Black Lightning: The Resurrection

January 16, 2018 7:14 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

A retired superhero is drawn back into his old lifestyle.

Metafilter FPP - “Black Lightning” is immersively, not incidentally, black...

Den of Geek review - Black Lightning is an affecting family and community drama with a more mature understanding of injustice than its CW counterparts.

AV Club - Black Lightning's series premiere gives us the mature, nuanced superhero show we need

Vulture - Black Lightning Is the Perfect Superhero Show for the Moment

posted by oh yeah! (14 comments total)

I loved Cress Williams as Mayor Lavon Hayes in Hart of Dixie and have been waiting for this premiere with my fingers crossed that it would be a good vehicle for his talents and not something on the suckier point of the Berlantiverse spectrum, very happy with how it turned out.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:48 PM on January 16, 2018 [3 favorites]

I liked it. A lot. The family dynamic and the relationship with the ex (as well as the reason WHY she is an ex) was pretty good. They are spending a fair bit of time on character development without making it boring. Additionally, I like the fact the main character is a badass, powered or not. Also really liked a fair bit of the music too.
posted by Samizdata at 1:14 AM on January 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

I got so excited by the opening sequence, as it became clear that blackness was the norm -- the news anchor, the couple being interviewed, the police inspector, the desk sergeant. It reminded me of this video reaction to the Black Panther lobby poster I saw on a tumblr.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:29 AM on January 17, 2018 [16 favorites]

I knew I was going to like this show when the first song I heard was Nina Simone. And I really love the dynamic of a superhero that has amazing powers -- but is not invincible. The fact that he can, and does suffer injuries adds a whole other layer of complexity. And, I agree emphatically, the fact "that blackness is the norm" is all kinds of awesome. Also, I love Principal Pierce's house. It's so beautiful and classy.
posted by pjsky at 6:59 AM on January 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

The focus on the family dynamic that so often feels like a soapy distraction in the regular Berlantiverse stuff feels like contextualization here, which is cool.

I also enjoyed the Dark Knight Returns-esque dragging the hero out of retirement vibe.

I don't know Salim Akil at all, but given how much this stands apart from the other CW DC shows, I'm inclined to give them a bunch of the credit, so maybe I should remedy that.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:07 AM on January 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

I really liked this. The writing and acting were much better than most of these superhero shows.

But I gotta say, I liked Pierce's old costume that we got to see in the security cam footage of him foiling a convenience store robbery about 100x better than the new one with those plastic-looking lightning bolts and the Kyle Rayner 90s Green Lantern mask.
posted by straight at 10:06 AM on January 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

And nice double meaning in that line at the beginning: "This was the night, in the rain, with Thunder and Lightning as a witness, that Black Lightning was born again."
posted by straight at 10:11 AM on January 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

I really liked it! And it had some good moments of humor in the relationship between Anissa and Jennifer which really helped balance the family drama aspect of it all. In particular I liked the repeated "Harriet" joke, and the perfect timing when Anissa confronted Jennifer and her friend in the bathroom and asked where they were going, half-dressed, and the friend zipped up the top which had been exposing her bra...
posted by TwoStride at 11:34 AM on January 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

I liked Pierce's old costume

AKA, some guy in a weird Parliament-Funkadelic getup.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 12:58 PM on January 17, 2018 [6 favorites]

Things I'm not used to:
--picturing Jefferson with facial hair and very little (or none) on top
--watching James Remar play Alfred instead of his usual cranky, tough-guy, bad ass roles.

I'm sure, however, I can get on board with both, eventually.

That suit, however, I don't think I'm ever going to be okay with that. It's just plain bad. Plus, I was so disappointed not to see the classic wide white collar, deep-V version in the flashback, even though I know it was fundamentally a poor design when it came to protection.

I'll admit that when I first started seeing photos and art for this series a while back, I didn't have very high expectations for the show. The pictures (again that suit), and some of the character descriptions and summaries just felt so corny and cliched.

I'm very happy to admit that my initial instincts were wrong. It's nice to be pleasantly surprised for once rather than disappointed. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.
posted by sardonyx at 7:47 PM on January 17, 2018

I liiiiiiiike this. Dad Superhero with potential crime fighting daughters FTW! I liked that video of the old guy saying he got to live to see his family, Obama, etc. thanks to BL. (Didn't he say he watches that video every year on his birthday? Awww!)
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:05 PM on January 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

> sardonyx:
"Things I'm not used to:
--picturing Jefferson with facial hair and very little (or none) on top
--watching James Remar play Alfred instead of his usual cranky, tough-guy, bad ass roles.

I'm sure, however, I can get on board with both, eventually.

That suit, however, I don't think I'm ever going to be okay with that. It's just plain bad. Plus, I was so disappointed not to see the classic wide white collar, deep-V version in the flashback, even though I know it was fundamentally a poor design when it came to protection.

I'll admit that when I first started seeing photos and art for this series a while back, I didn't have very high expectations for the show. The pictures (again that suit), and some of the character descriptions and summaries just felt so corny and cliched.

I'm very happy to admit that my initial instincts were wrong. It's nice to be pleasantly surprised for once rather than disappointed. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season."

James Remar makes a most excellent sidekick/support character, IMO. He was one of the redeeming graces in Dexter (as Dexter's dad, who knew what Dexter was and got him to channel his ...interests... in a more productive fashion). Also, IMO.

(And, for indie films fans, he does a pretty decent supervillian too.)
posted by Samizdata at 12:39 PM on January 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

> pjsky:
"I knew I was going to like this show when the first song I heard was Nina Simone. And I really love the dynamic of a superhero that has amazing powers -- but is not invincible. The fact that he can, and does suffer injuries adds a whole other layer of complexity. And, I agree emphatically, the fact "that blackness is the norm" is all kinds of awesome. Also, I love Principal Pierce's house. It's so beautiful and classy."

Also, there's not much in the world that isn't improved with a little Nina...

(Once again, also IMO)
posted by Samizdata at 12:41 PM on January 18, 2018

AKA, some guy in a weird Parliament-Funkadelic getup.

I almost turned it off when he looked offended by that. High praise, man!

--watching James Remar play Alfred instead of his usual cranky, tough-guy, bad ass roles.

Even if all he has to do here is say "Black Lightning, come out and plaaayyyyaaaaayyyyy"
posted by phearlez at 5:25 PM on January 26, 2018 [1 favorite]