Black Scorpion is an American superhero television series that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2001. It aired in Canada on Space. The series is based on two Roger Corman Showtime TV-movies: Black Scorpion (1995) and its sequel Black Scorpion II: Aftershock (1997). The show focuses on a female police officer, who by night takes to the streets and fights crime as the superhero the Black Scorpion.
Some episodes from the series were combined into straight-to-video movies, with episodes 1.1 and 1.2 released as Black Scorpion Returns in 2001 and episodes 1.1, 1.3, and 1.8 released as Sting of the Black Scorpion in 2002.
The series was available on DVD in North America.
Lead character
Darcy Walker The Black Scorpion's real name is Darcy Walker, a police detective in Angel City (a fictionalized version of Los Angeles) who enforces the law more efficiently without a badge as her vigilante alter ego. Darcy's father was shot by the city's crooked district attorney. The D.A. was arrested, but the charges were suspiciously dropped. That was when Darcy decided to take to the streets as the Black Scorpion.
She is fond of the color black, revealed during an interview after her first appearance in costume. As shown in the first episode, her choice of scorpion imagery relates to an old fable about a scorpion trying to cross a river, which her father had told to her.
In the Corman films, the role of Darcy was played by brunette Joan Severance. In the series, she is played by redhead Michelle Lintel.
Black Scorpion Apart from being an excellent hand-to-hand fighter and an expert with computers, Black Scorpion, just like Batman, has no superpowers. She relies on various specially developed technologies, chief among them the car called the Stingray with voice command weaponry and a disguise capability to make it look like a regular Corvette. The "Scorpionmobile" in the first episode was the movie version, which was destroyed and a new version was created for the run of the series. Only one exists in the world, which is owned by Nate Truman of StarCarCentral.com. She also wears a ring that shoots powerful blasts of energy and possesses a similar transformation capability to the Stingray for when Darcy needs to switch into her heroine costume in the field, like the Flash does in costume only from his lightning bolt Flash ring.
Other major characters Detective Steve Rafferty is Darcy's partner and love interest. Apart from Darcy, Steve is the best cop on the force. At present, he is on a mission to unmask the Black Scorpion. Darcy wants to tell Steve that she is the Black Scorpion, but whenever she tries, the opportunity slips away. Steve may also have a crush on the Black Scorpion, which visibly upsets Darcy, forming a bizarre love triangle between Steve, herself, and her costumed alter ego. He is played by Scott Valentine. Of special note, Scott Valentine played a cameo in the second Black Scorpion film as minor thug. Specs and Slugger: A pair of incompetent cops, they work with Darcy and Steve. Often, the two get into car crashes while chasing Black Scorpion. They are played by Shane Powers and Steven Kravitz, respectively. Of note, they are the only characters, save Gangster Prankster and Aftershock, to return for the series with their original actors. Argyle Sims: Darcy's personal mechanic, he is the only person whom Darcy allowed to know her identity unconditionally, since he freely gave her most of her more hi-tech equipment. He is somewhat a mentor figure and comic relief to her at times, but his role is watered down somewhat in the series, only seeming to appear when a new gadget is needed. In one episode, he garbed himself as the "Argyle Avenger", after tipping off Detective Steve Rafferty, who could not make it in time to aid Darcy (Black Scorpion) foil the antagonist's plot. He is played by Brandon Terrell (listed as BT in the credits). Veronica "Tender Lovin'": Argyle's girlfriend and a former hooker, Argyle and she are constantly arguing about relationship issues. She is played by Enya Flack. Arthur "Artie" Worth: Angel City's extremely corrupt as well as criminally incompetent mayor, played by Robert Pine, often involved in various shady deals either to fund his campaign for re-election or his extravagant lifestyle. Many criminals in the city are created because of his half-baked scheming, including his own deputy mayor who he often scapegoats for his crimes. Dr. Phineas Phoenix: A scientist who deals in reanimating the dead and creating clones, his goal is to take a criminal and reform him into a productive member of society. As a result, several of Black Scorpion's enemies return from fatal defeats at her hand (Breathtaker, Inferno, and Gangster Prankster). He is played by Raye Birk. Captain Henry Strickland is the equally unqualified chief of police in the Angel City precinct and the morbidly obese senior officer of Darcy, Steve, Specs and Slugger, and all the rest of the force. Rather than conduct serious police work, the captain spends more time stuffing his fat face and chasing after either Specs and/or Slugger whenever they are getting up to something stupid. His first assignment while on the police force as a junior officer had him unjustly imprison Ben Tickerman for a crime he did not commit. A hallucinogenic intoxication brought on by Breathtaker showed his worst nightmare as being subordinate to the vigilante Black Scorpion who was chief of police, indicating some mild insecurities about his job position. He is played by Guy Boyd.
Villains Returning enemies Breathtaker (Adam West): The first villain Black Scorpion fought, and the reason for her existence. Due to brain damage suffered from a gunshot wound through the lungs, Dr. Noah Goddard is unable to breathe without a special armor he created. After losing his career due to his condition, Goddard became the super-villain Breathtaker, and vowed revenge upon the City of Angels via an asphyxiating gas. His killing of Darcy's father is what drove Darcy to become the titular vigilante. Despite dying in the first Black Scorpion movie, Breathtaker is resurrected by Dr. Phoenix. Skills: Respiratory surgery, artificial organ replacement, Aerosol chemistry
Weapons: Gas dispensers, mind controlling vapors
Aftershock (Sherrie Rose): Originally a benevolent seismologist, Professor Ursula Undershaft became the super-villain Aftershock after Mayor Worth ordered the sabotage of a machine she created that could predict earthquakes, as he had hoped to collect on earthquake insurance. With her public image in shambles, Undershaft set out on a rampage of revenge, ultimately planning on creating a massive earthquake that would demolish the city. Seemingly dying after supposedly sacrificing herself to stop her plan in the second movie, Black Scorpion II: Aftershock, the series reveals that she survived and landed in a coma, from which she awakes, and resumes her vendetta. Later died for real when crushed under falling debris, but was soon resurrected by Dr. Phoenix. Skills: Seismologist
Weapons: Shockwave gauntlets
The Gangster Prankster (Stoney Jackson): The older brother of Argyle, Luther Simms was driven mad when their parents were shot by dirty cops, and he laughed, thinking it was a joke...until he saw the blood was real. Now stuck with a nightmarish permanent grin on his face, Luther became the super-villain, the Gangster Prankster, and sought to avenge his parents. Unlike Aftershock, the Gangster Prankster died for real in the second movie, and was brought back by Dr. Phoenix, when the doctor tried to rehabilitate him. Naturally, it backfired, and Simms resumed his super-villain career. He died again in his second appearance in the series when Argyle exposes him to his own lethal gas, causing him to explode from laughing. Skills: Criminal mastermind with a warped sense of humor.
New enemies FireArm (Martin Kove): A former cop in the City Of Angels, Jack Aimes was forced into early retirement when the actions of the psychotic General Stryker cost him life & limb. Outfitted with a prosthetic gun arm & bionic eye, Aimes resurfaced As FireArm, setting out to force Mayor Worth to repeal a proposition that would stipulate the waiting period of weapon purchases. He dies when his headquarters is blown up by Black Scorpion, but not before getting his revenge on Stryker. Weapons: Prosthetic gun arm
Hurricane (Athena Massey): Exposed to the toxic waste in the city's ocean (put there by Mayor Worth's goons on his orders), marine biologist Gail Weathers gained the ability to psychically control the weather. With her equally mutated henchmen, The human-octopus hybrid Squids, Weathers reinvented herself as Hurricane, and plotted to flood the city. Powers: Weather control
Flashpoint (Allen Scotti): The top photojournalist at the Angel's Herald, Cameron Albright was obsessed with uncovering Black Scorpion's secret identity. This would ultimately be his downfall, as when he attempted to snap a pic of her unmasked face while she was facing the Red Dragons, and she used her Scorpion Ring to stop him, accidentally blinding him in the process. Now wanting revenge, despite his eyes being fixed by advanced laser surgery, Albright became the super-villain Flashpoint, and sought to blind the rest of the city, so they could live in darkness like him.
Skills: Ex-photojournalist; criminal mastermind
Inferno (Brent Huff): Originally a dedicated firefighter who struck up a romance with Darcy, Adam Burns stil resolved to help people after Mayor Worth made cutbacks that cost him his job. While chasing an arsonist (who was Mayor Worth's former cellmate, and acting on his orders), Adam was hit by solar energy, causing him to burn anything he touched. Driven mad by this, Adam became Inferno, and died at the end of his first appearance. He was later resurrected by Dr. Phoenix.
Powers: Pyrokinesis
Medusa (Lisa Boyle): Disfigured due to a schoolyard prank, Minerva Stone was cruelly nicknamed Medusa, until the day she found magic mineral water that restored her beauty. She then developed a cement gun that turned people to stone, which she then used on all the bachelors that visited her spa in Angel City, placing them in her garden, with Steve being one of her victims.
Skills: Criminal mastermind
Weapons: Cement gun
Clockwise (Frank Gorshin): Wrongfully imprisoned on faulty charges for twenty-five years by then beat cop Henry Strickland, Ben Tickerman learned how to make clocks in prison, and became obsessed with time. Upon release from prison, Tickerman became the time themed terrorist Clockwise. With the help of his three henchmen, the tall Big Hand, the diminutive Small Hand, and the evil Hourglass, he set about avenging himself upon the people responsible for his imprisonment, using a special device he created to accelerate their aging process. He was later killed when Black Scorpion reflected the device's beam back on him, rapidly aging him to dust.
Skills: Criminal mastermind with mastery of precision timing; Engineering
Weapons: Time freezing stopwatch; Age accelerating device
Aerobicide (Renee Allman): A misandrist who, after excessive exercise destroyed her muscles and cost her the use of her legs, was outfitted with cybernetic implants that increased her strength and agility to superhuman levels. Hellbent on reducing the male population of the city, Suzy Pain now named Aerobicide and her two female goons, Bend (Faith Salie) and Stretch (Ava Fabian) targeted rich men and had them exercise to death, then stole their money. Aerobicide was eventually killed when Black Scorpion took control of her implants, and gave her a taste of her own medicine.
Powers: Cybernetically enhanced strength and agility