'Black Lightning': 7 Questions Raised by "The Book of Redemption"
Tonight's episode of Black Lightning may have picked up the narrative threads of last week's [...]
Does Lala have superpowers?
To say that Lala has been different since he came back from the dead would be an understatement. Ever since the prevously murdered gangster's resurrection, he's been a little off. For starters, he's been talking to what we can only presume are ghosts. Previously he was seen talking to the ghost of Lawanda, the woman he murdered when she confronted him about her daughter, and tonight he was talking to Will, the gangster who Lala killed after Will brought too much attention to Lala's criminal activity by going after the Pierce daughters.
But while talking to ghosts no one else can see is strange, it's other changes in Lala that have us wondering if resurrection gave him superpowers. In tonight's episode, Lala literally tears a man's ear off with his bare hands and with what appeared to be very little effort. Later, he dared one of his drug dealers to shoot him, but the gun didn't work. Turns out, Lala had no way of knowing that the gun wouldn't fire correctly -- but it certainly seems like he knew that he wouldn't get shot. Whatever brought Lala back from the dead has clearly changed him and may have given him powers in the process.
What is the ASA really up to?
Even for what has been revealed thus far on Black Lightning, the A.S.A. is still a pretty shady organization. Thanks to Gambi, we know that the secret government organization had been experimenting on the city of Freeland, using a vaccine to make the predominantly black population of the city more "docile" thirty years ago, though it had the side effect of creating metahumans. Kids who developed special abilities as a result of the vaccine mysteriously disappeared at the time though we now know the A.S.A. abducted them.
Now, though, the organization is using the drug Green Light instead of a vaccine to control the city's population and, apparently, create more metahumans. Tonight's episode showed the organization abducting a girl who developed powers after taking the drug and stashing her in the same suspended animation pods the other missing kids are in. While it can be argued that the drugs alone are a way of controlling Freeland through addiction, it's the powers that the organization seems more interested it so we want to know what exactly the organization is really up to.
What does the ASA have planned for the kids of Freeland?
And speaking of what the shady group is really up to, what is the A.S.A.'s plans for the abducted metahuman kids? Martin Proctor, the man in charge of the organization, mentioned during the episode that the kids are part of an experiment which seems to be a clear indication that the A.S.A. is up to far more than manipulation and control of the population via drugs. The fact that the kids have been kept in suspended animation seemingly for thirty years is curious as well.
So what could the A.S.A. be up to? With all the twists and turns on Black Lightning, we honestly don't know, but given that we also saw Proctor water board Peter Gambi in tonight's episode it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to think that Proctor is trying to create some sort of super soldier or super spy, possibly for his own nefarious purposes.
Are Jennifer's powers controllable?
Tonight audiences also saw the most powerful display of Jennifer's abilities yet. While arguing with her sister, Anissa, Jennifer lit up with electrical energy, singeing some of the furniture in the Pierce household in the process. This lead Jennifer's mother, Lynn, to run a few tests on her to find out what is going on and that's when they discovered that Jennifer's powers are different from her father's.
While Black Lightning operates like a battery and draws charge from electrical energy around him, it turns out that Jennifer is a generator. Her cells create pure energy. And from the looks of her MRI scans, Jennifer creates a lot of pure energy. That much electrical energy running through one body can't be stable or easy to control, which begs the question: can Jennifer's powers be controlled? In comics Jennifer eventually become the hero Lightning, something that the show teased at during the pilot episode, so it's theoretically possible, but what that might look like -- and if it will be something Jennifer will even want -- remains to be seen.
Where is Tobias?
The last couple of episodes of Black Lightning have been missing someone. Lala's henchmen even mention the absence in tonight's episode -- Tobias Whale isn't in Freeland.
The last time we saw the head of The 100 was in "Equinox: The Book of Fate" when both he and his sister were shot in a gunfight. Tobias' sister died from her injuries -- literally dying before Black Lightning's eyes -- while Tobias fled the scene. Since Tobias hasn't been seen since, allowing for Lala to return and pick up where he left off unchecked, we have to wonder where Tobias went and how long will be away from Freeland.
Was that a nod to Superman?
Tonight's wasn't all grim, however. Despite the mystery of the A.S.A. deepening, Lala doubling down on his drug operation, and Jennifer's powers being more complex than initially thought, there was some levity and it might have come in the form of a nod to Superman.
While visiting Lynn at her job, Jefferson mentions having Electric Vision that lets him see through things. This turns out to be courtesy of Gambi's technology that allows Jefferson to channel his powers, but Jefferson alludes that this special vision allows him to see through Lynn's clothing as though it were x-ray vision.
You know who else in the DC superhero world who has x-ray vision? Superman! We can't help but wonder if Jefferson's "electric vision" seeing through Lynn's clothes is a humorous nod to the Man of Steel without actually mentioning the hero by name. After all, the show has made nods to other DC heroes previously -- including Supergirl.
Who is the real big bad?
Perhaps the biggest question tonight's episode left us with is one that keeps coming up: who is the real big bad of Black Lightning?
When the show premiered, audiences thought that Tobias Whale would be the major villain especially since Black Lightning has a long history with the gang leader. Then, it turned out that Tobias answered to Lady Eve, a successful businesswoman who was revealed to be far more than just the owner of a successful funeral home in Freeland. But then Lady Eve was murdered -- apparently by the A.S.A. -- giving way to Martin Proctor and his shady experimentation on the citizens of Freeland. While Proctor and his organization is shaping up to be where the buck stops regarding the evil in and around Freeland, we can't help but wonder if there's another villain waiting to be revealed or if there's far more to the story than what we've seen so far.
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Black Lightning airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
