Previously on Black Lightning...
They took my research.
- Who? Tobias? - No! Special Agent Mason.
You're under arrest.
Fourteen counts of violation of civil rights.
Val. He used me to harness Val's nullifying powers.
But how did he manage to nullify me
and Jennifer and Anissa
without being in close contact with us?
The emitter. Tobias must have someone
on his payroll at Monovista.
What the hell is going on?
It seems that somehow everyone lost their powers.
Hi, Jen. So, you see that warehouse?
Yep. There's a truck parked in the front.
Okay, good. So, in a moment,
men are gonna come out of that warehouse
to load it with cryogenic containers.
The containers have the stolen meta-genes, right?
Yes. Now, I'm gonna need you to grab one
of those containers, okay?
Why don't I just light them up?
Go inside and light them up, too.
Because we need the stolen meta-genes
to prove that our theory is right.
Now, would you please just stick to the plan?
I got you, Harriet. Calm down.
- Freeze! - Come on!
Wait. Whoa, Jen, you good? You okay?
I'm good.
Be there soon.
All right.
Katie, where the hell is my shipment?
Tracking.
The shipment left the warehouse as scheduled, but never arrived.
Check all cameras at the warehouse.
Wait a minute.
Jennifer Pierce is supposed to be gone.
Who the hell is this?
Katie, check all social media accounts
for Jennifer Pierce.
Checking social media.
Katie, now run a DNA scan on both Jennifer Pierce and JJ.
Scanning database.
We're gonna see who this damn lightning bug really is.
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What's eating you, Jeff?
Double scotch, neat.
You know, without my powers, I...
Well, I feel like I'm missing a limb.
Like, I'm... half a man or something.
Well, that's not true.
You aren't defined by your powers.
They've been a part of me for so long, maybe I am.
Or...
was.
Now, I can't protect my family.
I am going to find that emitter,
and you are gonna get your powers back.
I promise.
Uh, you're gonna have to drink alone.
I can't be late.
I got it.
Thanks.
Look, I know you don't wanna hear this,
but what it comes down to is this.
You're gonna have to take a plea deal.
A plea deal? Why? I'm innocent.
I know that. But I've checked their witness statements
- and they are iron-clad. - No, they can't be.
I'm not guilty of anything.
If you take this to court, the government won't hold back.
Your family history,
any indiscretions or secrets will become public.
Are you prepared for that?
I can make sure you have minimal jail time.
Whoa, what? Jail time?
No. Hell no. We're not doing this.
- We are not doing what? - We're not taking a plea deal.
As her lawyer, her best course of action is a plea deal.
Look, as her husband,
I'm telling you, we are not accepting a plea deal.
First of all, you're her ex-husband.
- That's none of your business... - Stop, both of you, now!
I can speak for myself.
This is... this is my decision and mine alone. Am I clear?
And after Councilman Holland's withdrawal from the race,
Tobias Whale has won the election
and is the new mayor of Freeland.
We've received a statement from Mayor Whale which reads,
"Thank you for electing me Mayor.
I am honored and humbled to represent this great city.
I look forward to working with all of you,
for the betterment of Freeland."
Sir, Chief Lopez has arrived.
Access granted.
Chief Lopez. Always good to see you.
I'm guessing you've come by to congratulate me.
I did.
Knew you would win.
I welcome your confidence.
But I assume you want something.
How can I help you, Chief?
I need more firepower
to deal with this meta-human who calls herself Lightning.
Can you arrange for more second-gen DEGs?
I actually may have something better.
What are those?
Meta-boosters, my friend.
Designed to grant specified power
to whomever you choose.
Metas are responsible
for everything that's wrong in the world.
I'm not turning my officers into beasts.
Which you wouldn't be.
Metas go bad because they're weak-minded.
You, on the other hand, are smart, strong, insightful.
Besides, the powers are temporary, and you'll handpick
the officers who'll wield them.
Think of it this way.
You carry guns because the bad guys do.
Why not carry powers for the same reason?
Excellent choice.
I've arranged a nullifying wave
to block meta-powers from those unworthy of them.
This blocks the wave signal.
Pair this with these,
and you'll be good to go.
DNA analysis completed.
Thank you for coming by, Chief.
Katie, what are the results?
The DNA sequence of both subjects are identical.
That's impossible.
They are one and the same.
So our mystery "JJ" is Jennifer Pierce.
That is affirmative, Mr. Whale.
Red, get in here.
- You did what? - Dad, calm down.
No. "Calm down"?
You went back up to the damn ionosphere.
And did you conveniently forget that your ass blew up
the last time you were up there?
Okay, but she didn't this time, and she got her powers back.
How could you be a part of this?
Whoa, believe me, I was not happy about it at all.
And I tried to stop her, but her mind was made up.
That was extremely reckless.
We get that. But sometimes what looks reckless
actually gets stuff done.
And what did you actually get done?
What is that?
- Stolen meta-genes. - Excuse me?
All right. So, I ran into my friend Kiki
at your facility. She told me she was pregnant
and there was some abnormality in her pregnancy.
Sounds vague. What kind of abnormality?
- Sketchy, right? - Yeah.
So, then I learned that she
and a lot of other pregnant women were
being sent to a different clinic
to remove a specific gene.
Turns out those women were
carrying babies with the meta-gene.
And so the clinic removed them.
Yep. So, then I reached out
to my friend Darius, asked if he could help me
look into it. And now...
now he's dead.
So we've got a clinic owned by Monovista
doing pregnant woman dirty.
Covering up what's probably a professional hit.
Sounds like it's what we thought.
Monovista and Tobias are in bed together.
Tobias educated himself
on meta-genes when he was in the pit.
And now he's had the emitter built.
And next-generation DEGs.
Plus, he's stockpiling meta-genes,
and he took our powers.
He's picked up right where the ASA left off.
Hey, I got your text. What's wrong?
Nothing's wrong. I got someone who wants to talk to you.
Hey, Khalil.
Well, it's good to see you. You all right?
Ah, Mr. P. I'm good.
You still...
Dealing with Painkiller?
Yeah.
And he's screaming like hell to get at you, too.
Remember, his last order was to kill the Pierce family.
Yeah. How could I forget?
And it's under control. For the most part.
That's quite the setup you got there.
Yeah. Yeah, it works for me.
Uh... But I actually reached out to help you.
I've been in touch with TC and he told me you were set up.
Figured it must be Tobias,
and since I used to collect for him...
Well, I paid his accountant a visit.
I got this.
It's a digital ledger.
It has a bunch of people in it that Tobias used to pay off.
A lot of cops, lawyers, public officials.
Bankers, brokers, barbers.
What? Barbers?
I guess if you want information, right?
It drops in the barbershop.
Now, there is one entry who was getting seriously paid,
but we can't find an ID.
It has no data trail.
We got a name?
More like a code name. Looker.
Looker?
Yeah, I know who that is.
A hateful, racist woman I was hoping
Freeland would be rid of.
The ASA locked her up,
but she disappeared during the war.
Looks like Tobias tracked her down.
Why would Tobias be paying her
ten times more than he's paying everyone else?
When did the payments start?
Three months ago-ish.
Well, Looker's a meta. She's...
She got this silver thing in her blood that she can
put into other people and make them do
whatever she wants.
Tobias must have paid her to make people set you up.
That's why the framing was so good.
How about this?
There's an address for her in the ledger.
I'll just go get her.
Whoa, Khalil, be careful, all right?
She's dangerous. She got claws...
and she's stronger and faster than a normal human.
Yeah, well... so am I.
I'm gonna need her alive, though.
He'll work with me, Mr. P. I got you.
So... how's Jen?
You know, getting on my nerves. Does not care.
Lovely.
As soon as I get this kill order out of my head,
I'll be back home.
In the meantime, please,
let me take care of this for you.
I appreciate you, man.
Before you ask, I haven't made any decisions
about the plea deal yet.
You may not have to.
What do you mean?
Khalil got a ledger from Tobias's accountant.
Turns out, we can prove
that he paid Looker to set us up.
Looker? I thought she was gone.
Speaking of gone, how did you find Khalil?
I didn't. He kept up with TC.
And he volunteered to get her for us.
Wait. You know I worked
with the silver element in Looker.
I have an idea for a serum
that could extract it from anybody that she controls.
Perfect. I know exactly who we need to help us with this.
Who?
Detective Shakur.
Jen, I gotta show you this new phone thingy. I...
What's wrong?
Something off with my powers.
I wish I still had my powers.
I used them earlier and I felt like a drained battery.
Maybe you're just dehydrated.
Stay away from the soda and drink more water.
Mmm, no. That's not it.
What about your emotions?
I remember you saying when you first started,
you would get emotional
and couldn't control your powers.
No, this is different.
Besides, I'm not emotional about anything.
Yes, you are. You like Uriah, but you're mad at him.
So maybe it's messing with you.
I don't like him.
Stop lying. Yes, you do.
Plus, it's okay. You can like him.
He wasn't the one who set you up.
- Yes, he did. - No, he didn't.
That's what I came to show you.
I tapped into the dark web
and I gained access to Uriah's IG account,
and I realized that someone hacked it before me.
That's who sent you the message to meet up with him.
Don't tell me, it was Lopez's trap.
Had to be Lopez's hack.
You're right. He was hacked by Freeland PD.
That's messed up.
Why hack Uriah?
Well, they were watching your Lightning account
and saw you responding to him.
That's on me.
So stupid.
You're right.
Then I figured you would respond like that,
so... I thought that it was best
that you and Uriah make things right
by going on a date.
What? I have a date with Uriah?
It's all set up. Here's the address.
And it's in a couple of hours.
I can't believe you did this.
I'm sorry. I thought you still...
Really sweet of you.
Jerk.
Your shirt is hideous, by the way. Love you.
Grab me the baking soda.
Baking soda?
- Yeah. - Okay.
Everything in here will have a bitter taste.
Baking soda will mask it.
Okay, here you go.
Once ingested,
this should bond to the silver element,
causing the body to repel it.
Should?
We have no way to test it.
Okay. So that means
Dad and Hassan could wind up screwed. Great.
I'll pray.
Yo.
- Thanks for meeting me. - Well, sounded urgent.
Yeah. Look, I have proof
that Tobias paid to set me and Lynn up.
What kind of proof?
Okay, there is a meta-human. Her name is Looker.
Tobias paid her.
She has the power to control people
with this silver element that her body makes.
Wait. Come again?
Yeah.
Yeah. Fortunately, I'm used to the, the weird and crazy.
The point is that we will soon have her,
- but I need your help. - With what?
We have to stop Looker from doing any more damage
before we can get our hands on her.
Now, Agent Mason is the only one I could think of
that has ties between me and Lynn's cases.
We have a serum
that we need to slip to him. It'll... It'll let us know
if he is under her control. And if he is, it'll free him.
Roofie a federal agent? Have you lost your damn mind?
Look, she can see through his eyes, man.
He's literally a puppet.
With a federal badge.
You're not even sure if he's under Looker's influence.
It's assault.
Hell, it's aggravated assault on a federal officer.
That's ten years. Twenty for us brothers.
Yeah, I'm aware of that.
But we can't let her continue to control him like this.
I hear you.
But there has to be another way to do this.
I got a meeting right now, um...
So, um...
Let me think on this.
You're meeting with Black Lightning, right?
How the hell did you know that?
Wow. You've been playing me this whole time.
No, I'm not playing you. I just told you the truth.
No, this was a setup.
You backed me into a corner so I could help you.
No, this is not a setup.
We've been working together the entire time.
Now, I didn't tell you who I was, but I never lied to you.
A lie of omission is a lie.
Why should I trust you,
let alone help you?
Because now you know everything.
All my cards are on the table.
Look, Henderson said I could trust you.
I'm trusting you with my life.
The ball's in your court, man.
Damn!
You look amazing.
Thank you.
I mean, TC told me to meet you here,
but I wasn't expecting you to...
I mean,
- I... I'm glad that you... - It's okay.
TC is a little off, but he's good people.
Yeah. Definitely.
I had some stuff about you in my head that was wrong.
TC set me straight.
I'm sorry I've been ghosting you.
It's all good.
Apology accepted.
But... you know you could've just called, right?
I could have, but I'm glad we have some alone time.
Seems like something is always interrupting us.
Damn. You got this whole place for us?
I would take credit for this, but TC had the hookup.
Well, I'm not trying to say I'm impressed, but...
I'm impressed.
I wasn't trying to impress you, but you should be.
I'm glad you came out.
I've been feeling you for a minute.
Me, too.
Mason's here. You ready?
Yeah. Remember, we need three coffees.
Coming in.
Thank you.
Okay.
Remember, we need
to both drink in front of him.
Put it in his head to drink. All right.
Ah, thanks for coming.
Thought you might want some coffee.
Thanks.
I'm familiar with Mr. Pierce,
and I was able to prevail on him to make a statement.
Are you ready to confess?
Yes.
Now, look, I know it looks bad,
but I want to categorically reiterate,
I'm being set up.
This is your statement?
- Why did you waste my time? - Just hold on a minute.
No. Don't you wanna know the truth?
Now, I will start from the beginning
and give you every single detail.
You mean, all the lies?
No, the God's honest truth. I mean...
Look, it's a long story, all right?
But if you bear with me, I promise you,
you won't be disappointed.
This coffee is awful.
Okay.
You have five minutes.
I don't like what I'm hearing, and...
And I'm out of here.
Agent Mason, are you all right?
You did this.
I should've killed you in South Freeland.
That's the craziest thing I've ever seen in my life.
Oh, my God. That was awful.
I felt like a puppet. Like...
like I was in that movie. What's it called?
- Get Out. - Okay, look.
A meta-human did this to you,
but my wife, Lynn, made a serum that set you free.
Thank you.
I'll do my best to repay the favor.
Thank you for coming.
Please, come in.
Have a seat.
What's that?
In a second. Please sit down.
I need to apologize to you.
You could have done that over the phone.
Lauren, I'm sorry.
I needed to say that to you in person.
I legitimately wanted to help you with the emitter,
and I know it was your passion project,
and I really did enjoy spending time with you.
You're wasting my time, Peter. I'm leaving.
There's something you should know.
Tobias Whale presents himself
as an altruistic philanthropist,
when in reality, he is a notorious gangster.
The emitter that you and I worked so hard on
has fallen into Tobias' hands,
and he's gonna use it to hurt people.
That algorithm that I created
is designed to locate the emitter.
And frankly, I could use your help with it.
Why should I believe anything you say,
much less help you?
You can come in now.
Hello. I'm Anissa Pierce.
Now, my Uncle Gambi pulled his spy tricks on you
to help our family.
Now, I can't go into detail,
but you should know we are dealing with life or death,
and you need to be concerned.
Why?
Well, because in addition to what he's already told you,
Tobias has stolen meta-genes from pregnant women,
and he's using your R&D department to do it.
Check this out.
How can I help?
Okay, so if you look here...
So, what do you have planned for the rest of the night?
Hmm.
Run back to the restaurant.
Uriah!
Hey, girlie.
Here's the deal.
You could stop being Lightning
or you could watch more people you care about die.
Your choice.
Uriah.
Uriah. Oh, my God.
So, you're Lightning, huh?
Don't cry.
Go.
Light up the world.
Why?
Why him?
This is all my fault.
No, it's mine.
I should've been able to protect him.
My powers keep fading on me.
So it's not your emotions.
No, it's something else.
Probably the same thing that took everybody's powers is
trying to get me again.
- Something else I got wrong. - TC, stop.
Thanks to you, Uriah and I finally got together.
He was such a good dude.
I know.
Gentlemen, I need to get to the top.
All right.
Who are you?
I'm here to see Looker.
See this?
Matching knives?
Cute.
Fast.
But I'm trained for that.
We'll see.
Hey, this boy brought a knife to a gunfight.
I'm a grown-ass man.
What did you say, boy?
Look, nobody has to die, okay?
I just need to get Looker.
He just needs to get... Shoot him!
You son of a bitch!
I'm going to rip your head clean off, boy.
Are you Looker?
Well, ain't I?
You're not so bad yourself.
Yeah, I think I'm gonna keep you as a pet.
Right, look.
I need you to come with me.
Can we please do this peacefully?
That's funny.
You're going to do as I say.
Yeah, I don't think so.
You know this is our house, right?
Two Mandingos.
One for the field,
one for the house.
Oh, hell no.
What did you do to me?
I killed you.
Now, go to hell.
Don't kill her.
Come on, man. Anyone with this amount
of hate deserves to die.
We need her alive to take down Tobias.
Unless you want him to win.
No.
Looker's no good to us dead.
Let me drive.
All right.
Do you feel that pain coursing through your veins?
That is the most lethal venom on Earth.
Now, I only gave you half of the antidote.
Notice your powers are still gone.
You have no idea who you're messing with.
Oh, I know exactly. Tobias Whale.
Now, you're gonna go back to Freeland,
and you're going to admit to everything you did for him.
No. I'm not.
Listen. Be smart. Okay?
Your powers are gone. Your men, they're gone.
And so is your money train.
Take the L, cooperate,
and you'll get the rest of the anti-venom.
I appreciate you coming with me to find the emitter.
I'm not doing this for you.
I built that emitter to put good in the world.
I won't stand by while my invention's being perverted.
I'm getting something.
It's coming from underground.
The sewers?
There are tunnels underneath Freeland.
You're kidding.
Put in during the Civil War, expanded by bootleggers...
modernized by the ASA.
Lead the way.
Watch your step.
Thanks.
I'm still reading promethium.
Me, too.
I know it's not the most romantic setting,
but I am glad that you're here with me.
Same here.
The signal's stronger down here.
This is the hotspot.
Let's see what we can do about that.
You carry C4 around in your pocket
and you have your watch as a detonator?
- Uh-huh. - You're killing me.
We should get back.
You all right?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Oh, it's everywhere.
Wait a minute.
That's why Monovista came to Freeland.
Your higher-ups knew
that this vein of promethium ran underneath the city.
Now, we'll never find the emitter
by scanning for promethium.
It's everywhere.
This stuff is highly radioactive.
We better get out of here.
Hey. Hey, it worked. Agent Mason is free of Looker,
and Khalil captured her.
And Hassan is on his way to pick her up right now.
Oh, finally some good news!
We're turning things around.
So, you can call Keith and tell him we don't need him.
Oh, I don't need to worry about Keith right now.
Let's just be in the present.
He was right about one thing.
We never did get remarried.
Well, what do you think about throwing Grace and Anissa
a real wedding reception?
Yeah, that's a great idea, but I said remarried.
I'm talking about us.
Oh, let's not talk about that right now.
I wanna celebrate.
Oh...
I am pleased
and honored to be the mayor of Freeland.
I am thrilled to be the mayor of Freeland.
Sir, the account activity
for Jesse Gentilucci has been inactive.
Inactive?
Where is he?
Lock in on his position and show me a camera view.
Working.
What the hell?
Run the footage back.
Freeze.
This ungrateful-ass, nappy-head Negro is
still breathing and don't have sense enough
to stay off my grass.
Ishmael,
I have some loose ends I need to tie up.
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