January 21, 2025 • 43 mins
This podcast episode navigates the complex interplay between Sickle Cell disease and the series "Supercell." It highlights issues of medical exploitation, race, identity, and community dynamics, discussing how the show provocatively intertwines these themes with the narratives around superpowers and systemic injustices.
• Discussion of Sickle Cell Disease and its implications
• Exploration of historical context: medical exploitation of Black bodies
• Analysis of power dynamics and societal perceptions
• Examination of the show's portrayal of community and unity
• Speculation on future plot arcs and character development
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Niq (00:01):
hi guys and welcome back to next episode.
I'm your host, nick, and I'mjess, and we're going to
continue our discussion of theuk hit show supercell, and so
we're watching it on netflix.
I think some people probably Idon't know if everyone's
watching it on netflix, but we,we are watching it on netflix.
That's where you can currentlyfind it if you are in America.
(00:24):
And so one of the characters inthe show well, one of the
people we consider a characterin the show is actually the
sickle cell disease.
Yes, I agree, and so I want totalk about that.
For people who are not familiarwith sickle cell, can you give
a very general overview of thedisease?
Jess (00:43):
You definitely should have told me I will try, but it has
to be yes I can.
Niq (00:49):
Okay.
So sickle cell is actually a aresponse, like a genetic
response to malaria, and somalaria is like a blood disease
that's found in africa a lot,and so to help prevent malaria,
like, there's like a geneticmutation where the blood cells
are shaped like a sickle that'swhy they call it sickle cell,
(01:10):
and it's actually like a.
It's a very painful disease andso it's typically found in
populations of African descentand because of that, there I
feel like there's not enoughresearch done worldwide.
I don't think that there's aproper treatment.
It causes a lot of pain, andpeople I don't feel like doctors
(01:33):
respect the pain, becausethere's a myth that, uh, people
of african descent don't feelpain the way that other people
do.
I just don't know where thatcame from Slavery.
That came from slavery.
I'm a pain wimp.
I'm a gentle, gentle girl.
Jess (01:51):
Please.
That is part of the way thatwhite people justified enslaving
Africans is that they don'tfeel the whips, they don't feel
the pain as much.
Niq (02:03):
It's an unspoken character in the show.
I'm gonna tell you, when um wemeet michael's mom and she um
suffers from sickle cell.
She's got a really bad case ofit.
Um, and they said that they hada sickle cell treatment center
and they were all over the world.
(02:24):
I knew immediately there was aproblem there, because I'm like
when have you guys ever caredabout sickle cell Ever?
Jess (02:36):
And that's good to say that, because they did not
explicitly say that thatparticular treatment center is
connected to the undergroundobserving the supercell people.
But I'm like I already know.
I already know that it isbecause y'all don't care about
things that primarily affectAfrican descended people, and I
feel like what they're reallydoing with that is that they're
(02:58):
using it to research and study,trying to draw out who's going
to develop the supercell well,they do confirm it in the last
episode.
Niq (03:05):
So think about the end of the last episode when the white
guy gets fired and the womantakes over.
That's that same lady that's inthe hospital talking to
Michael's mom.
It took me two times to watchit because I still didn't
recognize her?
Jess (03:18):
I still didn't.
I knew she's queen evil, butlike I did not recognize that's
the same one that's talking toMichael's mom, that's how.
But I already knew.
I knew from the beginning too.
I was like, oh no, y'all up tosome foolishness and you never
started his mama fast enough.
Niq (03:34):
Right After they said that, oh, we're going to make sure
she's not in pain.
And so in this show, in thisworld, the supercell is a
genetic variation from sicklecell.
So the people who end up withthe supercell powers, their
parents, actually have sicklecell or are carriers of sickle
(03:56):
cell, and it shows up in thekids, and so I've.
Of course, the treatment centerto me is, yeah, they're trying
to go through the population andthey're trying to figure out,
like, who is likely, who'sunlikely.
Jess (04:09):
And how it's happening.
It is just research andexperimentation on black people.
Niq (04:15):
Right, which is very triggering, very triggering to
me.
But once again, it is commonamong the diaspora of people
coming in and researching andusing Black bodies for research
and experimentation.
And like we can talk aboutHenrietta Lacks, we can talk
about the Tuskegee experiments,and those are just in the US.
(04:37):
I'm quite sure Africa has tonsof examples and I'm quite sure
maybe even in the uk they mayhave examples too.
But what was so like jarringfor me was when you see them
locked up in the in those roomsand they're dragging taser's
mom's body, her dead body, pasteverybody and it's like a
(05:01):
warning I felt like to them yes,fall in line, do what I tell
you to do.
You have no agency.
You are not a person, you areessentially a lab rat.
Jess (05:12):
That's why I actually turned off the show initially.
So like I tried to watch this afew months ago just on my own,
before we decided we were goingto review it, before we decided
we were going to do a show, butI could not get past that
initial scene of seeing thatBlack woman's body being dragged
through that I was like I justcan't.
I just can't do that today andthat was so hard, it was defunct
(05:33):
.
I think yeah, because and likeyou said, there's so many real
world examples of us knowingthat that's exactly how they
treat us.
The whole field of gynecologyin the US is based on them
experimenting on enslavedAfrican women.
Niq (05:50):
Yes, absolutely Absolutely, and so it was.
Once again, this show is basedin reality.
It feels so real because wouldyou expect any other response if
Black people started developingsuperpowers, other than the
fact that the government wouldimmediately, as fast as possible
(06:12):
, try to locate as many aspossible, try to start
experimentations?
Because I wonder if theorganization's long-term goal is
to try to figure out how toharness the ability to create
powers so that they can givepowers to white people Because,
yeah, because they would besuperheroes.
Jess (06:31):
If not, they would already have suits and be Superman if
they were white.
Niq (06:36):
Right, and so it's like it's immediate.
How can we exploit this?
Jess (06:42):
For our own benefit, our own gain.
How can we other them?
How can we other them?
How can we, yeah, divide andconquer all the stuff that they
typically?
Niq (06:50):
do Right, and yeah, that's definitely something that I want
to talk about.
So think about this Like Blackpeople all of a sudden are
getting superpowers rightImmediately.
That puts them at a higher,more elite, superior level than
white people who control society.
(07:10):
So that's an instant fear,that's a problem.
You know what I mean.
Like this minority communityall of a sudden has a way to be
superior.
So what do they do?
They infiltrate the community.
They find supers and theyimmediately start having them
hunt other supers, creating adivide so that there is not
(07:34):
unity in the community, right?
Jess (07:37):
And if that is not something, that and access, they
give some of them salaries,yeah, and they target the supers
who have difficult situations.
So they target crazy because hehas a 35-year prison sentence.
He also has the power to stealother people's powers, so that's
(07:57):
very useful to them.
Right, and talking about yourpowers being connected to who
you are yeah, thievery, thatmakes sense with him.
Niq (08:05):
But also just using.
Do you remember he had thatconversation with Taser and he
said to Taser oh, you know, youwere like my little brother.
And Taser said, no, you justused me to do the stuff you
didn't want to do, and that isso true.
Jess (08:20):
Even more true when you know that Crazy is actually a
part of the organization.
And even more true when youknow that Crazy is actually a
part of the organization andthat he's the front person for
the hooded people.
You knew the whole time thatBoyz Mama didn't abandon him.
Niq (08:34):
Right, but also, did you see, did that catch you off
guard when you found out thatCrazy was a part of the
organization it did?
Jess (08:42):
because I don't feel like they foreshadowed it a lot If it
was him getting out that crazywas a part of the organization.
It did.
Because I don't feel like theyforeshadowed it a lot, like the
only like okay, if it was himgetting out that 35 year prison
sentence, because that's theonly thing that could have been
a clue.
But yeah, it did surprise me.
But it surprised me like I felt, it felt thrown into me.
That did that.
Didn't feel like it was likeforeshadowed enough or even
alluded to.
Niq (09:04):
I did not see it coming, which is strange because we are
twists like we see a twistcoming.
I did.
I also did not see it coming,but it felt right once I went
back and looked at it, becauseit makes I do like, well, I'm
gonna tell you this for the show, but I I feel like they could
have foreshadowed it a bit more.
Jess (09:24):
I feel like they could have alluded to it.
I don't feel like they did.
Niq (09:28):
Okay, so I'm going to tell you where I see the
foreshadowing.
Yes, the first foreshadowing isthat he got let out of that 35
prison, 35 year prison sentenceand he's just like oh, I just
had a good lawyer.
That was crazy.
But also the way he conductedhimself when he was out of
prison.
You just got off of a 35 yearprison sentence, yet you are
(09:51):
openly dealing drugs.
Remember we were talking aboutthe trap house, which was like a
compound.
It was so blatant, it was not asecret and how are you going to
operate like that unless youknow you are untouchable.
He immediately started goingout and doing high level gang
activity in broad daylight.
(10:12):
He, he, he was walking throughthe world as if he was
untouchable.
And that, to me, was.
It was the foreshadowing, butit was subtle and well done
because it was like once I knewI could see it, but I was not
looking for it because there wasso much stuff going on.
There was, they did so much inthese six episodes and in, I
(10:36):
feel like, even if crazy did nothave powers, even if crazy was
not a part of the organization,he was still enough to be the
big bad that I wasn't looking.
I wasn't looking for morebecause I'm like this man will.
Before he ever had powers, hewas already a monster, so I was
not even looking for him.
Jess (10:59):
Crazy was born a monster.
There was never any hope.
Now he was a baby demon.
Niq (11:10):
Yeah, definitely a baby, so I wasn't looking, I wasn't
looking for, I wasn't lookingfor it.
But once I knew, I went backand re-examined it and I'm like,
okay, that was subtleforeshadowing, which I love,
because you don't like I saidyou, it's hard to catch us.
Jess (11:27):
I do like subtle.
I just don't feel like it was.
I don't feel like there was anyindication that that's who he
was, that that's what it was.
I'm like okay, I can say I canargue that I missed the 35 years
since being commuted, like Inoticed it, but I didn't see
that as foreshadowing untilafter.
I knew and went back, but Ididn't see any other
foreshadowing because Krazy wasgoing to do that anyway.
(11:49):
That's who he was when he was akingpin before he went in.
He's going to be a kingpin whenhe go out.
Krazy ain't going to nobody'sjob.
Niq (11:56):
Right, but you know normal kingpins move in silence and
violence.
He was very much yelling outloud and he was not like he,
like he, he just like I said itwas.
The foreshadowing was subtle,but it was there.
If you think about how you sawthe other supers commit crimes
(12:16):
and never get caught becausethey were supers like sabrina.
Jess (12:20):
Sabrina killed Kadeem, andre robbed the ATM, but Rodney
was running all over townpulling drugs With killing
Kadeem because Kadeem was asuper with a tracker and they
were trying to pull Kadeem offthe streets, not because they
were trying to protect Sabrina.
Niq (12:38):
No, I feel like if Sabrina would have killed a civilian,
they still would not, becausenone of the supers.
They were watching them allwith cameras, but they were not.
They saw them commit crimes andthey never picked them up.
The police were never involved,because they were.
They were researching andprotecting them.
So if you think about how that,how they were doing that for
(13:00):
the other supers, that's howthey were doing crazy.
So, like I said, it was notblatant foreshadowing, it was
very, very subtle and I I don'tknow if it was guessable, maybe
maybe some people guessed it.
But, like I said, I was sodistracted by the actual story
because, once again, this showis only six episodes and it is
(13:22):
jam-packed, but I still think itwas.
Jess (13:24):
Long term it's a good choice for the show.
Niq (13:26):
But it felt like they just dropped that in yeah, but I,
what is the show trying to say?
Because it like using sicklecell, the way that it is, um,
and and bringing up all of thelike, common, like historical
things that have happened toblack people, as far as, like,
(13:46):
government intervention andexperimentation.
What do you think the show istrying to say?
Jess (13:52):
I think it's just trying to bring all that to light and
how differently like it looks ifwe developed a superpower for
someone else, like even in that,like any other community would
have been to bring themselves upin and just kind of benefit the
whole community.
But they immediately starttrying to tear us down and use
us, and they do that even withour natural abilities and our
(14:14):
natural superpowers in real life, because you know what I mean.
Like I believe not not no weirdscience fiction kind of way,
but we are just a beautiful,just talented people throughout
the diaspora and so all of thosethings that we just naturally
have and naturally possess, theyconstantly look for a way to
suppress and exploit and orexploit.
Niq (14:38):
I agree, I absolutely agree that there is a lot of
suppression and exploitation andthere's like a across the world
, like PR campaign against us,right?
Jess (14:52):
which I've never for the life of me and I'm going to stop
trying because I'm exhausted.
But like I, for the life of medo not understand.
Especially non-Black people ofcolor believe in that crap
because they say horrible thingsabout you.
You don't think that the samegroup that lied on you might lie
(15:14):
on someone else?
And at the end of the day, forthe most part, we are not the
ones who came and disruptedwhatever your situation was.
Historically, we're not.
That's not usually us.
There's one group who disruptedeverybody, but you want to be
them.
Niq (15:30):
You're not mad at them.
That's what I was going to say.
So the way that white supremacythrives Is that they make
people feel incremental Betterthan the next.
So if you, even though you're aminority and you're treated
poorly Well, at least you're notblack.
So you're a minority and you'retreated poorly well, at least
you're not Black.
So you're slightly higher onthe rung, even though you'll
never reach the top, at leastyou're not on the bottom rung.
(15:53):
And I think that is what theydo and that's why they will
believe it, because they want tobe in that slightly higher tier
yeah of everybody.
Jess (16:06):
Even within the diaspora.
Honestly and truly, I feel likea lot of these diaspora wars
are just.
I just want to feel like I'mbetter than somebody, because it
doesn't make any sense.
There's no reason for us tofight each other.
Niq (16:18):
But if you even like we can get specific, even in the
American community, just evenAmerican Blacks, there's
classism within us.
If you think about it, you knowwhat I mean.
So maybe it's a natural thingthat no one wants to be on the
bottom, so you're always tryingto look for someone to put
beneath you.
You know, because suburbanBlacks feel like they're better
(16:42):
than urban Blacks.
You know, urban Blacks feellike they're better than rural
Blacks.
Jess (16:49):
I still feel like we have more A sense of community.
Niq (16:54):
Overall, yes, because it's like this is the thing you can
talk.
I can talk about you, but noone else Can.
So if you, when it comes to it,like, yes, we're going to come
together, but within ourcommunity, and that's the thing.
Jess (17:09):
If it comes to it, there are certain things that happen.
There are certain things thathappen to us.
If it comes to it, we don'thave to that happen.
There are certain things thathappen to us to where, if it
comes to it, we don't have tohave that conversation, we don't
have to dissect.
We already know who's for usand who's against us, like you
know what I mean.
Whereas, like within thediaspora, it's like you're
treating like we're your enemiesand we have not done anything
to you.
We really haven't done anythingserious to each other, but talk
(17:31):
shit quite honestly.
And we really haven't doneanything serious to each other,
but talk shit quite honestly andwe're really carrying other
people's issues.
Absolutely.
But if it goes down and yes,what you said about the US is
true, but if it goes down, forthe most part we're going to
band together as we have.
Niq (17:51):
So think about it.
You know how.
You have those cousins that yougrew up with and they're your
aces, and then you have thatcousin that you haven't seen
since y'all were like a childand so, even though y'all were
like close when you were reallylittle, they're essentially a
stranger.
That's me, I think.
Like when I think about thediaspora, that's what I think it
is.
Jess (18:08):
It's like we know we're related but like my cousin,
because I am that cousin, I amthat cousin, ain't nobody seen.
But at the end of the day, ifyou really threaten my cousins,
yeah, I may not come to thefamily event but I will come to
open up a can if I need to.
Niq (18:31):
You know, I got cousins, and then I got cousins, and then
I got cousins, and then I gotcousins.
You know what I mean.
And so, yes, I have the cousinsthat I will ride for.
I also have some cousins that Igot something for when I see
you, and so you know, no, you'renot even around them enough to
(18:57):
even have that.
Jess (18:58):
No, I mean, I have cousins that I would ride for I would.
Niq (19:02):
Yes, no, I mean like I would.
Jess (19:07):
I don't have cousins that I got something for, because I'm
like I just not deal with it.
Niq (19:10):
That's what I'm saying that's what I'm saying.
You're not around them enoughto even have beef.
I ain't got beef, I ain't gotchicken, I ain't got sausage no,
like essentially like wekidnapped you and we integrated
you so deeply into our familythat you ride for my cousins
most of it most of it, and youwere grandma's, one of grandma's
(19:34):
favorite grandchildren, cousins, most of them, most of them and
you were one of grandma'sfavorite grandchildren.
Jess (19:38):
I was and I'm not her grandchild, but I was one of the
favorites you were one of thefavorites.
Niq (19:44):
So you know, I mean, I honestly I wish that we could
mend the fences within thediaspora, because this is the
thing like, there is so muchcool stuff out there.
Like I, one of the things Ilove to watch are like wedding
(20:05):
ceremonies in the differentcountries, like like a Congolese
wedding versus like a SouthAfrican, like a Zulu wedding
versus like a ebo wedding, likein nigeria, or like the ghanaian
, like the.
The.
The fits are beautiful, thecustoms are amazing and there's
so many you know, just beautifulthings that I think that we
(20:29):
could be focusing on instead oflike who?
Like which one of us best?
Please?
Jess (20:33):
white people, girl and that's and that's, I think, my
point.
I don't even know how I got todiasporas, but like that is my
point we are for why are wefighting over stereotypes that
white people made up?
Niq (20:46):
so I'm, I'm hoping, like going forward, like we can move
past that, you know, because Ithink if we, if we learned
nothing, we we learned that weare for us.
You know what I mean, and noone else is going to be for us
the way that we are.
So let's all join together.
Jess (21:02):
We can have our different flavors and our different
individuality, but come togetherwhen we need to come together
and realize we are not eachother's enemy.
Niq (21:10):
Right, definitely not.
And can I tell you one of thethings I really liked about the
show and I know it's gonna soundso trivial, but one of the
things that I loved were theaccents in the show, and by that
I mean, whenever you hear ajamaican accent in american tv
or a haitian accent or any otherlike a, they are always
(21:31):
terrible, the patois is alwaysawful and I'm like the accent is
good, the patois is good justhire somebody jamaican or
caribbean descent.
Jess (21:44):
but I do think that the jamaican accent is one of the
hardest ones to imitate, likeI've always felt like that it is
, it is layered, it's got a lotof stuff in there, so I think it
is really hard to come from theoutside and imitate that.
So just hire someone.
Niq (21:57):
I agree, but I think it's obvious that they did.
Jess (22:01):
Oh yeah, absolutely you know what I'm saying, and so I'm
like why can't we do that?
Niq (22:05):
Why do we have?
Because I'm going to tell youlike, for me, of course, it
course, it's always like aHaitian accent.
They are always so terrible andI can't even speak Haitian
Creole with a good accentbecause I didn't grow up
speaking it, but the accent isvery, it's very particular.
It is very particular and I Idon't know what they put in
(22:29):
America TV.
It is always the worst.
And so, hearing people speak inaccents that were authentic and
, like I said, when they werespeaking like the Patois, the
Patois was real, I'm like thatis so nice, like I love that,
you know, because we don't getthat here in America very rarely
(22:51):
they do it well no, becausehere's the thing they did not.
They were not casting a here inAmerica Very rarely they do it
well.
No, because here's the thingthey were not casting a Jamaican
person.
It wasn't a Jamaican character,this was just her parents.
You know what I'm saying.
They just happened to beJamaican people, whereas in
America it's like the characteris Jamaican, now we have to
(23:16):
force it and it's weird.
Jess (23:18):
That's true.
That is a difference.
Niq (23:20):
You know what I'm saying.
Once again, I love the realnessof the show.
I feel like I understand whatSouth London is.
I also like that in shows basedout of the UK.
I feel like I understand whatSouth London is.
Jess (23:34):
I also like that in shows based out of the UK, people look
more natural.
People are not overly done.
They look like real people.
Niq (23:44):
Real bodies, real bodies over there, and even though the
sisters were very fit likepetite women, still like real
butts, real boobs, and a lot oftimes the makeup was very, very
natural looking.
Because here's the thing, likethe like I said, like the uk
(24:06):
girls, they put that on likethey.
They do their makeup, theirmakeup.
They do it differently than wedo, but they have like their own
makeup styles.
They're like their own glamstyles and stuff like that.
But you really didn't see a lotof that in the show.
It was very much everyday, likelooking normal people, still
beautiful people, but not likeoverly made up, and I love that
(24:30):
about uh, like they show likepeople looking real these are
people going about their daily,regular life and something
fantastic happens to them.
You know right, I'm still sadthat I didn't get my superpowers
like.
Okay, so question if thesuperpowers are based on who we
(24:55):
are, what would your superpowerbe?
Or what do you think mysuperpower would be?
Jess (25:00):
Well, you, know I want to be able to teleport, which makes
sense because I like to traveland I always want to be
somewhere else.
So teleportation, actually, Iwant Michael's powers, I want
both Michael's powers, and to beable to stop and freeze time.
What would yours be, goodness?
Okay, so are we basing on thepowers?
Niq (25:23):
not the powers in the show just based on, like, who we are
as people too late.
Jess (25:27):
I've already done it.
You would have Sabrina's powers.
Yes, if you could move stuff orbring stuff to you without
having to get up.
Niq (25:39):
I'm going to tell you what I think that I would have.
Okay, I think that I would havemind control.
Oh, because I think I think youshould be.
I think because one of thethings I think that I'm good at
is like having empathy forpeople, like putting myself in
other people's shoes, you know,like I feel like I have
(26:01):
naturally good like customerservice, like skills, like I'm a
I'm good with when I want to beI'm good with people, you know.
I mean I can get in people'sheads and kind of know what they
want, and so I think that thatwould lead to mind control.
Mind control, mind reading,that kind of stuff I don't want
you to have either of thosethings.
Jess (26:20):
I want you to have superpowers, but you know how I
feel about people being able toread my mind.
Niq (26:25):
I'm nosy.
Jess (26:26):
Yeah, it gets scary in here sometimes.
Nobody needs to know the fulldetails.
Niq (26:32):
It's okay, I wouldn't mind control you, though I wouldn't
read your mind.
Yeah, no, no, I don't want youto have a superpower.
Jess (26:40):
I want you to have a superpower.
I do Just not mind control orbeing able to read people's
minds, but I can see why youwould gravitate to those things.
I still think you wouldtelekinesis.
Niq (26:51):
So now I'm going to challenge you.
What superpower would you haveif you could not have one that
was already on the show?
Jess (27:00):
It has to be based on who you are as a person If it's
based on who, but it's still onthe show Because I'm like the
other one.
That makes sense for me as aperson is the ability to
disappear.
Niq (27:21):
But you could be like a chameleon, where, instead of
disappearing, you blend into thebackground.
Jess (27:25):
That was me through high school and my early career.
Yeah, I was like that job I hadfor the longest, the longest
period of work I had.
Uh, part of the reason why Iknow where the bodies are buried
is because I blended into thepaint like I wasn't.
You know what I mean.
I was so quiet back then thatpeople would forget I was in the
(27:48):
room and just say everything Idon't know.
Niq (27:54):
I would see something where you had like the power to like
acquire wealth.
I don't know what that wouldlook like as a superpower, but
that's I'm teleporting into thebank vaults.
Jess (28:12):
I'm going into the bank vaults she's like no, I trust me
, no matter what power I have,it's going to lead to wealth and
that is true because, like whenI tell you, I understood,
rodney, that in that fiveminutes or less I'm like because
you got to make it work for youyes, right, I I'm sorry, like
(28:33):
with even with andre, when hehit that atm machine.
I probably would have hit acouple yeah I think I'm not
three, I ain't, yeah, no, I wasthinking the same thing, because
when his friend and hisfriend's name is john, by the
way, which is yeah, that's whyit's hard to remember and when
john told, him, you gonna hitanother to hit another ATM.
I was like no, no, no, thatmakes sense.
(28:53):
That's the only time you saidsomething that makes sense.
Niq (28:57):
Let's not get excessive.
Maybe one a month.
Just for a little bit, go outof your regular place.
I would get a little prostheticface mask so I look like a
white person.
Jess (29:11):
I would have makeup on your skin.
Niq (29:13):
Yeah, oh yeah, but I would be once a month.
I would hit an atm machine.
I would just be like maybe,because you know it's very easy
to travel there.
So I'm telling you like maybethe next one I'm getting is in
scotland.
Right, I'm taking the train toparis.
I'm hitting one over there,like I.
I would never hit another onein south london, but once a
month I would be taking me alittle trip, a little trip, a
(29:36):
little trip, you know.
Jess (29:38):
So listen, what's the point of being super and still
being average what you gonna dowith your mind control powers
that dick become, probablybecome president, either that,
or the CEO of a fortune 500company like I'm coming up in
(30:00):
the world.
Niq (30:01):
I'm not right.
I may try out a few differentthings, you know but yeah.
I'm going to come up of the USright now?
Jess (30:13):
definitely, and it would take my but yeah, I'm going to
come up Of the US right now.
Niq (30:16):
Definitely president, and it would take mind control for
me to get in the office.
That's how well Qualificationsbe damned, you know.
So yeah, whatever.
Yeah, with mind control, I'musing it to come up.
I'm going to be honest and say,like I don't know that I'm
necessarily Joining thesuperhero team, unless they need
(30:38):
something real specific for me.
But I'm not out in the fieldPunching folks.
Maybe I can get them to punchthemselves, but I'm not trying
to get out in the field.
Jess (30:48):
Okay, I was right, because whatever it is you decide to
have, it's not you physicallygetting up and doing nothing no,
no, don't give me super speed,don't waste your time, do not
give me super speed or superstrength, because you're like,
I'm not punching anything, but.
Niq (31:11):
I don't open my own car door, I don't take out my own
trash.
Why would you give me superstrength?
Jess (31:17):
You don't have telekinesis , so you can just draw the
things.
Niq (31:21):
You know what I'm saying.
Please don't waste your time.
Please don't waste thatmutation.
Jess (31:27):
I was just like the teapot going by itself.
I was like, oh, she's makingher tea from upstairs.
Niq (31:34):
No, that would be cool.
That would be cool.
You just see the tea floatingup the stairs.
But if I'm still working my job, I'm not using my superpower
right, that's true.
That's true.
I get it Because I need to findsome way to super sell my life
(31:54):
if I got a superpower you knowhow they say like if you win the
lottery, I'm not going to tellyou, but there'll be clues.
You know that when people saythat, like if I win the lottery,
like I'll never tell, butthere'll be clues.
If I get a superpower, I'm notgoing to tell you, but there'll
be clues, you need to tell me.
I mean, of course I would tellyou, but I'm not telling the
general public, but there willbe clues.
You need to tell me.
I mean, of course I would tellyou, I'm not telling the general
(32:14):
public, but there will be clues.
Jess (32:17):
You know I'm telling you first thing.
Yeah, just tell me.
That way I get the thing to putover my head.
So you can't read my mind.
Niq (32:25):
If you walk around with a magneto helmet, girl, first of
all, I'm going to walk aroundwith a magneto bonnet, and you
better know it.
I would die.
I would die.
There can't be anything.
There's not too many thingslocked up in there that I don't
already know, so please don'twalk around looking like the tin
(32:45):
man in a bonnet it don't matter, like sometimes it's not even
about secrets, like just some,you know, you just get them
thoughts that don't make sense.
Jess (32:53):
I don't want people to know those things.
Niq (32:55):
The intrusive thoughts.
Yes because yeah, no, no, myintrusive thoughts freak me out
sometimes exactly I'm like no,because the people think I hate
them.
Jess (33:03):
That I don't hate, it's just stuff just floats through
there no like.
Niq (33:08):
And I'm gonna tell you when my intrusive thoughts were the
worst, like postpartum, likeright after I had the baby crazy
, crazy intrusive thoughts, likethey just don't make sense,
yeah, and I'm just like theyneed they.
They I feel like they should.
Everybody should have meds whenthey go home.
Everybody should, because I'mlike this, this is crazy, you
(33:32):
know.
So, yeah, I, I understand and Iwould not be like, I would not
go and dig in because, honestly,like my, I would try to control
it, so that I'm only because,once again, these powers exhaust
you.
So I would only want to use thepowers when I needed to use the
powers.
I wouldn't just want to to berunning willy nilly through
(33:54):
people's minds.
Jess (33:56):
That would be kind of gross.
However, I would be teleportingon the daily.
Niq (34:01):
And then knocked out On the Amalfi Coast.
She said I'll be knocked out ina Range Rover, our squad as
superheroes would be sohilarious okay, so we don't have
to identify who would have whatpower oh my gosh, let's see.
(34:28):
Oh, that's hard to say.
Okay, hold on, let's think,knowing that, okay, so the
superpowers are based on theirpersonalities or who they are as
a person.
That is really hard, do youhave?
Jess (34:50):
an answer for one for our little cousin okay, what is it?
You know that thing wherepeople can blink and destroy
people like they disintegrate?
Yes, I see her with that one.
Niq (35:06):
The scary thing is, I feel like she would use it and be
like ooh, maybe I went too far.
Jess (35:10):
She gonna feel bad after.
But some people getdisintegrated.
Niq (35:15):
Yeah, but I feel like it's gonna be the lady at Publix that
did not make her sub right.
Jess (35:19):
It had to have been.
She had told that lady so manytimes.
Niq (35:29):
What about our little sister?
What power would she have?
What?
Jess (35:32):
power would she have?
Niq (35:36):
I think she would be able to drive people crazy, oh cause
she likes to play mind gameswith people.
Jess (35:45):
Yeah, I was thinking like the glimmer magic you know what
I mean like where you can changesomebody.
Niq (35:51):
Yeah, not quite mind but you can make them see what you
want them to see.
Yeah, I can see that.
I can see that.
I can see that because sheloves to like mess with people's
minds.
She likes to pull like littleframes, and she would do it both
ways it would be both positive.
Jess (36:10):
and then, when she was feeling devilish you know what I
mean like she's going to putyou in a better mood when you're
down, she's also randomly goingto make you cluck like a
chicken.
Niq (36:21):
Right, absolutely, absolutely.
Us trying to fight crime wouldbe hilarious.
We wouldn't, we wouldn't, no,we would get out there and we
would be telling so many jokesand laughing and the criminals
are like are we gonna do this?
And we're like hold on, hold on.
And we're like belly, laughingand running around we're not
(36:44):
listening.
Jess (36:45):
We're gonna make ourselves rich, we're gonna secure our
own position, and then we'rejust going around the world
doing whatever the foolishnesswe want to do.
We are not about to besuperheroes no, and you know
what?
Niq (36:57):
honestly, I think that that's really a healthy attitude
, because I feel like a lot oftimes, black women feel like we
have to be the saviors ofeverybody, and so for us to be
like you know we're gonna getsuperpowers and be completely
silly and selfish with it andjust have joy, I think that's
gross, honestly we would be like, okay, I'm gonna teleport us to
um, this, this place thisweekend and we're gonna have a
(37:20):
girls weekend and we just gonnawreak havoc on this town and
then go back home like we didn'tdo nothing right, okay, yeah, I
would love we should havesuperpowers.
When's the next time they haveone of those red suns?
Maybe we didn't do it right,probably not.
We gotta figure out.
We gotta do a little bit moreresearch so we can get those red
suns.
Maybe we didn't do it right,probably not.
We got to figure out.
We got to do a little bit moreresearch so we can get another
(37:40):
red sun.
So what are you looking for inseason two?
What am I looking?
Jess (37:47):
for in season two Just more character development and
growth, which I think they did agreat job, but, of course, I
just want to see more.
Season one felt like it'sreally setting up the world and
setting up the superheroes andintroducing us.
So I think, season two, I'mexpecting to see just where they
go from here, how they grow, asthey grow with their powers, as
they have different lifeexperiences.
(38:08):
So I just want more of all ofthem.
I'm excited to see where theygo.
I want to know more about theorganization.
What does it see as its purposeand are they going to take it
down, because I need them totake it down.
Niq (38:23):
Right, I would love to see more of the stories of the
hooded Supas, because I knowthat, yes, they are working for
the organization.
I know that, yes, they areworking for the organization,
(38:45):
but I also know that there was alot of coercion in it, so I
want to hear about them, theirstories.
How do they feel about workingfor the organization?
Because, once again, they seehow other people are being
treated and do some of them wantto defect over to the other
side?
Because here's the thingTechnically they're the bad guys
, but I don't see them as bad.
I see them as captured.
(39:06):
They've been captured and so Ihate that.
Even some of them died fightingthe other team, because I'm
like man, they probably don'teven really want to be doing
this, except for, okay, I needto talk about andre.
When andre was briefly workingfor the organization and they
were like you get a bonus forevery person you bring in, andre
(39:30):
was hilarious because he's likethese are my friends.
I don't want to hurt them.
He was like but I need to takea body and I need a paycheck.
My life bill is due.
He was like hey, just open up aportal, let me slide him on in.
He was about to have money.
Jess (39:45):
But you remember what we said before though Andre is good
at his job.
Whatever his job is, andre isgood at it.
So he said listen.
They said bring the people inalive.
They said a bonus for each one.
Alive, right, no value to usdead and we can't go back empty
handed.
Open the portal.
And they kept ignoring him.
He's like open the no, we gotthe bodies, you get.
(40:05):
The first thing you do is youget the body.
Niq (40:08):
He was like let me, let me, I need to drag the body in.
If I drag the body into theportal, I get the money.
I think Andre loves acommission based job.
He does, he loves a commissionbased job.
He was like open the portal, Ineed to get this body.
(40:29):
The paychecks are going outFriday.
This is the last.
This is the end of the payperiod he was trying so
desperately.
Let me just drag somebody whois breathing through the portal.
I need this money by tomorrow.
And I was literally laughingand I know it was supposed to be
like the big fight scene, but Iwas dying laughing because I'm
(40:53):
like that man needs some money.
Jess (40:56):
Okay, Thank you so much for joining us today.
We had a great time talkingwith you about Supercell.
Join us next week as we startour next series, Crossed.
hi guys and welcome back to next episode.
I'm your host, nick, and I'mjess, and we're going to
continue our discussion of theuk hit show supercell, and so
we're watching it on netflix.
I think some people probably Idon't know if everyone's
watching it on netflix, but we,we are watching it on netflix.
That's where you can currentlyfind it if you are in America.
(00:24):
And so one of the characters inthe show well, one of the
people we consider a characterin the show is actually the
sickle cell disease.
Yes, I agree, and so I want totalk about that.
For people who are not familiarwith sickle cell, can you give
a very general overview of thedisease?
Jess (00:43):
You definitely should have told me I will try, but it has
to be yes I can.
Niq (00:49):
Okay.
So sickle cell is actually a aresponse, like a genetic
response to malaria, and somalaria is like a blood disease
that's found in africa a lot,and so to help prevent malaria,
like, there's like a geneticmutation where the blood cells
are shaped like a sickle that'swhy they call it sickle cell,
(01:10):
and it's actually like a.
It's a very painful disease andso it's typically found in
populations of African descentand because of that, there I
feel like there's not enoughresearch done worldwide.
I don't think that there's aproper treatment.
It causes a lot of pain, andpeople I don't feel like doctors
(01:33):
respect the pain, becausethere's a myth that, uh, people
of african descent don't feelpain the way that other people
do.
I just don't know where thatcame from Slavery.
That came from slavery.
I'm a pain wimp.
I'm a gentle, gentle girl.
Jess (01:51):
Please.
That is part of the way thatwhite people justified enslaving
Africans is that they don'tfeel the whips, they don't feel
the pain as much.
Niq (02:03):
It's an unspoken character in the show.
I'm gonna tell you, when um wemeet michael's mom and she um
suffers from sickle cell.
She's got a really bad case ofit.
Um, and they said that they hada sickle cell treatment center
and they were all over the world.
(02:24):
I knew immediately there was aproblem there, because I'm like
when have you guys ever caredabout sickle cell Ever?
Jess (02:36):
And that's good to say that, because they did not
explicitly say that thatparticular treatment center is
connected to the undergroundobserving the supercell people.
But I'm like I already know.
I already know that it isbecause y'all don't care about
things that primarily affectAfrican descended people, and I
feel like what they're reallydoing with that is that they're
(02:58):
using it to research and study,trying to draw out who's going
to develop the supercell well,they do confirm it in the last
episode.
Niq (03:05):
So think about the end of the last episode when the white
guy gets fired and the womantakes over.
That's that same lady that's inthe hospital talking to
Michael's mom.
It took me two times to watchit because I still didn't
recognize her?
Jess (03:18):
I still didn't.
I knew she's queen evil, butlike I did not recognize that's
the same one that's talking toMichael's mom, that's how.
But I already knew.
I knew from the beginning too.
I was like, oh no, y'all up tosome foolishness and you never
started his mama fast enough.
Niq (03:34):
Right After they said that, oh, we're going to make sure
she's not in pain.
And so in this show, in thisworld, the supercell is a
genetic variation from sicklecell.
So the people who end up withthe supercell powers, their
parents, actually have sicklecell or are carriers of sickle
(03:56):
cell, and it shows up in thekids, and so I've.
Of course, the treatment centerto me is, yeah, they're trying
to go through the population andthey're trying to figure out,
like, who is likely, who'sunlikely.
Jess (04:09):
And how it's happening.
It is just research andexperimentation on black people.
Niq (04:15):
Right, which is very triggering, very triggering to
me.
But once again, it is commonamong the diaspora of people
coming in and researching andusing Black bodies for research
and experimentation.
And like we can talk aboutHenrietta Lacks, we can talk
about the Tuskegee experiments,and those are just in the US.
(04:37):
I'm quite sure Africa has tonsof examples and I'm quite sure
maybe even in the uk they mayhave examples too.
But what was so like jarringfor me was when you see them
locked up in the in those roomsand they're dragging taser's
mom's body, her dead body, pasteverybody and it's like a
(05:01):
warning I felt like to them yes,fall in line, do what I tell
you to do.
You have no agency.
You are not a person, you areessentially a lab rat.
Jess (05:12):
That's why I actually turned off the show initially.
So like I tried to watch this afew months ago just on my own,
before we decided we were goingto review it, before we decided
we were going to do a show, butI could not get past that
initial scene of seeing thatBlack woman's body being dragged
through that I was like I justcan't.
I just can't do that today andthat was so hard, it was defunct
(05:33):
.
I think yeah, because and likeyou said, there's so many real
world examples of us knowingthat that's exactly how they
treat us.
The whole field of gynecologyin the US is based on them
experimenting on enslavedAfrican women.
Niq (05:50):
Yes, absolutely Absolutely, and so it was.
Once again, this show is basedin reality.
It feels so real because wouldyou expect any other response if
Black people started developingsuperpowers, other than the
fact that the government wouldimmediately, as fast as possible
(06:12):
, try to locate as many aspossible, try to start
experimentations?
Because I wonder if theorganization's long-term goal is
to try to figure out how toharness the ability to create
powers so that they can givepowers to white people Because,
yeah, because they would besuperheroes.
Jess (06:31):
If not, they would already have suits and be Superman if
they were white.
Niq (06:36):
Right, and so it's like it's immediate.
How can we exploit this?
Jess (06:42):
For our own benefit, our own gain.
How can we other them?
How can we other them?
How can we, yeah, divide andconquer all the stuff that they
typically?
Niq (06:50):
do Right, and yeah, that's definitely something that I want
to talk about.
So think about this Like Blackpeople all of a sudden are
getting superpowers rightImmediately.
That puts them at a higher,more elite, superior level than
white people who control society.
(07:10):
So that's an instant fear,that's a problem.
You know what I mean.
Like this minority communityall of a sudden has a way to be
superior.
So what do they do?
They infiltrate the community.
They find supers and theyimmediately start having them
hunt other supers, creating adivide so that there is not
(07:34):
unity in the community, right?
Jess (07:37):
And if that is not something, that and access, they
give some of them salaries,yeah, and they target the supers
who have difficult situations.
So they target crazy because hehas a 35-year prison sentence.
He also has the power to stealother people's powers, so that's
(07:57):
very useful to them.
Right, and talking about yourpowers being connected to who
you are yeah, thievery, thatmakes sense with him.
Niq (08:05):
But also just using.
Do you remember he had thatconversation with Taser and he
said to Taser oh, you know, youwere like my little brother.
And Taser said, no, you justused me to do the stuff you
didn't want to do, and that isso true.
Jess (08:20):
Even more true when you know that Crazy is actually a
part of the organization.
And even more true when youknow that Crazy is actually a
part of the organization andthat he's the front person for
the hooded people.
You knew the whole time thatBoyz Mama didn't abandon him.
Niq (08:34):
Right, but also, did you see, did that catch you off
guard when you found out thatCrazy was a part of the
organization it did?
Jess (08:42):
because I don't feel like they foreshadowed it a lot If it
was him getting out that crazywas a part of the organization.
It did.
Because I don't feel like theyforeshadowed it a lot, like the
only like okay, if it was himgetting out that 35 year prison
sentence, because that's theonly thing that could have been
a clue.
But yeah, it did surprise me.
But it surprised me like I felt, it felt thrown into me.
That did that.
Didn't feel like it was likeforeshadowed enough or even
alluded to.
Niq (09:04):
I did not see it coming, which is strange because we are
twists like we see a twistcoming.
I did.
I also did not see it coming,but it felt right once I went
back and looked at it, becauseit makes I do like, well, I'm
gonna tell you this for the show, but I I feel like they could
have foreshadowed it a bit more.
Jess (09:24):
I feel like they could have alluded to it.
I don't feel like they did.
Niq (09:28):
Okay, so I'm going to tell you where I see the
foreshadowing.
Yes, the first foreshadowing isthat he got let out of that 35
prison, 35 year prison sentenceand he's just like oh, I just
had a good lawyer.
That was crazy.
But also the way he conductedhimself when he was out of
prison.
You just got off of a 35 yearprison sentence, yet you are
(09:51):
openly dealing drugs.
Remember we were talking aboutthe trap house, which was like a
compound.
It was so blatant, it was not asecret and how are you going to
operate like that unless youknow you are untouchable.
He immediately started goingout and doing high level gang
activity in broad daylight.
(10:12):
He, he, he was walking throughthe world as if he was
untouchable.
And that, to me, was.
It was the foreshadowing, butit was subtle and well done
because it was like once I knewI could see it, but I was not
looking for it because there wasso much stuff going on.
There was, they did so much inthese six episodes and in, I
(10:36):
feel like, even if crazy did nothave powers, even if crazy was
not a part of the organization,he was still enough to be the
big bad that I wasn't looking.
I wasn't looking for morebecause I'm like this man will.
Before he ever had powers, hewas already a monster, so I was
not even looking for him.
Jess (10:59):
Crazy was born a monster.
There was never any hope.
Now he was a baby demon.
Niq (11:10):
Yeah, definitely a baby, so I wasn't looking, I wasn't
looking for, I wasn't lookingfor it.
But once I knew, I went backand re-examined it and I'm like,
okay, that was subtleforeshadowing, which I love,
because you don't like I saidyou, it's hard to catch us.
Jess (11:27):
I do like subtle.
I just don't feel like it was.
I don't feel like there was anyindication that that's who he
was, that that's what it was.
I'm like okay, I can say I canargue that I missed the 35 years
since being commuted, like Inoticed it, but I didn't see
that as foreshadowing untilafter.
I knew and went back, but Ididn't see any other
foreshadowing because Krazy wasgoing to do that anyway.
(11:49):
That's who he was when he was akingpin before he went in.
He's going to be a kingpin whenhe go out.
Krazy ain't going to nobody'sjob.
Niq (11:56):
Right, but you know normal kingpins move in silence and
violence.
He was very much yelling outloud and he was not like he,
like he, he just like I said itwas.
The foreshadowing was subtle,but it was there.
If you think about how you sawthe other supers commit crimes
(12:16):
and never get caught becausethey were supers like sabrina.
Jess (12:20):
Sabrina killed Kadeem, andre robbed the ATM, but Rodney
was running all over townpulling drugs With killing
Kadeem because Kadeem was asuper with a tracker and they
were trying to pull Kadeem offthe streets, not because they
were trying to protect Sabrina.
Niq (12:38):
No, I feel like if Sabrina would have killed a civilian,
they still would not, becausenone of the supers.
They were watching them allwith cameras, but they were not.
They saw them commit crimes andthey never picked them up.
The police were never involved,because they were.
They were researching andprotecting them.
So if you think about how that,how they were doing that for
(13:00):
the other supers, that's howthey were doing crazy.
So, like I said, it was notblatant foreshadowing, it was
very, very subtle and I I don'tknow if it was guessable, maybe
maybe some people guessed it.
But, like I said, I was sodistracted by the actual story
because, once again, this showis only six episodes and it is
(13:22):
jam-packed, but I still think itwas.
Jess (13:24):
Long term it's a good choice for the show.
Niq (13:26):
But it felt like they just dropped that in yeah, but I,
what is the show trying to say?
Because it like using sicklecell, the way that it is, um,
and and bringing up all of thelike, common, like historical
things that have happened toblack people, as far as, like,
(13:46):
government intervention andexperimentation.
What do you think the show istrying to say?
Jess (13:52):
I think it's just trying to bring all that to light and
how differently like it looks ifwe developed a superpower for
someone else, like even in that,like any other community would
have been to bring themselves upin and just kind of benefit the
whole community.
But they immediately starttrying to tear us down and use
us, and they do that even withour natural abilities and our
(14:14):
natural superpowers in real life, because you know what I mean.
Like I believe not not no weirdscience fiction kind of way,
but we are just a beautiful,just talented people throughout
the diaspora and so all of thosethings that we just naturally
have and naturally possess, theyconstantly look for a way to
suppress and exploit and orexploit.
Niq (14:38):
I agree, I absolutely agree that there is a lot of
suppression and exploitation andthere's like a across the world
, like PR campaign against us,right?
Jess (14:52):
which I've never for the life of me and I'm going to stop
trying because I'm exhausted.
But like I, for the life of medo not understand.
Especially non-Black people ofcolor believe in that crap
because they say horrible thingsabout you.
You don't think that the samegroup that lied on you might lie
(15:14):
on someone else?
And at the end of the day, forthe most part, we are not the
ones who came and disruptedwhatever your situation was.
Historically, we're not.
That's not usually us.
There's one group who disruptedeverybody, but you want to be
them.
Niq (15:30):
You're not mad at them.
That's what I was going to say.
So the way that white supremacythrives Is that they make
people feel incremental Betterthan the next.
So if you, even though you're aminority and you're treated
poorly Well, at least you're notblack.
So you're a minority and you'retreated poorly well, at least
you're not Black.
So you're slightly higher onthe rung, even though you'll
never reach the top, at leastyou're not on the bottom rung.
(15:53):
And I think that is what theydo and that's why they will
believe it, because they want tobe in that slightly higher tier
yeah of everybody.
Jess (16:06):
Even within the diaspora.
Honestly and truly, I feel likea lot of these diaspora wars
are just.
I just want to feel like I'mbetter than somebody, because it
doesn't make any sense.
There's no reason for us tofight each other.
Niq (16:18):
But if you even like we can get specific, even in the
American community, just evenAmerican Blacks, there's
classism within us.
If you think about it, you knowwhat I mean.
So maybe it's a natural thingthat no one wants to be on the
bottom, so you're always tryingto look for someone to put
beneath you.
You know, because suburbanBlacks feel like they're better
(16:42):
than urban Blacks.
You know, urban Blacks feellike they're better than rural
Blacks.
Jess (16:49):
I still feel like we have more A sense of community.
Niq (16:54):
Overall, yes, because it's like this is the thing you can
talk.
I can talk about you, but noone else Can.
So if you, when it comes to it,like, yes, we're going to come
together, but within ourcommunity, and that's the thing.
Jess (17:09):
If it comes to it, there are certain things that happen.
There are certain things thathappen to us.
If it comes to it, we don'thave to that happen.
There are certain things thathappen to us to where, if it
comes to it, we don't have tohave that conversation, we don't
have to dissect.
We already know who's for usand who's against us, like you
know what I mean.
Whereas, like within thediaspora, it's like you're
treating like we're your enemiesand we have not done anything
to you.
We really haven't done anythingserious to each other, but talk
(17:31):
shit quite honestly.
And we really haven't doneanything serious to each other,
but talk shit quite honestly andwe're really carrying other
people's issues.
Absolutely.
But if it goes down and yes,what you said about the US is
true, but if it goes down, forthe most part we're going to
band together as we have.
Niq (17:51):
So think about it.
You know how.
You have those cousins that yougrew up with and they're your
aces, and then you have thatcousin that you haven't seen
since y'all were like a childand so, even though y'all were
like close when you were reallylittle, they're essentially a
stranger.
That's me, I think.
Like when I think about thediaspora, that's what I think it
is.
Jess (18:08):
It's like we know we're related but like my cousin,
because I am that cousin, I amthat cousin, ain't nobody seen.
But at the end of the day, ifyou really threaten my cousins,
yeah, I may not come to thefamily event but I will come to
open up a can if I need to.
Niq (18:31):
You know, I got cousins, and then I got cousins, and then
I got cousins, and then I gotcousins.
You know what I mean.
And so, yes, I have the cousinsthat I will ride for.
I also have some cousins that Igot something for when I see
you, and so you know, no, you'renot even around them enough to
(18:57):
even have that.
Jess (18:58):
No, I mean, I have cousins that I would ride for I would.
Niq (19:02):
Yes, no, I mean like I would.
Jess (19:07):
I don't have cousins that I got something for, because I'm
like I just not deal with it.
Niq (19:10):
That's what I'm saying that's what I'm saying.
You're not around them enoughto even have beef.
I ain't got beef, I ain't gotchicken, I ain't got sausage no,
like essentially like wekidnapped you and we integrated
you so deeply into our familythat you ride for my cousins
most of it most of it, and youwere grandma's, one of grandma's
(19:34):
favorite grandchildren, cousins, most of them, most of them and
you were one of grandma'sfavorite grandchildren.
Jess (19:38):
I was and I'm not her grandchild, but I was one of the
favorites you were one of thefavorites.
Niq (19:44):
So you know, I mean, I honestly I wish that we could
mend the fences within thediaspora, because this is the
thing like, there is so muchcool stuff out there.
Like I, one of the things Ilove to watch are like wedding
(20:05):
ceremonies in the differentcountries, like like a Congolese
wedding versus like a SouthAfrican, like a Zulu wedding
versus like a ebo wedding, likein nigeria, or like the ghanaian
, like the.
The.
The fits are beautiful, thecustoms are amazing and there's
so many you know, just beautifulthings that I think that we
(20:29):
could be focusing on instead oflike who?
Like which one of us best?
Please?
Jess (20:33):
white people, girl and that's and that's, I think, my
point.
I don't even know how I got todiasporas, but like that is my
point we are for why are wefighting over stereotypes that
white people made up?
Niq (20:46):
so I'm, I'm hoping, like going forward, like we can move
past that, you know, because Ithink if we, if we learned
nothing, we we learned that weare for us.
You know what I mean, and noone else is going to be for us
the way that we are.
So let's all join together.
Jess (21:02):
We can have our different flavors and our different
individuality, but come togetherwhen we need to come together
and realize we are not eachother's enemy.
Niq (21:10):
Right, definitely not.
And can I tell you one of thethings I really liked about the
show and I know it's gonna soundso trivial, but one of the
things that I loved were theaccents in the show, and by that
I mean, whenever you hear ajamaican accent in american tv
or a haitian accent or any otherlike a, they are always
(21:31):
terrible, the patois is alwaysawful and I'm like the accent is
good, the patois is good justhire somebody jamaican or
caribbean descent.
Jess (21:44):
but I do think that the jamaican accent is one of the
hardest ones to imitate, likeI've always felt like that it is
, it is layered, it's got a lotof stuff in there, so I think it
is really hard to come from theoutside and imitate that.
So just hire someone.
Niq (21:57):
I agree, but I think it's obvious that they did.
Jess (22:01):
Oh yeah, absolutely you know what I'm saying, and so I'm
like why can't we do that?
Niq (22:05):
Why do we have?
Because I'm going to tell youlike, for me, of course, it
course, it's always like aHaitian accent.
They are always so terrible andI can't even speak Haitian
Creole with a good accentbecause I didn't grow up
speaking it, but the accent isvery, it's very particular.
It is very particular and I Idon't know what they put in
(22:29):
America TV.
It is always the worst.
And so, hearing people speak inaccents that were authentic and
, like I said, when they werespeaking like the Patois, the
Patois was real, I'm like thatis so nice, like I love that,
you know, because we don't getthat here in America very rarely
(22:51):
they do it well no, becausehere's the thing they did not.
They were not casting a here inAmerica Very rarely they do it
well.
No, because here's the thingthey were not casting a Jamaican
person.
It wasn't a Jamaican character,this was just her parents.
You know what I'm saying.
They just happened to beJamaican people, whereas in
America it's like the characteris Jamaican, now we have to
(23:16):
force it and it's weird.
Jess (23:18):
That's true.
That is a difference.
Niq (23:20):
You know what I'm saying.
Once again, I love the realnessof the show.
I feel like I understand whatSouth London is.
I also like that in shows basedout of the UK.
I feel like I understand whatSouth London is.
Jess (23:34):
I also like that in shows based out of the UK, people look
more natural.
People are not overly done.
They look like real people.
Niq (23:44):
Real bodies, real bodies over there, and even though the
sisters were very fit likepetite women, still like real
butts, real boobs, and a lot oftimes the makeup was very, very
natural looking.
Because here's the thing, likethe like I said, like the uk
(24:06):
girls, they put that on likethey.
They do their makeup, theirmakeup.
They do it differently than wedo, but they have like their own
makeup styles.
They're like their own glamstyles and stuff like that.
But you really didn't see a lotof that in the show.
It was very much everyday, likelooking normal people, still
beautiful people, but not likeoverly made up, and I love that
(24:30):
about uh, like they show likepeople looking real these are
people going about their daily,regular life and something
fantastic happens to them.
You know right, I'm still sadthat I didn't get my superpowers
like.
Okay, so question if thesuperpowers are based on who we
(24:55):
are, what would your superpowerbe?
Or what do you think mysuperpower would be?
Jess (25:00):
Well, you, know I want to be able to teleport, which makes
sense because I like to traveland I always want to be
somewhere else.
So teleportation, actually, Iwant Michael's powers, I want
both Michael's powers, and to beable to stop and freeze time.
What would yours be, goodness?
Okay, so are we basing on thepowers?
Niq (25:23):
not the powers in the show just based on, like, who we are
as people too late.
Jess (25:27):
I've already done it.
You would have Sabrina's powers.
Yes, if you could move stuff orbring stuff to you without
having to get up.
Niq (25:39):
I'm going to tell you what I think that I would have.
Okay, I think that I would havemind control.
Oh, because I think I think youshould be.
I think because one of thethings I think that I'm good at
is like having empathy forpeople, like putting myself in
other people's shoes, you know,like I feel like I have
(26:01):
naturally good like customerservice, like skills, like I'm a
I'm good with when I want to beI'm good with people, you know.
I mean I can get in people'sheads and kind of know what they
want, and so I think that thatwould lead to mind control.
Mind control, mind reading,that kind of stuff I don't want
you to have either of thosethings.
Jess (26:20):
I want you to have superpowers, but you know how I
feel about people being able toread my mind.
Niq (26:25):
I'm nosy.
Jess (26:26):
Yeah, it gets scary in here sometimes.
Nobody needs to know the fulldetails.
Niq (26:32):
It's okay, I wouldn't mind control you, though I wouldn't
read your mind.
Yeah, no, no, I don't want youto have a superpower.
Jess (26:40):
I want you to have a superpower.
I do Just not mind control orbeing able to read people's
minds, but I can see why youwould gravitate to those things.
I still think you wouldtelekinesis.
Niq (26:51):
So now I'm going to challenge you.
What superpower would you haveif you could not have one that
was already on the show?
Jess (27:00):
It has to be based on who you are as a person If it's
based on who, but it's still onthe show Because I'm like the
other one.
That makes sense for me as aperson is the ability to
disappear.
Niq (27:21):
But you could be like a chameleon, where, instead of
disappearing, you blend into thebackground.
Jess (27:25):
That was me through high school and my early career.
Yeah, I was like that job I hadfor the longest, the longest
period of work I had.
Uh, part of the reason why Iknow where the bodies are buried
is because I blended into thepaint like I wasn't.
You know what I mean.
I was so quiet back then thatpeople would forget I was in the
(27:48):
room and just say everything Idon't know.
Niq (27:54):
I would see something where you had like the power to like
acquire wealth.
I don't know what that wouldlook like as a superpower, but
that's I'm teleporting into thebank vaults.
Jess (28:12):
I'm going into the bank vaults she's like no, I trust me
, no matter what power I have,it's going to lead to wealth and
that is true because, like whenI tell you, I understood,
rodney, that in that fiveminutes or less I'm like because
you got to make it work for youyes, right, I I'm sorry, like
(28:33):
with even with andre, when hehit that atm machine.
I probably would have hit acouple yeah I think I'm not
three, I ain't, yeah, no, I wasthinking the same thing, because
when his friend and hisfriend's name is john, by the
way, which is yeah, that's whyit's hard to remember and when
john told, him, you gonna hitanother to hit another ATM.
I was like no, no, no, thatmakes sense.
(28:53):
That's the only time you saidsomething that makes sense.
Niq (28:57):
Let's not get excessive.
Maybe one a month.
Just for a little bit, go outof your regular place.
I would get a little prostheticface mask so I look like a
white person.
Jess (29:11):
I would have makeup on your skin.
Niq (29:13):
Yeah, oh yeah, but I would be once a month.
I would hit an atm machine.
I would just be like maybe,because you know it's very easy
to travel there.
So I'm telling you like maybethe next one I'm getting is in
scotland.
Right, I'm taking the train toparis.
I'm hitting one over there,like I.
I would never hit another onein south london, but once a
month I would be taking me alittle trip, a little trip, a
(29:36):
little trip, you know.
Jess (29:38):
So listen, what's the point of being super and still
being average what you gonna dowith your mind control powers
that dick become, probablybecome president, either that,
or the CEO of a fortune 500company like I'm coming up in
(30:00):
the world.
Niq (30:01):
I'm not right.
I may try out a few differentthings, you know but yeah.
I'm going to come up of the USright now?
Jess (30:13):
definitely, and it would take my but yeah, I'm going to
come up Of the US right now.
Niq (30:16):
Definitely president, and it would take mind control for
me to get in the office.
That's how well Qualificationsbe damned, you know.
So yeah, whatever.
Yeah, with mind control, I'musing it to come up.
I'm going to be honest and say,like I don't know that I'm
necessarily Joining thesuperhero team, unless they need
(30:38):
something real specific for me.
But I'm not out in the fieldPunching folks.
Maybe I can get them to punchthemselves, but I'm not trying
to get out in the field.
Jess (30:48):
Okay, I was right, because whatever it is you decide to
have, it's not you physicallygetting up and doing nothing no,
no, don't give me super speed,don't waste your time, do not
give me super speed or superstrength, because you're like,
I'm not punching anything, but.
Niq (31:11):
I don't open my own car door, I don't take out my own
trash.
Why would you give me superstrength?
Jess (31:17):
You don't have telekinesis , so you can just draw the
things.
Niq (31:21):
You know what I'm saying.
Please don't waste your time.
Please don't waste thatmutation.
Jess (31:27):
I was just like the teapot going by itself.
I was like, oh, she's makingher tea from upstairs.
Niq (31:34):
No, that would be cool.
That would be cool.
You just see the tea floatingup the stairs.
But if I'm still working my job, I'm not using my superpower
right, that's true.
That's true.
I get it Because I need to findsome way to super sell my life
(31:54):
if I got a superpower you knowhow they say like if you win the
lottery, I'm not going to tellyou, but there'll be clues.
You know that when people saythat, like if I win the lottery,
like I'll never tell, butthere'll be clues.
If I get a superpower, I'm notgoing to tell you, but there'll
be clues, you need to tell me.
I mean, of course I would tellyou, but I'm not telling the
general public, but there willbe clues.
You need to tell me.
I mean, of course I would tellyou, I'm not telling the general
(32:14):
public, but there will be clues.
Jess (32:17):
You know I'm telling you first thing.
Yeah, just tell me.
That way I get the thing to putover my head.
So you can't read my mind.
Niq (32:25):
If you walk around with a magneto helmet, girl, first of
all, I'm going to walk aroundwith a magneto bonnet, and you
better know it.
I would die.
I would die.
There can't be anything.
There's not too many thingslocked up in there that I don't
already know, so please don'twalk around looking like the tin
(32:45):
man in a bonnet it don't matter, like sometimes it's not even
about secrets, like just some,you know, you just get them
thoughts that don't make sense.
Jess (32:53):
I don't want people to know those things.
Niq (32:55):
The intrusive thoughts.
Yes because yeah, no, no, myintrusive thoughts freak me out
sometimes exactly I'm like no,because the people think I hate
them.
Jess (33:03):
That I don't hate, it's just stuff just floats through
there no like.
Niq (33:08):
And I'm gonna tell you when my intrusive thoughts were the
worst, like postpartum, likeright after I had the baby crazy
, crazy intrusive thoughts, likethey just don't make sense,
yeah, and I'm just like theyneed they.
They I feel like they should.
Everybody should have meds whenthey go home.
Everybody should, because I'mlike this, this is crazy, you
(33:32):
know.
So, yeah, I, I understand and Iwould not be like, I would not
go and dig in because, honestly,like my, I would try to control
it, so that I'm only because,once again, these powers exhaust
you.
So I would only want to use thepowers when I needed to use the
powers.
I wouldn't just want to to berunning willy nilly through
(33:54):
people's minds.
Jess (33:56):
That would be kind of gross.
However, I would be teleportingon the daily.
Niq (34:01):
And then knocked out On the Amalfi Coast.
She said I'll be knocked out ina Range Rover, our squad as
superheroes would be sohilarious okay, so we don't have
to identify who would have whatpower oh my gosh, let's see.
(34:28):
Oh, that's hard to say.
Okay, hold on, let's think,knowing that, okay, so the
superpowers are based on theirpersonalities or who they are as
a person.
That is really hard, do youhave?
Jess (34:50):
an answer for one for our little cousin okay, what is it?
You know that thing wherepeople can blink and destroy
people like they disintegrate?
Yes, I see her with that one.
Niq (35:06):
The scary thing is, I feel like she would use it and be
like ooh, maybe I went too far.
Jess (35:10):
She gonna feel bad after.
But some people getdisintegrated.
Niq (35:15):
Yeah, but I feel like it's gonna be the lady at Publix that
did not make her sub right.
Jess (35:19):
It had to have been.
She had told that lady so manytimes.
Niq (35:29):
What about our little sister?
What power would she have?
What?
Jess (35:32):
power would she have?
Niq (35:36):
I think she would be able to drive people crazy, oh cause
she likes to play mind gameswith people.
Jess (35:45):
Yeah, I was thinking like the glimmer magic you know what
I mean like where you can changesomebody.
Niq (35:51):
Yeah, not quite mind but you can make them see what you
want them to see.
Yeah, I can see that.
I can see that.
I can see that because sheloves to like mess with people's
minds.
She likes to pull like littleframes, and she would do it both
ways it would be both positive.
Jess (36:10):
and then, when she was feeling devilish you know what I
mean like she's going to putyou in a better mood when you're
down, she's also randomly goingto make you cluck like a
chicken.
Niq (36:21):
Right, absolutely, absolutely.
Us trying to fight crime wouldbe hilarious.
We wouldn't, we wouldn't, no,we would get out there and we
would be telling so many jokesand laughing and the criminals
are like are we gonna do this?
And we're like hold on, hold on.
And we're like belly, laughingand running around we're not
(36:44):
listening.
Jess (36:45):
We're gonna make ourselves rich, we're gonna secure our
own position, and then we'rejust going around the world
doing whatever the foolishnesswe want to do.
We are not about to besuperheroes no, and you know
what?
Niq (36:57):
honestly, I think that that's really a healthy attitude
, because I feel like a lot oftimes, black women feel like we
have to be the saviors ofeverybody, and so for us to be
like you know we're gonna getsuperpowers and be completely
silly and selfish with it andjust have joy, I think that's
gross, honestly we would be like, okay, I'm gonna teleport us to
um, this, this place thisweekend and we're gonna have a
(37:20):
girls weekend and we just gonnawreak havoc on this town and
then go back home like we didn'tdo nothing right, okay, yeah, I
would love we should havesuperpowers.
When's the next time they haveone of those red suns?
Maybe we didn't do it right,probably not.
We gotta figure out.
We gotta do a little bit moreresearch so we can get those red
suns.
Maybe we didn't do it right,probably not.
We got to figure out.
We got to do a little bit moreresearch so we can get another
(37:40):
red sun.
So what are you looking for inseason two?
What am I looking?
Jess (37:47):
for in season two Just more character development and
growth, which I think they did agreat job, but, of course, I
just want to see more.
Season one felt like it'sreally setting up the world and
setting up the superheroes andintroducing us.
So I think, season two, I'mexpecting to see just where they
go from here, how they grow, asthey grow with their powers, as
they have different lifeexperiences.
(38:08):
So I just want more of all ofthem.
I'm excited to see where theygo.
I want to know more about theorganization.
What does it see as its purposeand are they going to take it
down, because I need them totake it down.
Niq (38:23):
Right, I would love to see more of the stories of the
hooded Supas, because I knowthat, yes, they are working for
the organization.
I know that, yes, they areworking for the organization,
(38:45):
but I also know that there was alot of coercion in it, so I
want to hear about them, theirstories.
How do they feel about workingfor the organization?
Because, once again, they seehow other people are being
treated and do some of them wantto defect over to the other
side?
Because here's the thingTechnically they're the bad guys
, but I don't see them as bad.
I see them as captured.
(39:06):
They've been captured and so Ihate that.
Even some of them died fightingthe other team, because I'm
like man, they probably don'teven really want to be doing
this, except for, okay, I needto talk about andre.
When andre was briefly workingfor the organization and they
were like you get a bonus forevery person you bring in, andre
(39:30):
was hilarious because he's likethese are my friends.
I don't want to hurt them.
He was like but I need to takea body and I need a paycheck.
My life bill is due.
He was like hey, just open up aportal, let me slide him on in.
He was about to have money.
Jess (39:45):
But you remember what we said before though Andre is good
at his job.
Whatever his job is, andre isgood at it.
So he said listen.
They said bring the people inalive.
They said a bonus for each one.
Alive, right, no value to usdead and we can't go back empty
handed.
Open the portal.
And they kept ignoring him.
He's like open the no, we gotthe bodies, you get.
(40:05):
The first thing you do is youget the body.
Niq (40:08):
He was like let me, let me, I need to drag the body in.
If I drag the body into theportal, I get the money.
I think Andre loves acommission based job.
He does, he loves a commissionbased job.
He was like open the portal, Ineed to get this body.
(40:29):
The paychecks are going outFriday.
This is the last.
This is the end of the payperiod he was trying so
desperately.
Let me just drag somebody whois breathing through the portal.
I need this money by tomorrow.
And I was literally laughingand I know it was supposed to be
like the big fight scene, but Iwas dying laughing because I'm
(40:53):
like that man needs some money.
Jess (40:56):
Okay, Thank you so much for joining us today.
We had a great time talkingwith you about Supercell.
Join us next week as we startour next series, Crossed.
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History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.