Black Lightning season 2 finale unites the Pierce family for war

The final few episode oF Black Lighting season 2 served to unite the Pierce family (again) and turn a page.

In Tobias’ quest to rule Freeland in Black Lightning season 2, his biggest win came when he got the free clinic, because he gained possession of the meta humans kept underneath. These “Masters of Disaster” gave him weapons to stand up to Black Lightning and Thunder. Even if he couldn’t subdue them completely, Dr. Jace taught him how to get the metas to do his bidding.

The real game changer, as it were, going forward could actually be Lala. He first appeared way back in season 1. His powers (if they could be called that) make him immortal, but each person he killed tattooed themselves on his body and haunted him after. Lala appeared a few times throughout season 2, seemingly looking for a way to die. In episode 15, he may have found it in a roundabout way: killing Tobias Whale.

Here’s a look at where all the main characters are at the end of Black Lightning season 2.

Jefferson/Black Lightning

The finale episode was the first time that Black Lightning hit the streets with his entire family in support. He and Anissa/Thunder met some of Tobias’ new metas outside a church and fought. One of Tobias’ metas controlled fire, others some kind of vibrations and water/ice (it seemed.) During the fight, Jefferson ran out of electricity, but Gamby and Jennifer got the generator back on just in time. It was in this fight Jefferson saw Lala, who made his mission to kill Tobias very clear.

Anissa/Thunder

Late in season 2 Anissa had to reconcile her social-justice-warrior side with reality when some policemen had made their plan of action for Greenlight metas “shoot first, ask questions later.” And she wasn’t the only one. After the news came down in the finale that (surprise, surprise) no one would be charged for shooting someone a few episodes before, there were some small-scale riots in the streets. Anissa wanted to join them, but had to put her family and her responsibilities first.

Jennifer/Lightning

Jennifer’s growth over this whole season has been, in some ways, remarkable. She began the season just learning about her powers, unwilling to embrace/use them. By the end she fully adopted her “Lightning” moniker, and seemed completely at peace with, and even enthusiastic about, it.

Unfortunately, that growth came at a heavy cost: Khalil. Saving him from Tobias was Jennifer’s first real exploration of what she could do, and vengeance for his death motivated her later actions, good and bad. In episode 15, she went after Tobias in her new Lightning suit before it was ready and ended up in a bad situation, unable to control her energy.

Lynn

For a good portion of Black Lightning season 2, Lynn was a friend/colleague of Dr. Jace by necessity. They worked together, ostensibly for the same goals, but were never friends. In part because of this, it seemed almost fitting when Dr. Jace was rescued by Tobias and aligned herself with him.

Lynn’s feeling of responsibility for the pod children certainly helped motivate her during the final few episodes of the season, and fueled her enmity towards Dr. Jace. It came to a head when they met in the finale. Jefferson had tracked the stolen pods, and called Lynn once he had found them. Dr. Jace had been watching over them. She ultimately told them about Tobias’ “Masters of Disaster” in exchange for protection from the ASA.

Turns out they were the least of her worries.

A few weeks ago, there was a teleporting meta who ambushed a bar and then received a call summoning him to Freeland. He was some kind of bounty hunter working for Markovia, looking for Dr. Jace. His powers, of course, allowed him to get in and out of her cell pretty easily. And whatever the Markovians wanted her for, judging by her face when she learned of the bounty hunter’s affiliation, it wasn’t good.

Tobias

Tobias and Cutter also got into trouble, with Jennifer, Black Lightning, and Lala all looking for them. They escaped at the end of episode 15, but only to set a new trap. Tobias knew Black Lightning needed the power in the city to generate electricity, so if there was a big power outage he would be helpless. It didn’t quite work out. Tobias did cause the power outage, but his accomplishment was short-lived.

Gamby and Jennifer got the power back on and he lost his cool a bit, beginning to wake up all the metas, all at once. Cutter tried to tell him not to, but he choked her instead of listening. She freed herself and didn’t actually attack him, but she did leave, seeking greener pastures. And Tobias woke the kids up.

Ultimately, Lala found Tobias, but couldn’t hurt him. Tobias had worked some sort of mental block into Lala’s reincarnation that gave him control. Then Jennifer showed up, and for the first time referred to herself as Lightning. She would have killed him, but her father stopped her. At first she seemed worried he would let Tobias get away. But that didn’t happen, and they took Tobias down together.

Looking towards season 3

Black Lightning got picked up for a third season by the CW at the same time as all the network’s other superhero Arrowverse shows. It has yet to share storylines with them (mentions of Supergirl notwithstanding) but never say never.

For his part Tobias ended up in a prison, but not just any prison. It was prepared for meta humans; he wore some kind of collar to repress his strength. It was also a black site, it didn’t officially exist, which meant that Tobias Whale had ceased to exist.

The Pierce family ended the season in a much better place than they started it: together, honest, supportive. Jefferson was actually overcome. But they were interrupted by Agent Odell to warn them about Markovia. In his words, “The Markovian War is coming, and Freeland is ground zero.” Seems like a pretty good indication of what to expect in season 3.