The people of Freeland have had a rough time on Black Lightning this season. With the A.S.A.’s occupation has come martial law, curfews, crackdowns, and the detainment of metahumans — and those suspected to be — camps and worse. The citizens of the fictional town on The CW series haven’t been taking it all lying down, however. Blackbird has been working to get metahumans out of the city while other forms of resistance have also been at work, attempting to disrupt the A.S.A.’s stranglehold on the city. Tonight, however, the efforts to push back against the shadowy and brutal government agency finally came together — and the leader of Freeland’s insurgency against the A.S.A. was revealed.
Spoilers for tonight’s episode of Black Lightning, “The Book of Occupation: Chapter Five: Requiem for Tavon,” below.
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Last episode of Black Lightning saw Chief Henderson (Damon Gupta) lean on Black Lightning (Cress Williams) and Blackbird (Nafessa Williams) to get a number of resistance members as well as Tavon out of lock up in the police station. This week, however, we saw Henderson going around and arresting those who have been standing up to the A.S.A. in their own way, first by arresting Two Bits — who had been stealing supply trucks from the agency for his own benefit — and Reverend Holt. Holt in particular has been playing a large role in the resistance by helping smuggle metahumans out of Freeland.
It seems like a strange reversal. Last week, Henderson was as over the occupation as anyone and this week, he’s helping shut down the resistance. As with many things this season on Black Lightning, it seemed stunningly out of character, at least until the final moments of the episode. Both Two Bits and Holt are left to wait in the police car for an extended period of time before Henderson finally lets them out and into an alley. It’s in that alley he reveals that not only does he want to combine efforts to resist the A.S.A. but that he’s been running a large part of it the whole time — and he has support from others, including Blackbird.
With Henderson revealed to be an active part of the resistance, it now unites major “leadership” elements of Freeland in the cause. Two-Bits represented the gang and criminal element of Freeland, Holt represented the spiritual community. Blackbird served as the folk hero that united the common folk. Now, with the resources of the police theoretically at their disposal, the A.S.A. may just face a real threat from the people eager to take back their city no matter what.
Black Lighting airs Mondays at 9/8c on The CW.
