Headscratchers / Black Lightning (2018)

• If Lala knew who Jen was, why did he suggest selling her into prostitution in the pilot?
• In her first appearance, Grace has a copy of Outsiders vol. 2 #16. How is it possible for this comic book to even exist in-universe? It has (white) Lady Eve on the cover!
  • Perhaps that universe uses Brand X versions of characters that are being adapted for this show?
• I'm assuming the public is aware of other metahumans because they quickly figured it out that the statue was destroyed by Anissa (in disguise). Keep in mind this is the first time the public has seen this mysterious "blonde" girl. For all they know, it could have been a coincidence that the statue exploded at that moment. She could have been some ordinary cosplayer who was upset about the tragedy, stomping the ground out of rage. If a some guy sneezes a second before a building explodes, would he be accused of being a metahuman?
  • Her non-reaction to the statue exploding probably helped. I mean, if I sneezed and then coincidentally saw a building collapse, I'd freak out, but Anissa seemed pretty chill.
• If Tobias has been slowing down his aging for years, then shouldn't his dad look a LOT older? Also, the flashback with him and a young Eldridge looks like it took place in the late 1960s. Did the writers goof up on the timeline?
  • Tobias could be as young as his mid-50s (assuming he was very successful and became a city politician in his early 20s), which would put his birth in the 1960s, and the flashback could have been in the early 1970s. Assuming Eldridge was in his 20s when Tobias was born, he'd only be in his 70s in the present. His appearance wouldn't be unreasonable for someone of that age.
• In episode 9, Jefferson and Anissa get information from a lawyer wearing Obama and Michelle masks. Jefferson is worried about using his powers, but he used his powers when threatening the guy. Why didn't he use a fake gun instead? Isn't Jefferson afraid the guy will recognize him as the Black Lightning?
• In the 30 years he knew (and at times worked with) Gambi, didn't it once occur to Jefferson to wonder why he had access to all that money, training and advanced technology? It'd be one thing if Gambi had told some plausible lie, but the impression from the show is that Jefferson never even asked. In thirty years.
  • Enforcing Plausible Deniability? If Jefferson asks, Gambi either lies, or he tells the truth and risks the stability of the partnership. Perhaps in the early days of his original tenure, Jeff did ask, but got a vague non-answer and decided not to press the matter?
• how do people know who thunder is even before she got her costume and how did they know her name was thunder
• Tobias Whale has a habit of abusing and killing his henchmen for failure. Why would people continue to work for him? Syonyde seems to be enjoying her job, but isn't she and Khalil worry about being at the receiving end of Tobias's gun one day? It doesn't take much to set him off.
  • Whale doesn't seem like the sort to accept resignations. How do you suppose he would respond in Latavius turned in his two weeks notice?
  • In Season 2, Khalil outright says Tobias will kill him if he tries to leave. Possible (even probable) death is better thandefinite death by trying to quit.
• After the ASA tries threatening Jefferson to make Gambi reveal Black Lightning's identity, the Pierce family, realizing a murderous government conspiracy is now after them, move into a secret safe-house. Yet, the very next episode, Jefferson, Anissa, and Jennifer all go back to Garfield High. Doesn't showing up their jobs like normal make hiding where they live kinda pointless?
• Why doesn't Tobias bring Syonide (and Tori, for that matter) back from the dead like he did with Lala?
  • The hallucinations. All the people Lala killed were coming back to haunt him, an explicit side-effect of the resurrection. With their bodycounts, Syonide or Tori would have had it a lot worse.
• Who chooses to answer only to the nickname "Lala" when they have a birth name like Latavius?
• If Gravedigger is the first meta, created during World War 2, then what about the JSA, or do they not exist in the post-Crisis world? At least some of its members were metas (e.g. Obsidian).
• Freeland is in the USA, right? So when the town goes into lockdown inside a perimeter force field that keeps the Markovians out, these active soldiers from a foreign nation are just...camping out in Georgia?
  • Evidently, yes. Markovia is much smaller than France geographically and has a population well under 2 million, but they apparently have enough metas (that we almost never see) to pose a genuine threat to the USA. The Georgia National Guard alone would squash the Markovians like a bug, not to mention the other superheroes post-crisis, but apparently, in the interests of covering up their experimentation or involvement with Markovia's coup (despite U.S. experimentation on their own people and backing of brutal dictators being documented history), the government has decided to delegate the entirety of this war on U.S. soil to the ASA, and not do anything against the Markovian homeland.
• I know the meta reason why, but what's the in-universe reason why, after Crisis, Jefferson doesn't bother to contact his new Justice League pals to help out? Legends and Flash have excuses, as Jefferson likely doesn't know how to contact the Waverider and Flash spends most of the back half losing his powers. Kate I can kinda understand due to being pre-occupied with Good!Beth and Alice. But where are the Supers? Kara and Clark would NEVER stand by and allow what's happening in Freeland to occur. Plus, there's no way Lex wouldn't want to acquire the Metas for use in whatever schemes he's planning. Moreover, where is ARGUS in all this post-Crisis? The future where they're fascists and enslaving meta-humans is gone, but they would still be interested in any dealings with metas.
• Why does Lynn give Tobias the names of the metas just because he says he knows that Black Lightning attacked the ASA? I understand he implied he has reach outside his prison and could threaten her family, but A. a far more likely explanation is just that he overheard some guards talking (or at worst, he's got one or two on his payroll. Nothing too dangerous to the family currently under the ASA's protection). and B. is it really in character for Lynn to obviously help Tobias find more meta children to enslave based on a vague threat to her family?
• In Season 4, the League of Assassins is repeatedly mentioned as still active, despite it being not just dissolved, but supposedly replaced by Talia's much more benevolent league by the end of Arrow. This could be Crisis at work, but that invalidates pretty much Talia's entire character arc, and means the remnants of Team Arrow, plus probably the Bat-Family should probably be looking over their shoulders. Also, a meta-cure is mentioned as something not invented yet (Albeit only in Jen's dream, which means it was just dream-logic at work, or that it never existed post-crisis, or that Team Flash never shared their cure with the government, probably to stop them from using it on Metas against their will.

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