Black Lightning (2018) s01e02 Episode Script

[YELLS.]
[LYNN.]
You have to stop.
I can't keep letting you put yourself or me through this.
I promise, no more.
[JEFFERSON.]
It has been nine years since I've even come close to using my powers.
[GAMBI.]
Do you remember why you became Black Lightning? You wanted to give the people hope.
[ANISSA.]
Look, somebody has to do something, because all of this policing and marching and praying, it hasn't changed anything.
[GRUNTING.]
[JEFFERSON.]
It is time that people know that Black Lightning is back.
[NARRATOR.]
Previously on Black Lightning [JEFFERSON.]
Lynn and I are making room for a possibility of a reconciliation.
All you guys want me to do is go to school, run track, and "set a good example for the other girls.
" When did that become a bad thing? Don't think just 'cause I'm a little stoned that means you're gonna get some.
[LALA.]
I think your girl should start putting in some work over at the Seahorse Motel.
- I'm not afraid of The One Hundred.
- Bitch, you should be! Jeff, where are you going? To get our girls.
Bring them home.
[WILL SCREAMING.]
There's no doubt that Black Lightning is back.
- But the question is why? Why now? - [JEFFERSON GROANING.]
If Brother Lightning is back because he's committed to helping the people, - then I'm all for it.
- [CONTINUES GROANING.]
But if he's back just for some personal vendetta, I can't condone that.
Giving the people of Freeland false hope - is selfish, and it's cruel.
- [GROANING.]
The people of Freeland have been victimized.
I believe he is the answer to our prayers [CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY.]
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
[CONTINUES GROANING.]
[PANTING.]
- [ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
- [GROANING.]
[THUD.]
[JEFFERSON CONTINUES GROANING.]
Oh, Jeff.
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
I got you.
Okay? - [GRUNTING.]
- I got you.
[BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Black Lightning is getting too old for these streets.
[BOTH CHUCKLE.]
You're not lying about that.
You remember when we were young when I first saw your superpowers, I thought you were so cool.
[BOTH LAUGHING.]
That my man was a superhero.
[SIGHS AND CHUCKLES.]
Not many girls could say that.
Then the reality hit.
And what I thought was cool almost destroyed us.
[SIGHS.]
When I see you like this, I I feel really selfish.
[STAMMERS.]
Hold on.
I did this.
[STAMMERS.]
No, I know.
I feel like a hypocrite.
I told you to go get the girls.
I put you back out there Lynn, Black Lightning is not back.
The girls are safe.
I'm done.
I love you, Lynn.
I miss you.
I miss you, too.
I, um - I should go.
- Uh, wait.
Wait.
[JEFFERSON GROANS.]
I think it's important for you to be here for the girls.
So I will sleep on the couch, you take the bed.
Okay.
Good night.
Good night.
Now they running up in schools, taking girls? What they gonna do next? Start taking girls out of church? If there's a war for the streets, a war for the city, The One Hundred is winning.
[JEFFERSON.]
You know, I heard someone say that if there's a war for the streets of Freeland, The One Hundred are winning.
But here at Garfield, we are not fighting for the streets.
No, we are fighting for the minds, the hopes and the dreams of our children.
Them some real pretty words, Mr.
Pierce.
But pretty words ain't gonna stop The One Hundred.
[CROWD AGREEING.]
Dr.
King said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, - but it bends toward justice.
" And I believe - [CROWD AGREEING.]
And they shot Dr.
King in the head, Mr.
Pierce! [CROWD AGREEING.]
Well, The One Hundred got my little girl.
And the police say they can't do anything because supposedly, there ain't no evidence she's bein' held against her will.
- [WOMAN.]
That's messed up, man.
- LaWanda.
LaWanda White? Yeah, it's me, Mr.
Pierce.
It's good to see you, LaWanda.
First, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter.
I really am.
Well, maybe now since the Seahorse Motel is shut down, you can take that time to reconnect.
The Seahorse ain't shut down.
They opened back up for business the day after all this mess went down.
And they gonna stay open as long as they got those girls in there.
- [CROWD AGREEING.]
- Is that true? I'm sorry, I didn't know.
Clearly.
But, Mr.
Pierce, what I wanna know is, why Black Lightning rescued your girls and nobody else's? [CROWD AGREEING.]
I don't know, LaWanda.
When I was a student here, you used to like to use quotes to teach us.
Well, I got one.
"Unless all of us are free, none of us will be free.
" [CROWD AGREEING.]
Somebody knows who this bootleg Black Lightning is.
I want you to raise the protection amount 50% on every church and business, every crap game, massage parlor.
Even rib shack.
Squeeze these darkies till they crack.
Damn, boss.
You really do hate black people.
No, I love black people.
I hate incompetent, thick-lipped, scratch-where-it-don't-itch Negroes like you.
[GROANING.]
Y'all keep us acting like newly-freed slaves.
[LALA.]
Boss, I got a plan for that.
[GRUNTS.]
Perception and fear, Lala.
If the people of Freeland start to perceive we are no longer in control, then they won't fear us.
Maybe they'll start to think that this fool pretending to be Black Lightning will actually protect them.
And I surely can't have that.
[JEFFERSON.]
Hmm.
Yeah, I remember I'd have to tell you to let go of each other and get to class.
You were always holding hands.
Darnell was the love of my life.
When he was killed, all they did was give us a folded flag, thanked us for his service, and shot some guns over his casket.
He deserved more.
Yeah, he did.
After that, our lives just fell apart.
Shaquandalyn loved her daddy more than anything in this world.
I did everything I could to try to keep her safe, but she just got caught up in looking for her daddy in all the wrong men.
[SNIFFLING.]
What can I do to help? You can go in there and get her.
Take her out of there.
- [STUTTERS.]
I can't do that.
- Yes, you can.
You just won't.
Man, everybody knows Mr.
Pierce can do whatever he wants in Freeland.
We used to call you Black Jesus, thought you could walk on water.
- Yeah, look, LaWanda - No.
No, it's okay, Mr.
Pierce.
Everybody say they praying for me, but ain't nobody willing to fight for me.
You got your own girls to worry about, to fight for.
Well, I got to find a way to fight for mine.
[JEFFERSON.]
But in less than 48 hours, Henderson? Aw, come on, man.
You guys have to do better than that.
It's a crime scene, Jefferson.
Once we're through cleaning it up, there's nothing else we can do.
No, no, no.
My girls were kidnapped.
Kidnapped! Lala's responsible, you know this.
They gave you the statement.
Your girls say he was there.
He says he wasn't.
And he has 15 people who will swear he was at a party when all of this was taking place.
Okay, well, you can at least bring him in for pimping these girls out.
I mean, he at the Seahorse right now, being forced to turn tricks.
- Don't you think we tried that, Jefferson? - [SIGHS.]
You arrest these guys, the girls say they weren't forced to do anything.
You arrest the girls, they get out and run right back to these guys.
It's not only their bodies that are slaves to these fools, it's their minds.
Okay, what about that kid who came into school? Can you get him to flip on Lala? Yeah, maybe, if we can find him.
Wait, what? - What do you mean "if you can find him"? - [SIGHS.]
Now you telling me he just got up and walked away from a two-story fall? How did you hear about that? [STUTTERS.]
My girls.
My girls told me.
While they were transporting him to the hospital, he jumped out the ambulance, all hyped up on painkillers and adrenaline.
He ran like a jackrabbit.
My boys couldn't catch him.
You're telling me the two men responsible for kidnapping my girls - are still out there somewhere? - Not for long.
No, my girls are witnesses, Henderson.
Now, you know what that means on the streets.
I do.
I got a patrol car sitting outside your house.
The key is, we find Will, then we get Lala.
I promise.
[CLICKS TONGUE.]
Okay.
Okay.
[KHALIL.]
We're all worried about you.
You good? Yeah, I'm good.
Look, it's like Fort Knox at school.
There's security everywhere.
[SIGHS.]
When you coming back? I don't really know.
- Hey, there.
- Hey.
Look, I really want to see you.
Can I come by after? Uh, maybe tomorrow.
[CHUCKLES.]
It's a little bit crazy right now.
All right.
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING.]
Y'all want to buy some candy? Yo, I gotta go.
Yo, what you got, little man? Lala says hi! [SCREAMING AND GASPING.]
Oh, my [OFFICER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY.]
Are you okay? Are you hurt? - [ENGINE REVVING.]
- [KIDS CHEERING.]
[HIP-HOP SONG PLAYING.]
Mr.
Pierce, you came to watch the ghetto Cirque du Soleil, huh? I hired the 12 O 'Clock Boys to get the kids a little entertainment.
Man, you better stay away from my family.
- Or what? - "Or what?" You lucky it was just a water gun.
All right, look here, we had a deal.
You stay away from the school and my girls.
Things changed.
Your daughters been running their mouths to the police.
Look, Mr.
Pierce, I'm trying to be nice 'cause you was cool with me when I went to your school, but they better keep my name out of their mouths.
Matter of fact, if I was you, I'd send your daughters on a long vacation before I do.
[GRUNTING.]
- [CHUCKLES.]
- [GUNS COCKING.]
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
[GRUNTS.]
[SIGHS.]
[CONTINUES GRUNTING.]
Don't mistake my patience for weakness, boy.
"Boy"? [CACKLES.]
Hey, man, it's been a long minute since I've been a boy, man.
Hey, man, fire the bikes back up, man.
You know what it is.
[BIKES STARTING.]
They went to my house! I get it, I understand.
But if they had killed you, then where is the hope for this city? Gambi, I'm not trying to save the city.
I'm trying to protect my family.
Okay, so get back in the suit, and let's take these guys down.
Jeff, I can access any database, including Freeland PD.
Let's just see what information they have.
If we help them find Will, he'll tell them all he knows about Lala.
Then Lala is arrested, and he'll flip on whoever his boss is, and we can get closer to the source of all of this.
"The source"? Gambi, you're not hearing me.
After I take down Lala, I'm done.
[KISSING.]
[ANISSA.]
Damn, I needed that.
Mmm.
[MOANS.]
[CHUCKLES.]
[SIGHS.]
Hey, what's up? You okay? I'm fine.
Oh, believe me, I know.
You so fine, you bring sight to the blind, girl.
[BOTH CHUCKLING.]
- That was so corny.
- Whatever.
You sound like an old man at the club.
"Hey, girl, you so fine, - you bring sight to the blind, girl.
" - I did not sound like that.
[BOTH LAUGHING.]
- Yes, you did.
- [SIGHS.]
You sure you okay? I should be asking you that.
All that you've been through.
Now is not a good time.
It's never a good time.
Tell me.
[SIGHS.]
- Our sex is mind-blowing, you know that.
- Mmm.
But I need more, Anissa.
I feel like I'm just a distraction for you.
We've been dating a year and you haven't met my parents, you don't know any of my friends.
I mean, babe, you know I'm busy, between school and teaching, and trying to help organize the community I'm not asking you to give up any of that.
Well, that's what it sounds like.
Look, I'm sorry.
Like I said, now's not a good time, and you've been through a lot.
So, sorry.
It's okay.
[BOTH SIGH.]
How are you coping with all this? I don't know.
It just feels weird.
It all feels like a dream or a nightmare.
I don't know, I just want everything to be back to normal, but all this strange stuff keeps happening.
Babe, you know I broke the sink in my bathroom? You what? Yeah.
The other night.
So I get up to pee, and I have some kind of panic attack.
So, I grabbed the sink to brace myself, and it just I don't know, it just crumbled in my hands, like it was nothing.
We'll get you a good therapist.
You know my mother.
She's seen them all.
[CHUCKLES.]
No, babe, but the sink I'm just trying to Probably just some old-ass porcelain sink that was gonna break anyway.
Look, the important thing is, we find you someone that is gonna help you get through this.
It'll be okay.
Hey.
- Evening, neighbor.
- [CHUCKLES.]
You're working late.
And it don't stop.
[CHUCKLING.]
Yeah, said every hype man ever stood on a stage.
Exactly.
Besides, I was walking Monk, and he suggested we check in to make sure you guys are okay.
Yeah, well, Anissa's, uh, with her girlfriend, uh Jennifer's upstairs, asleep.
They're more resilient than I thought.
People usually are.
Oh, thanks.
[INSPECTOR HENDERSON.]
Oh, you're welcome.
Hey, uh Lynn still here? [BOTH CHUCKLE.]
Yes, Henderson, she is still here.
She's upstairs, asleep with Jennifer.
Negro, don't act all stoic on me.
- [LAUGHS.]
- I know you.
You probably in there tap-dancing, you so happy she's back.
Yeah, well, well, she's not back completely but I think we're getting close.
Yeah, I'm happy to hear that, man.
You all deserve some happiness.
And we gonna get these guys, Jefferson.
Will, Lala, we'll get 'em.
Yeah, I know.
Oh, by the way, you might wanna talk to your girl LaWanda.
She posted herself up outside the Seahorse with a camera, recording johns - and taking down license plate numbers.
- [SIGHS.]
I tried to talk to her, but she just called me an Uncle Tom and walked away.
She gonna get herself killed.
What are you gonna do about it? There's nothing I can do.
She got rights.
Come on, boy.
[MUSIC PLAYING ON SPEAKERS.]
[SINGING ALONG.]
[MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING.]
[MUFFLED WHIMPERING.]
This is why I don't like hiring family.
They never appreciate nothing you try and do for 'em.
You got me in a world of confusion, cuzo.
- But at the end of the day - [GUN COCKS.]
[MUFFLED GRUNTING.]
I'll straighten it out.
[LALA HUMMING.]
[CONTINUES SINGING ALONG.]
Thanks for getting the word out.
- Sure.
Okay, you're welcome.
- [JEFFERSON.]
LaWanda.
- [SIGHS.]
LaWanda, you gotta stop this.
- No, I don't.
[SIGHS.]
This is suicide.
Now, as soon as all these reporters leave, when this story gets old, The One Hundred will kill you.
Would you die for your daughters, Mr.
Pierce? Would you just walk away if Black Lightning hadn't saved 'em? Huh? That's what I thought.
[STAMMERS.]
LaWanda, no, don't do this.
Okay? Forty-eight hours.
- [SIGHS.]
- Just give me 48 hours.
I promise you, I will get your daughter back.
I have connections at the police department.
No.
Didn't you hear me? They ain't trying to listen! No, they will listen to me, I promise.
We will find a way.
But none of that is gonna matter if your daughter comes home safe and her mother's dead.
I love my daughter, Mr.
Pierce.
She's all I got.
I know how you feel.
Believe me.
So, let me help you.
Okay.
I'll stop.
[SIGHS.]
But I ain't leaving.
I'll just sit in my car.
I ain't taking my eyes off this place, just in case they try to take her somewhere I can't find her.
Okay, fair enough.
Thank you.
And I promise you, I won't let you down.
[SIGHS.]
Thank you.
[SOBBING.]
Ooh.
I'm sorry.
Damn.
[GRUNTS.]
- Well, it is good to see you, girl.
- [CHUCKLES.]
- It's good to see you, too.
- [CHUCKLES.]
Thanks for coming.
Aight, so so Black Lightning, huh? I mean, you saw Black Lightning? Girl, that Yo, that is pretty cool.
Yeah.
I was kind of scared because when you try and look at his face, it hurts.
I don't know, it's like looking into a spotlight.
There's something that's out of focus.
J Look, when all this went down, I realized something.
What's that? [STUTTERS.]
I mean, you know that we've been friends for a long time.
And, uh [CLICKS TONGUE.]
[STAMMERS.]
Thought I'd maybe I've been wanting to ask you to be my girl.
And, you know, I realized [SIGHS.]
That if they had killed you, I mean, I never would've had the chance and Well, now I'm doing it.
[STUTTERS.]
Do you, maybe, wanna You want to be my girlfriend? [CHUCKLES.]
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Yeah.
Cool.
I'd like that.
All right.
Cool.
Thanks.
Uh Well, look, I kinda got you something.
It's not fancy, but I saw it and thought about you, so [GRUNTS.]
That looks good on you.
Thank you.
[BOTH CHUCKLE.]
Oh.
Hey.
I didn't hear you come in.
- Huh.
- You want me to make you something to eat? No, no, I'm fine.
Thank you.
So, uh, how are the girls? Good.
Jennifer is on the roof in her favorite place with Khalil.
- So, she's happy.
- Mmm.
And Anissa's still at her girlfriend's house.
And I can never remember that girl's name.
- Cheena, I think.
- [BOTH LAUGHING.]
What? Nothing like that.
No.
Well, it feels good to have you here.
It feels good to be here.
Yeah.
[BOTH.]
Mmm.
That feels good.
Well, there's one, uh, fact that I lean on.
Yeah? That I love you and those girls more than anything in the world.
I need to take things slow, Jeff.
As a neuroscientist, I know everything there is to know about the brain, but not so much about the heart.
Oh, that's a smooth line, lady.
Yeah.
[BOTH LAUGHING.]
Sorry, Mr.
Pierce.
Lala.
You better take that camera out of my face.
LaWanda, take your ass home now.
I'm not playing no games with you.
- I want my daughter.
- Hey! I want my daughter.
No, get your hands off me! [GUNSHOTS.]
Man! Come on, babe.
I ain't got time for this, man.
[PHONE RINGING.]
Hey, man, what's up? [INSPECTOR HENDERSON.]
Jeff, um [CLEARS THROAT.]
I didn't want you to hear it on the news.
LaWanda's dead.
I just got the call a few minutes ago.
Sorry, man.
[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER.]
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
[MALE REPORTER.]
A local woman was found dead [JEFFERSON.]
What good did it do, Lynn? She was my student.
[SCOFFS.]
I had a fantasy that when they leave me, their lives are better.
[STUTTERS.]
That they could transcend this neighborhood, this city, world.
Yeah, I saved more lives as the principal of Garfield High than I ever did as Black Lightning.
- It's true.
- It's a lie! - LaWanda is dead.
- She is.
I know.
I know.
And it hurts, and I understand.
I feel it, too But I could have saved her.
I could save so many.
I've been living a lie.
[STUTTERING.]
Living in the hopes that you and me and the girls could somehow live behind a white picket fence, a normal life! I'm not normal.
Never have been.
Never will be.
Jeff, listen to me.
This is the addiction talking [STUTTERS.]
What? There is no damn addiction! [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
[STUTTERS.]
Do you remember what you said when we discovered my powers? You said it was a gift.
A blessing from God.
It's still a gift.
It's still a blessing from God.
And I intend to use it.
Not just for the girls, but for all the other people out there who need me.
Jefferson, please, we are so close to putting the pieces of our lives back together.
[LYNN SIGHS.]
Yeah, we are.
Maybe.
No more maybes for me, Lynn.
It is time that people know that Black Lightning is back.
- [SCHOOL BELL RINGS.]
- Morning.
Welcome back.
I mean, let's be honest, you never kept your eyes off this place, but just making it official.
[SIGHS.]
Thank you.
- [SIGHS.]
How are the girls holding up? - As best they can.
Yeah, I think getting back into the school routine will help.
Mmm.
How are you holding up? I'm good.
Look, I see you keeping everything and everyone together.
I just hope someone is doing the same for you.
I mean, if you need to talk or whatever, I'm here.
- Thank you, Kara.
I appreciate it.
- [CELL PHONE BUZZING.]
Yeah.
- Hey.
- [GAMBI.]
Good news.
I found Will.
Bad news, he's dead.
I got here before the police, and whoever killed him didn't take his cell phone.
Mobile phones are the enemy of bad guys.
When are they gonna learn? Lala's still out there on the loose, and he's getting desperate, Gambi.
He killed LaWanda.
He's gonna come after my girls next if we don't get to him first.
We will.
[JENNIFER AND KIESHA LAUGHING.]
- Give me some more.
Give me some more.
- Okay, okay, okay.
Hey, YOLO.
It's the truth, you only live once.
Yeah, 'cause one minute your ass can be here, everything's cool, and then the next minute, your ass is kidnapped.
Yeah, but they should have different terms for it.
I'm not a kid anymore.
They should call it teen-napped.
- And Anissa would be adult-napped.
- [STUTTERS.]
Okay, did they hit you hard in the head or something, - because you tripping a little bit.
- [BOTH LAUGHING.]
You trippin'.
- Really? - Yeah, you need some more of that.
No.
Right.
[EXCLAIMING.]
- It's strong, it's good.
- [CHUCKLES.]
[KHALIL PANTING.]
Hi.
Oh, what you doing here? YOLO.
What? You only live once.
[PANTING.]
What, so you drinking now? At school? It's not cool, J.
Khalil, calm down.
I just wanted to ask you something.
Look, I'm not gonna calm down.
[SIGHS.]
Look, you saw and went through some craziness.
I get it.
But that is not the way to deal with it.
[PANTING.]
I've seen it all, J.
My brother shot and killed, father in jail, Mama working her damn ass off just to provide.
Yeah, I live the life that rappers talk about, and ain't none of it cute.
None of it.
But you know what? God gave me a gift.
I can run fast.
So I'm gonna run my black ass straight up out of here, and I ain't looking back.
But I want you to come with me, but not like this.
No, that is going backwards and I can't do that.
I just see the world completely different now.
Oh, I got you.
- [SIGHS.]
- Really, I do.
It's just growing up.
Come here, J.
[KHALIL SIGHS.]
I forgot how warm and beautiful this place is.
You know how this ends, right? The same way it always ends for everyone, Lynn.
None of us get out of here alive.
- He was happy.
- But what kind of happy? Happy like a lion in a cage? King of the zoo, not of the jungle? Happy like a man who was at peace just being Jefferson Pierce.
But he isn't just Jefferson Pierce, he is so much more than that.
And you know that better than anyone.
I do, and that's why I want you to stop him before he gets addicted again.
We have a difference of opinion on that.
I don't believe Jefferson was ever addicted to his powers.
He was in a war to save this city and its people, and he was winning.
Then he suddenly stopped because he was addicted to you.
And now look at the condition of this city and its people.
It's it's complete chaos.
- Sounds like you're blaming me for the chaos.
- A little.
Just like you blame me, then and now.
But ultimately, it is Jefferson's choice what he does with his powers.
[SIGHS.]
[DOOR CHIMES.]
[CELL PHONE BUZZING.]
Hey.
[GAMBI.]
Will's phone had Lala's address on it.
I ve got him on my GPS.
[WOMAN.]
Ooh, he is fine.
Black Lightning, my man.
- Lala, what floor? - Penthouse.
Thanks, bro.
- [ELECTRICITY CRACKLING.]
- [MEN GROANING.]
I got you.
No.
I'm gonna take the stairs.
[GROANS.]
I'm just getting back into this.
A brother needs all the exercise he can get.
[GUNSHOTS.]
[MEN GRUNTING.]
[MAN GRUNTING.]
[BLACK LIGHTNING GRUNTING.]
Stop! Put your hands high above your head! [DISPATCHER SPEAKING OVER RADIO.]
It's been a while, Inspector.
[INHALES DEEPLY.]
I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, so I'll make it plain.
LaWanda is telling her story from the dead, buddy.
Her cell phone was recording, so we got you on tape shooting her.
Your boy is flipping on you.
How you think we found you? Mmm-hmm.
Your world is falling apart, Lala.
[JEFFERSON SIGHS.]
It's over.
The girls are safe.
And the Seahorse has been shut down.
And Black Lightning? [SIGHS.]
Look, things are different now.
The girls are older.
Maybe we can find a way to live with it.
[SIGHS.]
[CASH REGISTER DINGS.]
[MUFFLED.]
On the counter! Hurry! Come on! Come on, hurry up! Put it on the counter! Come on, hurry! Hurry up! On the ground, bitch! You stay! You keep doing what you were doing.
I said on the ground.
Are you deaf, bitch? - Okay.
[GASPING.]
- I will shoot you! [GRUNTING.]
Get down! [GASPING.]
[MAN GRUNTS.]
[BOTH PANTING.]
[JEFFERSON.]
Yeah, we were close, Lynn.
What's up? Have fun.
Lala.
You shot somebody's mama? Any man that'd do that has no morals.
- No principles to live by.
- [GROANING.]
Which means there's nothing you are not capable of, including becoming a rat.
[CHOKING.]