Spoilers Black Lightning - Season 3

Question--How did Anissa get cured of the poison? I know her meta gene healing abilities was keeping her alive, but did I miss something last week? Did Gambi come up with an antidote? I see she doesn't have her powers at this time, which makes sense, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention when she was cured, because I completely missed it.

I thought this was one of the better episodes of the season. But it's very clear that on Black Lightning's Earth, they don't live under the Constitution of the United States, because none of this could happen.

The Khalil storyline is not bad this season. I actually like him much better as he is now. I actually wish he wasn't a victim and was just that evil. This is a good villain, and I think the only weakness of the storyline is that he lost his free will.

It's a different direction of course, but one problem is that Jefferson will have to fight him while not wanting to hurt him. I am hoping that Black Lightning defeats Painkiller in a fair fight because he is the better man.

I'm also hoping this storyline wraps up next week and is over by Crisis. If not, then what meaning will the Crisis have if all the stories just pick up where they left off once done?

 

Yes--Gambi had one of Painkiller's darts, replicated a serum based on one he used years ago, but modified it to counter the even stronger poison in the ASA's upgrade.

The point being made is that the ASA operated under some statute, otherwise such a well-reported event would have caused instant controversy in some quarters of the federal government, national legal groups, etc., yet this kind of response is not happening. Not yet.

The fact that a good man has been completely corrupted is the reason the Khalil storyline is compelling. He was both crippled, then "saved" by Tobias, resisted him, and ended up killed for his efforts, only for yet another predator (Odell) to take the control to sickening levels by making him a killer who invests mind and body in the philosophy and "art" of dealing death.

If the showrunners simply made him evil, it would be cartoonish and the arc of where he came from, what he wanted to do with his life and how terribly sidelined he was would have no meaning at all.

No one even knows how much (or if at all) that COIE will have on Black Lightning. The series' well-built storyline over the course of three seasons is the important part of this series, not a crossover.

 

FOr me, Khalil's storyline stopped being compelling when he became a robot.

When Tobias created Painkiller, it was out of a lot of manipulation. THAT was compelling, watching Khalil's journey there.

But this new Painkiller IS cartoonish, in that it is a personality that is NOT Khalil. As i mentioned, the actor is COMPLETELY believeable as an action star, and the current personality is a good fit for the ACTOR. But this is NOT a believable Khalil.

 

I think you're missing the point of his arc: he has been corrupted and used in ghastly ways from the point of his injury, to death, and being stolen from his own grave. But through it all, the last episode shows that his memories still exist, which means there is a chance Khalil might be reached. The drama is generated from the perspective of those who knew him (including the audience), and see what he's become--how being used by the ASA only promises a real death down the line, which is tragic, considering who he was when introduced. This, and one can only imagine how he will react / what he will do once he remembers that one of his missions was the murder of his own mother.

How much of the real Khalil is left? How much of the Painkiller persona has permanently merged with the old? All of it boils down to his life being under the control of others--essentially being in psychological bondage in life and death. That's one of the key points of his arc.

 

I saw Gambi working on it, but I honestly don't remember him giving it to her. Guess I missed it.

One of the benefits of the multiverse I guess is that they can play a little fast and loose with realism. It's amazing that it's easier to accept a guy shooting electricity out of his hands than it is the situation in Freeland. It doesn't appear that Freeland is a small town. It looks like a city, comparable to Baltimore or Detroit. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but it doesn't seem to be a small town community. Even with all the stretching they are trying to do, it seems absolutely unrealistic that the press wouldn't latch onto what the government is doing and roll with it. It would be a massive story. They are literally holding tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands, hostage under dictator type conditions, running it like a warzone.

And compound it with the reality that these people are mostly black, this would not only be a national issue, it might even be a world issue. In the real world, people all over the country would be fighting this for Freeland.

If there was a statute on the books, and I don't think something like that could be passed, it would be extremely controversial, even if the government in this case was actually right, which they aren't. Even if the government had a legitimate reason for this quarantine, the people would be all over it, and a statute of this magnitude would be ruled unconstitutional.

I think the counter to that is that I'm more talking about the villain than Khalil. If this character was a different person, but otherwise exactly the same, I think he would serve as a better foil for Black Lightning. Making it Khalil takes the story in a different direction, and an interesting one, but without him being actually a villain, it's harder to root for Black Lightning to take him down.

What I'm talking about would be a much different storyline of course. Here, Khalil is more of a victim, not responsible for anything he did. But I find him so much more interesting as a villain. The actor and the writing for him, as a villain, has been terrific. He's as charismatic as Tobias, but now we see him as a potential physical threat to Black Lightning.

The fact that it is Khalil, a victim, is a different direction. Compelling too, but different, and I feel like we are missing a true villain to be Black Lightning's latest nemesis. Even if he were just a villain, I feel Khalil is far more interesting than the big bad on say, The Flash right now.

For me, both Khalil as a villain and as a victim is compelling, and what they are doing is fine, but I feel like they have lost a chance at a true villain.

Well, we could have Black Lightning's Earth merge with Earth 1 and Earth 38. Histories rewritten, but close enough that they can continue. However, the whole point of COIE is a massive effect on everything, and that would include Jefferson. You can still retain a lot of the show, even if you wrap up this storyline and start a new one on the new Earth.

I think that's why I wish this was a pure villain. I agree with a lot of this--the actor has been absolutely amazing in this role, and in my opinion, it suits him far better than Khalil in the previous seasons. It would be better for me if Khalil can't be saved. That this is who he is, because I think he is an awesome villain.

This is clearly the direction the writers have chosen, and it's not bad at all. It's just different. I'm rooting for Painkiller over Khalil. He's an awesome villain. Maybe they establish that Painkiller is not a robot. In fact, maybe it would be good to have Painkiller break free of his programming. Think Robocop 2 when Robocop deleted all of his directives and became a free thinker.

Imagine Painkiller does that, and now can make his own decisions. Now imagine he chooses to permanently erase Khalil. The body murders the soul. There is no hope now for Khalil to come back. He's merely a villain with Khalil's body and a nemesis for the Pearce family with his own agenda.

 

Black Lightning
SEASON THREE / Episode 8 - "The Book of Resistance: Chapter Three - The Battle of Franklin Terrace"

Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning: Still learning from Ms. Shepard, his old teacher--

"Sometimes, you have to do what you know is right, and trust that you're in God's hands."

Knowing what this stand means, Jefferson no longer seems fearful of what the ASA might do to his family. One might see this as Jefferson giving in to the same kind of recklessness that often grips his oldest daughter, but he's run out of options. The ASA's top ass-shiner Williams was looking forward to this--his hatred of the free thinking Jefferson is too much for him--or anyone that is nothing more than a glorified race-traitor.

Jefferson should not have informed Williams that the suit grants any sort of protection....

Tobias: Born on April 20, 1946....

"I'm not a meta...I'm something different. I ride a pale horse, and Hell follows with me.."*

He's playing Lynn like a fiddle, but in his racially-laced taunting rests truth: she is helping the ASA collect black children for a new form of slavery,

Jennifer: Interesting turn in the use of her powers with Brandon "grounding" her--essentially providing a way for her to remain stable--something the ASA failed to do.

Note she liedabout the origin of her powers to Brandon. Smart. Despite her interest in the kid, she's somehwat suspicious of him.

Anissa: Good to see her on the mend...and return to her Thunder ID...and now she knows Khalil is alive....
Tobias / Lynn:
Born April 20, 1946....
"I'm not a meta...I'm something different. I ride a pale horse, and Hell follows with me.."*
He's playing Lynn like a fiddle--

"I'm jealous of you. Jealous because you're going to be famous; come, come now. Don't be modest. I can see you on the cover of Ebony and Essence now: Doctor Lynn Stewart--the sexy, intelligent black woman who saved Freeland and the world by enslaving black youth."

...and more digs at Black Lightning:
"I guess he's smarter than I thought...then again, that suit...tell me, I've always been curious...is he a big fan of Earth, Wind and Fire, or is it Parliament? Perhaps Bootsy Collins?"**

Even in his racially-laced taunting rests some truth: she is helping the ASA collect black children for a new form of slavery, to be captured, experimented on and used until their outlive their usefulness. Lynn simply failed to see that, feeling that she's always been out of the "meta loop", but could help in her own way.

About Lynn...for a woman who was introduced as being so strong-willed and on top of her game, of late, Lynn is falling apart in ways that do not necessarily seem t be triggered by the occupation or her addiction. Its as if she's walked through life with a suit of armor that was not a true part of her character. She's simply operates off of the oft-mentioned ego and emotionalism, which makes her "easy pickin" for just about anyone on the wrong side of life, as seen in this episode.

Lynn pocketing "the cure" sadly ended up being more of her Green Light pills, but at least she's free.

Gambi: Suspicions confirmed: the ASA issued a SARS fable about Freeland, and when it comes to disease outbreaks/scares, the public has a long track record of swallowing it all. Getting the message out to the world was a good gamble, but in the end, the ASA is a government organization, and at least some of its activities are already known, and authorized.

Discovering Barron--yet another fugitive meta kid--did not get off on the right foot, and the teen's distrust is understandable, but I'm thinking he will end up being an ally, and that will be a first for the Pierce family...if they end up creating some kind of team of metas....

Barron's power--a "Technopath" is unusual to say the least, and its interesting that to his senses, modern devices are "always talking." He's not kidding.

Barron mentioned the point of his capture being 30 years ago, and sure enough, Gambi's files revealed he was one of the kids he helped the ASA experiment on. If Barron remembers...

NOTES:

*Tobias piggybacking himself to Revelations Chapter 6, Verse 8:
"I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him."

For Tobias to reference that about himself...everyone from the ASA to anyone with the last name Pierce would do well to grow a pair of eyes in the back of their heads.

**Tobias mocking Jefferson's costumes--likening it to that worn by black music acts from the 70s was--for anyone knowing the history of the named acts and BL's comic book source--a less than subtle jab at Black Lightning's orignal comic book costume, which was as outrageously gaudy as anything worn by acts such as Parliment, with a bit of Richard Roundtree's "Miles Quade" costume from the 1974 film, Earthquake.

Next week, Jennifer encouters alternate version of herself, but its worth noting that of all of the CW/DC series, Black Lightning is the only one to not end with the same, repeated Crisis tag seen on the other shows.

As always, this is a crafeully plotted series, one that knows how to avoid marginalizing / shelving characters while the intensity knows no end.

GRADE: A+.

 

Probably because even though Black Lightning himself will be in Crisis the show itself isn't part of it.

The tag scene is on the shows that have an episode devoted to it.

 

It's true that Black Lightning, the show, will not contribute a "CoIE, Part __" installment, but I was surprised to see how much next week's episode appears to play into "Crisis," with that glimpse of red skies and the introduction of parallel universes and doppelgangers, concepts the series has never employed before.

 

Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with some aspects of this episode, which wasn't quite as strong for me as last week's, which I thought was the best episode of the season. I'm hoping they are moving toward ending the Freeland occupation arc, and they did take some good steps forward regarding that.

Khalil's fight with Thunder was a bit anticlimactic. Maybe I missed something, but why did their first fight go so differently? Why did Khalil do so well the first time? I feel like the second fight was a better indication of how it should have gone down.

What is very interesting is that I feel that this show is paralleling Supergirl in many ways.

Khalil is basically the same as Eve. What's the difference?

Both were essentially mind raped. Also, doesn't Brandon have basically the exact same powers as Rama Khan?

I'm glad Jennifer lied about her origins. Even if she trusted Brandon completely, she has an obligation to protect her father's identity. It's not her secret to tell.

The previews to next week's episode make a lot of sense. I guess we won't get a full fledged COIE installment, but to have an episode that ties in and gets Jefferson into Part 3 makes a lot of sense. I'm hoping that the tie in is strong, and that this is really Part 2.5.

One thing I really liked was that Black Lightning actually appeared in the episode and acted like a real hero. The entire arc has involved a ridiculous premise of an occupation. At least this week they tried to explain why the outside world isn't involved with it, even with that ludicrous SARS excuse. If I remember right, SARS sucks, but is like 98 percent curable. But I'll go with it for now.

A superhero is supposed to represent hope and inspire. I feel like we rarely get to see Black Lightning do that consistently, so it was nice to see him finally let loose a bit.

But I want more.

 

How is Freeland cut off from the outside world based on the SARS excuse? I guess I don’t remember how they established that they were cutoff well enough. Also seems odd with all Gambi’s resources he can’t get a message out. (As an aside during a google search I found I live about an hour from Freeland...MI anyways)

I thought maybe with all the combat sequences we’ve seen with Khalil that maybe he’d figure out to try to get Thunder out of breath but they didn’t go there.

 

Wouldn't it have made more sense to try and get a physical copy of the message out with the underground railroad rather than that radio tower caper?

 

That is a very good point. And regarding the SARS excuse--it makes zero sense that such an excuse would work. First, you would have tons of humanitarians looking to help. Second, you would have tons of relatives of people of Freeland looking to help. A quarantine of this sort would not be grounds to cut off phone or internet communication.

 

It should not end quickly. The ASA is a government agency, and some branch of the federal government must know what's taken place in Freeland. This plot is so connecte to the origins of Black Lightning, that it cannot be an "over and done" arc. Further, if the idea of what/who the ASA are capturing/using was exposed to the everyday, regular human population, it could trigger mass hysteria, especially if they (the public) ever discover there's a metahuman arms race going on .

Do you mean after she was poisoned by Painkiller during that first fight?

The difference is that Lynn actually behaved like a heroine in condemning what happened to Kahli and those responsible, unlike Supergirl, where Kara/SG makes one immoral, defensive statement abut Lena with her every breath. In Black Lightning's world, self-possession/identity is valued by the protagonists instead of Supergirl, where the series lead refused to condemn a woman who believes in one of the worst philosophies the world has ever known.

Agreed.

Yes, we will see just how connected this series will be after COIE ends. At the moment, there are no indicators pointing to a merged world, or all of BL's character being deeply involved.

The tower is quicker than risking giving a flash drive to someone (or even a group) who might end up apprehended, or if they managed to escape, they give the info to the wrong (meaning ASA/government-defensive) news agency. At least with a general message sent by the tower,it reaches a number of targets simultaneously, and gives the opposition less time to spin the story, or the interests of investigators.

 

And just think, poor Constantine can't even light up a cigarette on his show.

 

I guess I feel that this storyline has run its course. I also find it more believable that a guy can shoot electricity out of his hands than an occupation like this, especially with a SARS lie, could actually happen--unless of course they don't live under the same Constitution as what exists in the real world.

I can't see such a story be contained at all in a real world scenario.

Yeah. I felt I missed some things during that fight. But how could Painkiller poison her the first time while she does her thing the second time? I feel like the second fight was much more true to form and her abilities.

I'm NOT comparing Lynn to Lena. I'm comparing Khalil to Eve. The people who did this to Khalil are more like Lena. You are right about Lynn's reaction v. Kara's.

If that's true, what meaning could this crisis have compared to the comic? If the Crisis ends with all the Earths back to normal, and the shows just continue on as if nothing happened, what is the point of the story? That's been my question the whole time.

 

I sure want to believe that is the case, scary that I'm not so sure anymore these days. Some things I thought were a given seem rather malleable lately.

 

It would just be impossible to completely warden off a city. How big would you guess Freeland is? One million people? To pull off such a quarantine, SARS wouldn't work. You'd need Chernobyl level problems. And that would only get the land. The people would go nuts. Even if our government was as corrupt as you could possibly imagine (no matter what side of the aisle you are on), there would be SOMEONE looking into it.

 

^ I agree and that was my complaint about the SARS thing. You just had me pining about the state of the country is all...

 

Areas can be quarantined if a mass disease outbreak happens--its a matter of public safety which takes priority over the right to move about at will.

From HHS.gov:

The ASA being an effective organization tied to the federal government would have no trouble creating a false outbreak scare and immediately act on it--which is the case in Freeland.

Anissa was caught off guard; she did not know Painkiller was enhanced, so it provided an edge--just long enough for his attack with the dart.

I know--I assumed the only comparison would be Lynn doing the right thing as opposed to Kara embracing immoral/unethical behavior.

I doubt Berlanti, et al,, have the stones to change a universe like the classic comic did, even though permanent consequences would add a level of fear, maturity and the idea that no series headliner is safe, and how to move forward from there.

 

I am still waiting for some kind of reveal that Brandon will become Geo Force...and with the connection to Jennifer, be a part of the Outsiders (when they get around to forming it...even for just a random episode or 2). I am thinking that Brandon might reveal to be half-Markovian... we shall see.

The fight between

Maaaaan.he is old! i guess it works for flashbacks and such. Definitely need to find out what is his "origin" story. i guess in the 2nd half we will find out why? The thing is... how old is his sister? SHe seemed pretty young when we saw her earlier. Did she take that drug too? Or was she a lot older than she looked?

Also, no one in Freeland noticed he has barely aged? He sure could NOT pass for a guy in his 70's!

But yeah... Krondon's strength in acting as Whale is just how believable he is with manipulation. Great nemesis.

OK... Brandon has just GOT to be Geo Force! ANd with that... a founding member of the Outsiders?

Well....if she wasn't there, it would be certain death for some. At least with her, they are alive, and more improtant, they have hope to be freed.

i hope they don't sweep over this addiction... her fall into it (minus the ASA manipulation) is pretty realistic, and would hope her withdrawal will be equally realistic.

SHe has the superhero drive/character without the powers (other than intelligence)... but also a realistic human being too

How open was Gambi in that time? Jefferson got the meta powers the same way Barron did, and Jeffrson had no clue about Gambi.

i was totally thinking about that 70's costume when he said it.

I will be interested to see where next week's episode leads.

Hmm... i would disagree, to a SLIGHT extent on the "carefully plotted"... lots of holes someone could nitpick. I would say more that the strength is not the plot but the characters (and the actors that bring them to life), and the issues the show gets us to think about.

i think the battle between Williams and Black Lightning was way more anti-climatic.. with Thunder, there was some wall breaking and flipping and such. Maybe her first time against him she wasn't expecting him to be so enhanced, so she held back, as not to kill him. But now that she was pretty prepared...

What's strange for me is that she didn't realize it was him until his glasses came off. Holy Clark Kent, Batman!



Regarding the whole Quarantine thing, and the size of Freeland.

In regards to quarantine... yeah, kinda unbelievable as to the media blackout... my Trek fan rationalization makes me think of this excuse.. they don't want misinformation spreading, so that is why they are cutting off internet access. That's the best excuse i have. not saying it could work in real life. (in real life, Jefferson would have been fired by end of season 1 or so).

I know Freeland supposed to be the comic equivelent of Atlanta... but i think like Central City and Star CIty... they cities are so small that a regular police officer can jump to Captain of the whole force within a couple years... how big is Cleveland? I imagine those cities being that small. Not sure how they are surviving for so long without supplies going in and out.

But i am just going to go with the flow with this.

Another go-with-the flow... how many metas have they created? Seems way more than the rest of the Arrowverse combined???