Secrets reveal a crooked past for Gambi, while Jennifer’s storyline gets shockingly interesting

Black Lightning opens up with Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jefferson (Cress Williams) throwing punches as the news lets the citizens of Freeland express how they feel about Black Lightning killing Lady Eve (Jill Scott). Jefferson enlists Anissa to clear Black Lightning‘s name after teaching her the importance of never having a moment of weakness when she holds her breath. Jefferson and Anissa head to the morgue to look for Lady Eve’s body and after finding her, Anissa points out that if she was really struck by Black Lightning, then there would be a tree pattern on her skin.  Gambi (James Remar) says that the people used weapons that had a billion joules brought from nuclear power. They track radiation to the woods – where they find a dead body with one of the weapons used to kill Lady Eve. 

Gambi is first seen meeting up with an ASA member by the name of Martin (Gregg Henry) Since Gambi hasn’t taken care of Black Lightning like he was supposed to, Martin has put a price on Black Lightning’s head to get him off the streets. Now that Lady Eve is dead, they don’t have a liaison between the ASA and the 100 – she was the one that got Green Light on the streets faster.

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While Lynn (Christine Adams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) are cleaning up the lab after the break-in, Lynn gets distracted in finding the missing papers from Alvin Pierce’s box. After having no luck in finding the missing files, Lynn goes to the lab that she took the samples to so that she could get the report that she dropped off. Interestingly enough, this lab also had a break in and the burglars stole a lot of their work, but Lynn made a copy so the files aren’t completely lost. Lynn goes back to the lab and successfully finds out that the sample from Alvin Pierce’s locker is a vaccine that is a match to Green Light. She asks Gambi if he knows anything about the drug but at the mention of Alvin Pierce, Gambi gets flustered and tells her he can’t discuss it. Lynn puts the pieces together and reveals that Gambi never talks about his life before Freeland. Gambi decides it’s time for him to have a talk with Jefferson.

Jefferson meets up with Gambi where he tells him that his real name is Peter Esposito and he was sent to Freeland by the government organization called the ASA. They were conducting an experiment in Freeland that would keep the people “passive and docile”. The vaccine backfired– creating metahumans and killing children. He leaked the information to Jefferson’s father, which lead him to get killed.

When Jennifer’s friend falls off of a ladder at school, Jennifer gets scared – which causes her to have electricity shoot through her veins and fry her phone and the papers in her hand. Back at the home, Jennifer tries to see if she can make what happened at the school happen again, she’s successful and sees the fiery veins in her hands. By the end of the episode, Jennifer goes to Anissa to reveal that something’s going on with her. The truth has finally revealed itself and some relationships have been broken. “The Book of Revelations” spilled all the tea and our roundtable is ready to discuss it!

Here to talk about all of these revelations is our Black Lightning roundtable:

Caitlin (@wlwcaitlin) – Writer and fictional lady enthusiast

Makayla (@keiyswally) – Kid Flash enthusiast

Raych  (@candicespattons) – lover of iris west and black female characters. tv enthusiast

Malasha (@MalashaMonique) – Iris West and Olivia Pope enthusiast, book lover, and  TVAD contributor

Brianna (@notevenloaded) – Iris West/Candice Patton enthusiast and MCU apologist.

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1. Jefferson started training with Anissa this week! Did you love the dynamic of these two working together?

Caitlin (@wlwcaitlin): They’re definitely going to teach each other a lot, and it makes me feel better knowing that they have each other’s backs.

Makayla (@keiyswally): I absolutely love the father/daughter duo between them. They definitely have a good system with their training going already. I cannot wait for them to add Jennifer to the mix. Seeing all three of them train together would be amazing.

Raych (@candicespattons): I really loved it a lot. The father/daughter dynamic is great and I really enjoyed it.

Malasha (@MalashaMonique): They were great together! I really liked the way he talked her through assessing her powers. The beginning of them training with the holograms was so cool and they are great investigating together in the field. I can’t wait to see more of these two teaming up together, especially when they start to actually fight!

Brianna (@notevenloaded): Absolutely adored it – I loved seeing the veteran experience of Jefferson versus Anissa’s passion, determination and desire to help people. They both have the same goal with different tactics and approaches.

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2. Lala is back, but he is definitely not the same as he was before his death. What do you think is going on with him?

Caitlin: It looks like he could be hallucinating, but you can never really tell with this show.

Makayla: LaLa definitely seems off. It doesn’t help that he sees LaWanda and is speaking to her. I’m curious to find out how that whole situation happened exactly.

Raych: I think coming back to life definitely had an effect and how he was resurrected definitely messed with him.

Malasha: I’m not sure, but whatever they did to get him to come back to life has definitely affected him in a bad way. He has an extremely sinister look about him now and his conversations with LaWanda aren’t making him look any better. It’ll be interesting to see where they take his character.

Brianna: I have no idea but I’m very intrigued. That scene in the car? Nuts. I think I would’ve crashed if I was driving.

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3. Gambi’s secrets were revealed! How do you feel about everything he confessed to?

Caitlin: I knew he was shadier than we knew and this makes a lot of sense. There’s no real reason to trust him now or even the things he’s done for Jefferson in the past.

Makayla: We knew Gambi had secrets from the beginning, but to finally hear him tell Jefferson the truth was a bit shocking. I wasn’t actually shocked at what he admitted to Jefferson though. I mean we pretty much already knew he was apart of the ASA, and it wasn’t surprising to find out he was connected to the Green Light 30 years ago. I hope they go into more detail about what happened all those years ago though.

Raych: Honestly, I don’t trust him and I don’t think I like him anymore.

Malasha: I’m glad that we finally know what happened. I like that we can see how much Gambi has actually been doing to keep Jefferson away from the ASA. I’m still very skeptical of Gambi because he’s been lying for a long time and even if he didn’t directly give out the drugs, he still played a part in the process.

Brianna: I kinda had a feeling and I’m glad it’s out in the open. The ASA is trash though.

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4. How do you think Gambi and Jefferson’s relationship will change now that Jefferson knows about Gambi’s past?

Caitlin: I think Jefferson won’t be trusting him anytime soon. Then again, Gambi is his eyes and ears in the field so he might suffer without him.

Makayla: Jefferson had already been a little suspicious towards Gambi and now that he finally knows the truth, things are definitely going to change. I mean, it’s already started. Jefferson got so angry that his powers almost took over. He could have hurt Gambi with how angry he was. I think further on, he’s not going to want anything to do with Gambi, at least for awhile. Eventually, I believe Jefferson will realize he needs him.

Raych: He definitely won’t trust him again unless he can do something to make up for it and even then the relationship won’t be the same especially since he spent most of the time lying to him.

Malasha: Jefferson isn’t going to let this go by easily. He already has a hard time talking about his father. So now that he knows that Gambi’s involvement with his father is what lead to his death, Gambi is going to need to gain Jefferson’s trust back.

Brianna: I hope it can grow stronger because of it but that will definitely take a while. I have a weird feeling Gambi is going to try and sacrifice himself and Jefferson will forgive him.

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5. Jennifer told Anissa about discovering some powers. How do you think Jennifer will handle having powers versus the way that Anissa has handled hers?

Caitlin: Jennifer seemed more scared of hers while Anissa jumped right in. She’ll probably be angry that everyone kept it from her and I’m not sure if she’ll want to use them or not.

Makayla: Jennifer finally discovering her powers is exciting, but she definitely is handling it different than
Anissa. Anissa was excited and curious when she found hers, Jennifer, on the other hand, looks scared and shocked. I wonder if Jennifer will be as quick as Anissa with the want to become a hero or if she’ll try to deny her powers. Either one seems likely.

Raych: Jennifer definitely won’t handle it well and I think we’ll see more rebellion because she’s just 16 and trying to discover herself then you add powers on top of that…it’s a lot.

Malasha: Jennifer immediately went to Anissa after realizing that she was able to do what she did at the school again. I’m not so sure she is going to embrace her powers so willingly like Anissa did. It’ll be interesting to see how she reacts and deals with it all once she finds out about her dad and sister’s powers.

Brianna: I don’t know if Jennifer is going to be careFREE or careFUL she’s been through a lot and that may affect how she handles having powers.

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6. A lot of things were revealed in this episode. Which moment would you say was your favorite?

Caitlin: I liked seeing Anissa use her brain instead of her powers for once to save her dad. I’m also glad Jennifer is finally getting her powers – it’s about time!

Makayla: My favorite part of the episode was 100% when Jennifer discovered her powers. I have been waiting to see what her powers are going to consist of and what she plans on doing with them.

Raych: I really liked how Jennifer discovered her powers.

Malasha: I loved when Jennifer discovered her powers and the way they appeared in her. Her eyes and veins lighting up was so cool! I can’t wait to see all of her powers used at their full potential.

Brianna: I loved Anissa and Jefferson teaming up and that little stakeout– Jennifer’s powers! And as always, any Jefferson and Lynn scene.

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7. What are you still hoping to see happen this season?

Caitlin: I definitely need Grace to come back! Anissa left her that voicemail last episode and we didn’t hear anything back!

Makayla: I am really hoping to be able to see Jefferson, Anissa, and Jennifer go out into the streets as a dad/daughter trio and kick ass. It’s been one of the things I’ve been most excited for is seeing them in action. Hopefully, we get to see some of that before the season ends.

Raych: I would love to see Jefferson, Anissa, and Jennifer all training together.

Malasha: I am hoping to see Jefferson, Anissa, and Jennifer all powered up and fighting the bad guys together. Also, I need Grace to come back. I also can’t wait to see the whole family sit down and talk about everybody’s powers. And lastly, I still need that flashback episode because there are still a lot of things that aren’t adding up.

Brianna: I need to know what the hell is happening! Also, where’d Khalil go? How is Grace doing? Will Jefferson/Lynn be doing the will they/won’t they forever? I need the Pierce family saving Freeland together.

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Telling the truth may set you free but the aftermath of revealing a big secret can come with many consequences

We’re so ecstatic over seeing Jennifer’s powers finally show up! She’s already looking like she will be a force to reckon with and the way her powers run through her veins, like her father’s, makes us wonder how powerful she will actually be. Right now, we’re not sure exactly how she feels about these newly realized powers but hopefully, she will come to embrace them. It’s going to be a lot of fun to see how the new family dynamic will be. Also, we are highly anticipating the team up of Lightning, Thunder, and Black Lightning! The training with Anissa and Jefferson was great and we’re glad that he is teaching her how to be smarter when using her powers. She’s very impulsive and having her think through all the moves she makes while being Thunder, is going to help her be a savior for people rather than a burden.

After being resurrected, Lala (William Catlett) is back in the 100 club and looking a lot more menacing than before. His fellow gang members are surprised to see him there and tell him about all the rumors that had been surfacing around the town. He tells them that he thinks he was dead. Throughout the episode, Lala has hallucinations of LaWanda having conversations with him. We’re suspecting this has to do with the strange tattoo situation from last week. We’re really not sure what’s going on with him, but we’re sure whatever it is will not be good.

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The most valuable player of this episode would have to go to Lynn Stewart! She got to the bottom of everything that we’ve all been guessing for the last couple of episodes. We watched her be determined and work vigorously to figure out what was going on with the samples and the Green Light addicts. When she goes to Gambi’s shop to discuss the samples and immediately caught on to why he didn’t want to talk about it, shows just how good she is when it comes to being able to read people. This quality has been seen before – like when she talked to her daughter about not being into her ex-girlfriend and when she knew Jefferson was going out as Black Lightning again. It’s a nice quality to see the show be consistent with.

Each week we have been given more and more information about what Gambi has been hiding. Some of us guessed that he had something to do with the death of Jefferson’s father but hearing him tell the “full” story made it a lot harder to come to terms with. He’s a part of a secret government agency that was conducting an experiment on the Freeland citizens for the past 30 years. However, it is such a relief to finally find out about all of the shady things Gambi has been dealing with. His secrets have finally been revealed and he is not on good standing with Jefferson. Is this the end for them?

In next week’s episode titled “Little Black Lies”, Black Lightning continues to try and clear his name while also hunting down his father’s killer. We’ll also see the events following Jennifer’s reveal to Anissa. Some big plot movements are being made and we’re getting closer to a big blow up!

Black Lightning returns Tuesday, March 20th at 9/8c on The CW.