Khalil was horribly maimed by Whale last week…
1. Last Request
Khalil spends the episode lying down in a hospital ward, his bruised, exhausted face projected onto a screen to speak with his loved ones. When Jefferson is alone in his room, Khalil asks him to kill Whale. Jefferson replies he can’t do that, as the law has to be carried out to punish him. Although Khalil and Jefferson have reconciled, there’s still some conflict between the two, which was refreshing as it meant not everything had gone back to normal. Interestingly, Khalil’s not mad at Black Lightning for not keeping an eye on the police escort, his woozy mind claiming he believes he was there, he just didn’t see them – I suppose this was his way of forgiving him.
2. Toasted
Jennifer (now sporting a shorter hairdo) runs into the parking lot to get some air after seeing what’s happened to her boyfriend, and for loitering, gets accused by a blonde woman of plotting to steal her car. To stop her calling the police, she lights her car on fire. In case you missed it last year, there was a severe epidemic of white people – especially women – calling the cops on black people for the most ridiculous reasons, and this was a particularly funny and cathartic response to that. I only wish this scene had aired sooner.
3. Breaking the Rules
During these prior scenes, Reverend Holt gives a sermon about how in the fight for civil rights, you cannot rely on the system to sort things out, and you must fight back. He’s promptly poisoned by Cutter, setting up Henderson’s arrival in this storyline when he tells Jefferson literally, but also thematically, as it foreshadows Bill going rogue and working outside the system when he decides it’s time he really, really, needs to team up with Black Lightning. It was very funny when Jefferson introduced him to Gambi’s man cave, as he’s been out of the loop about his dead/alive status. Gotta say, I’ve very enthusiastic about Henderson working more closely with Jefferson and Gambi, it’s like they’re going on a boys’ own adventure.
(I’m sure Holt will be fine – fingers crossed.)
4. Forever Evil
Todd’s hacked into the ASA’s systems and learns Dr. Jace was working with Lynn on the children in cryo. We then learn Whale knew Jace 30 years ago, and that she created his anti-ageing serum. I thought it was fascinating his realization that she had no idea her formula would work on him all those years ago, and that he was basically another test subject for her – try as he might to deny his race, Whale can’t escape the fact that he’s still vulnerable to the same exploitation as all black people.
5. To be Young Again
So yeah….
Khalil dies. To echo Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, he was Jennifer’s Uncle Ben all along. I’d have loved to seen him continue and finally accept his life as a disabled man, but realistically, he endured a huge amount of shock and blood loss.
Before he passes, Jennifer uses the skills she’s learned from Perenna to give him the dream of a high school dance, where none of this trauma or the wrong path he went down happened. Many years ago I saw a documentary interviewing a dying woman, who didn’t believe in an afterlife, but hoped that when she passed, she would have the sensation of feeling young again – essentially she wanted to feel the weight of her life and her pain dissipating when it happened. Jennifer basically offered that release to Khalil as he passed, which was a strong reminder that sometimes, all you can do is ease someone’s passing.
Bonus thoughts:
– Lynn was pretty forceful this week.
– It’s nice to see Grace Choi again, feels like ages since her backstory was hinted at.
– Jennifer’s new power to see the electricity in peoples’ bodies is sure to come in handy.
See you at the funeral next week folks.
