Anissa discovers Khalil’s mom can’t afford to bury him. She also gets shot in a drive-by which, mysteriously, is not Tobias’ men…

Another fantastic episode for all sorts of reasons. Not the least of which is the sudden, very violent, intrusion of non-Freeland business on Freeland with the Markovian special forces team in town looking for a missing scientist and everyone else very much in the way. Then there’s the return of Anissa’s Daredevil costume and Jen and Jefferson returning to school.

Markovia first, where it seems likely that Tobias’ new/old friend Doctor Jace is being hunted by her former employers. That looks like a chunky plot marker for next season but simply throwing them into the mix here shakes things up very nicely. The Black Lightning/Tobias war has been such a toe-to-toe slugfest that it’s refreshing to see someone else get involved. Plus it drives the increasingly overt rift between Lynn and her superpowered family into the light.

But what really powers this episode is what’s missing from it: Khalil. Everyone is looking for a fight whether it’s Jen standing up to the Principal, Anissa beating funeral money out of an abusive drug dealer or Lynn and Jefferson arguing, Khalil is everywhere this episode. The war has claimed a major victim and no one knows how to deal with it. Worse, they’re all off their game and the moment where Anissa gets her ass pretty soundly kicked is genuinely shocking. Plus, nice to see that Daredevil’s legacy is fight choreography we can actually see. Thanks, folks. Miss you.

Other highlights include Bill Duke’s magnificently grim Agent Odell riding to the rescue, and the brilliant argument between Jefferson and the Principal. That may honestly be my favourite moment in the show so far as PJ Bryne’s Mike Lowry (surely a Bad Boys joke) makes an entirely justifiable point about his terrible childhood, wrapped in a vastly racist one. It’s a deeply complex scene and shows how ragged the border between acceptable and unacceptable is, just as this show always does at its best.

Verdict: Rounded out with a tangible sense of escalation this is a great episode in a great run that’s building to something massive. Hop on board now and get caught up before season 3. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart