S01.E07: Equinox: The Book of Fate

[formerlyfreedom]

Black Lightning’s pursuit for Tobias continues. Anissa continues to find herself in the new normal.

[janeta]

Aww poop; i liked Lady Eve.  And it was totally awesome that her calling card was a tiny casket with cremains.

[AimingforYoko]

Pretty big episode. Tobias gets two birds with one lightning gun. And the return of Latavius!

I'm going to miss Jill Scott, though. She was a good villain. I want her backstory with Gambi.

[HunterHunted]

22 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

Pretty big episode. Tobias gets two birds with one lightning gun. And the return of Latavius!

I'm going to miss Jill Scott, though. She was a good villain. I want her backstory with Gambi.

I liked Lady Eve too. I hope the whatever super secret organization she and Gambi were a part of figures out what Tobias did. Mostly because I want to figure out their background.

Loved Lady Eva's calling card.

Did Tobias' sister stop breathing out of spite? Because it sure looked like that.

Latavius is back from the dead with super powers. Ok.

[UNOSEZ]

Y'all stop calling that man by his government name.. Its LaLa... And he's back... Did lady eve bring him back.   Is that what she's been doing... Well was doing...  Real good episode tonight   I wanna know so much more abt gambi and and lady eve... Only nitpicks... Lying to Jennifer.. Like come on let's not do the tired ol secrets from kids to protect them bit.. Its exhausting.. And Henderson immediately believing black lightning killed lady eve... I can see how some other cops and even the press may run with that idea but he should be smarter than that.. I hope next episode he's set straight and helping the pierce clan save freeland

[SimoneS]

I didn't like two women getting taken out in the middle of Jeff and Tobias' war, but I am not crying for either of them. They had it coming. Tobias' sister was clever having his men use weapons to mimic lightning to set up Jeff for Eve's death. As for Eve, she should have listened Gambi and dealt with Tobias. She underestimated his survival instinct and greed.

I like that Jeff came around about supporting and training Anessa by the end of the episode. I would have been annoyed if it was his stubbornness had lasted for several episodes.

Lala is back and LaWanda is possessing him.

Edited March 7, 2018 by SimoneS

[statsgirl]

I know Lady Eve was bad but did Tobias' sister just get fridged?

How do people not know that Jefferson is Black Lightning?  That little mask doesn't hide the height, the bulk, the square jaw and short hair.

[SimoneS]

22 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

How do people not know that Jefferson is Black Lightning?  That little mask doesn't hide the height, the bulk, the square jaw and short hair.

I have been asking the same question about Superman since I read my first Superman comic. Glasses, really?

Edited March 7, 2018 by SimoneS

[thuganomics85]

And I thought major shit went down last week!  This whole episode crazy with a capital C!

If this is really it for Lady Eve, that's kind of too bad since she was a fun antagonist and Jill Scott was crushing it.  But I guess it's not half bad of a plan to make it look like she was a victim of Black Lightning, and turn the force against him.  Judging from the news report, it sounded like no one knew about her shady activities, so I wonder if people are going to wonder why "Black Lightning" would take out a businesswoman like that.

Not surprised that Jefferson resisted training Anissa at first, but I'm glad he came around.  While I understand why he is afraid she could end up making the same mistakes he did, she clearly would have taken up the mantle no matter what, so it's better that he be there to guide her.  Liked the irony that Lynn ended up being the one that convinced him.  I still think Christine Adams is really taking what could be a one-dimensional character, and making her more.

I do feel bad that Jennifer is out of the loop.  Until she gets her powers come season finale time.  Yep, I'm calling it!

So, Gambi might be shady as all get out, but the guy's got skills.  Although, I certainly hope we waited till after his spree to pick up Lynn's food, and didn't get it first and just let it go cold in the van while he, err, "took out the trash."

Too bad Henderson is back to being Black Lightning's enemy, because I was kind of digging the Gordan/Batman time relationship, especially his reactions to him disappearing with a notice.  Also, it took me a few minutes to finally make the connection between BL and the "Electrician" name in his phone.  I am not a smart man.

Does Jefferson know that was actually Tobias' sister that accidentally got shot?  And I'm guessing her death will now make things personal for Tobias and make him even more dangerous.

But that ending though!  Lala's back from the dead and being possessed by Lawanda?!  WTF?!!

[Trini]

Okay - wait- hold up -- how are they gonna kill off both Lady Eve AND Tori in the same episode? And then bring back Lala??? Nawwwww, there better be more Jill Scott later on. I'll be waiting here in DeNile.

[Maverick]

 Let's keep it real.   Killing Lady Eve was a dumbass move.  In just a few scenes in a couple of episodes, they setup a tremendous potential for the character.   She was connected to "The Agency", had a seat running a mysterious criminal organization, had a past with Gambi--including a deal to protect the Pierce's, had a sense of style (I mean really, how many villains make their henchmen wear white gloves?) and could take care of herself.  She used that one guy as a human shield without a second thought.  If they just wanted someone to threaten Tobais to the point they were killed to from Black Lightning, they could have used some cardboard villain an not teased us with someone so interesting.  Lady Eve could have been a viable villain for at least 2 seasons.  I was expecting hr and Gambi to have hate sex at some point.

 Speaking of Gambi, dude's kinda hot in his tailor getup roaming around with tape measure.  I know they don't want to crossover with the other DC Earths, but I'm dying to see Gambi and Cisco having a nerdgasm discussing super hero tailoring.  

[VCRTracking]

Man, I was hoping Lady Eve was going survive! Jill Scott was so badass. And Tori too! RIP both of them.

Lala is alive? I hope he sticks to "Latavius".

“Jen is already too much to handle without powers.”

[twoods]

Are the actors on per episode contracts? There have been so many dead bodies on this show that nobody outside of Cress is safe. Didn’t expect Lady Eve and Tori to be dead so soon. And Gambi is one shady dude- I wonder what their secret society is.

Lala is back and possessed by Lawanda? This show is crazy!

The women on this show are absolutely gorgeous. I couldn’t get over how pretty Anissa and Lynn were in their scenes- flawless skin and hair. 

[Cthulhudrew]

So Gambi's the Shadow? Cool.

Sad to see Lady Eve go, but it looks like death may not be a permanent thing with this show, so hopefully she'll be back sometime. At least in flashbacks with her and Gambi.

The scoring on this show is stellar. I have never been so conscientious of the soundtrack in a tv show and so appreciative, save maybe for the work that was done on Luke Cage, and coupled with the great writing and performances I am continually impressed week to week.

I hope Gambi (and the show's design team) don't overdo it with Anessa's costume. I think the one she has works pretty well, and I'd hate to see it get too complicated. I think there is a tendency to put too many extra pads, pouches, straps, belts, and leather on these suits in DC shows.

[SimoneS]

4 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

So Gambi's the Shadow? Cool.

I had to look up The Shadow. That is a nice twist with Gambi. I can't wait for his secrets to spill out.

 

4 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

The scoring on this show is stellar. I have never been so conscientious of the soundtrack in a tv show and so appreciative, save maybe for the work that was done on Luke Cage, and coupled with the great writing and performances I am continually impressed week to week.

The score really is one of the highlights of the show.

[Quark]

9 hours ago, statsgirl said:

I know Lady Eve was bad but did Tobias' sister just get fridged?

How do people not know that Jefferson is Black Lightning?  That little mask doesn't hide the height, the bulk, the square jaw and short hair.

I think it was one of Jefferson's daughter's who said that when she looks at Black Lightning, all she sees is a blurry face. An aspect of his power I guess.

 

I really enjoyed this episode and the last five minutes was kind of nuts. Bit sad about Lady Eve.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Quark

[wanderingstar]

Lady Eve saying "Then I'll throw him off that bridge when I come to it" cracked me up. I hope that's not the end of Lady Eve. She was fun to watch.

Quote

Like come on let's not do the tired ol secrets from kids to protect them bit.

Yes! Especially if Jenn has powers too!

Good episode.

I am really enjoying this show.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Gillian Rosh

[HunterHunted]

8 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

So Gambi's the Shadow? Cool.

I was wracking my brain trying to figure out who he looked like when he came blasting away. The Spirit? Nope. The Question? Nuh uh. The Gray Ghost, the pulp detective show, inspired by the Shadow, that young Bruce watched on B:TAS? No. I never considered the Shadow because I'm a dope.

[Trini]

Jennifer's one scene:

Jennifer: "Why y'all lyin'?"
Liars: "We're totally not lying!"
Jennifer: "Mmmmhmm."

[Cthulhudrew]

7 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

I was wracking my brain trying to figure out who he looked like when he came blasting away. The Spirit? Nope. The Question? Nuh uh. The Gray Ghost, the pulp detective show, inspired by the Shadow, that young Bruce watched on B:TAS? No. I never considered the Shadow because I'm a dope.

Lol. There are waaay too many characters like that based on the same basic archetype. (Of course, whenever I see one, my mind always turns to The Spider, from Warren Ellis' Planetary. Issue #22's "The Torture of William Leather" is still one of my all-time favorite issues of a comic, and is such a great tribute to the legacy of classic pulp characters like the Shadow.)

ETA: I wonder if Gambi has powers, or some kind of enhanced suit he wears? Because it really seemed to me as if he might have thrown one of those thugs through the window, even if we didn't explicitly see it.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Cthulhudrew

[Dee]

Evelyn went out like a true gangster. I hope she's able to return, in some form, some day. The character had tons of potential, crazy chemistry with Gambi and Jill Scott was quite the revelation in the role.

Jeff & Lynn ought to be way more worried about Jenn inheriting powers than Anissa. Anissa is stubborn and headstrong, but at her best she's pragmatic & fairly levelheaded. Jennifer is the true rebel of the Pierce family.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Dee

[johntfs]

2 hours ago, Dee said:

Jeff & Lynn ought to be way more worried about Jenn inheriting powers than Anissa. Anissa is stubborn and headstrong, but at her best she's pragmatic & fairly levelheaded. Jennifer is the true rebel of the Pierce family.

I actually see this the other way around.  Anissa is the one phone-recording cops, shooting pink paint at Confederate statues and otherwise putting herself into potentially dangerous confrontations.  I get her reason.  I even agree with her reasons, but I also agree with Jefferson that it's a thing that could get her killed.  Jennifer pushes back when pushed, but she doesn't seem to seek out confrontations like Anissa does.

[Dee]

But Anissa was a committed activist long before her powers manifested. And yes, while at times she's been overzealous, she's also acted fairly responsibly & with quite a bit of due diligence with regard to her newfound powers. In that regard, she's much like Jeff.

Meanwhile Jenn is an inconsistent, if understandable mess, who isn't sure of who she is or what she truly wants. She's vacillates between resentful and flighty depending on the mood and is more willing to engage in unhealthy coping mechanisms than Anissa.

Edited March 8, 2018 by Dee

[ringwaldoeuvre]

Joining the conversation because I am so pissed they killed Lady Eve and none of my friends watch this show. But y'all aren't happy about it so I feel like I've found my people! Jill Scott was absolutely crushing it and Lady Eve was -- and I almost never think this is the right word -- delicious as a villain. She owned every scene and it was such a mistake to dispatch her so early in the series. She was menacing, charming, had depth, and obviously had more of a backstory. I will happily suspend all disbelief if they can come up with a way to bring her back at some point.

Really glad they didn't belabor the acceptance of Anissa using her powers, and excited to see where they go with it. I feel like some kinda shoe's gotta drop with Jennifer.

Gambi is shady AF and I am here for it.

Edited March 8, 2018 by ringwaldoeuvre

[Lantern7]

Another fun-filled episode. This time Lady Eve fails to check the coffin to make sure nobody was waiting to kill her during a gunfight, and Black Lightning gets the blame! Sadly, we're getting Lala, which doesn't seem like a good deal for viewers. He's a hardened thug working under Whale, and he answers to "Lala"? Or "La La"? That's a sad thug name.

Looks like Anissa doesn't have her canon abilities, in the sense that she can heal faster than most. At least she's handling things nicely, as well as her parents. Remember, Jefferson did to his daughter what Damien Dark did to that schmuck dating app developer in the latest Legends of Tomorrow.

23 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

So Gambi's the Shadow? Cool.

You too, huh? I bet a precious few remember that character's movie in the Nineties, even though it starred Alec Baldwin in the title role. Hat and a covered mouth . . . so simple, so nice.

[netlyon2]

On 3/8/2018 at 1:26 AM, Lantern7 said:

He's a hardened thug working under Whale, and he answers to "Lala"? Or "La La"? That's a sad thug name.

Not just “answer to”! He will hold a gun to your head and ask “What’s my name?” in order to *make* you call him that! ??

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 3/6/2018 at 10:31 PM, SimoneS said:

I have been asking the same question about Superman since I read my first Superman comic. Glasses, really?

With Superman, though, there are a few different explanations.

In most versions of Superman, Clark slouches and acts like a wuss when he's Clark.

Also, some people probably just presume Superman is Superman 24-7 and doesn't have a secret identity. I mean, he's an alien who can squeeze coal into diamonds. There's no real reason he has to have a 9-5 job or anything like that.

And there was one version where Lex had a computer tell him Clark was Superman and he just dismissed it because why would someone with all that power pretend to be Clark. 

There's not much of a difference between Jeff when he's BL and when he's a mild-mannered principal. 

And presumably, everyone knows that BL has some sort of secret identity.

[TV Anonymous]

On 3/7/2018 at 12:31 AM, SimoneS said:

I have been asking the same question about Superman since I read my first Superman comic. Glasses, really?

One day my city plunged to very cold temperature, -35C/-31F. As I always did, I walked to the office. Being it was very cold I bundled myself up, with parka with the hood up and balaclava inside. So the only exposed part of my body are my eyes, which I then put sunglasses on. On that walk, I passed a number of people, some I knew well, some just acquaintances. Yet, every single one of them greeted me by name.

TL/DR, it is always suspension of disbelief in super hero stories that people close to them are unable to identify them just with minimal disguise. 

[possibilities]

They want the audience to see it, but not the characters.

It's like how people on tv will talk to each other about things they don't want anyone else in the room to hear, and magically no one else hears it, even though they're speaking loudly enough that it's not even slightly credible.

[johntfs]

43 minutes ago, possibilities said:

It's like how people on tv will talk to each other about things they don't want anyone else in the room to hear, and magically no one else hears it, even though they're speaking loudly enough that it's not even slightly credible.

I remember an episode of Elementary that subverted that trope to great effect.  Sherlock blackmailed an ex-con by starting to talk loudly about a guy who hadn't disclosed his criminal record to his employers.  However other people in the room had heard enough of what Sherlock said and the guy got fired and was about to be sent back to prison for his failure to disclose.  The guy tried to kill Sherlock and badly wounded a friend of his. 

[LydiaMoon1]

On 3/6/2018 at 11:09 PM, statsgirl said:

How do people not know that Jefferson is Black Lightning?  That little mask doesn't hide the height, the bulk, the square jaw and short hair.

During episode 1, I think they explained that looking at Black Lightning is like staring into a bright light. You can't really see him when he's in his electrified state. I really wish they would emphasize that by having everyone squint or shield their eyes whenever they see or talk to him, because.....um.....yeah. Otherwise, we're just wondering why everyone can't see the obvious.

Edited May 10, 2018 by LydiaMoon1

[Ottis]

I wish this show didn’t fling itself into tropes without more rational reasons why it is happening. Henderson assuming the guy who has so far gone out of his way not to kill anyone suddenly flash dries a prominent member of the community? Without even asking him a question? BL watching his quarry get away and choosing not to fly after him? BL really needs a homing device. 

Does Gambi have powers? He threw a guy through a window?

I liked the fact we had two villains who didn’t agree. No sooner than we had that then one is dead.