BB Exclusive: Meagan Tandy and Caroline Dries Talk Sophie’s Sexuality & Batwoman’s Midseason Finale
BeautifulBallad had the chance to see an early screening of tonight’s (November 17) Batwoman episode, 1×07 “Tell Me The Truth” (written by Caroline Dries and Natalie Abrams), where showrunner Caroline Dries and star Meagan Tandy (“Sophie”) joined press for a brief Q&A following the episode at The CW Studios.
Is it a plan to have Kate’s new bar a standing set for the show?
A: Caroline Dries – Yes, we realized in breaking the first few episodes of the season that we have a lot of great, beautiful sets; but a lot of our characters, like Mary doesn’t have an excuse to go to Crows. We wanted to find a place that they could all overlap naturally.
Is Sophie completely off the trail of Kate being Batwoman now, or does she still have some suspicion in spite of what she saw?
A: Meagan Tandy – Kate did a very, very good job of having Julia put on that costume and it was definitely very convincing. I think she could still be wondering, but I think Kate might have sealed that deal for now.
Will we be seeing more of Julia and her agency?
A: CD – Yeah, we hope to see more of Julia. I like how they left on really good terms, compared to how they started.
Sophie has not been very comfortable even telling her husband about her sexuality, is that a journey we’re going to continue to see her on this season?
A: MT – Now that she’s finally told him, that in of itself is a weight lifted off her shoulders. At the end there, she’s like “hey – it’s all about you, you’re the one I’ve always loved!” But this is a bomb I dropped on him that he never knew in the past, so I think he’s going to have some questions about it. She’s going to have to deal with that element and bring him into what her past was like.
CD – Talking about Sophie’s storyline – there’s been a lot of online criticism about how we’re handling Sophie. They feel like we’re not going fast enough with her story, or her coming out, and her being comfortable with who she is and facing her love for Kate and things like that. I had this interesting conversation with Meagan, right before she was filming that dinner scene with Kate and the shoes. And Meagan was like, “ok, I’m totally down to do whatever, but it has me being uncomfortable and telling Kate, lets drop it. And if that were to happen to me at a restaurant, I’d be like are you f’ing kidding me?! Are you serious?? Get out of my face!”
MT – Yeah, it’d be over!
CD – And I’m like, “Meagan – I completely believe that Meagan Tandy would do this!” *laughs* For a second you have to remember that Sophie is so, deeply closeted. The amount of shame fogging everything she does and every step she takes is so debilitating and uncomfortable for her. That’s where we’re coming from for this character; it doesn’t just go away overnight. It’s baby steps to being comfortable with who you are. I’m gay and I’m married, and I still find myself apologizing for it. It’s a very long journey.
In terms of any superhero show, a huge factor is that it’s really hard to be in a relationship when you’re a superhero. There’s a lack of positive LGBTQ+ relationships in these sorts of stories, do you feel like you’re balancing the need to have this representation while acknowledging how hard it is to be in a relationship as a superhero?
CD – Totally. I want to keep the fact that she’s a lesbian, part of the fabric of the show. She’s going to continue to try to have a personal life outside of being a superhero. She’s a person that falls in love, she’s a human being.
The season feels like it’s progressing at a fast pace – what was the discussion in the writer’s room about how to best dole out Alice and her band of accomplices?
CD – Starting with the pilot I knew that it was important to reveal who she was at the end of the pilot. 1 – If you read the comics, you know. You’d be waiting half the season to be like, “yeah, catch up Kate!” I already know this. 2 – I knew that what made this show special is that it’s a family drama. Kate needed to have that foil in play for the rest of this season to work.
Taking on a “don’t ask, don’t tell” storyline is a very big issue that you want to handle carefully, how did you guys want to approach telling the story in a way that’s not an issue of the week, but also giving its just time and effort?
CD – I wanted to take our time and get to know Sophie first before we reveal all of this weighty backstory. We’ve introduced Sophie as someone that’s conflicted, who had this whole life before Kate, and thought she had all of her ducks in a row. And then Kate drops a huge bomb on that. So, the don’t ask don’t tell, was innate to the comic books that we’re emulating, and we did a spin on it.
Meagan, were you asked in the audition process to do a chemistry test?
MT – No, we did not get a chemistry test, which is actually very interesting because it has been so perfectly spot on. We book these roles and you never know! You’re like, “I hope we have chemistry; I hope it works!” And I was a little nervous like, “I hope she likes me!” And from day one, it was an instant magnet. It’s been really nice. We joke about how we didn’t get the chemistry read, but we didn’t really need one.
Do you think Jake has any guilt over how he ruined their relationship, essentially?
CD – No, we didn’t think of him as ruining it. When Natalie and I wrote it we were like, what is the most grounded way of making Jacob approach this? And he’s like I am, which is very pragmatic – here are the facts. Kate is very much like, “we got this, we can do this!” Her hope sort of blinds her. Whereas, Jacob is like, “look, I’ve been out in the real world. This is how the real-world works.” I think he gave her a gift. You still have to go on your next journey of figuring out who you are.
How much do you toe the line between championing LGBTQ+ rights and admitting the reality of the situation of its not always so simple as standing up for yourself?
CD – I’m very much trying to appreciate both sides. Sophie happens to be in that situation where she needs a college education and, I feel badly for people who feel shame that they were lying about who they were – but everyone’s situation is different and we just have to respect it.
Is the episode after this one considered the midseason finale?
CD – Yeah.
Anything you can tease us about that?
CD – You’re going to want to watch it!
MT – Great stuff in there!
CD – It’s intense; we wrote it to be the midseason finale. The first chapter of our story will end there.
MT – Put it this way: all of our mouths dropped when we read it. That’s how good it us.
CD – It’s the tea party. Polite, elegant tea party!