Black Lightning – The Book Of Rebellion: Chapter Two: Gift Of The Magi

By starrymag | December 17, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

Jennifer Pierce (China Anne McClain) helps Khalil Payne (Jordan Calloway) into an abandoned farmhouse and sees that he has a fever. She questions why he isn’t healing and suggests that his cut may be infected. Khalil tries to stop her from leaving to get medicine, but Jennifer argues that he would do the exact same thing for her.

 

Lynn Pierce (Christina Adams) calls Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), who tells her that he lost Jennifer in the chaos of a battle with Cutter (Kearran Giovanni). She is upset and hangs up on him. Anissa Pierce (Nafessa Williams) asks Yvette (Tonia Jackson) what happened and reports that Peter Gambi (James Remar) gave her the antidote for Khalil’s dart.

 

Yvette tells them she has no idea where they’re headed, but Gambi shows them blood on the table that he believes is Khalil’s and suggests they will seek medical attention. Jefferson declares it’s the only lead they have and goes with Anissa to search nearby hospitals.

 

Lynn visits Nichelle Payne (Yolanda T. Ross) and Nichelle invites her in so they can be miserable together. She asks to see Khalil’s room and searches for potential lead. Nichelle makes a comment comparing Khalil to his brother and explains that his brother died working for the one hundred gang. Nichelle declares she’s failed as a mother, and Lynn assures her Khalil needs her now more than ever. Lynn asks about Khalil’s father, Kito Payne (Kendrick Cross), and Nichelle declares he can go to hell. However, Lynn takes a picture of the photo of Khalil’s father to investigate.

 

Todd Green (RJ Cyler) is denied a grant and he guesses who the recipient is. He calls the board out for giving it to a white kid whose dad paid for a portion of the building, calling out their corrupt racism. The board has security force Todd out and he finds an invitation from Tobias Whale (Marvin ‘Krondon’ Jones III) to meet at club one-hundred.

 

Jennifer sneaks through the hospital and gets into the medical supply room. She is unable to figure out the pin for the machine but uses her powers to short-circuit the machine. She takes some vials from the opened drawers and avoids Jefferson, Anissa, and Cutter on her way out.

 

Anissa and Jefferson are frustrated by their inability to find Jennifer, but they overhear news of a power outage in the supply room. They investigate and realize that the outage is Jennifer’s doing. Jennifer returns to Khalil and he flirts with her as she prepares to give him the medicine.

 

Gambi pulls up security footage of Jennifer short-circuiting the machine, and Jefferson comments that both of his daughters are thieves. Anissa argues that people sometimes have to do the wrong thing for the right reasons, and Gambi shows them that the timestamp of the footage shows Jennifer was at the hospital at the same time they were. They try to determine the direction Jennifer went after she left the hospital and see Cutter on one of the cameras.

 

Jefferson tries to fly away to search, but Gambi pulls him down and warns him not to use his powers without his suit. Jefferson declares that they don’t have time and insists that Cutter will kill whoever gets in her way of targeting Khalil. He tries to fly away again, but Gambi pulls him down again and forces him to the ground as they argue. Anissa tells them that they’re not going to find Jennifer like this, and Gambi warns Jefferson not to endanger himself.

 

Khalil tells Jennifer that the medicine isn’t working, and she tells him to stop talking like he’s going to die. He recalls the first time he saw her, and how he knew she was special. Jennifer tells him about her first impression of him, and Cutter observes them from outside with binoculars.

 

Todd goes to club one-hundred and is stopped by security as he approaches Tobias. Tobias tells them to let him in, calling Todd his guest of honor. He tells Todd everything he’s learned about him, telling him that he’s been watching him for a while. Tobias comments how hard it must be to get constantly passed over despite his superior talents, explaining that it’s the black man’s burden to carry the burden of white privilege.

 

Tobias suggests that Todd change the game and offers him a seat with two women draped over him. Todd tells him he doesn’t want to be touched, and Tobias tells the women to go. Tobias tells Todd this is the good life and advises him to get used to it. Todd tells him he’s read some unflattering things about him, and Tobias tells him they both deserve better than their label, offering him a way to advance into the upper class.

 

Cutter tells him that Khalil will die in the hour, but Tobias reminds her he wanted Khalil alive and demands she follow his request. Gambi is able to use facial recognition software to identify Cutter, identifying her as a mercenary for hire and explains there’s rumors of her being a metahuman. He provides a map of possible locations where Jennifer and Khalil are hiding, and they narrow it down to fifteen possible locations.

 

Gambi communicates with Lynn, who is sitting at his computer in the sanctum, telling her nobody gets in without his knowledge. She tells him that she’s looking for Khalil’s father, and he suggests she try the FBI database. Upon seeing what Kito is charged with, Gambi asks if she’s sure this is a good idea. Lynn insists that she’ll do whatever it takes to find Jennifer, and promises she’ll be careful. She writes down Kito’s address and takes a gun from Gambi’s supply on her way out.

 

Jennifer begs Khalil not to die and then prays. She goes outside and breaks down. Jennifer hears a familiar buzzing and transports herself to the barber shop where Perennna (Erika Alexander) tells her everything she needs to know is already inside of her. Another version of Jennifer approaches Jennifer, and Perenna tells Jennifer to let fear be her guide.

 

Jennifer confirms that the other Jennifer and Perenna are part of her mind and figures out with the help of the other Jennifer that the buzzing is coming from binoculars. Perenna tells her that electricity can be found anywhere, and the other Jennifer reminds her that they learned about electricity of the human body in chemistry class. Jennifer uses it to see Cutter, and the other Jennifer screams at her to run.

 

Cutter goes into the barn, but Jennifer envelops her in electricity before she can attack Khalil. Jennifer checks on Khalil and assures him that she’d never leave. Black Lightning reports that he didn’t find anything, and Gambi assures him that they’re good as he tries to apologize for earlier. Thunder reports that she didn’t find anything either, and Gambi suggests they might be in an unregistered building.

 

Black Lightning is worried that Cutter has found Jennifer and Khalil, insisting they have to assume the worst at this point. Thunder attempts to calm Black Lightning down, telling him that they will find Jennifer. However, Black Lightning tells her he doesn’t believe anything right now.

 

Jennifer repeatedly shocks Cutter, but she refuses to reveal what she did to Khalil. Khalil’s condition worsens, and Jennifer hits Cutter as she demands answers. Cutter laughs and tells Jennifer that they’re going to die tonight. Jennifer goes through Cutter’s weapons and realizes that some of the blades are poisoned. She threatens to use one of the poisoned knives on Cutter, and comments that she probably has an antidote somewhere. Jennifer cuts Cutter on the cheek, and Cutter reveals there’s an antidote in her necklace. Jennifer takes the necklace and kicks Cutter for Khalil.

 

Lynn visits Kito and introduces herself before asking for his help. Kito tells her he warned Khalil to stay away from Tobias, and Lynn asks if he has a way to contact him. He tells her he can call him, but Khalil keeps him at arm’s length. She asks if there’s anyone else that could help, and Kito tells her that Khalil was staying at a place separate from Tobias.

 

Black Lightning harnesses the power of the telephone pole as he and Thunder insist to Gambi they’ve searched every possible location. Thunder comments that it’s like finding a needle in a haystack and Black Lightning is inspired, suggesting they need to increase the voltage of his sensors to pinpoint Jennifer’s increased power. Gambi does it and Black Lightning finds a location lit up that is not included on Gambi’s list.

 

As Black Lightning and Thunder rush to the location, Khalil wakes up and Jennifer is relieved. She tells him she loves him, and he replies that he loves her too. Khalil sees Cutter knocked out and tied up and asks what happened. Jennifer explains Cutter pissed her off, but she still gave her the antidote. She promises to explain further as they make their way out of the farmhouse.

 

Black Lightning, Thunder, and Gambi find the farmhouse abandoned, and they survey the scene indicating that Jennifer and Khalil were there recently. Black Lightning finds indication that someone was tied up, and speculates it was Jennifer. He turns on his sensors to see that Jennifer used her powers near the site of captivity. Black Lightning calls Lynn to tell her that they missed Jennifer and Khalil, but Lynn senses there’s more and begs him to not lie to her. She asks if Jennifer is dead and breaks down when Black Lightning tells her he doesn’t know.

 

Tobias asks Todd if he’s having a good time, and Todd asks why he chose him. Tobias tells him he’s a big fan, but Todd declines his offer and thanks him. However, Tobias believes he’s rejecting the offer to feel like he’s in control and tells him that he’ll have opportunities with him he’ll never have elsewhere. Todd sees that Tobias has transferred a large sum of money into his account and agrees to work for him.

 

As they drive, Jennifer tells Khalil that neither Tobias nor her family will stop looking for them. Khalil tells her they’ll never run fast enough, but she tells him they’ll find a place to hide. He tells her she should go home, telling her she deserves better than this. However, she refuses and insists they’re in this together. A metahuman (Tosin Morohunfola) with the ability to teleport beats up and kills a bunch of men in a bar. He calls to report his job is done and asks what’s next. He confirms his next job is in Freeland and exits the bar.