We are currently living in a time I never thought I'd see. I have been a comic book fanatic since I could read, but I always wanted to watch my comics! I am a visual person and the thought of seeing my favorite heroes and villains come to life was always amazing. I absolutely loved the Classic 60's Spider-Man cartoon, laughed at but still enjoyed Adam West's Batman, and the 70's live-action Spider-Man, and of course was thrilled at the excitement of watching Christopher Reeve as Superman and Michael Keaton as Batman. But never had I imagined that we would be treated to film after film, and show after show of superheroes. And I most certainly never imagined characters like Luke Cage and Black Lightning would ever get their own shows! But here we are, and I am loving it all!
I should get this out of the way first, I thoroughly enjoyed Black Lightning's pilot episode. It could quickly become my favorite of the CW superhero shows, a spot currently held by Legends of Tommorrow. Everything about it hot all the right notes. And yet it also does things very differently and does things no other CW comic book shows have been at liberty to really do. Let's start with something that all the series focus on though, in one shape or form, family. The idea of family is a huge thing amongst the Arrowverse shows. Every last show has been about building surrogate families in place of lost ones. Sure both Supergirl, and Flash also have characters that are blood or at least related to a traditional familiar relationship. But Black Lightning is more about Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) and his relationships with his two daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) and his ex-wife Lynne (Christine Adams). When his daughters were only children, Jefferson roamed the streets as the super-powered vigilante, Black Lightning. But after years of coming home bloodied and beat-up, Lynne left him believing he was doing it for the thrills alone, not to actually clean up the neighborhood. Now a school Principal, he has dutifully raised his daughters to be active members of the community. Well he tried, Anissa has become an injustice minded activist, speaking up against the gang violence, as well as lack of Police control. Jennifer however, is raging against the machine, the machine being her family, so she's acting out, going to gang-controlled clubs, and just hanging with a bad crowd. And of course he's still in love with Lynne, and forever trying to prove that they should be together. And it all works beautifully. Their relationships are the foundation of the show, and you wouldn't believe Jefferson would jump back into action if they weren't believable. But this family dynamic leads into the next major area this show differs from others on the CW, and that's the sense of community.
I mentioned Luke Cage earlier and the thing this shows has in common with Marvel's Netflix offering is that the community, the neighborhoods, and the city, feel real. Don't get me wrong, Central, Star, and National Cities all feel real (even if rehashed), but there is no sense of community. The heroes save the city, but we don't get to know the city, or any of its inhabitants unless they are a villain, connected to the hero, or a part of the story. Here's an example, in Arrow Thea ran a club, but that club never felt like a real place. It was a set piece and that's it. In Black Lightning, we get Club 100, and it feels like a real club. I've been in clubs that resemble both, and the difference was the presentation. People in Arrow were just there, it didn't seem like anyone was having any real fun, while in Black Lightning, they were dancing, and having a good time. It felt lived in. The same goes for the community as a whole. Harlem in Luke Cage was a place where people spoke to others walking down the street, people were hanging out on stoops, there's a guy selling bootlegs on the corner. Real stuff. Luke Cage engaged in the community even when he wasn't fighting bad guys. That never happens on CW shows, until now. As a Principal at what looks like a forward-thinking school, dedicated to engaging bright young men in women in the community, Jefferson Pierce is as much a hero to many, as Black Lightning was back in the day. And at the same time, they don't shy away from the darker aspects of things that happen in the community on the show as well. Which brings me to my final point.
Black Lightning isn't afraid to shine a light on some controversial topics or bring things into perspective in a way most shows wouldn't want to. I grew up in NYC, the Bronx to be exact. I've seen my fair share of tragedy, and I've also known my fair share of questionable people. There's a quote about Hitler that basically states he wouldn't have been able to do what he did without being a charismatic person. Now I know, there's nothing charismatic about a Nazi, especially Hitler. But it's the truth. He was able to get people to do things they probably wouldn't have by being that charismatic. Every successful dictator, major criminal, or Super-villain has it, and they use it to get covince people of their beliefs, motivations, and actions. I bring this up because there is a character named LaLa (William Catlett) who is a drug dealer in the community. But he's also a former student of Jefferson's. When we first meet LaLa there's nothing to even remotely like about him, and I still don't like him. But what I cannot deny is the character's charisma. There's a scene in the pilot that basically shows that LaLa (full first name Latavius, which Jefferson continues to use until told not to) is the antithesis of what Jefferson is and stands for, but in a mirror image. He's intelligent, he values, respect, and hard work. He knows that he and by extension every kid in the community is at a disadvantage, and therefore have to work twice as hard. But his methods are harsh, his goals are twisted, and he's doing more harm to the community than most by selling drugs, and bringing kids into the fold to do his work. And yet you realize that he got all of this from Jefferson! As he says to Pierce, "You teach them your way, I teach them mine!" You realize that he's used all of his teachings and twisted them around for his personal gain, and in this Jefferson see's one of his biggest failures. LaLa didn't ignore what he learned in school, he embraced it and made it his own on the streets. And it's a brilliant moment because that's how it really is in life and neighborhoods like that. You either end up in school or you end up doing work. It was an unflinching look at inner-city life I never expected in a superhero show. Luke Cage touched on this briefly, but it seems that Black Lightning will use this as the crux of the show and that stories will revolve around that in a more organic fashion. As Jefferson tells his old friend Gambi (James Remar), it's a never-ending cycle, which is why he quit, but Gambi points out that it's gotten worse without him. The show also is touching on some hot-button topics like racial profiling, Police mistreatment, and shady politics.
All in all, it was a solid premiere. I mean look at how much I wrote from one episode, and I didn't even really touch on the story, heroics, etc. I think we have a winner on our hands, and I'm excited to see where this goes, and the hopefully inevitable crossover with the rest of the Arrowverse shows! I mean I can't wait for John Diggle's reaction to meeting Black Lightning!
Black Lightning features:
Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning
China Anne McClain as Jennifer Pierce
Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce
Christine Adams as Lynn Pierce
James Remar as Peter Gambi
Damon Gupton as Henderson
Black Lightning returns with an all-new episode January 23