Black Lightning deals in raw emotions, making it stand out from other super hero shows

Black Lightning gets to the heart of what it means to have powers, especially when you don’t want them.

When superheroes get super powers, we generally see the stages they go through. Surprise. Disbelief. Acceptance. Saving the world.

In Black Lightning, we witnessed that path with Anissa when she discovered her powers. But when Jennifer realized she had powers, it went differently, and her reaction was so real and heartbreaking.

Jennifer is a teen in high school who knows all about metahumans. She lives in a world where they exist including in her own town. But Jennifer just wants to be a high school teenager worrying about colleges, meeting boys and hanging out with her friends. She has no idea how her powers will change and what they even mean, and that fear of the unknown – because no one knows anything about her powers – terrifies her. She’s not in disbelief; Jennifer has accepted she has powers. She just doesn’t want them.

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In last Thursday’s episode, The Book of Little Black Lies, Jennifer and Lynn’s conversation about her new found powers was probably one of the most impactful ones of the season – and Black Lightning has had its share of meaningful conversations.

First, the bond between mother and daughter is very real. They can talk to each other and be honest with each other even when they knew the truth would hurt.

Jennifer asked her mother if Jeff being Black Lightning is the reason her parents divorced and Lynn had to tell her yes.

That answer exploded every future Jennifer had pictured for herself. Even with how much Jeff and Lynn love each other, if they couldn’t make it work because one of them had powers, then how is Jennifer supposed to make it?

While being in love isn’t end game, getting married and having a family is very important to many people, and for Jennifer it is. On the flip side, Anissa isn’t focused on that right now and wants to help her father raise up Freeland to a great place free of the crime and drugs that are part of the current community.

Second, Jennifer’s question to Lynn asking if she could even have kids hit them both hard because they don’t know the answer. While kids are not part of her present, they are still part of Jennifer’s future dreams.

It’s heartbreaking for any parent to their kid they don’t know if they will be able to live a normal life they imagined for themselves.

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It’s actually these types of questions and conversations we don’t often see in origin stories that sets Black Lightning apart from other super hero shows and movies currently out there.

Time till tell if Jennifer will embrace her powers. They only showed up when she thought her friend’s life was in trouble. They may only manifest when she is scared or she perceives a threat.

Either way, Lynn and Jeff have a lot to work through while they deal with their children having super powers.

Tune into Black Lightning on CW on Thursdays at 9/8c.