The fifth episode of Rapmanās Supacell resolves the previous episodeās cliffhanger, showing us what itās like for several superheroes to be in the same location and the same fight. Episode five focuses on Rodney Cullen (Calvin Demba) as the super forces collide.
Rodney decides to visit his mother, with whom he has an estranged relationship. In a quick but informative scene, we learn that sheās staying with a man Rodney doesnāt approve of. He offers to help financially, but she promises sheās got a good life and is happy. Distraught, he asks to stay and even offers to pay rent, but she denies him because her partner, Rick, is not approving. The implication is that Rodneyās white mother chooses this new person and new family over him, her biracial son, motivates Rodney to reunite with Michael and the other superheroes.
Youāre being watched
Throughout the series, weāve seen an experimental facility in which a white man oversees the superheroes and Black captives behind bars. In this episode, we learn that he and his staff have been actively tracking the main characters, and that he takes a special interest upon learning four of them have been in the same location concurrently. The facility gets more cut scenes this episode, emphasizing how they are invasively tracking the superheroes.
Whenever multiple heroes are in proximity of each other, the people in the facility take notice. Because community social worker and Michaelās fiancee Dionne doesnāt have superpowers, sheās able to operate under the radar as she investigates disappearances.
We continue to see the devastating impact of Sickle Cell Disease as Michaelās mother experiences a crisis. He stays overnight at the Sickle Cell Center, then decides to tell Dionne the truth about the future and her possible murder, as he learned about it by visiting the future the first time he used his powers in the initial episode. He laments being unable to change the outcome of her death, even when given some of the information he might need to do so.. The disproportionate presence of Sickle Cell Disease in Black communities, the lack of support for patients and families struggling with this disease, and Michaelās perceived inability to change outcomes for both his mother and Dionne represents a large picture in the struggle of the Black communities represented in the show, and the greater human experience ā itās like always swimming against the current.
As we now know, the Sickle Cell gene is also related to the superpowers the characters have, exposing pain in a more chronic way, and bringing characters together to heal.
Investigating the disappearance of Jasmine, Dionne (Adelayo Adedayo) tracks down her parents. She learns that Jasmineās father has Sickle Cell Disease, but Jasmine was able to heal his pain using her superpowers. Brought back together by Michaelās motherās health crisis, Dionne and Michael get a chance to talk ā but theyāre interrupted by Rodney, who insists Michael leaves now.
This is hard to watch. Michael has been on a quest to be there for everyone, save everyone, and do the right thing, and he drops the ball. Instead of telling Rodney he needs to hold on a moment, Michael abandons Dionne, delaying off their big conversation.
Supacell and women characters
This could have been an opportunity for Michael to be truthful, but instead he falls short, and for a weak reason.. In the beginning of the series, Michael was so easy to root for. But like many of the male characters, he treats women as an afterthought if not an object, and this makes it hard to believe heās going to act with responsibility in the futureāeven though he can see the future himself.
My assumption is that his failure to warn Dionne or be honest with her will lead to her death, making her a plot point and another fridged female character in superhero history, because having a motivational tragedy for Michael is more important than having him treat his fiancee with respect. I hope the show moves in a better direction, but it isnāt looking good in conjunction with Sharleenās (Rayxia Ojo) abuse becoming her personality in addition to a plot point. Taze (Josh Tedeku), meanwhile, potentially murders a woman in broad daylight, leading him to be a less redeemable character by the minute.
Sharleenās constant dive into danger overshadows Sabrinaās (Nadine Mills) good news. Here, however, itās not careless writing buried in tropes, but itās clearly meant to be an injustice that Sabrinaās career achievement is overshadowed by abuse and violence.
The male characters in the show are constantly examined, judged, and captured by systems in society. In truth, most of them donāt trust each other, which is why it takes so long for Michael and Rodney to get Andre (Eric Kofi Abrefa) to trust him and consider joining the team. And even then, Rodney only wants to help Michael because he thinks Michael can and will rewind time to help his injured friend. The overarching power structures intentionally damage the trust and the Black community. But itās clear the women suffer most, and the men canāt break free of the cycle of both receiving and perpetuating unfairness.
Overall, this episode should have had more like pieces come together, but instead the storytelling was disjointed and it fell flat. Hopefully, the final episode packs more of a punch when it comes to connectedness, or permits Michael to use his powers to access the past in a way that changes the story and empowers all of the characters, including Dionne.
