The community plan a march to remember LaWanda, Anissa experiments with her new powers and Jennifer and Khalil make a big choice.

This is a show truly starting to break stride. This episode uses the march as a central point around which every other plot orbits: Jefferson and Gambi’s plans to protect it, Tobias’ plans to assault it and the differing agendas of those present.

That in turn allows the episode to explore personal plots without feeling like it’s short-changing the arc. The Jennifer and Khalil stuff, especially Jefferson abusing his other superpowers (as Principal) to have a little fun at Khalil’s expense, is genuine and often very funny, Jefferson and Lynne’s reaction to Jennifer’s ‘I have decided to have sex’ conversation in particular.

Every element of the show is well served here, and in doing so Jan Nash’s script and Mark Tonderai’s direction also help cement the feel of Black Lightning. This is a show built from the ground up, like its hero, and both of them are starting to find the strength and joy that comes from that. Jefferson and Gambi, and Jefferson and Lynne in particular, are relationships that get better every episode and this approach is a vital part of that success.

But the episode really flies when it surprises you. The consequences of the march, the offhand way one eye-witness is revealed to be gay and Anissa’s new found relationship with Grace Choi and her powers are variously sized elements of the story but all draw from the same core idea: that things in Freeland have changed and the sooner everyone, Black Lightning included, realizes that, the better. The slow burn on Anissa’s powers is the highlight there, and it cleverly maps onto the gradual reversal in the Pierce girls’ outlooks. Anissa, always by the book, is sneaking off to train with the powers she can’t control yet. Jennifer, with the horrific aftermath of the march, is about to get more responsibility than she knows what to do with.

Verdict: Black Lightning continues to build a near serialised story that stands on its own and has its own viewpoint. There’s a pretty major hint dropped this week of possible connective tissue with the other shows but right now, it doesn’t need to go any further than that. Freeland may need all the help it can get one day, but right now, Black Lightning’s very much on the case. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart