"Black Lightning" Season Four Talkback (Spoilers)

[M.O.D.O.K.]

I feel mixed about this finale. It certainly had some highs, but you could tell they had to rush so much and that they had plans for at least two more seasons. I did like the flashbacks to the younger Jefferson. I don't think we explored his earlier Black Lightning outings too much, and that's something that always interested me. He ultimately had to break his code and kill Tobias (even if it's murky if it was self-defense or not) and that's why he retires as one of Freeland's protectors. This time, though, he knows others can pick up the fight and he doesn't have the guilt he had before.

The other storylines did feel rushed. Lopez's power-up ended up meaning nothing, and I think I would've preferred her if it was the detective that defeated her instead of Lightning. It would've been more fitting. The whole plot with Jennifer vs. JJ felt odd, especially in the final episode. I did see some hints (Jefferson detecting it wasn't really Jen, her skewed morality/empathy at times), but I don't really get why couldn't both Jens co-exist instead of making one of them suddenly evil. Khalil's last sacrifice feels pointless since the previous episode had him swearing to leave Jen (and the Pierces) alone.

Even what should've been a delightful scene, where the family celebrates Anissa and Grace's wedding, felt pretty off. Again, this might be due to COVID complications or even BTS drama, but there's no reactions to Jen's reveal, Jefferson and Lynn reconcile off-screen, certain actors barely share any screentime together, etc. It's nice that the family got their happy ending, but it does feel disjointed. Especially when apparently there's still bad news for Jen we don't know about or the (admittedly amusing) last scene of Lala getting the last laugh on Tobias's corpse.

Still, with the issues aside, I did like the finale, and even at its worst, this show managed to engage me more than most of the CW's current outings (besides Stargirl and Legends). Too bad The CW utterly disrespected the show and barely pretended it existed by the end. There's a tiny chance the Painkiller spin-off might get picked up, but I doubt it. I had my fun and I'm thankful for that.

So it was decided that JJ was really an energy being who stole Jen's ID, just to explain away Laura Koriuki filling in for China McLain for a few weeks. That sounds like a cop-out, but there was no other way to try to reasonably explain how both actresses could be there for the finale. Neatly wrapped up.

It felt like that, even with the foreshadowing. I do wonder if Koriuki always knew JJ was going to end up being an impostor or if she was going to be the new Jen had the show gotten another season. China McClain was always going to leave.

If they can do a crossover next season, maybe Black Lightning returns.

Cress Williams did say the people from The Flash approached him for guest appearances. I'd like that. Jefferson and Barry had some of the best chemistry during Crisis.

 

[hobbyfan]

And now we're finding out that season 8 of Flash begins with a 5 part event with other heroes appearing, so, there you go. We've not seen the last of Black Lightning & Supergirl after all, not until after this x-over, at least.

 

[Fone Bone]

Black Lightning "The Book Of Resurrection: Chapter Two: Closure"

My overall opinion was shockingly negative.

As far as series finales go, I've seen worse. And considering the lows the series sunk to this season, I am aware it could have been MUCH worse. But several things about that stuck in my craw.

The first is the revelation that J.J. was an evil impostor. As far as storytelling moves go, it is probably one of the most egregiously unfair I have ever seen. The last worst one from a show I actually liked was when Vaughn's wife Lauren turned out to be evil. It's too pat. And like Traitor Lauren, it was not set up remotely before this episode. And do you know why it wasn't? If China Ann McClain had refused to come back for the finale, this plot point never would have gone down. Which is extremely bad and unfair storytelling.

What I especially hate is how unfair this is to the actress who played J.J.. She had some incredibly big shoes to fill, and now the audience will see every single performance she previously gave (most of which was undoubtedly given in good faith) in a negative light. Vaughn married a b-word and the Pierces accepted a b-word. I would have been angry at this turn in any capacity after all this time. But the fact that it was saved for the series finale is an extra level of suck.

The worst thing is that I'm no longer allowed to love J.J.'s best moment of recording Lopez when she said that ugly thing last week. I'm also no longer allowed to enjoy J.J.'s sweet romance with the boy who died a couple of episodes ago. That's bogus. Even worse is that I WOULD have been still allowed to enjoy it if McClain had said "Screw y'all," instead. Honestly? I wish she had.

And if McClain HAD to say yes, couldn't they just write it that her latest trip to the stratosphere changed her face back? Why do that to J.J.'s actress at all?

I'm glad we got closure for Lala and even Painkiller (whose show was predictably not picked up). What infuriates me is that we got no closure for Freeland itself. Considering Jefferson is the guardian of the city and his entire arc was supposed to be about freeing it from Tobias' clutches, this specific failing especially grates.

First of all, Tobias channeling Trump for a campaign slogan shows why he never EVER would have been elected mayor in majority black city promising the already out of control police to be more brutal and have bigger guns. It's ridiculous the show asked us to ever believe somebody like that could run on that platform in that city and win. It's like if Trump were elected DC's mayor. It's so preposterous it insults your intelligence.

What's especially bad is there is no follow-up or fall-out from his death or his framing of the Pierces. Are the Pierces actually out of legal trouble? Unclear. They THINK so, but "think so" is not acceptable for a series finale. Who will be blamed for Tobias's death? Will it be considered a murder? Will Black Lightning be blamed? Or will Lala? Will the public never learn how corrupt Tobias actually was, and about all of the evil and murder he was responsible for? All of these specific things being unresolved in a city that has gone through so much, (and police corruption and violence this season to boot) is wrong.

Jefferson also had shockingly little himself to do in the series finale. If Cress Williams wasn't pissed about that, I'd be shocked. Another actor they did wrong by.

I understand the series probably would have preferred to go on for a few more seasons, and that it ending was The CW's decision. And Painkiller not being picked up is also not on the producers. But there was a large amount of nonsense this season that could have been easily excised by a producer wanting to craft a great final two episodes. Stuff could have been omitted or worked around to address the complaints I had. In fact, if the J.J. evil double thing never happened, every single thing I mentioned could have been gotten to in this precise episode with none of the rest of the season having to be changed. This finale didn't sit right with me at all. **.

 

[Frontier]

"Jefferson is my son!" That hit in the feels.

I was happy to see OG!Jen back, but what was the whole point of the JJ storyline? Like, if she was really an evil cosmic entity stealing Jennifer's DNA (which is so random), shouldn't they have set that up more? Like, what was the point of getting the audience invested in a fake Jennifer and acting like she was the real thing? The whole stuff with Red and Uriah? Having the family come to grips with it? Were the writers hedging their bets in case they couldn't get China back? And it's all still ultimately Jennifer's fault because of her obsession with the ionosphere.

Lynn really didn't do that much in the finale, did she?

I guess you can't be an Arrowverse lead without dropping at least one body, like Jefferson apparently did as a teenager to a 100 member that Gambi buried. You'd think this would have come up before, especially with how strict he acts about not killing. But then again we see Gambi continually shooting people with impunity, Anissa setting a dude on fire, and Grace snapping a guy's neck. I guess nobody really took that code to heart that much.

Anissa didn't get to do that much in her new suit other than look purple because...Sam Jackson?

It was nice to see Jefferson flash to both of his dads, and Alvin Pierce inspiring him to get back up again.

Black Lightning is back....again! For the last time!

What happened to Tobias' right-hand woman whose power nullifying abilities proved so useful to him? Seems like she would have been useful to have around in this episode.

Did anyone care about the Chief Lopez plot? Like, was anyone invested in her going crazy with Meta-Powers and almost taking out the whole city only to be stopped by the version of Lightning she had no screen-time with in a very anti-climactic fight? Was there a point to this at all?

Also, what was with Detective Hassan dragging a desk officer to a fight with a dangerous Meta she is probably woefully unqualified to be around? It's not like she even did anything.

"Tori Tower." Jeez, Tobias had it bad for his sister.

I'm not sure how I feel about what happened to Tobias. Like, okay, on one hand the whale gets harpooned, but Jeff technically kills him unintentionally and is forced into doing it, which isn't what he actually wanted. I guess Jefferson was still the better man in the end.

Khalil went through all that and he has to wipe his memories of the Pierces. Like, he doesn't get to share any scenes with Jen the whole season and he's forced to forget about her. Wouldn't losing those memories reset a lot of his character development? Kind of felt like Painkiller won in the end. I guess this is so he has less baggage and can move on to other love interests in his spinoff that's not happening.

So, yeah, it's pretty clear they were going out of their way to film around Cress Williams and China actually sharing a scene together. I wonder what happened there.

Jefferson retiring...like, on the one hand I can kind of see him wanting to ease back after all this, but it still feels like there's so much he can do. Plus, wasn't the point that Lightning and Thunder weren't being as effective without him at the start of the season? Although I think Cress Williams said in an interview that he can still suit up for crossovers.

Gambi's earned a retirement, but I don't know if TC can effectively do all the gadgets, costumes, and tech that Gambi was constantly coming up with.

So Grace is "Wylde" now? Continuing the trend of this show to just throw in codenames without any build up.

Oh great, they freed Lala. What a weird way to end the series, not with the Pierce family but with Lala looking at a dead Tobias still hanging there and, presumably, planning to take over for Tobias and run Freeland as the new Big Bad, which just seems kind of silly when the show is ending. Like, you end with this character whose fate was pretty much done and then end it so ominously? Like, I guess they felt him being trapped in concrete was leaving his character unresolved and wanted to show him come up on top, but it just didn't feel right.

 

[hobbyfan]

Grace was given the code name Wylde, but is the 2nd character to use that name.

A former teammate of hers in the Outsiders in the books, Charlie Wylde, was the first Wylde.

Upon closer inspection, this had all the earmarks of a hastily thrown together finale, and they threw a bunch of stuff on the wall to see what would stick. Again, this was due to the pandemic, more than anything. In hindsight, WB & CW would've been better served to have waited a few more months to give this show the closure it rightfully deserved.

 

[M.O.D.O.K.]

I still don't get why Jennifer and JJ couldn't co-exist. JJ being an energy being alien even reminded me a bit of Halo. It's an Outsiders reference, it would've fit fine with the show.

So Grace is "Wylde" now? Continuing the trend of this show to just throw in codenames without any build up.

She had the codename before (last season, I think?) and I think it comes from her birth name Shay Li Wylde.

Upon closer inspection, this had all the earmarks of a hastily thrown together finale, and they threw a bunch of stuff on the wall to see what would stick. Again, this was due to the pandemic, more than anything. In hindsight, WB & CW would've been better served to have waited a few more months to give this show the closure it rightfully deserved.

I think they just wanted to get rid of the show ASAP, honestly, between the near complete lack of promotion and the shortened season order. I don't even think they told the producers they were ending it until sometime during production.

 

[reflection01]

Yeah that makes sense. It was an incomplete finale but it was final. There was no cliffhanger, just some dangling plot. They tied up all the main plots even the bad ones (the chief with metaboosters), the contrived ones (JJ vs Jennifer), and the almost forgotten ones (Lala). It worked about as well as it could.


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[Yojimbo]

Interview with Akil. Confirms season 4 was going to be the last even before covid complicated production but he did have a season 5 and 6 planned out.

 

[Frontier]

Interview with Akil. Confirms season 4 was going to be the last even before covid complicated production but he did have a season 5 and 6 planned out.

If so I feel like they could have better paced certain plot points...

 

[Road to Gotham]

The ending scene with Lala was unnecessary, that bit should have been cut out.
It serves no purpose.
They knew for months that this was the last season.
I give this episode a 'C' Entire series gets a 'C+'.
It started strong but falter in its final 2 seasons.

 

[Yojimbo]

The Season 4 Blu-ray/DVD released this past Tuesday, fyi