Episode 2: The Book of Consequences (Chapter 2) – Black Jesus Blues
Directed by: Oz Scott
Written by: Charles D Holland

“Black Jesus Blues”, has a lot of balls in the air to juggle, from the two metahumans on the loose, the board of directors’ judgment on Jefferson Pierce, Anissa getting her groove back, et al. At the forefront, how do the Pierces view and deal with “green light babies” and handle damage control? Will they be compassionately understanding and cooperative, or coldhearted and calculatingly choose authoritarian containment? To what extent will they cooperate or hinder those in authority in these matters? It’s not easy to put this metahuman genie back in the bottle, and Black Lightning and Thunder must take a side, and figure how far to take it with minimal repercussions.

We are given a double whammy this week in the forms of unhinged Wendy Hernandez and the miraculously resurrected Issa Williams. Issa’s arc is the significantly stronger of the two as he’s given moments to interact with the Pierces and his own family, elevating him above a mere plot device and into a character. As such, Wendy gets the cold shaft of just being a generic one-dimensional villain of the week who could have easily been cut and reserved of a later episode all her own. There is a flimsy attempt to humanize her, which falls flat as we barely get to see her after her introduction or takedown.

Meanwhile, the ill-fated romance between Jennifer and the indecisive Painkiller (played by Jordan Calloway) seems unnecessary and overly excessive given how much is on Jennifer’s plate in regards to her powers and family drama. However, following up on this bad boy crush baggage – held over from last season – can work as a potential subplot if handled delicately. For someone who started out with so little going on and so little to contribute, Anissa seems to be the one going through the most.

The pros of “Black Jesus Blues” once again are the moments with Issa. But beyond that, everything else feels underdeveloped at best or lackluster at worse; with the Wendy segments being the lowest and the Jennifer portions having their appeal. Nonetheless, the school politics involving the reprimanding of Jefferson manages to be touching by its conclusion despite its lack of focus by the story. The vignettes of Tobias’ cleanup campaign remain intriguing, and I’m interested in how much of a role the very desperate Kara Fowdy (portrayed by Skye Marshall) will play in future episodes. Elsewhere, loveable Gambi seems to be getting the shortest end of the stick in terms of cast members as of late.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vAePm5hIyI

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Hailing from the eastern-most Caribbean island of Barbados, Fabian Wood has long since been fascinated by the power of storytelling to inspire and invoke emotions – whether in film, comics or video games. No longer content to be just an avid comic book reader and video gamer, he’s eager to exercise his literary acumen as an aspiring writer and reviewer.