In tonight’s installment of Black Lightning, fans got a better idea of the backstory of Tobias Whale — and things ended on a pretty surprising note.
Spoilers for tonight’s episode of Black Lightning, “And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light”, below!
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Throughout tonight’s episode, Tobias (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III) was seen dealing with the arrival of his sister Tori (Edwina Findley), who lent her help with Tobias’ standing in the criminal underworld. As Tori quickly realized, Tobias was still traumatized by the abuse they both endured under their father, something that she decided he needed to get over.
The pair arrived at their father’s house, as he proceeded to chastise his children for various things. Tobias went in to hug his father, but then used that grasp to break the older man’s back. Tobias and Tori’s father laid on the floor, with Tobias reassuring that his father would die a long and painful death because of the injury.
While this isn’t the first kill that Tobias has made thus far this season, it certainly has an interesting amount of narrative significance — one that further gives a better idea on how nuanced the character is.
“I wanted it to feel real, relatable, I wanted it to feel accessible,” Krondon told ComicBook.com during a recent interview on-set. “That you, as the viewer and a fan, you had access to Tobias Whale, the character. Even though he has to be formidable, I still want to be attainable for you. I still want it to feel like, okay, wait a minute, this guy might be next door. This guy might knock on my door, f–k around, you know what I mean?”
The episode’s portrayal of the abuse inflicted on Tobias and Tori also sheds light on real-life situations of that kind, something that Krondon was excited to represent.
“There’s a great conversation about albinism and there’s a great conversation about single fathers.” Krondon continued. “…All these things and I don’t mean to say all these things in a hushed tone, but in our society these are things that you say like that. But now we’re able to put them on primetime television. I’m so excited.”
Black Lightning airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
