Black Lightning Review: The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Three (Season 4 Episode 3)

Change can be a great motivator. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always motivate us to make the wisest of decisions. Oftentimes we make these decisions out of fear of the unknown, causing us to lose all sense of ourselves. 

Black Lightning Season 4 Episode 3, “The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Three,” continues to explore Jefferson’s PTSD after the death of a close friend. He continues to try to redefine himself and feels he keeps coming up short. Tying in two other examples really helps bring the message home.

Although a minor character, Marcel is a great illustration of trying your best but still coming up short. 

Marcel is a devoted family man who has lost it all. The war on Freeland struck him down, much like many other townspeople, and he has yet to bounce back. He has been so negatively affected by his circumstances, that his children have been taken away from him — talk about crushing!

With the loss of his children, Marcel strikes out on his own trying any way he can to get them back. He feels the dire urge to make the most money possible in the quickest amount of time. 

In his desperation he acts out in fear, joining a “fight club” in a sort of “get rich quick” scheme. Surprisingly, he holds his own for a bit of time taking his lumps as they come. 

From the looks of it, Marcel is far from a violent man. All he really wants are his children back and to restart his life with them. His fear motivates him to go to the wrong places at the wrong time and do the wrong thing. 

It really is a tragedy to see someone act out against their own character. Knowing a person’s soul and seeing them betray who they truly are makes the spectator’s heart hurt. 

Unfortunately, we can not force someone back onto the path of good. We can only remind them of who they once were, and how they can get back there. Positive words can grease the gears, but they must be the one who starts the engine. 

Lynn is going down a similar path with her controversial experiments.

With her husband currently out of the superhero business, she is so disheartened that she is willing to make herself into a human guinea pig. Even at home in the bathtub, Lynn feels the need to test the limits of her quasi-superpowers —  insistent on perfecting them to protect her family.

But things aren’t really as selfless as they seem. 

While Lynn talks out her trials with her therapist, she realizes she is stuck in the same cycle she always puts herself in. Lynn is the square peg forcing herself into a round hole. 

Lynn: All my life I’ve been trying to fit in where I don’t belong.

Repeatedly Lynn’s family has tried to talk her out of being part of the superhero scene. She is untrained, making her a liability over an asset. Her family only tells her this out of love, but instead, Lynn takes it as an insult. 

She hears their words, but interprets them differently than they are meant. She takes it as a personal attack instead of an act of love. This causes her to act out in defiance. 

So often we take our own meaning out of other people’s words and actions without choosing to look at things from their angle. We assume the heated conversation is one of hatred and judgment when often it is one of guidance and protection.

Lastly, this brings us to the titular character, Black Lightning, or to be more precise, Jefferson Pierce. 

Jefferson is emotionally beaten and broken. He continues to act against who he truly is — a superhero. He has become a vigilante, or worse yet, an anti-hero. 

The death of Henderson weighs heavily on every aspect of his life but is most overbearing on his family dynamic. 

When he sees the Black Lightning suit, he no longer sees hope and a future, he simply sees death. It is no longer his beacon of ambition but his harbinger of destruction. 

Jefferson refuses to face the fact that Henderson chose his life and his actions. Although Black Lightning played a part in his demise, he does not solely bear that cross. 

This revolution against his ideals isn’t leading Jefferson down a positive path. He lashes out at his daughters and picks violent fights that could be shut down with words. He even puts himself in unwarranted danger by refusing to wear the suit. 

This isn’t a good look on anyone, let alone a superhero. He appears selfish and arrogant, bull-headed and unhinged — not really the trifecta anyone is looking for. 

Searching for yourself after a dramatic change can be quite the journey. We will typically go down off-beaten paths, hoping to find a new truth we have never seen in ourselves.

Sometimes we will believe lies about ourselves, putting on a new mask instead of undressing from our disguise. It is a difficult transition no matter the process. Fortunately, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Jefferson finally begins to see that light when he chooses to guide Marcel out of his tight spot. With no assistance from any kind of superpower, Jefferson picks up his friend and sets him towards a more righteous path. 

And that right there is the ultimate truth of the episode.

No matter what mistakes we make or the paths we take — there is hope. Hope for a better future, a better world, and a better self. 

What did you think of this episode of Black Lightning? Will Jefferson continue to neglect his superhero duties? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Black Lightning airs Mondays at 9/8c on The CW.

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