The A.S.A. occupation of Freeland has been the major plot element this season on Black Lightning, with the shadowy government agency’s stranglehold on the city turning the already troubled place into one in which metahumans live in fear and oppression just gets worse. However, last episode the agency may have gone too far in taking high school student, Tavon, into custody despite his pleas of not being a metahuman. This week, the consequences of that action as well as many more connected to it, play out as tensions finally come to a head in Freeland — and it may just change everything going forward.
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Spoilers for tonight’s episode of Black Lightning, “The Book of Occupation: Chapter Five: Requiem for Tavon”, below.
We open with Tavon, the high school student taken into A.S.A custody last episode because someone suggested he was a metahuman. He’s making a video for his parents while with the Perdi, Blackbird having helped him escape last week. Elsewhere, Agent Odell is continuing to try to identify Blackbird and finally gets a hit — Anissa Pierce. Painkiller spars with two guys in the A.S.A. facility and he tortures one of them but is stopped by Odell before the other man dies. Odell wants Painkiller to go after Blackbird next.
Lynn continues testing one of the metahumans at the facility to terrible results when the girl literally explodes and disintegrates, though it turns out it was just a nightmare. Lynn’s struggling and her addiction is getting worse. At her home, Anissa watches a message from the resistance praising Blackbird. Next morning, Jefferson makes Jennifer breakfast, but she zaps him with electrical power, and she doesn’t feel particularly “normal”. Jefferson misses the cues and tries to talk about the A.S.A. and makes Jennifer go to school despite not feeling well.
At the lab, Lynn has had a wild breakthrough, but she needs a human host and only one has survived the serum — Patient 49. In Freeland, Chief Henderson gives a press conference about the raid on the police station and offers a reward. Two Bits throws a tomato at him and he’s booed and heckled by the crowd. At school, Tavon’s parents meet with Jefferson and when Jefferson tries to say Tavon was a meta, his parents can prove otherwise. Anissa gives Grace a vaccine for the virus and also has a babysitter for her in the form of Gambi. Grace says she thought he’d be black and that she has a bad feeling about Anissa going out. At school, Jennifer continues to have issues and fries the computer lab. Brandon is suspicious.
At the lab, Patient 49 turns out to be Tobias Whale.
Henderson confronts Two Bits at his bar, arresting him. Blackbird gives the preacher the vaccine and gets a call from Jefferson. He needs Tavon brought back to Freeland, but she thinks it’s a bad idea. At the Perdi, Blackbird gives over the vaccine and the Perdi are still not happy with Blackbird. After talking to Tavon, Blackbird decides to bring him back to Freeland, but Painkiller is waiting for her to cross back.
Tobias taunts Lynn, but she injects him with the serum anyway. At Anissa’s, Gambi realizes that Anissa is in trouble at the perimeter and sure enough, as soon as she crosses over Painkiller is there. Blackbird fights him and tells Tavon to run, but he doesn’t. Tavon tries to help her, but he gets hit with Painkiller’s venom. Meanwhile, Odell shows up at Anissa’s apartment. It’s Grace pretending to be her while Gambi hides in Anissa’s closet and guides her. Odell alludes to the idea that Blackbird has been captured then leaves. Henderson pays Reverend Holt a visit as he is also looking for Blackbird and is onto Holt, whom he arrests.
Tobias is restored to his youthful appearance and reveals to Lynn that he is aware that Black Lightning is Jefferson as well as the fact that the whole family is super powered, though he says that he will leave Lynn and her daughters alone once he kills Black Lightning. Anissa and Tavon make it to the tunnel and away from Painkiller but Tavon dies. At the lab, Lynn is angry about the Tobias situation and she tells Odell to make Tobias disappear permanently once her work is done. At school, angry over Tavon’s death, the kids try to stand up against the A.S.A., hitting a kid with a gun. Jefferson confronts the A.S.A., but they menace him as well. Jennifer ends up manifesting her powers on Brandon, who absorbs them. Jennifer confronts Odell about her father getting beaten and he says he will reprimand them. Instead, he lets Jennifer do it.
Henderson takes Two Bits and Holt to a location and shows them video of Jefferson being beaten and reveals that he’s wanting to join forces with them — he’s been leading the insurgency the whole time and Blackbird shows up to join them. It’s time to take down the A.S.A.
Black Lightning airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.
