Edited at https://subtitletools.com
[Jefferson] Previously on Black Lightning...
Thirty years ago, I came to Freeland
as an agent for a government organization called the ASA.
They were conducting an experiment in Freeland,
giving the people a vaccine to make them docile.
But their vaccine inadvertently created metahumans.
People with special powers.
And it was myjob to find them.
I leaked the information to your father,
and his investigation got him killed.
You stay away from me.
[groaning]
[newscaster] Sources say she was killed by electrocution,
-making Black Lightning their prime suspect. -[9a8p81
Andjust like that,
Freeland's protector just became its biggest threat.
[Jefferson] I can't let someone trying to frame me
distract me from my mission.
So how are we going to stop them?
Go after Green Light.
Tell the board that it's my decision and my decision alone.
And I'm the vice principal, not your secretary.
So if you want the board to know something,
you should tell them yourself.
[Proctor] When Black Lightning returned,
you said you would figure out who he was and take care of him.
You didn't,
so I'm bringing ASA operatives into town to kill him,
plain and simple.
| used to work as a sort of a scout.
And [just saw the body of one of the boys
that I helped find 30 years ago.
I can't get out of my head what I saw at that lab.
Black Lightning's the only one who can expose what's been done
and bring these people to justice.
DVDs, baby clothes.
Hey, I got what you want. I got what you need.
["Drowning" playing]
H We gon' need some drugs For the situation J‘J‘
J‘J‘ Shout out to my plug It's a Iituation J‘J‘
J‘J‘ Won't we need The litigation J'J‘
I: All we ask is ventilation J‘J‘
N” I can't breathe J‘J‘
What the hell?
-J‘J‘ I can't breathe J‘J‘ -[tires screeching]
J‘J‘ When the real hold you down You supposed to drown right? J‘J‘
J‘J‘ Wait, wait That don't sound right J‘J‘
[shouting] Hey! Hey! Hey!
J‘J‘ That don't sound right J‘J‘
J‘J‘ When the real hold you down You supposed to drown right? J‘J‘
J‘J‘ Wait, wait That don't sound right J‘J‘
-J‘J‘ Just wait One second, that don 't... N -[inhales deeply]
N l was high and l was Startin' to lose focus J‘J‘
N Then I stumbled In the water J‘J‘
N I was trippin' I was chokin' J‘J‘
J‘J‘ Saying, I can't breathe J‘J‘
[inhales deeply]
N” I can't breathe J‘J‘
J‘J‘ Started floatin' Way out in the open J‘J‘
J‘J‘ 'Fore I knew it I was driftin' in the middle of the ocean J‘J‘
J‘J‘ Saying, I can't breathe J‘J‘
J‘J‘ Yeah, I can't breathe J‘J‘
I: Started whalin' Started flailin' J‘J‘
N l was splashing Waves crashing all around me if
J‘J‘ Felt the passion Of the water J‘J‘
J‘J‘ Saying, I can't breathe J‘J‘
[monitor beeping]
N” I can't breathe J‘J‘
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God, they're alive.
J‘J‘ When the real hold you down You supposed to drown right? J‘J‘
[inhales deeply]
J‘J‘ That don't sound right J‘J‘
J‘J‘ Just wait, one second That don't sound right J‘J‘
J‘J‘ Last night I saw a superhero He was black J‘J‘
II He said This is for the street Black Lightning's back J‘J‘
Dad.Dad.
Dad, there's a bunch of kids in trouble and they need our help.
What?
Uncle Gambi discovered the bodies of a bunch of kids
who disappeared 30 years ago.
And since you guys weren't talkin',
he asked me to let you know so maybe you could help.
Okay, slow down.
Look, Dad, I knew you wouldn't trust anything that came from Uncle Gambi,
so I decided to check it out on my own.
Gambi sent you to check on dead bodies?
No, Dad. I was supposed to tell you and I didn't. And I'm sorry.
Look, Uncle Gambi, he thought they were dead,
but they're alive, and they're kept in some kind of suspended state,
and,Dad, I was going to get them,
but I didn't want to make a mistake and hurt them even more.
Are you talking about the kids that disappeared 30 years ago?
Yes.
I don't know. I think so, yes.
They're not dead?
No. They're alive.
Ain't no such thing as death,
not no more, Will.
Look at you.
I'm here, you're here.
Yeah, but you killed me, cuz.
-I want to be on your side of life. -[chuckles]
Who says you ain't?
Aw. Damn.
What you gonna do when Tobias come back?
You know damn well he ain't gonna be too happy
about you taking over The One Hundred.
If Tobias comes back...
I'm gonna kill him.
What, like you killed me?
Yeah.
Truth be told, you had it coming.
Your lack of discipline was hurting us.
What about your goons over there?
[indistinct chatter]
Do they got it coming, too?
Man, why y'all ain't out there on them corners?
Since Black Lightning lit up the warehouse,
there ain't no Green Light to move.
You act like Green Light is the only drug in town.
You can smoke it, but you can't sell it?
Get your asses back out on them corners, man.
And get creative.
[scoffs] Man, I'm tired of this, man.
Don't nobody want these old-ass drugs after they've had Green Light.
You slippin', Lala.
Man, you walking around here talking to yourself.
Man, we all see you.
Maybe you ain't built for this no more, man.
[shouting]
Anybody else think I ain't built for this?
[breathing heavily]
If anybody got a problem with selling good, old-fashioned, regular drugs,
you should tell me now.
We sell whatever you want us to sell, boss.
Good.
Hey.
Handle that.
[Will whistles]
Damn. You always merking somebody.
Just like how you killed me.
I didn't do nothing to you, but give you a job.
Everything after that, you did to yourself.
How's my moms?
She ain't been the same since you disappeared.
Disappeared? What you mean?
She don't know I'm dead.
Dead bodies bring up too many questions.
Right.
[winces]
[groaning]
Damn.
[exhales]
[Thunder] Over here.
Oh, wait a minute. What?
No. No, they were here.
Dad, I swear to God there were a bunch of kids in here.
-[Thunder sighs] -[Black Lightning] Looks like, uh...
some large objects were dragged out the door.
Someone knew you were here.
Okay, nobody was in here when I...
[men grunting]
[screams]
[alarm blaring]
Thirty years ago,
Gambi worked for a clandestine government agency called the ASA.
Hmm.
With that secret room of his,
it had to be something like that.
Yeah.
And after all the political uprisings around the country,
the ASA put Gambi here
to report on their illegal human experiments
that were supposed to make black folks in neighborhoods like Freeland
docile so they could control them.
See so they put something in the water supply.
And then the vaccines.
And they called us paranoid.
But the vaccines inadvertently gave a few kids powers.
Gambi reported kids who displayed abilities
and those kids were kidnapped.
Look, Dad, I know. He told me.
And he also told me that he was extremely naive.
He thought he was being a good soldier,
but when he realized what was actually happening,
he leveraged his knowledge of the program to make them stop.
No, it doesn't make it okay, but, Dad, he saved you
-and he protected you all those years. -[sighs]
He cares. Come on, you know he does.
And he did everything he could to make things right.
[scoffs]
Yeah, well, there are some things you can't make right.
[Anissa sighs]
Well, look,
we need to find those kids.
And with the bounty on your head,
that's gonna make things that much harder to get done.
-Just get some sleep. -Dad, look.
-I know Gambi was wrong, but don't we need his help? -[sighs]
No, I can't work with Gambi anymore!
I don't trust him.
Okay.
Look, I'm sorry.
[knocking on door]
-Two-Bits? -Hey. What's up, J?
Hey, I'm sorry to bother you so early this morning like this,
but, um, I needed to talk, man. You got a minute?
-[clears throat] -Yeah, come on in.
Oh, okay, thank you.
I done a lot of things I ain't proud of, J.
Stealing, selling drugs,
but there's wrong and then there's wrong, man.
[Jefferson] What's on your mind, Two-Bits?
[stutters] I saw one of your students get snatched last night.
Wait, what?
Look, at least I think it was one of your students.
I mean, she was wearing one of them ugly-ass uniforms
y'all be making them wear, you know.
Okay, okay, what happened?
I saw her get some Green Light from one of them corner boys, and then, um...
This gonna sound crazy, but after she took it,
for a second, it looked like she caught on fire.
What do you mean "caught on fire"?
J, I mean, it looked like she was on fire from inside her body, man.
I know it sounds crazy, but that's what I saw.
Look, it only lasted a second,
and after that, two men wearing black
jumped out of this van and they grabbed her.
-Where did this happen? -Uh, 34th and Oglethorpe.
Okay, start over.
Tell me exactly what happened. Don't leave anything out.
Heard you were dead.
I was.
Welcome back.
I'm gonna need you to front me two million in coke
and $400,000 in chronic.
Ever since Green Light hit,
my business in Freeland has shrunken to almost nothing,
so believe me when I tell you, your offer is tempting...
-But? -How do I know I can trust you?
You disappear, then come back wanting to do business
in much larger quantities than ever before,
on commission, for a product that people no longer buy.
It sounds like a setup and it feels like a setup.
I'm not setting you up. I just wanna do business.
Like I said, all people want is Green Light.
They can't get it. One supplier, and he's out.
One thing I know is, folks got to do something to get by.
Yeah.
That's a lot of product to be selling on commission.
What is that?
My mother's address.
You're putting up your mother's life as collateral?
How do I know it's really her address?
Have your people check it out.
I'll wait.
It appears you returned from the dead with a sense of purpose.
As long as everything checks out, we got a deal.
You really gonna put your moms up like that, man?
[Jennifer] Hey, Daddy.
Morning.
I heard voices earlier.
Yeah, a friend came by.
He had something to talk about that couldn't wait.
-I need you to stay home from school today. -What? Why?
I'm sorry. I can't explain why right now.
Dad, the results from the student government race come in today.
Yeah, ljust need you to stay home.
Hey. Morning.
[Jennifer] Dad wants me to stay home from school today.
Usually, parents have to beg their kids to go to school, but not mine.
Huh? What's going on?
It may not be safe for Jennifer to be out and about.
Now, it might be nothing,
but I'd like you to stay with her until I can make sure.
Does this have anything to do with last night?
I don't know.
Look, I have to go. I'll call you when I find out more.
All right. Dad...
be safe.
Yeah.
Excuse me? Have you seen my friend, Neema?
No, sorry.
Excuse me, can I put this up?
What is this?
My friend, Neema, didn't come home last night.
Oh?
I knew something was wrong when she didn't call me.
We talk, like, four times a day, every day.
And then her parents called looking for her.
Nobody knew where she was.
-Maybe she ran away. -Neema would never run away from me.
Have you been to the police?
What?
She was on Green Light.
So, the police don't think it's worth their time?
I'm sorry.
I'll put your flier up.
Thanks.
[Jennifer] This is all just too much.
Being like this has already ruined my life.
[Anissa] Are you... You need to calm down. Seriously.
Why is nobody listening to me? I don't wanna have powers.
I don't wanna save the world. Okay?
Okay, I hear you,
but you're rejecting something that you don't fully understand, Jen.
Like I told you, this is a gift, a blessing from God.
In your opinion.
That doesn't make it the truth.
What if it's a curse from the Devil?
You don't even know what you can do.
I mean, you could be out here--
You know what, I don't want to know. I don't want to know.
-Oh, so, you're just gonna walk away? -Yes.
That's what you do when things get tough, you walk away.
Go ahead, quit.
Girl, bye.
Jennifer, look at me.
This is real. Okay?
It's real.
People are out there dying, and we have powers,
powers that we have a responsibility to help save people--
No, you have a responsibility to help save people.
I don't have a responsibility to do anything.
Okay, yep. You're right, you don't.
And you know what, it's probably best
that you don't find out what you can do
because you just might quit.
Just like you quit track.
You'll probably quit on me, Mom, and Dad when we need you the most.
And let's not forget that you quit on Khalil, too.
Yup, I said it.
[breathing shakily]
[crackling]
Whoa, Jen.
Wait, Jennifer. Oh, my God, Jen.
[gasps]
[electricity crackling]
What just happened?
Oh, my God. You're just like Dad.
So, Anissa is watching Jennifer.
She'll keep her safe.
And you think those were the same kids
that disappeared 30 years ago?
Yeah, I do.
And I think it's happening again.
The ASA made Green Light to replicate the accident they made with the vaccine,
but most of the people that take Green Light, they don't develop powers.
-They just destroy their lives. -Yeah.
You need to go see Gambi.
[sighs] Gambi and I are through. Period.
You need his help, Jeff.
Not gonna happen.
So, the pods Anissa described would draw a huge amount of power.
I might be able to use my electric vision to find them.
Well, also, powered containers that big
don't just disappear without someone seeing something.
-Okay. -I'II talk to Two-Bits,
see if he knows anything about the pods moving.
[scoffs] Why would Two-Bits know anything about the pods?
[chuckles] Two-Bits has been tracking the comings and goings
of all delivery trucks in Freeland since we were teenagers.
[chuckles] Of course, he has.
And what is electric vision?
Well, I can see the current of anything with an electrical signal.
Huh. I didn't know you could do that.
I couldn't. I mean, I could only feel electricity before,
but Gambi fixed it so I can see it, too.
Can you see through people's clothes?
-Are you... -Hmm.
-Maybe. -...undressing me with your eyes,
-Jefferson Pierce? -[chuckles]
I'll go scan the city.
I'll see if I can see anything that looks strange.
-Uh-huh. Okay, you do that. -Mmm-hmm.
Will you stop it? I can see you.
I can see you, too.
-Mmm. -[both laugh]
[door chimes]
[sighs]
Hello, Peter.
I need you to come with us.
I thought that might be your response.
Look out the window.
If you don't come out with us in two minutes,
our man on the street will begin shooting pedestrians.
What do I care about some random people on the street?
Oh, I think you care.
As a matter of fact, I think you'd rather kill one of your fellow agents
than see one of those people hurt.
What you think doesn't matter.
One way or another,
we're going to know how you really feel about those people.
Thirty seconds.
[indistinct chatter]
Hmm.
A small part of me was hoping that you'd let him start shooting.
Oh, well.
Come on, let's go.
Anissa told me what happened.
Are you okay?
Yeah.
[sighs] No.
[sniffles]
Look, I promise you, you will be.
Okay? You will live the life that you want to live,
not the one Anissa, or me, or your mother,
or anyone else, wants you to live.
The life you want.
But you have to learn to control your powers.
Someone could get hurt.
I didn't ask for this.
I know.
[sighs] Believe me, I know.
But you still have to deal with it.
[Jefferson sighs]
Dad?
Yeah?
How do you use the bathroom in your suit?
[chuckles]
[both laughing]
What...
We had a deal.
I'm following our deal.
I said I wouldn't sell no more drugs, and I'm not.
You ain't supposed to smoke no drugs either.
It's legal, man. I got a card.
Uh-uh. You ain't got a card from me.
-I hate you. -No, you don't.
I'm making you a better man.
-I don't want to be a better man. -Yeah, you do.
-So to, uh, reciprocate my generosity-- -Precipitate your what?
There was some large electrical equipment
that was moved from a warehouse on 12th Street last night.
Look, word is, man, some military vehicles
were moving large items on that side of town last night.
Trucks never left Freeland, but no one's sure where they went.
-What the hell? -Damn! I almost got you.
I'm sorry, Black Lightning, but you worth a lot of money.
They doubled the reward they put on you for killin' Lady Eve.
I'd take you in myself if I thought I could take you.
-I didn't kill her. -Okay, I believe you. [chuckles nervously]
But what I think don't matter.
Man, you're doing too much.
Maybe you should try keeping a lower profile, you know?
I don't do low profile.
Yeah, I see that.
Stop smoking them drugs, all right? You need to do better.
Damn it!
What is wrong with you?
You got people trying to drop microwaves on your head,
and you're telling me to do better?
He killed no one, but I need my bills paid.
[stutters] What's your name?
Rent. Car-no-electric.
Man.
Where he go?
[distorted]
[device powering down]
[sighs]
[grunting]
[groaning]
We know you broke into our facility and found our test subjects.
Shortly after that, Black Lightning shows up at the same facility.
I don't think that was a coincidence.
The only reasonable explanation...
is that you told Black Lightning about the warehouse,
which means...
that you know how to contact Black Lightning.
I don't.
[Gambi groans]
Now, why don't I believe that?
Because you're an ass.
[chuckles]
Let's see how tough you really are.
No.
Hey, come on. [grunting] Hey.
[continues grunting]
[Gambi choking]
[Gambi coughing]
What's up, man? I've got it.
Yeah.
Hello, Malik.
[sighs]
Mr. Pierce, what are you doing out here?
I came here to see you.
[sighs] Look, Malik, I've seen this before.
You're gonna die out here on the streets.
Or you're gonna spend your whole life in and out of prison.
Here you come with these speeches.
No, no, here I come with a solution.
I want you to attend Freeland's mentorship program
I hold on the weekends at Garfield.
-Yeah, like, that's gonna happen. -You owe me.
Man, look. I got to put in work,
and if I don't bring in no money,
-me and my grandma won't have nowhere to live. -[sighs]
Okay, I'll make a deal with you.
You commit to the program,
and I promise you, I'll find a way to help you and your grandmother out.
Okay, look, you don't have to answer me tonight.
Classes are ten o'clock tomorrow morning at Garfield, in the science building.
If you decide to come, just ask for me, security will let you in.
I'm good, Mr. Pierce.
I'll be there...
in case you change your mind.
[gasping and coughing]
[continues coughing]
[groaning]
[Proctor] I gotta admit it. You're a tough old man, Gambi.
You know what I find confusing?
You quit the ASA because you could no longer stomach what we were doing,
yet you stayed in Freeland.
Not only did you stay,
you helped raise Jefferson Pierce,
the son of the man who was investigating us,
as if he were your own son.
Now, why is that?
[sighs]
I wonder if Gambi's surrogate son is as tough as he is.
-Please invite Mr. Pierce to join us. -Yes, sir.
[Lynn] After Anissa told me what happened,
I wanted to make sure everything was okay with you internally.
Whoa! What was that?
-The machine's malfunctioning. -[Anissa] That's weird.
Switch places with your sister, please.
[machine whirring]
[Anissa] Hey.
Jen, look,
I apologize for earlier.
You know I didn't mean what I said.
Yes, you did, Harriet.
But it's cool, I can take it.
[sighs]
[whirring]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[Jennifer sighs]
[Jennifer] Whoa.
That's so cool. I can see inside of her.
[sighs] Everything looks normal.
[stutters] Switch back, please.
[machine whirs]
[machine beeping]
[door closes]
All right, what you see?
No, it's not a malfunction.
Okay, so, do Dad's scans look like this?
No, they don't.
Jefferson's like a battery.
He takes electricity from the source and channels it through his body.
According to this MRI,
Jennifer's a generator.
[stutters] What are you saying?
Her cells are creating pure energy.
[beeping]
[sighs]
Where's everyone else at?
-Behind that preposition. -What?
It is bad English to end a sentence with a preposition.
Oh. Where's everyone else at, bruh?
[chuckles] Good. That's good.
There is no one else. You're it.
I'll be personally mentoring you.
How'd you know I was going to come?
Uh... I didn't, but I'm glad you did.
Okay, this is a mantra.
-Do you know what a mantra is? -No.
A mantra is a motivating or calming word or phrase that's repeated.
You see, some people believe that, uh,
if you repeat something frequently, it becomes real.
-And you believe that? -I believe that whatever you say or do repeatedly
becomes your reality. Yeah.
You know, Henry Ford once said,
"Whether you think you can or you think you can't,
"you're right."
Okay, now I want you to read aloud the words under "student," all right?
-"Where is the future?" -"Right here."
-"Whose life is this?" -"Mine."
"What are you going to do with it?"
"Live it by any means necessary." I like that.
Now we can actually begin.
Mr. Pierce?
Yes?
I'm sorry for shooting your daughter with fake blood.
I know you are.
[chuckles softly] I know you are.
All right.
Uh, can I help you?
If you ever want to see Peter Gambi again,
you'll come with us and you'll come quietly.
Um, okay, these are poems by Langston Hughes.
Your assignment, read one poem a day,
-and we'll discuss them next Saturday. -Let's go.
Gambi didn't tell us anything...
even though we asked nice. [grunts]
So, we were wondering...
This man's like a son to you.
-Do you want to tell us who Black Lightning is now? -[gun cocks]
Or do we blow his head clean off?
That's why you did this?
I'll count to three.
One...
two...
[electricity crackling]
[grunting]
[groans]
[Gambi groaning]
[Gambi grunts]
You didn't tell 'em about me.
[breathing heavily]
I don't think it's a good idea for you to be here.
The ASA doesn't know about this place.
You and your family are the only ones who've ever been down here.
-No, no, no, no. -[groaning]
You need to rest.
Jefferson...
I'm sorry.
-I know. -About everything.
I know.
Jeff...
It's happening again. They're kidnapping kids.
Yeah, I know.
We can talk about that later, but right now you need to rest.
-I need to check on Lynn and the girls. -No.
You gotta get 'em out of the house.
-They're in danger. -l'm already ahead of it.
You gotta find the spotter.
[Gambi groaning]
"The spotter"?
[grunts]
Someone...
like I used to be.
There must be someone embedded in the community
who identifies the kids who've acquired abilities from Green Light.
If you find that person,
then you can find Neema and the others.
You rest.
[Lala] Green Light only has one supplier.
And that's bad for business.
We can get cocaine and weed from multiple sources.
I got customers who are all types of crackhead.
But they only want Green Light, so that's what I want.
Okay, if that's what you want,
then you should leave.
Comin' in here with all that ra-ra.
You ain't really running The One Hundred, no how.
You just holding the chair for Tobias,
and when Tobias gets back, you're gonna get dealt with.
You must be crazy if you think
I'm just gonna let you walk up on me like that.
[cocks gun]
Better chill before I bust a cap in your ass.
Go ahead.
Do it.
-[gun clicks] -[men exclaim]
[gun clicks]
If I ever catch you in Freeland again...
l'mma kill you with my bare hands.
Y'all got two weeks to move those packages.
Now go.
How'd you know the gun was going to misfire?
I didn't.
Mmm, what's that smell?
Neglect.
[Lynn] This is the house where your father grew up.
It seemed so much bigger when l was a kid.
Wait, you kept this house all these years?
It was in a trust until I was, uh, 21.
After that, a property manager looked after it.
And why didn't you just sell it?
The paperwork's not in my name.
No one knows I own it. We'll be safe.
-[sighs] And how long do we have to stay here? -I don't know.
This dust is older than I am.
Wait, is this where Granddad was murdered?
Yeah.
Lots of other memories.
-Ghosts is more like it. -Jen, this is not the time.
You all get comfortable. We'll be here a while.
The pods should be safe here.
Thank you for my latest addition.
Have any more subjects demonstrated abilities?
No, not yet.
I'm sure more will show up.
Keep your eyes open,
and do a better job.
What do you mean?
Jefferson Pierce is Black Lightning.
What?
Uh, no, he's not.
He's been hiding in plain sight all this time.
Right under your nose.
Why do you think he's Black Lightning?
Because the second he was brought in, there was a power failure,
which allowed Peter Gambi to murder two of my agents.
It's him.
You've worked very closely with Pierce for several years.
Do you think you can take him down?
Yes.
We'll see.