‘Black Lightning’ S1 Ep.3: ‘Lawanda: The Book of Burial’
As the episode opens at church, the community is mourning Lawanda’s death at the hands of the 100. Reverend Holt tells the congregation not to be scared of the 100 and asks for volunteers for a march.
Jeff tries to get him to call off the protest. He also tells Jeff that Black Lightning is the answer to the community’s prayers. This is clearly an idea Jeff is uncomfortable with.
After realizing that she has truly developed superpowers, Anissa sets up a spot in the junkyard where she can train and finally figures out how to tap into her powers.
Jill Scott as Lady Eve and Marvin “Krondon” Jones III as Tobias Whale in the Black Lightning episode Lawanda: The Book of Burial. Source: EW
It’s time to meet Lady Eve when Tobias goes to see her to apologize for the trouble Lala caused and she tells him about the march, so he can handle it and remind everyone who still runs the city.
Jill Scott has instantly stolen the show. She’s at once intimidating and nurturing. She gives off the same vibe as Marvel’s Madame Gao. Tobias is obviously scared of her.
Meanwhile, Jeff and Gambi make plans for how Black Lightning can best protect people at the march, with Jeff testing out his new tech.
Lynn continues to frustrate as she joins Jeff and Jennifer for family dinner. She takes time to remind him that she is tired of worrying about him being broken and beaten.
She can’t have it both ways, where she doesn’t want him to be Black Lightning, but also won’t let him move on. Pick a lane and deal with the emotions.
In the middle of all this, Jennifer announces that she’s going to have sex for the first time on the weekend. We know she has a superpower coming, it’s just a slow burn to get there and in the meantime, her character is getting lost behind more interesting stories.
We need to talk about how James Remar as Peter Gambi is the unsung hero of the show. Let’s hope we get to know more about him as the season progresses.
The community marches to protest violence in the Black Lightning episode Lawanda: The Book of Burial. Source: spoilertv
Once the community gathers for the march, Black Lightning is on a rooftop ready to stop the gunman Tobias has sent.
Just as the shooter pulls out an automatic weapon to fire, Black Lightning jumps in front of him and saves everyone.
Tobias is angry to see him back on the street and has his henchwoman aim for Black Lightning but she hits the reverend and Jennifer’s boyfriend Khalil. He’s not happy his plan failed, mainly because he will now have to answer to Lady Eve.
Gambi finds something on the security footage that appears to be Tobias and his girl in the car and erases it without showing it to Jeff. He’s obviously trying to protect someone, so who is it?
This show gets better with every episode. From the realism of a mass shooting at a protest, to mistrust between the black community and law enforcement, it is balancing real world issues with the superhero genre in a way that has never been done before.
It’s become a show where you just can’t wait to see what they’re going to do every week.
The only negative in this entire episode was only getting one scene with Lady Eve.
Also happening around Freeland:
Henderson actually says the line “I’m not in the 100’s pocket.” It’s like they’re trolling us with him possibly being bad later.
Anissa meets Grace in a bookstore and there’s an instant connection. She attends a costume party with her and that leads to girlfriend trouble.
