Black Lightning (TV Series, Season 2)
Jun. 25th, 2019 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroTobias Whale, the 100, the ASA...seems like everyone’s trying to control or destroy Freeland. Good thing they have Black Lightning and Thunder to protect them.
Black Lightning’s powers to control electricity seem to have morphed into “he can use electricity as a Green Lantern ring.” He very rarely zaps people, instead opting for electric lassos, force-fields and his hover-blasts. I’m okay with this, but it’s clear the writers and special effects guys would really prefer it if he was just telekinetic. Similarly, Thunder’s ability to stomp or clap shockwaves is presented as less a side effect of super-strength and more just an additional power she has.
The early Looker storyline felt a little crammed in—the presence of woods a short drive south of Freeland with tribes of hicks who have been race-warring for 30 years, a fact that has never come up before, seems a little out there. (And this is on a show where people generate electricity out of their bodies.) For that matter, Looker’s capacity as a brilliant cult leader is severely strained when she tries to electrocute Black Lightning to death.
The fact that they use the one non-powered member of the family as the strongest link to the “main” plot (the ASA, the pod kids) works really well. As well as her being easily put in charge of the project made perfect sense (she has more direct experience with the vaccine metas, specifically as a research scientist, than pretty much anyone else). Contrasting that, we have the realistic but blatant idiocy of the Garfield School Board, who replace a beloved black community leader as the principal of a primarily black school with an asshole authoritarian white guy. (And, surprise suprise, it blows up in their faces.)
It briefly seemed wrong that Cutter took out 40 police officers after jobbing so hard to both Jeff and Jennifer, but then I realized how much sense that made with her power set: She’s telekinetic and can swerve bullets to miss her. She can’t affect electricity. The very first thing she does when she attacks the police caravan is kill a cop, which means that if any of the other cops were entertaining the use of non-lethal weaponry before, they weren’t after—she goaded them into using the weapons she was immune to. Brilliant!
The Masters of Disaster made okay flunkies for Tobias, but honestly there was nothing to them. They were angry and had superpowers and eventually got punched a lot.
There were a couple of points where I think a little extra clarification would have been useful. I was very confused that the preacher reappeared—I thought he was dead, not in a coma. For that matter, it was never really clear why “body-bag boy” was able to revive from seeming death when his truth-revealing powers had nothing to do with that and there was no indication Lazarus Prime was involved with him.
The major plot of season three is clearly going to be Markovian metas attacking Freeland. But there’s also the matter of Odell having at least three metas back in pods, including Painkiller, who should really be dead. There are half a dozen pod kids running free; Tattooed Man/Lala is a loose end; Cutter’s still out there; and Lazarus Prime could in theory bring back Lady Eve or even Tori Whale. Oh, and Grace (revealed as a shapeshifting meta who might eat raw horses) is still out there as well. Really, the only thing locked down is that Tobias is in the Pit and gone for at least a while. Loose ends galore!
Overall: The writing is moderately better than the other CW DC shows (even if the science is just as bad), and it trends very dark but doesn’t rely on the main characters being dumb. (Even when the teenagers do really boneheaded things, they feel age- and situationally-appropriate.) Jeff’s biggest flaw is his desire to do everything and save everyone, which is very believable as heroic flaws go.
Black Lightning’s powers to control electricity seem to have morphed into “he can use electricity as a Green Lantern ring.” He very rarely zaps people, instead opting for electric lassos, force-fields and his hover-blasts. I’m okay with this, but it’s clear the writers and special effects guys would really prefer it if he was just telekinetic. Similarly, Thunder’s ability to stomp or clap shockwaves is presented as less a side effect of super-strength and more just an additional power she has.
The early Looker storyline felt a little crammed in—the presence of woods a short drive south of Freeland with tribes of hicks who have been race-warring for 30 years, a fact that has never come up before, seems a little out there. (And this is on a show where people generate electricity out of their bodies.) For that matter, Looker’s capacity as a brilliant cult leader is severely strained when she tries to electrocute Black Lightning to death.
The fact that they use the one non-powered member of the family as the strongest link to the “main” plot (the ASA, the pod kids) works really well. As well as her being easily put in charge of the project made perfect sense (she has more direct experience with the vaccine metas, specifically as a research scientist, than pretty much anyone else). Contrasting that, we have the realistic but blatant idiocy of the Garfield School Board, who replace a beloved black community leader as the principal of a primarily black school with an asshole authoritarian white guy. (And, surprise suprise, it blows up in their faces.)
It briefly seemed wrong that Cutter took out 40 police officers after jobbing so hard to both Jeff and Jennifer, but then I realized how much sense that made with her power set: She’s telekinetic and can swerve bullets to miss her. She can’t affect electricity. The very first thing she does when she attacks the police caravan is kill a cop, which means that if any of the other cops were entertaining the use of non-lethal weaponry before, they weren’t after—she goaded them into using the weapons she was immune to. Brilliant!
The Masters of Disaster made okay flunkies for Tobias, but honestly there was nothing to them. They were angry and had superpowers and eventually got punched a lot.
There were a couple of points where I think a little extra clarification would have been useful. I was very confused that the preacher reappeared—I thought he was dead, not in a coma. For that matter, it was never really clear why “body-bag boy” was able to revive from seeming death when his truth-revealing powers had nothing to do with that and there was no indication Lazarus Prime was involved with him.
The major plot of season three is clearly going to be Markovian metas attacking Freeland. But there’s also the matter of Odell having at least three metas back in pods, including Painkiller, who should really be dead. There are half a dozen pod kids running free; Tattooed Man/Lala is a loose end; Cutter’s still out there; and Lazarus Prime could in theory bring back Lady Eve or even Tori Whale. Oh, and Grace (revealed as a shapeshifting meta who might eat raw horses) is still out there as well. Really, the only thing locked down is that Tobias is in the Pit and gone for at least a while. Loose ends galore!
Overall: The writing is moderately better than the other CW DC shows (even if the science is just as bad), and it trends very dark but doesn’t rely on the main characters being dumb. (Even when the teenagers do really boneheaded things, they feel age- and situationally-appropriate.) Jeff’s biggest flaw is his desire to do everything and save everyone, which is very believable as heroic flaws go.
