Black Lightning on CW tonight

[Armitage]

There was an interesting line on one of the news broadcasts about superheroes in other communities.  It was easy to overlook, but it leaves me wondering who else is out there on this Earth.

[megaplayboy]

32 minutes ago, Armitage said:

There was an interesting line on one of the news broadcasts about superheroes in other communities.  It was easy to overlook, but it leaves me wondering who else is out there on this Earth.

In a perfect setting, Icon and Rocket, the Blood Syndicate, Hardware and Static Shock.

[Armory]

16 hours ago, Hermit said:

From what I understand, the Driving while Black moment was based on real incidents experienced by showrunner Salim Akil/Director himself.

 

Real incidents that happen all over the country, every day, so yeah, I'm sure it's happened to him too.

 

The "social commentary" is part and parcel of the world they're depicting.  That's what it's like.

 

Switching gears, I did enjoy the premiere.  The costume looked better in action than it does in still photos.  I was a little put off by the fact that he's got a high-tech costume guy, that's been done and done to death.  But otherwise I liked the characters, the writing, and the whole premise of the retired super reluctantly donning the mantle of hero again.

[Armory]

Deleted

Edited January 19, 2018 by Armory
double post

[Hermit]

3 hours ago, Armory said:

 

Real incidents that happen all over the country, every day, so yeah, I'm sure it's happened to him too.

 

The "social commentary" is part and parcel of the world they're depicting.  That's what it's like.

 

Switching gears, I did enjoy the premiere.  The costume looked better in action than it does in still photos.  I was a little put off by the fact that he's got a high-tech costume guy, that's been done and done to death.  But otherwise I liked the characters, the writing, and the whole premise of the retired super reluctantly donning the mantle of hero again.

 

In their defense, I think the high tech costume guy is straight from the comic books, though my BL Lore is weak

[Armory]

36 minutes ago, Hermit said:

 

In their defense, I think the high tech costume guy is straight from the comic books, though my BL Lore is weak

 

That could very well be, BL came along at the tail end of my regular comic reading, and I wasn't a big DC guy to begin with.  I don't know much about him at all.

[Cassandra]

BL was in Batman/Superman: Public Enemies.

[Spence]

This is the image I remember from when I was reading comics.  Yes, a long time ago. 

 

 

but I've found more recent images like this:

 

I may have gone with narrower lighting on the chest for the TV show.  But overall the show and the presentation of BL was not bad for a CW show. 

[csyphrett]

Peter Gambini, an ordinary tailor that created a force field belt that could be used to throw lightning. And then the power became innate when the belt was damaged. Word is his brother used to work for the Rogues.

 

I always wondered why they aged BL up when he was originally younger than Batman. Maybe it was to tie him to the seventies after the fact.

CES  

[csyphrett]

Peter Gambini, an ord

[Old Man]

 

I wouldn't mind seeing a superhero whose hardware support guy didn't know what the hell he was doing. 

 

Then again, TV BL's power seems to be hereditary, so perhaps the origin story is different.

[dmjalund]

4 hours ago, csyphrett said:

I always wondered why they aged BL up when he was originally younger than Batman. Maybe it was to tie him to the seventies after the fact

He’s not THAT old!

[csyphrett]

8 hours ago, dmjalund said:

He’s not THAT old!

Maybe not but he was already divorced and didn't have kids in his original run. He didn't have them the original run of the outsiders either. But now he has two teenage daughters, one of which was in the new outsiders bonking Roy Harper I think. He goes from being a teacher to the secretary of education under Luthor. 

 

It's like some fan fiction writer said hey let's make black lightning an old man and give him kids. Everybody else will stay the same.

 

On the other hand, they did the same with Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen, and then erased it. So who knows?

CES   

[Pattern Ghost]

I watched it last night. Liked it. Liked the kids. Liked the costume.

[slikmar]

Finally got to watch this. On the last couple episodes. Excellent writing, acting and fun. Love that the 2 daughters had completely opposite reactions to powers, but both within their established personalities. I was wondering if they would use the one kids paralysis to establish which universe they were in, as Felicity is basically walking around due to a spinal implant. At the point Kalil has returned and he appears to have an industrial strength version.

Only thing that kind of annoyed me, when they were searching Pierce's car during frame up, how did none of the 100s of kids staring out the windows at it not have a cell phone out videotaping them searching, given all that had been happening. And since the rear of his car, where the one detective planted the evidence really half-hazardly and obviously, there should have been multiple videos of him doing so. Minor nitpick, but given how well they seemed to be doing everything else, I was surprised. I had figured one of these tapes would appear and that would be how they cleared him.

[RDU Neil]

This show impressed throughout. Well written family, crime drama with quality superheroics layered on top. Great actors, excellent chemistry between all the characters, and Thunder is pretty much the best classic "brick" interpretation on TV, with here "breathing limitation" that was taken advantage of by the assassin/gun-bunny appropriately, and had the best moment (in an earlier episode when a disarmed soldier type tried to tackle her and just crumpled upon hitting her and she didn't even move.)  

 

I read somewhere that they stated this was NOT in the same world as Arrow/Flash... but seeing as they jump between Earths all the time, they can cross over if they want. The show also clearly implied there were other supers in the world. The idea of "powers" was wild and crazy, but not unheard of or considered impossible. 

 

I'm just really glad others watched it, liked it, and that it got a second season. Certainly the best CW supers show so far (though I haven't seen all of Season 3 of Supergirl, 'cause it isn't on Netflix, yet.)

[Pattern Ghost]

I thought it finished strong. Looking forward to season 2. I think it's the CW show that best exemplifies the genre, with the runner up being Legends of Tomorrow after season 1 (which was a turd). Agree with RDU Neil on Thunder's Brick Tricks multipower, complete with limitation. Makes me wonder if one of the writing staff plays Hero. ?

[slikmar]

They may say not in same universe, but we know Vixen is there. Jennifer, after finding out about BL and Thunder asks her mom something like, so are you Vixen?

I really did like it.

Regarding Thunder, that was the second time I have seen the hold breath/tank up. I wonder if she will develop the exhale/desolid. Other time was in Mutant X, show from early OOs. They also had a lightning thrower.

I really liked the costumes. Loved the bright lighting on them. Thought was funny when they were sneaking away through forest at end and yet BL had these huge glowy stripes on chest.

[Pattern Ghost]

5 hours ago, slikmar said:

They may say not in same universe, but we know Vixen is there. Jennifer, after finding out about BL and Thunder asks her mom something like, so are you Vixen?

 

In the same scene, they also referenced Supergirl. So, that rules out the main/original Arrowverse. Not sure if Supergirl's universe has a Vixen, or if they're in some third universe either with both or with both as comic book characters.

[zslane]

I think those shout-outs were purely metatextual, and only intended to say, "Hey we're a CW show too!" rather than, "Hey, we're all in the (same) CWverse!" Then again, Vixen (from LoT) could show up next season and prove me wrong.

[Pattern Ghost]

Yeah, I don't think we're supposed to think too hard about them.

[RDU Neil]

2 hours ago, zslane said:

I think those shout-outs were purely metatextual, and only intended to say, "Hey we're a CW show too!" rather than, "Hey, we're all in the (same) CWverse!" Then again, Vixen (from LoT) could show up next season and prove me wrong.

 

Agreed, especially as they showed an actual Outsiders (I think) comic in Anissa's back pocket. I was wondering whether the comments about Vixen and Supergirl were more "pop culture" references rather than actual continuity references. Fandom is so obsessed with crossover continuity that they take everything literally, and lack the ability to just accept some casual, fun references for fun's sake.

[zslane]

If they were intended to be pop culture references within the diagesis, then I wonder why they picked Supergirl instead of Wonder Woman. I mean, Vixen I get. She's an obvious first choice for comparison, but would Supergirl be a more recognized second choice over Wonder Woman in any universe except the CWverse?

[RDU Neil]

29 minutes ago, zslane said:

If they were intended to be pop culture references within the diagesis, then I wonder why they picked Supergirl instead of Wonder Woman. I mean, Vixen I get. She's an obvious first choice for comparison, but would Supergirl be a more recognized second choice over Wonder Woman in any universe except the CWverse?

 

Well, it can be a dual pop culture reference... the DC heroine reference and a CW reference... all in one?

 

Who knows? The only reason it felt "pop culturish" was the clear use of a DC comic in the show, so, heck, they could have made a Halo reference if they wanted!

 

Personally I think they are just playing with the viewers... "Yes, we'll clearly imply there are other supers... no, we won't specifically say who... yes, we'll make reference to other CW properties... no, we won't clarify what kind of references." 

 

Now... somebody here actually said that Legends of Tomorrow got good? I mean, I can NOT get through season one... and the couple of crossover episodes I watched, Dominators and the Nazi-Supergirl one were pretty awful as well... so... really? (I watched a lot of Arrow, and it is horrible... and stopped after season 3 or so of Flash, 'cause I got sick of the stupidity of the plots.) Supergirl (for the charm and chemistry of its characters) and Black Lightning are the only ones that have really held up.

[Pattern Ghost]

Here's how I advised my wife to catch up on Legends of Tomorrow: Read an online summary of the plot of season 1 on Wikipedia or something. Start with Season 2.  If you're looking for something that passes the high bar set by the best of superheroic television, then you can skip it. If you're OK with watching a show that doesn't take itself too seriously but embraces its comic book roots more than most superhero shows, then you might find it fun. The tone of the show is similar to the late 80's run of JLA with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold that was a bit on the lighter side. (I'm thinking Giffen, but all I find is JLI, not JLA and I thought it was the main book at the time. Eh, memory's getting fuzzy.)