'Black Lightning': Who Is Looker?

Tonight's episode of Black Lightning saw the Pierce family deal with the fallout of Gambi's death, the loss of several of the pod children, and more, but it also saw the introduction of another DC Comics character -- Looker.

Spoilers for tonight's episode of Black Lightning, "The Book of Blood: Chapter Two: The Perdi," below.

Announced back in September, Supergirl alum Sofia Vassilieva made her debut tonight as Looker. Originally introduced in Batman and The Outsiders #25 back in 1985, Emily Briggs/Looker has had an interesting history. Kidnapped by an underground civilization called Abyssia, Emily was exposed to cosmic rays when Halley's Comet passed by Earth, revealing her heritage and unlocking her metahuman powers that made her incredibly beautiful and powerful. She joined up with The Outsiders heroically and later, was turned into a vampire, though her metahuman abilities spared her many traditional vampire weaknesses.

On Black Lightning, Looker is a mysterious figure in South Freeland who has something called Element. It appears to be a silver substance that turns white people to something called the Sange. It's unclear exactly what this Element is, though we did get a look at it during the episode's opening when Looker withdrew it from one of her followers who was disloyal. We also saw tonight that this Element is likely where Looker gets her name as it's suggested that she is able to see through the eyes of those under her control.

And the really interesting twist? Looker came to South Freeland 30 years ago, putting her as possibly one of the other vaccine kids not unlike Black Lightning himself.

It's interesting to note that tonight's appearance of Looker is the second time that Black Lightning has mentioned Looker. Last season, Grace Choi (Chantal Thuy) — herself a member of The Outsiders in comics — directly mentions the character, asking Anissa Pierce/Thunder (Nafessa Williams) if she wanted to cosplay Looker or Supergirl. Showrunner Salim Akil didn't elaborate on any details about Looker at this time, though he did say that the show would take an "interesting" approach.

"It's really going to be interesting, the way we approach that story... I think people will enjoy it, but also be challenged by it," Akil said.

The addition of Looker also connects with comments Akil made to reporters at San Diego Comic-Con last month in which he revealed that there would be more metahumans coming to Freeland in season two — even if some are villains.

"You know, one of the things I was saying about the upcoming season is that we're doing is I want to give a nod to comic books in a stronger way," Akil said. The first four episodes are called 'The Book of Consequences: The Rise of the Greenlight Babies.'"

What did you think about the debut of Looker on Black Lightning? Let us know in the comments.

Black Lightning airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.