Into The Arrowverse: The Flash zooms back after post-Crisis hiatus
By Ariba Bhuvad
Pictured: Teesha Renee as Destiny, Rafael Castillo as Devonte Jones and William Catlett as Lala — Photo: Steve Dietl/The CW
Black Lightning Episode 312: “The Book of Markovia: Chapter Three”
Black Lightning is still struggling in comparison to the other Arrowverse shows, in my opinion. I know it just got introduced to the Arrowverse proper, but I’ve always felt it didn’t quite match its brethren for speed and excitement. Plus, I’m very lost on each character’s story — there may a bit too much going on for one episode.
This week’s episode channels Inception in a very intriguing way. No, Leonardo DiCaprio is not in it, but there’s definitely a lot of Inception-style stuff going on. As was revealed last week, Khalil’s soul (mind? something?) is still within Painkiller. Not only has TC learned this, but also that Khalil is still is in love with Jennifer.
This is enough to get Jennifer incredibly emotional about saving Khalil. I don’t know if this is how she is in the comics, but on the show, Jennifer’s emotions always get the best of her. She doesn’t seem to think through decisions and jumps to conclusions and actions.
Rescuing Khalil from inside Painkiller proves to be rather difficult, because the chip installed in his brain keeps him locked away and safe, but it’s also what helps his brain function. Without the chip, he’ll die altogether. See the problem here?
Team “Let’s Save Khalil” comes up with the idea of using a firewall to trap Painkiller and get Khalil out. While I wasn’t crazy about the episode, I did like how cool it looked when Jennifer and TC worked together to make this happen. It involved a lot of electricity, lightning and mental effort. And how cool was the scene where Khalil had to see memories of the horrible things he’s done as Painkiller? Super, super emotional.
Which brings me to my next point: even though they’ve gotten Khalil out, I don’t think it’s going to be very easy keeping him sane. He’s been through a lot, but I do hope that Black Lightning doesn’t ruin this storyline by dragging it on for too long. Give Khalil a break! And some normalcy!
In other parts of the episode, Jefferson and Anissa are busy figuring out a game plan to rescue Lynn, who was kidnapped by the Markovians last week. Does anyone else feel like Markovia is an evil version of Wakanda? It sounds like it, doesn’t it?
My heart goes out to Lynn, who is struggling with the Green Light addiction. It’s difficult to see her try (sort of) to get better but still be stuck helping out villains. We can only hope Jefferson and Anissa are able to rescue her once and for all.
This story just seems a little scrambled together. I don’t know who to worry about or focus on, which is why I can’t help but be a little let down when comparing this to the other Arrowverse shows.
I will say, however, that the end of the episode gave me hope for what’s to come next week, during Mission “Let’s Rescue Lynn.” Everyone is teaming up to save her; it’s probably one of the more exciting team-ups we’ve seen yet on the show. Everyone from Gambi to Jennifer to Grace is joining the effort, and I think that it might just bring Black Lightening the momentum it needs.