Into The Arrowverse: The Crisis has arrived, and we’re not ready
By Ariba Bhuvad
Black Lightning — “The Book of Resistance: Chapter Three: The Battle Of Franklin Terrace” — Image Number: BLK308b_0415b.jpg — Pictured: Jordan Calloway as Khalil/Painkiller — Photo: Mark Hill/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
Black Lightning Episode 308: “The Book of Resistance: Chapter Three”
Jefferson Pierce is ready to get back to his usual badass, electrifying self. So far this season, he’s done very little, and it’s nice to see him back in his element.
Similar to Batwoman, Black Lightning has a lot of stories going on simultaneously. Unlike Batwoman, however, all of the stories on Black Lightning have a converging point. It’s been a messy road to get there, and we’re still trying, but there’s a bit more coherent sense to it all.
The episode succeeds in part because of an elderly woman, Mrs. Shephard, who is the reason behind Jefferson’s move to the resistance. Sorry, ASA, Jefferson can’t be your middle guy anymore, he has a purpose now!
Maintaining the peace is what Jefferson has been doing all along, so it was going to take him a while to get to a point where he’d take some kind of action. I can say it a million different ways, but I’m just so happy to see Black Lightning back to doing what he does best, especially so soon before the Crisis.
Who else was excited to see Thunder and Black Lightning together again? This duo has been MIA for too long, and the reunion was definitely one of the highlights of a rather slow episode. That and the ending.
Speaking of Thunder, we finally got to see her face off with Painkiller. By the way, how is it that across all the Arrowverse shows no one recognizes anyone? I’m not sure how Thunder didn’t know that Painkiller was Khalil — I just don’t get it.
I’m not sure if Anissa will tell Jennifer about Khalil/Painkiller, but I’d rather she not. I think it’ll open a can of worms that’s better kept close, and may potentially waste time. But speaking of Jennifer, I’m into her new friendship (potentially romance) with Brandon. There’s something there, and I hope that knowing some version of Khalil is alive out there doesn’t persuade her to walk away from Brandon.
Lynn’s story was a whole lot of blah this week, especially considering that she was toying with the idea of letting Tobias out. Come on girl, what are you thinking?! And now that she has no more Green Light, I think her ability to make decisions is going to get worse with the withdrawals.
And that’s about it for Black Lightning. We didn’t exactly get anything directly connecting us to the Crisis. However, it looks like there will be an all-new episode of Black Lightning next week in between the Crisis episodes. Considering Black Lightning will be in The Flash during the Crisis, it may be the perfect segue way into Jefferson Pierce’s official introduction into the Arrowverse.