Black Lightning may have released its titular superhero from custody last week, but it might be a while before we see him in full action again. In the meantime, we check in with… Hey Lynn, how’s it going? Everything OK? Yeah, it’s not a great time for Lynn right now. In a frantic log of everything she’s been working on, she took her Green Light experiments to a worrying new level. She extracted the active chemical from the drug and started testing it on herself in micro-doses. Sounds like a fantastic idea, right? So for it’s increased her energy and improved her ability to focus. And I’m sure it will have no other effects whatsoever.
The occupation is rough on the entire Pierce family, and they each deal with it in their own ways. Jefferson tries to rebel as much as he can while still keeping his family out of the camps. That generally involved him getting frustrated and making snarky comments to Odell. Anissa donned a second superhero alter ego to help metahumans escape the ASA. Jenn is trying to have a normal school life. Lynn throws herself into her work to an unhealthy degree. As a result, her and Jefferson’s marriage is even more strained than when they were actually separated. Jeff tries to talk to her, but at that point she’s too out of it on Green Light to listen. All she wants to do is get back to work.
Jordan Calloway as Khalil/Painkiller (left) — Photo: Mark Hill/The CW
While Lynn is just about killing herself in the ASA lab, a now-free Jefferson is finally getting a look at what the rest of Freeland has been going through. There are military checkpoints like a war zone. He gets a gun pointed in his face on the way to work, and he can’t even Black Lightning his way out of it. A resistance group attacks a checkpoint and gets arrested for it, and Jenn has to stop him from using his powers. The oppression doesn’t let up when he gets to school either. Kids are forced to register with the ASA. If they don’t have the meta gene, they can move freely through the city. If they do, they’re sent to camps. Also, Jefferson got all his classes taken away by the ASA, made the school’s guidance counselor and given a large raise so he wouldn’t make a stink. But as far as outrages go, the forced registration and camps are at the top of the list.
Jenn is a smart kid, though. She’s starting to question the occupation. How do they know the Markovians are the threat Odell insists they are? Even if they are, isn’t the occupation doing more harm than good? Isn’t awfully suspicious that the ASA has censored the internet, blocking all information on the Markovians? Those kinds of questions are dangerous to Odell. He moves to turn Jenn to his side by sending her an video of Markovian atrocities. It works. She starts spouting off propaganda talking points to her father when he airs his grievances with the ASA.
Chantal Thuy as Grace Choi and Cress Williams as Jefferson — Photo: Annette Brown/The CW
Later, she takes the side of the ASA in a class discussion of occupation and fascism. She only begins to doubt when soldiers storm the classroom and arrest a student, suspecting he’s a metahuman. The principal tries to stop them, but he gets a rifle butt to the nose for his trouble. Whoever thought the sneering white outsider from last season would stand up for one of his students like that? It doesn’t take long for Odell to bring her back into the fold, though. He gives her a suit that lets her fly so high she can see the curvature of the Earth. Jefferson might have to deal with a fascist in his own family soon.
While the occupation has been driving the Pierce family apart, this action brings Jeff and Anissa back together. They have a falling out over Anissa’s differing views on being a superhero. He’s suspicious of where she’s getting the money to pay for her nice loft. He sees that Grace knows about her exploits as Blackbird and thinks Anissa will be in danger when she inevitably moves on. Not the coolest thing to say when meeting your daughter’s girlfriend for the first time, dude. He realizes what an ass he was being and goes to her for help. He learns about her sneaking metas out of the city and mentions that he used to call her Harriet Tubman when she was little. OK, Black Lightning. Of course he did. Why wouldn’t he?
Nafessa Williams as Blackbird — Photo: Mark Hill/The CW
Jefferson may be free, but Odell is still keeping tabs on him. He had Gambi spoof the tracker, but he still can’t go around as Black Lightning the way he used to. He and Anissa raid the prison where the ASA locked up his student along with the Blackbird-inspired resistance. He has to use his powers sparingly. Blackbird does most of the work. He takes out the power and keeps a lookout while Blackbird does most of the fighting. It’s fun to watch them working together, but the action was a little hard to see. If the episode is going to have one big superhero fight, I want to see it. Jeff is forced to use his powers at the end, but does it from behind a wall. Odell still knows he was part of the raid, but that plausible deniability is enough for Odell to give Jeff one pass.
The action may have left something to be desired, but I was absolutely drawn in by the storytelling. Having Jefferson outside, seeing the occupation for the first time, was a great way to show how bad things have gotten. When the season picked up, Anissa and Jenn were used to it. Plus, we spent at least half of each episode inside the ASA lab. Now, with Jefferson acting as audience surrogate, we got to see how messed up things really are in the city. It also ended with a genuinely cool and creepy reveal.
Lynn successfully creates a vaccine for the virus that instantly cures one of her patients. Then, Odell tells her that some of her other patients have become unstable. She refuses a night of sleep so she can continue to work. Odell is using her care for her patients to control her. Then, we find out he’s been subliminally influencing her to take Green Light herself from the beginning. He’s got her addicted, and now he can keep her at the ASA lab 24/7. That was a fantastic twist. It’s the first time this season an episode made me want the next one right away. Which is too bad because it’s going to be two weeks until we get a new one.
Black Lightning airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on The CW
Previously on Black Lightning
- Black Lightning Season 3 Episode 3 Recap
- Black Lightning Season 3 Episode 2 Recap
- Black Lightning Season 3 premiere Recap
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