Line #32 Fridge/StaticShock


1	!!FridgeBrilliance
2	* It's no wonder why Virgil was completely on board with being a super hero when he discovered his Bang Baby powers. Barring the fact that superheros like Superman and Batman exist, his mom heroically gave her life in the line of duty, it runs in the family.
3	* In episode 2: worrying that he's going to keep mutating into a monster, Virgil stays after school and uses the science lab to compare his blood to Richie's under a microscope, but both of their blood samples look the same. But of course they look the same, [[{{Foreshadowing}} because Richie is also a meta-human, he just doesn't know it yet]].
4	** Alternately, it's foreshadowing that the gas and the connected technology are the source of the powers, not unlocking something biological (so the blood and tissues of the metas don't look different). This is a distinction that defines most of the major differences in how the powers work compared to other superhero stories, something that the creators pay a surprising amount of attention to for a show targeted at children.
5	** Moreover, if you think about it, a gradual boost of intelligence makes more sense than if he just suddenly ''gained'' it overnight. It would've been seen as his brain exploding from all that knowledge. Instead, by gradually having him gain his smarts, it adds to Virgil's theory that Richie was inhaling leftover gas absorbed into his clothes.
6	* It just clicked: Episode 2 is about overcoming one's past with a bully, about not allowing the damage done to you make you feel less than who you've grown to be. The episode begins with Static facing off Hot Streak, only for the former to "choke", partly because he still thinks of himself as Virgil Hawkins up against his school bully Francis. Later on, before round 2, Richie has to remind him that his past as Francis' victim doesn't matter: in the here and now, he's Static.
7	* "Junior" has Sharon share how Virgil willingly took the blame for spilling burgers during a BBQ. If Robert's surprise is any indication, nobody was the wiser for years. If anything, this indicates Virgil's ''very'' good at keeping secrets, [[PersonalityPowers just like a real super hero]].
8	* The title of the episode, "They're playing my Song" isn't just about what people say when they hear their favorite song. It can reflect what a livid Adam/Rubberband Man was thinking when he overhead his own stolen songs being played as someone else's.
9	* In "A League Of Their Own", Static is able to fly fast enough to stay ahead of the Flash. Static "flies" by using his powers over electromagnetism to levitate the metal disc he's standing on. The principles he's using to do this are the same ones used in railguns to launch a projectile to supersonic speeds.
10	* It had been pointed out that most of the "Bang Babies" use their powers for selfish reasons or downright villainy, with Virgil being among the few exceptions. The reason is the explosion's site; it was an industrial area, and late at night, with most of the people around being criminals (the explosion was partially caused because two gangs fighting) and poor people, some of them even being homeless. So, after getting their powers, they didn't see a chance to do good, but to enrich quickly, or, in the case of the most aggressive ones, to hurt people on a larger scale. Virgil, on the other hand, was already a good guy from the beginning, with a functional family and a stable income, and the only reason he was at the explosion site was because of being forced by one of the gang leaders.
11	* In ''Kidnapped'', Puff and Onyx question why Static is acting so dangerous when they just kidnapped one guy, Robert Hawkins, Static's father. Many fans have thought how dumb they are for not thinking it couldn't be Virgil. However, it's entirely possible that due to the episode ''Gear'', Virgil was already kidnapped by Ebon for suspicion of being Static, but was fooled into believing he wasn't. The Meta Breed or someone probably spread the word about it and Puff and Onyx wouldn't think much of it either, they all live in the same city, every meta human would probably heard of it by now. For all they know, Mr. Hawkins is just someone important to Static, which is entirely possible too. Mr. Hawkins runs the Youth Center and he's always a welcoming man, the odds of someone like Mr. Hawkins influencing a teenager like Static is just all the more reason he'd be more serious looking for him.
12	** On a similar note, "Child's Play" has Static use a recording he used as Virgil to record Aron revealing his true nature. You'd think Aron would put two and two together and realize Virgil being Static would be the only explanation for how he got his confession. However, bear in mind that Richie made the technology that inconspicuously recorded him. While Virgil is smart, Richie has become relatively smarter, smart enough to create technology Virgil couldn't have thought of. Ergo, Aron wouldn't suspect that Virgil would have something advanced enough to record him without his notice.
13	* Static joining the Justice League is a logical step in his superhero career and his life. The Justice League Unlimited would most definitely want to recruit Static since they need someone to recharge the Watchtower to preventing a blackout like [[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS2E10Flashpoint last time]].
14	* In "Junior", Edwin Jr. as Omnifarious doesn't use a mask to cover his face as he goes around sabotaging his father's company. As a son who wants nothing more than his father's recognition and approval, Edwin Jr. would want his father to recognize him acting out as Omnifarious.
15	* Small one from "Static Shaq". While on patrol, Virgil gets a page from his dad telling him to come to the community center right away. He probably started carrying a pager/his dad gave him a pager after ''Junior'' so that he doesn't arrive late at community center events again. Subtle continuity there.
16	* Crossing over with Fridge Horror: Richie is in pretty much every episode of the series except one: "Blast from the Past". In production order, "Blast from the Past" was made between the two parts of "A League of Their Own". What happened during the Cliffhanger ending of "A League of Their Own, Part 1?" Brainiac starts possessing Richie! Of ''course'' he wouldn't be helping Virgil during that time.
17	* "[[Recap/StaticShockS4E1FutureShock Future Shock]]" is basically foreshadowing for the finale. We see that Static's become incredibly powerful in his older years. In "Power Outage" Virgil get a second stronger dose of Quantum Vapor, not only restoring his powers but amplifying them. Thus ensuring a StableTimeLoop with his future self.
18	* During the Batman Crossover episode, "The Big Leagues", Joker recruits quite a few of Static's enemies: Hotstreak, Kangorr, Talon, Shiv, etc. One character not recruited however, is Ebon. There are a few in-universe reasons for this. (1) Ebon is way too much of a ControlFreak to ever follow anyone else's lead. He spends the entire series trying to control a gang of his own meta-humans, tries to force his brother to join his gang, tries to go back in time to create his own army, clashed with fellow ControlFreak Madelyne Spaulding during her return, and caused himself and Hotstreak to over-mutate when they got into a fight over the last canister of quantum juice. Ebon will never stand for someone else running the show. (2) Notice how every person Joker recruited, powerful though they are, still have physical bodies that can say, breathe in Joker Gas if the Clown Prince of Crime decides they're too much trouble. In contrast, we don't even know if Ebon still breathes anymore. Joker thought ahead and focused on those who he could still potentially take down if necessary. Hot-Streak is probably the strongest one there, and in theory he can still be killed by Joker Venom if push comes to shove.
19	* Superman's absence in the "A League of Their Own" crossover two-parter with ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' seems to be a huge missed opportunity, especially since the villain in those episodes is Brainiac, one of Clark's own RoguesGallery members. But thinking about it from Brainiac's perspective: After all the times Kal-El has thwarted his attempts to collect Earth's knowledge and destroy the planet over the years, he probably thought it best to put his latest plan into action at a time in which his fellow Kryptonian was off the Watchtower and not there to use his strength and knowledge of Brainiac's tactics to help his fellow League members.
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21	!!FridgeHorror
22	* In the episode "Now You See Him", Static is fighting Speedwarp, a villain who can accelerate time for himself and chosen targets. Towards the end, he kidnaps Daisy and accelerates her, and Static follows with his own time device a minute later. However, time is slowed down for Daisy and Speedwarp. Daisy must have been trapped in there for hours or days.
23	* [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Wade]] was featured prominently in the first episode, but then was never seen or mentioned again after the Big Bang. While no fatalities are mentioned in show, we see a kid melting from the effects of the gas; it's likely Wade was one of the unlucky ones. This is most likely the case since in the comics, it was explicitly stated that more people died from the effects of the gas than were mutated.
24	* In-Universe example in "Jimmy" when Richie brings up what could have happened if the bullet that hit his leg had been even slightly higher and Virgil tells him ''firmly'' not to go there.
25	* The episode "Sons of the Fathers" focuses on racism, with the racist in question being Richie's father, who is pretty unstable in general. Now for those who don't know, Richie is gay in the actual comics, even if it's never fully addressed in the show but it's still somewhat canon via WordOfGay. This raises the question: Is his father the reason he's in the closet? While there's no solid proof that he's a homophobe, his racism and general unstableness before the episode's conclusion would probably be enough for Richie to keep quiet about his sexuality to his family.
26	** ''Somewhat'' mitigated by Sean's later attempts to move past his racism (see: "Frozen Out"), suggesting that if he holds homophobic views, he might be willing to move past them for Richie's sake.
27	* A general one. Static/Virgil and Richie/Gear are fourteen years old at the start of the series. While it's never explicit how much time is passing during the show's run, the two are still in high school at the end of the series, so are probably seventeen or eighteen at the oldest. While not every baddie the two come up against would be aware that they're fighting high-schoolers, at least ''some'' of the public seems aware that Static in particular is still a kid. That adds an [[WouldHurtAChild extra horrific layer]] to a lot of the villains, and heaps even more worries on a show already laden with it.
28	** Some of their opponents (see: Madelyn) are kids their age, but many of their opponents are older kids/adults, making it worse.
29	** A specific example of this comes from "Sons of the Fathers", when Ebon is willing to capture and probably hurt/kill the obviously high school-aged Richie to get to Static. No wonder Ebon, not Hotstreak, is the true BigBad of the show.
30	** Considering why Virgil was at the Big Bang in the first place (he was pressured by an older gang member -- and ''given a gun'' by him), and that many of the Bang Babies were also gang members, age in terms of exposure to violence was already not an issue for these guys. Becoming Static actually means Virgil is in ''less'' danger than before in some ways -- at least as Static he can defend himself without resorting to full-on violence, and doesn't need gang members protecting him at school.

Context Fridge / StaticShock