Supergirl (season 5)

The fifth season of the American television series Supergirl, which is based on the DC Comics character Kara Zor-El / Supergirl, premiered on The CW on October 6, 2019, and consisted of 19 episodes. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the franchise. The season is produced by Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Entertainment.

The season was ordered in January 2019, and was originally planned to have 22 episodes, later brought down to 20. Filming began that June, and production was shut down in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the season with only 19 episodes.

Melissa Benoist stars as Kara, with principal cast members Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Katie McGrath, Jesse Rath, Nicole Maines, and David Harewood also returning from previous seasons. They are joined by Azie Tesfai and Andrea Brooks, who were promoted to the main cast from recurring status in the fourth season, LaMonica Garrett, who previously appeared as a guest actor in the fifth annual Arrowverse crossover and the fifth season, and new cast members Julie Gonzalo and Staz Nair.

Main

 * Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers / Kara Zor-El / Supergirl
 * Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen / Guardian
 * Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers
 * Katie McGrath as Lena Luthor
 * Jesse Rath as Querl "Brainy" Dox / Brainiac 5
 * Nicole Maines as Nia Nal / Dreamer
 * Azie Tesfai as Kelly Olsen
 * Andrea Brooks as Eve Teschmacher / Hope
 * Julie Gonzalo as Andrea Rojas / Acrata
 * Staz Nair as William Dey
 * LaMonica Garrett as Mar Novu / Monitor
 * David Harewood as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, Hank Henshaw

Recurring

 * Jon Cryer as Lex Luthor
 * Phil LaMarr as Malefic J'onzz
 * Nick Sagar as Russell Rogers / Rip Roar
 * Patti Allan as Margot Morrison
 * Duncan Fraser as an elderly male Leviathan representative
 * Cara Buono as Gamemnae / Gemma Cooper
 * Mitch Pileggi as Rama Khan
 * Thomas Lennon as Mister Mxyzptlk
 * Carl Lumbly as M'yrnn J'onzz
 * Meaghan Rath as Female Brainiac 5
 * Brenda Strong as Lillian Luthor

Guest
• Jennifer Cheon Garcia as Midnight

• Kate Micucci as a museum tour guide

• Kari Wahlgren as the voice of Hope

• Sean Astin as Pete Andrews

• Rahul Kohli as Jack Spheer

• Carl Lumbly as M'yrnn J'onzz

• Meaghan Rath as Female Brainiac 5

• Brenda Strong as Lillian Luthor

• Keith Dallas as Al Crane

• Anjali Jay as Selena (bottled Earth version)

• Rosemary Hochschild as Vita (bottled Earth version)

• Winsome Brown as Ayala (bottled Earth version)

• Jeremy Jordan as Winn Schott and Winn Schott / Toyman (alternate Earth version)

• Henry Czerny as Winslow Schott Sr. / Toyman

• Chris Wood as Mon-El

• Sam Witwer as Ben Lockwood / Agent Liberty

• Odette Annable as Samantha Arias / Reign

• Betty Buckley as Patricia Arias

• Chad Lowe as Thomas Coville

• Willie Garson as Steve Lomelli

• Donna Benedicto as Agent Reiff

• Camille Sullivan as Amy Sapphire

• Pierson Fodé as Gregory Bauer

• Jesse Moss as Richard Bates

• Anna Van Hooft as Jennifer Bates

• Corbin Bleu as Trevor Crane

• Anne Hollister as Bonnie Walker / Tilly

• John Murphy as Derek

• Steph Song as VR Supergirl

• Sharon Leal as M'gann

• Lynda Boyd as Eve Teschmacher's mother

• Michelle Christa Smith as Sela

"Crisis on Infinite Earths"
• Tom Cavanagh as Nash Wells / Pariah

• Ruby Rose as Kate Kane / Batwoman

• Grant Gustin as Barry Allen / Flash

• Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow and Oliver Queen / Green Arrow (Earth-16)

• Katherine McNamara as Mia Smoak

• Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer / Atom

• Caity Lotz as Sara Lance

• Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane

• Tyler Hoechlin as Clark Kent / Superman

• Erica Durance as Alura Zor-El

• Audrey Marie Anderson as Lyla Michaels / Harbinger

• Burt Ward as Dick Grayson (Earth-66)

• Wil Wheaton as a doomsday protester

• Robert Wuhl as Alexander Knox (Earth-89)

• Griffin Newman as Trivia Host

• Alan Ritchson as Hank Hall / Hawk (Earth-9)

• Curran Walters as Jason Todd / Robin (Earth-9)

• Russell Tovey as Ray Terrill / Ray

Development
On January 31, 2019, The CW renewed Supergirl for a fifth season. Jessica Queller and Robert Rovner serve as the season's showrunners.

Writing
Queller described the fifth season of Supergirl as the series' "Black Mirror season", with Rovner elaborating that "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." Melissa Benoist, who stars as Kara Danvers / Supergirl, said the season would be "a fight for [ Lena Luthor's] soul", following Lex Luthor exposing to Lena that Kara, her best friend, is Supergirl. Rovner said the rift between Kara and Lena was something the writers had been building towards for a number of years, with the fifth season serving as the "long-awaited payoff". Queller described "betrayal" as Lena's Achilles heel due to every member of the Luthor family having betrayed her in some way over the years: "She has to put on this protective shell, and the last person she thought would betray her was Kara, and that really hurts more deeply than any of the others".

Casting
Main cast members Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Katie McGrath, Jesse Rath, Nicole Maines and David Harewood return as Kara Danvers / Supergirl, James Olsen, Alex Danvers, Lena Luthor, Querl Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, and J'onn J'onzz respectively. This is Brooks' final season; his last appearance was in the episode "In Plain Sight". Azie Tesfai, who was introduced as Kelly Olsen in the fourth season, was promoted to the main cast for the fifth season, as was Andrea Brooks, who recurred as Eve Teschmacher since the second season. They are joined by new cast members Julie Gonzalo playing Andrea Rojas and Staz Nair playing William Dey, an original creation for the series. Jeremy Jordan, who starred as Winn Schott in the first three seasons and was absent during the fourth, returned as a guest star for three episodes.

Design
The season introduces a new Supergirl suit which eschews the skirt seen in the older suit in favour of a full pant. Benoist and the showrunners said giving Supergirl pants was something they discussed since the first season. Querl Dox is credited with creating a new microscopic motion-activator for the new suit that attaches to Kara's glasses and unleashes the suit when she whips off the glasses, resulting in Supergirl being fully dressed in her costume.

Filming
Filming began in late June 2019 at Vancouver. The seventeenth episode of the season marks Benoist's directorial debut. Filming was expected to last until April 14, 2020. On March 12, 2020, Warner Bros. Television shut down production on the series due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the series in the middle of shooting episode 20. Leigh stated she had two more days of filming on the episode. As a result, some of the material shot for episode 20 was incorporated into episode 19, rather than saving it for season six. Some new dialogue was also recorded by actors in their homes for episode 19.

Arrowverse tie-ins
In December 2018, during the end of the annual crossover "Elseworlds", a follow up crossover was announced titled "Crisis on Infinite Earths" based on the comic book series of the same name. The crossover took place over five episodes–three in December 2019 and two in January 2020.

Broadcast
The season began airing in the United States on The CW on October 6, 2019. It was originally set to run for 22 episodes, later brought down to 20. As production on episode 20 could not be completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 19th episode served as the season finale.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds an approval rating of 92% based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 7.62/10.