SUPERGIRL Post-Mortem: Azie Tesfai on Kelly’s Uncomfortable, But Necessary, Conversations in ‘Blind Spots’

[This post contains spoilers for the Tuesday, September 21 episode of SUPERGIRL.]

As Kelly (Azie Tesfai) stepped into her Guardian powers with the Tuesday, September 21 episode of SUPERGIRL,  “Blind Spots,” The CW series also allowed viewers to see a side of the budding superhero at home, as she went through her nightly routine.

“I think it needed to feel real; I wrap my hair every night, and I was like, ‘We don’t see it on television,'” Tesfai, who also co-wrote the episode with J. Holtham, explanis. “That whole last scene with her hair wrapped in a scarf, there were people on our show that were, ‘You do that?’ And I was like, ‘I do,’ because they just never been exposed to that. And they’re like, ‘Oh that’s cool.’ [It was] just an understanding of why do you wrap your hair, what does it do, and explaining the texture of Black hair that’s different in the oils. And so it’s a conversation starter that we had on our show; I hope that people that watch it had as well.”

The hour also allowed Kelly to speak to her friends—and her girlfriend, Alex (Chyler Leigh)—about how they might love her, but they didn’t know exactly what she was going through…and their priorities weren’t always the same.

“I was very aware, and I know J. was very aware and [director David] Ramsey was very aware that these conversations [were important],” Tesfai says. “We hope to be some sort of guide for people that maybe have avoided having them. And it’s gonna feel uncomfortable, and it’s not going to be resolved and it’s going to be open-ended. And if you think that that’s the norm when going and having these conversations, then that’s a good thing. Uncomfortable is a state that many of us live in, and it’s important that you also feel that way when having when navigating these situations.”

“I think in the scene with Kelly and Supergirl, and Kelly and Alex, and just the group as a whole, like, not feeling heard, and then finding her voice—they’re her friends, right?” she continues. “We have the villain of the episode, which is an example of sometimes you don’t need to guide everyone and help people—there are bad people in the world. But within your friend group, and within your intimate partnerships, what does navigating that look like when people do have the best intentions, but can still hurt you?”

“I think there’s this very black and white, no pun intended, line [of thinking] if someone’s good, then they’re not going to be offensive,” she concludes. “And that’s just not realistic. And Supergirl represents the best of so many people…[we’re] showing that she didn’t even get it right. It was a big deal for us to be able to explore [that] in this show. And we leaned into that and I was really grateful that we did, because if she’s messing up, what does that mean for me? And then watching her navigate her way through it…there is no right answer. You just have to have your best intention and really listen to one another, and operate from there. That is the best start that you can have.”

SUPERGIRL, Tuesdays, 9/8c, The CW

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