In Review: Black Lightning: The Book of War: Chapter Two: Freedom Ain’t Free

Synopsis: After learning that Gravedigger and the Markovians are coming to attack Freeland, the Pierce family prepares for war.

Review: In the penultimate episode. The Pearce family prepare for war with an enemy that could spell the end for them and Freeland.

The Story

With the A.S.A pulling out of Freeland and the Government planning to nuke the place and create another Three Mile Island. It is down to the Pearce family and their few Meta Friends to defend their turf against Gravedigger and his Markovian Army. Making matters potentially worse is the fact that Gravedigger has dosed himself with Lynn’s super serum, which allows him to utilize any meta power he wants.

Meanwhile, Khalil is locked in a struggle with Painkiller, but this time Painkiller has the upper hand and is out of the box.

The Acting

Wayne Brady puts in a brilliant performance this week as Gravedigger. His monologue to the camera at the beginning of the episode, which explains how he got his name, as well as more of his backstory, was performed superbly.

Also, really strong this week was Cress Williams and Christine Adams as Jefferson and Lynn. The scene where Lynn reveals that Jefferson’s DNA has the same Gnome as Gravedigger is brilliantly done. The moment where Jefferson somewhat ironically asks if Tobias Whale is his cousin added to the fun. Especially given that he’d just found out that Gravedigger could well be his Great Uncle that went to war and never came back.

Overall

This was the calm before the storm episode in which everything is set up for the coming battle. The revelation that Gravedigger is related to Black lightning wasn’t all that surprising when you consider that Black Lightning, Thunder, and Lightning have always been the only stable Meta-Humans in Freeland. But Jefferson’s reaction to the news was fun.

So all is set up for next week’s finale. The question is who will survive it and how will it affect the balance of power within Freeland given that the A.S.A. is likely to be long gone. I for one can’t wait to find out.