With the specter of war hanging over Freeland, the Pierce family could use some good news — and they got it, in a surprising way. Shortly after Anissa (Nafessa Williams) told Grace Choi (Chantal Thuy) that she believed Grace’s powers might be changing, the pair got into a serious conversation about their relationship. It wasn’t long before Anissa told Grace that she could see herself staying with Grace forever. It took a few minutes for Grace to really catch on but soon enough she realized what the audience already did: that the pair were on the brink of becoming the first LGBT couple to get an onscreen wedding in the Arrowverse.
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As noted in the comments, Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum) and Captain Singh (Patrick Sabongui) were both married in Arrow and The Flash, respectively, but their spouses existed more or less only as their spouses, not as their own characters. Thunder and Grace would be the first lesbian couple to be married, and the first LGBT couple to wed on camera. An earlier version of this story consequently mischaracterized this as the Arrowverse’s first LGBT marriage, and we regret the error.
It didn’t take long. Shortly after, Grace and Anissa invited Jefferson (Cress Williams), Lynn (Christine Adams), and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) over for dinner, revealing the couple’s plans to get married and indicating that they planned to do it right away, with Gambi (James Remar) officiating. Of course, that’s easier said than done when the family has Painkiller (Jordan Calloway) hunting them.
But they would stay right there — on the brink of marriage — for the rest of the night. Just as they were descending the stairs to get married, everyone’s phones went off, and Black Lightning learned what Lightning already had: that Gravedigger was already at the Freeland perimeter, ready to move on the city. Jefferson, Grace, and Anissa all took off to confront the villain…but by the time they arrived, he was already face to face with Jennifer — not an ideal situation considering that he can mimic any metahuman powers he wants.
In the comics, Grace is the daughter of an Amazon of Bana-Mighdall, an offshoot of the general Amazon tribe that resides on Themyscira. Grace has a rough childhood, ultimately using her newfound metahuman powers to break out of a child prostitution ring. Years later, Grace is serving as a bouncer in a nightclub before she is approached by Roy Harper/Arsenal to join the Outsiders. She reluctantly accepts, even as she struggles to fit into the group. Grace then serves as a member of the Outsiders for years, in which she and Anissa serve as both teammates and significant others.
The pair have been a couple essentially since Grace first appeared on the TV series, and as soon as she popped up, fans started itching to see the couple brought together.
“What I will say is that with Grace, [Anissa] finds some commonality, and they understand each other,” Nafessa Williams, who plays Anissa, told ComicBook.com back during the show’s first season. “I can’t give away too much because you guys only have seen the first two episodes. So, I’ll say that Grace and Anissa have a connection that she’s never had with anyone else before.”
The road has not been easy; Grace was in hiding and Anissa had to seek her out and bring her back to Freeland.
Black Lightning airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT, Monday nights on The CW.
