S03.E01: The Book of Occupation: Chapter One: Birth of Blackbird

[Trini]

Quote

SEASON PREMIERE - We find Jefferson Pierce like never before, in the hands of the ASA with his wife Lynn as Agent Odell (guest star Bill Duke) tightens his grip on the Pierce family, leaving Jennifer abandoned and Freeland without Black Lightning and Thunder. But Anissa secretly defies Odell in her alter ego as Blackbird with the able tactical and technical support of Gambi. Marvin Jones III and Damon Gupton also star.

Directed and written by Salim Akil.

Airdate: 10/7/2019.

[Lantern7]

Ah, Black Lightning. About as subtle as an anvil dropped from low orbit.

Seriously, how does Freeland make money through tourism? Every year, a new crisis comes that's worse than the previous one. Red skies might be seen as an improvement.

Damn, Tobias looks like shit. And Odell needs to be killed in an awful fashion. And maybe the principal can die ever worse. You just know his useless ass is still alive.

[thuganomics85]

Don't you just hate it when you're trying to get hot and heavy with your loved one, only for a creepy Bill Duke to suddenly just pop out of nowhere?  Odell is so slimy and I love him for it!

A lot of changes and moving parts here.  Both Jefferson and Lynn are under Odell's "protection", but are really just his prisoners.  Anissa is now pretending to be a completely different crimefighter, but has now been knocked outside whatever forcefield was covering Freeland.  Jennifer continues to struggle with having a normal life, now with the added bonus that every powered individual is basically getting hunted down.  Even Henderson is basically having to tow the line with the evil organization.  At least Gambi still gets to do what he does best: lurk in the shadows and show off his cool tech!

Tobias does look pretty rough.  But, hey, Lala continues to look good for a dead guy!

[UNOSEZ]

Enjoyed it... Really do want the Grace story to move to the next stage... I don't even know if I'm excited for it.. Or just eager for it to be done... Odell is an actual scumbag... But LaLa is still around.. And I'm happy for that

[rollacoaster]

Loved Anissa as Harriet Tubman, even having to throat punch a loud-ass dissenter, lol!

Poor Lala, back again, and covered in even more tattoos. He's definitely gonna need a bigger vehicle.

Odell's treatment of Kissi was COLD. That poor kid. He didn't deserve to go out like that. 

[Maverick]

 Apparently every DC show has to have an AI.   Flash and LOT have their Gideons, Arrow has Archer, Supergirl has Hope and now Black Lightning has Shonda.  I was most amused by FauxSiri responding to Anissa with "what's up" every time.   

 I think the most unbelievable part of this show is that the city has been quarantined---by a force field no less--and everyone's just going on about their business.  Hanging out in bars, taking a moonlit walk on a quiet street.   No chaos or anything.   The city looked calmer than before the quarantine.    

[Cthulhudrew]

I don't know the Black Lightning comics all that well- does anyone know if Jamila Olsen is actually a character in DC? Because the name and character (reporter) sounds a bit too much like "James Olson" to be a coincidence; and it feels like a red herring.

[possibilities]

4 hours ago, Maverick said:

   The city looked calmer than before the quarantine.    

...because the 100 gang isn't still operating, so there's less street violence? Now all the violence is orderly and covert and government-sanctioned, and targeted at a scapegoat population. So some people like it while others are more miserable.

[Trini]

Oooh, the I like the new 'comic book' chapter graphics!

Man, Jefferson looks in rough shape, and I hope that he is not in Odell's custody for much longer. And yeah, Odell -- so creepy!

LOL! I remember they referred to Anissa as Harriet Tubman in the pilot! Loving Blackbird, but I hope we get to see Thunder some time later on.

Shonda? I guess all the cool kids have AI assistants now.

I wish they hadn't killed Issa. I mean, even looking at it from Odell's POV, I think he was more useful alive than dangerous. Who would he talk to anyway?? They already have him as a prisoner.

Hmm - so we've got a shapeshifter, and face-cloak tech, so I'm sure that's going to come back to screw with us later in the season.

So this General(?) Williams can mimic powers? That should make for some interesting fight scenes.

I know this is a comic book show, and weirder things have happened, but at least some of the show has always been grounded, so it seemed weird to me that a city-wide force field is a thing that exists in this world.

Oh hi, zombie LaLa!

3 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

I don't know the Black Lightning comics all that well- does anyone know if Jamila Olsen is actually a character in DC? Because the name and character (reporter) sounds a bit too much like "James Olson" to be a coincidence; and it feels like a red herring.

I'm pretty sure it was just a reference to Jimmy/James Olsen, and not a character from the comics.

[mxc90]

23 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Don't you just hate it when you're trying to get hot and heavy with your loved one, only for a creepy Bill Duke to suddenly just pop out of nowhere?  Odell is so slimy and I love him for it!

How is Jefferson not losing his mind living in room with glass for walls, Odell dropping by whenever he wants, and cameras on him is crazy.

They might as well ignore Odell and finish in front of him.

[Cthulhudrew]

7 hours ago, Maverick said:

  I think the most unbelievable part of this show is that the city has been quarantined---by a force field no less--and everyone's just going on about their business.

I tend to agree. While I enjoy the heck out of this show, and appreciate that it is more down to earth than the other CW DC shows, this strikes me as pretty ridiculous. Aside from the questions about how this is even possible: how far does it go? How is it powered? Is it contiguous and how does that fit the geography? It looks like it is pretty opaque so how is daylight getting into the city still? etc., there is the more realistic question of how the city survives a prolonged period of time with this situation: the business disruptions alone would be nightmarish and costly (is there any such thing as a self-contained city any more?); the politics and public perception issues would be a nightmare and probably would result in any number of officials resigning or being removed from office; etc.

(Disclaimer: I work in emergency management, so it is my job to consider this stuff.)

Edited October 9, 2019 by Cthulhudrew

[tennisgurl]

So which city sucks worse, Star City or Freeland? Maybe during Crisis, the new crews can compare notes over who has the city with the most disasters per month.

Nice to have this show back, love the more comic book style openings, and we see to be starting an interesting season. Odell is such a slimy dickhead, murdering that poor kid was cold, and I dont even get why he did it. You would think that this kids powers would be super useful, especially in this supposedly upcoming war, and he has him locked up, so why kill him just because someone else MIGHT get him? 

Jefferson looks rough, but at least he and Lynn can still get a little cuddle time...before creepy Odell walks in and ruins it. Meanwhile, Anissa is getting her Harriet Tubman on, Jenn is still trying to balance powers with her normal teen life, and Gambi is sneaking around creating awesome tech. Oh, and Lala is a ghost/zombie. Again.

[BaggythePanther]

23 hours ago, Trini said:

I wish they hadn't killed Issa. I mean, even looking at it from Odell's POV, I think he was more useful alive than dangerous. Who would he talk to anyway?? They already have him as a prisoner.

Didn’t Issa come back from the dead before? Was that a freak accident, or is that one of his powers? It seems like something Odell would be aware of.

[janeta]

I agree with Odell,s creepiness; saw some of the actors at Dragoncon and I got the impression they all liked working with Bill Duke. So I guess he’s a really good actor, being a nice guy playing a frankly terrifying character. 🙂

i also hope this isn't the end of Issa's storyline. 

[Quark]

Can someone remind me who Proctor is? I found this quite a confusing episode.

[Trini]

5 hours ago, Quark said:

Can someone remind me who Proctor is? I found this quite a confusing episode.

He was the Head Racist in Charge of the ASA's Freeland metahuman project in season 1.

[Quark]

7 hours ago, Trini said:

He was the Head Racist in Charge of the ASA's Freeland metahuman project in season 1.

Thanks, the ginger guy right? 

[CabotCove]

good episode,  loving the season so far.

[AnimeMania]

20 hours ago, Quark said:

Thanks, the ginger guy right? 

The one that originally had the briefcase.