The Review at the End of the Universe
“The Book of Ruin: Chapter Two: Theseus’s Ship” Black Lightning explores the fallout of Jennifer returning with a vastly different face as Tobias Whale progresses his slow burn plan. It’s an amazing coincidence that two comic book properties come out with a reference to the Ship of Theseus in close proximity to one another. Marvel’s…
“The Book of Ruin: Chapter One: “Picking Up the Pieces” Black Lightning begins a new arc with the Pierce family working to pull themselves together both literally and figuratively. The previous episode ended with Jennifer exploding during another trip to the Ionosphere. This outing wastes no time in dealing with the fallout of this with…
“The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter 4: “A Light In the Darkness” Black Lightning continues to explore the rifts that exist between the characters while looking to make steps forward as it heads into its next arc. The opening arc of this season has been very strong on the whole with intimate looks into what the…
“The Book of Reconstruction Chapter 3: Despite All My Rage…” Black Lightning delivers a fight club episode as Lynn starts to understand the root of her addiction and Jennifer worries about her public image. It’s fair to say that the final season so far has been a slow burn but that’s not a bad thing…
“The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Two: Unacceptable Losses” Black Lightning continues to explore the fractured Pierce family dynamic as the situation in Freeland continues to deteriorate. Two episodes into the season it’s clear that a major theme for at least the first arc of the season is grief. This is framed through Jefferson but the…
“The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter One: Collateral Damage” Black Lightning returns for its fourth and final season that starts with reflecting on the events of the previous one to set up what the characters need to overcome. I haven’t reviewed this show since just over midway through season two. Real life got on top of…
Black Lightning has completed its first season so it’s time to podcast about it and deliver our impressions of the first season in its entirety. The discussion covers perfect families, too many villains, Tobias Whale as a James Bond villain, reality vs. Superhero plotting and representation on television. We also resolve the cliffhanger around whether…
“Shadow of Death: The Book of War“ Black Lightning ends its first season with the Pierce family taking a collective stand against the A.S.A. and Tobias manoeuvring himself to the top of Freeland’s political food chain. Family has been a really strong theme in a thematically rich season of television. At the core of everything…
“The Resurrection and the Light: The Book of Pain” Black Lightning prepares for the season finale with the return of Tobias and forward movement on what the A.S.A. has planned for Freeland. In many ways this episode is more of a recap in preparation for the season finale and the episode greatly suffers for this…
“Black Jesus: The Book of Crucifixion” Black Lightning deals with the inevitable risk of the authorities discovering the secret identity of a superhero when Jeff is arrested to investigate various suspicions. Pretty much every superhero story gets around to the authorities getting wind of the true identity of a superhero so this sort of plot…
