Black Lightning on the CW

[MoneySpider]

Looks like a spin-off is in the works for Anissa, Jen, Grace, TC, Khalil, Lala and Detective Shakur.
The CW hasn’t announced its fall lineup yet, so we’ll see.

I'm not sure how they would include Jen since China Anne McClain sees to have quit acting (at least temporarily, maybe). Unless they recast the role.

[wleakr]

It feels like they've had so much success bringing these shows to air, that they never considered the fact that the network would reject them. The last time they did reject a show (Supergirl), the CW regretted passing on it, and when it became available after CBS decided not to renew, they snatched it up. Then Berlanti pitched Batwoman, and the CW picked it up.

I'm not sure of the behind the scenes activity, but CBS is a parent company of CW. I think the Supergirl transition may had more to do with the potential they originally saw in the show, and when ratings weren't there, moved it to the brand that made sense.

[wleakr]

Looks like a spin-off is in the works for Anissa, Jen, Grace, TC, Khalil, Lala and Detective Shakur.
The CW hasn’t announced its fall lineup yet, so we’ll see.

That makes no sense. There is no reason to move the majority of the cast to its own show.

Guess this is just wishful thinking on your part.

[The Darknight Detective]

Well they are doing that comic book wise at IDW.

I know, sky. I was just reminding everyone of my age.

[Immortal Weapon]

Looks like a spin-off is in the works for Anissa, Jen, Grace, TC, Khalil, Lala and Detective Shakur.
The CW hasn’t announced its fall lineup yet, so we’ll see.

There would be no reason to cancel the show if they wanted these characters to take center stage. They could have reformat the show for that. This felt more like they made these characters available for use if any of the other shows wanted to make use of them. Be on the lookout for Barry paying a visit to Freeland

[luprki]

There would be no reason to cancel the show if they wanted these characters to take center stage. They could have reformat the show for that. This felt more like they made these characters available for use if any of the other shows wanted to make use of them. Be on the lookout for Barry paying a visit to Freeland

It’s not unusual, the show is going into a different direction with a younger cast. There has been other shows that made this kind of a transition. Two examples are:
1. The Andy Griffith Show transitioned to Mayberry RFD
2. The Closer transitioned to Major Crimes
Both spin-offs kept most of the same cast and the only change was the lead characters.
Both original shows was canceled.

[Immortal Weapon]

It’s not unusual, the show is going into a different direction with a younger cast. There has been other shows that made this kind of a transition. Two examples are:
1. The Andy Griffith Show transitioned to Mayberry RFD
2. The Closer transitioned to Major Crimes
Both spin-offs kept most of the same cast and the only change was the lead characters.
Both original shows was canceled.

IIRC, the closer got cancelled because the lead left show. The Network wanted to continue it and that's how we got Major Crimes. They could have done this with Black Lightning by greenlighting Painkiller but they didn't. They had their chance and passed on it.

[wleakr]

It’s not unusual, the show is going into a different direction with a younger cast. There has been other shows that made this kind of a transition. Two examples are:
1. The Andy Griffith Show transitioned to Mayberry RFD
2. The Closer transitioned to Major Crimes
Both spin-offs kept most of the same cast and the only change was the lead characters.
Both original shows was canceled.

If you have to go back to the 60’s and 70’s to find an example (when it was practically the norm to do spin-offs), then it’s pretty safe to say this isn’t happen for these Black Lightning characters.

Closer is a decent example, but the difference is BL doesn’t have fanbase/ratings to justify a transition.

The Jennifer actress is already out. And honestly, as much as I like the Anissa actress, her powerset on its own is underwhelming. And the shapeshifter isn’t much better.

Would love to be wrong though.

[Anarchist]

Yeah, that felt more like a Season finale than a Series finale. Especially with that final scene. But anyways, guess that's that. Pity, really. And with so many unresolved plot threads as well. Hope the Pierces will make some sporadic appearances in others series's.

If you have to go back to the 60’s and 70’s to find an example (when it was practically the norm to do spin-offs), then it’s pretty safe to say this isn’t happen for these Black Lightning characters.

Closer is a decent example, but the difference is BL doesn’t have fanbase/ratings to justify a transition.

The Jennifer actress is already out. And honestly, as much as I like the Anissa actress, her powerset on its own is underwhelming. And the shapeshifter isn’t much better.

Would love to be wrong though.

Yeah, honestly, if they would've went through with this, the whole JJ thing wouldn't have been resolved the way it was.

[Shadowras]

So JJ was some kinda energy alien.
Teasing an Outsiders team at the end, knowing that its not going to happen is just mean.
Grace is now called Wylde, wasn't he some kinda bear in the comics.
Lala is back baby!

[GamerSlyRatchet]

I feel mixed about this finale. It certainly had some highs, but you could tell they had to rush so much and that they had plans for at least two more seasons. I did like the flashbacks to the younger Jefferson. I don't think we explored his earlier Black Lightning outings too much, and that's something that always interested me. He ultimately had to break his code and kill Tobias (even if it's murky if it was self-defense or not) and that's why he retires as one of Freeland's protectors. This time, though, he knows others can pick up the fight and he doesn't have the guilt he had before.

The other storylines did feel rushed. Lopez's power-up ended up meaning nothing, and I think I would've preferred her if it was the detective that defeated her instead of Lightning. It would've been more fitting. The whole plot with Jennifer vs. JJ felt odd, especially in the final episode. I did see some hints (Jefferson detecting it wasn't really Jen, her skewed morality/empathy at times), but I don't really get why couldn't both Jens co-exist instead of making one of them suddenly evil. Khalil's last sacrifice feels pointless since the previous episode had him swearing to leave Jen (and the Pierces) alone.

Even what should've been a delightful scene, where the family celebrates Anissa and Grace's wedding, felt pretty off. Again, this might be due to COVID complications or even BTS drama, but there's no reactions to Jen's reveal, Jefferson and Lynn reconcile off-screen, certain actors barely share any screentime together, etc. It's nice that the family got their happy ending, but it does feel disjointed. Especially when apparently there's still bad news for Jen we don't know about or the (admittedly amusing) last scene of Lala getting the last laugh on Tobias's corpse.

Still, with the issues aside, I did like the finale, and even at its worst, this show managed to engage me more than most of the CW's current outings (besides Stargirl and Legends). Too bad The CW utterly disrespected the show and barely pretended it existed by the end. Still, I'm grateful with what we got. There's a tiny chance the Painkiller spin-off might get picked up, but I doubt it. Cress Williams is open to guest appearances in The Flash and he's been approached about it too.

[Anarchist]

There's a tiny chance the Painkiller spin-off might get picked up, but I doubt it.

CW already passed it on, I doubt HBO MAX will take it up.

[Frontier]

"Jefferson is my son!" That hit in the feels.

I was happy to see OG!Jen back, but what was the whole point of the JJ storyline? Like, if she was really an evil cosmic entity stealing Jennifer's DNA (which is so random), shouldn't they have set that up more? Like, what was the point of getting the audience invested in a fake Jennifer and acting like she was the real thing? The whole stuff with Red and Uriah? Having the family come to grips with it? Were the writers hedging their bets in case they couldn't get China back? And it's all still ultimately Jennifer's fault because of her obsession with the ionosphere.

Lynn really didn't do that much in the finale, did she?

I guess you can't be an Arrowverse lead without dropping at least one body, like Jefferson apparently did as a teenager to a 100 member that Gambi buried. You'd think this would have come up before, especially with how strict he acts about not killing. But then again we see Gambi continually shooting people with impunity, Anissa setting a dude on fire, and Grace snapping a guy's neck. I guess nobody really took that code to heart that much.

Anissa didn't get to do that much in her new suit other than look purple because...Sam Jackson?

It was nice to see Jefferson flash to both of his dads, and Alvin Pierce inspiring him to get back up again.

Black Lightning is back....again! For the last time!

What happened to Tobias' right-hand woman whose power nullifying abilities proved so useful to him? Seems like she would have been useful to have around in this episode.

Did anyone care about the Chief Lopez plot? Like, was anyone invested in her going crazy with Meta-Powers and almost taking out the whole city only to be stopped by the version of Lightning she had no screen-time with in a very anti-climactic fight? Was there a point to this at all?

Also, what was with Detective Hassan dragging a desk officer to a fight with a dangerous Meta she is probably woefully unqualified to be around? It's not like she even did anything.

"Tori Tower." Jeez, Tobias had it bad for his sister.

I'm not sure how I feel about what happened to Tobias. Like, okay, on one hand the whale gets harpooned, but Jeff technically kills him unintentionally and is forced into doing it, which isn't what he actually wanted. I guess Jefferson was still the better man in the end.

Khalil went through all that and he has to wipe his memories of the Pierces. Like, he doesn't get to share any scenes with Jen the whole season and he's forced to forget about her. Wouldn't losing those memories reset a lot of his character development? Kind of felt like Painkiller won in the end. I guess this is so he has less baggage and can move on to other love interests in his spinoff that's not happening.

So, yeah, it's pretty clear they were going out of their way to film around Cress Williams and China actually sharing a scene together. I wonder what happened there.

Jefferson retiring...like, on the one hand I can kind of see him wanting to ease back after all this, but it still feels like there's so much he can do. Plus, wasn't the point that Lightning and Thunder weren't being as effective without him at the start of the season? Although I think Cress Williams said in an interview that he can still suit up for crossovers.

Gambi's earned a retirement, but I don't know if TC can effectively do all the gadgets, costumes, and tech that Gambi was constantly coming up with.

So Grace is "Wylde" now? Continuing the trend of this show to just throw in codenames without any build up.

Oh great, they freed Lala. What a weird way to end the series, not with the Pierce family but with Lala looking at a dead Tobias still hanging there and, presumably, planning to take over for Tobias and run Freeland as the new Big Bad, which just seems kind of silly when the show is ending. Like, you end with this character whose fate was pretty much done and then end it so ominously? Like, I guess they felt him being trapped in concrete was leaving his character unresolved and wanted to show him come up on top, but it just didn't feel right.

[Immortal Weapon]

Khalil losing his memories of the Pierces can easily be undone. Painkiller is an OS that runs the chip in his head. TC couldn't offloaded his memories elsewhere and put them back once Painkiller was gone?

[MoneySpider]

I'm wondering if Cress Williams being asked to come back as Black Lightning on other shows indicates that CW execs don't think he is to blame for whatever went down between him and China Anne McClain...