Jennifer has spent episodes denying her abilities and how her life has changed, but it looks like she is really to embrace her powers and become Lightning. However, suiting up as her superhero alter ego shouldn’t happen on Black Lightning Season 2.
On every topic that fans are concerned with, Black Lightning hits the mark and goes well above expectations in every episode.
On Black Lightning Season 1 Episode 13, Anissa and Jefferson hold off Martin Proctor’s own Seal Team 6, while Gambi and, surprisingly, Lynn hold down the fort inside the cabin. Another welcome surprise in this episode comes from Jennifer’s change of heart about embracing her superhero genes. On the opposite spectrum of surprise, Tobias moves forward with his plan to kill Proctor sooner rather than later, using Lala as his pawn and turning Tobias into the new evil kingpin of Freeland. This episode started off pretty shaky leading into the anti-climactic moment surrounding Jefferson getting his powers back; however, this episode finished so strongly, it still lands high on the rating scale.
Black Lightning Season 1 Episode 12 gives us a Jefferson and Lynn reconciliation. It was so sweet to watch. We got to see one season-long arc finally come to fruition. Khalil’s realization as a villain, another arc that pays off, is not quite as satisfying because you can see how resistant he is to complete villainy, especially in the face of his old love, Jennifer. This episode was mostly dedicated to tying up the many loose ends the narrative created throughout the season… and I say it paid off well.
On Black Lightning Season 1 Episode 11, Inspector Henderson acts as God in the black jesus crucifixion metaphor. However, instead of Jefferson going through with his death, Henderson steps in and saves him. Jefferson finally jumps off of his paper maché high horse and forgives Gambi, but I’m a bit disappointed that Anissa didn’t have a bigger role in this episode. Overall, it was a good episode to represent the calm before the storm.
Black Lightning Season 1 Episode 10, “Sins of a Father,” gives us the third well-executed episode in a row. Black Lightning finally gets into a groove. They’ve figured out the heart of their show is the Pierce family, and the only development their villains need right now are minor plot points. Cheers to that! Although, I can confidently say that I’m much more interested in Lala than the other previous villains due to his disappearing and reappearing tattoos. I just wish the series would slow down in pumping out villains for the series. The more villains they have, the less time we focus on the Pierce family, which (as I’ve come to find out) leads to uninteresting and slow-moving episodes.
On Black Lightning Season 1 Episode 9 and 8, we get a greater focus on the characters and less focus on the villains holding the narrative down. The episodes flowed smoother and managed to do everything I’ve been asking for since I first noticed the villains were lackluster: focus on the personal lives of Gambi and the Pierce family. With stellar actors and interesting personalities, the show strikes gold every time they shift the focus to Jefferson, Anissa, Jennifer, Gambi, and Lynn.
On Black Lightning Season 1 Episode 7, “Equinox: The Book of Fate,” we say goodbye to the queenpin shrouded in mystery, Lady Eve. This couldn’t be any more of a mistake, especially considering how slow the superhero storylines are going in the series so far. At this point, I can safely say I’m more interested in the regular lives of the Pierces than their superhero lives. I want more of Anissa and Grace, Jennifer and her coming of age story, and Jefferson and Lynn finding their way back to each other. Because, ironically, the superhero storyline is this show’s biggest villain right now.
Black Lightning Season 1 Episode 6 is a good episode, but it falls short of an angst-ridden, nail-biting midseason premiere that I expected. My favorite scene has to be when Anissa and Jefferson fight; although, Gambi and Lady Eve’s less physical confrontation is full of surprises, as well. What is the least surprising (and the least interesting) is the plot that involves Khalil. Due to the fault of the writer’s, I could care less about Khalil or his struggle. As horrible as that sounds, I simply can’t do the work the narrative requires of me to care one bit about what he does.
Black Lightning is creating a superhero family with the Pierces, but as they all slowly grow into their powers, we’re seeing one character fall into the main character turned love interest pattern of The CW. Jennifer’s story thus far has been a disappointment, but it’s still early, which is why she needs to have her powers activated and learn to be a hero with her sister at her side.