Black Lightning – The Book of Secrets: Chapter Two: Just and Unjust

By starrymag | February 11, 2019

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

As Anissa Pierce (Nafessa Williams) and Lynn Pierce (Christine Adams) debate whether to give Jennifer Pierce (China Anne McClain) space, Anissa is shot, and a group of men attempt to kidnap Lynn. A car pulls up and Agent Percy Odell (Bill Duke) shoots Lynn’s would-be captors before his team takes the bodies away. Anissa assures Lynn she’s okay despite the fact she’s bleeding and Lynn calls Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) to tell him what happened.

 

Jennifer sits with Nichelle Payne (Yolanda T. Ross), who tells her that Khalil loved her. Jennifer’s eyes start sparking and she hides them from Nichelle. She offers Nichelle help with planning the funeral, but Nichelle tells her she can’t afford a funeral. Lynn pulls the bullet out of Anissa, determining that she was able to stop it from traveling further with her powers. Peter Gambi (James Remar) determines that Odell must have Lynn under surveillance but finds no bugs inside her home.

 

Gambi concludes that Odell is tailing her, and Anissa questions why someone would want to kidnap her. Lynn suggests it involves the pod kids, while Jefferson suggests it is related to Tobias Whale (Marvin ‘Krondon’ Jones III), as he is responsible for everything. Gambi believes it could be Odell, and Jefferson threatens to light him up. Gambi suggests Lynn just talk to Odell about it, and Lynn shuts down Jefferson’s objections. Anissa asks about Odell’s driver, and Gambi promises to investigate who he is.

 

Lynn confronts Odell at the lab, asking why he’s having her followed. He comments he thought he’d be thankful for saving her life, and Lynn tells him she is thankful. Odell asks how Anissa is doing, and Lynn lies that she wasn’t shot and was merely pretending to be shot. He tells her that she’s in invaluable to the pod kids, but that she’s still not being honest with him before ending the conversation. Todd Green (RJ Cyler) tells Tobias that the pods are all situated, promising that Cutter took care of the team that transferred them.

 

Anissa tells Jennifer what happened to her and Lynn, and Jennifer tells her that Lynn is lucky to be alive, blaming herself for Tobias’ murder of Khalil. Anissa tells her not to blame herself and asks how she’s doing. Jennifer admits she doesn’t know how she can be in so much pain and not bleed. Anissa tells her that pain makes her strong, not weak, and promises she’ll see someday. Jennifer tells her that Nichelle is in pain and can’t afford to pay for Khalil’s funeral.

 

Lynn and Jefferson agree that they’re worried about Jennifer, and Lynn comments that she’s craving vengeance. Jefferson suggests that they give Jennifer a distraction like Gambi gave him, and Lynn suggests they let Jennifer go back to school. He’s hesitant but Lynn suggests that it will give Jennifer a chance to be normal. Jefferson takes offense, and Jennifer tells him that she’s ready to take down Tobias. He tells her that it’s dangerous, but Jennifer is determined to make Tobias stop breathing. Jefferson tells her that her powers come with responsibility and that justice is the way to go. He tells her he understands how she feels, but that she can’t let her emotions overpower her like Khalil did and Khalil wouldn’t want that for her.

 

Odell visits Dr. Helga Jace (Jennifer Riker) and tells her that the Markovians tried to kidnap Lynn. She determines that they wanted her metahuman expertise, and Odell tells her it’s unknown if they know about her own presence in Freeland. Odell offers her protection in exchange for safe relocation of the pod kids, and Jace tells him he’ll need both her and Lynn to work together. Jefferson confronts Lynn about her discomfort of him, Anissa, and Jennifer all being metahumans, and she avoids the subject. Lynn tells him that she has some regrets, but he is not one of them, telling him she loves him.

 

Nurse Patel (Kausar Mohammed) tells Anissa that there’s an unlisted patient, and Anissa goes to examine Monique (Rachelle Neal), finding multiple bruises. She asks how it happened, and Monique lies that she fell down the stairs. Anissa sees through the lie, but Monique continues to lie that nobody did this to her. Anissa tries to hand Monique’s information over, but Patel tells her that they don’t log her in, as her boyfriend, Reyvon (Kelvin Witherspoon) is a gang member they are terrified of. A group of agents attempt to kidnap Perenna (Erika Alexander) but she is able to stop them with her powers.

 

Jennifer returns to Garfield and is greeted by numerous students and teachers. Anissa visits Grace Choi’s (Chantal Thuy) apartment and wakes her up by kissing her forehead. Grace tells her she’s happy she gave her a key and Anissa is thrilled to see Black Lightning and Thunder comics among Grace’s collection. Anissa reads the Thunder comic, and Jennifer sees a memorial to Khalil in the hallway.

 

Later that evening, Anissa visits Reyvon in her mask and hoodie and fights off the surrounding gang members. She faces Reyvon, who tells her they call her Black Bird. Anissa grabs his neck and slams him against the wall, telling him to stop laying his hands on women. She lets go of him and takes a couple stacks of his money as he calls out for backup. Anissa fights her way through the hallway but loses the upper hand when she is sprayed in the face. The gang members gang up on her, but she thunderclaps to push them all back before limping away.

 

Jennifer finds the janitors taking down Khalil’s memorial, and begs them to keep it up. They tell her that Principal Mike Lowry (PJ Byrne) told them to take it down, and Jennifer’s eyes spark as she forces herself to stay calm. Gambi finds Anissa sleeping on his floor and she tells him it was a tough night. Gambi understands her desire to do good but warns her to remember how bad it would be for her family if she got killed and advises her to not lose her life before she has the chance to build it.

 

Jennifer sits in the hallway with recovered parts of Khalil’s memorial and Lowry tells her the memorial is inappropriate. She tells him that he just doesn’t like Khalil or any of the students as a crowd gathers of students filming the confrontation. Lowry tries to tell everyone to go to class, but Jennifer tells him that black lives matter and Khalil’s life mattered. Lowry tells her she’s out of line, but she replies that he’s a racist. He accuses her of saying that to win the argument and declares that the monument is to a gang member.

 

Lowry threatens to have her removed, but Jennifer declares that he can’t remove Khalil from their memories. She declares that every student is one bad break away from making bad decisions, and he warns her this is her last chance. Jennifer asks the crowd if they would take the opportunity to walk again if they were in Khalil’s situation and the crowd agrees. She tells them they’re all in pods, trapped in a racist society. Lowry orders security to take Jennifer away, and the crowd kneels as she’s taken away. Lowry looks to Jefferson to regain control, but he tells him that it’s the principal’s job before raising his fist with the students.

 

Lynn questions why Jace is back in the lab, and Odell promises to make sure she behaves this time. Odell explains that the pods need to be moved, and that he needs her help to stabilize the pods for transport. Lynn asks if the move is happening regardless of her objections, and Odell confirms. Anissa visits Funeral Director Wallace (Robert Yatta) in her mask and hoodie, hands him money, and tells him to use it solely for Khalil’s funeral.

 

Gambi shows Jefferson that he’s gotten intel that a Markovian Intelligence Agent is behind Lynn’s attempted kidnapping. Jefferson questions why Markovia would want to kidnap Lynn, and Gambi shows him the Agent’s location so he can ask. Jefferson suits up and takes down a group of Markovian agents with his lightning. He puts up a force field to detect their bullets and knocks them backward. Bill Henderson (Damon Gupton) asks an officer to leave his office and takes Black Lightning’s call reporting a person of interest. Anissa sees Reyvon being rolled out of the hospital in a wheelchair and Patel explains that he just had the first of three surgeries. She tells Anissa that Monique left him and is starting a new life.

 

Jefferson criticizes Lowry for calling security on Jennifer, and he tells him Jennifer was causing a disturbance and called him a racist. Jefferson warns him that suspending her won’t have the intended effect, explaining that Jennifer is questioning whether he has the sensitivity to work with the Garfield community. Lowry declares that the insinuation that he had an easier life because he’s white is the most racist thing and ignores Jefferson explanation that he still has privilege. However, Lowry declares that he doesn’t feel sorry about the students and nobody cares about white people in bad situations.

 

Anissa and Grace walk in the park together, and Anissa goes to jump rope with a group of kids. Grace is impressed and tells her she admires her spontaneity and thirst for life. Anissa comments that she can’t wait to get to know her better, and Grace points out that she’s the one who never tells her where she disappears off to. Anissa admits that her comment came out wrong, and notices that Grace’s eyes change color. Grace denies it and Anissa doesn’t question it further.

 

Anissa tells Grace that she wants her to meet her family. Grace’s metahuman abilities start acting up and she refuses, telling Anissa that she can’t control herself around her. Grace refuses to explain and runs away as Anissa questions what she did wrong. Tobias asks Todd if there’s an explanation in the briefcase about the recent attempted kidnapping, and Todd shows him evidence that the four super metahumans were escaped convicts.

 

As the Pierce family arrives at Khalil’s funeral, Jefferson gets a text from Henderson telling him that he had to let the Markovian agent go due to diplomatic immunity and Anissa texts Grace that she wants to talk after the funeral. Jennifer refuses to get out of the car, admitting that she can’t watch Khalil get lowered into the ground. Jefferson tells her that she’s a Pierce and that they face things head-on and don’t give up on the people they love. Jennifer agrees and they join the funeral.

 

After the funeral, Anissa goes to Grace’s apartment to find Grace and a lot of her stuff gone. Todd asks Tobias if awakening these violent criminals is a good idea, but Tobias asks how soon he can open the pods. Todd admits he doesn’t know, explaining that he’s not familiar with the technology of the older pods. Tobias declares that they need to get Jace back to help them. Jennifer watches as Khalil’s casket is lowered, promising to put Tobias in the ground where he belongs. Unbeknownst to her, Odell observes from a distance.