‘Supergirl’ boss answers burning questions

Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Monday’s episode of Supergirl. Read at your own risk!

The Danvers family reunion did not go well during Monday’s episode of Supergirl.

Reunited with Jeremiah (Dean Cain) after a decade, Alex (Chyler Leigh) was quick to let her father in, while Kara (Melissa Benoist) was fast to side with new boyfriend Mon-El (Chris Wood) in being suspicious. Their worst fears came true when Jeremiah betrayed the Department of Extranormal Operations, downloading the alien registration list and fighting off J’onn (David Harewood) with his bionic arm.

But could Jeremiah ultimately have good intentions? Pleading with Alex that he’s actually protecting his daughters, Jeremiah runs when his eldest was unable to shoot him, Point Break-style. When Jeremiah returns to Cadmus, he mentions having a deal with Lillian Luthor (Brenda Strong) before we see the next piece of Cadmus’ ultimate plan: an alien ship. What’s really going on? Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg answers burning questions on what’s next:

What’s the deal with that alien ship?
We’ll get more info on Lillian’s plans for the ship as early as next week, but it’s tied to her desire to rid the world of aliens — and potentially to whatever deal Jeremiah has with Lillian. “It’s an interesting debate in the next episode between Jeremiah and Alex, if his plan is any more humane,” Kreisberg says. “Some of the talking points in the episode are reflective of the current debate in our world about dealing with immigrants, which we were very conscious of, and wanted to speak to that.”

How long is Jeremiah sticking around?
Now that Jeremiah is back in the picture, Cain will be sticking around for at least one more episode, if not more. “We’re still figuring out how we’re going to wrap it all up in a nice little bow at the end of the year,” Kreisberg says, teasing that we may get more info on how powerful Jeremiah is thanks to Alex. “My favorite scene all season long… Alex interrogates a Cadmus guard,” Kreisberg says, adding that everyone in Cadmus is immune to J’onn’s telepathy. “Martian Manhunter, he’s so powerful; it’s almost too powerful for a weekly series with all the things he can do. If we really deployed him at his full comic book power arsenal, no one would be able to pull anything off of anybody; he’s super strong, he can fly, he can phase through matter and he can read minds. Good luck trying to pull one over on him.”

How will Alex handle her father’s betrayal?
Not well. (Read: Alex’s interrogation methods led to producers going several rounds with Standards and Practices.) Suffice it to say, Alex will be going to a very dark place. “The question of where do Alex’s loyalties lie plays a major part of the next episode,” Kreisberg says. “Battle lines are drawn a little bit, which is interesting because what I love about this episode and the next episode is no one’s really wrong, in a way. Whether it’s Mon-El or Kara or Alex or J’onzz — especially the stuff between J’onzz and Alex in 15 — everyone is doing it because they love each other; even Jeremiah. Everyone is doing what they’re doing out of a sense of love and to keep the people that they love safe.” In this case, it sounds like Alex will find support in Maggie, as next week’s episode includes some Sanvers bonding. “Alex and Maggie go rogue next week,” Kreisberg says.

What’s next for Sanvers?
That bond doesn’t mean total smooth sailing ahead for Alex and Maggie. “There’s an obstacle episode coming up that we just did,” Kreisberg says. (Perhaps he’s referring to this?) “Then there’s what’s probably my new favorite episode, that doesn’t even know about yet, that is a Kara/Alex/Maggie story, that’s sort of a ticking-clock story. Alex is in serious trouble, and it’s up to Kara and Maggie to save her. It becomes a story about the sister and the girlfriend both love her and are debating the best way to save her. It’s a really great story. We’re really excited about it.”

RELATED: A deep-dive with Supergirl‘s Chyler Leigh on Alex’s coming out story

When will we find out Mon-El’s secret?
There’s also some trouble brewing ahead for Mon-El and Kara as the truth about what he’s hiding will soon come out. “The Mon-El secret comes to light in Episode 16, so you don’t have much further to go,” Kreisberg says. “It’s going to cause some problems. He doesn’t quite get that it’s the cover-up, not the crime, which is really the issue.”

Will Supergirl stage a Lois & Clark reunion?
The big question is whether Cain will reunite with his Lois & Clark costar Teri Hatcher, who will be introduced in next week’s episode as the new villain of the season. “We’ve love to, they would love to — I mean, there’s a plan; if we can execute the plan,” Kreisberg says, lauding Hatcher’s addition to the show. “She is in this for the fans and knows what her being a part of this means to so many people.” When she makes her debut, Hatcher will share the screen with Hercules alum Kevin Sorbo. “Teri could very easily blow someone off the screen with her megastar TV wattage, so it was important to make sure that didn’t happen,” Kreisberg says. “Getting Kevin — somebody who has his own history and fanbase and celebrity — has made those scenes between them feel like equals.” While further details on their roles are still being kept under wraps, Kreisberg teases, “She is so not playing Lois, and she is so not playing any character I’ve ever seen her play before. She’s so not Susan from Desperate Housewives. She’s really playing something completely different … and she’s doing it amazingly. It’s really exciting for us.”

Will we get to meet adult Lex Luthor?
After Supergirl recently depicted a younger version of Lex Luthor, is there any chance the bald menace will debut on screen? It’s been mentioned before that he’s currently in jail, but it sounds unlikely that we’ll actually see him — probably because he’s currently being played by Jesse Eisenberg on the big screen. “That decision is above my pay grade,” Kreisberg says. “But I thought that kid was great, and what was so sad is we were watching the casting things, and we were like, ‘Yeah that kid looks like he could grow up to be the most evil person in the world.'” However, viewers will find out in the finale what was in that box Lillian discovered among Lex’s weapons in that Cadmus bunker.

Any chance for a Superman return?
Tyler Hoechlin brought the Man of Steel to the small screen during the first two episodes of the season, but he hasn’t returned since. “I don’t think anyone would love it more than us and Tyler,” Kreisberg says. “Again, that’s one above my pay grade.” One can always hold out hope.

Will Cat Grant return this season?
When the show moved production to Vancouver, Calista Flockhart was set to be a recurring guest star. However, the actress has not yet returned since leaving in the second episode. “We’re working on it,” Kreisberg says of a potential return. “We love Calista, Calista loves us, she loves the show. She has other commitments and family and whatnot, but we’re trying to work it out.”

Will we see more CatCo?
And while CatCo has taken a backseat to the D.E.O. this season in Cat Grant’s absence, it will feature more in upcoming episodes — the next hour includes a big CatCo-Snapper-James story, in fact. “This show has a lot of moving parts,” Kreisberg says. “One of the things that we discovered is most of the stories get driven through the D.E.O. Without Calista there, that dynamic that was so strong between Kara and Cat has been replaced with more Kara and Alex and more Kara and Mon-El. It doesn’t always live in that location, but we’re not getting rid of it by any means. In fact, episode 18 is called ‘Ace Reporter,’ and it’s about Kara and journalism. That’s actually been very important to us, especially in the times we now find ourselves living in; we’re one of the few shows on television that actually has a journalist as a lead character. In 15, in addition to being a big Alex-Jeremiah story, also has a healthy dose of Kara as a reporter, and especially episode 18, we really get a chance to talk about the importance of journalism, and the importance of journalism ethics, and how important the objective truth be out there now.”

Supergirl airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.