. Oh, and the man from the pod has woken up and currently has his hands around Kara's throat.
The second episode of season two, the show's first at its new network home, was stuffed to the gills and left us with plenty of questions about the future of the series. Luckily, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg's got some answers.
See You Soon, Superman?
Speaking with reporters following a recent screening of the episode, Kreisberg was cagey about the possible return of the Man of Steel. "We're thrilled with working Tyler, which has been an amazing experience. We just selfishly hope we get to do it again because it really added to the show in a way," he said. When pressed about any solid plans, all had to offer was, "We're working on it. We'll see. Hope springs eternal." In the meantime, expect to see more texting between the famous cousins.
"We always like the text messaging. It's funny. That is how people communicate now, you know? So those text message scenes were always a pleasure to write," Kriesbeg said. "Now that Tyler has inhabited the part and casts a long shadow, whenever there's discussion of Superman in subsequent episodes or the thought of them talking to each other or somebody says, 'I'll check in with Superman,' it's like, now you can imagine Tyler. So it makes all of those mentions and the idea of him being out there that much more powerful."
Goodbye For Now, Cat Grant
Cat Grant may have abdicated her throne at CatCo, but don't think that's the last you've seen of departing series regular Calista Flockhart—or the feminist energy her regular powwows with Kara lent the show. The Supergirl team is hard at work to find a way to work the media mogul's return to her empire into Flockhart's schedule. For how many episodes, you ask? "Hopefully as many as we can get," Kreisberg said. "But we love working with Calista and Calista loves the show, which is why she came back to do this."
As for replacing her feminist spirit, Kreisberg isn't worried. "For us, I think the most, the strongest quote-unquote feminist thing about the show is Kara herself, and just as a character what Kara does week in and week out and the challenges that she's presented with and how she overcomes them, both physically and emotionally," he said. "That, to me, is the biggest statement towards having a power female on television is by not talking about it, but actually showing a powerful female on television."
Jimmy's New Gig
There's more change in store for James (Mehcad Brooks) besides just holding down the fort in Cat's absence—and it's a move that'll put him in direct opposition with his former flame Kara. "James is going to decide that he can no longer sit back and be a sidekick, so he's going to become a vigilante and he's going to become Guardian, complete with the shield," Kriesberg revealed. "Which is going to cause a massive problem in his relationship with Kara because he decided not to tell her, so now there's this new masked vigilante and she has her own feelings about vigilantes and it becomes sort of a push and pull about who gets to decide about who gets to be a hero. And he's recruited Winn (Jeremy Jordan) to help him, so Winn is his man in the van…Winn and James together is comedy gold."
Meet Mon-El
The man in the pod (played by Chris Wood) may be handsome, but he's no friend to Kara. Yet. "For the next episode, he's the prime suspect in this assassin that's trying to kill the president," Kriesberg teased. "The last thing Mon-El remembers was being on an alien world and he jumps in a pod, and suddenly he wakes up in a strange world. He's all alone. He's surrounded by people with guns and he's having a reaction. He's reacting to the fact that he has superpowers, which he wasn't expecting. How that story weaves about, and how he and Kara come together by the end, is hopefully pretty clever and interesting."
New Boss From Hell
Don't expect Snapper Carr (Ian Gomez), CatCo's head of investigative reporting and Kara's reluctant new boss, to warm up to her super charm too quickly. "I think as tough as Cat was, Kara knew that Cat was her mentor and they would have convivial conversations and they would share emotions and share things about their lives. Snapper doesn't care about that," Kreisberg said, laughing. "And Kara's not a good reporter yet. She's learning. In the next episode, she writes this piece that she thinks is so great and he just rips it to shreds. And he's right to. And I think that's what's interesting."
Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on the CW.