This week, Supergirl's producers made good on a promise that a major DCTV character would come out this season. On Monday night, the show's fan theories were vindicated: Alex (played by Chyler Leigh) admitted that she's into women.
Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg told E! News that there was excitement about the Alex's journey behind the scenes as they fleshed out her character as more than just Supergirl's sister.
"It didn't start with, 'Oh we want one of the characters to come out. Which one should it be?'" Kreisberg said. "It really came out of exploring Alex and finding out how we can go deeper with Alex this season, what makes her tick and what drives her. Why is she the person she is? It made sense for Alex, as opposed to this sort of mandate that we had to do this."
Alex's coming out has been a popular fan theory since October. When fans picked up on a subtle flirtation between Alex and Maggie Sawyer (Floriana Lima), an openly gay detective, it seemed all but confirmed that Alex would be the character to explore her sexuality this season.
After this week's episode, Supergirl watchers were struck by the intimacy of Alex's coming out onscreen.
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i'm still shook bc alex's coming out scene was so pure and beautiful and maggie understood and supported her 100% #supergirl
— fiona. (@debnamargots) November 8, 2016
alex danvers is gay and her coming out scene was so real and stunning you have to stop what you're doing and watch supergirl
— Catherine (@amenregina) November 8, 2016
alex danvers is really gay i can't believe this they're really doing this on my absolute favorite show with my favorite character #Supergirl
— kat (@meIissa_benoist) November 8, 2016
THIS LITERALLY MEANS ALEX DANVERS IS A LESBIAN AND WE HAVE TWO LESBIAN REGULARS ON THE SAME SHOW + LENA LUTHOR #SUPERGIRL
— super sanvers (@supersanvers) November 8, 2016
THAT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING. YOU ARE PERFECT, ALEX DANVERS. JUST THE WAY YOU ARE. #Supergirl #QueerEl
— Valerie Anne (@PunkyStarshine) November 8, 2016
Such a well-written episode, absolutely floored by how realistic Alex's coming out scene was.
— Supergirl Source (@supergirlrumors) November 8, 2016
Well done, Supergirl.