Last week on Black Lightning, Gambi’s former boss Proctor figured out that Jefferson probably was Black Lightning. This means that Jefferson was put through the ringer. First, he was falsely accused of being a mastermind drug dealer by corrupt police officers (paid off by his Vice-Principal/secret mole for the ASA Kara Fowdy) and forced to deal with some unconstitutional police officers. He then was taken to an ASA Black Site where they were going to torture him into revealing his powers. Lucky for him, he has a superhero daughter and the best “guy in the chair” that used technology and public perception to tell a massive lie, one big enough to convince the powers that be that he wasn’t Black Lightning and was set free. Also, thanks to one of the good cops (Henderson), the corrupt cops were weeded out and Henderson was named the new Deputy Police Chief. Looks like it’s a new day in Freeland.
Of course, there’s still an albino gangster that runs things that need to be dealt with. Tobias has returned back into town, and thanks to him taking out Lady Eve, he has been promoted to Proctor’s inner-city inner circle. Thanks to the best money the ASA has, he was healed from Jefferson’s lightning powers and gets a face to face meeting with Proctor, who reveals to him the ASA’s endgame. That endgame requires Black Lightning being stopped, caught, and not killed: something that vexes Tobias as he’s still angry about his sister’s death. He even meets up with one of his henchmen later on and kills the guy for only saving him and not him and his sister. Proctor also has Khalil join Tobias, who now can walk and has dreads.
***OK sidenote…. My name is Khalil, and I used to have dreads. Long, flowing, down to my back dreads, so I have paid close attention to this character to see where he would end up. While they explain away how he was healed, the side effect was him growing long dreads in a ridiculously short amount of time. Now if the side effect was to have hair grow quickly, Khalil should also have a massive beard, like a brotha from Philly beard. It seems like his turn to the “evil” Khalil had him to have dreads, which as a former person with locks, it’s not a good narrative decision. OK, rant over.***
Jefferson gets a call from his ex-wife to come by their house. She sounds like it’s a problem, so he rushes over. When he gets there, she’s in a nightgown. This wasn’t a distress call, this was a booty call. While he and Lynn are kissing and groping each other all over the place, his Black Lightning powers are also happening, proving to be a sexual stimulant for Lynn. After the two have sex and are in bed together, Lynn tells him that they should wait on telling their daughters, and treat their reconciliation with the discretion of an “affair” for the time being.
The next day Jefferson runs into Khalil. Like all of us in the audience, Jefferson has some questions as to how the young man is able to walk after taking a bullet. But remember, dreadlocks Khalil is evil Khalil, so he’s giving Jefferson the cold shoulder. He won’t say how he was healed and shuns his former mentor for “abandoning” him. Tobias and Proctor really did a number on him quickly. Jefferson tells his daughter Jennifer about her former boyfriend’s return but warns her not to speak to him as he’s now involved in some of the stuff he’s fighting. But Jennifer’s a teenage girl. When was the last time they ever listened to their parents in pop culture when it related to a boy? She meets up with Khali later on, but they both have changed. When Jennifer even inquires about how he is able to walk again, Khali gets defensive, accuses her of spying for her father, and jumps off the roof of their old hideout, suffering no damage. Meanwhile, Lynn is testing Jennifer’s newfound powers, which is also causing some conflict. After telling her daughter that she wants to study and isolate the gene that is causing her metahuman abilities, it “might” be able to be resolved and she can lead a normal life. Jennifer tells that to her father, which sets him off. For one, this is something Lynn should have discussed with Jefferson. Secondly, it says that something’s “wrong” with her that needs to be “fixed. Jefferson quickly stops their relationship just as it started.
Tobias has a plan on luring out Black Lightning is to attack Jefferson’s school while class is in session. He instructs Khali to arm himself with their weird dart machine and then start attacking students. Black Lightning and Thunder make their way to the school to try and help stop them. Anissa runs into Tobias’ second in command, the mute assassin girl Syonide. The fight is really one sided as Thunder is invulnerable when she holds her breath. Syonide notices Anissa breath out, and then goes on the attack, managing to get some hits in and hurt her. Anissa finally manages to hold her breath again and defeat her. On the other side of the school, Jefferson and Tobias’ face off. Wearing a suit impervious to Jefferson’s lightning, it’s now a fair fight. Khali steps into the fight and when one of his darts finds Jefferson’s neck, he’s not able to use his lightning powers. Khali and Tobias put a beating on Jefferson and with Khalil’s augmented metallic spine, his punches are strong. He hits Jefferson in the chest so hard that his heart stops beating. Anissa comes in as Khalil, Tobias, and Syonide make their exit as the police arrive. Anissa realizes that Jefferson isn’t responding. Jennifer comes and sees her father on the ground and strikes his chest. He powers activate and have enough energy to kickstart his heart, bringing him back to life. Looks like Jennifer will probably not want to get rid of her powers after all. The Pierce family escape with Gambi to a safe house to hide away from Tobias as well as the police (he’s still the one who supposedly killed Lady Eve in the eyes of the law.
La La is lecturing his lieutenants about roughing up their subordinates when he receives some weird message and starts walking away. When he finally gets there, it’s Tobias, who has him under some sort of spell as he says “The Devil Deals The Cards” which disarms La La, who was actually going to shoot him. It looks like they will team up to take on Black Lightning next week.
Speaking on next week, it’s the season finale: the final showdown!
