SUPERGIRL Post-Mortem: EP Robert Rovner and Carl Lumbly on ‘In Search of Lost Time’

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the April 23 episode of SUPERGIRL, “In Search of Lost Time.” Please do not read more until you’ve seen the hour.]

Myr’nn’s (Carl Lumbly) deteriorating health on SUPERGIRL led to unexpected aggression at the DEO—which led to a couple of blowouts.

With Kara (Melissa Benoist) attempting to train with Mon-El (Chris Wood), the parallels to when she trained him—early in their relationship—made their current status the elephant in the room. “Their love story wasn’t as perfect as she romanticized it to be,” executive producer Robert Rovner told reporters. “The way their relationship ended at the end of season 2, they never really had the chance to break up. Things that might have been said under other circumstances were not allowed here; they didn’t have the opportunity to say.”

So under the influence of the newfound aggression (in addition to Kara’s frustration at not being able to pick up the training as quickly as she would have liked), Kara told Mon-El how hurt she really was by his actions. “We all felt it was important for Kara to really get it off her chest and have their new friendship on a clean slate,” Rovner said. “This episode was allowing us to do that. To say everything that needed to be said, so they could finally move forward.”

Also moving forward, albeit in a more heartbreaking fashion, are J’onn (David Harewood) and his father, Myr’nn. J’onn was able to convince his father to let him help him through his illness—and the painful struggle of losing his memories. “Myr’nn will be facing circumstances that a lot of children and their parents go through,” Rovner previewed. “One of the things I think is beautiful is through the process of the rest of the season, Myr’nn and the way he copes with this [illness] will have a profound effect on J’onn as they go through this journey together. Even though their time together may be shorter than they hoped it would be, it will forever change both of their lives.”

Lumbly, who actually voiced J’onn in the animated JUSTICE LEAGUE series starting in 2001, praised the show’s ability to be “subversive and sneaky.” “It enables you to think about things, without necessarily feeling like you’re lectured,” he explained. “In terms of playing [the illness], it does tap into experiences I’ve had. This connection I feel working with David, I think we both give permission to be and go where we have to…Mortality, or martiality, is difficult to accept…it’s beautiful to see where J’onn is.”

Elsewhere, Lena (Katie McGrath) is keeping her own secrets: with Sam (Odette Annable) locked up, she was able to provoke her friend into unleashing Reign…a fact Sam only believed when she saw the video proof. ““I think for Sam and Lena, it’s really the fight [for Sam] to want to hold on to herself and to figure this out so she can be a mother to her daughter,” Rovner previewed. “It’s that struggle she’s facing. She’s very heroic about not succumbing to what we’re realizing is the other side of her.”

But rather than keep things entirely from James (Mehcad Brooks) and ruin their blossoming relationship, Lena was upfront about having to keep some things from him. “I think what we’re exploring is trust as opposed to secrets,” Rovner said. “With the James and Lena relationship, it’s more about the growing trust and respect for one another. And getting them to a closer place. She’s keeping secrets from a lot of people. Those secrets, that she’s keeping from others, will become a bigger issue.”

Going forward, the team will struggle to save the world when one of their biggest threats is a friend. “What we saw in one of the previous episodes is how do you save the world when saving the world means saving your friend?” Rovner allowed. “Sam and Reign are intrinsically linked. They’re working hard to find a solution [to fix it].”

What do you hope happens next on SUPERGIRL?

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