“We go to space, we have special effects, she even blows up a ship at one point,” director Kevin Smith tells TVLine of Monday’s Supergirl (The CW, 8/7c). “But my favorite scene we did was just Kara and Mon-El sitting on the couch.”

A self-proclaimed Arrow-verse fanboy, Smith — who has also directed two episodes of The Flash — believes the shows are at their best when the characters lift their masks (where applicable) and relate to each other as people, resulting in “relationship dramas that just happen to have costumes in them.”

“What you’re seeing on Supergirl is this budding relationship between Kara and Mon-El that’s starting to feel [like The Flash‘s Barry and Iris],” Smith explains. “The writers are going to make us fall in love with these guys, and I hope they really nourish that story, because I think they’re wonderful together. There’s something very exciting and star-crossed there. … And the actors! Whenever Melissa [Benoist] and Chris [Wood] film a scene, it’s Charm City.”

But Smith is also aware of the relationship’s built-in tragedies, assuming the writers decide to stick with Kara and Mon-El’s original storyline from the comics.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know if we’ll get them forever, because I know the comic books,” he says. I’m not saying they can’t be together, but… yeah, they can’t be together. But I’m hoping we get the best of both worlds: We’ll watch the dance as we lead them towards a relationship, then deal with them when they can’t be together — if they end up playing things out like they do in the comics. The good news is that they can take liberties on the show. They’re not beholden to particular storylines.”

Of course, Kara wasn’t the only Danvers sister whose love life Smith couldn’t wait to explore. In many ways, he says, “Alex is the heart and soul of this show.”

“The Alex and Maggie relationship starts turning into something really beautiful,” he teases. “We got to do a couple of scenes with them, early in the relationship, where they start to figure out who they are as a couple.”

Another highlight for Smith was getting to film at the DEO with J’onn J’onzz, “one of [his] favorite characters in the DC pantheon,” as the gang discusses how to rescue Supergirl and Mon-El from Roulette’s clutches on Slaver’s Moon.

“Hank turns to Alex, and in that perfect intonation — deep and rolling — he says that Slaver’s Moon has a red sun,” Smith recalls. “Me and Eric [Carrasco], who wrote the episode, our nipples got hard. We lost our fluids.”

At the end of the day, Smith says, “I’m there because I watch the show on a regular basis, so getting to go up there was a privilege. For me, it’s dream-come-true territory. I often describe it as being like Make-A-Wish. It’s ridiculous that they cut you a check for this sort of thing.”

Your hopes for Smith’s directorial debut on Supergirl? The rest of the season in general? Drop ’em all in a comment below.