Spoilers Black Lightning - Season 3

[TREK_GOD_1]

And what was really odd was that Gravedigger just didn't order Black Lightning to stand down.

I believe he wanted to break Black Lightning without mind control. A test of wills.

However, the COIE did happen in this universe. Black Lightning has Supergirl and Flash in his cell phone. In universe, there are no showrunners. Superman exists. They live in the same country.

What happened in Freeland made no sense in the context of the entire DC Arrowverse.

Again, the entire Freeland story predates that watered down CW-COIE. The showrunners only had an obligation to tell their continuing story, not jump off the rails with meaningless guest spots with characters (Flash and/or Supergirl) who would be completely out of place in this series, especially with the mature level and type of stories driving Black Lightning.

 

[jbny67]

Never mind the "Super Friends" where was the US army?
I do love this show, but even before the COIE story line, the idea that the US government would sit idly by as a foreign country threatened and invaded one of it's cities never sat well with me.

 

[Kirk Prime]

I believe he wanted to break Black Lightning without mind control. A test of wills.

They could have done a better job with that. Gravedigger is DC's Killgrave. He's almost too powerful unless they can come up with a way to shield against that mind control, which I think they should. It made no sense from a strategic standpoint to have that power and not use it with a legit threat.

And while we are at it, why did he order Grace to kill Anissa but not Anissa to kill Grace? Or have them each kill themselves?

Again, the entire Freeland story predates that watered down CW-COIE. The showrunners only had an obligation to tell their continuing story, not jump off the rails with meaningless guest spots with characters (Flash and/or Supergirl) who would be completely out of place in this series, especially with the mature level and type of stories driving Black Lightning.

None of that is relevant--Crisis happened. They are all on the same Earth. The nature of the story almost required a phone call to the other heroes. That was a weakness of Supergirl as well in the earlier seasons.

 

[Kirk Prime]

Never mind the "Super Friends" where was the US army?
I do love this show, but even before the COIE story line, the idea that the US government would sit idly by as a foreign country threatened and invaded one of it's cities never sat well with me.

Agreed. This was an invasion by a foreign power, and the solution was to let the people fight it out and nuke them if they lose? That's less believable than a guy flying around shooting lightning from his hands.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

It is hard to imagine that the USA would be OK with an invasion as long as reparations are paid. "Oh, we invaded your country, our bad." As I mentioned before though if this is indeed the Arrowverse we've seen that our country has shrugged off a nuclear strike (and I believe Darkh launched the world's nuclear arsenal to boot though all but one were redirected).

I thought it was a terrific finale, though I'm curious how Wayne Brady is shape shifting now.

Even without the myriad examples throughout the Arrowverse we've seen in this series the tech that would allow for non-powered image cloaking.

 

[The Realist]

Even without the myriad examples throughout the Arrowverse we've seen in this series the tech that would allow for non-powered image cloaking.

Yeah, I had the same thought. I would have to watch again to see if the effect was clearly meta-powered organic shapeshifting a la Grace, or if it could have been the kind of tech-based holographic camouflage Gambi and Lynn have been seen using.

 

[Kirk Prime]

It is hard to imagine that the USA would be OK with an invasion as long as reparations are paid. "Oh, we invaded your country, our bad." As I mentioned before though if this is indeed the Arrowverse we've seen that our country has shrugged off a nuclear strike (and I believe Darkh launched the world's nuclear arsenal to boot though all but one were redirected).

That wasn't a government nuclear strike on its own soil. We have seen some horrible presidents in the Arrowverse, but not even THEY did that.

Good presidents or bad presidents, none of them would tolerate a foreign invasion on US soil. Markovia would be hit with the full arsenal. And the fact that the army didn't do anything was absurd.

Even without the myriad examples throughout the Arrowverse we've seen in this series the tech that would allow for non-powered image cloaking.

I can accept that more readily if they did an explanation. I'd also like to see a villain like Gravedigger on other shows. The mind control thing is a little too much like Grodd though.

I think they need to neutralize that. Gravedigger is still quite powerful without it.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Well, NY is sending in the National Guard to quarantine an area so maybe we'll get a taste of real world lockdown.

That wasn't a government nuclear strike on its own soil. We have seen some horrible presidents in the Arrowverse, but not even THEY did that.

Good presidents or bad presidents, none of them would tolerate a foreign invasion on US soil. Markovia would be hit with the full arsenal. And the fact that the army didn't do anything was absurd.

My point is if the country can handle a nuke from foreign soil that perhaps a small scale incursion doesn't sound so bad. The USA of the Arrowverse has seen some shit...

 

[Kirk Prime]

Well, NY is sending in the National Guard to quarantine an area so maybe we'll get a taste of real world lockdown.

They aren't attacking people, and a quarantine does not mean people can't go there. They can--it's more about the buildings in this case. Plus, the people in that area aren't having their phones cut off.

My point is if the country can handle a nuke from foreign soil that perhaps a small scale incursion doesn't sound so bad. The USA of the Arrowverse has seen some shit...

Yeah it has--but the way this went down--I can't see it unless this version of the US is completely run by a different set of laws and a different Constitution.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Jamillah Olsen precrisis used to be a doppelganger of Jimmy Olsen?

One Jimmy per world.

So... Earth 38 Jimmy must have died off camera, and then Jamillah was shot dead last night?

No Jimmies.

 

[JD]

Never mind the "Super Friends" where was the US army?
I do love this show, but even before the COIE story line, the idea that the US government would sit idly by as a foreign country threatened and invaded one of it's cities never sat well with me.

Like I said after last week's episode, I think the idea was supposed to be that they were letting the ASA handle it.
This was a great finale and a nice way to tie up all of the stuff with Markovia, and the ASA.
I was really disappointed they killed Henderson, I was really hoping we would survive so that he could at least get a happy ending.
So I was right, and Grace did survive, she's in a coma, but there is a possibility she could wake up.
It will be very interesting to see what they do with Gravedigger now that he's not going to have Markovia backing him.
We got some great action scenes this week.
It will be interesting to see where things go now that Odell and the ASA, and Markovia have been dealt with. They've been such a big part of the show for the last couple seasons, it'll be very different now without them around.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

None of that is relevant--Crisis happened.

The showrunner's intent and actual production is the only thing that is relevant. Not someone else trying to shoehorn crap that was never a part of an existing series. There was no Flash or anyone else for over two seasons because they did not exist, but all of those Black Lightning episodes with their established world did. That cannot be erased because of something which had no bearing on the series up to this point. If Berlanti wanted some shared universe, he should have demanded that of Black Lightning's creators/showrunners from the start. That did not happen, thus the series operated as a separate entity, which is one of the endless reasons its the best of all CW-DC shows.

They are all on the same Earth. The nature of the story almost required a phone call to the other heroes.

No, it did not. Screaming for help makes the title characters appear weak, and Black Lightning already has a good number of powerful metas acting as superheroes. On that point, I did not see Supergirl ring the alarms when various alien threats threatened the city (and presumably the world) she lives in. Supergirl has been part of a shared universe almost from the start, yet for all of the "greatest ever!" threats introduced on that show, for the majority of the series' run, she's the only game in town. The shared universe problem rests with those series, not one that deliberately started off in its own universe (and continues as if it still is separate), which dictates the behavior and actions of that world's characters and organizations.

Batwoman is the same: despite the entire Alt-Beth plot, characters such as Luke made mocking references to "Flash" and "Supergirl" as if they do not believe Kate's story about other costumed characters, which means its business as usual, and so far, that series operates as if CW-COIE was one of DC's old "Imaginary Stories". Not a bad thing.

 

[JD]

I was willing to forgive the lack of incorporation into the wider Arrowverse during the arc that just ended last night, but I'm kind of hoping they might work to incorporate it a bit more now that we've hit a big transition point in the series.

 

[theenglish]

I love he's all in his gear but he has a couple of water bottles and a name plaque that says "Black Lightning" like it's just day-to-day business.[/SPOILER]

I thought that that was a very comic book thing to do--kinda liked it.

I agree that I was a little skeptical about the nuclear option, especially when by the end of the episode the characters are entirely respectful of the government that just tried to kill them and there doesn't seem to be any mass protests outside.

As for Grace, it seems Gravedigger now has her power. I would love to see the introduction of the Amazons next season and give Grace her comic book powers.

 

[Kirk Prime]

The showrunner's intent and actual production is the only thing that is relevant. Not someone else trying to shoehorn crap that was never a part of an existing series. There was no Flash or anyone else for over two seasons because they did not exist, but all of those Black Lightning episodes with their established world did. That cannot be erased because of something which had no bearing on the series up to this point. If Berlanti wanted some shared universe, he should have demanded that of Black Lightning's creators/showrunners from the start. That did not happen, thus the series operated as a separate entity, which is one of the endless reasons its the best of all CW-DC shows.

At this point, they exist in a larger universe, where the events of the back part of the season couldn't happen. The showrunners are irrelevant in the context of the existing universe. The Flash DOES exist now. Superman, Supergirl, Batwoman, Team Arrow, the Legends all exist.

No, it did not. Screaming for help makes the title characters appear weak, and Black Lightning already has a good number of powerful metas acting as superheroes. On that point, I did not see Supergirl ring the alarms when various alien threats threatened the city (and presumably the world) she lives in. Supergirl has been part of a shared universe almost from the start, yet for all of the "greatest ever!" threats introduced on that show, for the majority of the series' run, she's the only game in town. The shared universe problem rests with those series, not one that deliberately started off in its own universe (and continues as if it still is separate), which dictates the behavior and actions of that world's characters and organizations.

At no point does asking for help make the title characters look weak. In some cases, NOT asking for help does that because there is nothing wrong with asking for help when needed. Your example of Supergirl is actually a fair point--because it was bad writing that when aliens invaded, you didn't see Superman join the fight, as this would certainly warrant his attention. The writers looked weak because they didn't account for that. The inability to ask for help is a character flaw. Whether BL started off on a different Earth is no longer relevant, because it does share this Earth now.

I was willing to forgive the lack of incorporation into the wider Arrowverse during the arc that just ended last night, but I'm kind of hoping they might work to incorporate it a bit more now that we've hit a big transition point in the series.

That's fair. The season is over. It's time to move in a new direction, and now that they are part of the whole Arrowverse proper, they do need to remember that when making stories.

 

[JD]

As for Grace, it seems Gravedigger now has her power. I would love to see the introduction of the Amazons next season and give Grace her comic book powers.

I think the Amazons would feel more appropriate for The Flash or Supergirl, I just don't know if they'd really fit the tone and style of Black Lightning.
I just remembered, they kind of where introduced in Legends of Tomorrow since we saw the Legends drop Helen of Troy off on Themyscira.

 

[theenglish]

I think there is a lot of leeway in how the Amazons are presented. For example, Wonder Girl from the Titans would not be out of place on Black Lightning.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The way the season ended there's a lot of potential to take the story anywhere they want to go. We've gone from Black Lightning being an urban legend to being a nationally recognized superhero. Dropping Henderson might suggest breaking the scope open more but with Tobias and others still in play they can really go just about anywhere with the story next time.

 

[The Realist]

Yeah, I had the same thought. I would have to watch again to see if the effect was clearly meta-powered organic shapeshifting a la Grace, or if it could have been the kind of tech-based holographic camouflage Gamby and Lynn have been seen using.

Rewatched the episode tonight, and yeah, the shift definitely looked technological to me. Think it was just holographic camo, not the restoration of Gravedigger's extra meta powers.

 

[Morpheus 02]

OK... sorry i have been out of it for a while, so i apologize for being late and probably messed up with comments, but some thoughts i finally get to express...

It looks like @TREK_GOD_1 's fear of the other shows "ruining" BL has come true... not just once, but twice we have had the heroes do the slo-mo walk of confidence (into battle, and out of the courtroom, or whatever that was).

I gave the episode where it was revealed that Gravedigger was related to Jefferson was just dumb (made me give it an automatic A-), and just a throwaway line in their last battle. I mean, Erika ALexander's character is a stable meta too, right? i think it would ave been mor emeaningful if Gravedigger was a respected resident of Freeland thought dead... and maybe Jefferson being called the new version of him.


As much as i make fun of Trek God's assessments sometimes, the finale was an A+ for me, despite the flaws

- bummed that Geo force , er Brandon, never got to see what happened to Jace (assuming she is dead, and didn't have a back-up plan, like a blood filled bullet proof vest)

- Grace going into a coma , to me, means, that they don't know what to do with the character, and she can be conveniently out of the way as needed. Also, did they ever establish how her powers came about? Born that way? Green light? SOmething else?

-Gambi's shop blown up? Hmm... sounds like they want to make a different base of operations? I assume Anissa's secret backroom?

- So that hearing at the end? Was it a special Congressional hearing? WHy were they wearing judge robes? I am surprised no one mentioned BLack Lightning's creators having a cameo. Loved that part.

You can really tell the low budget (like how Crisis felt) in that hearing... but again, one of those things i can easily overlook in light of the overall picture.


And some of the other issues mentioned... i am thinking why there is no war with Markovia is due to it technically being the US's fault through the ASA. They can brush it under the rug, if the 2 agree it is rogue agents causing the problems, so they can sweep it under the rug.




I am thinking DC TV needs ot hire some SUperfans to help sort out and rationalize the differences between the shows, so help it seem consistent.