Black Lightning - Please don't CW this...

[random11]

Two episodes, so far so good.

Good balance of drama without the CW version of manufactured drama.
Goes into the political issue, but makes the point without sounding too preachy.
Gives good motivation for the hero both for and against being a super hero.

I would say that the end of the second episode was a bit too much, but it's far from being a deal breaker.

Spoiler

Show

After all, it would be a lot simpler to pay someone to kill a prisoner than to just walk in with all the people around.
But I see the point they were trying to make, and vigilante justice when the police is trying it's best doesn't work well (see all other CW shows for bad examples)

Keep on the good work, and good luck!

[BWR]

I have been very impressed with the two episodes so far. As long as they don't drop the ball on this, BL will be my favorite superhero show bar Agent Carter (which wasn't really a superhero show), possibly tying with Legion. I have also been informed by those more knowledgeable in such things than I that Pierce's ex, Lynn, is Lynn Stewart, sister of John Stewart the Green Lantern. We might be lucky enough to see John somewhere down the line. Just having him show up, even without the ring, would be a treat.

[Metahuman1]

It's the typical CW pattern. Good first season, down hill from there. Arrow had a solid season 1. Supergirl had a fun season 1 that did exactly what it needed to do. So did Flash.

Season 2 all three shows fell apart and never recovered.

Legend's of Tomorrow was sort of an exception, but it started lousy and more or less stayed there.

[Rogar Demonblud]

I'd argue Arrow 2 was the better. Arrow 1 suffered from having to do a lot of set up. Plus they were still kind of learning what worked.

Legends is hard to call, because it's so all over the place. Or should I say all over the time?

[random11]

It's the typical CW pattern. Good first season, down hill from there. Arrow had a solid season 1. Supergirl had a fun season 1 that did exactly what it needed to do. So did Flash.

Season 2 all three shows fell apart and never recovered.

Legend's of Tomorrow was sort of an exception, but it started lousy and more or less stayed there.

That was generally my experience with CW shows, hence the title...

I DO hope this will be different.
It's showing some promise in avoiding the common pitfalls, but it's too early to feel safe.

[Metahuman1]

Rogar Demonblud: Except that was really the season were they started showing there blatant contempt for the source material.

Season 1 changes were adapting things. Season 2 changes were changing them just for the sake of making changes. There trying to simultaneously make the show lighter by giving Olly a no kill rule after he's wracked up a body count higher then most documented real world serial killers, but then wrecking that with Laurel and killing Olly's mother and the twist about Thea being Merlin's daughter and a chunk of the Slade stuff. (Which incidentally got down to people being dumb as far as how that situation came about, it turns out. Which was not compelling story telling.)

Legends had a chance to actually do something decent in season 2. We'd gotten the really asinine plot out of the way and we had a chance to learn. Instead, we took a villain who's story was thoroughly played, and the absolute worst most insulting villain from Arrow, and made them season long foes. And we didn't even have the satisfaction of using this to fix Arrow and Flash's timelines. There was and is no recovery from that, and it shows, again, they don't give a damn about what there doing, they just want the marketing boost from built in fans.




random11: One can hope, but I frankly am not holding my breath. Like I said, we didn't see the problems being impossible to live with till season 2 on 3 out of the other 4 shows.

[random11]

Recent episode feels like the CW writers are trolling me.
"You don't like characters keeping secrets? We'll give you the most honest and open family you've ever seen!"
Awkward coffee-spitting moments aside, pretty good episode.

The thing that bothers me most is not what happens in the episodes as much as the news and rumors around it.
Only the third episode, and they already start spreading rumors about spin-offs for this world.
Can we at least have one god season without attempts to connect it to an entire universe of shows?

[Mato]

Can we at least have one god season without attempts to connect it to an entire universe of shows?

On the next episode of God, Eve asks Cain about kids and the reverse flash shows up to kill Abel.

[Metahuman1]

On the next episode of God, Eve asks Cain about kids and the reverse flash shows up to kill Abel.

Shsssssssss! Don't give the CW any ideas!

[random11]

On the next episode of God, Eve asks Cain about kids and the reverse flash shows up to kill Abel.

Yeah, I deserve it.
That's what I get for relying too much only on spellchecker.


Anyway, question to anyone who knows Black Lightning from the comic: Do you have better background on the characters around (especially the villains) more than what is provided by the show?
No spoilers please.
I'm just curious to know if you think it helps or spoils the fun for you as a viewer.
Also, I will want to know if the show will reveal the required background, or if it will send me to read books/forums, but I guess I'll only figure this out in the end of the season.

[Ranxerox]

Of course, they are going to CW it. Sharks got to swim and bats got to fly; it is what CW does.

Still, with the exception of Legends of Tomorrow, CW first seasons tend to be pretty good, and true to form Black Lightning is off to a decent start. Yes, some of the each episodes drama seems tacked on just to get the run time to 43 minutes without too many expensive action scenes, but that is just action TV shows in general. My only real complaint is the show could use some more humor. You would think that there would be at least one member of the Pierce family that knew how to crack a joke. I understand the desire not turn any of the characters into clowns, but I think they over corrected on the humor thing. Maybe when the crippled boyfriend plot is in the rear view mirror, Lightning will discover that she has a sense of humor.

[Rogar Demonblud]

LoT did have a decent first season. It's just that since they're using recycled characters, that season was split among Arrow and Flash episodes.

[random11]

So far, I'm okay with this season.

Judging just from the last episode, we have a decent "secret revealed" moment that we KNOW would have been written worse in any other CW

Spoiler

Show

In any other show, the main hero would remove his costume before staying with his daughter, keeping it a secret that he is really black lightning.

Still, a lot depends on the next episode, and there are already many potential pitfalls with other secrets around.


Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I really want to to succeed where the others failed.

[Ranxerox]

LoT did have a decent first season. It's just that since they're using recycled characters, that season was split among Arrow and Flash episodes.

It's all a matter of opinion, but I felt that LoT's first season was a near miss at decency, and that it's best season (so far) was number two.

So far, I'm okay with this season.

Judging just from the last episode, we have a decent "secret revealed" moment that we KNOW would have been written worse in any other CW

Spoiler

Show

In any other show, the main hero would remove his costume before staying with his daughter, keeping it a secret that he is really black lightning.

Still, a lot depends on the next episode, and there are already many potential pitfalls with other secrets around.


Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I really want to to succeed where the others failed.

Super hero shows abound with huge potential pitfalls, and navigating around them only gets harder with time. For this reason, I am grateful to get even one good season out of a super hero show. Still, it is a balancing act that can be done, and maybe the fifth time is the charm for CW. So, if you wish to hope, who I am I to tell you otherwise.