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TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Black Lightning Season 01 Episode 11: Black Jesus: Book Of Crucifixion

April 4th, 2018 by Todd Black Comments

Sometimes, it’s the little things that really set an episode apart. And thankfully, it was the little things that made “Black Jesus: Book Of Crucifixion” much than a “filler” episode. Because without these moments, it honestly would’ve been that.

With Jefferson in the crosshairs of the ASA, they decided to get a little more hands-on to prove that he is indeed Black Lightning. So, they conscripted the vice principal and several dirty cops to frame him of having Green Lightning and being a drug dealer through the school. Yes, we know this wouldn’t stick, but the question was, how was he going to get out of this jam?

This led to the first “little things” moment. For when he was arrested, the students tried to stop the arrest. For they knew this wasn’t possible after what their principal had done for all of them. Both his girls stepped up too, but it was seeing the students react to what was going on that really made it special.

Another “little things” moment was showing the humiliation that Jefferson had to go through as he was being processed. This was a prominent member of the community being falsely accused of a crime and being put through the ringer because of it. Also, he had to fight his hardest to not go full-on Black Lightning, else make matters worse.

With Jefferson locked up, it was up to his allies to help settle the score. The first volley was from Anissa and Gambi, who did a pretty clever trick to show that Black Lightning was “out there” despite Jefferson being in jail. The banter between Anissa and Gambi is really good, and I like their dynamic, I hope that continues throughout the rest of the season. What’s more, Gambi earning some forgiveness from Jefferson was great, as was the dinner seen where Gambi said the prayer. Seeing them all together, and happy to be together, was most definitely a great “little things” moment.

But the true MVP of this episode was Henderson, who finally got to step up on his own and take a stand against what was going on. In doing so, he not only freed Jefferson, but started to weed out the Freeland PD of the dirty cops that had been plaguing the town. What’s more, he’s now a Deputy Chief, which I think could lead to many great storylines for him and Black Lightning in the future.

All that being said, there were some issues here. The “jail” storyline lasted all of an episode, which was kind of obvious given the episode count, but it also took away a bit of the punch. What’s more, certain scenes made me roll my eyes. Like when they polled the community about Jefferson’s arrest. They had one guy rightfully crying foul play, one lady talking about how Jefferson helped her daughter graduate, and then an old white lady saying that Jefferson “made” his students call him “Black Jesus”. And that “if he could do that, he’s capable of anything.” While racism most definitely is a big part of the message in Black Lightning, that was very heavy-handed.

With two episodes left this season, I’m hoping Black Lightning can really bounce back into top form. That being said, at least we now know that it will return for a second season, and that’s something to be grateful for.

4 out of 5 nerds

Todd Black is reader of comics, a watch of TV (a LOT of TV), and a writer of many different mediums. He's written teleplays, fan-fictions, and currently writes a comic book called Guardians (guardians-comic.com). He dreams of working at Nintendo, writing a SHAZAM! TV series, and working on Guardians for a very long time!