Tuesday’s episode of Black Lightning gave us the answers to a few questions but only left a trail of breadcrumbs for others. Some highlights were: Anissa in superhero formation, the origin of Tobias’ villainy, and some sweet father/daughter moments with Jeff and Jennifer.
Like Father Like Son
Tobias is a murderous fool, and this episode gave us some insight into why he’s so full of hate. Being called “pale ass” instead of by his given name surely gave Tobias some color issues. He spends an awful lot of time making comments about Negroes and thick lips, so there is an epic level self-flagellation going on there. Disparaging people because of their color and/or physical attributes fits right up his father’s alley so its no accident that Tobias continues this cycle of hatred in his interactions with the black community he abuses. Colorism is a such an important issue; I am so glad the creative team of Black Lightning is exploring how detrimental self-hatred can be.
In this Corner We Have Anissa
Anissa did a bit of everything in this episode. She went sleuthing, and she tried her damnedest to find an outfit for her heroics and boy did she find one! She went with the blue spandex and blonde wig-looking like a G.L.O.W(Gorgeous Lady of Wrestling) girl. She was fine and fierce in that get up.
Trying to figure out where her powers come from, she seems to have stumbled upon some sort of secretive program that gave people their powers. The little vial she found is sure to lead her somewhere. It was somewhat satisfying to open the door to where Jeff’s metahuman abilities came from because I was really starting to wonder if we would even get that this season. Reporters and superheroes continue to go hand in hand. But back to that blue out fit for a minute- damn Anissa!
Fathers and Daughters
I continue to say that relationship portrayals are what Black Lightning excels in selling. The scenes that Jefferson and Jennifer had together were what lifted the episode. It was so funny to see Jefferson try to contain his amazement/ amusement when he realized Jennifer had successfully fought off not one but two girls. Knowing Lynn was not having it, he had to pretend to be angry- he couldn’t do it though. Then when they had their daddy/daughter moment on the couch they came to a mutual understanding about how tough it is to turn the other cheek. Jennifer sweetly putting her head on her dad’s shoulder just melted me. It is scenes like these that will carry this show in my opinion.
Overall it was a pretty good episode. What did you think?
A Few of My Meandering Thoughts:
- Damn Anissa was fine.
- All this ass”- LOL
- Jennifer broke that chick’s wrist, but she deserved it.
- Why was Jeff so aggressive-did I miss something?
- Did Joey Toledo throw some electricity??
- Loving the exploration of how some blacks develop a self-loathing from childhood experiences.
- I’m ready for Anissa and Jeff to have a talk – got a feeling this might be a season cliffhanger though.
Black Lightning airs Tuesday nights on the CW.