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