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SupaSinners

• Niq & Jess • Episode 11

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Rodney's struggles with abandonment, race, and resilience form the heart of our deep dive into Supercell's complex characters. The discussion uncovers the bonds of friendship and the quest for acceptance amid societal challenges, leading to reflective questions about survival and identity. 
• Exploration of Rodney's backstory and family dynamics 
• Examination of the importance of male friendships, particularly between Rodney and Spud 
• Analysis of Rodney's survival mode and decision-making under pressure 
• Discussion on the systemic issues exemplified by Andre's experiences as an ex-con 
• Insights into Taser's character and the nature of gang violence 
• Reflections on the overarching themes of resilience, redemption, and responsibility in a harsh reality

Contact Niq & Jess

Jess:

welcome to our next episode with your host, nick and jess, as we continue to dive into supercell so let's uh talk about someone who doesn't have their life together.

Niq:

Let's talk about rodney. Okay, and I I you know, when it comes to rodney, I know that we kind of see him different and I've really been thinking on our initial conversation and I think maybe I'm softening to him some. I think maybe I was too harsh with my initial take on rodney. Um, so rodney is in his probably early 20s, very early 20s. He's pretty young, um, and he is actually mixed race. He has a white mom and what we learn is that he's out on his own and he's struggling. The only person he has who he can count on is like his best friend, whose name I don't know.

Niq:

He's one of the only white characters and I don't know his name. What's his name? Is that?

Jess:

really his name? Well, that's his nickname. He always calls him Spud oh okay, I Well, that's his nickname.

Niq:

He always calls him Spud. Oh, okay, I thought you were trying to be funny.

Jess:

No, no, no, no, he always calls him Spud, but yeah, like okay. So Rodney gets put out of the house. We find out he gets put out of the house by his mom when he's 16. It's a little bit unclear as to why Rodney feels like his mom remarried a guy who was racist and did not want him and so he made him leave the house. But it also sounds like Rodney was also getting into some trouble as well, but we don't know the severity of the trouble. But what we do know is that the mom was married to a racist guy, because I believe him on that front. That woman is lying. She didn't deny it. Yeah, she was like no, he's not. Don't say that. She did the thing that they do when they want to pretend like they don't know that their family member is racist.

Niq:

She dismissed it Okay because I'm just like I don't remember her saying he loves.

Jess:

Black people. And Rodney says well, why did he take my sister, rachel, but not me? And apparently Rachel is either all the way white or white passing. You see the pictures in the house. They got pictures of her with the other kids and the husband and not Rodney.

Niq:

There's no evidence that she ever had that first black child. Okay, sometimes you got to throw that first one away, but not because he's black. I feel like that happens often. They'll have a black child and then they rebrand themselves, yeah, and that child's got to go, unless they completely conform. Rodney, he's struggling, he's trying to sell marijuana in order to live. He just has no support other than his friend Spud, and they have a really, really close relationship and I love male relationships on film, right.

Jess:

When they're genuine.

Niq:

When each other looks like yeah, I feel like we don't get enough examples of great friendships amongst men where they emotionally support each other, you know, like a healthy, healthy relationship when we initially, we initially thought that both of them lived in that one bedroom apartment together.

Jess:

But when I rewatched it he says to the mom spud stays with me most nights, so I think that's what just stays there to support him, but he has a place to stay yeah, I I want to re-watch.

Niq:

Um, I did notice that because the first time I watched it I was like, oh, they make such a cute couple because of how like caring they were for each other. And then I had to like kind of check myself once I realized I was wrong and they were not in a relationship. I'm like, no, that's a healthy male friendship girl like you need to like fix yourself. So that I thought that was funny because I'm like, oh, I messed that up. Men can help healthy relationships. They just need to show them.

Jess:

They need to show them more they show each other affection in such a cute way, like I love that he's there to support him. And this is the other thing that makes me really pissed off about that. Very clearly, I can't stand the model I think it's. You know, you didn't got rid of your child because this racist dude. And I don't care, I don't think he was cutting up that bad. At least we haven't gotten enough information to see that he was cutting up enough to warrant putting him out at 16 and him having to go live in a hostel. We haven't got that information yet. So I'm going off of. She put him out because of the racist husband, you know. And so she was like what did she say? Oh, so something happens to Spud. Spud, their drug deal, one of the drug deals goes bad. Spud gets beat up and he's in the hospital. He's already pointed out that Spud stays with him most nights and I think just to support him he's not always alone.

Jess:

He tries to stay with the mom for a few days he asks for. He offers to pay rent or what have you, and she will not let him stay. I know it's because her husband won't allow him to stay, but I'm like your child is asking for support. He has his own place. He's not trying to move back in with you or trying to stay with you for the sake, because he needs a place to stay. He literally just needs to be someone to be there for him. While his best friend, the only person he's had since he was 16 years old, is in the hospital, he just I'm like it's so obvious he doesn't want to be alone and that bitch is like she could have went to his house you know, she could have said hey, you know what I need to go out of town for a couple days and she could have just went to his house and been there for him as a support system.

Jess:

She really doesn't care and told him I'm going to stay with my baby for a few days yeah, his mom is trash, and so his superpower is speed.

Niq:

He has super speed, yes, and so how do you think that manifests with his life?

Jess:

Oh, I don't know about this one, I don't know about the correlation. Like it definitely helps his drug business because that's what's the hook he can get the drugs there in five minutes or less and so it kind of helps him out. But I don't know, maybe he needs to speed up his life, speed up his development. When we talked about this before, I definitely feel like putting him out at 16 was a disservice to him. That slowed down his development because he then had to worry about survival stuff instead of just being a teenager who was able to get over whatever stupid stuff he was doing at 16 and recover and go into normal adulthood. It kind of suspended him. So he needs to kind of speed up his life.

Niq:

I agree he's always talking about he needs more, he needs to do more, he needs to elevate his life, and I think that speed is how his power manifested as a way to show that he needs to develop. He needs to move faster, he needs to get like show that he needs to develop. He needs to move faster. He needs to get more done.

Niq:

He needs to elevate that lost time where you should have been able to be a child and you had to be an adult and because he's in survival mode, he immediately accepts his power, immediately it puts it to use, he puts and I think he is the probably the first person where we learn that the power has limits, because it's like when they using the power, like it, after a while it, uh, it burns out their energy and they go to sleep and they, they are knocked out. You cannot wake them until they kind of recharge themselves. And so you, you, your, their powers are not limitless, in a sense that, um, you can overuse your power and it will, you know, fritz out on you at some point. You do have to take a long rest, which is like a dnd thing. You have to take a long rest to replenish your energy. And so I think that rodney was the first person that I noticed, um, with the limits of their power.

Niq:

But I, um, I feel like, like Ronnie, like Rodney I don't know why I call him Ronnie like I'm giving this man a nickname. I don't even know this man for real. Um, rodney, as the show starts off, comes across as very selfish and very self-serving, and I feel like, as the show goes on, you really come to understand that he's in a very desperate situation. He's truly in survival mode, and it's not that he does not care about anybody else, but he also feels like no one else cares about him, and if he doesn't look out for himself, no, no one will, especially once Spud goes to the hospital, right?

Jess:

well, he does deeply care about Spud. That relationship is. I'm not talking about Spud, I'm talking about the other people, the other people. But like I'm, like he does, he does display care even before that to me because, like you see how care that, that the relationship with him and Spud seems really mutual to me um absolutely but yeah, you realize he's in a desperate situation, he's in survival mode and when you're in that mode you can't think about it.

Jess:

The other thing is that he's still an adolescent really, because men are adolescents today, like 24. And we think he's in his early 20s. So he already had that delay, that kind of setback with being put out at 16. Then he's still technically an adolescent and in that phase of your life it is all about you. You don't have the life skills or the understanding to really fully be empathetic to other people. You have some empathy but you're still developing and I think he's still very adolescent-seeming, but he seems younger than all the other characters.

Niq:

He does, except for who Taser.

Jess:

Taser.

Niq:

I think is actually younger than him.

Niq:

Yeah, taser is. I'm saving him for last, oh yeah. So the next person I want to talk about is Andre, and the funny thing about Andre is that when he told his backstory, I literally forgot it until I watched it the second time, and so a lot of my like, thoughts and opinions about him were, I think, way harsher. I'm going to still be a little harsh with him, but they were way harsher because I completely forgot his backstory. So Andre is how old? Do you feel like Andre is the oldest? Yeah, 36. Oh, he's 36?

Jess:

I have no idea. That's my guess.

Niq:

Oh, okay. Yeah, they do not tell you people's ages.

Jess:

That's basically my best feelings and no actual information.

Niq:

Well, you know what that makes sense, though, because his son is like 15.

Jess:

Yeah, his son is older.

Niq:

He had his son before he went to prison and he went to prison fairly young. Yeah, that makes sense, around 36. I think he's the oldest person of the group.

Jess:

I think so too. So you found out Rodney refers to him as a geezer, as a what A geezer. Yeah, like before he really knows him. Like you know, they kind of see each other at the drug compound and like you see the display of strength, but like, like he doesn't really know him yet. So he was like there was some strongies there so okay.

Niq:

So Andre, you find out, is an ex-con, and because he's an ex-con, he has trouble holding on to jobs because a lot of times he doesn. And because he's an ex-con, he has trouble holding on to jobs because a lot of times he doesn't dispose. He's an ex-con. He'll get a job and then they find out he's an ex-con and they let him go. What frustrates me about that situation is he does well at these jobs, yeah, and they still let him.

Jess:

he does, he does, he does. He seems like a good worker. He really does.

Niq:

I'll give him that he does, he does, he wants to be corporate so bad he does and no one will give him a chance, and that I don't understand, that's the problem with the American system?

Niq:

People always talk about recidivism. Yeah, it is. People talk about recidivism. So bad, but then when people get out, you don't want to give them a job, you don't want to give them a chance. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. And so that's really, really frustrating. And so he has a teenage son. He has no income because he cannot get his child, because he's giving her like $150 every three months and then telling her oh, I had to go to a payday loan to get this money, as if she would care, because that has nothing to do with me, you know how you get your money Right.

Niq:

My child has needs and you know she was taking care of that child alone while he was in prison Forever.

Jess:

So this is my frustration with him and I'm going to preface this by. It may be a difference in understanding of the two different systems. We are American and they are the shows based in the UK. I see similarities in that it is also hard for ex-cons to get a job when they come out in the US too, because you have to disclose that and some jobs will just not hire you on the basis of that. That seems to be like a similarity. However, there are jobs ex-cons can have. There are places like that. You could be an ex-con, you could fully disclose and you can work, and so through my American lens, I'm like you need to figure out whatever job, that is.

Jess:

If that is cleaning up or gentle, like until you can get to a place where you can move up. And I think that's my frustration, because I'm like that boy got to eat regardless. You not being able to have the money don't mean he don't have to eat and doesn't need draws Like what in the world is wrong with you?

Jess:

So you got to figure out what kind of job you can have as an ex-con and do that until you can do something different Now and again. A difference with the systems is that you would go to your probation officer here and ask for help to get you a job or point you in the right direction of a job. I don't know if you have those same options in the UK, but it would make sense.

Niq:

Yeah, I agree. I think that there is a vanity there in that because he, like he said something to his son along the lines of you know, when I got out, you know you were thinking of your mom's boyfriend as your dad and you know that bothered me and the little boy was like you made that up, I never, I never thought and he, he wants. This is what andre. He's frustrating, he's a very frustrating character to me Because he has like really good qualities in the sense that he is a good worker.

Niq:

You can tell he's intelligent, you can tell that he's talented, you can tell that he wants to be a good father to his son, but also a lot of the things that he goes about is very superficial. Like I agree with you, I feel like he's only looking at certain jobs and sometimes you have to start from the bottom. You know what I mean. It's a less glamorous job. You may have to have two jobs flipping burgers until maybe you need to start your own business.

Jess:

But in order to do, that those next times also have to do as well, because I'm like at the end of the what I think always frustrates me about these situations with men and them can't get a job, can't do this, can't do that. The woman does not have that option because she has to feed that child regardless. So it doesn't matter if she was and I know she's not but like if she was an ex-con, if she had all these things against her.

Niq:

That I feel like Rodney's like like lack of power and he feels like weak and less than in society. The way he looks, like he's looked down, I feel like on society, his power manifests as super strength, super strength.

Jess:

Yeah, yeah, I completely agree.

Niq:

Yeah, and so the way that he found out he has power is that he actually in frustration because he got let go from his job and they did not pay him for the time that he worked. He was at an ATM machine. In his frustration, he hit the ATM machine and money he breaks it and money ends up flying out, and so this it brings another. What I feel like is another character flaw of Andre, and the character flaw is not that he took the money, because I would have definitely done that, I definitely would have taken the money. The character flaw that I feel like he has is the way that he spent the money.

Niq:

This man has said over and over again I don't have a job, I'm broke. What does he do? He takes his child out on a shopping spree. He told the mother of his child that he had to get a payday loan in order to give her that $150 child support. But I don't even think he paid that payday loan back because he had people come to his house and rough him up for that money and that was scary, because I'm like is that how it is in the UK payday loans here?

Niq:

like that's like you can't formalize like that here thank god I have never had to be in the payday loan trap because it is very much a trap. But when they came to his house and they're like we can use force, I was like oh, girl when we don't.

Jess:

And I don't know if they got this still or not, but at one point you know that's part of the reason why you got separated. We were like we ain't doing debtor's prison over here. We're not Right, we won't do debtor's prison.

Niq:

So I'm like, I'm frustrated because once again, you want to be a good father but you're going about it in such a superficial way. You get, like this money and instead of like doing things, like, instead of being responsible with the money you know, paying up your rent, making sure that your child has essentials he decides to take him on a shopping spree because he wants to appear as a flashy father and his son doesn't need or really want that. Until his dad, I feel like, sets an expectation of this is what fatherhood means to me and this is how I'm going to be a father to you. And then, once he sets that expectation, when he can't deliver on that because he burns through that money so fast, it hurts his relationship with his son.

Jess:

I disagree with that. Actually, son, I disagree with that. Actually I disagree with that. I think the son enjoys the gifts and I think he likes the you know, like he. That's not necessarily what he wanted or what he asked for, but I think he does enjoy it. But what pissed him off and what sent him into the arms of the drug dealers was not that he couldn't afford the flash anymore. It's because he missed going to the movies with him, because the son still wants time.

Niq:

Yes, he does. But think about when he goes with the drug dealers. The first thing he starts talking about is making money with them. Money is because he sees his dad not having money. You know what I mean? Because he's burning through it.

Jess:

Yeah, I think he just wants to spend time with somebody older, an older figure, and that's what they had him do, like. I don't think so because like, okay, so it's, the first thing that happened is that he goes to the dad's door and the dad doesn't answer because he's now worn through his powers and knocked out asleep, but the son doesn't know that All of a sudden answer it, and then I think after, the second thing was him missing the movies. I think I got the right order on that, but either way, it was those two instances and both of those things were about not spending time with his dad Now, once he gets over to the drug dealers.

Jess:

The drug dealers do what they're going to do, and that's put you to work.

Niq:

Yeah, his dad. What frustrated me about the son and yes, I understand, he is a child and children do not make rational decisions his dad directly told him to stay away from those men, that they were up to no good. And the first time his dad pisses him off, he runs and throws his arms around them and is like take me, I want to be a drug baby and that frustrated me.

Jess:

I think he just wants the attention from an older man. I think it is because, like, think about, like his little interactions with the drug dealer before.

Jess:

He's not asking them for anything, he's not trying to work for any of them. It's the fact that they recognize him and pay him attention. His face lights up, yeah, his whole face lights up. Yeah, his whole face lights up. And so it's like, okay, well, and that's how the kids like there's a lot of gang activity in this show as well, but that's how they get brought in, like they feel, like they're a sense of, they have a sense of family, a sense of brotherhood. You know, he has a connection with this older man, which is what he's wanted from his father but he couldn't have for so many years because of jail and then after that because his father wasn't paying his child support.

Niq:

And so I wanted to talk about Andre's backstory a little bit, about how he ended up in jail, because the first time I watched the show, I know I heard it but I did not file it away, I think, because at that point I already had strong feelings about him and so I think I did not absorb his backstory. But when I read it, when I watched it again, I'm like, oh, wait, a minute, so you learn. Because, um, andre tells a detailed story how he ended up in jail, that he, you know he goes to jail for drugs. What you find out is he was not a drug dealer at all. He actually was giving a ride to a childhood friend who apparently had put drugs in the car and they got pulled over by the police. And Andre decides that he's not going to snitch and tell the police who the drugs belong to. I don't understand that he ends up going to prison for a long time.

Jess:

Could never be me, could never be me, could never be me, and so his decision-making process and his in it, but being about how other people see you rather than substance. Because you didn't sit, because you're like oh, that's the code in the hood we don't snitch, we don't tell, because of how they would have seen you if you had snitched and you lost how many years with your child because of that.

Jess:

And it's the same thing as the way you're losing jobs, the same way you know when it doesn't work out. This also pisses me off, like when, when the company fires him because they find out that he has a record, then he blames his friend. No accountability. I'm like your friend got you a job. He's not psychic, he, he's like up to this point they haven't checked anybody else's record, so you might as well try it, but I'm like and then when they don't pay him on time.

Jess:

He also takes it out on his friend. I'm like again, not under your friend's control.

Niq:

No, it's not, you know. So we were talking about male friendships earlier and so I talked about what a good friendship Rodney and Spud had. Michael also has a really good friend who is really supportive through the guy who owns the restaurant. How do you feel like Andre's friend? Do you feel like Andre's friend is a good friend to him? Because, yes, he does help him get that job and I really feel like Andre was rude for no reason, but he also convinces Rodney to try to rob the trap house and I'm like, even though Rodney has super and I'm like, even though Rodney has super strength I'm sorry, even though Andre has super strength, like I thought him robbing the trap house was crazy.

Niq:

No, even Andre thought it was crazy and his friend convinced him to do it.

Jess:

Yeah. So what I think is Rodney's friendship with Spud and Michael's friendship with the guy who owns the bar are good examples of male friendships and men supporting other men. And I think Andre and I don't know his friend's name His friend is like a typical male friendship that we actually see. You know there's some good in there. They're trying to support each other. The ideas are kind of half-baked. They don't really know how to do it. It's clumsy.

Niq:

I'm like I see his friend cares about him.

Jess:

Do you feel like his friend is the one he would jail for? Because I do.

Niq:

No, oh no, I don't. I'm quite sure he would never speak to that person again or if he saw them he would probably physically assault him. There is no way that he went to jail for him because, remember, he said that the guy he it was like a childhood friend he had seen in a long time. You know, and so you know I one hearing aboutre's backstory about how he went to prison for a crime he did not commit did give me some sympathy. But it also gave me more questions like why would you do that? You know you have a child, you know when you live in the uk, so you know how hard it is to find a job after you know you get out of prison.

Jess:

Why would you think about any of that. You're thinking about how you are viewed and how you are seen.

Niq:

I would change neighborhoods. I would move. They live in the South. I would move West, north or East before I would spend time in prison and again okay, okay.

Jess:

This is a little bit different, but goes along the same character flaw with him. The issue is like how you handle stuff okay.

Niq:

So like, instead of when you realize the drug dealers are circling your son because of the neighborhood that he lives in instead of going to his mama and say, hey, he's hanging out with these boys.

Jess:

This is what these boys do, because we don't know if the mom even knows, or you know he knows who the dope boys are. But we don't know if the mom has that same understanding, Instead of going to her and saying hey, I'm concerned, Can he come stay with me for a few months, or we might need to. You know it's a hard conversation to have, but I feel like an actual adult would have had that To say they're circling him. They're circling him, they're not going to stop.

Niq:

Also, though, my question is the conversation he had with the manager, where he tells his back story in detail. I wonder if he ever had that conversation with his son. Do you think that he ever had that conversation with his son, because to me that conversation would have been enough to stop him. That is such a good point. It's a beautiful cautionary tale. Enough to stop him? That is such a good point. It's a beautiful cautionary tale.

Jess:

You have the perfect story to keep your son away from these drug dealers.

Niq:

So no again no, it's going back to like substance versus superficial and it's and this is the thing. It's not that he does not love his son. It's not that he does not desire to son he does. It's not that he does not desire to be a good father. He's not a. Andre is not a bad person, but he is frustrating to me.

Jess:

His thought process and his decision-making process drive me crazy, Because I also feel like he could be further along than he is, but it. But you stuck on the wrong things.

Niq:

I agree. I agree, we spent a long time talking about that. We did.

Jess:

I think we got on both of our nerves. We did, but it's still likable, yes, absolutely likable.

Niq:

These characters are so good because there's a lot of nuance there. You know what I mean. I love a well-written character. These are real people, yeah.

Jess:

I do love people who have dimension, and they're not just, like this, one-sided flat characters. Speaking of which, so do we want to move on to the last?

Niq:

character. Yes, and so the last character we're going to talk about is Taser. And the reason why he is the last character and so the last character we're going to talk about is Taser and the reason why he is the last character we're going to talk about is because I'm afraid of him In real life. In real life I'm not going to lie If I saw the actor on the street, I would cross the street because he's also excellent at his job. But his character is terrifying to me, and I spent six episodes asking myself how is he on the good guy team?

Jess:

So Taser is the leader of the gang. What is the name of his gang? The Tower Boys. He yeah, that's pretty much. He's the leader of the gang. That's his focus. He loves his brothers and they're trying to do crimes.

Niq:

They are Now his mom. He's dealing with the fact that his mom has disappeared. What he does not know is that his mom also has a superpower and she's taken by the organization he thinks that she just abandoned him. Yeah, um, and so when his mom abandoned him, he already had a relationship with the kingpin drug dealer. But I think they got even closer when his mom abandoned him and he kind of took him under his wing to, I feel like, to send him to crime school, and so the kingpin, uh, goes to prison and everyone thinks he's going to be in prison for 35 years, but he ends up coming back out and they no longer end up being close, they actually end up being adversaries and because, like, at this point, taser has kind of risen and he and has his own group, yeah, his own gang, and he's no longer under the thumb of the Kingpin, which doesn't sit right with him Because he is also a monster and wants everyone to be under his thumb. And so Taser is very violent and he lives a very violent life. His friends are also very violent and this is the thing.

Niq:

We have gangs here, also in the US, but my personal life is far removed from gang culture. It's just not even in my younger years I was never affiliated in any, every way. Like that's just not. Even in my younger years I was never affiliated in any, every way. Like that is just not all my life close to it.

Niq:

You know, knew it existed somewhere out there, but yeah right, absolutely, but was never, never, never, something that you, that I was no, or see firsthand the violence was jarring to me. It was a lot for me and this is someone who, I, like you, know horror like that.

Jess:

But there's a difference, because this feels a little too real, see, I think I guess maybe it wasn't so jarring for me because they mostly had knives and the gangs in the US have guns, so I was.

Niq:

you know that was kind of hard, Because stabbing someone with a knife is intimate. You can shoot someone from a far away with a gun right.

Jess:

But there was a lot less death. I think there was a lot of injury, a lot less death. Where I'm looking at all these different gang fights, those would have been deaths. Until I saw his friend again, even the one that did get shot. I was shocked that he wasn't dead, because I just assumed he was dead.

Niq:

I did not realize he was dead.

Jess:

I did too. So while again we are removed from gang life and gang culture, we're still very aware of it in the US and it just feels like it would have been so much more deadly in the US.

Niq:

Taser killed five people.

Jess:

No, he killed one person. No, on the report of the news, they said like four had serious injuries and one is in critical condition. I thought they said five died. I thought they said four were injured and one died. I don't know.

Niq:

I thought he just got Shaggy. I don't know. At this point I thought that they were all dead.

Jess:

But he at least stabs he stabs and I'm not saying stabbing definitely is painful, but they're going to live to see another day, at least in my mind, unless I misunderstood that, because I could have, but I thought they said, four injured, one dead.

Niq:

I don't know, but the way that he sliced through those people indiscriminately was scary to me because, like I said, I feel like the knife is intimate. You have to be very close and like you literally hear the knife go in the body, like that to me, like it's easy to shoot a gun. It's not easy, like I've been to the shooting range and it's for me it is very. It's scary for me to shoot guns and I make noises. I'm terrible at the gun range, but it's if it's something that you do. It's very impersonal to shoot someone. Stabbing someone is very personal. And have you, did you really look at taser's knife? Yeah, it is like I'm like that is, it's very serious and so like taser is scary and so, okay, you know what. You know what I think I?

Jess:

I am not afraid of taser now, would I be. I'm not going to be on that side of town. But you know who scares me is Crazy. Crazy does not have an emotion, not a feeling. He ain't got no real allegiance. I don't care what he said, everybody is disposable. Crazy is yeah, that's the one that I'm like. Absolutely not. Take him off the board.

Niq:

Okay, here's my while. I agree with everything you said about him and I just feel like you don't get to be a kingpin without being that kind of person. You do have to disassociate, because to get to that level you have to destroy your community, point blank period. So no, you cannot care about other people. But you don't think that that is the path that taser was on. You don't think?

Jess:

I think I see the difference. I'm to tell you this is where I think, yeah, that's definitely past. The Taser's on. Taser still has feelings, emotions and connections to people. I don't think Crazy ever had it. You know what I mean. Like there are some people who are built for that because they ain't never had no emotions. You know, I'm trying not to use a word that's overused. I don't think he ever had that and I think that's why he's scarier to me. I do think Taser can be redeemed. It would take a lot, but I think he can be redeemed Because I don't think he's so far gone yet that you can't bring him back. I'm interested to see how they're going to do this in season two, because he does become one of the good guys, but I don't think I don't care what point and I don't care what environment you put Crazy in. Crazy was going to end up either a kingpin or a serial killer.

Niq:

And so this is the thing. Yes, I think that now that Taser has had this intervention and he's around different people, he can change but the and he's around different people he can change, but the previous path he was on his best friend I think his name is Screamer, also incredibly violent and short tempered. It's the one that he went to visit. I don't know, if you're passionate about Screamer. Yeah, his name is Screamer extremely violent and short tempered.

Jess:

It was almost like his group like was infected but I also think they look up to him so much. If he changes he can bring them back. I just don't know if he's going to go back and get them. That's my concern. He can bring all of them because them boys worship him almost, so he can bring them back. You know who? I feel bad for Tiny, the one who got shot. That little boy should have been out there. I agree.

Niq:

You know what, if there is any redeemable person in the Tower Boys, it was him. It was Tiny.

Jess:

The whole time I'm like that's somebody, baby. If y'all don't go get that baby out of them gangs somebody Tiny and I don't know that he is. But he looks of comparable age, at least to Andre's son.

Niq:

Yeah, he does seem a little younger, he almost gives a little bit like he's more green he does.

Jess:

He does. That's why I want somebody to rescue that baby, get him up out of that situation.

Niq:

So what I was thinking about? That was hilarious. I'm like you know what? They have free healthcare. That is why they are so quick to stab each other, because they have access to hospitals with no problem.

Jess:

Is that why there's so much more death here? Because my hospital would be like you believe, now that you have insurance. But do you have insurance? Greatest guy, you can stab. That's where you want to go. You want to go great. The greatest. The trauma is what they do best. There's a reason why they do. That's where you want to go, because every will surely dump you behind.

Niq:

I was going to say you have no choice. If you don't have insurance, you are going to hopefully you're not too far. I'm like, oh man, they're all in the hospital getting good care. I'm like, look at that, look at that Free healthcare. Look at that.

Jess:

I didn't even think about that. That's why this morning we'll be like I know we ain't supposed to kick you out of the ER, but we're going to do it anyway, right, and we're going to call the police.

Niq:

Yeah, do it anyway, right, and we're going to call the police, yeah, and we're going to see if I can show up, right, and so okay. So we haven't even talked about Taser's power. So Taser has the power of invisibility, but I also wonder if he does not have like an affinity for weaponry, because he is really really good with a weapon.

Jess:

I do want to see what other powers Taser's got, because we start to see glimpses of what the other powers that the other people either have are going to develop. You don't see it with Taser. It's something about him and weapons. I agree with you. Yeah, because I'm like the way he wields that knife, too is like it's really. Because I'm like the way he wields that knife too is like it's really good. I'm like I mean if you can say good, but like I mean he's good at it.

Niq:

Skilled, Skilled and so Taser. I feel like, once again, because of the life and lifestyle that he leads, he has a target on him at all times, because he's the head of the gang. So I think that's why he got the power of invisibility.

Jess:

Okay, because, yeah, I wasn't sure with that one. It definitely is working for him, he enjoys it, but I don't know.

Niq:

But yeah, that makes sense. He was the first person Go ahead. Okay, I know this is not your favorite person, but there's also a lot of pressure with that like he's being the leader of like you know what I mean, like there's a lot of pressure with that.

Jess:

So sometimes, yeah, I can see. You just need to be invisible.

Niq:

That's a lot to be on your shoulders, on your back, and he's young too he is young, he's the first person to master their powers in the group, because he actually gets his powers before the story even starts and he doesn't. He, like, masters his powers before he starts to use them out in public. So when the story starts, he's already in control of his powers. Because once again, the people in survival mode, when they start to get their powers, they're like oh, this is a tool in my quiver, I need this. And so they immediately start trying to figure out different ways to use it and how they can benefit. I mean, I want to have sympathy for Taser you know what I mean Because once again, he has issues with his mom.

Niq:

You know what I mean. He's being raised in obviously a rough environment. It's just like scared.

Jess:

He's like I said he's, he scares me well, this may be you know I also feel like, although he is scary and he's willing to stab and kill people, I don't feel like he's good at crimes like I don't. They're not.

Niq:

They're not they're not good at.

Jess:

And I feel like and again you know how I feel If you're going to do something, you need to be good at what you do. I don't agree with going into life of crimes, but if you're going to go into life of crime, be good at crimes. Them other boys, that other gang is better than them. It just is they are.

Niq:

They are. The Sixers are well organized.

Jess:

They're well organized. They got scouts, they set you up in a trap.

Niq:

They got spies.

Jess:

I usually see stuff coming, you know, because we watch so much TV. But that little boy being one of the Sixers and just kind of lured him into the trap, I did not see that coming. That mess was so funny to me. I was like, oh no, they set you up so many different times. I'm like Chucky is actually a better gang leader than you.

Niq:

They had diss songs, and the diss song is so good that his friend Tuzi is dancing.

Jess:

Not only is he good, he's better at crimes than you. He's got a budding rap career. It's kind of hard to be on your side. He's got a budding rap career. You know what I mean? I'm like it's kind of hard to be on your side. The other reason why I think he's bad at crimes is because when they set up Tiny's cousin and I feel like it was so trifling to do that to Tiny because Tiny had no clue, but also I'm like it was the most obvious and dumbest plan ever Of course he's going to think it's you you have to get into that like, of course.

Jess:

So like he. They act like they're going to buy drugs from Tiny's cousin. They know that they don't have the money, so they know they're going to get put out and put it back under the seat, and so then they have him sneak in and take the drugs out. But since your friends are the last person in contact with him, of course he's going to assume you steal it. That was dumb. What you needed to do is be invisible, go back with him to his house standard well, have him put the the drugs on his thing, go to bed and then you take it and get out the house because the last person that had it was him at the house. So then he thinks somebody robs him.

Niq:

Be good at crimes if you're going to do absolutely. I literally had the same plan. I'm like ride in the car, ride in the car so they can pick you up when you get. Also and I know this is a UK thing because they have excellent public service but the guys doing the gangs riding around on bikes to me is hilarious, and I know it's because they have good public service, so everybody does not have cars. But gangbanging on bikes to me is hilarious, and I know it's because they have good public service, so everybody does not have cars. But gangbanging on bikes it makes me chuckle, it makes it, it gives me a little laugh. I just saw.

Niq:

Wicked this weekend I was going to ask you I'm going to see it no spoilers.

Jess:

Except, you already know what happens. But you know how the witches ride on bicycles at one point and now they're riding. The gang and the witch are riding with the same speed and velocity, it feels like. So when I saw that scene, I'm like Did you enjoy Waking it? Oh God, it was so good.

Niq:

I know it's going to be good. I wanted to see it this weekend, but I don't have child care, so we're going to see it on Friday. So everybody will be together Thanksgiving so they can watch the baby Right.

Jess:

So I was hoping. Not, I was hoping, hoping because I know it's not possible, but I would have loved for us to see that together, cause I know you would enjoy it so much. I went with a big group of people. There were tears not just me, I mean not me, but like other people over there were tears.

Niq:

I know I'm going to cry, it's okay, I'm ready for it. I know I'm going to cry, but but so Taser, I feel like, was the most reluctant to join the group. Do you agree with that?

Jess:

Okay. So I do agree with you that Taser is the most resistant to joining the team and he takes the longest time to even consider it. I still don't even feel like in the last scene he's fully a part of the team. He's just like we got to fight people and crazy's here and I wanted him anyway. So it's going to be interesting how they progress his character to where he's fully a member of the team. Is he going to leave gang life? What's he going to do with that team that's left behind? You know how that's going to change, and I honestly don don't. I can't really see it yet how they're going to enough for him to change maybe his grandmother, but not really.

Niq:

It doesn't seem like that's when I think about the scene of them in the future, think about the way they were physically positioned. Taser was kind of in the back, like behind everybody else, and to me like it looks like maybe he's still, even at that point, not fully in it. Yeah, because if he's, he still is invisibility and his killing style is close contact. Why are you so far back from the action? Are you still making a decision on where you are.

Jess:

Or because that gives him the best position to disappear and then people not know where he's at, so he can do sneak attacks.

Niq:

They got those little goggles.

Jess:

They do have the goggles but as you see them goggles got easily incapacitated. She can throw them things and break them, you know, because it does look like whatever, whatever's going on, they, they become more of a team. So I'm assuming they've worked, worked together or worked out some kinks or whatever in their team unit. So I don't know if that his position and really kind of gave that to me, but like yeah, he's also the youngest he is the youngest.

Niq:

I wonder if there's going to be some sort of common goal, because at this point towards the end of the season, taser has now learned that his mom was captured by the organization and is dead that's what's going to switch it between.

Jess:

I keep forgetting that. I got to remember that that woman in the opening scene is his mother. That's going to be what it is, because he has lived with anger for so much, for so long, that his mom abandoned him. He's going to redirect that anger to the organization that took his mom from him. And also, side benefit you know they don't know that crazy, you know got shot. So you also know crazy is part of that organization and you want him anyway.

Niq:

Right, I am, I don't know. I'm very concerned about Taser. I can see the other people stepping up and progressing more, but here's the thing None of them are required to be superheroes. No, and that's one of the things that, like I said, the show is so grounded, based in reality. It's like I don't expect y'all to suit up Immediately In like Fandex costumes or ever. You know what I mean, but it's like you guys are working together.

Jess:

Because hopefully you have like a common goal at this point and that you know in the future, though they they're not in spandex, but they are in all black, and again, that is black people's fighting stance. We're going to fight all in all black because everybody knows you fight in all black you do, you do.

Niq:

it has bloodstains, and it makes it harder to give a description Exactly. So yes, they are kind of in a uniform, but that's a cultural uniform.

Jess:

It's a real person uniform. It's not a superhero uniform. It's the old. They probably didn't even have to talk about it. Everybody just showed up in all black.

Niq:

They did, they did, but Sabrina did get her hair done Because she's like I don't care what's going on, my hair's always going to look good.

Jess:

Her sister probably did that. If she got out she was like but you're not going to fight and be ugly, no, you're not going to embarrass me.

Niq:

So, as you can see, we are very passionate about the characters in this show and so I want to continue the conversation because I think this show, and so I want to continue the conversation because I think this show brings up some big issues that are common among the African diaspora. So I'm really excited about the next episode as we talk more about the sickle cell portion of supercell. So we'll see you guys on our next episode. See you guys.