This week on Black Lightning, Jefferson continued to fight in the underground arena; Jennifer kept battling the propaganda campaign against her; and Lala declared war on Whale, while the supposedly reformed villain accompanied the mayor on a visit to those rendered homeless by the war with Markovia.
1. Jefferson Gets a Pep Talk
Jennifer and Lynn are naturally upset after discovering Jefferson’s extracurricular activities, and he goes to drown his sorrows at the bar, this time to reckon with how he’s alienated his youngest daughter as well as his partner. When he told two fellow patrons that the city is better off without Black Lightning, Det. Hassan Shakur emerged to give a big speech about how Black Lightning changed his life. Recognizing that Hassan still believed in Black Lightning, despite his anger and grief over his failure to prevent Henderson’s death, Jefferson realized he had been behaving irrationally, and apologized to Lynn and Jennifer.
It was rather convenient that Hassan was at the bar, and while it’s possible he may suspect Jefferson is Black Lightning, it still felt rushed since we only got the bare minimum of foreshadowing that he feels Freeland needs Black Lightning to police Chief Lopez. (On that note, I think it’s a good that, while Hassan has turned out to be sympathetic to our hero, the police will still remain an antagonistic force this season.)
2. Lala’s Code of Discretion
It’s strange saying this after his men assassinated Mayor Black, but between telling Jefferson he was concerned about him, and killing the goon who murdered Marcel’s kid last week, Lala seems… nice? That’s not the right word for such a ruthless crime lord, and his behavior is clearly motivated by his desire to keep his operations incognito (or so he says), but he’s dedicated to keeping crime in Freeland ordered, as opposed to the way Whale thrives on chaos and destruction. I suppose if there’s one thing I would agree with Lala about, it’s that I would prefer him running the streets than Whale.
3. Grace is Wylde
Anissa and Grace spend their first night as a married couple by going out to monitor the mayor’s address to the homeless; Anissa dons her Blackbird gear, while Grace uses her shapeshifting abilities to give herself a “wild” appearance, with red highlights and feline eyes. Grace likes how Anissa describes her new look, and as we’re reminded, Wylde was her original surname, so she decides to reclaim it for her superhero identity. What’s funny is, Wylde was a human-bear hybrid named Charlie Wylde in the comics, who was also a member of the Outsiders: I should’ve known the characters had been merged all along. (Leopards are certainly cooler than bears though.)
4. Confirmation Bias
Chief Lopez blames Lightning for Mayor Black’s death, which is alarming: that’s gratitude for you, I suppose. It is quite topical Lopez would use a tragedy like that to justify her own suspicion of metahumans though; I mean, how many Trump supporters have blamed antifa for their brethren’s terror attack on the Capitol Building, or called it a false flag? It’s infuriating and sadly very realistic. (The optics of a Latina woman demonizing a Black girl are also quite something.)
5. Jennifer Ascends?
Deciding to get some fresh air after being blamed for Black’s death, as well as to process her father’s apology, Jennifer flies up to the ionosphere, but her energy levels overload, and she sizzles and burns before disappearing. I think she’s pulled a Doctor Manhattan, physically dying and transcending her earthly self, much like she did during “Crisis,” but who knows how long it’ll take for her to reappear: her family will undoubtedly be confused and distraught, especially Jeff, who has no idea whether she accepted his apology or not.
Bonus Thoughts:
– T.C., Gambi and Jennifer not understanding each other’s cultural references was a good source of levity; they should do a music exchange at some point.
– So a) the Deputy Chief is supplying DEGs to the 100 Gang, and b) Thunder is stronger than a DEG, but that may’ve been because of the settings Lala’s men were using.
As always, feel free to share your thoughts on this week’s Black Lightning in the comments, and we’ll be back next week to crack open “The Book of Ruin.”
