BLACK LIGHTNING 4.12

RECAP - BLACK LIGHTNING  4.12:  "The Book of  Resurrection - Chapter One:  Crossroads"  

The penultimate episode of the series Black Lightning helped us resolve SOME issues, while still providing us some questions before next week's Series Finale.  It's been quite a journey for the Pierce Family these last few years, but now the stakes have gotten bigger, because the threat is personal.  And what transpired this week will give us QUITE a finish next week, as we are about to bid adieu to Jefferson Pierce and his crime-fighting family. 

This next-to-last installment of our Electric Warrior and his clan saw them start putting together a plan to fight back against Tobias....who is riding about as high has he's EVER been since he returned to Freeland.  He set up the Pierce Family, framed Jefferson, and literally destroyed all of their reputations.  He's stolen a powerful emitter to take out their superpowers, and looks to arm the police with powers of their own, and weapons capable of killing metahumans...with Chief Ana Lopez hell bent on destroying all metas---and we find out her reason WHY in this episode.  We also saw Tobias, who had been looking to gain a seat on the Shadow Board, take over the mysterious faction, as he was denied his seat, because they felt he had not lived up to HIS end of the bargain, only to assassinate one of the board members with an assassin that had been rendered invisible due to the meta powers he had harvested from the pregnant women who'd gone to Montevista for further "testing" for a disease.  He then got the deed to the old Pierce house, and wanted to make a meet with Jefferson to officially sign it over.  He also then sent Red out to destroy Lightning once and for all.  So, this episode still shows Tobias riding high, plotting and scheming, and looking to FINALLY rid himself of his arch nemesis....forever.

As for the Pierce Family themselves, they know they have the goods on Tobias to take him down, but they have to be tactful, and plot his downfall carefully.  Jen is still in mourning over losing Uriah, and refuses to go out and use her powers, because Tobias threatened everyone she loved if she went out again.  Jefferson...in one of the actual SMARTER moves he's made of late, actually does what he is SUPPOSED to do:  be a caring, loving SUPPORTIVE father.  He knows that he NEEDS Jen in order to bring Tobias down, so he gives her a pep talk.  It seems to get her back into the right frame of mind, because she later goes out into the ionosphere to recharge her powers.  Once TC helps her get a lock on Red...she's off to face him down.  Meanwhile, Anissa, Gambi, and Grace plot to destroy the "clinic" that Montevista ran to get the pregnant women's metagenes, and destroy their records as well.  Anissa is thinking that they need to tell the mothers about how they were manipulated...which she IS right about....but Grace gives her a different perspective:  let them have normal lives.  Keep that aspect buried.  They have a chance to have good lives, and there's no sense in ruining it.  Grace knows what it's like to not have family, and to discover powers she didn't ask for.  Anissa is convinced, and they head out on THEIR mission....which they complete with ease, as they plant the bombs in the building, and they also destroy the servers inside as well.  

Jefferson, Lynn, and Gambi also plot to destroy the Nullifier, get the Emitter back, and get their powers as well.  This is where Gambi brings in Lauren, who now has been informed of what happened with her Emitter.  She and Lynn are introduced to each other, and Lynn and her start plotting ways to stop the nullifier.  Lynn also informs Lauren as to WHY Gambi kept certain things from her...that her family has powers.  Lynn agrees to help, especially when they find out about how the Promethium got there, and why Montevista was so quick to move into Freeland...so that they could strip mine the town of it. Gambi and Jefferson talk about one of the reasons WHY Tobias got to them is that he KNEW wbo they were, and their secret ID's.  Gambi created a device that would shock Tobias, and jar his memory, ensuring that the family secret stays that way.  

Chief Lopez wants Det. Shakur to arm his metahuman task force agents with the device Tobias gave her, and the case with the vials of metagenes.  She wants Lightning put down once and for all.  Shakur tries to reason with her, and asks her if she really wants to grant her officers metahuman powers, with the possibility they could die or go crazy or something.  He reminds her that he knows what happened to her husband, who was a meta, and how tragic that turned out, as her brothers got killed because her husband lost it  And as much as the eyes are on her because she's a female police chief, she gives Shakur 24 hours to bring Lightning in, or all bets are off.  When we see Jen again, she's in the ionosphere, charging up, and then takes off to get Red.  We STILL see that she's left a little of herself up there, and wonder just what in the world is going on with that.  Once Jen meets up with Red, her powers instantly begin to go on the fritz, and Red does try to kill her, but she manages to get one good charge off, and nails Red with hit.  With his device destroyed, he's helpless, and as Jen thinks about killing him, we later see her drop Red off just outside police headquarters, where she comes face to face with Chief Lopez.  Lopez draws her weapon, and says to her that she hates her, and that all metas should die.  Jen manages to pull the wool over Lopez's eyes, as she has been broadcasting to her social media site, and the feed is live, thus putting Chief Lopez right out there for all to see---her prejudice towads metas, and her mission to kill them all.  Jen takes off, having accomplished her mission, and this leaves Chief Lopez with A LOT of dirty looks and stares from her own officers as she re-enters the precinct.  She ends up looking at the feed on a pad in her office, and she breaks down---having been outsmarted by a metahuman.  It's too much for her, knowing that she lost her battle before it truly began.  This forces her to do something drastic, and out of frustration and anger:  Take one of the vials of metagenes, and inject herself with it.  She won't let Lightning win so easily.  She's going to kill her...and every meta---even if it means she's got to cross the line from being a police officer to a vigilante---seeking revenge.  

We check in on Khalil/Painkiller, as he's escorting Looker back to Freeland, so that she can testify against Tobias.  Looker tries to test Khalil and Painkiller's patience, and Painkiller even threatens to send her to the cops with no limbs...thinking that she doesn't need them to testify.  So, she shuts up.  But soon, his journey to Freeland is halted with the appearance of Ishmael...who is on orders from Tobias to kill them both.  Khalil and Painkiller then do battle with him.  Ishmael, the more experienced fighter, does get the upper hand on Painkiller, but no before he stops Ishmael's sword from laying the death blow.  Painkiller bleeds all over the sword and hilt, thus using his toxic powers to infect Ishmael, who is quickly killed in the process it seems, but not before declaring that Painkiller cheated.  It was then that Agent Morse, and Det. Shakur show up, and escort Looker away to testify.  Painkiller feels there's business to be done in Freeland...his mission to still destroy the Pierce Family, but Khalil says that Jen is better off on her own.  Their part in this mission seemingly done.

Jefferson calls Tobias, and tells him the house is his....he'll sign the papers.  Tobias wants to meet where their whole story started:  the house, where Jefferson watched Tobias beat his father to death with his goons.  Jefferson realizes that he might end up dying from this ordeal, so before his meet with Tobias, he has one more quiet moment with Lynn, where they both apologize to each other for all the hurt, but realize that this is their world.  So Jefferson gives her a revised will.  He then takes off to his father's house to meet Tobias, and finish this.  As Tobias gloats about finally getting the best of Jefferson, Jefferson goes to try and use the device on Tobias to wipe his memory, but Tobias was quick on the draw, and managed to catch Jefferson before he could use it.  Tobias then proceeds to beat down Jefferson, mocking him the whole time.  Jefferson tries to fight, but he's out powered.  Tobias then says that it's time to put and end to him, and will kill him the same way he killed Jefferson's father.  At the end of the episode, Tobias uses Jefferson's cell to call Jennifer...and tells her that he knows who she is, and that she'll suffer the consequences for going out and being a hero---and shows her that he's seemingly killed Jefferson, proclaiming that Black Lightning is dead.  

For the next-to-last episode, we got some huge emotions coming from various members.  We also got some resolution to some hanging storylines, and the set up for the huge finale.  Jen suffers a bit this episode, because SHE is the one who wanted revenge on Red for Uriah's death.  But TC...who has been like a brother to her...has done his best to keep her in check.  And in this episode...she manages to keep it together, though she's still the same stubborn as hell Jennifer we all know.  It was good that she got to reconnect with Jefferson, and he told her that the city needed Lightning...so go do it.  She managed to not only defeat Red, and plop him down right at Chief Lopez's feet, but got the better of her as well, as she managed to broadcast through her live feed, Lopez's literal hatred for all metahumans, her desire to have them all killed.  Lopez is a character who has now SERIOUSLY fallen from grace, and her being caught in the act of confessing her hatred in front of millions of subscribers---it causes a breakdown, because now no one in the community will look at her the same.  Her quest to not only take down Lightning for SUPPOSEDLY killing the Mayor, but we also discover through Det. Shakur, that her husband was a meta, and went on a rampage, killing her brothers.  It's this deep seeded hatred that his driven her----much like ANOTHER character we know:  Christine Kramer, who has her OWN prejudices against metahumans because a meta killed her unit.  These two women are now using positions of authority to carry out their own brand of justice...even if it means crossing the line.  They feel THEIR end justifies the means, and that what THEY are doing is right, because THEY are the law.  We're seeing it lead to Lopez's downfall, as she has now inoculated herself with metagene powers, dead set on bringing destruction to Lightning and anyone else who's a metahuman. 

It was great to see the team finally working as a unit again, each with their own mission.  Though Anissa and Grace do NOT have powers, their plan to blow up the Montevista clinic is successful.  And while Anissa wanted to inform the mothers who where lied to about their treatment, Grace is reminded of her own troubled past, and in finding out about her own powers.  She feels it's best to let sleeping dogs lie...especially if it means these mothers and their children have a fighting chance to become real families.  Even though she's had her own fear of her powers, and has been alone....she has a family now...and doesn't want to see it ruined.  Lynn and Lauren working together was pretty cool as well, considering that now Lauren is in on the family secret, and why Gambi kept it hidden from her all this time.  But these two women have mutual respect for each other, and Lauren understands why Lynn and Gambi are doing what they're doing.  

The Painkiller/Ishmael fight was pretty good.  Nice choreography, and it looked like Ishmael was going to get the better of him.  But leave it to Painkiller to use his ace in the hole:  his powers.  I thought it was funny how Ishmael felt Painkiller "cheated" to beat him.  But the assassin is done for, and Looker is in custody.  With this part of Painkiller's mission done I hope it's back to tracking down Odell and his daughter.  Whether or not the series is greenlit, it's been fun watching him operate.  And the actor has done a stellar job of portraying the duality of the two characters.  

We had a heavy feeling that before he was brought down, Tobias was going to get in one last good lick against Jefferson.  And I think Jefferson himself knew that he was probably NOT coming out of this scenario alive...thus giving Lynn his will.  But Jefferson wanted to go out on HIS terms.  And Tobias seemingly obliged.  He feels he is at his apex right now, and feels he's got the whole world in his hands.  See, Tobias wants to expand his operation in Freeland, but out towards Coast City, Central City, National City, Gotham, Metropolis, and so on....and taking control of the Shadow Board will help him accomplish that.  But right now, in this moment, as Mayor of Freeland...he feels as powerful as he could imagine.  So, his downfall is going to be epic in this last episode.

So, did you all enjoy what transpired on this episode?  What did you like or dislike, and did you feel it moved too fast?  Suscribe and comment below.

One last time next week.....until then....the POWER is OFF!