Last week, Jennifer collapsed overloading her suit after attacking Whale as he fled the compound he stored the pod kids, only for her. Does she survive? Of course, but there were plenty of actual surprises in the season finale too.
1. The Gambi Card
Gambi injures himself getting the convulsing Jennifer off the road: I thought this was a bit cheap, being the second time this season has used the prospect of Gambi dying to toy with our emotions, because he’s still the most expendable member of Jeff’s family. He does get better fairly quickly, and continues the great rapport he has with Jen of helping her master her abilities, which is just an indication of how crammed this episode is…
2. Plotting All Over the Place
D’you know why it’s called a plot? It’s because stories often revolve around schemes hatched by the bad guys, and being cornered this week, Whale was throwing out a dozen of them, exploiting Cape Guy’s death to spark a riot, and shutting off the city’s power grid to cut off Black Lightning’s own electrical source. When that fails, he releases the pod kids to cause further chaos, only Lynn is able to trace the signal to his penthouse, leading to Black Lightning and Jennifer teaming up to fry his ass (non-lethally of course). I think Whale was definitely burned out (no pun intended), finally alienating everyone including his girlfriend, and the show was right to have him placed in a black site prison at the end, giving the character a much needed break.
3. So Much for Lala
Whale was right, it was foolish to expect Lala to get his revenge on him. Still, since Whale didn’t get to bury him in concrete, it’ll be interesting to find out where he went to after the crime lord was put away: his brief appearance helping Black Lightning fight Shakedown, Heatstroke, Coldsnap and New Wave indicates he may become a more helpful ally – or maybe Whale’s trigger words will render him crazier than ever? (Maybe both, even?)
4. They’re Alive!
Halleujah, praise the Lord indeed – turns out Reverend Holt survived Cutter’s assassination. As Freeland falls into chaos thanks to Whale’s unleashed metas, the reverend delivers a sermon about how love will save us, and that was very much the case when Jefferson and Jennifer working together to exhaust Whale’s superstrength.
But that wasn’t the only resurrection, as it was revealed Khalil is alive and in storage with Wendy and (long time no see) Issa in Odell’s secret chamber. Nevermind how contrived it may be, it is a jawdropping thing to toss into the middle of an ending montage, and a very tantalizing tease for Jen’s season 3 storyline.
5. The Jace Escape
Dr. Jace stayed behind with the pod kids to get the jump on Black Lightning, only for Lynn to sneak up and beat the crap out of her. (I was just like Jefferson, too shocked seeing his ex-wife let loose to interrupt it.) Turns out, Jace just wanted to negotiate with her gun at the back of Black Lightning’s head, revealing what Whale’s planning so they’ll promise to hand her into the civil authorities (instead of the unaccountable ASA).
You’d think this was Jace’s exit from the season, but the twists continue as the mysterious teleporting bounty hunter from the mid-season finale finally returns, and retrieves Jace for the Markovians. Creepy old Odell then interrupts the Pierces’ family dinner to announce Jace has returned to creating metahumans for the rogue state, and Freeland is now ground zero for a new arms race. Well that was an ominous tease for season 3, wasn’t it? It’s going to be very interesting see Odell in all of their lives too…
Bonus thoughts:
– Batman gets namedropped, hehe.
– The fight with Whale’s metas managed to stay gritty despite the presence of superpowers.
Alright, that’s it for now folks – but check back in two weeks, when I’ll cover the grand return of Legends of Tomorrow season 4!
