by Christian Holub | via Entertainment Weekly
Another week, another astounding Black Lightning episode. By my count, this show is three for three so far, and this time it even showed a wider emotional spectrum. I sure hope you skipped the State of the Union tonight and had some fun with superheroes instead.
We start with Lawanda’s funeral. As gospel music plays (this show continues to kill it with the soundtrack picks), the reverend at Lawanda’s church calls for 100 “God-fearing people” to march in the street with him in protest of the One Hundred murdering another one of their own. Not everybody thinks this is a good idea. Inspector Henderson tries to cut him off, but the reverend rightly points out that most of the police department is corrupt and working for the One Hundred (as we saw last week when they just let the gang’s boss Tobias walk into their station and murder a prisoner in his cell), so why should anyone trust the cops to protect them? He’s put his faith in Black Lightning instead. Jefferson Pierce also tries to warn the reverend away from such a dangerous and deliberate provocation of Freeland’s ruling gang, but he’s not any more successful than Henderson is. Black Lightning’s influence is growing beyond Jefferson’s control; people are so inspired by his example that they want to take their own stands in favor of justice. The problem, of course, is that they don’t have lightning powers.
But Anissa does! Well, we still don’t know the true nature of her superpowers, but she’s clearly angling to find out for herself. Late at night, Anissa takes a walk out to an old junkyard so she can test her strength hitting some garbage. After giving herself several bruises punching a dilapidated washing machine, she figures out that breathing is the key. Once she concentrates, she’s able to kick the washing machine yards away and make an entire tower of junk shudder at her punch.
But as we all know, powers are only the first step to becoming a superhero. You gotta have a costume! While researching genetic mutations at the library, a cute librarian named Grace invites her to a cosplay party at the bar she works at. To be honest, I’m a little disappointed by the cosplay club scene. I know the CW is trying to keep Black Lightning separate from the “Arrowverse” shows, but how funny would it have been to watch people in the background walking through this club in their makeshift Flash and Supergirl outfits? Anissa just settles for some cat ears, which is already enough to inspire a breakup with her girlfriend — and, perhaps, a blossoming new romance with Grace?
Anissa isn’t the only Pierce daughter trying to figure out something about herself. Jennifer is excited to have sex for the first time with her track star boyfriend, Khalid — so excited, in fact, that she notifies her parents of her plans! The Pierces are a remarkably open family. This is a great little storyline because it introduces some light elements into the episode. Jennifer confronting her parents about their own sexual history is hilariously awkward on its own, but then it gets surpassed when Jefferson confronts Khalil in a school hallway and demands to know his cleaning routine: “Are you gonna give my daughter athlete’s foot in places where athletes’ feet should not be?”
Click HERE to read the rest of the recap, “Lawanda: The Book of Burial ( S1 E3)”