On part four of Black Lightning season 3, Lynn was still trying to cure the metavirus (which I assumed wrongly was resolved last week, whoops), Jefferson clashed with Anissa over her activities as Blackbird, Jennifer’s friend Tavon was arrested for being a meta, and Odell continued to exert his influence over the youngest Pierce.
1. Oh No Lynn, What Are You Doing?
To increase her productivity working overtime to cure the virus, Lynn starts taking a modified version of the Green Light drug as she discovers it can improve brain activity. It works, leading her to create a miracle cure that essentially kills the body and restarts it with a clean, disease-free slate, but it causes Lynn to start becoming erratic and unfocused outside of the work: as the title suggests, she’s become hooked on this feedback loop of work that this drug encourages. It’s a disturbing turn to say the least.
2. Gambi’s Still Dead
Well not literally, but it turns out Gambi is dead to the wider world after the attempt on his life last season, which is partly why he invented the hologram tech he’s now using to go around town undercover. I didn’t realize this at all, but it makes sense, he hardly wants to encourage another attack while he’s still figuring out who’s after him. I thought the introduction of hologram technology in the first episode this season was a bit fantastical, but learning this, I suppose I should’ve been less quick to judge.
3. Hate It When Parents Argue
Jefferson goes to confront Anissa at her apartment after seeing some students watch a viral video of her fighting the ASA, and meets Grace for the first time. Jefferson gets further flustered when he realizes she knows about Anissa’s vigilante identity, and the resulting argument causes Grace to become upset and regress to a child-like state. Anissa calms her down, soothing her like a mother, which is quite fascinating: I never thought about how for some people, especially someone as broken as Grace, their partner might fulfil the role of an absent parent figure.
4. Lowry Takes One for the Team
Mike Lowry, the white guy who replaced Jefferson as principal last season and who everyone hated, tries to stop the ASA from taking Tavon away for testing, and gets smacked in the head with a rifle for his trouble. It’s a shocking microcosm of one of the themes of this episode, where a brutal authoritarian occupation makes you realize who your true enemies are. Jefferson and Anissa reconcile so they can go retrieve Tavon from prison, and likewise Henderson teams up with the incarcerated crooks who were rebelling against the ASA. In contrast, Major Grey, who seemed like a good sport when she was working with Black Lightning last week, displays her fascist colors thoroughly throughout this episode. It just goes to show, when your backs are all against the wall, old grudges are really inconsequential.
5. Odell’s Web
Odell’s friendship with Jennifer – if you can call it that – continues to grow, with his sudden appearances at the Pierce household enabling to him to continue to sway her into believing he’s not as creepy as he seems. He eventually invites her to a quiet location, where he gives her an upgraded version of her suit that allows her to soar above the atmosphere and absorb solar flares. It’s a transcendent, uplifting moment, marred utterly by your awareness Odell is evil.
And the kicker? It’s also revealed Odell and Grey subconsciously influenced Lynn to start taking Green Light with hidden messages so she would come under their thrall. Man, Jefferson cannot punch his man soon enough – but will his youngest allow him?
Bonus thoughts:
– Jefferson’s been appointed guidance counselor as a result of his absence from his school: it’s gonna be nice seeing the avuncular side of him again.
– We learn Gambi had a partner, who’s not been mentioned before: wonder if we’ll meet her (or him, you never know) this season.
– Seems like Brandon isn’t so naive after all, reminding us the Markovians and folks like them (*cough*Russia*cough*) are still as bad as the ASA.
– RIP Sinzell.
Alright folks, the show’s taking a break so you all in two weeks for “The Book of Occupation: Chapter Five.”
