Khalil becomes central to Jefferson’s investigation. Jefferson meets his successor. Jennifer meets a lady who knows far more about her than she should and Lynn makes a deal with a scientific devil…

More cast-wide engagement this week as well as a serious status quo shift. All of it communicated through some startlingly good direction by Rose Troche too. I especially loved the tracking shot back out through the newly installed metal detectors at the school and the cops emerging from the shadows at Tobias’ sister’s tomb.

In between that we get some more details on Khalil that makes it clear he’s far less comfortable with his life than he claims. We also get further developments in the rift between Anissa and Jefferson, with her now openly working off-the-books ops with Gambi and not her father. Again the action is top notch here, and Anissa’s wide array of new moves is nicely handled. The CW superhero shows always excel at action but few of them are consistently this good.

And few of them have the guts this show does. In the space of one episode we get a (possibly) emotional moment from Tobias, Jefferson handed the one thing he’s convinced himself he wants more than anything else, Lynn’s encounter with her new ‘colleague’, and chunky plots for both Jen and Anissa. This show has a big cast and it puts all of them to work. Not just in the service of plot either but the explorations of family, culture and obligation that drive the show.

There is one blot this week, and it’s tiny and possibly not even there at all. Jefferson’s replacement is so instantly dislikeable and stereotypical that the character fails to land. It’s absolutely likely that’s my white privilege talking but, for me at least, he’s so cookie cutter ‘all lives matter’ that he damages the scene he’s in. Still plenty of time to correct that though.

Verdict: Black Lightning and Freeland are both being rocked by the consequences of Greenlight and it’s making for excellent TV. Intensely smart, layered and successful this is superhero drama at its absolute best. And, judging by the end of this episode, it’s just getting started. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart