Black Lightning season 3, episode 7 review: Henderson’s Opus

Just when you think the A.S.A. can’t get any worse, they outdo themselves on the latest episode of Black Lightning.

A lot went down on the last episode of Black Lightning. First, there’s Lynn left Jefferson. The Green Light drug and  A.S.A. manipulation has put more than a wedge into her and Jefferson’s marriage. It may not help that Tobias is blackmailing her, either.

Next up, the Markovians made their first big move; they infiltrated the A.S.A. and almost took out Agent Odell. He was lucky Black Lightning was there to stop them from delivering the fatal shot. Lastly, Gambi knows Khalil is alive, and  he recognized the poison in Anissa’s system. This lead him to Khalil’s grave where he found it unoccupied. Each episode of Black Lightning has been better than the last, so let’s see if that trend continues.

The Black Lightning opening

The episode starts with Grace hiding in a corner, talking to her phone. She’s in her child form and can’t control her shifting. After Anissa calms her down, Grace tells her that she’s leaving. The A.S.A. has upped their game and are going door to door looking for metahumans and Markovians. Anissa promises that she’ll protect her. The problem is Anissa’s powers haven’t come back since her fight with Painkiller. Soon after, we see Black Bird and Henderson in the church that’s hiding people from the A.S.A. They’re worried about the raids despite it being illegal for the military to invade a church. Of course, we know they don’t care about any rules. The A.S.A. does whatever they want.

This opening wasn’t as intense, but it was informative. It set up the show perfectly. The idea of the military kicking in the door without any warrants of probable cause is scary. And with Anissa not having her powers, how is she going to protect anyone — including herself?? She has a great fighting style, but it revolves around her powers. What is she going to do when the A.S.A. attack?

Has Henderson gone too far?

Henderson has been taking it on the chin the entire season. That’s over now. In this episode, they had a plan that involved a bomb under an A.S.A. vehicle but, right before they could detonate it, Black Lightning disarmed it, ruining the resistance’s plan. Henderson goes directly to Jefferson and confronts him about what happened. Jefferson was upset that Henderson was using a bomb, saying they’re too unpredictable and innocent people could have gotten hurt. Henderson left after saying he didn’t know what side Jefferson was fighting on.

Has Henderson gone too far? ON one hand, you have to understand his side of things. The A.S.A. has been abusing and killing their people. Something needs to be done. On the flip side, Jefferson is right. Someone could have gotten killed. Meanwhile, Reverend Holt told Black Bird he thinks Black Lightning is a sellout — one of the worst things you can call a black person. Anissa must have been hurt by that.

Henderson hasn’t, but the A.S.A. has

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The A.S.A. was going on a raid looking for Markovians and went door to door, dragging people out of their homes and going as far as to throw an older man on the ground like he was a criminal. One of the houses literally shot back, killing some of the A.S.A. agents. Black Lightning stepped in and saved them from returning to base with more casualties. Before they left, one of the agents killed a man execution-style. Black Lightning grabbed him by the throat and made it clear that his actions were a no-no. Black Lightning only stopped after the leader of the A.S.A. squad threatened to drop a bomb on Freeland.

Black Lightning being told, “I will order an airstrike to turn his crap-hole into Hell on Earth, and I will simply pick the enemy from the rubble” was a heck of a line. This was the moment theat Jefferson realized Henderson was right in his own way. All of the killing needed to stop. It was time for the A.S.A. to leave. They didn’t care about their job. Protecting the people of Freeland wasn’t anywhere on their list of priorities.

High Voltage Takes

This was another phenomenal episode, and a lot was revealed. Just when you think you know the A.S.A., Lynn, or Black Lightning, you find out how wrong you are. Jefferson cared about Grace more than he let on. Lynn is getting worse and putting her family in danger. Making Painkiller aware of Lynn is dangerous. If Odell finds out what’s going on, he’ll kill her and won’t think twice about it. The A.S.A. killing people while they’re in chains and on their knees is a whole new level of atrocious. And sadly, they’re going to get worse.

Lighting Round

• Black Lightning has made his intentions known to the A.S.A. and Agent Odell. There’s no telling how he’s going to react.
• Will helping people gain Black Lightning some favor in Freeland? Or will he still be hated?
• What’s going on with Jennifer and Brandon’s powers? Is there a connection between them?
• The moment between Grace and Jefferson was sweet. It’s moments like this that make the show great.
• Jennifer is now going to be mad at her mother and Gambi when she finds out Khalil is alive. Well, that’s if Lynn can’t fix his memory.
• Painkiller has his next target, and it’s Black Lightning. This is the fight we’ve been waiting for.