Spoilers Black Lightning - Season 2

[TREK_GOD_1]

Black Lightning
Season two / episode 15 --"The Book of the Apocalypse: Chapter One: The Alpha"

Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning: Jefferson's rules for being a hero...not the average family table conversation, but its so refreshing to see a strong family unit, instead of the entertainment business favorite, the dysfunctional, broken black family.

So fascinating to see Jefferson attempt to balance being the traditional father for such non-traditional circumstances, framed by his tender memories of Jennifer through the years.

Smart countering Jennifer's Old Testament reference to "an eye for an eye.." by reminding her that its source (in Hammurabi's Code) predates the Bible, and obviously, the answer to that belief is what is detailed in the New Testament. Solid parenting.

Jennifer: Last week's sign of maturity goes out the window...and now she's set to overload....

Gambi: As always, his caring relationship with his surrogate family is a highlight of the series. Unlike many superhero series, you feel the honest love between the protagonists.

Anissa / Grace: I do find the shift from her being so into her Thunder activities, to lovelorn an interesting development. Ordinarily, she was one of the rocks of the family, but now she's--with a broken heart--leans on her kid sister.

Metahuman arms race:
Lynn / Odell: Unlike the prison metas, Wendy's realization that all she knew is gone was a touching moment, with Lynn being just as motherly / protective as she with her own daughters. Again, I like the believable family consistency of this series.

Odell monitoring Jennifer....disgusting. I thought his backing down from Lynn's defense of Wendy seemed like he was just placating Lynn while he moves on to the next "soldier" (Jennifer, obviously), as he planned to all along.

Tobias / Helga Jace/ Cutter:

Prison Metas--
Darryl Robinson AKA Coldsnap - Power: Cryokinesis.
Joe AKA Heatstroke - Power: Pyrokinesis.
Rebecca Jones AKA New Wave - Power: Water-body conversion & Hydrokinesis.

Joe's murderous "audition" / fight was effective. Tobias having an outburst from being talked down was amusing, but he cannot stop being disrespectful to the only true allies he has (the "white woman" slur). It makes one wonder if Jace will take her self-described "big brain" for her own benefit.

I'm really interested in seeing how things blow up with this meta army. So much destructive potential.

Lala: For a criminal, he's become such a sympathetic figure; while his seeking revenge is not admirable at all, his pain at knowing he will never achieve peace (or salvation) for his history of criminality is sad. At least he is starting to serve the purpose of a spectre of sorts--someone who will never stop haunting/hunting Tobias. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to Cutter telling him how some stranger would not fall to her blades.

"Cape Guy": Typical--he was clearly suffering from some psychological breakdown, but the police shoot the veteran to death, anyway.

NOTES: Next week--the season finale, and everything continues to come together in such a compelling manner.

Love Scott Peck's cinematography for the series.

GRADE: A+

 

[thribs]

I wish they would stop with the random music during key scenes. It’s always distracting and often tonally wrong to what is being shown.

 

[Christopher]

Man, they are really dragging out the reveal of Jennifer's costume.

And I am so sick of the cliched revenge narrative where the hero is determined to kill the villain until the moment comes and they finally listen to the arguments they've been ignoring up to then. Why do writers keep retelling that story that's already been told a million times? Find something different to say!

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

One: In this case, the only one seeking revenge is a teenager, and unlike other superhero shows where characters rarely act anything remotely close to reality, Jennifer is acting on teenage impulse, not adult levels of understanding the moral implications/consequences of murder.

Two: the only thing preventing her from killing Tobias was her powers overloading at the wrong moment.

Black Lightning's characters play as real in a world of real problems that are framed with the fantastic, instead of other shows where rivers of immature behavior and questionable writing is (all too often) the norm rather than the exception.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Only on Black Lightning are you likely to hear the Ohio Players while fighting a meta. While not very long I thought that scene with lightning vs pyro was pretty cool and the colors and effects really popped.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Man, they are really dragging out the reveal of Jennifer's costume.

Seriously?

And I am so sick of the cliched revenge narrative where the hero is determined to kill the villain until the moment comes and they finally listen to the arguments they've been ignoring up to then. Why do writers keep retelling that story that's already been told a million times? Find something different to say!

As Trek God said...this is different as this is from a teenage perspective. Another difference here is that this is a great metaphor for parents trying to reach their children and they being headstrong about a particular desire that ultimately will end in heartbreak/failure.

It seems pretty evident that you are NOT a parent, and can't relate with this part of Black Lightning either.

Only on Black Lightning are you likely to hear the Ohio Players while fighting a meta. While not very long I thought that scene with lightning vs pyro was pretty cool and the colors and effects really popped.

I wish they would stop with the random music during key scenes. It’s always distracting and often tonally wrong to what is being shown.

​

TONALLY WRONG? How is "Fiiiii-re" not appropriate for that scene?

I think this shows another area where there might be some cultural differences are shown (in terms of various audience reaction). What do you think, Trek_God?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^ Just to be clear, I wasn't complaining

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Black Lightning
SEASON TWO FINALE / Episode 16 --"The Book of the Apocalypse: Chapter Two: The Omega"

Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning: His not stopping Lala from going after Tobias might be considered his looking away from attempted murder, yet he held to principles in stopping Jennifer. At long last, the pain of his father's murder is eased with Tobias' arrest.

Another great family moment as the would-be cap to this episode. Considering what they will face next season, they will need all the strength they can draw from that connection.

Jennifer: She was warned about her impulsive behavior having consequences she would be able to deal with, but she nearly cost her own father and uncle their lives. Thankfully, she finally understood her father's warning/instruction and did not give in to murderous impulse.

Gambi: Terrible price for helping Jennifer. His suffering from radiation burns is a detail few superhero shows ever explore when normal humans come in contact with one powered by or generates it.

"Because you're my family." Always sweet to hear how genuinely loving they are with each other, and have no limits about how far they will go to support each other. .

Anissa: Anissa making the same, pointed observation (people stealing and not doing anything to create change) wise minds made of many of those who participated in the L.A. Riots. That is a major contrast from those who made excuses about the frustration of the oppressed being a valid reason to steal and/or destroy property.

Metahuman arms race:
Lynn / Odell : Damn. Lynn beat the crap of Jace, but her going into police protection was too good to be true. Once she's in the hands of the Markovians (which she has constantly referred to in less than flattering ways), it will be interesting if she just accepts her fate, or try to recruit Instant (the meta/Markovian bounty hunter) as part of her own angle.

I knew it! Odell exhumed Khalil's body and has experimented on him. No one would be talking a leap to think his mind might be compromised by ASA tinkering.

Tobias / Helga Jace/ Cutter: Tobias realized a "dead man" was coming after him, yet he did not fear him. Foolish, but he was so obsessed with killing Black Lightning that he's setting himself up Cutter to flip (sooner or later). As always, he has an ace with his verbal activation of Lala's side effects.

Tobias effectively buried in a prison designed to dull his metahuman powers. Seemingly abandoned by all of his closest allies, its anyone's guess who will break him out...and you know that's coming.

Prison Metas: Well executed fight between the Prison Metas, Black Lightning and Thunder. Hopefully, this is not their last appearance in the series.

NOTES: So that it--Odell calls out the Pierce family, swears them in as assets of the ASA, and warns of the Markovian metahuman war coming to Freeland..with the brilliant Jace on their side. Clearly, the Pierce family will resist In whatever way they can, but I'm sure the resurrected Khalil will be used to control Jennifer, and if she's controlled (threatened), so is the rest of her family.

Anissa's "I wouldn't be surprised if he told us he was Batman!" So, once again, another DC superhero character is treated as being a work of fiction, as her comment was rooted in cultural awareness, not speaking as if Batman exists in that world.

Reverend Holt survived….fascinating. As usual, his Christian messages of hope countered the chaos of the riots, and the fall of Tobias. Always welcome to hear on this series, and of course, all too rare for the majority of any TV show.

GRADE: A++. Bold end to a great season, with such consistency in that every plot introduced as far back as the pilot all steadily built, then come together in this episode. Two seasons in, and once again, there's no denying that Black Lightning is the best DC superhero series ever made for TV, and the only series matching the quality of Marvel's Daredevil and The Punisher.

 

[Christopher]

Okay, Jennifer's costume looks better in action than it did in that publicity photo from a while back. Nice to see her in action at last -- the moment where she took flight was cool -- but as before, I found the whole "don't give in to revenge" plot for her to be very by-the-numbers and cliched.

It's also unfortunate that they did a storyline about a citywide riot but only had the budget to show one street's worth of aftermath and had to rely on Greek drama-style dialogue describing offscreen events while keeping the story mostly indoors.

Not sure what to think of the cliffhanger reveal. A Markovian invasion of Freeland? That's quite a departure from the street-level social commentary of season 1.

 

[thribs]

It was pretty good. Seemed rather rushed however.
This Markovian War doesn’t sound as threatening as the Anti Monitor attack however. Will they survive that.

I was assuming one of those kids in the pods would be Static Shock but he would be rather dedundant with all the other lightning powered heroes out there.

 

[The Realist]

It was pretty good. Seemed rather rushed however.

Not as bad as last year's finale, which disappointingly pulled a "rogue operation" card out of its nether regions to make the season's complex threats suddenly all about taking out one guy instead. Tonight's episode was a lot more satisfying than that, I thought.

 

[jbny67]

Considering the build up of Tobias as a huge threat over two seasons, his take down felt way too quick and easy.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Considering the build up of Tobias as a huge threat over two seasons, his take down felt way too quick and easy.

The difference is that he was not facing any random enemy, and in classic Big Bad tradition, he may be down for the moment, but you know he's not out. It comes down to how he will return and what he does once he's free.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

It was pretty good. Seemed rather rushed however.
This Markovian War doesn’t sound as threatening as the Anti Monitor attack however. Will they survive that.

The Markovian War will not be just a toe-to-toe fight, but I'm predicting the most interesting part will be (as it should be in any good story) about the personal damage it causes on the heroes, and the innocent. I have the suspicion it will take on the form of terrorism t emphasize how just how fragile regular humans are, rather than some overblown superpowered slug-fest.

 

[Marc]

Considering the build up of Tobias as a huge threat over two seasons, his take down felt way too quick and easy.

time well tell.

Whale had a big fall once before and rebounded.

 

[Kirk Prime]

I think Tobias in lockup is good. It gives Black Lightning and family the chance to move onto other villains. I don't want them to run into the Flash problem where a villain lasts too long. Two seasons is more than enough. Tobias is a terrific villain, and unlike Ricardo Diaz, worked for more than a season, but this is a good thing.

 

[Christopher]

Considering the build up of Tobias as a huge threat over two seasons, his take down felt way too quick and easy.

Not really, because it was only possible due to Tobias losing, driving away, or killing off everyone in his support structure over the past episodes. We saw here how his descent into obsession drove away Cutter, his last remaining lieutenant. Tobias isolated himself, and thereby made himself vulnerable. There was nobody to protect him when Lightning attacked.

And I think the idea was also to show just how powerful Jennifer is. With her abilities under control, she's a force to be reckoned with, easily surpassing her father's power. She could fly by her own choice, not needing her suit to help her do it like BL. And BL exhausted himself trying to stop her from killing Tobias, and she only stopped because she chose to, not because he overpowered her.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I think Tobias in lockup is good. It gives Black Lightning and family the chance to move onto other villains. I don't want them to run into the Flash problem where a villain lasts too long. Two seasons is more than enough. Tobias is a terrific villain, and unlike Ricardo Diaz, worked for more than a season, but this is a good thing.

The advantage for Black Lightning is that the Tobias-related plot was never all the series had to offer in terms of villains that actually matter to the heroes' past and present. Unlike other DC shows, the villains here are not throwaway characters that are either forgotten or were poorly constructed stories from the start, such as the entire Worldkiller / Reign affair from Supergirl. Tobias is gone, but we know he will return, but until that time, I doubt anyone will be wishing for the "good 'ol days" when looking for great villains in season three..

 

[The Realist]

^ Season three ... in only seven months. *sigh* That's a long-ass time till more BL. I wonder why this excellent series is relegated to these shortened runs, while lesser CW shows (Arrow, The Flash) wheeze their weary way through full season orders?

 

[jbny67]

I think the show benefits greatly from the shorter series length.
It allows for better story focus and less filler.