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Black Lightning 1.9 Review – ‘The Book of Little Black Lies’
Loading...We’ve seen a lot of villainous characters so far on Black Lightning. We had the weasely William, the now-undead Latavius, Tobias Whale, Lady Eve, Tori Whale, an array of dirty cops, and now Martin Proctor. Tonight, we’re introduced to BendsCORP by name, which is fun. As it’s already episode nine, it seems clear that Freeland is plagued by many bad characters, each with their own issues and associations. Frankly, I think I’m gonna miss Lady Eve a lot. A fine character, she was, and gone too soon. Spoilers for “The Book of Little Black Lies” follow.
Remember last week’s evidence that Black Lightning wasn’t responsible for Lady Eve’s murder? And how BL called Inspector Henderson immediately so he could seize it? And how the evidence got exploded by some lunatic who was clearly not told of the danger? Well, Henderson is just as bummed about it as Black Lightning is. As this unfolds, Henderson said something totally ominous: ‘If I’m killed out here, and they say I’m dirty—make sure my wife and family know the truth.’ Okay, fair enough. But surely Henderson’s wife and Keisha already know that he’s not dirty? This week though, we’re forced to ask how well any daughter can really know her dad. Personally, I’ve already watched Damon Gupton die on too many shows to even consider losing him on this one. Besides—he’s the Commissioner Gordon of this.
Anissa sees Jennifer truly suffering and comes clean with her. Jennifer is more resistive than Anissa was, again illustrating how different the sisters really are. Anissa reveals the truth not just about herself, but about Jefferson as well. Jenn doesn’t take it well, running downstairs like she’s being chased by a serial killer, screaming about what Anissa just told her. Jeff and Lynn are horrified, but also come clean. Then we get the usual claptrap about how sometimes people lie to protect other people, which I guess means those people aren’t allowed to be angry. Which is pretty rich—since Jefferson is currently furious with Gambi for the same reason. So…Jennifer is angry with her parents for lying to her. Fair enough.
Jefferson’s reaction toward Anissa was messed up. Both Jeff and Lynn were furious with Anissa, accusing her of being reckless and (get this) disrespectful. They spoke to Anissa as if she had no investment in Jennifer’s well-being because she isn’t her mother. That’s straight-up ridiculous. Of course Anissa knows what Jenn is going through more clearly than Lynn or Jeff do. I honestly don’t know what Anissa is apologizing for, because she didn’t do a damn thing wrong. But she does apologize saying, “I know it was wrong.” Lynn even goes so far as to say that she “never lied” to her daughters. False. The Vixen reference was pretty funny though.
Moving on, there’s still the pressing issue of Greenlight to deal with, and finding the people who framed Black Lightning, and the people who want to kill him, and the people poisoning and doing experiments on the children of Freeland, and catching Tobias Whale. So really, the Pierces don’t have time for family drama. That’s when we learn about BendsCORP, and that GTC means “gotcha,” which I’m sure will figure prominently later on. Later, Gambi uses black mamba venom to extract information out of some bad dude. Less risky than using a Barack Obama mask, I think.
Anissa is upfront about the fact that her parents can’t stop her heroism. While Anissa (who is still talking to Gambi—now directly behind her parent’s backs) tries out a new look, Jennifer wants no part of anything remotely resembling heroism. Can you blame her? Jefferson’s life is messy as hell, people framing him, talking smack, trying to kill him or mess with his family. Jennifer just wants to go to prom, to college, to get married and have babies. Watch for the tragic moment when she sobs, not even knowing if her powers might keep her from motherhood. She’s got a similar mindset to Khalil’s after he was shot. It seems like Jennifer would be by far the easiest family member to turn evil, if someone were so inclined. Speaking of Gambi, he’s done some very bad things.
I didn’t care for the way Lynn forced that conversation though. She told Jenn she could talk when she wanted to, then insisted they talk when SHE wanted to instead. When Jenn reminded Lynn of her words, Lynn pulled rank and threatened to stop paying her phone bill. Not a good start to a conversation that’s supposed to be an apology. Plus, when Lynn says “I don’t know what goes on in your friend’s families,” that’s not so. Jennifer’s best friend is Keisha Henderson. Duh. Lynn has trouble convincing Jenn that she can have a normal life and a family…given that Black Lightning is the reason she and Jeff got divorced. It must be awful for Lynn to feel so helpless.
Henderson investigates on his own, discovering who the dirtiest cops are. Gambi takes a cyber meeting with a gun dealer—and doesn’t seem to know that ammosexuals will pretend they don’t understand what’s meant whenever someone uses the term “assault weapons” to describe those big weapons people use when assaulting. Gambi seems pleased that Anissa is willing to work with him. But then he asks her to keep a secret from her dad. Honestly, this family has enough secrets and Gambi is in no position to be creating more distance between these people. That said, the new Thunder suit is amazing. Also, Anissa can read lips, extremely well.
The final segment of “The Book of Little Black Lies” involves rushing the lab where Greenlight is being made and distributed. Crooked Cayman is there (LOL), and Henderson is on site too. Jefferson is visibly pleased that Anissa is so good at hero work, which feels like it’ll have to blow up in his face at some point. When Henderson goes off to investigate up close, I was totally sure he would die. Noooooo! But guess what? He lived and arrested the doctor. Notice that when all this goes down, all the regular workers are allowed to leave. So long as they don’t get aggressive, they get to flee.
Ultimately, the lab is destroyed, no one is seriously hurt. The doc is arrested, though others get away. And we’re reminded that Cool Guys Don’t Look at Explosions, as Black Lightning and Thunder walk away. This week, the family drama far outweighed catching bad guys—which is one of many reasons why this show has better character development and progression than the Arrowverse. I don’t agree with everything these people do and say, but I’m not screaming at my screen the way I am whenever Oliver Queen makes another ridiculous, alienating decision and then pretends he had no choice. The characters on Black Lightning are not stereotypes, they’re not simple, they have relatable flaws. The Pierce family is great, even when I’m mad at them, even when they’re mad at each other. How can anyone not love when the end of the episode has a shout-out to “The Princess and the Frog?”
I’m on vacation next week, so Jefferson and family will be in the capable hands of a guest reviewer. I’ll be back in April, where I’ll be covering the rest of Black Lightning, and also the new season of Legion. Can’t wait!
See you’s then!
