“Black Lightning” 4×02 Recap: Jefferson’s life begins to collapse around him

The final season of Black Lightning kicked off last week with Freeland and the Pierce family in chaos following the Markovian war and Jefferson is feeling the brunt of it all. He doesn’t want to be Black Lightning anymore not only after the death of his friend Chief Henderson but because his family is being torn apart in the process.

In case you missed it, here’s a recap of 4×02, titled “Chapter Two: Unacceptable Losses”.

The Pierce family is torn apart amid Jefferson’s grief

Monday’s episode saw Jefferson’s grief completely overwhelm him. He’s having nightmares about Henderson’s death and decides to let it out, using his powers until he collapses. Lynn finds him the next morning, but they aren’t on speaking terms and are attending marriage counseling.

Meanwhile, Lynn is still addicted to injecting herself with meta powers (can we find her a support group for that?) and it is starting to affect her family. Lynn goes to therapy alone and realizes she has no hobbies outside of work and her family. With Jefferson refusing to put on the Black Lightning suit, Lynn has taken it upon herself to use the meta injections to watch over Jennifer and Anissa.

The girls tell their mother she’s butting in and Lynn blames Jefferson and the girls for her injecting herself and becoming addicted. My goodness, Lynn was annoying in this episode and it doesn’t stop there. She basically blames everyone else for her problem and is refusing to listen to reason.

Meanwhile, Jennifer has decided that being a superhero full time is enough to pay the bills or something because she’s declining to go to college. This doesn’t sit well with Lynn, who tells her daughter to go to college but Jennifer refuses to listen to any of it.

Jennifer gets injured while attempting to save a boy from a gang fight but is using energy from the upper atmosphere to heal, something that is hinted to be dangerous later on if she continues to do so.

Tobias has a new plan

The evil mob boss has some sort of evil plan but it’s unclear what it is. Monday’s episode made it clear he’s out to destroy Jefferson and even told him so to his face. While meeting in a parking lot, Tobias tells Jefferson that he will destroy everything and everyone he loves before he kills him.

Oh, and he has a new serum that makes him immune to Black Lightning’s powers. So, that spells all sorts of trouble for Freeland.

Episode Notes

• Gambi met with Lauren in the episode, refusing to take the job offer at Monavista. However, after realizing the company is producing weapons to possibly kill any meta, he approaches Lauren again and takes a different job within the company, possibly part of his plan to get intel on the weapons.

What did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments below!

Black Lightning airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.