S04.E06: The Book of Ruin: Chapter Two: Theseus's Ship

[Trini]

Jefferson crosses a line with Lynn. Meanwhile, Anissa shares some important news. Lastly, Tobias makes a surprising move.

The episode was written by Jake Waller and directed by Mary Lou Belli.

Airdate: 3/15/2021

Edited March 16, 2021 by Trini

[Lantern7]

Tonight's episode: if you've never watched Doctor Who, or if you're puzzled as to how different actors can play the Doctor and how the writers can get away with it? This is your episode. Seriously, if Cisco and/or Chester at STAR Labs in Central City had heard about this, they would have busted so many nuts. Apparently, TC isn't a huge sci-fi fan. I did like his Good Times reference, and how "JJ" was "WTF?" about it.

I'm more stumped about how Jenn's hair changed after transformation. The rest? Seems legit . . . it's Jenn, slightly altered. Given that her father had collected her "essence" last week, I went into the cliffhanger thinking she'd come out of the pod looking like her dad.

This was a more pleasant episode than usual, and that's even with Tobias making his move for even more power. Or Lala getting the discount version of the Carbonite bath. Or Nissa and Grace's honeymoon plans, hampered by the vultures slowly gathering around Grace. Seriously, Ismael (love the name) got four pictures of metas to add to his kill count: Black Lightning, Lightning, Thunder (Blackbird?) . . . and Grace. I'm not feeling confident she'll be alive by the time the series wraps up.

John Oliver covered the subject of police raids on Last Week Tonight a few weeks ago. The raid and would-have-been homicide was pretty much on the money. In real life, you can have a situation where police don't announce their entrance until after they bust through the door. Sadly, this isn't a "Freeland Being Freeland" thing. PS: The clip is informative, but there's a lot of heavy stuff. Also: a few scenes from Cop Rock, which . . . "because 1990" doesn't cover it. Just thought you should know.

[janeta]

JJ definitely has Jen's speech patterns down, sounds a lot like her.

[thuganomics85]

Show has always been known for using real life events to inspire their stories, but they went all in with the "no knock" police raids and drawling parallels to this raid and what happened to Breonna Taylor in real life.  Even used real life protesting footage.  I guess with this being the final season, they figured they can go big and not worry about going home.  Still can't believe that these types of raids are a thing.  There is just so many variables that can go wrong, which we've certainly been seeing on the news recently.

New Jennifer looks like she is here to stay for a bit.  I thought the actress did a good job at copying some of China Anne McClain's style of acting and ticks, but was also able to do her own thing as well.  Not surprised that the rest of her family were thrown off by all of this, but Anissa and Lynn definitely handled it better than Jefferson did at first.  At least he came around at the end.  But what I really liked was the brief bonding moment between Jen and Grace, because in her own way, Grace would understand what Jen is going through on some levels.

Looks like Destiny found a way to take Lala off the board by hiring this badass ninja assassin name Ishmael to kill Lala briefly and while he was down for the count, pour cement on him.  Nice!  Well... except the part about cutting him out and displaying him at the club.  You just know that means he'll somehow get out.  If they really wanted to be done with him, they should dropped him in the middle of the ocean or halfway to China underground.

It's going to suck when Gambi's flame finds out that he is using her.  I think his feelings for her are real, but he will always do what it takes to protect the Pierces and other innocent metas.

TC continues to be awesome.

So, Tobias is running for mayor now.  Can't wait for him to win with ease and see with mayor on a CW show is more scummy: him or Hiram Lodge on Riverdale.

They actually show a preview for the next episode for once, but I suspect it's because the episode will feature the return of Khalil and they want to hype up their set-up for the Painkiller spin-off.

[immortalfrieza]

During the police raid, the only thing I could think was:

"Dude, check who you're shooting. See the POLICE in big white letters on the front? That's a clue."
Then:
"Drop the gun already!"
Then finally:
"Get down flat on the ground both of you!"

If that had actually happened instead of being a what-if, I wouldn't have pitied the couple for a second. The couple basically did everything possible to justify the cops shooting at them and then ensure someone ended up dead. I get the intended parallel between that scene and cases of police brutality against black people, but recast the couple as white instead and doing the same thing as those two did and the exact same thing would happen. If you're trying to comment on something, it helps if you're actually accurate about it.

Edited March 16, 2021 by immortalfrieza

[Trini]

Okay hold up -- so the show only got one trailer, and no 'next episode' promos seemingly for its entire last season; but they can still do an anti-vaping PSA and a promo for the spinoff? The disrespect is unreal. I wonder how much chance Painkiller has of actually going to series when even Arrow Jr. & Canaries couldn't make it.

So the episode:

I liked how they were upfront about Jennifer being different now and this is how it's going to be going forward. This was the transition episode, and I also liked seeing the different, believable reactions to New!Jen. Jen and Anissa's conversation about all the body change movies was funny. Thought the new actress did a good job of emulating China's Jen; but I won't have a problem if she makes the role her own. And she should.

Props to Destiny for upping her game! Too bad her fab lieutenants got taken out immediately. 😔  I'm not worried about LaLa; I am worried about how pissed he's going to be when he gets out of that carbonite cement.

Not sure where Gambi's side plot with Monavista Lady is going, but I'm glad it's going. I was kind of rooting for him and Tech Lady, but then he was just using the present to get her retina scan? Cold, Gambi. His shadiness is really paying off for him, though. Not that I want anything bad to happen, but the tables will have to turn at some point, right?

I'd really love to know why the writers hate Jeff & Lynn. Or is it just Lynn? Because at this point they should be one of the most stable couples in the DC-verse, but they always have them fighting or hiding something from each other. What is up with that??

So did Lynn agree to work with Tobias (and be a spy)? It seems so, but they never said it outright.

So when I realized that they were reenacting Breonna Taylor I 'nope'd' outta that. I know the show does these things to make a point/raise awareness/shift the narrative/etc. but there's only so much of that I can take from my escapist shows.

Tobias is really reminding me of Lex Luthor.

Nitpick: Gambi concluding that (because of the bullet angle) the sniper was on a certain building miles away -- yes, that's one conclusion, but in this world of metahumans, couldn't it also be someone who flies? or a drone?

[AD35]

16 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Looks like Destiny found a way to take Lala off the board by hiring this badass ninja assassin name Ishmael to kill Lala briefly and while he was down for the count, pour cement on him.  Nice!  Well... except the part about cutting him out and displaying him at the club.  You just know that means he'll somehow get out.  If they really wanted to be done with him, they should dropped him in the middle of the ocean or halfway to China underground.

Apparently Fed Ex-ing his ass to the Marianas Trench wasn't/isn't an option which guarantees he's going to be pissed off to the nth degree when he does get out.

Edited March 16, 2021 by AD35

[Trini]

Forgot to mention: So will Anissa and Grace going on their honeymoon be an excuse for their absence in the next episode?

Also liked the the shoutouts to the greater DC universe: Ishmael trying to get into the League of Assassins, Jefferson mentioning Crisis and Superman.

I can imagine Barry Allen calling to follow up on Jennifer's situation:

Jeff: "Yeah, so it worked. Jen came back ... but with a different face."

Barry: "Well, at least you don't have the same face coming back every year but it's different person every time."

Jeff: "Say what now??"

---

Info on the episode title:

Quote

The ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus’ paradox, is a thought experiment that raises the question of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object. The paradox is most notably recorded by Plutarch in Life of Theseus from the late first century. Plutarch asked whether a ship that had been restored by replacing every single wooden part remained the same ship.

The paradox had been discussed by other ancient philosophers such as Heraclitus and Plato prior to Plutarch’s writings, and more recently by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Several variants are known, including the grandfather’s axe, which has had both head and handle replaced.

https://open.library.okstate.edu/introphilosophy/chapter/ship-of-theseus/

Edited March 17, 2021 by Trini

[immortalfrieza]

11 hours ago, Trini said:

Okay hold up -- so the show only got one trailer, and no 'next episode' promos seemingly for its entire last season; but they can still do an anti-vaping PSA and a promo for the spinoff? The disrespect is unreal. I wonder how much chance Painkiller has of actually going to series when even Arrow Jr. & Canaries couldn't make it.

So the episode:

I liked how they were upfront about Jennifer being different now and this is how it's going to be going forward. This was the transition episode, and I also liked seeing the different, believable reactions to New!Jen. Jen and Anissa's conversation about all the body change movies was funny. Thought the new actress did a good job of emulating China's Jen; but I won't have a problem if she makes the role her own. And she should.

Props to Destiny for upping her game! Too bad her fab lieutenants got taken out immediately. 😔  I'm not worried about LaLa; I am worried about how pissed he's going to be when he gets out of that carbonite cement.

They should just go and full on lampshade it. "I can't believe that bitch f***ing HAN SOLOED me!" should be one of the first things he says when he gets out.

It also reminds me of Oswald doing the same thing to Ed over on Gotham.
 

Quote

Not sure where Gambi's side plot with Monavista Lady is going, but I'm glad it's going. I was kind of rooting for him and Tech Lady, but then he was just using the present to get her retina scan? Cold, Gambi. His shadiness is really paying off for him, though. Not that I want anything bad to happen, but the tables will have to turn at some point, right?

I am hoping Gambi is going to use the retinal scan for something else other than Tech Lady's secret Unobtainium stash. That would put a big "I DID THIS!!!" sign on him and Gambi isn't supposed to be that stupid. Unless he's already planning to do it right before he ditches the company anyway.

Quote

So when I realized that they were reenacting Breonna Taylor I 'nope'd' outta that. I know the show does these things to make a point/raise awareness/shift the narrative/etc. but there's only so much of that I can take from my escapist shows.

This show always has been unsubtle about it's allusions to the treatment of black people by police in particular since season 1, but this one was particularly blatant.

[AnimeMania]

5 hours ago, Trini said:

  Quote

The ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus’ paradox, is a thought experiment that raises the question of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object. The paradox is most notably recorded by Plutarch in Life of Theseus from the late first century. Plutarch asked whether a ship that had been restored by replacing every single wooden part remained the same ship.

The paradox had been discussed by other ancient philosophers such as Heraclitus and Plato prior to Plutarch’s writings, and more recently by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Several variants are known, including the grandfather’s axe, which has had both head and handle replaced.

The ship of Theseus paradox was also recently explained in great detail in WandaVision episode 9.

[MisterShrug]

17 hours ago, Trini said:

So did Lynn agree to work with Tobias (and be a spy)? It seems so, but they never said it outright.

I can’t remember which episode—I think it was a couple back, maybe—Jefferson and Lynn were having a conversation, apologizing to each other, and he said something along the lines of “I think you should do it, because Tobias is always a step ahead of us, and this way, we could know what he is planning, etc.”

[Cthulhudrew]

For a minute I thought they'd somehow resurrected Julius Carry to play the meta-assassin. Guy had the gravelly voice, the wide eyed rage, and his samurai swords even had The Glow when they struck. #shadesofShogunShonuff

 

[tennisgurl]

So they pretty much just did the killing of Breonna Taylor, even using real clips of the protests that followed, which...yeah I find that to be questionable. They did the same things a few season ago when they basically reenacted the death of Heather Heyer in 2017, and that also made me uncomfortable. These are real people who really died in horrible and unjust circumstances, directly reenacting them with different names just seems rather tasteless to me. I love that this show talks so much about social justice and unlike a lot of Arrowerse shows they are usually good at it, but I don't like them so obviously using these ripped from the headlines stories when they are so blatantly about a real person. 

Gambi is basically breaking the fourth wall telling us that this is Jenn and we need to get used to it. Not a double, not matter, not any superhero stuff, its just Jenn looking different. Its still weird, but I like the actress playing Jenn. She really has her vocal inflections down, and it was nice seeing her hanging out with Grace and Anissa. Grace would be the person who would understand changing shape, and Anissa and Jenn laughing about body swap movies was fun. Face...off. 

 Ismael seems like a really cool villain who has the perfect name for a badass mysterious assassin. No way do I think that Lala is actually gone, but I did enjoy seeing him get carboited Han style. They should have had him shipped to Siberia, because just leaving him around to tie your rooms décor together is just going to lead to a pissed off Lala zombie. 

Are Lynn and Jefferson ever going to get it together or what? They are always at each others throats and hiding things, I know they are both going through a lot but damn. 

I feel bad for Gambi's new lady, she might be behind some really sketchy weapons but she does seem to really be into Gambi while he is using her. I do think he really does like her and he is being truthful about how much he admires her, but he just cant get behind these weapons and he will always put the Pierce family first. 

Edited March 17, 2021 by tennisgurl

[Primal Slayer]

21 hours ago, Trini said:

Okay hold up -- so the show only got one trailer, and no 'next episode' promos seemingly for its entire last season; but they can still do an anti-vaping PSA and a promo for the spinoff? The disrespect is unreal. I wonder how much chance Painkiller has of actually going to series when even Arrow Jr. & Canaries couldn't make it.

I thought the same thing. They've been so disrespectful towards this show. We havent even gotten an interviews about the recasting and the only promotion they've gotten has been surrounding the spin off. I dont know what they expect from the Painkiller episode, if GA&tC getting 2nd highest ratings of the Arrow season and trending well on twitter wasnt good enough....what will they consider is a good limit for Painkiller? 500k viewers? .2 demo?

14 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

So they pretty much just did the killing of Breonna Taylor, even using real clips of the protests that followed, which...yeah I find that to be questionable. They did the same things a few season ago when they basically reenacted the death of Heather Heyer in 2017, and that also made me uncomfortable. These are real people who really died in horrible and unjust circumstances, directly reenacting them with different names just seems rather tasteless to me. I love that this show talks so much about social justice and unlike a lot of Arrowerse shows they are usually good at it, but I don't like so obviously using these ripped from the headlines stories when they are so blatantly about a real person. 

Yeah that was not a good look no matter who is running the show. They've done a good job in the past just dealing with these type of issues that they dont need to directly rip off these peoples real lives that have lost them.

[AnimeMania]

I was surprised that LaLa didn't feel any tattoo pain when he killed Destiny's henchwomen.

[possibilities]

I'm guessing Thunder will show up and break Lala's concrete prison. Probably not on purpose, but it seems like her kind of power.

[Diapason Untuned]

I'm glad that the show is talking about what utter bullshit no knock warrants are. I didn't even particularly mind the not Breonna Taylor bit, but the part where they spliced in real world footage  only to have Jeff save her at the end...Seemed a bit on the nose.

They handled Jen's recast really well, I think. I can tell the new actor tried her best to study up on China Anne's mannerisms and I appreciate the effort. I wonder if they'll go the image inducer route so she can keep her a normal life or make this the new normal?

Anissa needs to tell her family she's married now.

Is the League of Assassins a thing again? Guess we can think Crisis for that. I do like that Black Lightning is leaning into the Arrowverse aspect of the show more.

[possibilities]

Now they need an excuse to give the school, for why Jen is no longer attending. Went to live with some aunt or other?

And Jefferson and Lynn need to stop fighting all the time.

 

[AnimeMania]

I thought it was weird that Destiny had a picture of the "new" Lightning, instead of the "old" Lightning when she put the hit out. It would have been funny if Destiny had told Ishmael to start by killing the  "old" Lightning first before killing any of the other mutants.