S01.E13: Shadow of Death: The Book of War

[formerlyfreedom]

Season Finale!

The aftermath of the showdown with Black Lightning leaves everyone reeling. Meanwhile, Tobias gathers his forces.

 

[AimingforYoko]

I know Proctor had to go, but I'm going to miss him. Gregg Henry can chew some damn scenery. Jennifer's "WTF do you want from me" shrug after she lit him up was the best, though.

[raven]

Damn that was really good.  I will never go against the Pierce family!  Loved both Jennifer and Lynn getting their badass on.

Jefferson's scenes with his dad, both as a kid and adult, were well done. 

I loved Jennifer's comment to Jeff that his head wasn't bullet proof, because we see that so much in these shows!! 

Knew Gambi would be the one to shoot down Proctor (bye, you bastard).  I also liked that we got a quick rundown on where everyone came from via Gambi.

Tobias blew up LaLa!!!  I was almost feeling sorry for LaLa being controlled by Tobias but then I remembered that he's a cold blooded killer too.  Nice that we got confirmation about being raised from the dead and everyone's he's killed coming back and haunting him.

Tobias is an excellent villain; smart, tough and scary.  I wasn't too impressed with him in the beginning but the show and especially Marvin Jones III have a done great job putting him on top.   I still miss Lady Eve though.

Syonide, however, was much better when she didn't speak.

Khalil still doesn't ring quite true - I get that he made a deal to walk again but he seems to be embracing the whole killing thing a little too easily.  Maybe that comes with whatever he's been shot up with.

What a great first season, I hope S2 is just as good.

[janeta]

I gotta admit that Khalil is much more interesting as a baddie. :)

[wanderingstar]

I loved when Jennifer bodied Proctor. And Gambi may finally be back on my good side for finally ending Proctor.

That showdown between the Pearces and Proctor's goons did not disappoint. Loved that everyone - even Lynn - got to have their badass moment.

So, I guess Tobias will be next season's big bad. Till then, I'm gonna miss seeing this show every week. This has been a great season.

Edited April 19, 2018 by Gillian Rosh

[TwistedandBored]

I really loved this episode and season as whole I liked that everyone got to do something in the end. The Pierce family including Gambi are now my fav TV family. 

Those final fight scenes had everything. Great acting, music, and stunts. 

 

The setup for next season was also well done. 

[possibilities]

That was sooooo good!!

[VCRTracking]

Um, Napoleon was Corsican not French, Tobias.

Young Jeff had a nice flattop fade.

Loved Lynn pumping the shotgun and Gambi and Jennifer's reactions!

Thank God, Proctor's dead. Loved Jennier getting fed up with his racist shit and using her powers on him.

[AnimeMania]

4 hours ago, raven said:

Khalil still doesn't ring quite true - I get that he made a deal to walk again but he seems to be embracing the whole killing thing a little too easily.  Maybe that comes with whatever he's been shot up with.

They said that Khalil's needles paralyze people.

[Dee]

Lynn better wield that shotgun!

[thuganomics85]

Yay, the Pierce Crime Fighting Family happened!  Obviously, Jefferson and Anissa smoked a whole bunch of fools, but not only did Jennifer get to unleash some of her powers, but even Lynn got into the action too with that shotgun!  And then there was Gambi, who is pretty much part of the family anyway, at this point.  Best family ever!

Figured some of the baddies would get taken out, but I wasn't expecting both Lala and Proctor to go.  Lala's was a bit anticlimactic; especially with all of the build-up; but Proctor getting his arrogant, racist ass beat down by Jennifer, and then Gambi just shooting him, was great.  And I love how everyone was pretty much right to business after. Yeah, they're at the point where watching Uncle Gambi shoot a man isn't anywhere close to the most harrowing thing that either Anissa or Jennifer have seen.

Of course, that leaves Tobias as the new king of the criminals, flanked by Khalil and Syonide.  I can only imagine the horrors he will cook up.  And, damn, Syonide's backstory was all kinds of fucked-up.

Liked the callbacks from the pilot like the scene of Jefferson, Anissa, and Jennifer running together, and Tobias busting out that harpoon again (ouch!)

I hope they explore more of Henderson next season, especially since he's in charge.  Hoping for a Gordon/Batman type relationship between him and Black Lightning.

Great music as always.

All and all, a pretty good first season and I hope they keep it up.  This is one of the few shows where I actually care about all of the main characters, and can't find one bad apple in the bunch.  They've really been developed extremely well in just thirteen episodes already.  Can't wait to get more of them!

[Quark]

I love the Pierce's.

[cambridgeguy]

Hey, they acknowledged that Jeff's head is completely unprotected.  Will they be smart enough to give him a helmet next season?  I'm betting not!

[FortKnox]

A big bad was going to do everything in his power to make the heroes lives a living hell so, what do they do? They put his ass in the ground.

ARE YOU LISTENING FLASH?

[tennisgurl]

Yeah, sometimes, you just need to kill the damn bad guy. Looking at you, Flash! 

Great finale, loved seeing the Pierce family (plus Uncle Gambi, of course) kicking ass and taking names. Especially when they started rocking out to Shining Star as the SWAT team came at Anissa and she just blew them all away. So much epic! 

Jennifer's face when Lynn cocked that gun! She was even more shook than usual! I loved her getting in touch with her powers, I hope this means she can come to terms with them more. Even if she doesn't want to fight crime, those could definitely come in handy, and if she has them, she might have well know how to control them. 

Gambi just shot that asshole dead! I probably shouldn't cheer at a guy being shot down in cold blood, but...screw that guy. That was pretty hard core. Also, time to indulge in one of my TV drinking games, and take a shot whenever a villain says to Make Something Great Again. "takes shot". Oh Arrowverse, your gonna make me feel like hell tomorrow morning!

Syonide has a seriously messed up backstory. I get why she`s so loyal to Tobias, but I dont really buy Khalil turning so evil so fast. I get that he was bitter about his legs, and Tobias gave them back to him, but he has gone pretty hard into supervillany after being a nice, normal kid for most of his life. 

Cant wait for the next season!

[Cthulhudrew]

I really enjoyed this episode as usual. Tobias has really grown on me, as has Syonide (now that she has a name and backstory and talks occasionally). Painkiller is much more interesting as a bad buy as well, and I think the trio makes a pretty awesome league of villains for this show.

I did feel like the ending was kind of abrupt, though. Everything was great up until the showdown in the woods, and then suddenly they wrap up all the Proctor stuff with that brief scene in the lab. Who was Lynn talking about when she said "I know who can help them?" How did they help the pod people? What happened to them? Did they get them all, or just the first generation? (In particular, did they find Neema?) It seemed like they needed at least another 15 minutes to properly wrap things up.

[Lantern7]

Good finale for a good series. Fuck it, let's sink the CW with DC Comics properties. They're doing way better than the DCEU, and who needs Smallville Riverdale? Wait, don't answer that.

Given how painful the tone gets, we have a semblance of a happy ending. The Pierce family lives, Tobias lives to scheme and eat scenery, and the Mega Evil White Dude "got got." Dude reminded me of the Dean from Animal House as Mr. Big in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Just unabashedly evil and racist as fuck. Not bulletproof, though. Thanks, Gambi!!

Does Khalil have a supervillain name? Enhancing cybernetics and neurotoxins don't sound too familiar to me. For some reason, I keep thinking M.A.N.T.I.S. Tobias' henchwench is Syonide, which fits. Lala = Tattooed Man?

Curious is this comes back in the fall, or goes in as a midseason replacement. It does deserve a second season after this episode, showing it can get as bugfuck as Legends of Tomorrow, which is a huge compliment from me.

ETA for @Trini . . . thanks. Dunno if there's a canon character for that name. I vaguely know of a "Painkiller Jane," but that's about it.

Edited April 20, 2018 by Lantern7

[Trini]

15 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Does Khalil have a supervillain name?

Painkiller, according to this episode.

[Cthulhudrew]

13 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

ETA for @Trini . . . thanks. Dunno if there's a canon character for that name. I vaguely know of a "Painkiller Jane," but that's about it.

There is, but he's quite different. IIRC, the comics Painkiller didn't have much in the way of a background at all. The visuals and powers are about the only thing the two characters share.

[jhlipton]

On 4/17/2018 at 10:08 PM, VCRTracking said:

Um, Napoleon was Corsican not French, Tobias.

Can Napoleon invade Egypt?  Of Corsican!

He was born in Corsica, but is best known for his life as a Frenchman.

[VCRTracking]

2 hours ago, jhlipton said:

Can Napoleon invade Egypt?  Of Corsican!

He was born in Corsica, but is best known for his life as a Frenchman.

I know and I don't mind whenever he's portrayed in movies or TV with having a French accent.

 

On 4/19/2018 at 7:41 PM, Lantern7 said:

I keep thinking M.A.N.T.I.S. Tobias' henchwench is Syonide, which fits. Lala = Tattooed Man?

I'll always prefer the pilot movie of M.A.N.T.I.S.. When they replaced the supporting characters for the series I went "Nope." and lost interest.

Edited April 22, 2018 by VCRTracking

[Ottis]

So Jeff always felt shame for not helping his dad? Were we supposed to know that? Aside from a couple of flashbacks of him hiding, like he was supposed to, I don’t remember that.

Tobias brings back Lala only to blow him up? OK.

Martin whoever is not an impressive villain. He’s a blow hard. And sort of comical. 

Tobias’ sister has armor under her skin? What?

Gambi whines a lot.

”No Jennifer” who is on fire “you’re trembling?” THAT’S the main issue there?

So Thunder holds her breath to be bulletproof... and then inhales further to clap while being shot? What?

That special SWAT team didn’t have very good armor. 

The EWF Shining Star was awesome though. 

I’m trying to like this show. So many illogical holes.

[immortalfrieza]

On 4/18/2018 at 12:32 PM, FortKnox said:

A big bad was going to do everything in his power to make the heroes lives a living hell so, what do they do? They put his ass in the ground.

ARE YOU LISTENING EVERY SUPERHERO FICTION EVER?

On 4/18/2018 at 7:13 PM, tennisgurl said:

Yeah, sometimes, you just need to kill the damn bad guy. Looking at you, Every Superhero Fiction Ever!

Fixed it for you. All superhero fiction is obsessed with the idea that the superhero should not ever kill the villain, ever, no matter how obvious it is that that villain needs to die. If the superhero does kill and do it often the story always wastes valuable time trying to condemn those killings and/or justify them when it's really not needed. This just results in the villain coming back over and over and really all it's ever been is an excuse to not have to make new villains all the time. It was really refreshing to see the show just waste Proctor like it was nothing and move on without some stupid speech or angst or anything like it should be. I was worried after that one episode where Gambi kept insisting that Jefferson not kill Tobias that they'd go that direction, glad to see they won't.

Quote

Syonide has a seriously messed up backstory. I get why she`s so loyal to Tobias, but I dont really buy Khalil turning so evil so fast. I get that he was bitter about his legs, and Tobias gave them back to him, but he has gone pretty hard into supervillany after being a nice, normal kid for most of his life.

I'd say Khalil turning evil was pretty bizarre too. I get the kid might have some issues from growing a black kid in a poor crime filled neighborhood then getting paralyzed and the whole "I HATE THE WORLD" thing that as anyone who has had that happen to them would probably tell you always results from that, but this is pushing it. I especially found it odd that Khalil was so grateful to Tobias/brainwashed that he could not only turn against Proctor but do it gleefully. You remember Proctor, Khalil? The guy who ACTUALLY FIXED YOUR LEGS?

Edited October 27, 2018 by immortalfrieza