Black Lightning Season 2 Review
Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.
On June 5, 2020, I started Black Lightning’s second season. Five days later, I finished. Unlike the other Arrowverse superhero shows like The Flash and Arrow, Black Lightning always found ways to ground the series through real-life consequences. While I enjoyed season 1 more for its tighter writing and fast pace regarding the main plot on Tobias White (Marvin Williams III) and the ASA, I commend season 2 for doing a remarkable job—for the most part—with its multiple arc structure. Season 2 also did a good job with the Pierce Family tackling superhero tropes in a realistic manner—and as a loving family—especially when it came to Jennifer’s (China Anne McClain) story and struggles.
Early on in season 2, Jennifer made solid remarks about Gambi (James Remar) killing a man in front of them, and how she may have killed a nameless henchperson during the season 1 finale to protect her mother Lynne (Christine Adams). This was a lot for a teenager to handle, especially a superpowered one just coming into her powers and learning how to control them. This conversation made me think about all the random henchpeople Oliver Queen killed during season 1 of Arrow. Yikes.
Nameless henchpeople—or the bad guys’ grunts—were usually treated like “disposable” throughout superhero stories, so it was refreshing to hear Jennifer care about what happened to them. These random grunts are people too.
Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) also didn’t get off easy after the events of the season 1 finale. The school board called him out for not being at Garfield High when it was attacked, nor was he there during the aftermath. Of course, he was there fighting Tobias Whale as Black Lightning but… you see the problem here. Jefferson was forced to step down as principal for his “negligence” and failure to protect the student body.
Basically, the season 1 finale had long-lasting consequences on the Pierce Family. Anissa (Nafessa Williams) actually felt empowered and started stealing large sums of money from random gangs as a vigilante in order to fund the Black Community’s high expenses. However, this did have consequences once she kept on doing it. The whole “doing the right thing for the wrong reasons” caught up with Anissa by season’s end.
While Black Lightning juggled their arcs decently well throughout the season, the only issue I had was the arc involving the White Supremacist meta-human named Looker (Sofia Vassilieva). I thought it ended too abruptly, as we were thrown into another arc immediately after without much warning, but it wasn’t much of an issue. It was more like “plot whiplash” that happened early on around episodes 7 and 8. Otherwise, the fast pacing worked out for the series.
The Pierce Family dynamics continued to shine in the quieter moments. The family dinners, conversations, and their continuous fight to stay together was profound and more grounded in the non-superhero aspects of their lives. Lynn was especially well-developed through the hardships she had endured during this season. Overall, Black Lightning was thought-provoking. The series doesn’t shy away from the current issues that still plague our world to this day. Despite the flaws, this show is worth looking into.