Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion S1 E2

## Plot

Violet tells her livestream viewers to like, comment, and subscribe. However, when she gets to the gym, Cruz tells her that they're not leaving the building. Her speed won't always save her. She'll start with jumping over the rope and into the ring fifty times. I love the intro. It's short, but the music is good, and it's animated! The next day, Violet looks at all the comments from her fans asking her what happened. Her dad says no phones are allowed at the table… except for Tiago, because he's been watching baby birds online to see them hatch. He just got his first paying gig as a musician. A coffee house called Taza Caliente wants him to play this Saturday. He posted videos of himself playing guitar and singing original songs on a bench about the baby birds, which went viral. Violet tells Maya that he has more followers than her. She'll get more when she posts videos of herself fighting crime, but if she doesn't deliver soon, social media will turn on her. Cruz tells her that she still has more training to do. She's been training since she got the mask two weeks ago. It won't get her likes. Her followers want to see her fight crime. Cruz says that the point of being a superhero isn't to get likes online, it's to help people. Violet asks if it's really so bad if there's something in it for her too, but Cruz still insists on training only. She posts an unboxing livestream, but because of her super speed, it's over quickly, and the comments are negative. She has a fight with her uncle the next day. They both think that the other doesn't know what they're doing. How is Violet supposed to earn her mask if she never gets to use it? Cruz tells her that she's impatient, and she leaves. The name of her school is Dolores Huerta Middle School, named after the American labor leader and civil rights activist. When this episode originally aired, she was still alive at 92 years old. There is also a real life middle school named after her in Las Cruces, New Mexico, but it's called La Academia Dolores Huerta, and it specializes in bilingual studies, Latin dance, and folk music. Underneath the sign is a quote, but I don't know if she ever actually said it. It's blurry and far away, but it looks like it says "Every minute is a chance to change the world." I do know for sure that she's the one who came up with the phrase "¡Sí, se puede!", which has also been adopted by many other labor organizations, and even President Obama's first presidential campaign. Anyway, Maya tells Violet that she lost a bunch of followers, but she can do a meet and greet this weekend downtown, since she'll be there for Tiago's concert anyway. They decide to livestream her fighting actual crime the night before it happens. I love how the scene literally gets brighter when Violet says she's going to find her light, due to one of those artificial lights in the hallway coming on behind her. That's the kind that you hate when you have a concussion. That night at dinner, Cruz arrives, since Nina texted and invited him. However, that was over a week ago. He admits that he might need to come by more often after Tiago and Juan assume that he needs something from them. Violet isn't pleased to see him and refuses to come back to training, which is probably the real reason why he showed up. It turns out that he's also her godfather. Ahijada means goddaughter. She tries to make him leave, but he stays for dinner and sits next to her. Their conversation about accomplishments is clearly about their different approaches and reasons for being superheroes. For Tiago to get so good at music, he must've practiced a lot. Violet says it's great to do something you love and get applause for it at the same time. Cruz says the applause isn't the reason why he plays music. Tiago says no, but before he can fully answer, Violet interrupts and says it's a part of it, otherwise he wouldn't post the videos at all. Tiago wonders why he does post the videos, and worries that he's an egomaniac. Violet tells him that he posts them because it's nice to be appreciated for what you do. Everyone does it. Cruz points out that when Nina won a Teacher of the Year award, she didn't post it online. She hates social media. However, she *did* put the award on the fridge, because there's nothing wrong with doing good and also wanting recognition. The teaching is its own reward… if you know how to teach. Cruz tells Violet that a person should worry about being good at something before they worry about getting validated for it. That night, Violet and Maya are listening into the police dispatch for a "good" crime. Oh! The series *is* set in Los Angeles! Thank you freeze frame! They hear about an armored car robbery. Violet easily ties up one guy, but it turns out that there's a second one with a buzzsaw that she didn't see that frees his friend. She tries to stop them, but they close the door, and she flies into the trunk of the car they were throwing the cash into. Before the one with the buzzsaw can seriously injure or kill her, Black Scorpion saves her. She refuses his hand to help her up. She didn't want to spend a hundred years in training. Cruz tells her that she was outnumbered and reckless, and she doesn't know the first thing about being a superhero. She could've been hurt, or worse. He has no idea why the mask chose her. She doesn't get it, and he doesn't know how to get through to her. He's wasting his time, which is what he told her she was doing to him when they first met and before they knew each other's identities in the previous episode. Maya ended the livestream after Black Scorpion showed up, but everyone saw some of it. Violet is crying and thinks he's right. She's not a hero. She wishes she never got the mask, and throws it away. I'm definitely getting "Spider-Man No More!" vibes from this, even if it's incredibly early in the season for Violet to quit and go into a ten minute retirement. The next day, her mom enters her room to tell that they're leaving for Tiago's show soon. She sees her daughter sulking at the negative comments. Violet tells her that she posted a video that no one liked, and she let everyone down. Now she feels like a failure. This is why Nina hates social media. The comments aren't from anyone they know. Nina asks Violet why she, her beautiful and talented daughter, cares what a stranger thinks of her? She doesn't like everything they post, so why should they like everything she posts? Dopamine? Adrenaline? Common courtesy? Good manners? Nina tells Violet to stop looking for validation and recognition online. The only "like" that matters is liking herself, and they hug. While listening to Tiago play, Maya sees signs outside that say Ultra Violet. Violet forgot to cancel the meetup. They go outside and see kids talking about her. They hope she's okay after last night. It wasn't a total disaster. These loyal kids still love her. Violet says it doesn't matter. She doesn't have the mask, which means no more Ultra Violet. Suddenly, a frantic woman named Isabella comes up to them and asks them if they've seen her daughter, Daniella. They came to see Ultra Violet, but Isabella doesn't know where she is. She's already called the police. Daniella is four years old and is wearing a purple dress and ribbon in her hair. Maya and Violet split up to look for her. While sitting sadly on a bench, a newspaper blows onto Violet's face, and she suddenly gets her mask back. She puts it on, finds Daniella, and saves her from oncoming traffic. She returns her to her mom as herself. Isabella assumes that Daniella means that she's *like* Ultra Violet. I also like how they subtly referenced the importance of diversity, both in real life and in media. Daniella thinks it's cool that Ultra Violet looks like her. Tiago sings a song about Violet. *How can you learn so much from a little girl? How can anyone be so brave? She might look up at me, but I look up to her And it's with honesty that I say You're my hero, my little sis Hero, I was so happy on the day you were born Hero, I'd be remiss If I didn't tell you that you are My hero* Some time later, Violet enters the gym while it's closed and starts training by herself when Cruz leaves his office. She apologizes to him. She gets it now. Training is useful, and being a superhero isn't about the likes. Saving Daniella made her like herself more than any viral post ever could. It felt amazing. Cruz was right, helping people is what it's all about. He apologizes to her for what he said. He still has no idea why the mask chose her, but it did, and he shouldn't have given up on her. It won't happen again. They're in this together. Some time later, Violet tells her followers that she knows she messed up, but they're here to see her get back up. She'll still post stuff, but she won't be sharing *everything* she does. And what she does share, she hopes they'll all like, but if they don't, that's okay too. She tells them that even if people don't always see the good they're putting out into the world, they're still heroes to her. Also, I don't know how long Maya and Violet spent looking for Daniella, and it's not commented on this time, but she probably did miss at least some of Tiago's concert, which ties into the theme of the next episode, which is all about needs versus wants while being a superhero, which, like getting back up, and never giving up, is definitely a common Spider-Man theme.