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Black Lightning 1.13 Review – ‘Shadow of Death: The Book of War’
Loading...One of the overreaching themes of Black Lightning is that even though your opportunities are limited, decks are stacked against you, and odds seem insurmountable—we all have choices. After last week’s Pierce-family beat down, everyone is on edge moving in to the finale. We get some fun scenes with Alvin and young Gambi, and consider Proctor’s true motives. Spoilers for S1 of Black Lightning follow.
As it’s highly unlikely that the titular character of Black Lightning will die, we have 99% confidence that Jefferson will survive last week’s merciless…well, murder. He was straight-up dead, and revived by Jennifer. When Jeff finally does wake, his powers are gone. Did Jennifer know that her flamey hug would bring them back? Was it merely desperation from a guilty and distressed girl? Gambi does a good job of helping Jen feel better. But Gambi’s whole deal is selflessly helping the Pierce family to make up for his part in stealing Freeland’s children and keeping the secret for decades. Seeing these scenes gives us more insight into Gambi’s mindset, and how he tried to put an end to something bad while essentially leaving the bad guys free and clear. Peter explains Syonide’s origin, which makes her more sympathetic.
It’s difficult not to feel bad for Khalil. But as Gambi points out—he had a choice and he made it. We can argue that we don’t know what it’s like to lose our ability to walk. Maybe a lot of people would have made the choice he did. We don’t expect 17-year-old kids to make good choices all the time. That’s why they can’t legally buy their own booze. Still, Khalil is certainly old enough to know that what Tobias has him doing is more than illegal, more than morally wrong—these are mortal sins. His poor mother will be heartbroken when she finds out.
We need to talk about Proctor and how he’s written. Clearly, he’s meant to be the quintessential rich white guy who doesn’t care about the poor, the black/brown, or anyone but him and the people he needs. As the finale goes on, we see that Proctor spews MAGA nonsense, leaves his own people to die, and justifies his bullshit using obvious and easily disproven stereotypes: Black people are probably used to tight handcuffs. It’s okay to steal or kill children because they’ll probably end up on welfare. Failure is not an option. Even though I’m a progressive and agree that Proctor’s mindset is mean-spirited and asinine, I find his portrayal to be heavy-handed. This conflict might have seemed more realistic if Proctor was a more Magneto-esque guy who believed he was doing the right thing. His apathy got annoying after a while, because it was so clueless.
Having said that, it’s hardly reasonable to complain about stereotypical portrayals of white people on a show like Black Lightning. If I were guessing, I’d presume this kind of writing is a reaction to the way African-Americans were relegated to playing maids, criminals, prisoners, loincloth-wearing natives, or tap dancing butlers for the first 75 years or so of cinema, and the first 30 years or so of television. We can probably all agree that the less television relies on tired stereotypes, the more we’ll all enjoy it.
The resurrection of Latavius was explained more fully this week. We already knew that Tobias had a hand in it, and that he programed Lala with a trigger phrase: “The Devil deals the Cards.” This week more than any other, I have to give it up for William Catlett. A few weeks ago, I’d have said it would be impossible to feel empathy for Latavius after the things he did. But dammit, seeing that look on his face when Tobias explained that everyone he killed would be coming back to haunt him? Damn. The terror was so evident, so authentic, I wanted to hug the gangster who shot LaWanda. Now that shouldn’t be! So props to him. I have to think that despite that explosion, we haven’t seen the last of Lala and his increasing number of tattoos.
There’s a great moment tonight when Gambi and Jennifer are shocked—SHOCKED I say, that Lynn knew how to cock a shotgun and felt prepared to fire it. FFS, people can have skills they don’t use every day. I’d guess that most adults have had occasion to handle a gun at some point in life, but maybe not. Maybe well-dressed ladies and their feminine fingers should stay away from big bad weapons. Seriously though, Lynn kills some people. Making an even more impressive change this week is Jennifer, who doesn’t have a superhero nickname yet. What other weather names are left? Thundersnow? Acid rain? Here’s hoping Jennifer doesn’t become say, Golf ball-Sized Hail next season. The good news is that she has accepted her powers and has come to appreciate them. That’s the first step on the path to getting great with them.
The fight between the Pierce family and Proctor’s people got so huge, even the Freeland PD found out about it. Lest anyone think Henderson was en route to finding out about Jefferson—he isn’t. So we’ve got at least one more season of that secret staying intact. Speaking of Proctor, the big news is that he wasn’t actually in league with the ASA. That made him safe to kill, which Gambi did without hesitation. Makes sense, since he protects people—even from having to become murderers. Still, that was a cold-blooded shoot, Peter! The kids being held seem like they might have mostly died. Shame, since it might have been really interesting to wake a kid whose been in stasis for 30 years, and introduce them as a character next season.
The finale wraps up with some throwbacks to earlier in the season. The local news’s Vox Populi segment features citizens praising Black Lightning and Thunder, while expressing disappointment in the cops. Henderson thanked them, even as he stated that he doesn’t support the idea of vigilantes. I mean, what’s he gonna say? Even Commissioner Gordon feels that way sometimes. We revisit Jeff’s habit of jogging with his daughters, and end with the Pierce family—together and happy at home. The ending message is one of hope, purpose, and all the things that make real heroes.
But wait—because Tobias has a green glowing briefcase right out of Pulp Fiction. We don’t know what’s inside, though it may well be more of that serum that keeps Tobias super strong. But who knows? It might also be the soul of Marcellus Wallace. Long live the King, or something.
It probably goes without saying that this first season of Black Lightning was outstanding on every level. Exceptional cast, solid writing, great surprises, and characters I loved feeling feelings for. The music, costumes, and overall production values were marvelous, and it was clear that this wasn’t a white show made by white people based on white people sensibilities. Watching sometimes gave me an odd “off” feeling, like I was listening in on people who weren’t talking to me. This made me wonder how I’d feel if the overwhelming majority of shows were like this. At the same time, race is only one of many issues addressed on Black Lightning. I can’t wait until next season to see more of them. In the mean time, I’m still covering Season Two of Legion right here on 411Mania.
See you’s then!
