Supergirl will continue to comment on real-world issues in its upcoming fifth season. This time, with a focus on technology and its impact on people and their relationships.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, co-showrunner Jessica Queller dubbed Supergirl’s new season “our Black Mirror season.”
Co-showrunner Robert Rovner further elaborated by stating, “What we’re looking at is how technology is impacting the way people engage and giving them an escape not to engage. It seems like nowadays, everyone is kind of on their phones or not really present, and so we wanted to speak to that and kind of how it might be hard to live in the ugliness of what’s going on, and how a character like Kara can try and help us overcome that.”
Check out Melissa Benoist on @EW’s first monthly issue cover! Stream #Supergirl free only on The CW App, and check out the full story here: https://t.co/JYrk6s66i8 pic.twitter.com/iy6uPoA2ZL
— Supergirl (@TheCWSupergirl) July 17, 2019
Supergirl recap and looking forward
Supergirl’s fourth season confronted prejudice against aliens and the way it divided the country. A timely topic that was an extension of the character of Supergirl’s story. For season 5, however, the topical theme is driven in part by Lena Luthor’s response to the revelation that her best friend, Kara Danvers, is actually Supergirl. Lena learned the news from her villainous brother Lex, just before she shot him in the season finale. She didn’t take the news well.
According to Queller, “Lena throws herself into a type of work that is going to increase people relying on tech rather than relying on humans who can hurt you.“
Melissa Benoist, who plays the titular hero, added, “This season’s going to be a fight for Lena’s soul.”
Supergirl star Melissa Benoist to make her directorial debut in season 5 https://t.co/c2OOIB6jMy
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) July 15, 2019
Benoist also said that she was heartbroken over the way Lena found out about her character’s superhero identity, but she also believes it speaks to the show’s focus on relationships between women.
She explained that “I think part of what we are trying to do on Supergirl specifically, too, is explore relationships between women, and friendships, and sisterhoods, and how we treat each other, how we communicate that’s different between men and women. I think [Lena and Kara’s] relationship is singular already because they’re such close friends and you get to explore that.”
To that end, the showrunners claim Season 5 will be more focused on the relationships between Supergirl’s characters. Rovner noted, “Last season was really about us dealing with big ideas, and this [season] is about us dealing with people and so it’s a much more personal season.”
Supergirl’s fifth season will air on Sundays at 9/8c on The CW. The season premieres on October 6.