Chyler Leigh on Dealing With the Sanvers Breakup as ‘Supergirl’ Heads to Midvale

Though the writing was on the wall both behind the scenes and on the screen, Sanvers fans watched the ship sink in last week’s episode of Supergirl.

Now that Maggie Sawyer and Alex Danvers are no longer together, the breakup is going to have an effect on the DEO agent. ComicBook.com spoke with actor Chyler Leigh about the shift for her character moving forward in Season Three of Supergirl.

“That was also kind of an interesting thing because of the significance of it, it’s not like you can sweep it under the rug, you know what I mean, and just try to be chipper and move on,” said Leigh. “At the same time, Alex has a very hard time of really dealing with things.”

She said the latest episode, called “Midvale,” will force her character to face her issues.

“Kara and Alex go back to Midvale, and it’s a really, really cool flashback episode where you see kind of the initial dynamic between Kara and Alex and how that was really difficult for them in the beginning and sort of what the catalyst was for the turn in their relationship.

“But with that, you kind of see Alex going back and really having to figure some stuff out. But that’s just the beginning of it,” Leigh said.

Leigh said there was a discussion to play the relationship true to life, showing the highs and lows that a person experiences when exiting an important relationship.”

“I mean this is the first time Alex ever really said ‘I love you’ to anybody, let alone get engaged and have wedding [talk] and all that stuff,” Leigh said. “So you see her sort of go forward and go back, and then go forward and go back. I think there’s a pretty good balance with that. We had a lot conversations about saying that and keeping that authentic, and what that would look like in reality.”

Though Floriana Lima made her exit from the series as Sawyer in last week’s episode, the producers have said they’re open for her return. And if she does, it will be a question of how that return will impact Alex.

Supergirl airs Mondays on The CW.