In the future, Black Lightning will be a part of DC TV Weekly just like the other CW Shows, however, seeing as it's the pilot episode, I thought I'd give it a post all on its own to discuss the show, seeing as I'd probably have more to say than I would a regular episode of DC Television.For those of you unaware, Black Lightning is a DC Superhero who has the power to control electricity...and is black...says what it does on the tin I suppose. The CW Television show follows Jefferson Pierce, former superhero who retired after a near fatal fight, and is now a high school principal who has dedicated his life to raising his daughters and helping the community without having to put on the suit. But, with gang crime on the rise and blatantly racist cops not doing anything about it, and after Jefferson's daughters are kidnapped, Jefferson puts the suit back on to yet again become the hero Black Lightning.
Now this set-up instantly establishes the distinction between Black Lightning as a series against the rest of the DCW. This is not an origin story, this is someone who spent years as a superhero, but gave it up and dedicated his life to helping people within the system. In fact, the scene of him explaining his past as a superhero is possibly the highlight of the episode, discussing his initial motivations and how no matter what he did, crime never changed, and all he was doing was putting his own life on the line while being viewed as a vigilante by the police. It's an argument that many have made that superheroes such as Batman or Iron Man could do so much more good within the system without having to put on a suit. Jefferson proved it, becoming a high school principal, improving kids lives, helping his community, being on good terms with both the police and gangs just enough to keep his school safe at least. In fact another contender for best scene is when one of the gang members comes to his school, pulls out a gun, and he defuses the situation with words, not violence. It would have been so easy for him to just beat him up, but instead choosing the pacifist approach shows how dedicated he is to helping people as just Jefferson Pierce, not Black Lightning.
Which in a way makes it feel like his return to crime fighting feels rather abrupt. The man went 9 years without using his powers even once, yet according to this episode, all it took for him to snap was one racist cop. Now you could make the argument that he's had a build up of anger over the years and this is just what pushed him over the edge, but the way it's shown to us doesn't suggest that. Later on in the episode it's the threat of his daughters being put in danger that makes him cross the line, which makes much more sense as motivation. Although his ex-wife being okay with it, while also understandable, I feel there should have been a little bit more resistance on her end.
There's also the argument made in the show of the difference between Vigilante and Superhero. Now as of right now it's not made clear if this takes place in the Arrowverse, but they do confirm that other superheroes do exist in this universe, so it's safe to assume they're in the same universe. In which case, the only two prominent superheroes are Green Arrow and The Flash (Supergirl is from a different universe and the Legends aren't well known to the public). In which case, Green Arrow is most definitely viewed as a vigilante, hell that's what the current season's plot is about. But more than likely they're making comparisons to The Flash, which makes more sense, they're both super powered beings who are public figures in their cities (Hell, they both even have lightning powers). In which there is definitely the argument to be made, because let's not lie, if superheroes existed, there's definitely people-and especially people in the media-that would label them as hero or vigilante based entirely on skin colour. Now while we don't know exactly what Black Lightning was like as a hero, judging by his actions in this episode, there is kind of a heavy distinction. Flash both works with the police department and doesn't kill (Usually), while Black Lightning goes against the police and has no problem killing, which is exactly what Green Arrow did in season one, which is why he was viewed as a vigilante, so yeah, it's understandable why Black Lightning would be viewed like that. It's not a clear cut issue here, again, the police force in BL has it's corruption, but the main cop Henderson seems to be a good officer, even friends with Jefferson, which means that's probably going to lead to interesting drama later on, but if Henderson thinks Black Lightning is a vigilante, I'm leaning towards his side.
As for the villain, I don't have much to say about him as we didn't get that many scenes, nor do we fully know the extent of his power, but, in the two scenes we got, we saw him feed a guy to piranhas and then casually shoot a dude with a harpoon. I already like him. He also has a personal connection to Black Lightning, having killed his father (Because of course he did) and was the one who nearly killed Black Lightning all those years ago, we don't know how, but the dude has obviously got some power behind him, whether it be an army of gang members, or maybe a literal power, I'm excited to find out.
Overall Black Lightning delivered on a solid pilot. Cress Williams makes for a compelling lead, it tells a different story from other CW Superhero shows, the supporting cast are all interesting, it has style, and I'm interested in seeing where it's gonna go. Also please let this mean we're getting Static at some point. 8/10.
-Danny
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