Just my quick summary before i dive in... i was kinda disappointed by the finale....felt like some fluff/suddenly added material, which could have been better spent on ether reflection (which we DID have), or somehow tying up loose ends or a grateful city, or something (like ending of the WW2 era in Captain America). So the finale itself, maybe a B+ for me, but overall the series a solid A.
Black Lightning - The Final Season
Season 4 - Episode 13 - "The Book of Resurrection - Chapter Two: Closure" - SERIES FINALE
Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning / Lynn: When we last saw Jefferson, he had been beaten, and had his throat obstructed (by Tobias) in the same way the criminal killed Jefferson's father. Calling Jennifer, Tobias says he's good on his word about killing those close to her (everytime she uses her powers) showing her a photo of a seemingly dead Jefferson...
At HQ, all are angry and grieving over Jefferson's death; Jennifer is fueled with rage and wants to confront Tobias, but she is momentarily talked back into reason.
Gambi's voice cracks a bit, stating "Jefferson's my son, but its fight now, mourn later!"
Thankfully, Jefferson was not dead...yet. He was placed in a coffin, buried alive, and running out of oxygen as he yells for help. Suffocating, Tobias' words ring in his mind, triggering him to violently scream the criminal's name...
Later, Jefferson--in what he feels are his last seconds of life--prays to God:
"Father God, I pray...with my last breath...please...protect my family...protect my city...
Father..Father God, I pray..I am worthy...to be received into your kingdom..."
..with that, Jefferson's mind recalls the murder of his father...and imagines he's speaking to him--and his teenage self. Despite Jefferson's doubts, his father convinces him that he can do what needs to be done.
Seconds later, his powers are restored, and Black Lightning bursts through the grave, full of purpose and flies to settle that which should have been 20 years earlier.
Jefferson flies to Tobias' office, and the last fight begins (and yes, Tobias spits out a stream of self-hating slurs at Black Lightning). Just as Tobias tries to throw Jefferson out of a window, Jefferson breaks free, blasting him out to the balcony...and on a spike. Despite Black Lightning offering to help Tobias, the impaled criminal pulls out two guns, quoting Captain Ahab's final words:
"..to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee" (SEE NOTES)
...and fires at Jefferson, who in turn, electrocutes Tobias, finally ending the criminal's life...and as he dies, the effects of his meta treatments apparently die with him, as he instantly returns to his true age as an elderly man-turned-corpse.
Even Jefferson had to realize that some people are beyond redemption.
I generally don't like "talking to the dead", but here like in Black Panther, it felt good and right to talk to his father, who we had an opportunity to see the love, care and respect his dad had for him, and would have totally told him had he lived. Jefferson without a doubt did his dad proud, and would have no regrets about Jefferson hiding as child, but then growing and becoming a good man doing the right thing to the best of his ability (which, as it turns out, is more than he realized)
The prayer, though... seemed like to come from someone who went to church, but was never really confronted with the Gospel of Grace. Going to the Father has nothing to do with what
you did but what He did.
The fight seemed kind of lackluster a bit. Yeah, OK, it is on Tobias' turf this time, but went by kinda quick. I was hoping Lala would awaken to help Jefferson, when the Carbonite fell down. And did Tobias throw something at Jefferson? Because it looked like he clumsily tripped on something and almost knocked himself out.
Also, a part of me still wants to know how Tobias got his powers, and what is the full extent of them (such as somehow being less affected by the Lightning...is that just for Jefferson or every meta?)
And regarding
"Even Jefferson had to realize that some people are beyond redemption", that part of what makes a hero a
hero is that they inspire hope for people to change. That was what I was hoping for Lala.... get him back to the intriguing villain he was
before coming back from the dead.
Gambi locates the emitter--but its monitored by Drakestone (and their top-shelf guards)...
Flashback: Gambi tries to console teenage Jefferson about hiding while his father was killed, explaining that his act was a form of self-defense. He promises to help hi use his powers, which he predicts might serve as hope for Freeland....
Gambi, Grace and Anissa infiltrate the mausoleum where the emitter is stored, with Anissa and Grace taking no prisoners as they use explosives on the guards, and hold their own in hand to hand against the armed men.
Gambi find the emitter, plants plastic explosives on the device, destroying it--instantly restoring Anissa and Grace's powers, but Anissa is shot by the next-gen DEG's, causing Anissa to collapse into Grace's arms. At HQ, Anissa recovers (assuming her powers provided some protection from the otherwise lethal nature of the DEGs).
This would be one of those contrived scenes.... I mean, with all the resoucres Whale has, he could ave/should have 100 members of the 100 guarding the Shrine. And 3 unpowered people defeat would should have been a small army? I mean, i can go with the flow....but one of those nitpicks i have about the show.
T.C. has discovered a way to deactivate the kill order (against the Pierces) in Khalil's mind...but the cost will be losing his memories of everything...including the Pierces. Khaill reflects that the knew he would always give his life for Jennifer...but he never believed he would forget her. T.C. removes the kill order, and Khalil is finally the man he was meant to be.
One quick comment -- I had hoped Khalil would have asked TC to watch over Jen...or comment that he trusts TC to help her. Not trying to perpetuate the "men owning women" idea.... but just the idea that people need each other, and showing that he truly cares for Jen, even when he can't be there.
Jennifer / Anissa / Grace:
Jennifer returns to ionosphere, trying to absorb more power to be more than a match for Tobias--and anything else. Upon her return to HQ, she nearly faints...
In the ionosphere, the residual energy particles left by J.J. reconstitutes the real Jennifer, who meets J.J and TC in the tunnels (where the Prometheum vein is located). We learn the backstory: the real Jennifer accuses J.J. of attacking her and leaving her for dead in a realm called "The Glaze", but instead of dying, she's been "in" J.J.'s head all along, and with each trip to the ionosphere, J.J. was releasing enough energy for Jennifer to return.
The "Jennifers" fight, with J.J revealing she was a non-corporeal entity who had monitored Jennifer and wanted to know what it meant to breathe and feel. She also has Jennifer's memories and refuses to return to her realm...
J.J. briefly gets the upper hand, but as J.J. tries to kill Jennifer, her mind relives all of her past experiences which inspires her to recover enough to blast J.J., separating the impostor from the energy rightfully belonging to the genuine article.
This just felt like a random scene stuck in there to fill time, and give an explanation for changing back to China McClain. This would have been a good subplot for part of a season, with some kind of hints dropped in. Instead, it felt like they didn't know if China would be back for the end or not, and wrote it in last minute. Do we know if China left
first and
then the Akils received news of cancellation? If so, i can see them scrambling to bring her back forthe final episode.
I really think they could have ether gone parallel universe Jen that got picked up, or just adopted her as her cousin after all.
Det. Shakur / Chief Lopez: As seen in the previous episode, the enraged and murder-minded Lopez has injected herself with Metaboosters and fled the police station. Shakur calls Jefferson's phone, warning him that Lopez now has energy-absorbing powers and is on the hunt....
Locating Lopez--who is at the power grid absorbing energy--Shakur and his DEG-armed officers confront the enraged Lopez. Refusing to listen to Shakur, he has no choice but to order the officers to shoot her. The indignant woman attacks Shakur and the officers, only stopping when Jennifer arrives. Hateful as ever, Lopez calls Jennifer a "bitch" which--as you can imagine--did not go over well with the teenager. An exchange of energy blasts proves Lopez is no match for Jennifer, and at last, Lopez collapses, moaning in pain. Shakur--in front of his officers--thanks Lightning, pretty much wiping away the anti-Lightning propaganda Lopez had spread to her officers.
I was still hoping Shakur would be named Captain or something... he's a good man, and definitely someone to follow . As i mentioned in an earlier post, I wonder if he was meant to be a model for black police officers to help create justice in the system.
Epilogue:
Celebrating at Anissa and Grace's, Lynn thanks Gambi for how much he's loved Jefferson and the girls over time, even when she was not as appreciative as she should have been.
TC has "bad news" for Jennifer (SEE the Khalil entry), but does not share it. Jennifer who feels she needs to learn how to deal with the fact that most of her family--with the exception of Jefferson--could not sense that J.J. was not the real deal.
Finally, Jefferson and Lynn announce that they are getting remarried, but Jefferson adds he is retiring from being Black Lightning, entrusting Freeland to his three daughters. Gambi also retires, passing the torch to TC, but promises to be around to "tinker" every once in a while.
At Tobias' office, Lala awakens...breaking free of the cement block. Getting his bearings, he eventually discovers Tobias' corpse, saying, "Somebody finally stuck it to your ass."
NOTES:
Black Lightning--the one great series of the entire CW/Arrowverse franchise--comes to a close. Its so terrible that this series was cancelled while some truly awful shows just continue to roll on. Black Lightning has been one of best DC productions of this century (and that's a short list)--without question--and it will be missed.
I don't agree that it is the
only good show... but certainly the most serious of them, and handling that seriousness in a great way, and certainly the one most tackling relevent social issues directly. Flash has been more "comic booky", but also one i can watch with my younger child. ANd early on, for sure, it really showed respect to the comic/TV past of not just the Flash but the genre in general. That really made me a fan for episode 1 of Flash.
But as you said, without question, one of the best DC productions.
Part of the problem for BL in terms of ratings (which could have extended its life) was that they didn't market it well. At least in Chicago... i saw several Billboard ads for Supergirl (coming up on the Dan Ryan expressway on the black South Side), but i don't recall seeing any for Black Lightning. Also, in a Nextdoor social media post, centered on the blakc middle class neighborhood of Bronzeville,
many people had expressed they never heard of the show. Not that it should have been
solely a black audience, but that market was never fully tapped. If we could have had watch parties or discussion groups in our black-owned restaurants, it could have added to much needed buzz.
Also, i think the glut of DC shows in general, but especially on the CW, contributed in dividing audiences, instead of creating a core that would follow them all. They should have limited the DC shows to 2-3 per season (3 seasons)... that would have given Black Lightning a better chance to succeed.
There's so much to say about this very entertaining, groundbreaking series, but that will come in a separate post.
Definitely look forward to it...and if a separate thread, would you mind tagging me on it, so i can jump on it right away?
I would also humbly suggest a couple of points
1) Weaknesses .... not that they were strong or kept me from rating the series as less than an A... but things like how they seem to fudge time would be worthy to discuss
2) Dangling threads -- What kinds of things could have been dealt with had they gone one more season?.
3) General questions -- like why we didn't see Jill Scott at all? She was excellent when she appeared, and a shame they had Destiny step in.
Khalil's memory wipe (of the Pierces) was another way of giving Khalil (and the showrunners) an "out" of never mentioning/contacting the Pierces again, when his series airs.
which in someways is good, because the the Vibe of the show is a big disconnect with Black Lightning (Afro-futurism vs. "reality" of our world) . But the news is that the CW will
not show Painkiller (i have a link a couple posts up)... Maybe possible for HBO Max? We'll see. ANd if not, I hope Jordan Calloway gets some good roles ASAP.
Some of the nerdier viewers probably thought Tobias' last words were a nod to Khan's own dying curse as seen in Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan, but its origin--Captain Ahab from Moby Dick--may have been the direct inspiration, only its reversed as its a "whale" (as in Tobias' surname) who curses the man.
Like
@Mr. Adventure , it didn't click for me at first either. Yes, technically, this was actually an even MORE appropriate use of it (with the irony you pointed out of the Whale). But 2 things for me... 1) it sounded a bit muffled to me (I also had the volume a little low to not disturb my family), but 2) also it is REALLY hard to top Ricardo Montleban's delivery of that speech. That's why it is so ingraned for 2 generations.
Of course, I was surprised and very, very happy to see China Anne McClain return as the one and only Jennifer Pierce. Despite Laura Kariuki's good performances as J.J., she paled in comparison to McClain, who made that role her own.
I think if Laura Kariuki had more time, she would have been able to own it. She certainly did the best she could, and it still felt like Jen...well, until this last episode.
I cannot wait for a series blu-ray or 4K set.
HBO Max has nothing like Netflix's top 20 list, right? Because i wonder how BL could get a 2nd wave of fans to discover it?
I didn’t even put the “whale” thing together. I think their final showdown could maybe had been a little more but I thought the episode as a whole was pretty satisfying. At least we got some final letter n alliterative insults.
I thought Jen might return but I thought she’d re-emerge from the ionosphere whole or even teamed up. Wasn’t expecting the whole evil clone stuff with what we’ve seen with JJ.
Yeah, that just seemed like a random bit thrown in to excuse China not being in most of the season. It would have been better, fo rme, if they adopted her as a cousin after all (making the return of Jen at school a lot more plausible), or could have made her change back for whatever reason.
I liked that Gambi got a little extra celebration.
Maybe for budget reasons... but where is his girlfriend? That would have made his "retirement" just a tad more believable.
The whole Lopez thing ended up a bit of a wet fart.
I agree about that end of Lopez.... felt like it should have been more than what it turned out to be. I mean, i guess it is fitting that Lightning defeated her, and Shakur even thanked her. But yeah, felt like filler rather than a tied thread like Khalil.
Really looked like he had emerged from some concrete there.
Yeah, a little TOO much...would have been nice if he could have been dusted off before his final words.
Might jot a few words down about the series finale and the series overall later but I wanted to say how much I've appreciated your reviews Trek_God_1. Sometimes when I didn't want to look at any episode of Black Lightning (but also Batwoman), or was deciding whether I should look at them, I would just read your thorough reviews and it fit the bill. I'm going to miss your reviews and your enthusiasm for this series.
I too very much apreciate the reviews of @Trek_God . They have been well organized, and help me to focus my thoughts. I don't agree with every point , but I just about always find something I connect with (especially when he digs deep at the cultural implications), and is a great place to hash things out. I too have glanced at his Batwoman reviews (i don't have muchtime to watch a lot, especially not CW like i used too), and regularly comment on his Fear The Walking Dead reviews, which has a similar format.
