Black Lightning

Previously on Black Lightning...

We're getting hitched.

-Now? Yes.

What about your family, Anissa?

This is not about them. This is about you and me.

A fight club? Really?

How did you-- Find out?

Your youngest daughter and TC stumbled across your little hobby.

Mayor Black, have you given any thought as to when

and where you're gonna announce the DEG launch?

At a gun buyback event.

And I'm here to tell you that the city of Freeland

is gonna continue to fight right beside you!

Devonte. Light they ass up.

Tobias doesn't live through the night.

The mayor has been shot. He's dead.

I could have protected him if it wasn't for you. This is your fault.

I did a little more research,

and it's not safe for you to the ionosphere.

Are you my friend or are you my father?

There's something wrong.

It's too much. It's too much. It hurts.

Come down, Lightning! Get out of there!

Oh, my God.

I can't believe she's gone.

Well, no, no. Trust me, Jen is still alive. I can sense her.

Jefferson.

We have to face it.

The ionosphere overloaded her body.

She exploded.

Look, I know it's crazy but an explosion by definition

is matter turning to energy, right?

Well Jen's powers allow her to do that.

No, Jeff, you're... you're grasping at straws.

No, no, no, Dad has a point.

Jennifer has shifted energy states before and she's survived,

so it's possible, right?

And because of Jefferson's affinity for electrons, maybe that's what he's feeling?

No. In theory, yes, but there's a big difference

between matter and living matter.

Not with Jen.

The Starlink satellite's telling me that

there is definitely something weird happening up there.

The energy just shifted.

See? I told you, she's still alive.

TC, ask the satellite

if we can uplink their live feed of the explosion site.

Accessing it now.

There.

That small cluster of energy particles.

Look at how they're hovering together as a group.

Those particles should be scattering, not coming together.

It's gotta be her. I'm going up there.

And then what, Jeff?

Even if that cloud is Jen,

your body would not be able to absorb that kind of energy.

Jen's power almost killed you before

and that was a fraction of what you'd have to absorb.

Jefferson, you've never been to the ionosphere.

Even without taking on Jen's power,

an influx of energy that great could be enough to kill you.

Dad, if you go up there and something happens to you,

we can't help you.

I have to get those particles down before they dissipate and we lose her.

Even if she is still alive, and you were able to withstand

the full weight of Jen's energy,

we would still have to reconstitute her

by turning her energy back into matter.

And that's something that, at least as far as I know, has never been done.

We would probably need a... a Hadron Particle Condenser to do it.

Okay, where do we get one of those?

It's not something you just pick up at the store, Jeff.

S.T.A.R. Labs in Central City has them.

But you can never get it here in time.

Central City. I have a friend there who might be able to help.

He'll get it here in a flash.

Careful, there's only a handful of these in the world.

Nice to have powerful friends.

Especially super-fast ones.

Okay, so how are we looking?

We're all set,

but it won't matter unless you can contain Jen's energy.

I will.

Jeff, I could go down the long list of reasons why you shouldn't do this.

Dad, just come back, okay?

You're gonna be needing this.

Go get our baby.

Wow.

I could see how someone could get used to this.

I've calibrated your goggles

to locate Jen's energy signature.

It's her.

Because I'm so close, it's like

I can hear her calling me.

His heart rate is slowing.

His blood pressure is beginning to drop.

Please, please, please, Jeff.

Come on, Dad, you got this. Come on, come on, come on.

The suit can't regulate this much energy.

Hold on, Jeff!

Jeff, hold on, please!

Come on, Dad. Wake up.

Wake up!

Please, please, please, please, Jeff.

I'm gonna blast high-frequency tones into his earpiece,

see if that can jar him awake.

Come on, Jeff.

One more time.

Jefferson, you've got to pull up.

Pull up.

I can't.

The force is too great.

Jefferson, are you all right?

Yeah.

More or less.

And here you guys were worried.

Oh, thank God.

Hey, boss, did you see that?

What do you think that was? Maybe a meteor?

Or a shooting star?

Do I look like Neil deGrasse Tyson to you?

I'm not even really sure who that is,

but I'm gonna guess no.

That's the problem with white privilege,

you get to be ignorant and still command respect.

Makes you white folks overestimate yourselves.

Katie, what'd you find?

Did you find an impact site?

Accessing video footage now.

Look at this electrified idiot of a Negro here,

looking all supercharged.

You know, Red,

you may actually have to earn your money.

Just say the word, boss.

Boy,

I got two words for you.

Spackle and paint.

Now fix my damn wall.

Okay, so now her energy's in there, how long is this gonna take?

Well, it's never been done before.

It's gonna be a slow process.

With a particle condenser,

there's a risk of creating mini black holes.

Which could dissipate...

or destroy everything.

Okay, so we take it slow.

Even if we could reconstitute Jen's body,

it doesn't mean...

No, no. I refuse to accept that.

Our daughter is alive in there.

Jeff, we all want that to be true.

But Lynn's right.

We have to prepare for the worst.

You should go home and get some rest.

No, I'm... I'm good.

Hey.

Hey.

You okay?

Um... Uh, yeah.

Transmuting this much energy takes all the processing power we got.

That's not what I'm talking about.

Now, what I don't want you doing

is going and putting all this on your shoulders, okay?

We all know Jen was always gonna be Jen.

But I knew she was going up there.

It's like one minute we were talking and...

boom.

She's gone.

Do you really think this is gonna work?

Um...

Real talk?

I don't know what to think right now.

I'm honestly just going on faith.

Faith.

Yeah.

M.E.'s report came back on that body you found in the vacants.

-Lydell Jackson. -And?

You were spot on, Detective.

Despite all those lightning burns around the torso and face,

cause of death was blunt force trauma to the throat.

Probably just another casualty to their turf war with the Kobras.

That's one theory.

But we know two metas who can make marks like that.

Black Lightning's been MIA for a year. Besides...

this isn't how that brother rolls.

Run now!

She's been disrespecting this department since I got here.

With her blatant disregard for public property

-and her apparent role in the mayor's killing... -Drop the gas and go.

...it's time we put a face to this meta vigilante problem.

Chief, we've got no way of putting this body on Lightning.

Until someone can show me a better option, she serves the purpose.

It's time to remind these metas who's in charge around here.

Which is why I'll officially be naming you head of our newly formed Meta Task Force.

Much appreciated, but I'm gonna have to pass.

I pulled your file, Detective.

Four years in the marine corps, another two doing spec ops.

This is right up your alley.

Like I said, I appreciate the offer

but I turned down SWAT 'cause I wanna be solving major cases,