Spoilers Black Lightning - Season 4: The Final Season

[DigificWriter]

I inferred from China-Anne's social media post(s) regarding her departure that we're looking at a situation where she found different priorities during the pandemic that involve a religious calling and chose to bow out of acting completely.

It's fortunate that she had enough respect for the Akils, Greg Berlanti, and the rest of Black Lightning's cast and crew to inform them of her decision with enough notice for a replacement to be found for her.

 

[JD]

It would be so gratifying if he set her up, or uncovered something about her that would end her power grab.

Yeah, I could see that. He is in a pretty good position to get some dirt on her.

Devonte is Lala's longtime lieutenant / point man.

Yeah, that's him.

 

[Christopher]

Finally caught up. I watch online on the CW site, not on a regular schedule, and I just haven't been engaged enough to remember to follow this regularly, or comment on it. I haven't enjoyed how much the Pierces have been fighting and how negative it's all been. Hopefully they're starting to get past that now.

I noticed the other week how Lynn mentioned her brother John. Young Justice retconned Lynn Stewart and John Stewart (unrelated in the comics, as far as I can tell) into siblings, so I immediately thought that might be what they're doing here -- except there's already a John Stewart in the Arrowverse and he goes by Diggle. I was worried that they might be contradicting that at first, but then I realized that Lynn mentioned her brother John going into the Army rather than the Marines, and we know Diggle was in the Army. Do we know if this is one of the shows David Ramsey is going to appear in this season? Maybe this was a setup for that. (It'd be great if they could get Ernie Hudson back as their father.)

And in the latest episode, we finally got an overt Arrowverse reference, with Jefferson calling Barry (offscreen) to get the piece of STAR Labs tech to him "in a flash." I was wondering if they'd ever actually get around to making use of the post-Crisis status quo. This is minimal, but it's a start.

By the way, I noticed in the season premiere that the crawl on the bottom of the TV news report established the current US chief executive as President Shaw, and the Vice President as Cori Hannette. The Arrowverse Wiki assumes that Shaw is the same person as the unnamed female president who gave a speech at the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, but I'd call that unconfirmed. It's weird -- the crawl said that Shaw was meeting with Democratic Congressional leaders to try to prevent a shutdown, which would seem to imply that Shaw was a Republican meeting with the opposing side. But "Cori Hannette" seems like a name chosen to evoke Kamala Harris.

As for the big twist about Jen in episode 5, someone annoyingly spoiled that for me on Facebook this morning before I watched the episode. It was particularly annoying since it was in a thread asking what the most successful examples of actor recasting were, and it's way too early to judge that here. Well, at least I didn't know what to expect. When Jeff was telling that story about Jen as a child, I thought maybe she'd be reconstituted as a younger version of herself. That would make more sense (for Arrowverse values of "sense") than her just randomly being a different actress (with much longer hair to boot).

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Black Lightning - The Final Season
Season 4 - Episode 6 - "The Book of Ruin- Chapter Two: Theseus' Ship"

Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning / Lynn: I never expected Jefferson to coldly reject the "new" Jennifer, but when one considers his deep love for her as expressed in the story he shared with Gambi (episode 5), he cannot accept that the daughter he's known is this "other" girl. Naturally, he considered that she might be from another dimension....

Sigh. More marital strife; Jefferson asking Lynn to use the drug--after chewing on her about her addiction was going too far, but I understand his reasoning; Tobias in the seat of legitimacy--and a supporter of meta death weapons spells doom for their entire family, so whether she likes it or not, she has a decision to make...even if she becomes addicted again.

Jennifer / Anissa: Interesting theory about her physical change (SEE NOTES), but she's still in danger. T.C. was astoundingly naive to encourage Jenifer to use her powers after all it has cost her. Oh, and in the 11th hour, he tries to reel her back in? He has a speaking-before-he-thinks problem.

Thankfully, Jefferson is accepting New-Jennifer as his daughter.

Gambi / Monovista International / Lauren Caruso: Gambi was pretty upset about Jefferson's insistence that Jennifer's new self needed to be "corrected."

Lauren appears to be genuinely fond of Gambi, but the moment she discovers he's bugged the gift....

"I believe you're trying to seduce me, Miss Caruso"-- a play on the "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me!" line from The Graduate.

Lala: "Bitch, don't you know I can't die?" Ishmael--Destiny's muscle--was fairly formidable, yet Lala "took it to him" with not a moment of fear. Destiny seems to forget that all other attempts to kill Lala failed, and that a cement grave offers no greater chance of working, either. While Lala treated to the concrete version of Han Solo's fate in The Empire Strikes Back was shocking, I see that prison failing to hold him for any extended amount of time...or perhaps someone (recently arrested) frees him...

Ishmael needs to kill 100 metas in order to join the League of Assassins (SEE NOTES), and the Pierce family will go a long way in helping him reach his membership goals...

Tobias: So, he's deep in bed with Monovista and its DEGs. Now, he's going to run for mayor (I had to laugh at the gobsmacked facial expression of Jefferson & Gambi at that announcement), and his plans are falling into place; even if law enforcement does not trust Tobias (history), his bid for the mayor's seat gives him the air of legitimacy he's sought...and a shield from suspicion as he publicly supports the agents of metas' destruction. I'm sure this will be used as some kind of leverage against Lynn.

Chief Lopez / Hassan Shakur: Lopez is the picture of evil, issuing no-knock warrants, which, in real life has led to to murders of several black people, and almost ended up sinking in that direction in this episode (SEE NOTES), and now that the DEG-armed police failed to stop Black Lightning and Lightning, Lopez will go on the warpath, and she certainly has like-minded actors in the city who despise metas as much as she does.

Shakur operating behind her back cannot last long, no matter how experienced he is.

NOTES: Like Jefferson, I still wonder if Lynn's theory about Jennifer's appearance was incorrect, and Jennifer is simply one from another dimension. Well, unless the series has other tricks up its sleeve, China Anne McClain is officially a former cast member.

The "time reversal rescue" scene of Black Lightning stopping the officers acting on the no-knock warrant was this series' bit of wish fulfillment--with protests, memorials and the murder all being wiped away IF there was a hero to step in. The reason the showrunners created that scene was clear--a hope that all of the Breonna Taylors of the world had been so fortunate...but never will be.

Ishmael referenced the League of Assassins, a group introduced to the CW-DC shows on Arrow, but had their comic origins in DC's sci-fi anthology title Strange Adventures #215 (December, 1968), as created by Neal Adams and Denny O'Neil.

This episode's subtitle--"Theseus' Ship" is a reference to Jennifer and whether or not she is the genuine article.

Next episode: April 12, and Khalil returns! ...but he's still struggling with his Painkiller side, saying "I am in a constant state of pain!" I can see Ishmael eventually facing off against Kahlil.

GRADE: A+.

 

[Christopher]

New Jennifer is gorgeous. I love how tall she is. And I like that they didn't gloss over the need for a new costume as a result. But... if her body was newly formed in that chamber... how did she come out of it with her hair already styled?

Also, I think Laura Kariuki's accent is slightly different from China Anne McClain's. Still, she captured Jen's delivery and personality fairly well otherwise.

I'm slightly disappointed that nobody made a crack about Aunt Viv from Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Instead we get a Good Times reference from T.C.

Jefferson has been a real jerk all season, constantly fighting with his family and being angry and unreasonable. His resistance to accepting Jen was more of the same. I'm not finding him very heroic lately.

So we've got Han Lala encased in carbonite now. That's quite a twist. Though nobody's gonna mistake Destiny for Jabba the Hutt.

And apparently the League of Assassins is still a thing on Earth-Prime. Does that mean Nyssa never disbanded it in the new reality? So much for Oliver making everything better.

 

[JD]

I like the new Jennifer so far, Laura Kariuki did a really good job of picking things up from China Anne McClain.
Tobias running for Mayor was not a surprise, I suspected things were headed that way from the start of the season, and was almost positive once Mayor Black died.
We got a nice introduction to Ishmael, he seems like he'll be a pretty good villain.
That was some pretty powerful stuff with the whole no-knock warrant thing. This show really is great a mixing the real world politics in with the comic book sci-fi and action.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Damn, that episode was on fire. And of course we get a hiatus.

It just seemed like everything was clicking and firing on all cylinders. I thought there were good character beats all around for everyone.

Lala in Carbonite! He should be careful though, I don't know how well he might come back from a straight beheading.

Interesting technique on how they handled the no-knock scene with the flash-forward look. It was a good way for BL to save the day but still have the impact of the situation. BL looked great as well, that was a good look.

I like the new Jennifer so far, Laura Kariuki did a really good job of picking things up from China Anne McClain.

Definitely. I was really surprised how easily new Jen worked both on her own and as a believable continuation of the Jen we know. And BL is her only acting credits on IMDB, good find. I liked the return of the rooftop talk.

 

[theenglish]

New Jennifer is gorgeous. I love how tall she is. And I like that they didn't gloss over the need for a new costume as a result. But... if her body was newly formed in that chamber... how did she come out of it with her hair already styled?

I thought exactly the same thing. Must be a new power she has. One thing that particularly impressed me aside from the writing for the episode, was Kariuki's ability to channel McClain's tone and phrasing of the character. If you closed your eyes it was as if the same person was speaking.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I like the new Jennifer so far, Laura Kariuki did a really good job of picking things up from China Anne McClain.

Its early in Kariuki's time as Jennifer, but its difficult not to compare her to China Anne McClain, who made the role her own right out of the gates. McClain--though young--was one of the strongest cast members.

That was some pretty powerful stuff with the whole no-knock warrant thing. This show really is great a mixing the real world politics in with the comic book sci-fi and action.

The best of the CW by far in its handling of grim, real world issues.

 

[DarKush]

I'm an infrequent BL viewer but I've been drawn back in over the recasting of Jennifer. I'm very impressed by how much Laura Kariuki has gotten China McClain's mannerisms and even how she talks like McClain sometimes. She really sells that she's the same person despite the change in appearance. I also like how the show has not just acted like she's the same person as McClain and wrote that into the series, though I wasn't a fan of Jefferson being as cold to her as he was at first, but I also wasn't surprised. I think there's too much of a reliance on making Jefferson the obstacle too much in this series. I really didn't like that Jefferson would encourage Lynn to get back on meta boosters again knowing she's an addict, that was going too far for me. Is he really in that deep a pit that he would advocate harming his wife just to get at Tobias? I haven't been looking at the series consistently but it doesn't seem like he should be that desperate to get at Tobias at any cost, not based on what I've seen.

I liked the introduction of Ishmael. I double checked to make sure, but it was so neat that they brought in a relatively new character from DC Comics (from Bryan Hill's Batman & The Outsiders) and the Black Lightning universe for the show. I hope they keep doing stuff like that in this final season, but also for the rest of the Arrowverse, because there's quite a few of the newer characters that it would be nice to see in live-action. Hill's Karma would also make for a good BL villain, one that might come close even to Tobias Whale. And for this episode, as well as the series, Whale is still just one of the best Arrowverse or DC live-action villains period. After this series is over I hope DC does more with him because this series has really showed how formidable or menacing he is and can be, even when he's just delivering lines of dialogue. LaLa is also a very good villain. I haven't seen Destiny enough, but it appears she is also formidable as well. BL has done well in the villain department, though I still wish they would bring on villains that had more flair when it came to costuming or power sets.

 

[JD]

There have been a few other times where they've brought characters onto the shows relatively quickly after they were introduced in the comics.
Naomi was just introduced in 2019, and a TV series is already in the works.
They announced a TV series was in the works based around Yara Flor, the new Wonder Girl, a couple months before her first appearance in the comics.

EW.com has an interview with Jordan Calloway discussing tonight's Painkiller backdoor pilot.
His supporting cast sounds like they could be interesting, and I'm glad it sounds like the show will focus a lot on the conflict between his Khalil and Painkiller personalities.

 

[The Realist]

Damn it, they may have seduced me into watching their Painkiller show (assuming it goes forward). Very cool and stylish, very different from Black Lightning in its look and atmosphere -- was not expecting the whole Las Vegas meets Blade Runner aesthetic, but I liked it. I enjoyed Khalil's new supporting cast, and the final reveal -- Odell! -- literally made me gasp out loud.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Damn, I wasn't ready for Akashic Valley. I was wondering if this might be a backdoor pilot and you guys seem to be confirming that. Very cool and seems to be very Akil in aesthetic but taken to a future tip. I need to see if I can get this on the CW app or something because my cable DVR copy could barely contain that color without exploding.

EDIT: just hit me Anissa's hair was like Jada Pinkett/Niobe in The Matrix

 

[Christopher]

The "Painkiller" backdoor pilot didn't do much for me. It had a lot of stilted pilot-y setup, like Khalil lecturing Philky on his own backstory so the audience could hear it. I don't really get the point of the pseudo-Blade Runner setup; it hardly feels like it's in the same reality or decade as the rest of the Arrowverse, let along Black Lightning. There was some decent stuff with the interaction between Khalil and Painkiller, but the decision to differentiate Painkiller by electronically deepening his voice is a bit jarring.

I'm also not a fan of the violence. I'm sick of stories that assume that killing twenty hired guards just doing their jobs in order to save one captive's life is somehow a moral net positive.

 

[JD]

That was a great set up for the Painkiller series. It was a little weird that Akashic Valley was so much more futuristic and stylized than any of our other Arrowverse cities, but I loved it, so I'm willing to overlook that. It's already my favorite setting for an Arrowverse series.
Some of the dialogue was a little overly expositiony, but that's not that unusual for a pilot, so I'm willing to forgive it.
The whole conflict between Khalil and Painkiller was interesting, and I'd be curious to see how it continues to develop if it does go to series.
Philky and Cousin Donald were pretty cool.
The action scenes were awesome.
The big reveal at the end was a huge surprise. I saw the actor's name in the guest star credits, but that was not how I expected to see them.
I missed some of what exactly the brain tech was doing that would help them deal with Painkiller.
I also missed pretty much all of Painkillers dialogue in the last conversation between him and Khalil. With the way his voice was manipulated, and then the music on top of it, I couldn't understand a word he was saying.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

My take.

I missed some of what exactly the brain tech was doing that would help them deal with Painkiller.

I believe it's because the brain tech was so good at partitioning their brains between their personalities, the new slave part doing the work and the real personality that was put in a "meditative stasis".

I also missed pretty much all of Painkillers dialogue in the last conversation between him and Khalil. With the way his voice was manipulated, and then the music on top of it, I couldn't understand a word he was saying.

Khalil had released PK to do his thing and had to convince him to "come back" and join him so they could leave as time was counting down. PK showed regret and that he was under constant negative pressure and Khalil asked for his trust assuring PK that he was part of him and that he wanted him to live and wanted to reunite them not abandon him.

 

[JD]

Thanks.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Black Lightning - The Final Season
Season 4 - Episode 7 - "Painkiller"

Khalil/Painkiller: Now set up in "Akashic Valley," Khalil and former ASA member Philk use stolen ASA funds to give Khalil a way to supress the Painkiller programming 9targeting the Pierce family), while using his abilities for good...but Odell's kill order programming is not so easy to overcome. While using meditation and analysis of his split subconscious, the Painkiller side has been made to think Khalil the former student was already damaged goods--

"...I was already buried deep inside you, Khalil. Odell? He just weaponized all that ghetto pedigree anger--Black Boy horror movie rage that you tried to hide by being the good runnin' boy with the pretty smile."

Between the ends-justifies-the-means racial pragmatist Odell and hearing the torrential flood of self-hate from Tobias re-directed at Khalil, his inner being thinks he was just some n***** pretending to be respectable. This long-developed sub-plot is taken directly from the experience some black kids had/have when trying to make something of themselves, but those around them stand as psychological barriers, using the black identity struggle to place permanent doubt or resentment in a young mind for being who they are (which is genuine, not an assumed behavior).

Even the Painkiller side mourns the loss of his mother, who--as regular viewers know--was killed by Khalil himself.

Philk: "I'm not your Asian tech savior." I'm glad the writers addressed that shameless trope seen on endless TV shows and films--the good, "safe" Asian stereotype.

Anissa / Grace: As Khalil mentioned, Anissa and Grace ending up in the same, remote location was no coincidence. As he observed, the Creator (God, obviously) had other plans for him. I'm glad the showrunners maintain the continuity of Anissa having a low opinion of Khalil (generally ignoring what was done to him in the hands of Tobias and Odell), but at least she comes around at the end. She hesitated when Khalil asked that she never tell Jennifer where he is, and aside from Khalil's reason, Anissa should--after her experiences in that city--not want her kid sister anywhere near the place, but...

Maya: The new Big Bad is--for the time being--trying to harness the computing power of human brains--unique brains in particular, and like the ASA has no issue experimenting on children, which should comes as no surprise to anyone as she is Odell's daughter. Clearly, Odell and Maya will try to use Painkiller against a certain family at some point.

"Wo Man"--a woman with some ability and a history with Philk--but the extent of the relationship is not fully explored.

NOTES: Being a backdoor pilot, this episode's title did not bear the "Book of..." framing used for all other episodes of the series.

The CG owl...terrible.

Everything bathed in blue was jarring early on, but the point in setting up this city as being the polar opposite of Freeland was understood.

Like the parent series, the fight choreography was excellent--miles above any other DC/CW series, with Jordan Calloway and his stunt double turning up the brutality.

At present, I'm not sure how this series would flow on a weekly basis; making Maya--and by association Odell--the villains cannot do anything other than keep ties to a series that is ending. The involvement of a villain on the magnitude of Odell would make audiences expect he has more Freeland business, so...

Historically, a couple of characters from cancelled series have guest starred on continuing shows, so that might leave the door open for a Pierce to visit Khalil from time to time. Still, the pilot served its purpose (more often than not), and Khalil remains a compelling character.

GRADE: A.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

If this goes to series they should drop Painkiller’s distorted voice. It’s really hard to understand what he’s saying. The city was mostly CGI and it was really noticeable. I’d rather see real locations mainly.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

If this goes to series they should drop Painkiller’s distorted voice. It’s really hard to understand what he’s saying. The city was mostly CGI and it was really noticeable. I’d rather see real locations mainly.

Agreed on every point. I understand the voice change is supposed to hammer home the difference between Painkiller and Khalil's personalities, but early on, Calloway's natural voice as PK during missions was his own, if I recall, he only spoke in colder, more matter-of-fact way that Khalil.