Posted in: DC Universe, TV | Tagged: black lightning, cress williams, cw, entertainment, HRL, Jefferson Pierce, television

Black Lightning Season 1: Does Tobias Whale Think Black Lightning Is Dead?

After the premiere of Black Lightning this week on the CW, fans were left with some interesting questions. Why didn't his daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Ann McClain) recognize Jefferson (Cress Williams) when he rescued them? Does Tobias Whale (Marvin 'Krondon' Jones III) think that Black Lightning is dead? And what was the deal with Ms. Fowdy (Skye P. Marshall) and Jefferson? The folks at TVLine got some answers… and a few spoilers.

Yes, Tobias thinks that Black Lightning is dead. And Jefferson thinks Tobias is gone, according to Cress Williams:

"We will eventually get to [the why of] that, but yes, Tobias does legitimately think that Black Lightning is dead. Jefferson, meanwhile, doesn't think that Tobias is dead. He thinks he's just 'gone,' and it's not until really farther down the line that [he learns differently]."

Episode two will address the daughters not recognizing their dad as Black Lightning, as Jennifer will explain to a friend what it's like when you look at the hero. I'm guessing he has an electrical field that distorts his looks.

Executive producer and series creator Salim Akil addressed the changing on the city name to Freeland. Though it puts it more in line with the current Arrowverse series, the EP says:

"I was going to call it Richmond, because that's where I'm from — Richmond, California. But I didn't want to make people feel bad about being in the communities that they were in. This is a story about me, and it's a story about the people that I know. And I want to show them respect."

As for the very friendly Senator / Ms. Fowdy, it turns out that at one point she was going to be more than just a friend to Jefferson, as Lynn (Christine Adams) points out. Akil said at the TCAs:

"I wanted Jefferson to have a lady in his life early on in the show, and there was a moment where he would kiss this woman. And I fought for that. And literally, when we filmed it and when I saw him kiss the woman, I was, like, 'It can't happen. It just can't,' because everything that Cress had brought to that role up until then said something completely different about who this man was."

The other things to note is that with a character like Gambi (James Remar) in the series, he will be continuing to tinker with the suit, making upgrades as the season goes. Also, we haven't seen the extent of Black Lightning's powers yet, with something big coming in episode five.

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