“Black Lightning” 4×04 Recap: Jennifer pays the price for Jefferson’s grief

The fourth and final season of Black Lightning continued on Monday night with Jefferson’s secret fight club nights getting exposed and Jennifer paying the price for his downward spiral following Henderson’s death.

In case you missed it, here’s a recap of the biggest moments from episode 4×04, titled “The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Three: A Light In The Darkness”.

Jefferson’s grief turns to rage

After Jefferson sees Lynn and Tobias having dinner at the end of last week’s episode, things pick up with Jefferson spiraling as his grief is now replaced by anger and rage. He’s slowly losing everything he loves with his family being torn apart and, as we learn from Jefferson’s conversation with Gambi, Lynn not telling him that she met with Tobias. 

Jefferson confronts Tobias and nothing really comes of it; throughout the episode, you can see Jefferson’s anger building up more and more. Later, he goes to fight at La La’s underground (and very illegal) fight club. Little does Jefferson know, TC and Jennifer are watching and discovering Jefferson’s activities at the fight club. 

This leads to a big blowup confrontation with Lynn. Major props to Cress Williams and Christine Adams in this scene. They really sold the hurt and anger their two characters are feeling at this moment, which made the scene that much more believable, bravo! Anyway, Jefferson goes to a bar to drown his sorrows and Detective Hassan Shakur reveals how Black Lightning helped him and the city of Freeland. 

Will this be the thing that causes Jefferson putting the suit back on? 

Towards the end of the episode, Jefferson is tearing up outside Jennifer’s door, telling her that he’s going through some stuff and he’s not the father he needs to be. At this moment, I truly felt bad for Jefferson. Everything he and his family have gone through over the course of the show has been literal hell. 

Jennifer pays the price

Jennifer ends up paying the price; the end of the episode is pretty much proof why kids should listen to their parents. So before I get to that, let me backup. Jennifer goes with Anissa and Grace to patrol an event for the mayor but La La’s gang shows up. Shots are fired and the mayor ends up killed, which leads the new meta-hating police chief to blame Jennifer. 

So all of that combined with her father’s speech later is too much for the youngest in the Pierce family to handle. So she travels up into the inonosphere but this time, something goes horribly wrong. She absorbs too much energy and explodes into energy particles in the darkness. 

Wait. Did the show kill off Jennifer? Jefferson’s already a mess over losing Henderson. What will he do if he loses his daughter too?!

Episode Notes

• Elsewhere, Gambi is playing a very dangerous game as he continues working for Monavista in order to stop the DEG weapons they are making. After Lauren comes over to his apartment, she shows him a new project she is working on for a “new client”: a renewable energy source. Why do I feel like Tobias is this new client? 
• At this point, I’m over Grace and Anissa’s storyline. With everything else going on, it feels so pointless. Long story short: Anissa didn’t want Grace to move back in the loft but now she is moving in since they got married in last week’s episode. So over it, can you tell? Cool.

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

Black Lightning airs Mondays at 9/8c on The CW.