Black Lightning S01E09 Review: Family Feud

Black Lightning, Season 1, Episode 9: The Book of Little Black Lies

Huh. This episode's theme is honestly simple. "Sometimes parents keep a secret from you because they want to protect you, and sometimes it goes on for too long". It wraps the two central conflicts here, with Jefferson being absolutely angry at Gambi for keeping the whole secret about his involvement in the metahumans of Freeland and indirectly with the death of Jeff's dad. The theme is also central to Anissa revealing to Jennifer that they're a super-powered family, and Jennifer is absolutely aghast at everything that's going on, least of all her entire family keeping such a big secret from her.


Unlike the recent episode of Arrow I just reviewed, though, the personalities of these characters, and the very human and well-written conflicts that these characters go through, make "the Book of Little Black Lies" a far more engaging 45-minute episode of television than "All for Nothing". Sure, maybe it's because the Pierce family and its dynamic is genuinely fresh, what with them being brand-new characters to us, but it's also because the theme isn't forced or abruptly shoehorned recently, and is given time to grow. Jennifer going from pouting to listening to accepting is paced really well, and Jefferson's frustration and eventual sympathy to Gambi, helped by his interaction with Anissa gently calling him out on his hypocrisy, is also well-done. None of it is blatantly shoehorned in our face, but it's not subtle either, a rare case where the subtlety and obviousness is balanced well.

(Oh, and Anissa gets her brand-new fancy black-and-gold costume, which normally would be the thing I hype about, but is genuinely an afterthought when I was writing this review)

On the down side, there's a very light amount of action in this episode, with what little we get being Black Lightning and Thunder blowing up the Green Light factory, and fighting a bunch of ASA men, but that's honestly quite short. Poor Inspector Hendersen spends the entire episode with such a death-flag over his head, but he actually made it out alive and well. Unlike Arrow's sixth season, which prioritizes plot over well-paced character development, Black Lightning shoves the plot way into the background and focuses a lot more on character interaction and character growth, and it shows in such a more satisfying episode. Time will tell if the lack of focus on the over-arching plot will hurt the series in retrospect, since both Tobias and La-La are absent in this episode... but it does make for one hell of an emotionally satisfying episode.

I do really like what they did with Jennifer. Previously she's been the oddball of the family, being kinda detached from everything because she's just a normal, slightly-bratty teenager. But seeing her thrust into this wacky world of superpowers, added with the burden of the whole "my family's keeping a secret from me" deal, means that Jennifer's understandably freaking out. She doesn't want any of this vigilantism or changing the world nonsense. And considering her attempt to try to 'change' the world ended with Khalil crippled and bitter, who can blame her? Her crying in Lynn's arms as she sobs about just wanting to be normal, wanting to grow old and have kids and not have to deal with any of this great-power-great-responsibility nonsense is definitely well-acted. It contrasts amazingly well the the awkward, goofy, "I am Thunder! Look at me do Thunder stuff!" revelation as Anissa shows off her power to lift Jennifer's bed.

Jefferson sees superpowers as a burden and an addiction -- but it's a burden he'll gladly bear. Anissa sees it as a calling and a way to change her world. Even non-powered Lynn sees it as a necessary evil that may one day fuck them up, but is necessary for the greater good. Jennifer just doesn't want anything to do with it, and it's amazingly well-told. Both Anissa and Jefferson see both their civilian and superhero lives as basically being the same thing -- trying to be visionaries changing the world. Jennifer is just a scared teenage girl wanting a normal life, so she understandably freaks out... and I feel that it's the most human scene in this show.

Gambi doesn't get much to actually do, but his interactions with Anissa, trying desperately to reconnect with a family he genuinely cares and loves, but at the same time understanding what he did is rather unforgiveable... it's a great scene.

There are some weaker moments in this episode, of course, like the Obama mask bit, and the action scene feels somewhat underwhelming... but ultimately, it's a pretty satisfying episode.

DC Easter Eggs Corner:

• Anissa finally gets her black-and-gold costume, based on her newer costume from the New 52 reboot and how she has looked in the comics ever since.
• Lynn makes jokes about how she's Vixen and later Supergirl, a reference to two other DC comics superheroes adapted into CW shows. Jury's still out on whether Black Lightning is set in any of those universes, though, or if they are just comic books. I think they're being intentionally vague.