When I first heard sometime last year that a new superhero TV series titled ‘Black Lightning’ was going to be released on the CW, I thought ‘Oh well, another Superhero TV Series. How will this be any different?’ I was very, very hesitant to watch. But anyway, I did, because I’m that into geek TV.
And I was pleasantly surprised! Black Lightning has proved to be as different from the others as Arrow is to the Flash, and so far it’s been very, very intriguing and entertaining. Not just a superhero series but a family drama. Here we see a family with abilities –the father coming out of superhero retirement, his two daughters suddenly developing similar powers and abilities contrary to anything the parents had anticipated. Plus it’s a series about the Black neighborhood, a series about the streets, even the theme music says so. And it follows this genre to the letter. You see the gangsters –from the very first episode the 100, a local gang that causes mayhem in the town shows its presence.
That’s just the setting of the story, though. The story is mostly about the family itself. The protagonist, Jefferson Pierce, is an elderly man, unlike the usual superhero trope who used to be a superhero in his youth, but went into retirement, only to come out again when things became too disorderly. He’s actually a much respected man in the community. The daughters, of whom one is a teenager and the other in her early 20s, who are now developing abilities, and the ex-wife/mother of the girls –they are the ones whom the story revolves around. It’s their story, and no one else’s. And so the villains, while posing a threat to society, are connected to the family more than anyone else and this brings in a lot of drama and intensity. There are a lot of emotions rolling in the series and I believe this is what makes a good story. When the second daughter began developing her abilities, I straight out screamed in excitement. It was so unexpected. I really can’t wait to see what happens next.
And the twists in the show! Like, what? We just found out that the Pierce’s abilities and the drug riddling their town, Freeland right now, are connected in a way we could have never imagined in the early episodes by experiments that took place over 30 years ago –experiments which are suddenly being brought back to light, and which, it seemed, never really stopped. And the person we thought would be the main villain of the season has been killed! Like, what the heck is going on? It’s crazy! Plus, the smallest villain, or the man who we thought would be the smallest villain and was really the first to go, is suddenly back. The twists are killing us. The person who helps the Pierce family, Peter Gambi, who is to Jeffery like Alfred is to Bruce Wayne’s Batman, has a story so complicated that we have no idea what’s going on. Seriously, while he’s helping Black Lightening in keeping the streets safe and was the one who brought him out of retirement, he’s also at the same time, keeping Jeffery from getting to the real bad guys and seems to be working for them. Like, what is his deal? What’s he doing? Whose side is he really on? Who is he? Where did he come from? And interestingly enough, Jeffery and his family do not really have complete answers to these questions either. Everything is just full of craziness.
After last episode, I became so sad when I remembered that the season would only have 13 episodes. Yeah, I want to keep watching Black Lightning –it’s that good. If you’re into superhero TV, you probably should see this also. There’s been a lot of speculation that it could be integrated into the arrowverse, but up to date there’s been no indication of that in the show so you can watch it as a standalone and don’t need to catch up on any other series to enjoy it fully. It’s just great.
Black Lightning airs every Tuesday by 9pm ET, only on the CW
Upvote, Comment, Resteem
Follow me @petermarie for more discussions on comicbook shows