'Black Lightning' Episode 3: 'LaWanda: The Book Of The Burial' Recap
Once again Black Lightning wasted no time delving into the issues at hand. Episode 3 begins with LaWanda White's funeral.
As we saw in Episode 2, LaWanda White was shot and killed by Lala, who is a member of the One Hundred Gang. Lala is later killed by Black Lightning's archenemy, Tobias, but just because Lala is dead doesn't mean the Freeland community is free from violence and crime.
At LaWanda's funeral the reverend at the church calls for 100 "God-fearing people" to march in the street with him in protest of the One Hundred murdering one of their own. Of course there are a few people who don't think the protest is a good idea.
Inspector Henderson even tries to prevent the protest from happening, but the reverend points out that the police department is working for the One Hundred. This seems to be true as the police allowed Tobias into Lala's cell to kill him in the second episode.
By The "Grace" Of God
Instead, the reverend puts all of his faith in Black Lightning. The community is so inspired by Black Lightning's influence that they want to take their own stand, but the problem is they don't have lightning powers.
Luckily, Pierce's daughter, Anissa, does. Although her powers haven't officially come out yet, we finally start to see Anissa come into her own in the third episode. Late at night, she takes a walk out to an old junkyard so she can test her strength hitting some garbage. After receiving several bruises, she figures out that breathing is the key. After she calms down, she's able to kick a washing machine yards away and make an entire tower of junk shudder.
After testing out her powers, Anissa goes to the library to research genetic mutation. She eventually comes across a librarian named Grace who invites her to a cosplay party at the bar she works at. As expected, Anissa's interaction with Grace causes her and her girlfriend to break up.
While Anissa is busy figuring herself out, her sister Jennifer is also trying to take the next step with her track star boyfriend, Khalil. The two are considering having sex together for the first time. The young couple is so excited about it that Jennifer decides to notify her parents.
While Jennifer is excited about taking things to the next level with her boyfriend, the Freeland community is gearing up for the march. It seems as though the reverend's belief that the Freeland police are corrupted might be true as they only end up deploying one squad to cover the march.
Who Is Lady Eve?
Another interesting moment in the episode is that we learn that Tobias isn't the only powerful force in Freeland. Tobias makes a report to a mysterious woman by the name of Lady Eve [Jill Scott]. A lot of information hasn't been revealed about her, but so far she appears to be sweet, but definitely rules with an iron fist.
"I don't mind people believing in God, they just can't believe they can take back these streets," Lady Eve said.
As the march begins, Black Lightning stands on top of a building watching over the city. He sees a man with a gun that has clearly come to disrupt the marchers. While Black Lightning is busy handling the men, he also makes an official appearance in front of the people of Freeland.
However, it only ends up being a distraction as Tobias and a female accomplice arrive and open fire from his car. It is fitting that the third episode has the word burial in it because it began with LaWanda's funeral and ended with a bullet hitting the reverend and another bullet hitting Khalil in his spine. Both seem to survive their wounds, but Khalil might not be able to walk again.
The episode ends on a cliffhanger yet again with Gambi erasing evidence of Tobias and Syonide at the march. It will be interesting to see where things go from here now that Tobias knows Black Lightning is alive.
