TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Black Lightning Episode 11: The Resurrection and the Light: The Book of Pain

With only 13 episodes in this inaugural season, “The Resurrection and the Light: The Book of Pain” had to set things up for a big finale, and though it had some stumbles, it definitely did that. And it started off by bringing back Tobias Whale. Based on what I’m seeing, he may not go away by the end of the season, he may be something that the CW hasn’t done before, be a perpetual threat. And tonight proved why he’s still a threat against Black Lightning and family.

For not only does he have a suit that can neutralize Black Lightning’s attacks, he can go toe-to-toe with him, and has two henchman that have their own skills that can be very useful in a fight. While the show isn’t the best when it comes to fight choreography, “The Resurrection and the Light: The Book of Pain” had an epic fight between Thunder and Torre, who proved herself an adaptive fighter when she realized how Thunder gets her abilities.

Then, there was the returning Khalil, who was not only walking, but quite enhanced himself. It was great to see him again, as well as getting an explanation as to why he disappeared so long, and his talks with both Jefferson and Jennifer were pointed and poignant. And his assault on the school was pretty cool too.

Finally, it appears that the return of Lala wasn’t an accident, but somehow a construction of Tobias himself! It’s still unclear as to how, but something tells me an explanation is coming.

Ironically, one of the major downparts of the episode focused on the Pierce family. On one hand, I’m happy that Jefferson and Lynn got back together in some way, as it shows their growth throughout the season. However, it was almost immediately upended when Jefferson overreacted about Lynn possibly “curing” Jennifer of her powers. Regardless of whether her powers define “what she is”, it’s her choice to not want them, not unlike the Mutant Cure storyline from the comics. Not everyone wants powers, and you’d think that Jefferson would respect that. Instead, we get a typical CW storyline where no love story can happen without major bumps.

Also, Proctor went from maniacal government type to over-the-top villain in literally one episode. Yelling at everyone in a high pitched voice as if he feels he needs to every chance he can get.

Thankfully, the ending scenes were well worth the drama. Jennifer used her powers to save her dad, Tobias proved that he has a lot of spinning plates, and things are setting up for quite the season finale.