It’s getting crowded here.
We had our hands full last week covering all three shows, but it’s hard to just stop or drop any. So what we’re trying out this week, is focusing on the things that made and broke each weekly offering for us. This means a little less conversation and a little more action. So, first thing, who wins this week? Well, in a repeat result… Black Lightning takes the cake, Supergirl comes in second and The Flash is still in a funk, beside being behind bars.
In order of win, we’ll start with Black Lightning and this week’s episode, Lawanda: Book of Hope.
Why it wins this week:
- Black Lightning breaks the mold of the superhero with a mild mannered personality and life. There’s no Clark Kent moments here. Jefferson Pierce is living in a city plagued with corruption and crime. He can’t escape, he can’t be oblivious to it, he hurts, he bleeds and it takes its toll.
- The idea of vigilantism and/or heroism is not about born from revenge, it’s a genuinely a sense of justice and the survival of Jefferson’s own kind. It’s his community that is getting killed out there.
- Lynn and Peter Gambi have a bit of showdown. Is either of them right? Is either of them wrong? There is no clear winner.
- Anissa and Chenoa’s love life is highlighted including their intimate moments. It’s an unapologetic sexual relationship. On one side, good for them. On the other side… No, actually let’s not judge.
- We get to know Lawanda, former student of Jefferson and now mother of one of the girls at the Seahorse hotel. When Lala kills her, it’s sudden, it’s brutal and you feel powerless to stop it. That was as real as it gets.
Runner up again this week, Supergirl. It’s an all-female battle with Fort Rozz.
The good, the bad, the Ursa:
- Yes, that is Sarah Douglas who played Ursa from Superman II, in the role of Priestess Jyndal Kohl Rozz.
- Returning female villains Livewire (Brit Morgan) and Psi (Yael Grobglas) are onboard for anything that will stop Reign. I guess the episode was too short to show some shades of grey.
- Imra is basically the getaway driver. We need to define her character and power set a little more. Can she fly? Is she a telepath? What’s her deal?
- Livewire dies because… Well, that’s the thing. She just dies. She hasn’t really been active in a while, so I’m not sure what her death accomplishes here. I guess the idea is to give Supergirl more gravitas… Wait, that can’t be it. It doesn’t work.
- Brainiac 5 and Wynn have a little tech-geek-out contest. I don’t know why we lost time with this, except to make some supposedly last minute save… No, it didn’t work at all.
- We first see Samantha (Odette Annable) grappling with Reign. First through Psi and later with Alex when she realizes there’s entire periods of time in which she doesn’t remember where she has been. Now, I like Samantha but she should get in trouble with Lena over her disappearance. That has to happen sometime.
- Ruby getting Alex to scare a cyberbully was saving grace for the episode. Well, almost but it was a cool moment.
And last again this week, despite being the fastest man alive, it’s The Flash. Well, actually Barry is just hanging out in the big house so it’s time for Ralph to spread his wings.
Anything here?
- Okey, so I’m a fan of Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost (bet you didn’t notice ha ha). Only funny moment on the show was Cisco and Wells getting Cait to Frost-up in an instant by mentioning the name of her childhood bully. Of course, then I felt really bad for poor Cait being psychologically manipulated the next second.
- We’re still doing that thing where Killer Frost is supposed to be ineffective just so that Barry -ok, now it was Ralph- can come save the day. Boo. Hiss.
- On top of that, now Vibe is also completely ineffective as well. Guess it has to be Ralph who bravely… monologues? Really? He has time to do that?
- The new suit is an improvement because the previous suit looked like crap. Still, Ralph still sucks and I can’t find him funny or engaging or even mildly amusing.
- Corinne Bohrer reprises her role of Prank from the 1990’s Flash. No Mark Hamill though. And… the new Prankster really doesn’t make that much of an impact at all.
- Barry meets Goldberg aka Big Sir. It’s a comic book villain’s name but here it’s an inmate that was helped by Barry’s father Henry. So Big Sir returns the favor, but almost gets jumped on. Barry has to subtly use his powers to save him. Not a bad scene, but still… Felt like too little too late.
That will do for now.
Never Think Impossible 