Black Lightning Recap: Tobias Drops a Bombshell! And Is [Spoiler] a Meta?!

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Chapter Five of Black Lightning’s “Book of Occupation” is appropriately titled “Requiem for Tavon,” because the episode tells part of his story — that of a young man falsely identified as a meta, who loves his parents, and has dreams as big as the constellations his dad told him about.

The episode also weaves in surprising revelations about other characters, their covert plans, and their motives….

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Blackbird’s Wings Clipped?
Agent Odell has been collecting data to determine Blackbird’s real identity in an effort to eliminate her. Several matches are identified, including Anissa. Odell knows Blackbird is a threat in other ways, since she’s been inspiring Freeland citizens such as “Truthteller Johnson,” who gives her props to for risking her life to save those who were illegally held captive by the ASA. Odell orders Painkiller to turn his attention to this new-ish masked vigilante.

Later, Blackbird visits Reverend Holt to give him the meta vaccine, advising him to inoculate everyone before they’re taken outside the perimeter. When Jefferson calls and tells Anissa to bring Tavon back to Freeland, she, despite her misgivings, says she’ll try. But as she and Tavon leave, they walk right into Painkiller, who doses them both with his venom.

While Anissa calls her dad for backup, Odell heads to her loft but is relieved to find her at home. He tells her that her metrics match the data he’s been tracking on Blackbird, but he can rule her out since Blackbird just breached the ASA perimeter (and Anissa can’t be in two places at once). After he leaves, “Anissa” is revealed to be Grace, who shapeshifted to cover for her girlfriend. Black Lightning and Gambi meet the real Anissa and Tavon in the tunnel. Unfortunately, Painkiller’s venom proves lethal, and Tavon dies in Jefferson’s arms.

Lynn Reaches Her Breaking Point
Lynn has a nightmare that involves her testing a young girl who disintegrates. She bolts up in a panic and wakes Jefferson, who notices that she’s leaving and reminds her of the curfew. The rule doesn’t apply to her, since she’s AFA-affiliated, so she’s going to the lab because she still needs to stabilize the meta gene.

At the lab, Lynn seems hyped up, acting like an addict thanks to taking those meta vaccine pills, but Odell makes no effort to calm her frenzy. She says she has identified the protein to stabilize the gene, but that it can’t be synthesized in a lab. The protein instead has to be extracted from a human host — Patient 49, who’s revealed to be Tobias! Once she administers the MB4 serum, Tobias returns to his younger self. As Lynn prepares to take a sample of his marrow, he says he’s connected the dots: Black Lightning always shows up when Anissa and Jennifer are in trouble, and Lightning kicked his ass (with Black Lightning’s help) after Jennifer’s boyfriend got his spine ripped out. He makes her a promise: “After I kill Black Lightning and that lying bastard Jefferson Pierce, you and your beautiful daughters will have nothing to fear from me.”

Once Lynn has her sample, she angrily tells Odell that she wants her family protected, especially now that Tobias know their secrets. Specifically, she tells Odell to make Tobias disappear permanently once testing is done. He doesn’t agree… or disagree.

Jennifer and Brandon Heat Up
After Jennifer zaps her breakfast before she can eat it, Jefferson lectures her on how to better control her powers. She asks to take a sick day because she feels funny — her dad’s voice sounds distorted and her vision is hazy — but he sends her to school anyway.

While in class learning about coding, Jennifer gets a surge. She asks Brandon for his jacket to cover it up, but she continues to surge and even cuts out the power in the computer lab. Once Garfield High students learn of Tavon’s death, they approach the ASA guards, chanting their classmate’s name. Jefferson intervenes and gets beaten up by the officers. When Jennifer goes to help, Brandon grabs her and absorbs the energy from her power surge! (Is he also a meta?) A confused Jennifer then gets into Odell’s car, as he says that he will reprimand the guards who assaulted her dad. Odell then apparently gives Jennifer the guards’ location, where she busts in with fire in her eyes.

Welcome to the Resistance!
At a press conference, Chief Henderson is promptly booed by the crowd who see him as a sellout. 2 Bits throws food at him (was that a tomato?), and Reverend Holt chastises him.

Henderson visits 2 Bits at his bar, where he threatens the patrons with a phony ASA threat. With the place cleared out, Henderson tells 2 Bits he knows that he’s been stealing ASA supplies and selling them at a markup. He then arrests the man for assaulting an officer (even though the tomato missed). Henderson pays a visit to Reverend Holt next, following up on leads regarding Blackbird. The reverend plays dumb… until Henderson breaks out the handcuffs.

Henderson later takes Reverend Holt and 2 Bits to a location, where he says that Tavon’s death and the video of Jefferson being assaulted by ASA guards are the spark needed to encourage Freeland citizens to rise up. It’s time to join forces to run the ASA out of town and reclaim their freedom! It turns out, the police chief isn’t a sellout, but instead has been secretly leading the resistance against the ASA all along!

What did you think of Chapter Five’s many reveals?

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