***This review may contain minor spoilers***
Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube
“Black Lightning” entered its final season in better shape than some of the other Arrowverse shows, but a departing main cast member and another uneven season almost derails the show’s swan song.
Season four pits the heroes against Tobias Whale once and for all, which unfortunately, struggles to keep things fresh after dealing with his menace since that start of season one. Tobias’ master plan takes just a bit too long to materialize, and initially feels like more of the same. Luckily, once he shows his hand late in the season, he has the good-guys on the ropes in a way we haven’t seen before. Meanwhile, while Tobias is getting the ball rolling on his diabolical scheme, most of the early episodes deal with the fallout from last season. Although things seemed to end on a positive note, we spend the first half of the season with our lead characters struggling with guilt and baggage, which results in a lot of infighting. While that keeps things interesting, it’s a bit of a downer watching it. The show also spends a lot of time dealing with the curveball that China Anne McClain, who plays Jennifer Pierce/Lightning, decided to leave the show a few episodes in. While they came up with a clever workaround, the final resolution felt rushed and out of place.
As usual, the acting is top-notch. They have always done a great job of making these characters feel like a real family. Too bad most of the main cast spend a lot of time spinning their wheels instead of advancing their story arcs. They all take a step back at the beginning of the season, and really don’t change all that much by the finale. And even thought the Jennifer/JJ stuff had a lot of potential, it quickly got put on the backburner.(At least until the head-scratching conclusion.) Possibly the most interesting character arc belongs to Painkiller, but a lot of that had to do with them setting up a potential spinoff. He had some interesting story beats and some of the best fight sequences.
“Black Lightning” ends its run with a bit of a whimper, as the anticlimactic ending and lack of character growth keep the show from breaking much new ground. The series once again suffers from from some odd pacing and uninspired fight scenes. But, great acting and some good writing have made these characters feel like a real family, despite all the craziness going on.
**1/2 out of *****