lightning

The Black Lightning Series Finale is Imperfect and Powerful

Black Lightning has given us four seasons of culturally relevant sci-fi drama, and the Pierce family has been its center. In the season finale, the family show up for one another and for Freeland and take a final stand against Tobias Whale. Jefferson Pierce is not dead, but he’s buried alive, and still without his powers. As he prays for his family and his city to be protected—and reflects on his own heaven- worthiness— his family pushes back against Tobias. Gambi, Anissa, and Grace infiltrate Tobias’ heavily secured building and destroy the emitter. In the coffin, Jefferson talks to his…
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Black Lightning: The Consistent Villainy of Tobias Whale

This Black Lightning article contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 4, Episode 12. Jefferson Pierce is dead. Or so it seems, as we turn the page on Black Lightning: The Book of Resurrection: Chapter One: Crossroads. Tobias Whale is on the precipice of achieving everything he has worked for. His mayoral win was supposed to secure his seat on the Shadow Board, but that offer was rescinded after his failure to completely immobilize Freeland’s metas. But Tobias is always one step ahead, and he sends an invisible assassin—powered up with meta boosters—to kill the apparent head, then takes his place, dubbing…
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Black Lightning’s Khalil Continues to Shine in Season 4

This Black Lightning article contains spoilers through Season 4, Episode 11. Black Lightning is sauntering into its final few episodes with the confidence of a keyboard warrior in a woman’s twitter mentions. It’s casual in a way that’s both worrisome and impressive, and one has to wonder if they got it or if they just think they do. Coming into the season, I felt like the writers were ramping up towards a finale that would be explosive, but so much has happened already, the story has plateaued. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy watching, but I’m less invested than…
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Will Black Lightning Stick Its Landing?

This Black Lightning article contains spoilers through Season 4, Episode 10. If it’s one thing the Pierces gone do, it’s survive. On last week’s episode of Black Lightning, Tobias switched on a meta-power nullifier while Black Lightning, Thunder, and Lightning were each in compromising positions: JJ was flying when her powers ceased to work, so she went into a freefall. She was prevented from becoming one with the pavement by a force field bubble Gambi added to her suit as a failsafe. Anissa was leaving the house of her colleague Darius, who she found dead, when someone drove directly toward…
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Black Lightning is Making the Most of Its Final Season

This Black Lightning article contains spoilers through Season 4, Episode 9. The fourth season of Black Lightning will be its last and, barring any CW superhero crossover cameos or the greenlighting of the Painkiller spinoff, this may be the last time we will see these particular iterations of these comic book characters. The benefit of knowing the end is coming—a relative rarity in broadcast network TV, which are traditionally designed to run forever—is that it can allow writers to go places they might not otherwise go. With four episodes left ever, Black Lightning certainly isn’t holding any of its punches.…
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In Black Lightning, The Worst Villainy Isn’t Super

This Black Lightning article contains spoilers for Season 4, Episode 8, “Things Fall Apart.” Things really do fall apart in the latest episode of Black Lightning. After returning home from their honeymoon in the Akashic Valley, newlyweds Anissa and Grace are greeted warmly by the family in a surprise celebration. The reception is unfortunately cut short by the arrival of the FBI, who serve Jefferson a search warrant based on an accusation of embezzlement from Garfield High School. This is merely a start to what is clearly a coordinated effort by Tobias to ruin Jefferson Pierce. The thing about being…
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Black Lightning Gives Us a Glimpse at a Painkiller Spinoff, and We Want More

This Black Lightning article contains spoilers for Season 4, Episode 7. This is the final season of Black Lightning, which means the end of Jefferson Pierce’s story. But Jefferson has never been the sole focus of the show… Black Lightning has introduced us to many complex characters whose personal journeys have kept us tuned in week after week. Over the three previous seasons, we’ve watched both Anissa and Jennifer Pierce begin to master their meta abilities and step into their power as protectors of Freeland, alongside their dad. Black Lightning, Thunder, and Lightning have come a long way, but they…
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Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 6 Review: The Book of Ruin: Chapter 2: Theseus’s Ship

This Black Lightning review contains spoilers. Black Lightning Season 4, Episode 6 The Ship of Theseus thought project asks if you replace all the parts of a thing over time is it the same thing or something else. There is no easy answer, except in the case of Jennifer Pierce, who is the same in all but appearance. A person is not just their body; they are the culmination of all of their experiences. And that persists even when the body is altered or damaged—or, in the case of Jen, unmade then made anew. Still the question has to be…
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Why Black Lightning’s Jennifer Pierce Twist Works

This Black Lightning review contains major spoilers for Season 4. Jennifer Pierce flew into the ionosphere and absorbed so much energy, she exploded. This is how “The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Four” ends, with particles that used to be Jen dispersing into space. For one week we sat with the possibility that Jen could be dead. And with China Anne McClain having announced an early departure, it didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility that Jen wouldn’t return in any form. But, in “The Book of Ruin: Chapter One,” Jefferson is able to absorb the particles that make up…
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Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 5 Review: The Book of Ruin: Chapter One: Picking Up The Pieces

This Black Lightning review contains spoilers. Black Lightning Season 4, Episode 5 This episode of Black Lightning is impressive, and it raises the stakes in several exciting ways. The family discovers Jennifer blew up in the ionosphere but Jefferson can feel Jen’s energy so he suits up and goes up there to absorb her. The amount of power is almost too much for him, but he is able to capture her particles. They are able to store Jennifer’s essence while they use a hadron particle condenser—which Barry ran over to them, off-screen naturally— to convert her energy to matter. (“I…
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Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 4 Review: The Book of Reconstruction Chapter Four: A Light In The Darkness

This Black Lightning review contains spoilers. Black Lightning Season 4, Episode 4 Black Lightning has been dealing in trauma for the entirety of its run and that has not changed in this, the final season. And while that can be exhausting, writers have used it to a mostly positive effect, driving the emotional core of the show. Jefferson has cocooned himself in his grief and he expels those feelings in fits of violent rage that have left more than one—admittedly deserving— person severely injured. Fighting in Lala’s illegal cage matches may have given Jeff an outlet, but he still carries…
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Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 3: The Book of Reconstruction Chapter 3: Despite All My Rage

This Black Lightning review contains spoilers. Black Lightning Season 4, Episode 3 Jefferson said in the season premiere, “Black Lightning’s dead.” In this episode, Jeff relinquishes his suit to Gambi, putting another nail in the coffin of his vigilante alter-ego. It’s one thing to have the suit and not wear it, and something else entirely to put the suit out of reach. Jefferson is unsure about a lot, but one thing he is sure of is that being Black Lightning endangers his family and wearing the suit does not protect them. When Marcel returns to work after grieving the loss…
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Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 2 Review: The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Two: Unacceptable Losses

This Black Lightning review contains spoilers. Black Lightning Season 2, Episode 4 Nothing in Freeland is the same, but things are a lot like they used to be. Metas are no longer a secret, and Chief Lopez wants to register and tag them like domesticated animals. She is promising to bring in new DEGs (directed energy guns) which are specifically harmful to metas. The 100 and Kobra Cartel are warring in the streets, putting lives in danger, with gun violence and the drugs Lala’s crew pushes. The city is back to where it was when Black Lightning began, but more…
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Black Lightning Season 4 Release Date, Trailer, Cast, and News

Black Lightning is back for its fourth and final season. The CW announced in November 2020 that they would not be renewing the Black-led superhero drama for another season. We still have the 13-episode final season to look forward to, however, and the potential of a Black Lightning spin-off. In a previous statement, showrunner Salim Akil said of the latter: “While Season Four may be the end of one journey, I’m extremely excited to usher in a new chapter and continued collaboration with The CW as we tell the story of Painkiller.” For now, though, Black Lighting is back. Here’s what…
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Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 1 Review: The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter One: Collateral Damage

This Black Lightning review contains spoilers for Season 4, Episode 1. Jefferson Pierce has had enough. His family barely survived the occupation of Freeland by the ASA and the proceeding war with Markovia, a year ago. He lost his best friend, Henderson. And both of his daughters, and his partner, were soldiers on the front line. Blood is on all of their hands, and Jefferson has to reckon with his responsibility in all of that. He couldn’t help being a meta as much as he couldn’t help passing on powers to his daughters, but being a vigilante was a choice.…
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The Other History of the DC Universe Tells a Different Black Lightning Story Than You’d Expect

The Other History of the DC Universe, John Ridley and Giuseppe Cammuncoli’s new prestige miniseries from DC’s Black Label, has a particularly evocative title. When you hear that name, you think Howard Zinn, something like A People’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. It implies a grand, broad look at the sweep of DC Universe history from the perspective of marginalized people, voices who were not the ones telling the story (in and outside of it). But the book that is out this week is…not quite that. Ridley was “less interested in putting obelisks on the timeline,” he said at a roundtable…
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Black Lightning Season 4: What the Cast Hopes to See

Today is part two of DC Fandome, the massive online fan event celebrating the worlds of DC comics, film, and television. Black cinema legend Robert Townsend (who directed two episodes of Black Lightning) spoke with actors James Remar, Jordan Calloway, Marvin Krondon Jones III, Chrstine Adams, China Anne McClain, Nafessa Williams, and Cress Williams about the show and what they hope to see in the forthcoming season. Cress Williams, Black Lighting himself, wants to see a return to Jefferson Pierce in the school setting, and mentoring kids, citing the education aspect as one of the things he’s most proud of…
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The Legend of Korra: Why is Lightning Bending Common?

The following contains spoilers for AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER and THE LEGEND OF KORRA. Lightning bending is one of the strongest abilities in Avatar: The Last Airbender, with Azula’s lightning attack nearly killing Aang for good. It’s also one of the rarest techniques, with only Ozai, Iroh, and Azula able to generate lightning on their own. Even Aang, the avatar, and Zuko could only redirect lightning. It was incredibly powerful and only used for huge moments in the story. This is why when The Legend of Korra first debuted (and as new fans have rediscovered it on Netflix) many fans were confused why…
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How Flash Gordon Caught Lightning in a Bottle

Flash Gordon still stands alone in the pantheon of comic book movies 40 years on. Colorful, vibrant, kinky, and often absurd, Mike Hodges’ gaudy tale of an all-American boy defeating a powerful villain from space and saving the Earth in the process had until recently felt far removed from the predominantly safe and CG-heavy comic book fare of the last few decades, despite its familiar themes and due in large part to its distinct refusal to take itself seriously. But the film we know and love is a world away from how it began. Back in the 1970s, wealthy businessman…
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