Black Lightning

To my genuine surprise: They actually have a promo for the finale.

Is this week the finale?

Wow. I just haven't watched this season at all. I was busy with other stuff earlier in the year, so I didn't realize it had started, and by then, I was focused on other things and just didn't bother.

Same with Legends of Tomorrow....but not Superman and Lois, Supergirl, or The Flash.

Though I kept track of those so there was nothing to miss.

No, there's two episodes before then.

Honestly this Season is the weakest one of the series, following the good old CW Season 4 curse.

We're over 10 episodes in, with only 3 more to go, and basically nothing has happened at all, safe for Tobias playing everybody for a fool (again) and the Pierces acting dumb and fighting amongst themselves (again).

It's even weaker than Season 2 (my favorite one was Season 3 btw).

Just hope they won't forget about Gravedigger.

Well, they did set off a device that depowers every metahuman in the city. They even did that thing Heroes did, where characters do the hand gestures they do when using their powers, and nothing happens, and it probably comes off sillier than they intended.

I'd argue Lala being "dead" is a big deal.

I know the showrunner really wanted to bring Gravedigger back. They always could in the Painkiller series, but Gravedigger feels too much like a personal enemy of the Pierces for that to work.

I honestly feel like the show was cancelled mid or late in this season's production. The pacing was too slow and they introduced and brought back so many elements, it feels like they had a couple more seasons in mind before being told they didn't.

It feels like most of the budget and behind-the-scenes resources for BL got funneled to the Painkiller spin-off instead, and the only reason they bothered to make a fourth season was to promote the spin-off.

The spin-off hasn't been greenlit yet. I want to say COVID contributed to the shortened final season, but I don't think that's been confirmed.

Yeah, I mean the Khalil fight scenes are cool and all, but them trying to advertise the spin-off couldn't be more obvious.

But hey, I actually liked this episode, something went right for the Pierces for a change.

I agree, it was a pretty strong episode. It's nice to see the Pierces actually getting along (somewhat) and actually gaining some advantage. Even the death of Jennifer's love interest didn't feel as dramatic as it was, which is probably my only complaint. Khalil's fight scenes keep getting better and his mind fight scene against Looker was satisfying. I also laughed at Tobias keeping Lala around as decoration.

Looking forward to Khalil vs. Ishmael next episode.

Edited by GamerSlyRatchet on May 12th 2021 at 11:59:17 AM

Can you say Fake Out?

Yeah, I don't believe Jeff is dead.

Edited by Forenperser on May 18th 2021 at 6:35:55 PM

This final arc is called "Book of Resurrection". Also, the preview for the finale literally gives it away he returns.

There's a preview this time? First one this Season, lol.

Anyways, I can almost guarantee, this Series will end with soooo many unresolved Plot Threads.

What about Gravedigger? What about Lady Eve? What about Brandon? Will Lala just....sit there, frozen forever?

This was a rushed final season and you felt it. We can only hope Painkiller will get picked up and help resolve a few loose plotlines, because I have little hope for any of the cast making any major appearances in any of the other Arrowverse shows.

It's a shame, really, that it had to end like this, shortly after BL just came into the Arrowverse.

Yeah, I agree. There's tons of dropped plot threads out there, and it doesn't help that this show is shorter than previous ones. It felt like they weren't warned that the series was going to end until the last couple of episodes.

I've been enjoying the past couple of episodes, though. I hope the ending is thematically strong, at least.

Welp. Guess that's it for Painkiller

https://comicbook.com/dc/news/black-lightning-spinoff-painkiller-not-picked-up-the-cw/

What a shame. So this cast is now officially done for.

May be we could see a few migrate to other shows. Hopefully.

Previously that wasn't feasible due to the series being shot in Atlanta and all the rest of the Arrowverse being shot in Vancouver, but I guess with Black Lightning now ending, it would be possible for some of the cast members to move.

Dunno if that is very likely, though.

Edited by Forenperser on May 24th 2021 at 9:33:29 PM

That stinks. I hope HBO Max is an option.

I'm not surprised, but it's still a shame. I was skeptical of the idea, but the pilot and his usage throughout the rest of the season sold me on it.

The article points out it is an option. I don't see it happening, though.

Well, guess that was Black Lightning. Good thing Tobias is finally dead, but yeah, it felt more like a Season finale than a Series finale, especially with that final scene.

As I feared, so many unresolved plotlines. And honestly, I could've done without the Jennifer twist. The Chief Lopez thing was also resolved way too quickly.

I just hope we didn't see the cast member for the last time.

I feel like there's a lot that was borrowed from the Season 1 finale to give this finality. When no one was sure this would be renewed for these further seasons. This show certainly got over ambitious in many plots but overall the show ended pretty well. Maybe if there was one more piece of media to really wrap up everything was produced could make this better but for what we got it's good. We certainly didn't need Jennifer's doppelganger story when China left the show. At least Tobias Whale is finally dead and we can have a happy ending to this show. Hope a few characters migrate to other shows in the Arrowverse even if there is the different filming locations.

Oh yeah, you could tell this finale struggled to be a season and a series finale. There are too many plots to wrap up (the amplifier, Lopez's rampage, and JJ suddenly being an evil alien impostor) that took away from the final confrontation between Jefferson and Tobias. There's even a couple of loose ends now beyond the show's initial ones, like Lala breaking out of the concrete and whatever bad news Jen didn't want to know about.

I know there were some difficulties during the production (last-hour cancellation, a shortened season, COVID, stunt double accidents, BTS drama between actors), but I think at least a few editing choices could've improved it, like switching Lala's scene and Anissa's wedding party. It's messy, but it did have some good moments, which I guess describes my feelings on the show.