After witnessing how Black Lightning kicked all kinds of butt with its first season (you can check out our review for the Blu-ray set here), you’d better believe that I’m right there with the rest of you who can’t wait to see what the DC series’ sophomore year has in store.
Fortunately, though, The CW have been rather generous with teasers in recent memory, serving up a phenomenal trailer and a rather stylish poster. And now, they’ve given us an even greater idea of what to expect via the intriguing synopsis found below:
Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) and his family may have survived Tobias’s (Marvin Jones III) attack, but they’re not out of the woods yet. Concerned for the safety of Garfield’s students, the board considers a motion to shut down the school, forcing Jefferson to go to Napier Frank (guest star Robert Townsend) to sway the vote. Jennifer (China Anne McClain) struggles with her powers and her actions have unforeseen repercussions. Meanwhile, Anissa (Nafessa Williams) finds a new way to give back to Freeland. Lastly, Lynn (Christine Adams) continues her quest much to the dismay of Agent Odell (guest star Bill Duke). Damon Gupton and James Remar also star. The episode was directed and written by Salim Akil.
If showrunner Salim Akil writing and directing the opening episode wasn’t hinting that the you-know-what is going to hit the fan enough, the above description just laid out a handful of game-changers awaiting the Pierces and Freeland as a whole. In truth, I’m interested to find out how Jefferson avoids getting his school shut down because one of my favorite elements of the show is seeing him being every bit the hero he is in costume while he’s out of it.
When it comes to what’s next for Jennifer, however, I’m reminded of what lead actor Cress Williams told me this past May at Motor City Comic Con:
“I’m excited that it’ll really be different and I hope that we take our time with it because she’s different than Anissa. Anissa embraced her powers from day one, and was ready to put a suit on and fight crime. And Jennifer doesn’t know how to control her powers fully yet and is not quite sure that she wants to do it. It’s gonna be a great journey and we get to do it in a different way.”
All will be revealed when Black Lightning returns for its second season on Tuesday, October 9 on The CW.
