The Resurrection and the Light: The Book of Pain

"The Resurrection and the Light: The Book of Pain" is the twelfth episode of the first season of Black Lightning. It is the twelfth episode overall.^[1]

Synopsis[]

RETURN OF THE WHALE – Tobias returns to Freeland. He is tasked to capture – not kill – Black Lightning with the help of an unexpected source. After a battle of epic proportions, Anissa and Jennifer provide surprising aid.^[2]

Plot[]

SPOILERS AHEAD

At his place, Tobias is looking at his injuries in the mirror. In another scene, he's walking with Syonide to meet with Martin Proctor. Martin asks how he is doing and mentions Black Lightning attacks. He says that Tobias is special to them, especially since Lady Eve is dead. Martin begins to talk about the creation of the metahumans 30 years ago. He explains how some of the subjects died before being operational. Tobias notes that's when they created Green Light. Martin tells Tobias to bring Black Lightning in alive, as he wants him for research. He summons Khalil, who is now walking, to help Tobias.

At their hideout, Lynn calls Jefferson under the false pretense that she needs his help. When he arrives, Jefferson is greeted by Lynn in a nightgown, who says there was a spider and starts laughing. They begin to make out and proceed to sleep together. In bed, Jefferson asks what happened to her. Lynn tells her that she started to think about everything that has happened, and it made her feel closer to him than ever. Lynn tells him that she loves him, and he says it back. However, Lynn tells him they shouldn't tell the girls, as she wants to be sure before they give them the news. They agree to keep it a secret.

Back at his place, Tobias greets Dwayne and thanks him for saving his life. Tobias scolds him for leaving his sister and leaving her to die. Dwayne tries to reason, but Tobias throws him to the ground and Syonide shoots him in the chest.

While driving, Jefferson is driving until he notices Khalil walking. He takes notice of Khalil's new look for a second, but congratulates him. He asks if Khalil will come back to school, but Khalil says he will not. Skeptical, Jefferson asks what kind of procedure he had that allowed him to begin walking again and said he feared he might be getting taken advantage of. Khalil gets upset and tells him to stop acting like a father figure that cares about him, because he doesn't. Khalil says that once he wasn't able to walk, Jefferson didn't care about him and even prevented his daughter from seeing him.

At Gambi's, Jefferson tells Gambi about Khalil's predicament. Anissa comes in saying she found something from the newspaper archives. Jefferson says that 43 children are missing. Gambi says he has to go and notes that Proctor will be watching the both of them.

Jefferson is at Khalil's apartment. He greets his mother and asks where Khalil is. She tells him that he's in California, but Jefferson says that he saw him this morning, which shocks her. Jefferson comes in and asks what happened. She tells him that Khalil was chosen as a patient for a procedure by Martin Proctor.

Across town, Gambi is waiting for Tommy. He tells Tommy that he won't kill him, but he will put a target on his back. Tommy tells him that he doesn't know the weapon that killed Lady Eve. Gambi says that he wants Proctor and gives him 48 hours.

In Jennifer's room, Jefferson tells her about seeing Khalil. Jennifer says she needs to call him, but Jefferson tells her to stay away. Jefferson tells Jennifer that Khalil is different and is involved with the same people who want to capture her. Jefferson leaves just as Jennifer tells him that she can't wait for Lynn to isolate her metagene. After he leaves, Jennifer receives a text from Khalil and goes to see him. Jefferson goes to confront Lynn about what she said to Jennifer. He argues with Lynn that she is trying to change Jennifer from what she is. Before leaving, he says that it was a good thing they didn't tell Anissa and Jennifer about getting back together.

At Jefferson's home, Jennifer comes in and goes upstairs to meet Khalil on the roof. She hugs and congratulates him for his ability to walk again. Khalil apologizes for the way he treated her. He shows her his altered spine. They begin to talk about his treatment. She asks about his hair and he tells her that they gave him pills. Jennifer asks how he was picked for the treatment, but Khalil gets angry. He accuses her of acting like Jefferson. He says he doesn't need her and she tries to stop him from leaving, but he jumps off the roof which shocks her.

At Tobias', Khalil asks why he has to go back to Garfield. Tobias explains it's to lure Black Lightning into the opening. He also lets Khalil know that he was alerted of Khalil trying to get back with Jennifer. Tobias says that if Khalil messes up, he'll "rip that spinal implant out and shove it down your throat".

Somewhere else, Lala is talking to two of his goons.
At their hideout, Jennifer and Lynn are talking. Lynn asks if she told Jefferson about the treatment she's developing. Jennifer ignores her and tells her to cut her a slice of cake.

Meanwhile at Gambi's,

Over at Garfield, Khalil is causing chaos and breaks into the building. Black Lightning and Thunder appear to stop the madness, which is what Tobias wanted. Kara Fowdy notices Black Lightning but focuses on evacuating her students. While walking through the hallways, Thunder sees Syonide in one of the classrooms. She walks into the class with a confused look. Syonide aims two guns at Thunder and tells all of the students in the class to leave. Syonide attempts to shoot Thunder several times, but to no avail. Thunder uses her powers and stomps the floor, causing Syonide to fall and get cut. She gets up and tries to fight Thunder with her weapons, but Thunder breaks them, so Syonide starts fighting her with her bare hands. Jennifer sees the two fighting outside and tries to reignite her powers, but fails.

Black Lightning walks down the hallways and eventually reaches Tobias Whale. Although Black Lightning tries to use his powers to injure Tobias, he's completely uninjured, much to Gambi's surprise. On his screen, he zooms into Tobias' body and notices an "unidentified resistant material". Gambi alerts Black Lightning that Tobias seems to be wearing an undersuit of some sort. Tobias tells him to fight like a man and not a lightning bug, but Gambi advises him not to. However, he charges at Tobias, who does the same, and they begin to fight. Although Black Lightning begins to win the fight, Khalil shows up and shoots Black Lightning with some sort of needle. Tobias checks his pulse and he has none. Tobias gets angry at Khalil for killing him since Proctor wanted them to bring him in alive. Tobias begins to take off his mask, but Thunder intervenes by using her powers to get them away from him. Syonide tries shooting her but again, fails.

Khalil, Tobias and Syonide leave and Thunder tries to wake up Black Lightning, but he seems to be dead. Jennifer comes and attempts to help but both of them start to panic. Jennifer places her hands on Black Lightning's chest and unintentionally releases her powers, shocking Black Lightning. Gambi instructs Thunder to tell Jennifer to do it again, and she does, waking Black Lightning up.

Gambi, Lynn, Thunder and Jennifer take Black Lightning to some sort of cabin. While there, Gambi tells Jennifer to smash the phones Gambi gave her, as the ASA can track them with the phones. Gambi says he's going to cloak the cabin against all surveillance and says they're save as long as they stay inside.

Kara Fowdy lets Proctor know that students claimed Black Lightning was dead, which angers him. Proctor tells Kara to find Black Lightning's body and to bring him Thunder, dead or alive. He tells Kara the experiment cannot fail.

In the last scene, Lala speaks to Tobias. Although he pulls a gun out on Tobias, Syonide pulls a gun out on him. Tobias thanks him.