Black Lightning S01 EP10 Review
Black Lightning returned again this week with an episode that makes a great big leap when it comes to some plot points, but seems to muddle through others that the show hasn't quite gotten a hold of. Jefferson and Gambi's conflict was pushed to a new realm this week while the overarching ASA story made strives in making itself a more compelling antagonist. Lala was back again being undead, and more about Jennifer's powers were discovered. Let's dive in first with what the episode did right!
Before this episode I was very devil may care about the ASA and everything surrounding them, they just seemed like another shady company that was doing some bad stuff, which we've seen in almost every format and franchise everywhere. Seeing the ASA in action though was refreshing and I'm opening up to them as the villains of this season (Though I still sorely miss Tobias Whale, who was absent for the third episode in a row!). I do hope that they have some kind of plan that is revealed besides kidnapping kids, but their plot seemed to work tonight, and their leader, the blonde man, looks like he's a balloon about to burst so that's a funny plus. I do have some concerns over how they're working, because in the opening they somehow kidnap the girl only two seconds after she exhibits powers, and I'm unsure whether the ASA manufactured Greenlight to specifically give people powers in order to kidnap them. Hopefully their entire scheme is cleared up going forward. The opening fight scene with Black Lightning and Thunder investigating the warehouse was a fun one and a nice show of teamwork between them; however, I remember Black Lightning's suit being bulletproof in the beginning of the season so the show going to lengths to protect him from bullets seems redundant. I have also found it annoying that Anissa's gasp has to sound off every single time she uses her powers, and it only happened once during the fight scene so hopefully the sound editors are backing off on it. The closing moments of the episode provided us with a plot twist, and one I will get into later.
The Gambi portion of the episode was especially strong, with him being strong armed by a threat to civilians, and then tortured in a brutal manner. It was saddening to see him having to go through it all, and added more weight to the threat of the ASA. I knew things were going to get better though when the ASA picked up Jefferson in order to get to Gambi, and the two of them worked together to escape. The two seem to be on better terms by the end of the episode but we'll have to wait until next week to know for sure, someone will have to come back to take care of Gambi, and Black Lightning obviously needs his help with how often the tech breaks down. Gambi's bid for forgiveness feels like a real one, and his foolishness in his past actions is believable, which makes seeing Jefferson's constant refusal of him as a friend hard to watch.
Jennifer did not get a lot to do this episode but what she did get was refreshing and exciting for her character. The explanation that she's a living power generator was a cool one and differentiates her powers from the others. We also got to see those powers in action for a moment and it looked straight out of the comic books. In addition to this, we got to see a perfect collision of viewpoints as Anissa's view on powers and Jennifer's came to a head, and both were completely believable. Anissa has always wanted to make a difference in the world and with her powers she can, while Jennifer feels like she can't live a normal life and Anissa chided her for not seeing powers the same way she does. Jennifer doesn't want to save the world, doesn't want to have to risk her life going out to save others and now she feels like she has to give up living her own life because she has powers. It was a perfect portrayal of how a lot of people would react to having powers and being told they had to give their lives to fight crime over their own life plans, and it made Jennifer's character feel deeper and even more conflicted. I just hope that her powers come into play at some point this season for the main plot. (During their argument, Khalil was also brought up which made me realize that he has been absent for several episodes. It feels like the show forgot about him)
This is just a stray thought, but where is Anissa's girlfriend? Did the writers forget about her too?
The show doesn't have too much that it did wrong this episode, and mostly it stems from a lack of information about what is going on. Lala finally came back, but did little more than buy drugs to sell and have Will become another tattoo on his chest. What's going on? Is this something completely separate from the ASA and Tobias? I thought maybe Lawanda would turn out to have powers to revive people or something, but Will is here now too so I can't imagine what's happening. Lala's actions in this episode seem to be setting up nothing also, though it's cool watching him coldly move through scenes. Hopefully this arc is another that will come together by the season's end, because right now it feels like a confusing hanging thread that isn't leading anywhere.
Then there is the plot twist in the end of the episode regarding who the Spotter is for the ASA, and as it turns out it is the vice president at Jefferson's school. The only thing about this reveal though is that she wasn't a prominent character, and I had completely forgotten about her since she hasn't made an appearance for several episodes. It's nice that it turns out to be a character and not some random person, but in a way it kind of feels like a random person since she'd been essentially forgotten by the show before this moment.
When it comes down to it, this season feels more like it hit a slump than anything else. Too ambitious is how I would describe it, as two seasons worth of content appears to be stuffed into the show, and some things can't be as focused on as others. I'm still waiting on Tobias Whale to return, as he was my favorite part of the show, but the ASA are distracting enough that I can enjoy watching them for now. With several mentions of him in this episode, and only three episodes left int he season, I can't imagine Tobias Whale will stay gone for much longer. The next episode looks to follow up on the reveal that the ASA know Jefferson is Black Lightning and the vice president's inclusion in the plot, as Jefferson is getting locked up in jail!
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