'Black Lightning' Finale Preview Released

The CW has released the official teaser trailer for next week's episode of Black Lightning, titled [...]

By Russ Burlingame

The CW has released the official teaser trailer for next week's episode of Black Lightning, titled "Shadow of Death: The Book of War."

In the episode, which is the season one finale, Jefferson Pierce and his family will finally face off with Tobias Whale and the ASA once and for all.

In the teaser, dialogue does not spoil much, although it does include Jefferson Pierce's repeated refrain of "Whose life is this, and what are you going to do with it?" Those are questions he periodically has asked his students in the series, to which they respond "mine," and "live it by any means necessary."

While the season has expanded beyond the simple story of Jefferson versus Tobias, it has always seemed likely that the two showing down would be where things end up. Adding Khalil to the mix presumably ups the stakes for Jennifer, who has been trying her best to avoid using her powers.

"I wanted it to feel real, relatable, I wanted it to feel accessible," Krondon told ComicBook.com during a recent interview on-set. "That you, as the viewer and a fan, you had access to Tobias Whale, the character. Even though he has to be formidable, I still want to be attainable for you. I still want it to feel like, okay, wait a minute, this guy might be next door. This guy might knock on my door, f--k around, you know what I mean?"

Krondon's Whale is not the massive, disfigured menace sometimes seen in the comics but rather a Godfather-like "businessman" villain whose sharp suits and eloquent speeches belie the violence and danger roiling beneath his surface. It is a take that feels very at home in a show that raises a lot of questions about black culture and black identity, since Krondon, the writers and producers, bring a very upper-crust feel to the villain and his environs.

"It is rooted in race as the world is now," Krondon explained. "I think that it's relatable to real life. Like, even though it's a universe or multiverse or whatever you want to call it, right? It's still very much so in today's time. It's dealing with the truths of today, whether you are a single mother, single father, student, gay or straight, black or white, dark or light, you know? It's dealing with the truths and the realities that you may deal with of substance in your own life. And now we're bringing them and bringing the situations to a head for the world to kinda deal with and hopefully have a great conversation about. That's what I'm hoping happens that there's a great conversation."

You can see the trailer above, and check out the official description below.

The aftermath of the showdown with Black Lightning (Cress Williams) leaves everyone reeling. Meanwhile, Tobias (Marvin Jones III) gathers his forces. Nafessa Williams, China Anne McClain, Christine Adams and Damon Gupton also star.

The episode was written by Charles D. Holland and directed by Salim Akil.

Black Lightning airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT following episodes of The Flash.

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