GOOD MORNIN’ AMERICA, and good morning heroes (?). This was one of my favorite episodes to record and write, though potentially one of the least favorites as a listener. To every villain there has to be a hero, and this finally gives us a chance to meet the people Anika has been up against since before we met her. Anika, to us (I hope) isn’t necessarily what we think of when we think about villains. She’s kind hearted, scared, and burdened with a power she doesn’t know what to do with. But something that was really important to me was having the chance to see the story from both sides — just a glimpse into the heroes from this side of the narrative, the same way you would a villain in a comic book.
To me, a big part of Super Ordinary is about perspective. Heroes and villains aren’t cut and dry lines, as much as we may want them to be. Part of the inspiration for SO was that I wanted to tell a super hero story in a way that didn’t feel repetitive, and playing with anxiety as being the source of Anika’s super power led her to be a villain. One of the things I’ve seen so many people call Anika, despite how many times she’s called a villain in the show, is “super hero.” This episode was a chance to play with some characters who are on the other side of Anika’s super label, and who genuinely view her as the villain in their narrative.
But gosh, these guys are a mess, aren’t they? They’ve been a team for a year at this point, and they can’t even manage ten minutes in a green room without jumping down each other’s throats. (I love them, even though so many of you seem to… have ill feelings about them, let’s say).
Overall, I just had so much fun getting Danielle (Jen), Alexandra (Max), and Michael (Aiden) together. They’re a bundle full of energy and good vibes, and if you leave them alone with a microphone for long enough (read: exactly ten seconds without attention) they will burst out into song, harmonies and all. Can’t wait for you all to see how much fun their bickering truly can be!