When The CW and DC Entertainment officially announced the order for Black Lightning in 2017, I am sure that a lot of people out probably wrote it off as I suspect that a little bit of superhero fatigue may be starting to set into audiences. Especially if you think of the amount of series that just The CW puts out starting with Arrow, The Flash, iZombie, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl. But Black Lightning is not your typical superhero show. It’s different enough that they decided not to include it within the same DC television universe as the other heroes. So even if you are starting to get a little tired of some of these shows, here are some reasons why you should stop, drop and watch The CW’s Black Lightning.

The CW’s Black Lightning

Black Lightning is a superhero television show that was developed by Salim Akil that is based on the DC Comics character created by Tony Isabella. The show stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce aka Black Lightning. As well as China Anne McClain and Nafessa Williams as his daughters Jennifer and Anissa Pierce. The antagonist for the series Tobias Whale is played by Marvin Jones III.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoUlGwYa4QE

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The story picks up 9 years after Jefferson Pierce last wore the Black Lightning suit. After seeing the negative effects that this lifestyle was having on his family, he decided to retire and become the principal of his local high school and do his best this way to make a difference in his community. But under the direction of Tobias Whale, the local gang called the 100 is on the rise leading to an increase in crime, drugs and corruption. This forces Black Lightning back into action but with an updated suite provided by his tech-savvy partner Peter Gambi, played by James Remar. But this return has threatened Tobias Whale who’s street credibility is based on the idea that he killed Black Lightning making him more dangerous than ever.

One major difference in this show is that we aren’t spending any time watching Pierce discovering his powers and training his abilities. Which also means that we don’t have to waste any time watching Black Lightning fight one villain after another until reaching the Big Bad. Instead, the show does a fantastic job at world building. It takes the time to show audiences how bad things are getting in Pierce’s community and why he is forced to come back. But it’s not a decision he takes lightly as we see Pierce time and time again do his best to resolve the problems as Jefferson Pierce and not as Black Lightning.

One aspect I love about this show is that he does not have a villain of the week that he takes down by the end of the episode. Black Lightning’s fight is within his community against people that he either went to school with or taught. So when Pierce or Black Lightning fights crime, a lot of times the result, whether positive or negative, comes with a personal cost. This give the show a lot more depth and an emotional connection to audiences as we can clearly see that he is not fighting metahumans but people he cares about.

But at the same time, you have Tobias, who is presented as Black Lightning’s antagonist in the past and present. But as bad as he is we then meet Lady Eve, played by Jill Scott, who’s presence lets us know that there is a much deadlier group above Tobias pulling the strings. It will be interesting to see how Black Lightning slowly brings them to the light.

With that said being that Black Lightning is only five episodes in, I will leave the rest up to you to catch up support this great superhero show.

Where You Should Start Watching:

You can easily catch up on CW on Demand or The CW App where you can find all five episodes. You can also tune in Tuesday nights at 9/8c on The CW for new episodes.

Why You Should Be Watching Black Lightning:

This is unlike your typical superhero shows, as it feels like Black Lightning’s problems to an extent are also happening in your community. Guns and gangs in schools although tragic are something that our kids are having to talk about. Racial profiling by authorities is something also too common in our day and age. Black Lightning is the type of hero that some of our real-life communities desperately need, which allows audiences to empathize with a lot of the things that Pierce and his family are going through, making it that much more an enjoyable show.

So take a moment to sit back and enjoy Black Lightning. Let us know what you though via the comment section below!

The CW’s Black Lightning is can be seen Tuesday nights at 9/8c on The CW.

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