Into The Arrowverse: Saying goodbye to the Green Arrow
By Ariba Bhuvad
Photo: Steve Dietl/The CW
Black Lightning Episode 311: “The Book of Markovia: Chapter Two”
Out of all the Arrowverse shows, Black Lightning probably ranks the lowest for me. And that’s not because it’s boring, but it just doesn’t stack up against the other shows for me.
Having said that, Agent Odell mentions Gotham City multiple times throughout this episode, which I am so loving. All these name drops and references are one of the best things about a post-Crisis world. All the crossover and connections are amazing!
There was a lot going on in this week’s Black Lightning, and by that I mean a whole lot of fighting. Up until now, Jefferson Pierce has been rather chill, or as chill as he can be given his powers. But something has changed within him, and now, he’s trying to change the “nice guy” image.
But before I get into that, he does have a nice moment with Jennifer, who talks about the work she’s been doing with Odell and how she wants to get out of it. She’s ready to take Odell down for everything that’s happened. He may not have shown any emotions in front of his daughter, but Jefferson is pissed AF to learn what Jennifer has done during her time working with Odell.
Now he’s out for Odell’s blood, too, which means things are about to get really electric. And while we’re talking about electrifying things, I can’t forget to mention Lynn, who is still reeling from her Green Light addiction. After getting her hands on some, she’s now planning on using Tobias for his DNA. I don’t know about all of you, but Lynn is my least favorite part of Black Lightning. I’m not sure I really care what’s going on here.
Oh, Lady Eve is back from the dead, too, although her storyline was a bit all over the place during this episode. The only thing to really come out of her return, so far, is that she is the one who sent assassins after Gambi. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the point of her return truly is.
Going back to the “Black Lightning is about to go rogue” storyline, he and Thunder manage to capture Odell and proceed to torture him. The ASA tries to intervene by sending evil Khalil to save and retrieve Odell from the Pierces. His mission? Kill the Pierces along the way.
When Jennifer finds out that her father and sister captured Odell without filling her in, she’s naturally pissed and shows up at the house. It’s the most inopportune time, of course, because she comes face to face with Khalil, who isn’t really Khalil anymore. And because of her emotions, it costs them Odell, whom the ASA take away. But hey, at least they have Khalil?
Meanwhile, Lynn gets Tobias out via invisible cloaking chameleon powers but ends up having to knock him out when he tries to get away. Oh, and the reason she knocks him out is because she gave her self super-strength powers. Pretty awesome, isn’t it?
I think this episode had a lot of wonderful, exciting moments but I did feel overwhelmed with it all. There wasn’t a lot of time to appreciate and take in the very thrilling scenes. I felt like I was missing them even as they were happening.
Having said that, Black Lightning is still carving out a place for itself in the Arrowverse. I think that, as we move forward, the multiple plots will come together in a coherent manner. Or at least I hope they do!