BLACK LIGHTNING 4.1

 

RECAP - BLACK LIGHTNING 4.1:  "The Book of Reconstruction - Chapter One:  Collateral Damage"

Oooooh, it is good to be BACK in Freeland!  It is often said that art imitates life, and with the Season 4 premiere of Black Lightning, we got a good heavy dose of that, as this story picks up a year AFTER the events of the battle with Markovia, the ASA Invasion, AND Crisis on Infinite Earths.  It's a time of healing in the beleaguered town, but tensions are still high, it still mourns the loss of Chief William Henderson, and there's still the threat of gang violence.  Plus...Gravedigger is STILL out there, somewhere...always posing a threat.  Plus...we'll get to Tobias Whale in a minute.  But safe to say...things have been calmer...but not by much.  And the Pierce Family...hit hard with the fallout.

The person who took the BIGGEST hit during this fallout was Jefferson himself.  This episode sees a man at the end of his rope, taking his old friend's death the hardest, and ends up having an imaginary conversation with his late father about handling loss...and the fact that the city STILL needs Black Lightning.  But all Jefferson can think about the entire episode is how his alter ego has been nothing more than a curse and a burden on the town, and that if Black Lightning had NEVER returned, Henderson would still be alive.  He's also NOT thrilled that both Anissa AND Jennifer are still out suiting up at night, and hitting the bad guys.  Lynn has even done a 180 degree turn on defending Freeland by helping out the girls, much to Jefferson's dismay.  On top of that, we still also see the marital discord between the two very much alive, as they STILL cannot get on the same page.

Jefferson's journey through this episode is sad...as he handles EVERYTHING poorly.  First of all--and his BIGGEST mistake of the entire episode--is something that's ripped right out of the actual headlines of the last year.  With Freeland having to deal with what happened during the ASA/Markovian invasion, metahumans are seen as something of a menace in the town, and the new Chief of Police, Chief Lopez, is intent on tagging all metas in town, and monitoring them.  This coming on the heels of Jefferson's speech in honor of Henderson.  Jeff is driving home when he spots two white police officers going after a black kid walking.  He seems innocent, and Jefferson feels the oppression within him, and seeing it happen to this kid.  So, he goes to confront the cops, who tell him to back off, but he ends up zapping them, telling the kid to take off.  He then zaps their minds so that they'd forget the incident.  

Now...in later talking to Gambi, who's been concerned about Jefferson, tells him that security cameras caught him in the act, and that while he took care of it, it's possible they got a partial match on his license plate.  This later comes back upon Jefferson as he is interviewed by Chief Lopez and her new member of her team.  A man who's name we apparently do not get, but he's got connections to Henderson, and actually called out Black Lightning about his commitment to Freeland.  And informed him about the gangs till taking up residence in Freeland.  Either way, Jefferson played dumb as much as possible, but they know he's lying.  I have a feeling things are going to get WORSE for Jefferson before it gets better.

Speaking of Gambi real quick...he's approached by a former colleague who offers him a job doing high tech security for her, but he politely declines...but she gives him her card in case he changes his mind.  There also seems to be SOME kind of personal connection to them as well, so I'm curious to see as to what happens between THESE two down the road.

The drama of the Pierce Family is at an all time high....though it seems as though Lynn has the girls' ear now, and not Jefferson.  While Jefferson is wallowing...and blaming Lynn for their disconnect, and she doing the same to him, Lynn is still lying about her Green Light addiction, and still using to help the girls fight crime by adapting Gravedigger's powers.  She ends up halting a potential kidnapping of a girl for a child slavering ring, but she feels she can get the effects to last even longer, though she admits this is hard, and really needs Jeff back out in the field.  Thunder & Lightning have been tag-teaming to ensure the criminal element is held at bay in town, as they continue to battle The 100 and Lala's men, as they bust up his weapons shipment.  But in their later battle, Lightning is hurt, and ends up getting laid up.  Anissa has taken charge, and she knows that they need their dad out there, but he refuses.  

On top of this, Anissa is still dealing with Grace's condition.  In the year since the Markovian battle, she's still been comatose, and hasn't come out of it.  Jen suggests she give up on her, but Anissa is insulted by that.  Lynn, however, offers SOME hope with a new serum she HOPES will adapt to Grace's shape-changing abilities, and possibly bring her out.  We know Painkiller is out there on his own, Brandon is MIA, as well as the other members of the Outsiders, who have been silent since the fight.  Jennifer is out flying around testing her powers, but she seems to be having trouble at the end of the episode as her powers begin to peter out, and she falls.  

Jefferson's OTHER issue is that of Tobias, who seems to have reinvented himself as a legit businessman.  He's using his funds to help "rebuild" Freeland, and come off as a philanthropist.  This upsets him, and it also unnerves the rest of the family.  Lynn and Anissa are in agreement that Tobias must die...but Jefferson is NOT okay with them taking that line of thinking.  They've already taken a life...but that still doesn't sit right with Jefferson knowing they're willing to take that route again.  And he all but forbids them from going after Tobias---that's his white whale and his white whale alone.  Tobias further makes his presence known by donating his money to Lynn's research facility...pouring salt into the wound, and putting his long term plan into motion to get back at the Pierce family.  

All in all, a solid episode to open up the final season...even if it WAS kind of a bummer.  But we now have a tone set for the show, and we know that Tobias will be the main villain of this season.  We know Lala and the 100 are a pre-eminent threat as well, and he'll have his say in regards to this war between Black Lightning and Tobias....he's got a mad-on for both of them.  I wonder about what will happen when Lynn hits rock bottom with her addiction....what will be---as the title of THIS story says--the collateral damage to the family?  Will Anissa have to shoulder the load of the family until her dad gets with it, and will she have her happy ending with Grace?  And what of Jennifer?  It seems as if HER powers are in a state of flux, or she's on the verge of a power outage.  I am at a loss as to what the problem is, but I have a feeling we'll find out in short order.  

The HUGE question will be this:  How long into this season will it be before Jefferson bottoms out?  OR gets arrested for what he did to those two cops?  I honestly don't want to see half a season go by, and Black Lightning is on the sidelines because he's bummed out.  It's totally uncharacteristic, and would totally be detrimental to the character.  THIS is why I would've LOVED to have seen some team-up between he and Barry.  Barry could provide just the right kind of pep talk to snap Jefferson out of his funk, and get him back into the hero game.  

What Episode 2 brings, we shall see next week.  Until then, let me know what YOU thought of this episode by subscribing and leaving a comment below.  

Until next time...the Power is OFF.