After four seasons on the air, The CW’s Black Lightning has finally released its series finale. And the final Black Lightning story ends the career of Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) and sets the stage for Freeland’s new generation of heroes. An Arrowverse show that wasn’t part of the Arrowverse for the longest time, Black Lightning has come a long way since that iconic pilot episode. And now, as The CW makes space for new stories, it’s time to close the book on Jefferson for the last time.
The previous episode of the show ended on a cliffhanger with the apparent death of Jefferson/Black Lightning. The finale resolves that in a pretty straightforward fashion while bringing all the many threads of the show to their logical ends.
SPOILERS for Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 13 ‘The Book of Resurrection: Chapter Two: Closure’
Buried in a coffin, Jefferson struggles to stay alive. He has a near-death experience where he meets his long-dead father, getting just the motivation he needs to break free. Meanwhile, Peter Gambi (James Remar), Anissa Pierce / Thunder (Nafessa Williams), and Grace Choi / Wylde (Chantal Thuy) track down the device that is suppressing metahuman powers in Freeland. They destroy the device, which is what allows Jefferson to finally escape his grave (literally).
Parallel to that, the real Lightning / Jennifer Pierce (China Anne McClain) returns. As it turns out, Laura Kariuki’s JJ, who has been pretending to be Jennifer, is actually a strange being from the ionosphere who stole Jen’s life. The two Lightnings fight it out and the original comes out as the victor. After an epic battle for the fate of Freeland, Black Lightning finally kills Tobias Whale (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III). The episode closes off with Anissa and Grace getting married, while Jefferson announces that he and his ex-wife Lynn Pierce (Christine Adams) are getting remarried.
At the end of it all, Jefferson and Gambi retire from super-heroics, passing the torch on to his daughters and Grace. Black Lightning is done and Freeland will now be protected by a new generation of heroes: Thunder, Lightning, Wylde, and Gambi’s protege TC (Christopher Ammanuel).
It’s a poetic end to Jefferson’s story and one that leaves room for more. Perhaps another show could pick up the tale of this new generation but for now, it’s a great way to end the show.
