Black Lightning: SPOILER Dies in the Series Finale

After four seasons, it all came down to tonight on The CW's Black Lightning. The groundbreaking series ended Monday night after four seasons on the network, wrapping up the story of Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning (Cress Williams), his family and friends, and their ongoing struggles against the corrupt and dangerous Tobias Whale (Marvin "Krondon" Jones III). However, with all of the fourth and final season seeing major challenges for the heroes, challenges unlike any they've faced before, and with Tobias seemingly unstoppable, there were sure to be some losses in the finale. The only question now is who was left standing when the dust settled and who wasn't.

Warning: spoilers for the series finale of Black Lightning, "The Book of Resurrection: Chapter Two: Closure", below.

As things went in terms of the body count in the Black Lightning series finale, there were surprisingly few. The episode opened with it looking like there might be an almost unbearable loss as it did appear, briefly, that Jefferson had in fact been killed by Tobias in the penultimate episode. Tobias left the hero buried alive in a coffin with no way out. However, in the end, it wasn't Black Lightning who died. It was Tobias himself.

A few things came together to facilitate Tobias' much-deserved end. First, Jefferson had a near-death experience as his air ran out in his coffin, experiencing his deceased father who gave him a pep talk about using everything he has in order to go after Tobias. While that was happening, Gambi (James Remar) along with Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Grace (Shantal Thuy) located the emitter and destroyed it, restoring metahuman powers. When Jefferson returned to himself, he could access powers and then, drew energy from the promethium in the Earth to escape his grave and head off to Tobias.

From there, it's an all-out brawl. The two men fight it out with fists and powers, but in the end, Tobias goes out a window and ends up impaled on a spike. Even with Tobias in grave condition, Black Lightning seems determined to bring the man to justice, but instead, Tobias draws his weapons and begins shooting which prompts Black Lightning to blast him. Tobias dies -- with Lala finding him dead at the very end of the episode.

"Well, I just wanted to give people hope," showrunner Salim Akil said of giving Lala (William Catlett) the final word. "You know these characters are, I think all the characters on black lightning have contributed to what I consider, the mission of the show. And Lala has always been one of my favorite characters because he reminds me so much of myself and a lot of my friends that I grew up with. Someone that is seen as a villain, and in a lot of ways he is, but he also has a moral compass, and he really sees what he does as a business, and he then contributes to the community. So, I really wanted to have Lala stand up and represent that."

What did you think of the Black Lightning series finale? Let us know in the comments!