TV REVIEWS: FTN Reviews Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 8: Things Fall Apart

After the backdoor pilot for Painkiller that arrived last week, things got back on track in a big way with “Things Fall Apart”, and several things started to emerge that tease a big endgame for Black Lightning and his family.

The biggest thing by far was Tobias Whale starting to make his move in the most overt way possible. From accusing Jefferson Pierce of embezzlement (and figuring out a way to make it look like he did it) to using Imminent Domain to take his grandfather’s house, and more, his master plan is starting to reveal itself and it again proves why Tobias Whale is one of the best villains of the Arrowverse, period.

There was also the return of Ishmael, who decided to go after Blackbird and Grace first and the fight that they had was amazing from top to bottom. It had a great ebb and flow to it and even though the ladies won, Ishamel got some notes and he’ll be deadlier in the rematch.

Then, there was Jen/JJ, who had to return to school with a new face and try to stick to her “new life” and all that came with it. It went as “smoothly” as you expected, and yet, the big question of “Is this Jen?” hasn’t been fully answered as there’s something “unstable” about her and that’s going to raise even more questions.

Add that to Secret Agent Gambi’s mission and the reveal of Whale’s female counterpart being a “nullified” and you have a recipe for destruction on a grand level.

I do wish though that they did a better job of juggling things though because they did a common Black Lightning thing by trying to balance so many plates at once that you wonder how they thought they could do it all. Proven by the ending of the episode which felt more like the ending to a scene rather than an episode.

Still, “Things Fall Apart” was a great return to form and when new episodes return the race will be on to keep everything intact else face defeat on all levels.