Spoilers Black Lightning - Season 2

[Kirk Prime]

Very good episode last night. One thing that struck me was just how much Anissa and Jennifer looked like sisters. Must have been the hair change, but I couldn't get over that.

My big issue was the fake racist rant. While the principal is a douche, and while he should have been more sensitive to the students, there was no racism there at all. Khalil did attack the school. He almost killed Jefferson IN that attack. That was the equivalent of a school shooting and trying to memorialize the shooter.

While the principal's attitude is annoying, his desire to not memorialize someone who did that is more than fair, and Jen was out of line.

And while Jefferson could have likely handled the situation, when he was actually there, he only threw grease on the fire--without actually knowing what was going on--because he didn't like the principal. So his claim that the principal could have come to him wasn't exactly genuine.

Also, not all students have parents who teach at the school, and Jen was treated like any student talking back to the principal.

Yes, Khalil was a victim in a sense, but he did commit the acts he committed, and endangered lives. I believe he also took quite a few lives as well. Just because Jen liked him and just because he was once a good kid, and just because he seemed to repent, doesn't change that his actions were what they were.

There was no evidence in that scene that the principal was racist. Insensitive? Yes. A jerk? Yes. Racist? No.

But on all other fronts, this episode was terrific. The show is getting better. We have compelling heroes, more compelling villains, and if I had only one complaint, is that we aren't seeing enough of Jefferson kicking ass.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Black Lightning
Season two / episode 13 --"The Book of Secrets: Chapter Three: Pillar of Fire"

Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning: Completely surprised that Jefferson would refuse to take on the responsibilities principal (again), only to listen to Lowry's comments on the students needing consistency.

Funny how Jefferson--who thought he was in the prime of his power, was made to feel a little bit over the hill compared to Jennifer's ever-growing levels.

Jennifer: Wow--so her energy output not only exceeds that of her father, but a nuclear bomb as well. While her potential is both exciting and alarming, her abusing it--even on criminals--

Metahuman arms race:
Lynn, Odell & Dr. Helga Jace: So, the Markovians were/are building a metahuman army--or trying to, but Jace has allowed Tobias to intercept the Pod "kids" to sell meta to the highest bidder. For the first time, this places the A.S.A. in a weakened position--no Pod "kids", no Jace, no power. However, on the Tobias front--
Tobias:
--"Shakedown" / Marcus Bishop: "You promise the world, but deliver pain." It says much that he's known Tobias all of a few minutes, and figured him out perfectly. With his justified hatred of Jace, that may be the opening for Bishop to redeem himself, despite his past of committing those undefined atrocities.

This makes one wonder if Odell--desperate to reclaim the A.S.A. advantage will pursue Jennifer. After all, what other reason would have to watch her by Khalil's graveside? I cannot imagine he's in the dark about the Pierce family, and their most explosive--literally--member.

Cutter: She finally exercised her hatred of Todd by rigging his new car to explode. So, she's joined Tobias in being a child murderer. Perfect couple.

NOTES:
Principal Lowrey has race issues to be sure, but the series subverted expectations with Jefferson's about-face. I'm not fan of Lowrey, but the possibility of his getting a second chance (which is what the student said Jefferson needed) thanks to Jefferson cannot go well with his daughter and that student body.

GRADE: A+

 

[thribs]

Serves that twerp right. Deserved to be blown up.
Looks like we’re closer to Lightning. Once the team is ready we can finally get to the good stuff. The crossovers.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

You insist there are crossovers, when no one has said that's happening. Moreover, not only would it not hep a strong series like Black Lightning to cross over with weaker series of a completely different tone, execution and message, but it would be a continuity mess to crossover with BL identifying characters such as Supergirl as fictional (season one), reinforced by the as for the Supergirl movie DVD on the back of one of the comics Anissa was reading just one episode ago.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Serves that twerp right. Deserved to be blown up.
Looks like we’re closer to Lightning. Once the team is ready we can finally get to the good stuff. The crossovers.

Gotta rewatch that part..i totally missed that was him who got blown up...and if so, why? (I.e. did the actor leave?) And is he really gone? He might be smarter than he appears

You insist there are crossovers, when no one has said that's happening. Moreover, not only would it not hep a strong series like Black Lightning to cross over with weaker series of a completely different tone, execution and message, but it would be a continuity mess to crossover with BL identifying characters such as Supergirl as fictional (season one), reinforced by the as for the Supergirl movie DVD on the back of one of the comics Anissa was reading just one episode ago.

In one episode that mentioned SUpergirl and Vixen, who Jennifer thought Lynn might actually be.

I mean, the comics really had characters from Earth 1, Earth 38 and Earth BL all in one universe for DECADES. The coming Crisis could potentially unite these worlds... and BL, at least, could EASILY work in a unified universe...and not meet anyone else until the Crossover.

It wouldn't be the end of the multiverse if it happened.

 

[thribs]

You insist there are crossovers, when no one has said that's happening. Moreover, not only would it not hep a strong series like Black Lightning to cross over with weaker series of a completely different tone, execution and message, but it would be a continuity mess to crossover with BL identifying characters such as Supergirl as fictional (season one), reinforced by the as for the Supergirl movie DVD on the back of one of the comics Anissa was reading just one episode ago.

A crossover is inevitable. It is the sole reason shows like this exist.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Nice to see ol' Meteor Man Robert Townsend acting and directing.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Gotta rewatch that part..i totally missed that was him who got blown up...and if so, why? (I.e. did the actor leave?) And is he really gone? He might be smarter than he appears

For a moment, I thought Todd might be treacherous enough to have someone else "borrow" his new car, thinking that it could be rigged. After all, we only see fingers tapping on the door, then the explosion, and he was well aware of how much Cutter despised him.
Perhaps Todd let the threat of helping to unleash an army of Tobias-controlled metahumans on the world--plus the murder of Khalil--all sink in to wake him up from the immoral, materialistic world that Tobias offered. As a coda to the running plot of a student with potential being "lost" to society's expected fate of criminality, it would have been great to see Todd escape Cutter's murder attempt, and help turn the tables on Tobias, and anyone else in this metahuman "arms" race.

In one episode that mentioned SUpergirl and Vixen, who Jennifer thought Lynn might actually be.

But Supergirl was mentioned in the way one would Sherlock Holmes, as opposed to the way the series refers to real world historical figures often. Moreover, the recent appearance of the 1984 Supergirl movie on Blu-ray ad (on the back of the comic book) was not at all hidden. That implies--strongly--that Black Lightning is in "our" real world, a world where there was a Supergirl movie, based on a character known to be fictional. It would take some series-hurting stretching of those undeniable nods to the character simply being a comic book character to make that work--even in the convoluted (more often than not) comic book mutilverse fashion.

 

[Marc]

Gotta rewatch that part..i totally missed that was him who got blown up...and if so, why? (I.e. did the actor leave?) And is he really gone? He might be smarter than he appears

think it was only going to be a short appearance by the actor. His character was simply a pawn that was going to be used by Whale and it was pretty obvious he was going to be expendable and eliminated.

 

[Christopher]

^Yeah, RJ Cyler was probably only signed for a few episodes. Since his character had no role in this episode except to get blown up at the end, it wasn't worth paying him to appear in the episode, so they just established his presence in the car through dialogue.

 

[Morpheus 02]

^Yeah, RJ Cyler was probably only signed for a few episodes. Since his character had no role in this episode except to get blown up at the end, it wasn't worth paying him to appear in the episode, so they just established his presence in the car through dialogue.

Except we saw him for about 30 seconds at the beginning...I rewatched to find where he died...so ibam going by the rule if you don't see the body...well even then Gambi lived

We will see if it was a fake out or if the actor left/was dropped.

It still seemed like a waste. Whale can be cruel, but he doesn't seem like he would drop assets for no reason... Sure Todd could have been useful for other activities later and didn't seem like a threat (like Khalil)

 

[Marc]

Whale can be cruel, but he doesn't seem like he would drop assets for no reason..

tell that the crooked cop he killed. Whale doesn't drop assets as long as they have a use but as soon as they're done it's bye-bye. There was also mention a few eps back about a some-one else who helped Whale (city councilor?) who was offered a new car as well. Wouldn't be suprised if he met a messy end too.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Look at LaLa and Syonide and so on, BL doesn't have reservations about just killing characters with a snap. I suspect Looker was killed off initially too with some dialog added last second to try to salvage it as it looked quite fatal.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Except we saw him for about 30 seconds at the beginning...I rewatched to find where he died...so ibam going by the rule if you don't see the body...well even then Gambi lived

We will see if it was a fake out or if the actor left/was dropped.

It still seemed like a waste. Whale can be cruel, but he doesn't seem like he would drop assets for no reason... Sure Todd could have been useful for other activities later and didn't seem like a threat (like Khalil)

He was not a threat to Whale as in posing a challenge to him. but from the start, Cutter hated everything about him--almost some twisted form of jealousy. That--and being Whale's latest bedmate--outweighed any value Todd brought to his organization. Who knows...if Todd escaped--IOW, he was wise to Cutter's rigging of his car, who was the informant? Did he discover the explosive on his own? Or is this the work of Whale keeping Todd back to plot against anyone he thikns would try to usurp hi authority / take control of his metahuman unit, such as Jace (obvious suspect), or perhaps Cutter, who should never be trusted, as she harbors some animosity toward her lover.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Black Lightning
Season two / episode 14 --"The Book of Secrets: Chapter Four: Original Sin"

Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning: Lala believing Jefferson murdered Earl--intense scene. Despite Lala being a criminal, his "curse" of victims fighting within his conscience was palpable, as he cannot be the cold-blooded killer like Tobias, who tosses his crimes over his shoulder as if it meant nothing.

Earl's death at Lala;s own hands was almost expected, but still sickening in that he did it as part of that ever-nowhere scheme of climbing out of poverty/attaining power. A bottomless pit of immorality, but he's paying the price for it, with Earl being a mirror of the boy he once was.

Jefferson blames himself for telling Earl to go the police, but his instincts were always right (even though some of the cops were working with/for Tobias). Perhaps Earl was doomed from the start, but Jefferson stressing kids not shun institutions--the law--outright (but they should have their eyes open when dealing with them) is, to a degree, teaching them to use the system instead of being a complete outsider/victim of it.

Jennifer: Ah, to be a kid with goofy ideas on costumes, but she displayed a surprising bit of maturity in straightening out Anissa about still having the hope of a relationship that she does not.

Gambi / Henderson: The pairing of Gambi and Henderson works well--both world weary, but that experience adds a needed detective frame around the costumed goings-on.

Anissa / Grace: So, Grace's power is shape-shifting, growling like a beast, ...and feeding on large animals...? Bizarre. The discovery of the partially devoured animal carcasses behind furniture sort of reminded me of similar gruesome scenes in the Schrader remake of Cat People (Universal, 1982).

Metahuman arms race:
Lynn / Odell: Bottom line Odell--Wendy--and the other pod kids cannot provide a service, then they are worthless. With Lynn standing in the way of A.S.A. expediency, it should nit be too long before Odell either decides to remover her from the program, or use a more personal means of forcing the kind of cooperation he's looking for--meaning his monitoring the Pierce home means he will try to use Jennifer for that purpose.

Tobias: Absent, but his presence was felt, thanks to Lala's tormented state. In the teaser for episode 15, Tobias angrily punches a glass case containing a body. A capture of the occupant kind of bears some resemblance to Khalil. The actor behind Khalil--Jordan Calloway--is still listed as one of the series regulars, so it possible his character could have been stolen from the grave...

NOTES:
The family selfie should have been a happy moment, but it generated a sinking feeling that the good days (if you describe it in that way) are coming to an end.

Loving the intensity and the threats building up in every direction, with each player not knowing how close they are to a full-on clash.

GRADE: A+

 

[Henoch]

Loving the intensity and the threats building up in every direction, with each player not knowing how close they are to a full-on clash.

They're building up to superhero team (Team Pierce: Black Lightning, Thunder, Jennifer, maybe Grace) versus super villain team (Team Tobias: Tobias, Cutter, Shakedown, whoever else from the pods). Looking forward to the big battle!

 

[Morpheus 02]

So I GUESS it is conformed Todd is dead? Still no actual body seen.... might he be smart enough to plot an escape path of some kind? Or was this just to confirm what seemed vague the episode he was killed? (It's just weird we never saw the body...especially since we saw him EARLIER in that episode?)

I also thought it was Khalil.... the Resurrection program still going? ANd who was the scientist caring for Lala? A runawat scientist from that program?

I am still not feeling Lala -- I liked him as a "normal" adversary with the 100....but this inner struggle....mmmm… But I guess he will be a 3rd factor in that Lightning vs. Whale battle coming...

Odell -- kinda disappointed he is turning out like the 1st Season ASA chief... I mean, killing his 3 helpers? What is up with that????

And efferson's first suit -- funny George CLinton comment... but was that EVER in the comics???

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

So I GUESS it is conformed Todd is dead? Still no actual body seen.... might he be smart enough to plot an escape path of some kind?

The police were pretty confident about the identity of the dead man. But...say Todd was never in the explosion, that means he set someone else up to die, which would make him as ruthless as his former employer, but for what story purpose? Its not as though Tobias is short on people wanting revenge against him.

I also thought it was Khalil.... the Resurrection program still going? ANd who was the scientist caring for Lala? A runawat scientist from that program?

I thought the flashback was more than a backstory for Lala, but to establish the means that certain young man might return from the dead--but will he be as "cursed" as Lala with the sympathetic scarring of victims' faces on his body?

I am still not feeling Lala -- I liked him as a "normal" adversary with the 100....but this inner struggle....mmmm… But I guess he will be a 3rd factor in that Lightning vs. Whale battle coming...

The writers did add another dimension to Lala's background--that he was once a studious child and could have taken Jefferson's path, but the allure of crime in a hopeless situation/neighborhood/society makes him a partially tragic figure, who in an almost Larry Talbot fashion--thinks his only peace will come from death.

Odell -- kinda disappointed he is turning out like the 1st Season ASA chief... I mean, killing his 3 helpers? What is up with that????

He's a dyed-in-the-wool killer operative--one who believes he (I'm guessing) represents the ultimate realization of the A.S.A.'s metahuman program--and since we know he was spying on Jennifer at the cemetery, she has to be the one he's planning to exploit.

And efferson's first suit -- funny George CLinton comment... but was that EVER in the comics???

Not exactly, but the character has worn some garish costumes over the decades.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Surprised to see Lala back, I guess BL isn't that different from its counterparts.

Not exactly, but the character has worn some garish costumes over the decades.

His current costume isn't exactly discreet and tasteful.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Surprised to see Lala back, I guess BL isn't that different from its counterparts.


His current costume isn't exactly discreet and tasteful.

It sells the kind of power he possesses well. My only issue is that it works best in nighttime scenes, when it should look good at any time of the day. That said, its superior to many of his comic half's costumes, including the original from 1977.