Black Lightning: How to do a redemption arc (almost) right

[beatrice_otter]

In general, I am not a fan of redemption arcs.

They are often superficial in the extreme, driven by convenience or plot devices or "hot (white) dude can do no wrong."  I am so sick of "but it wasn't really bad because nobody the audience cares about got killed!"  I am so sick of the false equivalence of "but Character X did [very minor bad thing], so they're the real villain, and if you try to hold [huge evil thing] against Character Y you're just a hypocrite!"

Redemption in real life doesn't mean the bad thing never happened.  It doesn't (or shouldn't) mean that hot white dudes get a pass for doing evil.  It doesn't mean that you just chuck all moral judgments out the window.  It's not a plot device, or convenience.  It's about someone recognizing they have done wrong, accepting the just consequences of their actions, and making amends for them.  It's not something that you can do over the course of a single event.  Which means that if you're doing it as part of a TV show, you have to have it as a long arc not just popping up where convenient, but driving the action for that character.  Or you have to have them die.

So, much as I love Black Lightning, when Khalil Payne went bad, I did not want them to do a redemption arc for him, because it is so seldom done well.  Despite how incredibly awesome the show is, I did not trust them to do a redemption arc.  (I was wrong, and I should have known better.  If you're not watching Black Lightning, you should be.)  And then they did a redemption arc for Khalil, and it hit every point I ever wanted in a redemption arc.  Man, was I rooting for him.

And then they killed him.

I am still mad about that.  It works, it was well done, don't get me wrong.  But if every pouty whiny mediocre white villain can have their crimes swept under the rug and then live happy ever after, why can't Khalil make genuine amends for the harm he did, work to undo it, and then get on with his life?  Why did he have to die?

Comments

[alexseanchai]

Betcha money (and all I know about this character is what you state in this post) it's because Khalil's brown

[copracat]

They don't die because their redemption arcs aren't serious. And if they do die, then they're continually resurrected (looking at you, Mr Gold and you Peter Hale) because the show doesn't want to burn the hot white male character whether he's a young dude or a slightly older older scenery-chewing dude.

Thanks for the Black Lightning rec.

[schneefink]

That is a shame, I love the rare well-done redemption arc.

[redrikki]

I love Black Lightning, but as much as I've cried over the last few episodes, I was okay with Khalil's death at the end of his redemption arc. From a plot perspective, his death works. A truly satisfying redemption arc involves a lot of work, more work than is usually expended on a supporting character. His arc has always been tied to Jennifer's and his death will end up being the fuel for Jennifer's rise to heroism.

That said, I 100% agree with you about the types of "redemption" races white boys get. They are supremely unsatisfying because they involve no work and no soul searching. Give me Zuko, give me Khalil. His story didn't end happy because actions have consequences, but damn his transformation from good kid to bad guy to self-aware and trying was powerful to watch.