S01.E01: The Resurrection

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

Jefferson Pierce is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of Anissa and Jennifer, and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe-haven for young people in a neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero in his community. Nine years ago, Pierce was a hero of a different sort. Gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, he used those powers to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning, but he left the Superhero days behind. Almost a decade later, Pierce’s crime-fighting days are long behind him…or so he thought.

[scarynikki12]

Well that was awesome.

[janeta]

Some of the fx are a little cheesy,  but i liked it.

[formerlyfreedom]

That definitely hit a bunch of sweet spots - the family felt very real to me, they have a solid cast there. The music was great - with the exception of the last song, it was perfect, but it seemed just a bit too loud? But that's just looking for issues in an otherwise really good pilot. I'm looking forward to the ride!

(also, I'm really really grossed out by the piranha tank)

[msani19]

So good

[Primal Slayer]

Great set up for the series. Loved just about every minute of it. Just the little bit of seeing Black Lighting from before he retired in his OG outfit was so exciting. Everyone was enjoyable, no big angst between boyfriends/girlfriends and everyone had the right amount of attitude. 

[phoenics]

I'm just so happy right now.  This is what a show with black characters SHOULD feel like.  REAL.  This show has a plethora of black characters and you can tell - the characters feel real, grounded and authentic.

And dude got his own version of Alfred?  A white sidekick?  And they called Jefferson Black Jesus?

This show had so many gems - it surpassed Luke Cage for me entirely.

If Black Panther doesn't buy advertising right now for it's movie release, Marvel is leaving money on the table.

I can't say anything else - I'm just so ... wow.

[Morrigan2575]

I really liked this pilot. The casting for this show was probably the best of the CWDC, I don't think there was a single stinker in the main cast. Maybe those 2 goofy henchmen but, they don't count.

I'm worried LaLa will end up being a better villain than Tobias who bordered on the corny line. Especially since Tobias is being setup as the Big Bad. However, Lala was freaking chilling in every scene.

I loved the family relationship. Not only dad and daughters but the sister interaction as well as the Husband/Wife stuff...everything was so real and mature.

Very good start to the show, I will be back next week.

Edited January 17, 2018 by Morrigan2575

[rollacoaster]

I am so in love with this show! The characters and relationships all felt very real. A total emotional rollercoaster. I'm here as long as it lasts. 

[Primal Slayer]

One thing I was happy about was that it didn't have the "Berlanti" touch that all the other shows have. I dont see them following the same generic plot that everyone has. I would be surprised if we get a loved one who dies in the season finale. 

[msani19]

While it was quick, I loved the scene (among many others) of Jefferson and his daughters running together and him racing to beat them at the end.  Reminded me of times like that with my Dad. Even though I was enjoying it before that scene, after that they had me. 

[AimingforYoko]

So the bad guy is an albino named Whale. And he shoots a harpoon. Ahhhhhh, that's some good comic book, right there.

I like it so far, the dialogue is pretty real. Not always the case on this network.

[Primal Slayer]

4 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

I like it so far, the dialogue is pretty real. Not always the case on this network.

Well it probably helps that BL was never meant for TheCW. 

[HunterHunted]

I thought it was really solid and subtly deft enough that you got a good sense of the characters in a showing not telling fashion. However, I hate the suit.

[UNOSEZ]

I agree.. The dialogue felt real... Well as real as it coulda gotten in the cw... Lala is really chilling and menacing... We may have a cottonmouth/diamondback situation here with Lala and Tobias... The daughters were perfect... The activist and the free spirit.. Even loved anisa and Jefferson having the argument in the school... If I had any problems.. Its a small nitpick.. Didn't see any of us light skin Folk in the school fund-raiser... I mean.. We exist were part of the community too... Now I get maybe not having a lady.. Cuz hollywood is real keen on mostly having the mixed race/curly or straight haired/ lighter toned euro/ "exotic lookin ladies be the sisters on a TV show and it coulda been on purpose to have 2 dark skin and one brown skin lady cast. But what abt us melanin deficient brothers.  And no the albino dude doesn't count all we got on TV is dude from greys anatomy and homie on the gifted... So woulda been nice to see one of us.. But that was the only complaint... I was smiling all episode def looking forward to more.... 

 

Ps...  MS.  Dowd.. The lady who was tryna press up on BL at the fund-raiser... DAAAAAAAMMMMMMM

 

Ok done being a creep see y'all later

[Lantern7]

Guess what? We found the one city in all of creation that is even more fucked up than Star City! Jefferson and Oliver are destined to compare notes one day, perhaps during a massive crossover.

Geez . . . that was painful to watch, and that's with tonight's Flash factored in. No, I like it. The concept of Black Lightning has a solid foundation, and it's a pity he's relegated to this string. Also, he was only represented by proxy in cartoons (Black Vulcan and Surge; I wouldn't be shock - heh - if BL served as inspiration for Static). Also, we don't have somebody starting out like Ollie, Barry and Kara. No, we got a guy coming back because he had no choice.

Seriously, I know Jennifer sucks for going to Club 100, but how is making her a hoe remotely fair? And that's not even the worst shit we saw. Once again . . . I'm in for the long haul. I'm just dreading when the writers decide to go with tragedy.

[miracole]

Loving this show.  Great acting, realistic dialogue and character interaction.  I love the family dynamic they have. They called each other out on unwise actions but always had each other's back.

Lala was way scarier than Tobias.  I just kept waiting for Tobias to start singing "I'm a Classic man".  Also when Lala first told Jefferson to say his name I though Jefferson said Allah which actually made more sense than Lala to me. Finding out his name was Lala was a bit of a let down.

A small sample size, but a very smart show so far.  I hope the CW doesn't dumb it down.

[phoenics]

1 hour ago, UNOSEZ said:

I agree.. The dialogue felt real... Well as real as it coulda gotten in the cw... Lala is really chilling and menacing... We may have a cottonmouth/diamondback situation here with Lala and Tobias... The daughters were perfect... The activist and the free spirit.. Even loved anisa and Jefferson having the argument in the school... If I had any problems.. Its a small nitpick.. Didn't see any of us light skin Folk in the school fund-raiser... I mean.. We exist were part of the community too... Now I get maybe not having a lady.. Cuz hollywood is real keen on mostly having the mixed race/curly or straight haired/ lighter toned euro/ "exotic lookin ladies be the sisters on a TV show and it coulda been on purpose to have 2 dark skin and one brown skin lady cast. But what abt us melanin deficient brothers.  And no the albino dude doesn't count all we got on TV is dude from greys anatomy and homie on the gifted... So woulda been nice to see one of us.. But that was the only complaint... I was smiling all episode def looking forward to more.... 

 

Ps...  MS.  Dowd.. The lady who was tryna press up on BL at the fund-raiser... DAAAAAAAMMMMMMM

 

Ok done being a creep see y'all later

The police chief guy was lightskinned.

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Guess what? We found the one city in all of creation that is even more fucked up than Star City! Jefferson and Oliver are destined to compare notes one day, perhaps during a massive crossover.

Geez . . . that was painful to watch, and that's with tonight's Flash factored in. No, I like it. The concept of Black Lightning has a solid foundation, and it's a pity he's relegated to this string. Also, he was only represented by proxy in cartoons (Black Vulcan and Surge; I wouldn't be shock - heh - if BL served as inspiration for Static). Also, we don't have somebody starting out like Ollie, Barry and Kara. No, we got a guy coming back because he had no choice.

Seriously, I know Jennifer sucks for going to Club 100, but how is making her a hoe remotely fair? And that's not even the worst shit we saw. Once again . . . I'm in for the long haul. I'm just dreading when the writers decide to go with tragedy.

Wait - what?

[UNOSEZ]

43 minutes ago, phoenics said:

The police chief guy was lightskinned.

Wait - what?

Well see in my family.. Damon gupton would be considered brown skin.. We only use the term light-skinned for us Colin Powell and paler folks.. Lol

[VCRTracking]

All through the episode I was like "Where have I seen the ex wife before?" Then it hit me: Agents of SHIELD! She was the dean of the SHIELD academy. Then after she escaped when Hydra took over she was part of the alternative Shield group headed by Edward James Olmos. She had a British accent then.

Latavius is a more intimidating name than "La La".

Edited January 17, 2018 by VCRTracking

[phoenics]

6 minutes ago, UNOSEZ said:

Well see in my family.. Damon gupton would be considered brown skin.. We only use the term light-skinned for us Colin Powell and paler folks.. Lol

Guess it depends on the lighting - on the show, he was kinda washed out and more pale than he probably is in real life.

I was pretty impressed that they cast an albino actor to play the big bad.

1 minute ago, VCRTracking said:

All through the episode I was like "Where have I seen the ex wife before?" Then it hit me Agents of SHIELD! She was the dean of the SHIELD academy Then after she escaped when Hydra took over she was part of the alternative Shield group headed by Edward James Olmos. She had a British accent then.

Latavius is a more intimidating name than "La La".

Her accent is British in real life.  

[quarks]

Very promising. I could have done without the show's borrowing Arrow's tendency to shoot in dark alleys and give infodumps through the local news, and I don't like the younger daughter at all, but I thought the rest worked very well. I really like that they're doing something that none of the Arrowverse shows have really even considered - taking a superhero out of retirement - and that they're doing something that of the CW superhero shows only Arrow has touched on, and that usually somewhere between "ineptly" and "really not well" - that is, where can someone with superpowers really do the most good? In the streets or in a civilian job? And the show took that question seriously and admitted that it couldn't be answered in a single episode. Applause. 

Also, Lynn, the ex-wife, aka Simone from Pushing Daisies, is great. More of her, please. 

[VCRTracking]

7 minutes ago, phoenics said:

Guess it depends on the lighting - on the show, he was kinda washed out and more pale than he probably is in real life.

I was pretty impressed that they cast an albino actor to play the big bad.

Her accent is British in real life.  

I figured.

Loved the Parliament and Funkadelic line.

Great to see James Remar in the Alfred role.

Edited January 17, 2018 by VCRTracking

[Racj82]

2 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

I agree.. The dialogue felt real... Well as real as it coulda gotten in the cw... Lala is really chilling and menacing... We may have a cottonmouth/diamondback situation here with Lala and Tobias... The daughters were perfect... The activist and the free spirit.. Even loved anisa and Jefferson having the argument in the school... If I had any problems.. Its a small nitpick.. Didn't see any of us light skin Folk in the school fund-raiser... I mean.. We exist were part of the community too... Now I get maybe not having a lady.. Cuz hollywood is real keen on mostly having the mixed race/curly or straight haired/ lighter toned euro/ "exotic lookin ladies be the sisters on a TV show and it coulda been on purpose to have 2 dark skin and one brown skin lady cast. But what abt us melanin deficient brothers.  And no the albino dude doesn't count all we got on TV is dude from greys anatomy and homie on the gifted... So woulda been nice to see one of us.. But that was the only complaint... I was smiling all episode def looking forward to more.... 

 

Ps...  MS.  Dowd.. The lady who was tryna press up on BL at the fund-raiser... DAAAAAAAMMMMMMM

 

Ok done being a creep see y'all later

I see what you are saying but light skinned black people get represented in media literally all the time. The call is constantly for darker skinned black people to be represented and also be seen as desirable. This should be celebrated. This show is black and not afraid to be black. Yes, of course being black comes in many different shades. But, this is the beautiful blackness we don't always get.

[Jediknight]

I really liked it.

The main cast all did a good job.  The sisters have good sibling chemistry.  The actor (Wallace's dad) playing Jefferson knocked it out of the park.  He has a great presence outside of the superhero, where he just comes off as intimidating, which helps you believe that nobody would want to screw with him.  James Remar as his Alfred was good, and he's a fantastic get to be main cast on a CW show.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I enjoyed it and hope it knocks it out of the park ratings-wise. Win, lose or draw, I have to commend the CW for giving a show with just one white main-ish character a chance. 

Do Anissa and Jennifer know that Jeff is Black Lightning? Does the Inspector dude? 

Because I would love it if they did. Nothing sucks more in superhero drama than the hide-the-secret ID game, especially when the ID should be obvious.

I can buy a guy with lightning powers. 

I can't buy a school with literally no acts of violence for seven years.

[nilyank]

20 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I can't buy a school with literally no acts of violence for seven years.

I can't either but if Jefferson was able to accomplish that he really is Black Jesus.

Love it and have also thought Cress had a ton of charisma since Beveryly Hills, 90210

[paulvdb]

46 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Do Anissa and Jennifer know that Jeff is Black Lightning?

They really should have recognized him when he saved them. His mask doesn't hide that much of his face. Combine that with the fact that he came out of retirement at the club when Jennifer was in trouble and they should be able to figure it out. And Anyssa discovered her own superpower at the end which should make it even more obvious for her now.

[thuganomics85]

A DC superhero show with not just a black lead and a majority black regular cast in general, but a lead that is in his late forties?  Yep, you can totally tell this was not originally intended to be on The CW!

Pretty good premiere overall.  Already really liking Jefferson and the rest of the Pierce family, including his ex (Christine Adams!)  I like that instead of an origin story, they have instead dropped us into when Jefferson is becoming Black Lightning again, so he is already more seasoned, and there are a lot of references, relationships, and stories that have been played out in the past, and the TPTB trust the audience to follow along with it.  Find that refreshing compared to the normal "Let's watch this character develop powers and flail around a bit!"  Granted, it looks like they're doing that with one of his daughters now developing her own powers, but I that could be interesting in its own way, since when/if Jefferson finds out, he has to figure out how to handle this and hopefully have her learn from his mistakes.  And maybe just team up and be a dynamic crime fighting family!

Whale's little harpoon trick was nifty, but I think I prefer Lala as an antagonist right now.  His face-off with Jefferson was great and I like that he apparently use to go to their school.  Curious to learn more about him.

I swear, I love Damon Gupton, but I feel like this is the fifth time I've seen him play a variation of a cop/officer/agent bigwig that is in over his head and is probably going to spend the majority of his role shaking his hand and screaming "Curse you, Black Lighting!" to the skies.  On the other hand, James Remar as Jefferson's tech support and outfit creator; completely with a secret base in his fancy tailor shop and a sweet moustache; is something I never knew I wanted until now.

I enjoy the fight scenes and how Jefferson is just a straight-up brawler most of the time, who just likes to unleash some lightning on the bad guys' asses when the time calls for it.  And I think it helps to have him be an older character compared to the normal, because I can buy him as someone who knows how to take a beating, but can dish it out even more.

Good show, indeed.  Curious to see where this all goes.

[TDT]

Good start so far,hopefully this show sticks around for a while..

I bet the CW/DC are already thinking up a way to include him in the next big crossover(even though BL isnt set in the Arrowverse,but that may change if the show becomes a big hit,so fingers crossed)

[steelyis]

4 hours ago, Racj82 said:

I see what you are saying but light skinned black people get represented in media literally all the time. The call is constantly for darker skinned black people to be represented and also be seen as desirable. This should be celebrated. This show is black and not afraid to be black. Yes, of course being black comes in many different shades. But, this is the beautiful blackness we don't always get.

 

I feel what UNOSEZ is saying, but it was really good to see so many black women with darker skin front and center, especially on a Berlanti show. To be fair I don't watch Arrow, so I might have missed an actor, but the only important character who is a dark-skinned, black woman in the Arrowverse I can think of plays a villain. While all the heroic black women are either light-skinned, "pass" the paper bag test or close to it, and frankly it's kind of fucked up.

[luckyroll3]

Great pilot!  And I loved seeing all the folks of color in lead positions.  Thought I would be annoyed by the sisters, but I felt both characters were very realistic.  Here's hoping CW doesn't fuck this up.  

7 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

And no the albino dude doesn't count all we got on TV is dude from greys anatomy and homie on the gifted

Lol!  Which dude on The Gifted?  The Australian actor?

6 hours ago, miracole said:

Finding out his name was Lala was a bit of a let down.

 

5 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Latavius is a more intimidating name than "La La".

I chuckled that "Lala" is the name he chose for himself.  So not threatening at all.  Despite that, he was quite terrifying, especially dealing with the little kid with the video game.

[ottoDbusdriver]

2 hours ago, TDT said:

Good start so far,hopefully this show sticks around for a while..

I bet the CW/DC are already thinking up a way to include him in the next big crossover(even though BL isnt set in the Arrowverse,but that may change if the show becomes a big hit,so fingers crossed)

Maybe they will put BL on Earth 27, or some Earth we haven't seen yet.

[UNOSEZ]

2 hours ago, steelyis said:

 

I feel what UNOSEZ is saying, but it was really good to see so many black women with darker skin front and center, especially on a Berlanti show. To be fair I don't watch Arrow, so I might have missed an actor, but the only important character who is a dark-skinned, black woman in the Arrowverse I can think of plays a villain. While all the heroic black women are either light-skinned, "pass" the paper bag test or close to it, and frankly it's kind of fucked up.

Exactly.. For the ladies it's mainly euro-centric/passing/mixed girls who get the parts especially the "good " and "heroic/love interest" part.. And the darker ones as antagonistic/bad (onyx.. Lady cop... Fbi agent)  that just off the top of my head.. But for us men it's kinda flipped that's all I was pointing out

[peachmangosteen]

9 hours ago, quarks said:

Also, Lynn, the ex-wife, aka Simone from Pushing Daisies, is great. 

That's how I know her! Thank you!

I really, really loved this. I hope they don't ruin it like they've done to literally every other show on The CW that I used to love.

ETA: I also couldn't figure out how I knew the actress playing Anissa so I checked IMDb and she played Jade in Twin Peaks. I loved her in that and I love her in this.

Edited January 17, 2018 by peachmangosteen

[Racj82]

2 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

Exactly.. For the ladies it's mainly euro-centric/passing/mixed girls who get the parts especially the "good " and "heroic/love interest" part.. And the darker ones as antagonistic/bad (onyx.. Lady cop... Fbi agent)  that just off the top of my head.. But for us men it's kinda flipped that's all I was pointing out

Yep. I get it.

But, we got a show on network TV with a chocolate. Just enjoy it. 

It's also a pilot. Not a complete representation of casting.

This was a beautiful sight and rare. Even in something like Empire or Star, black doesn't look this beautiful. It's also routinely lighter.

Moving beyond that we have a dedicated father, a amicable divorce, a sensible wife instead of one being written as a shrew, female heroes in the making, female heroes of cover, a main super hero lead devoid of another damn origin story, siblings that feel like siblings, a hero that is dedicated to saving lives with more than just fists.

Come on. Way too many positives here. Pilots rarely nail it this well.

It's not perfect. Nothing is. But, a pilots job is to set up the world and make me want to return. They nailed both.

I also find it funny that living single just hit Hulu recently. Legitimately, the last episode I watched was the first appearance of Scooter played by Cress. The man is super charming. Should of gotten a opportunity like this long ago.

[Ohwell]

I'm in.

[SimoneS]

I enjoyed that a lot. Talented cast and strong storytelling, loved the music too. I am interested finding out where the lightning powers come from. I desperately want to be wrong, but honestly, I can't see this show doing well on the CW.

Forgot to mention that I thought that Jefferson and Lynn had smoking hot chemistry. 

Edited January 17, 2018 by SimoneS

[Racj82]

This is the last show I'm worried about ratings for.

A it's the CW. Getting a million viewers can keep you on the network.

B black people support their own. 

Power is Starz most successful show even with millions of dollars they are throwing at prestige dramas. We support our own. 

[TiffanyNichelle]

I liked it a lot. It felt more real than Luke Cage did even with a dude in a costume throwing lightning and a guy tossing people into a fish tank. It also helps that Cress is a better actor than Mike (and he'll always been Scooter from Living Single to me). The dialogue felt like something that would actually come out of someone's mouth, especially between the two sisters. I'll be back next week.

[UNOSEZ]

37 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

Yep. I get it.

But, we got a show on network TV with a chocolate. Just enjoy it. 

It's also a pilot. Not a complete representation of casting.

This was a beautiful sight and rare. Even in something like Empire or Star, black doesn't look this beautiful. It's also routinely lighter.

Moving beyond that we have a dedicated father, a amicable divorce, a sensible wife instead of one being written as a shrew, female heroes in the making, female heroes of cover, a main super hero lead devoid of another damn origin story, siblings that feel like siblings, a hero that is dedicated to saving lives with more than just fists.

Come on. Way too many positives here. Pilots rarely nail it this well.

It's not perfect. Nothing is. But, a pilots job is to set up the world and make me want to return. They nailed both.

I also find it funny that living single just hit Hulu recently. Legitimately, the last episode I watched was the first appearance of Scooter played by Cress. The man is super charming. Should of gotten a opportunity like this long ago.

I agree... I bugged out seeing living single on hulu.. My mom used to love that show I was a lil kid but I'll always remember the theme song... We didn't watch martin cuz my mom loved friends.. Ahh Thursdays in the mid 90s.... I'm looking fwd to more.. I think Tobias whale us supposed to be some kind of self-hater from the snippets I've read so I'm looking fwd to seeing where they go with that.. The only thing I'm scared if is the show getting Luke cage treatment.. Where its so authentically blk that some(we know who)  are turned off etc I've already seen complaints  in sime other forums... Not surprised unfortunately 

[Cthulhudrew]

I really enjoyed this. I was very surprised by how much of a "real world" tone it took, and how well it seemed to both play into and against stereotypes. The dialogue sounded like real people talking as well.  It reminded me of season one of Arrow, when the show took itself seriously (and didn't become the "quip of the week" fest that it has become in a lot of ways, to its detriment.) 

The costume still seems too bulky for my tastes (I wish it were more streamlined), and the effects a bit low-quality, but I am reserving judgment on that end for subsequent episodes, as this seemed to be a full-on pilot and not the first episode in a series order (did it even have a title sequence? If it did, I missed it.)

I hope that they don't rush to do any crossovers, and let this series breathe on its own for a bit, though I do think there is a lot of potential for pairing it with other Arrow-verse shows. Will definitely be tuning in again next week.

[Dream Boy]

I enjoyed it as well. I especially liked the chemistry between the sisters and the fact that they could both take care of themselves. I’m sure they would have mopped the floor with all of those gang members if they didn’t have guns. 

[DearEvette]

I enjoyed the heck out of this.  I agree with everyone that the dialogue felt natural and I love the fact that the girls acted very real life, for instance the younger one living on her phone, calling her sister Harriet Tubman and asking her to to "help a sistaj find some freedom" also rather than standing around and watching the bad guy get beaten up by the superhero, their asses ran!

Also enjoyed the soundtrack.  I turned to my husband and said "where else on one of the CW DC hero shows are you gonna hear a Bobby Blue Bland song?"

 

6 hours ago, luckyroll3 said:

Great pilot!  And I loved seeing all the folks of color in lead positions.  Thought I would be annoyed by the sisters, but I felt both characters were very realistic.  Here's hoping CW doesn't fuck this up. 

isn't Salim Akil the showrunner?  He wrote the pilot and if so, I think this show will maintain its flavor

 

11 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Latavius is a more intimidating name than "La La".

I know, when he insisted he should be called "La La" I just had to giggle.  What, was 'Tay Tay" rejected as being too wimpy?

 

11 hours ago, quarks said:

Also, Lynn, the ex-wife, aka Simone from Pushing Daisies, is great. More of her, please. 

I love her.  I remember seeing her in the shortlived Terra Nova.  There was one shot of her sitting at the kitchen island and he comes up and hugs her from behind she we see her in profile and I just thought to myself, "My god, that bone structure!"  So gorg!

 

11 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Great to see James Remar in the Alfred role.

 

Not only Alfred but also Edna Mode.

[Ohwell]

15 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

I love her.  I remember seeing her in the shortlived Terra Nova.  There was one shot of her sitting at the kitchen island and he comes up and hugs her from behind she we see her in profile and I just thought to myself, "My god, that bone structure!"  So gorg!

I had never seen her before in anything but I think she's gorgeous.  I know the counselor/whatever she is has eyes on Jefferson, but if I were her, one look at his ex and I would just back. away. 

I was so glad when Cress Williams left Code Black where they were trying to hook him up with Marcia Gay Harden.  He was saved.

[SimoneS]

12 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Loved the Parliament and Funkadelic line.

Great to see James Remar in the Alfred role.

I cracked up at Parliament and Funkadelic line because it was so true. Jefferson's reaction was icing on the cake.

Always great to see James Remar. I was struck how much he has aged. He is still a handsome man.

10 hours ago, paulvdb said:

They really should have recognized him when he saved them. His mask doesn't hide that much of his face. 

I thought the same, but he was in the shadows a bit and they were pretty scared. I loved how they got the hell of there.

Edited January 17, 2018 by SimoneS

[tennisgurl]

I was really looking forward to this, and it definitely lived up to my expectations. I really liked the family dynamic, and I love that they are going with an older, formally retired hero, instead of a younger hero just getting their powers, like you usually do in superhero shows. It seems very real and down to Earth, but still has enough comic book stuff in it to be recognizable as a superhero series. 

I already like Jefferson, both as Black Lightening and as Jefferson Pierce, high school principle and dad. I am also glad we seem to have skipped the whole "wife wants husband to quit being a hero because its dangerous" stuff, and gotten to the possible reconciliation. I mean, the wife/girlfriend in that scenario always gets the most thankless part in these kinds of stories. They're technically right, but in a show based around fighting crime, do they think the audience will be cheering for the hero to stop fighting crime and doing awesome things? Good that we are playing with the trope here. I liked all of the characters so far, especially the daughters, who seem very real. They arent perfect, but they're clearly very good, likable people, and now it looks like the older daughter will be fighting crime as well! I wonder what Jefferson will think about that? 

Also liked seeing James Remar here as Jefferson's Alfred, and his stylish suites shop. I wonder what that backstory is? Maybe he was close to Jefferson's dad? Also, I am cautiously optimistic about how the show is dealing with the racial identity stuff here. Its not the end all be all, but it does inform the characters and their world. I normally am a fan of colorblind casting, but there is also something to be said about showing how someones background affects them. Like, I always thought it was something of a missed opportunity in The Flash that they've never really gotten into Barry being a white kid adopted by a black family when he was a child. It doesn't have to be a HUGE thing, or turn into a stereotype fest, but it is something that I always thought could have been an interesting aspect of the West family dynamic that has never really been looked into. You dont have to make everything about race, but acknowledging that it exists, especially in a world that is clearly so much like ours, isn't a bad thing, especially if it leads to interesting story opportunities. 

An actual piranha pit? Really? Did this guy see a 60s era James Bond movie and think "I can do that!" or something? I kind of love how ridiculously comic book it is, in the middle of all this real life stuff. Also, while the guy playing the main gangster is really good at being intimidating and intense, its kind of hurt by the fact that his name is...Lala. I mean, Lala? What are the names of the rest of his crew? Tinkie Winkie, Dipsy, and Po? 

[OoogleEyes]

Wait, so the daughter has superpowers too? Did she know before this?? (I never read the comic)

Awesome 

[paulvdb]

36 minutes ago, OoogleEyes said:

Wait, so the daughter has superpowers too? Did she know before this?? (I never read the comic)

Awesome 

I don't think she knew about her powers. She looked very confused after her powers kicked in and she broke the sink.

[UNOSEZ]

43 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Like, I always thought it was something of a missed opportunity in The Flash that they've never really gotten into Barry being a white kid adopted by a black family when he was a child. It doesn't have to be a HUGE thing, or turn into a stereotype fest, but it is something that I always thought could have been an interesting aspect of the West family dynamic that has never really been looked into. You dont have to make everything about race, but acknowledging that it exists, especially in a world that is clearly so much like ours, isn't a bad thing, especially if it leads to interesting story opportunities. 

This times a billion... I love Iris.. But it's like she's not a blk woman... I mean it Never comes up... Is central city like salt Lake or somn.. Same goes for Cisco.. I don't need a lot but come on show.. I mean on arrow at least felicity gets to talk abt being Jewish  and legends made a note of it a few times with jax and the new lady... Hell even James pointed it out in season one of supergirl... But Joe west a blk cop.. Iris west Allen a blk reporter.. Hell even captain Singh  barely ever.. If ever make note if their minority status... Like not talking abt it makes it go away... And Barry... Raised by a blk man and it never shows or comes up in anything... Ugh.. Still love the show