One of the few The CW series to air its complete its season last year while the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the production of many other offerings, Black Lightning returns tonight for its fourth and final season. The last viewers saw the titular hero and his family, they had stopped the Markovian invasion of Freeland as well as outed the misdeeds of the shady government agency the A.S.A. Season 3 ended on a note of optimism for Freeland with those threats out of the way, but now with the series back and picking up one year later, things haven’t quite gone so well for Freeland or its hero.
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If you need to get caught up on the major details and stories from the Season 3 premiere of Black Lightning, we’re here to help. Here are the major plot points and reveals from “The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter One: Collateral Damage.” Warning: full spoilers for the episode beyond this point. Read on only if you really want to know.
Freeland
It’s been a year since the “Markovian War” and while the anniversary is something that is being noted, it doesn’t appear to be something that anyone is really celebrating. Freeland is now dealing with another violent threat, that being a gang war between the 100 and the Kobra Cartel. Not much has changed in terms of police prejudice and violence, either. Cops are still pulling over and brutalizing young black men and there’s a new Chief of Police, Ana Lopez (Melissa De Sousa) who wants to “document and tag” all “undocumented” metahumans as she blames them for Henderson’s death and Freeland’s issues.
Jefferson
The episode also finds Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) in a bad place. He’s still mourning Henderson and is having family issues as well — he and Lynn (Christine Adams) are in counseling but it’s not going well and his relationship with his daughters is also strained. He’s also declared Black Lightning dead but is still using his powers. Most notably, the episode sees Jefferson attack the police who are harassing a young black man and then, later, uses his powers against one of the gang members who go after Jennifer (China Anne McClain). Both instances show a much more aggressive and violent Jefferson than we’re used to. The police end up in the ICU and it’s said that the gang member is crippled.
Lynn
Lynn is working in a lab and despite her claim that she is doing well with her sobriety, she’s still obsessed with the metahuman formula that she created last season. She’s seen doing a bit of vigilante work herself as a way of testing her research, having injected herself with Gravedigger’s persuasion powers to see how long they last. She also takes Anissa’s (Nafessa Williams) side when it’s revealed that Tobias Whale (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III) is alive and Anissa says he needs to be killed in order to keep them all safe.
Jennifer and Anissa
Grace (Chantel Thuy) remains in a coma. Jennifer has been using her powers to fly on a regular basis and she and Anissa are going out as a Thunder and Lightning team, taking out the drugs that the gangs are spreading through the city. After taking out a particularly large shipment, Thunder and Lightning are set up and Jennifer/Lightning is shot by an energy weapon. While she recovers quickly, at the end of the episode when she’s flying she suddenly loses power and passes out, falling through the sky.
A mystery ally — or not
Jefferson gets a call from Henderson’s phone and someone tells him that Henderson gave him the number and that they need to meet. An unseen Jefferson meets with this person, who claims that Henderson was his mentor and Freeland needs Black Lightning, but he isn’t sure he trusts him. Later, Jefferson has a letter from Henderson that vouches for this man but it’s soon revealed that he works for the police department and is part of an investigation into the attack on the two police officers earlier in the episode and, yes, he suspects Jefferson.
Odds and ends
Tobias is using his money to work his way into control of Freeland again as well as to get on the board of directors for the lab where Lynn works. Lala (William Catlett) wants Jennifer dead. Gambi (James Remar) is visited by a woman from his past and given a job offer from an organization that he clearly doesn’t trust and it’s also revealed that the pair of a romantic history. Also, Gambi tries to get through to Jefferson about his grief and how the city needs Black Lightning, but no dice.
