Black Lightning: Grading all four seasons of the powerful CW show

Black Lightning -- "The Book of Ruin: Chapter One" -- Image Number: BLK406a_0049r.jpg -- Pictured: Cress Williams as Black Lightning -- Photo: Eliza Morse/The CW -- © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
Black Lightning -- "The Book of Ruin: Chapter One" -- Image Number: BLK406a_0049r.jpg -- Pictured: Cress Williams as Black Lightning -- Photo: Eliza Morse/The CW -- © 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved. /
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Black Lightning, Black Lightning season 4
Black Lightning — “The Book of Ruin: Chapter Four:Lyding“ — Image Number: BLK409fg_0016r.jpg — Pictured: Cress Williams as Black Lightning — Photo: The CW — 2021 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved. /

How was each season of Black Lightning? Here’s a spoiler full grade for each season of the series.

It seems like Black Lightning came and went in a flash. Realistically, it went on longer than a lot of shows. There were four seasons and 58 episodes in under five years; some TV programs don’t get close to that.

While Black Lightning was met with high reviews from critics, much like we saw with some of the The CW’s other Arrowverse shows, the audience didn’t always respond well to it (which is reflected in the fact that its Rotten Tomato audience rating is 51% and IMDb has it at a 6.1 out of 10). While this seems harsh, it isn’t shocking because not everyone will appreciate everything and, like with every show, there were some obvious flaws with Black Lightning.

Now that the series is over, new viewers have a chance to discover it and binge the entire series. Who knows, maybe the praise of the show on Netflix could lead to it being revived on this platform or another at some point down the line (the service does own its international distribution rights, after all). This writer is still hoping that Jordan Calloway gets a chance to play Painkiller somewhere in the Arrowverse now that his planned spin-off has been nixed. For now, all we can do is hope.

With Black Lightning‘s conclusion, it seems like a good opportunity to grade each season. Instead of focusing only on the negative, this writer will give you reasons why you should check the show out.