S03.E05: The Book of Occupation: Chapter Five: Requiem for Tavon

[Trini]

Quote

Jefferson struggles with the effects on his family, leading to a decision with tragic consequences. Meanwhile, Anissa's identity is threatened. Lastly, Agent Odell takes an important step toward winning over Jennifer.

Robert Townsend directed the episode written by Brusta Brown & John Mitchell Todd.

Airdate 11/11/2019

Edited November 12, 2019 by Trini

[Lantern7]

Bring on the red skies and/or antimatter waves.

Holy shit, that was depressing. Even for this series, that was depressing. Once again: I get that we're not as far removed from the tone of this series as we'd want, but watching soldiers beat the ever-loving shit out of Jefferson in front of students just . . . fuck, man. Fuck.

Oh, and Tavon Tayvon (sic?) got killed. His parents got proof he wasn't a meta, Blackbird was trying to smuggle him back into town . . . but then Painkiller intercepts and kills the kid. For Freeland? That hurt. And when the students rebelled, the soldiers beat the shit out of the big one going in front. How bad are things? They could have dragged Lowry (the only principal made entirely of straw and entitlement) out and gone to town on him for ten solid, uninterrupted minutes, and I wouldn't have smiled.

Yeah, we got hope at episode's end, with the various "rebel" forces joining forces. And Tobias is healthy now, and you know damn well he's not gonna "disappear." Fuck it, stick him into COIE. Actually, he'd probably die laughing at all of the people in tights. Never mind. And the new kid (still "Troy Jr." in my head) has some sort of insulation power, as he takes Jennifer's rage-fueled electrical storm.

Edited November 12, 2019 by Lantern7

[UNOSEZ]

I guess Jeff took that beating because he felt guilty... But it wasnt his fault... And screw anissa's cocky self for blaming him when they were in the tunnel... Yes he asked... But she was in the field... And even moreso he said he had videos on his phone for them.. She coulda just smuggled that.. But she took him... Anywhoo.. I thought for a sec Jen would see the light... But Odell knows how to push buttons.. I mean he hit her with an "I marched with Dr. King... " ain't much you can do to come back from that... Troy Jr.  Is cool and it was obvious hes a meta.. Unfortunately that might also mean he swatted tavon... And that's no good... Grace was great.. Gambi was solid

[thuganomics85]

Odell really has just turned Freeland into his own personal strategy game, and putting everyone against one another, right down to sicking Khalil on "Blackbird", even though he suspected she was actually Anissa (which he was right about, but now thinks he is wrong thanks to Grace's little act.)  Again, Odell is the worst and I have to imagine his downfall will be epic, once everyone realizes the shit he has been pulling.

So, it looks like Brandon/Jennifer's potential love interest is also a meta who can absorb or simmer down other metas powers?

I'm pretty sure the temperature in my actual room got colder every time Lynn glared at Tobias.  She might not have the powers that the rest of her family has, but I would not want to ever get on her bad side!

Wish we got more of Gambi and Grace together: they seem like a pretty fun duo.

Oh, Tavon!  I'm not surprised Jefferson feels guilt over what happened, since he was the one that wanted to risk bringing him back.

Loved seeing 2-Bits again, and I'm liking this potential resistance alliance with him, Henderson, Reverend Holt, and Anissa.

[AnimeMania]

I was kind of surprised that Anissa could look Painkiller right in the face, see his powers, and not realize that that was Khalil. I guess that is the power of the mask!

That is some "dating app" that Odell has, you take a picture of what you like, and the computer spits out the names, addresses, and pictures of all the "fine honeys" of Freeland that match those parameters.

Does it really seem like Lynn is getting smarter the more Greenlight pills she takes?

[Lantern7]

1 hour ago, AnimeMania said:

I was kind of surprised that Anissa could look Painkiller right in the face, see his powers, and not realize that that was Khalil. I guess that is the power of the mask!

I'm chalking that up to exhaustion. That, and how Freeland is a never-ending carousel of misery, and it might be a few days before Anissa realizes she was fighting Khalil. Probably weeks.

[tennisgurl]

Things just keep getting worse and worse in Freeland. Poor Tavon is killed, and Jefferson gets beaten in front of his terrified students, as things become more and more of a police state. 

They literally through a tomato at Henderson! Like he is Fozzie Bear doing a bad stand up comedy set! I am excited to see Henderson possibly joining up with La Resistance and starting some kind of new alliance. 

I hope that we can get more of Grace and Gambi sometime, they seem like a fun pairing. And Gambi certainly made a better impression on Grace than Jefferson did! Speaking of, I get that Anissa is really stressed and Freeland is even more of a hellhole than usual, but she needs to stop blaming her dad for every little thing and being so pissed at people that arent actually doing anything wrong. 

I kept waiting for them to reveal that the kid with all of the hair was the one who swatted Tavon and got him arrested for possible meta-ing, but now it seems like he has his own meta power that allows him to help Jennifer to control her powers.

[Trini]

 On one hand, I like that each member of the Pierce family has their own subplot going on; but on the other hand, I miss them working together. And I also need them to find out what everyone else has been up to - especially Lynn and Jen who are too deep with the ASA.

Well, things are taking an interesting turn with Hair Teen being a meta, and Henderson forming a Resistance Alliance!

But when are we going to get back to the Markovians?

Ugh, Tobias is still the worst even when chained to a table. It was only a matter of time before he figured out the Pierces were metas; but they can't let him continue with that knowledge, right?

I don't get what they're doing with the animosity between Anissa and the Perdi. Is it supposed to be leading up to something? A betrayal down the line?

[raven]

So - are the Markovians real?  Or is that something the ASA made up so they could do what they're doing?  Maybe we've seen the Markovians and I don't remember.

I was enjoying the Tobias and Lynn back and forth until he said he would kill Jefferson.  I was glad that he obviously made the connection between Jefferson and Black Lightning though; would be pretty dumb of him not too.  Lynn was pretty scary herself with that needle.

Aw, Jeff.  Sometimes being a hero means you take a nasty beating to save others.  I can't wait for the ASA and Odell to get theirs; not just Odell serving up those guys to appease Jen.  It has to happen eventually, right??

I was sorry about Tavon but he may has well have had "innocent sacrifice" written on his forehead.

Gambi and Grace need to pair up more often. 

Oh and Jen?  Stop being rude to Hair Teen when he loans you his jacket and stop listening to Odell.  Thanks, still think you're great!

Hell yeah! moment to Henderson and company.

[BaggythePanther]

When Hair Teen first showed up I thought he might be Static Shock. So I’m glad to see that I was on the right track.

This show does not play. I’m so sad they killed Travon, but a few kids have died over the course of the series so I shouldn’t have been surprised. 

When Anissa ran into Painkiller she hesitated and I thought she recognized him, but nope, it looks like we’re going to drag that reveal out to later into the season.

On 11/11/2019 at 9:14 PM, Lantern7 said:

And Tobias is healthy now, and you know damn well he's not gonna "disappear." Fuck it, stick him into COIE. Actually, he'd probably die laughing at all of the people in tights. Never mind.

You say that like Tobias dying is a bad thing. Though now I want to see his “What the fuck are these people wearing?” commentary. And Tobias and Lex would make an interesting pair.

[Trini]

10 minutes ago, BaggythePanther said:

... And Tobias and Lex would make an interesting pair.

Ha! They would make an interesting pair. Although I think the only thing they'd agree on is their taste in fine suits and weaponizing metahumans. They'd argue about everything else!

[paulvdb]

7 hours ago, raven said:

So - are the Markovians real?  Or is that something the ASA made up so they could do what they're doing?  Maybe we've seen the Markovians and I don't remember.

We have seen the Markovians in previous episodes. So they are real.

[immortalfrieza]

On 11/11/2019 at 11:09 PM, thuganomics85 said:

So, it looks like Brandon/Jennifer's potential love interest is also a meta who can absorb or simmer down other metas powers?

Who is hanging around with and clearly going after a girl whose power is to be a living power generator and regularly loses control of said powers.

Sounds MIGHTY convenient.
 

On 11/13/2019 at 8:05 AM, Lantern7 said:

I'm chalking that up to exhaustion. That, and how Freeland is a never-ending carousel of misery, and it might be a few days before Anissa realizes she was fighting Khalil. Probably weeks.

 It probably helps that Anissa has no good reason to think Khalil is alive and thus not to really any reason to look closer, especially during a fight. I also don't think he had the ability to poison people just by touching them before either, he had to fire some stingers of some kind.