'Black Lightning' Recap: 'The Book of Little Black Lies'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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​The more time I had to ponder upon last week’s revelation filled episode of Black Lightning, the more I found myself counting down the minutes to this week’s brand-new episode. After all, we know now everything we need to know when it comes to the secrets Peter has been hiding all of this time, and by revealing all of that well before the season finale, the show has in essence freed itself to explore new storylines and new territory for Jefferson and his family and last night’s tale, ‘The Book of Little Black Lies’, delivered on just that, while of course staying true to the show’s proud tradition of putting a unique spin on its storytelling.
 
Case in point, the fact that the series was able to handle the whole matter revolving around Jennifer’s powers in new and refreshing light. Because normally on superhero shows, this one included, when someone discovers they have powers, they instantly find themselves ready to work for a greater cause and Jennifer’s response was far more human than I think any of us expected to see. She was terrified of her powers, and ponderous on how they would impact her future and she was genuinely hurt by how the family kept the truth about dear old dad from her and I love the fact that the series took the time to explore this and point out the fact that not everyone out there with powers necessarily has to or wants to choose a side.
 
Another pleasant surprise from this episode came about from the fact that both Henderson and Peter in essence did their best to set their wrongs, right in this tale. Because Henderson, who has always tried to keep his head down and just do his job finally put a little risk into his day by trying to track down the crooked cops in Freeland with some measured success and Peter, well he did everything within his power in this story to atone for his sins, by trying to help Black Lightning clear his name and it was just wonderful to see both of these men take a stand for what they believe in at last and in Peter’s case, it would seem that the discovery of what happened to the Meta Humans he flagged for his boss ages ago is starting to push him toward being a good guy through and through.
 
But the biggest surprise of the night, was that for the first time ever, this series felt like a traditional superhero story when father and daughter went after Green Light in epic fashion. Because both of them agreed that taking down this drug was a priority into exposing everything they’ve been chasing and well, that led to a grand finale filled to the brim with action and adventure and straight up butt kicking through and through and I’ll be honest, this was just a blast to watch. We’ve seen Jefferson and Anissa in action, but never like this and they wiped the floor with Martin Proctor’s cronies and even helped Henderson to make an arrest and well, it’s nice to see that this series can celebrate or deconstruct the genre on a moment’s notice.
 
What matters most however, is the sheer fact that this was in fact a transitional/filler episode, that was entertaining from start to finish and that’s not always the case with episodes such as these and really, this set the stage nicely for a grand showdown between the ASA and Black Lightning. Because not only did Jefferson and Anissa slow if not stop the spread of Green Light in Freeland, something you know Proctor isn’t happy with, they’re undoubtedly going after the trapped Meta Humans that Peter found and that will only escalate this fight and that’s bad news for the ASA, because I’m certain that Black Lightning and Thunder will be ready to handle anything thrown their way. Until next time. 

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