I’ll admit that despite enjoying the cast and crew, I was skeptical about how Black Lightning would turn out. I love comics and superhero shows, but most of the superhero programs on the CW are trash for black people. The black guys are almost always sidekicks or marginalized; the black women exist only as eye candy or love interests for white guys; and the costumes are so bad, most CW heroes look like a flash mob of cosplayers. However, I was more assured when I heard showrunner Salim Akil talk about putting his heart and soul into the show.
He talked about the crime in Black Lightning’s Freeland being based on his hometown of Richmond, Va. (which has had a top 10 murder rate for the last 20 years). He talked about a showing a new kind of black masculinity on-screen, the kind that is usually suppressed in the sci-fi and fantasy genres.
“In so many shows, the black man NEVER gets the woman … it’s like he doesn’t have a PENIS!” Akil said, talking about how Jefferson Pierce was going to be a three-dimensional character with love, sexiness and action. I knew I was going to see something new. Turns out I was right.
Black Lightning is actually a very good show. I’ve watched the pilot three times, twice on a laptop and once during a public screening at the DC in D.C. event last weekend. Every time I watch, I see something different that I like. The action is good, the plot makes sense, and the show flips tone from fun to suspense almost every other scene.