BLACK LIGHTNING "BLACK JESUS" REVIEW

Season 1 Episode 4:

Hey, everyone, we are back with a brand new recap and review of Black Lightning, as this episode we see the evolution of Khalil's story as well as how Anissa is slowing transforming into a vigilante as well as Black Lightning taking down a drug supplier. Spoilers ahead for the episode, let's recap.

The episode opens in Garfield high, where Jefferson walks into a bathroom to find one of his students, Bernard Lewis going crazy. Jefferson uses his power to take down the student as he finds some drugs in his pocket. Back with Peter, Jefferson shows the drug and they find out that the drug is called "Green Light". Going out as Black Lightning, Jefferson finds out that a man called "2-Bits" is supplying the drugs. Meanwhile, Jenifer is at the hospital with Khalil as they learn that Khalil may never be able to walk again.

Anissa is putting her powers to use. First, she stops some of her students from buying drugs on the street, and later that night, Anissa uses her super strength to knock out the same drug dealers, however, she punches them too hard and has to call an ambulance. Meanwhile, Jefferson visits 2-Bits and tells him to not deal drugs to the students. However, Jefferson learns that 2-Bits is trying to support his family. Leaving the bar, Jefferson returns as Black Lightning and tells 2-Bits to stop supplying drugs. Listening to the Blac Lightning, 2-Bits agrees and tells Black Lightning that there is a delivery happening tomorrow. Back at school, Jefferson is doing his best to stop the Board to expel Bernard. Tobias gets a visit from a friend who tells him that he needs the public to hate Black Lightning to get rid of him.

That night, Jefferson activates his new X-Ray vision, or Electric Vision, to see a supply of drugs that are going to be delivered. Meanwhile, Anissa is confronted by some guys on the street who are bullying Grace, so Anissa steps how and fight them all. Hearing some explosions from across the street, Jefferson quickly runs over, missing the delivery truck. Seeing nothing, Jefferson heads to the location the truck is heading to. Meanwhile, Peter sees video footage of Anissa using her super strength, however, she is hooded. Peter heads over to the area with a gun, finding nothing. Meanwhile, Anissa is caring for a knocked down Grace. Back with Jefferson, he is knocking out dude left in right in a crack house. He finds Bernard and rescues him. The next day, Jefferson tells Bernard's father that Barnard is going to rehab, but he is going to be okay. The episode ends with Khalil with new toys in his hospital. Khalil is visited by Tobias who tells him that Black Lightning is a fault as he got Khalil paralyzed.

Overall, this episode of Black Lightning was a good episode. The episode had some really neat scenes. I loved the scene where Black Lightning was confronting 2-Bits in the bar. From a name such as "2-Bits," you know that it would be hilarious when Black Lightning interacted with his. It was great seeing the contrast between how 2-Bits interacted with Jefferson compared to Black Lightning. One was friendly, one was with fear. One of my favorite scenes in the episode was Anisa fighting the criminals in the alleyway, she wants on a rampage as we saw, and it was also cool to see Peter follow the trailer. However, my favorite scene from the episode was the Black Lightning fight in the crack house. I loved the lack of lighting, creating a dark mysterious vibe, but all you could see was the yellow and blue from the Black Lightning suit.

This was more of a filler episode than anything else as it was a self-contained story centering around Jefferson taking down a drug supplier. However, we did get some set up for how the public will go against Black Lightning, and how Anissa might factor into that. Going forward in the next episode, Khalil will tell the public that Black Lightning got his spine shattered. So with the public hating Black Lightning, Anissa well step into being the public loved vigilante. She could get help from Peter, but it seems like she will figure most things out on her own, and from Grace.

The cast of the episode was great in the way that the performances were delivered. My favorite character in the episode was, of course, Cress Williams as Jefferson and Black Lightning. It was great seeing the contrast of the two, how they are both are respected, how they are respected in different ways. The acting of Williams illustrates how the charcter also acts in different situations in the alter egos. Also starring in the episode we had, Nafessa Williams (Anissa Pierce), China Ann McClain (Jenifer Pierce), Jordan Calloway (Khalil), Christine Adamas (Lynn Pierce), James Remar (Peter Gambi), Damon Gupton (Inspector Henderson), Chantal Thuy (Grace Choi), Michael King (Bernard Lewis), Jason Louder (2-Bits), Jill Scott (Lady Eve), and Marvin Jones III (Tobias Whale).

In conclusion, this episode of Black Lightning was a filler episode, yet, entertaining. My biggest complaint about the episode is how the episode could have played more on the title of "Black Jesus", there could have been something grander in Jefferson's journey in the episode, however, it seems like next week's episode will continue this idea with the public despising Black Lightning. Anyway, this entertaining episode, directed by Michael Schultz, was full of laughs and action-packed scenes so I will give it a 7.5 out of 10. I would like to hear your thoughts on the episode down in the comments below. You can click on the left for the latest Supergirl review, click on the right for the latest Flash review, and subscribe if you have not. As always thanks for reading, take care.