Black Lightning S01 EP11 Review

Black Lightning was back, and with an episode that felt strong and gave us a focused story from beginning to end. The incarceration of Jefferson Pierce made for a good hour of television, and there were plenty of highlights throughout to keep me entertained; though still a little peeved at some of the choices the show is still making despite only two episodes remaining in the season.
(Spoilers ahead for the episode)
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I do want to preface this review though by saying that throughout the entire episode my television had some kind of metallic buzz that whirred whenever there was any kind of sound. It was wasn't on any of the other channels, and it continued through commercials, so the episode leaned towards ear grating for me lol.

One issue that I have at this point is that the show doesn't seem to be building towards anything, it feels like nothing much has progressed beyond Jefferson finding out Tobias was back, and that the ASA existed and was collecting children. The season doesn't feel like it is entering its final two episodes, it feels like it is only halfway through the season which it would be if it had the regular 22-23 episode count other shows like Arrow and Flash do. The stakes don't feel much higher than they did in the beginning of the season, and that isn't a good sign since I know season finale events are coming soon.

This episode was at least a good one though and the whole situation felt tense from beginning to end, and from the moment the cops hauled away Jefferson Pierce from his own school I could feel the atmosphere of the show becoming more constrictive as if we were being arrested along with him. This episode was also a great place for Henderson to shine as a character, as I've repeatedly thought that he was a character the show continuously sidelined as we got further into the season; however, he was a great addition to watch tonight and seeing him weasel out the dirty cops on his own was a great move on his part. I would like to point out though that when Jefferson is released from jail he goes back to the home his family is hiding out in and surprises them with his return...but if it is a home he is trying to hide out in would he have the police drive him there and find out about it? I figure he could, but until I thought about that I was convinced that he had just walked all the way there from the police station since none of them had picked him up lol.

Another fun scene to watch was the opening fight scene that saw Thunder and Black Lightning attacking the ASA armory, and the music that slid through the scene made it especially delightful to watch. Not to mention, seeing Gambi back to being Jefferson's backup was relieving to see, and their conflict comes to a steady finish by the end of the episode that I hope lasts without any more distancing between the two.

The whole concept of using a hologram to get Jefferson out of jail was a neat trick; however, did Anissa crash a pedestrian cars? She obviously could have just moved to the side so that it wouldn't come between her and the hologram, but instead she decided to ruin some random person's day and wreck their car. Not very superhero-like of her lol, that was just a stray observation that lowkey ruined the scene for me.

Jennifer didn't get a whole lot to do this episode (surprise surprise) but she did get some standout emotional moments, and this episode went through the trouble of reminding us that Anissa is still a teacher and a medical student, which I had totally forgotten about. Still no sign of her girlfriend, still no sign of Khalil, Lala was absent once again, and speaking of people who weren't in the episode, Tobias Whale was gone for the fourth episode in a row! I don't even remember him being mentioned, where did he go? The trailer for the next episode includes him, so he is 100% returning finally, but it seems to be the final showdown between him and Jefferson, which seems to indicate that after next episode Tobias will be defeated and then the ASA will be the season finale, which will just mean Tobias was included and practically wasted, because so far that feels like what the season has done with his character.

The episode was a fun one, and a tense viewing experience that had me feeling bad for Jefferson throughout his entire time in jail. The Vice Principle got a few moments of character when she wanted Jefferson released. Hopefully she doesn't end up vanishing after this episode too. The episode was fun, but the season doesn't feel like it is coming upon its final two episode which it is, I only hope that they pull together all the loose ends and plot points that they've stuffed into the season so far, and that the return of the Whale next week will be great.