Years before the events of Black Lightning , Jefferson Pierce left the vigilante game behind after realize there ’s no substantial end to a superhero ’s struggles . But what happens when a hero ’s crusade to protect the populace is both a vocation and an dependence they ca n’t kick ?
Before he became a column of the community in his civilian pretext , Black Lightning did his part to keep Freeland secure by taking on local crew like the 100 . When the gangs were dealt with , he moved onto crooked politicians and law officers and later expand his horizon to even , everyday criminals .
The more responsibilities Black Lightning took on as a crimefighter , the exonerated it became that he and Jefferson Pierce could n’t portion out a balanced life without one half hurt the other .
Black Lightning could have pushed directly into a rather straightforward variety of “ with outstanding power comes great duty ” plot line about how being force to save his daughter as a superhero invigorate Jefferson to don his superhero suit again permanently . But “ Lawanda : The Book of Hope ” pivots to something far more interesting by frame Black Lightning ’s superpower and superhero identity as something that Jefferson may actually be addicted to .
It ’s leave alone purposefully undefined whether whatever ’s beset Black Lightning is purely forcible , psychological , or even real and it ’s a compelling total dimension to a superhero ’s internal conflict . Black Lightning has n’t at all get into the specific parentage of Jefferson ’s power or explained how his metahuman gene works . But the idea that he gets a superpowered endorphin rush he has difficulty letting go of works well when you take that , unlike most other CW heroes , Jefferson ’s a middle - older man .
While Jefferson wreak Black Lightning out of retreat could very well be part of a mid - life crisis of sorts , “ Lawanda : The Book of Hope ” is careful to zoom out a bit and also focalise on the external ingredient involved in Black Lightning ’s comeback . The 100 ’s clasp on Freeland is n’t the form of problem that was ever kick the bucket to go off just because Black Lightning showed up to scare away a couple crowd member at the seedy Sea Horse Hotel .
Even with rumors of the Black Lightning being back in town , the 100 chop-chop reestablish their operations at the Sea Horse and Jefferson ’s convey face to face with the consequences of being a heroic figure within the community .
The promises he made to protect his students as Garfield High ’s principal sum seem to have no signification after one of his school-age child is on the face of it suckle into the 100 ’s sexual urge traffic internet . Black Lightning ’s efficaciousness as a superhero is called into question when it becomes clear that the 100 are only growing potent despite assertions from the Freeland police force section that the billet is under control . All of this feed into Jefferson ’s resolution to really embrace his secret persona more fully and you get the sentiency that , on some level , he believe that his but try hard is the keystone to saving the city .
But “ Lawanda : The Book of Hope ” is a sobering dismission of that belief as it lays out the great scale and gravity of the state of war Black Lightning is sample to fight . Lawanda White , the devastated female parent of the missing girl , decides to take on the 100 to find her daughter after she loses her faith in Jefferson , does n’t make it to the final stage of the installment because Black Lightning ask us to understand that Jefferson ’s warfare is unwinnable the way he ’s fighting it .
Will , the shellshocked 100 member who works for Lala , does n’t make it to the goal of the episode either because Black Lightning wants everyone to understand that all wars on offense , both tangible and fictitious , have painful outcome for all people regard and not just those we traditionally cast as innocents . Most shockingly , Lala , the source of a solid chunk of the problem in these first two episodes , also dies because Black Lightning ’s large sorry is n’t the 100 — it ’s the whoever is overstretch the strings in the background .
Assorted Musings
This episode really doubles down on the idea that Jefferson Pierce is a local renown in Freeland and that everyone know he ’s got a huge tilt in the community . With that in thinker , it seems odd that nobody ’s figured out how he ’s Black Lightning , especially after the Pierce girls were preserve last calendar week .
Tobias Whale ’s colorism is an interesting character trait to introduce that works on a couple of different levels .
Why is Black Lightning just walking around in public ? You ’d think he ’d have a lightning - minute - gall or some such because otherwise , he ’s just … walking to crime scene .
Let the disk show that Anissa ’s girlfriend accurately identified her as acat pappa .
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