Supergirl EPs, star Jon Cryer on Lex Luthor twist, [SPOILER]'s fate, and more
Warning: The following contains spoilers from Sunday’s Supergirl. Read at your own risk.
Spoiler alert: Jon Cryer’s Lex Luthor pulled off quite the evil scheme — as all Lex Luthors are wont to do — in tonight’s Supergirl.
In Sunday’s episode, Lex, who was secretly furloughed from prison because he was dying from cancer (that’s what happens when you spend too much time around Kryptonite) betrayed Lena (Katie McGrath). It turns out he arranged for James (Mehcad Brooks) to be shot because he believed that would push Lena to finish the serum she’s been working on. Of course, it did and she ended up using it on James (who survives), but Lex also managed to take it, too, before Lena could stop him. His plan didn’t end there, though.
With the help of both Eve Teschmacher (Andrea Brooks), who has been working for Lex the entire time, and Otis Graves (Robert Baker), who is actually still alive, a newly cured Lex imprisoned Lena in the Luthor mansion, took out the rest of the prison guards in a gleefully over-the-top sequence of explosions, and commandeered a helicopter. But the injustice gang’s escape is interrupted by Supergirl (Melissa Benoist), who comes face to face with her cousin’s greatest enemy right as the episode ends. (Read our full recap of the episode here)
At a recent screening of the episode, Cryer and showrunners/executive producers Jessica Queller and Robert Rovner revealed that next week’s episode, titled “The House L,” picks up right where tonight’s left off.
“There’s a super-awesome fight between Lex Luthor and Supergirl that opens the next episode,” Rovner told reporters on Friday. “What’s cool about the fight is that it takes us to the Daily Planet, so we get to see Lex and Supergirl at the Daily Planet messing stuff up.”
“It’s too short, as far as I’m concerned. I could punch her forever,” joked Cryer. “But I have to say, again, the 14-year-old boy in me comes out because we did one of the shots where Supergirl lands on the roof and she’s got the Beyoncé fan blowing her hair and I got chills because it’s just so beautifully done.”
From there, the rest of next week’s episode will use flashbacks to reveal how Lex has been pulling strings from behind bars and, more importantly, that he’s involved in the long-simmering Red Daughter plot.
“She’s masterful, and you’ll see the character is so different from the character of Kara, and so it’s remarkable,” said Queller. “You’ll see the whole origin story of Red Daughter.”
Below, Queller, Rovner, and Cryer share more teases about what’s to come in the rest of the season.
The rest of the season will explore James and Lex’s relationship: “The impact of Lex Luthor on James’ character is profound moving forward and it’s something he deals with for the rest of the season, and we’ll kind of see them lock horns by the season finale,” teased Rovner. Furthermore, both characters will experience side-effects from the drug they took in this episode. “There will be complications and that plays out in the rest of the season for sure,” said Quller, with Cryer adding, “Some powers might be involved. I’m putting that out there.”
We’re heading towards a girl-power team-up: In the wake of Lex’s betrayal, Lena will join forces with Supergirl and Alex to take him down. “It’s a very nice reaction to Lex,” said Queller. “We see Supergirl and Alex and Lena kind of all rallying together to be a united team to find him and bring him to justice. So, there’s a lot of that dynamic at play as we move forward to the end of the season.”
J’onn (David Harewood) suffers an identity crisis after killing Manchester Black: “J’onn’s identity crisis brings us to a very emotional place and he’s sort of the phoenix rising from the ashes. He has to really soul search and forge a new path,” said Queller. In fact, this new struggle will lead to the return of Carl Lumbly, who plays his deceased father M’yrnn, in episode 17; however, the showrunners declined to tease how M’yrnn returns.
There’s still much to explore about Brainy (Jesse Rath) and Nia’s (Nicole Maines) kiss: “This is just the beginning of their will they won’t they romance,” said Queller.
An evil family reunion is coming too: The showrunners confirmed that Brenda Strong, who plays matriarch Lillian Luthor, will indeed return at the end of the season. “The family should be together by the season finale,” said Rovner.
James’ sister Kelly is sticking around: Of course, Kelly Olsen (Azie Tesfai) will play a big role in James’ storyline as he bounces back from this brush with death, but she’ll also develop a connection with another one of the characters. “Kelly and Alex are going to become close,” said Queller. And you can expect more of Tesfai beyond this season because she’ll be a series regular in season 5.
Supergirl airs Sundays at 8 p.m on The CW.
