This week’s Black Lightning closed “The Book of Ruin” in appropriately destructive fashion, as the true goal behind Whale’s involvement in Monovista International and Lynn’s workplace was revealed. Let’s get into it:
1. Thunder’s New Suit
Gambi gifts Anissa with a new, skintight Thunder costume that maintains her density for her, meaning she no longer has to hold her breath to use her superstrength. I don’t care for the outfit’s appearance, it looks a purple bus or train seat, but I guess if Nafessa Williams is more comfortable wearing it than the character’s trademark gold armor, then it’s fine; and like she says, it means she won’t have to wear the generic Blackbird costume anymore.
2. This is Probably Why Jeff Doesn’t Use Social Media
Jennifer/J.J.’s crush on Uriah leads to her using her alter-ego to help him raise funds for music at the school, but unfortunately Lightning’s official social media draws attention from the cops towards her location. After being tipped off by Hassan, Jefferson (who’s also concerned by Ishmael tracking his girls) asks Jen to stop using her powers outside of crimefighting, but she’s just too infatuated with Uriah to listen to her father. That’s the difficult thing about social media isn’t it? On the one hand, it’s the easiest way to know what everyone’s up to; on the other hand, it’s… also the easiest way to know what everyone’s up to.
3. Hasn’t Lynn Been Through Enough?
The falsified embezzlement charges surrounding Jefferson leads to Lynn being locked out of her lab, and her research being confiscated, before Special Agent Mason arrests her for… violation of civil rights? That’s bullshit even for bullshit. It was all part of Whale’s plan: he tricked her into replicating Val’s nullification powers under noble pretenses, so he could depower every metahuman in Freeland. Lynn is rewarded for her good work with a cavity search, a gruelling scene that echoes Jefferson’s processing in season one, but one that, after all her suffering last season, feels a little gratuitous — at this point, the Pierce family’s lives feel like misery lit.
4. R.I.P. Darius
Meanwhile, Darius discovered what Whale was really planning with the lab’s research, but before he could tell Anissa at his apartment, he was murdered. Poor guy, once Grace was back in the picture, he was totally expendable: maybe he should’ve called her to ask to meet at a public place, but Whale does basically have a sniper on his pay roll. Speaking of whom…
5. Tobias Got Creepier
Tobias’s grief for his late sister Tori got a whole lot weirder this week, when he referred to her as the “love of my life”: dude, it’s personally reasonable to love and miss your sister, but the love of your what now?! You sound like a Lannister. The subsequent scene — where he commences his greatest act of revenge in her tomb — backtracks a bit on the subtext, with Whale making it clear to his henchmen she supported him when no one else did, but still, the man’s mental state is clearly deteriorating.
Anyway, that device better break, or Jen will need to find a river to land in.
Bonus Thoughts:
– “Lyding” means “suffering” in Afrikaans by the way.
– Leak the security footage of Red now, Gambi!
– Hassan Shakur’s not very careful listing Black Lightning as “Black Lightning” on his phone.
See you all next week for “The Book of Reunification.”
