Black Lightning Season 3 Review

Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.

After catching up with the entire series, Black Lightning had easily become one of my favorite Arrowverse shows. All three seasons have not disappointed me at all. I really want The Flash and Black Lightning to have crossover episodes in the future. This was the perfect time to invest in this series. I learned so much.

I finished Black Lightning’s third season—16 episodes—on June 19, 2020 (Juneteenth). Unlike the previous two seasons, Black Lightning’s latest season kicked off with the ASA taking over Freeland through military occupation. After the season two finale cliffhanger, I wasn’t expecting things to escalate to such a terrifying degree.

The occupation had a grip on the police department, media, and what people could search on the Internet. The ASA claimed Markovia—a fictional Eastern-Europe country— was planning to attack Freeland for the metahuman population. At first, I thought the ASA was lying about the Markovian threat to cover up their secret experiments on metahumans. Turns out, the ASA wasn’t lying about the Markovians.

I was honestly surprised—but also not really—that the Markovians became an actual threat later in the series. Both sides—ASA and Markovia—were both equally awful for wanting to exploit and weaponize these metahumans. There was no right decision when it came to picking sides.

With Tobias Whale (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III) detained at the ASA and sidelined as main antagonist, Agent Odell (Bill Duke)—a leader of the ASA—stepped up to the role. His soft-spoken voice, tense presence, and quiet mannerisms were well-performed. Odell’s scenes were my favorite to watch. I thought he was going to be the endgame villain, but that was reserved for Gravedigger (Wayne Brady).

Gravedigger—a metahuman from Markovia—came super late in the season, but he was a good antagonist to fight at the end of the season. He was fleshed out fairly quickly, but it never seemed too bothersome. Out of the three main villains in this season though, Gravedigger was weakest compared to Agent Odell and Tobias Whale.

Tobias Whale was demoted to being a plot device. He was tossed around for whatever the plot needed him for. He didn’t add anything significant all season. There was potential whenever Tobias interacted with Lynn Stewart (Christine Adams), but that amounted to being nothing. He survived at the end of season three, so hopefully next season Tobias Whale will rise up as a worthy arch-nemesis for Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams).

Jefferson also felt demoted from being the main protagonist. At the start of season 3, Jefferson turned himself into the ASA to protect his daughters, so he wasn’t allowed to do much action. Anissa (Nafessa Williams) stepped up as the main protagonist and lead the Underground Railroad for the metahumans, living up to her activist nickname “Harriet”. When Jefferson became involved in this plotline, he felt like the side-character in his own show. Objectively, I think that would be a bad thing, but I also enjoyed Anissa learning how to be a superhero in her own way.

My only real issue with Anissa was the two different superhero names. She was Black Bird during the first half of the season, the vigilante that escorted the metahumans out of Freeland, and then she was Thunder later when her father returned as Black Lightning. I understand the light and dark theme—similar to Daredevil with his black and red suits—but logically, “Why do you have two superhero identities, Anissa?”

Jennifer Pierce (China Anne McClain) became brainwashed—since her parents weren’t around to help her—with Agent Odell’s propaganda, believing the ASA were truly protecting them. Agent Odell used this to his advantage, but Jennifer eventually saw through the deception. The “Crisis” episode when Jennifer met alternative versions of herself from different Earths was such a character-focused episode for her. One of my favorite episodes out of the entire series.

Lynn Stewart had a complex arc during this season. I was heavily invested in what was going on with Lynn. Agent Odell manipulated her down a dark path that sparked a drug addiction to manifest. Watching her character get destroyed was so uncomfortable. Christine Adams’ performance as Lynn was emotional and filled with desperation. This also put a strain on her romance with Jefferson, who had been working so hard to make things right with them again.

Khalil / Painkiller (Jordan Calloway)—Jennifer’s dead ex-boyfriend—also had a complex arc during this season. My interest in him was kind-of so-so in the previous two seasons, but I was really immersed in Khalil’s story and fight scenes. Now that I had caught up with the series, watching Khalil go from normal high school student to resurrected anti-hero was one of the best parts about watching Black Lightning.

Overall, Black Lightning is worth the watch in my opinion. I’m looking forward to where this show goes next. At one point, I think Jefferson unofficially formed The Outsiders, a small team of superheroes who operate outside superhero norms like The Justice League. Despite the show’s shortcomings, I still enjoyed the series as a whole. I’m excited for season 4 to come out next year. Thanks for reading my season review! I’ll see you all next time!