Black Lightning S01E01 Review: A New Hero Appears

Black Lightning, Season 1, Episode 1: Resurrection

Black Lightning joins the many, many superhero TV shows on air this year, and it's pretty neat! I'll readily admit that I'm not the biggest expert on black culture, but I definitely appreciate racial and cultural representation. This new series immediately tries to establish itself as something different, and not just in the themes explored. The jury's still out on whether Black Lightning exists in the same universe (or the multiverse) as the rest of the CW DC comics shows, but the show apparently is made with the assumption that it's  not, but the studio could easily rectify that decision if they choose to. I kinda wish they did -- no reason to set this apart, to be honest. 

I do love leading not with an origin story, but we get to meet Jefferson Pierce as a retired superhero trying to be a father to two teenage girls. Instead of a discovery about superpowers or destiny or whatever, this pilot is more intent on following the journey of Jefferson Pierce -- who I always found cool in the comics but underused due to apparently various licensing issues -- as he tries to act as the good father and principal. We get some neat flashbacks that show us how damaged and near-death he is in the past, which cost him his marriage, that inform us of why he hung up the spandex, and there's some neat, emotional storytelling as he is shown to be desperately reining in his powers when at one point accosted by a bunch of racist white policemen. 

It's not particularly subtle about the themes it's telling, about sometimes trying to do the 'right thing' and be peaceful might sometimes lead to violent jackasses acting out. But the episode does show off some neat stylishness when Black Lightning finally decides to show off, shutting down a club and beating up a bunch of goons when they try to sell his teenage daughter to a pimp. This leads to a chain of events that causes these goons -- members of The 100 gang -- to try and get even with Anissa, despite Jefferson's deal with their superior, La-La. 

This particular branch of The 100 ends up being taken down by Black Lightning when both his daughters are held at gunpoint, and Black Lightning's assault on the motel, blasting everyone with impunity, is done amazingly well. We get to briefly see the main villain -- the albino mob boss Tobias Whale -- who have a history with Black Lightning, and seems to think he had killed Lightning in the past. 

Jefferson's inner conflict as he tries to not lapse back to being Black Lightning, knowing that it'll just injure him and his family, while struggling with seeing testimonies of people he's saved and encouragement from his old mentor-ally Gambi, is pretty well-done, and I absolutely love that moment when he just goes Papa Wolf mode and tells his ex-wife that he's going to get his daughters back by any means. Oh, and Anissa (comic-books fans know her as the superheroine Thunder) has superpowers, too, meaning that, well, Jefferson's attempt to get back to the superhero life with Gambi might get skewered by another layer of complication. 

Overall, the setting of Freeland does kind of feel less... copy-paste-y. It feels like a struggling neighbourhood trying to get out of a life of crime, with complex connections between people based on past relationships and history. Jefferson himself is the episode's strongest facet, and despite some hiccups that all TV pilots have, it's a neat introduction to the character that hints a lot of his history as a retired superhero and someone trying to do good in the community. The comic-book Jefferson Pierce has always tried to use both his superhero and civilian identities to change society, and I do appreciate that touch. Not a perfect first episode, but definitely one that I enjoyed. 

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Black Lightning, a.k.a. Jefferson Pierce, is one of DC comics' first black superheroes, and the first to have his own series. After his series ended, he would star as one of the main characters in the Outsiders and later JLA comics, before getting another relaunch. Due to some tumultuous deal with the ownership of the character, Black Lightning is often excluded in media outside the comics, with similar black-lightning-wielding superheroes like Black Vulcan (Superfriends) and the titular Static Shock being made to stand in for him, although this has clearly changed in recent days. Jefferson in the comics grew up in the slums of Metropolis, being a school teacher by day and fighting organized crime with a belt that gave him electrical powers, although his long exposure to the belt made the abilities internal.
• While the show mostly uses a new design, Black Lightning's traditional costume, complete with a bald head, is seen as part of footage of him saving a convenience store. 
• Anissa and Jennifer Pierce are Black Lightning's daughters, and, well, end up being superheroes themselves, with Anissa being known as Thunder and Jennifer being Lightning. Not particularly familiar with Jennifer, to be honest, but Anissa is a founding member of the second incarnation of the Outsiders, and her powers include weight manipulation.

• Anissa's voiceover in the opening scenes of "with thunder and lightning as witness, Black Lightning was born again" seemed to allude to their future codenames. 
• Peter Gambi is a tailor specializing in super-suits, and an ally of Black Lightning introduced in his original series. His brother Paul Gambi is known as the "Crime Tailor" and is a major supporting character for the Flash's enemies, the Rogues, all of whom commission costumes from him. 
• Tobias Whale is Black Lightning's original main villain, being an African-American albino that led the criminal organization The 100, ruling the slums of Metropolis and being the indirect cause of the incident that caused Jefferson to become a vigilante...  although we'll not spoil all that much. He also menaced the Outsiders and Batman for some time. Like his comic-book counterpart, the TV version of Tobias Whale is also fond of harpoons.
• Inspector William Henderson is a the police commissioner/inspector that appeared in the 40's Superman radio series and adapted into the comics, appearing in various Superman and Black Lightning comics as police head of Metropolis, although his role would be significantly reduced over the years. While the setting of Black Lightning's adventures is moved from Metropolis to Freeland in this TV adaptation, it seems that the inspector tagged along with him.