Considering the events of this episode, maybe Gambi's the one who makes sure they stay silent...
Spoilers Black Lightning - Season 1
- Thread starter dahj
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Considering the events of this episode, maybe Gambi's the one who makes sure they stay silent...
Thought someone might make that point, but it's always seemed obvious to me that just because a story contains some elements of fantasy, that doesn't mean all bets are off and absolutely anything goes. That's particularly true if it works to the story's detriment, as letting things get too fanciful and disconnected from reality might do here.
And as I think about it, I do feel like the relative "realism" of the first couple of episodes has already been left behind to a significant extent, though maybe that progression was inevitable. Still, there's a balance to be struck so that the show doesn't lose its real-world relevance and immediacy in favor of pure genre wackiness. I mean, I dig Gotham, but this ain't that show.
There are different kinds of realism. Fantasy superpowers can work fine so long as the human emotions and relationships and problems in the story remain grounded and believable, and if the powers are metaphors or catalysts for the human stories rather than just gimmickry for their own sake.
So far it seems to me that the powers we've seen outside of BL and clan seem of the supernatural/voodoo variety. I wonder if that will remain the case or not.
So you're saying Constantine (and/or Papa Midnite) should do a crossover?
I'm not so sure that what's happening is magic though, they've set up the background of weird science experiments being conducted, so that's probably gonna tie into all these happenings.
I don't see that. The main "powers" we've seen are the apparent enhanced strength that Green Light provides, and the lack of aging and (again apparent) enhanced strength that Tobias Whale seems to have. The new phenomena we saw last night include resurrection and shapeshifting/transformation into mist, but at least the latter of those powers has been portrayed as "scientifically" based in other DC productions and comics. On Supergirl, Livewire could change her body into pure electricity; on The Flash, the Mist could turn into a cloud of poison gas, while Sand Demon (one of the Earth-2 metas) could turn into sand. As for resurrection, I'm not sure if there's a non-magical example in the Arrowverse, since the Lazarus Pit does seem to have mystical properties. But there's certainly been plenty of other sci-fi that featured resurrection through non-magical means.
I’m going by what we are seeing and the way it’s presented here (so far), just because there have been other examples in the Arrowverse doesn’t mean that Black Lightning doesn’t mention albino bone magic in its opening recaps.
I’m not saying I’m right, it’s a casual, passing observation but until the show proves otherwise I don’t feel those examples invalidate it.
Akilproductions did retweet this vulgar comment so you never know.
https://www.twitter.com/SAOFollower/status/971219801522757633
There's a behind the scenes video of Thunder suited up on Nafessa Williams' instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf3EX6fjwgS/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf3EX6fjwgS/
I’m going by what we are seeing and the way it’s presented here (so far), just because there have been other examples in the Arrowverse doesn’t mean that Black Lightning doesn’t mention albino bone magic in its opening recaps.
Lady Eve is using that legend/superstition to intimidate and threaten Tobias. It doesn't follow that it's actually real. Beliefs can have cultural and emotional power without being literally true.
Of course they don't invalidate it, but they don't suggest it either. We don't have enough information to draw a conclusion either way. And so far there's no evidence to suggest that supernatural phenomena do exist in the show's world. If they do, we'll find out soon enough, so there's no need to rush to conclusions ahead of the data.
Could be literal, could be figurative. Not enough information yet.
I wonder if that box on the back is an actual part of the costume design, or some sort of concealed battery pack meant to be worn only when she's shot from the front. I guess we'll find out once the costume debuts.
And the video seems to imply that Jennifer won't be getting her costume yet this season.
I missed the latter part of your comment, I'm not convinced that it's magic either but I was noticing that what they've shown so far seemed that it could coincide with that vibe. The show has been kind of cagey with those elements giving us quick out-of-context scenes. And was Joey Toledo smiling when Gambi put that bone dust on his chest?So you're saying Constantine (and/or Papa Midnite) should do a crossover?
I'm not so sure that what's happening is magic though, they've set up the background of weird science experiments being conducted, so that's probably gonna tie into all these happenings.
Doesn't look like it.
This is the latest promo image, and she's wearing a Black Canary costume, i.e. regular clothes
^Interesting....
What they've done in other series is that the visiting characters are written to match the tone of that series. Arrow characters act a little lighter when they are in Central City and the reverse is also true.
i give it an A...but i am biased, being a dad of 2 daughters, so I really connect with Jefferson the dad, whohad some good scenes in that role. I might have to have a talk soon with my oldest daughter as Jefferson did with Jennifer.
Maybe that reason is light racism?
And Freeland just might be a place where superheroes never come, so they aren't at the forefront of interacting with them, so it seems like far off in the distance and not affecting day to day life. I was in Door COunty Wisconsin with 9/11 hit... the thing is, most people get there purely by car, so all the airlines stuff i am sure did not affect them much.
1. I identify with you on the daughter issue. My girl is just becoming a teenager and already a rebel. She's not black but half latino and never experienced racism growing up in international environments, but I know it is coming.
2. In Christopher's defense, where I currently work in West Africa, women change their wigs all the time. As a white guy I try to keep quiet when I don't recognize them because I don't want people to think I'm racist (which I'm not). This past year, two African Americans I hired (a man and a woman) both confessed to me that they have trouble recognizing people when they changed their wigs. I laughed and basically told them, "thank god--I was worried that I wasn't recognizing them because I was white".
3. In the comics, and in the Netflix MCU shows, it is very common for street level heroes to operate outside of the realm of the massive super-heroes as they live in two separate worlds. I see no reason why this show can't exist alongside the other shows.
Do I need a defense? My bad memory for faces is universal, not specific to any one ethnicity. Indeed, I had the hardest time following the plot of Veronica Mars in its first several episodes because I couldn't tell all the generically good-looking young white guys apart. And when I binge-watched the first two seasons of The Magicians a few months back, it took me several episodes to figure out that Margo and Kady were two different women. When shows have large casts, I just need a few weeks to learn the faces and names well enough to tell people apart. Of course, Black Lightning doesn't have that same problem, because there are no other regular characters who look anything like Anissa, but sometimes I'd see her in a scene and it'd take me a moment to be sure I was seeing her and not some guest character. Now, though, as I said, I've learned her features well enough that it's easier to recognize her.
The other day, I went to the bank to do some business, and I talked to a banker that I'd previously only met once before, several months ago. The only way I could remember that I had met her before was that I had her business card; otherwise I would've had no idea, because one meeting is not enough for me to learn someone's face. But she recognized me right away, which surprised me, given all the hundreds of customers she must've talked to in the interim. Since I'm not good at recognizing people, I don't realize how easy it is for most people to do it. I kind of envy that skill.
Works for me. I'm still hoping for an eventual reveal that Black Lightning shares Supergirl's Earth-38.
I don't know, Freeland sharing space with aliens, invasions and spaceships seems a bit much. Might explain those lightning guns though.
Well, as Christopher has ably detailed at some point, Black Lightning is historically something of a Superman-adjacent character. The original comic series was set in Metropolis, with prominent guest appearances by Superman and Jimmy Olsen in early issues. And Inspector Henderson is flat-out a Superman character, having been created for the 1940s radio show and being a series regular on the George Reeves Adventures of Superman TV series right alongside Lois, Jimmy, and Perry. So it would certainly seem appropriate in that sense.
I'm sure viewers of Arrow season 1, a grounded, gritty crime drama about urban vigilantes without masks or code names, would've thought it unlikely that the show would ever share a universe with shows about superpowered metahumans, time travelers, parallel worlds, evil sorcerors, and demons, or that it would include some such characters and plot elements in its own later storylines. By contrast, BL has featured a metahuman hero from the start and has acknowledged that other superheroes exist in its world.
Also, Supergirl has been name-dropped twice in the show so far, as I mentioned before. And there have been allusions to Batman, a hero who's been all but confirmed to exist on Earth-38 (although Bruce Wayne has been confirmed to exist on Earth-1).
The other reason to prefer an Earth-38 setting is because having two shows on that Earth would help balance having three CW shows -- plus Constantine and three animated shows -- based on Earth-1.
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