The super-powered apple doesn't appear to fall very far from the metaphorical tree on Black Lightning.
We've known since the premiere that Anissa (Nafessa Williams) had inherited whatever mutant gene gave Jefferson (Cress Williams) his power of controlling lightning, but so far we've only ever seen her use her extreme strength on inanimate objects. In tonight's episode, we saw Anissa use her powers on people for the first time, and the results were kind of frightening.
After witnessing several of her students being approached by drug dealers, Anissa decided to put the fear of God in those boys by rolling up in a hoodie and laying a beatdown on them. The only problem with rushing headfirst into vigilantism? You don't have a lot of time to ponder the consequences of your actions. Anissa ended up seriously injuring the drug dealers, and she even had to call an ambulance for them after realizing what she'd done.
It looks like she's really going to struggle with how to be a vigilante and whether or not that's ultimately a good or bad thing for the community. The struggle is real.
You know who could definitely help her answer those questions? Her dad, Black Lightning! Unfortunately, this is one secret Anissa won't be ponying up to her parents right away.
Black Lightning's Nafessa Williams on Playing a Black, Lesbian Superhero
"For a while it's something she keeps to herself, and that's where the struggle lies," Nafessa Williams says of this new secret. "She's not sure who to tell, not even sure what's really happening and how to explain it without sounding crazy. There is a moment where you will see her having that intimate talk with her parents -- the 'reveal' if you will... It's a beautiful moment, for sure."
As far as what her parents' reactions will be, we'll have to wait and see, but we did get a small peek at Jefferson's perspective in this episode.
During their family and friends dinner, a discussion about Black Lightning naturally came up, with Anissa rushing to defend his involvement in fighting crime. Though Lynn (Christine Adams) tried her best to argue that Black Lightning was recklessly endangering himself, Anissa argued that his family should be proud of the lives he's saving.
Meanwhile, Jefferson tried to not look like the cat that ate the canary while his daughter unknowingly went to bat for him. Whether his reaction will be the same when he finds out about her powers (and eventually Jennifer's too) is another matter though.
"It's a combination of pride and fear. Obviously, they're his offspring so he's kind of proud," Cress Williams says. "But there's a lot of fear involved because of what can happen if they go down the road that he went down. But I will say that a lot of things transpire before that happens so that when it happens, it's a little different than if it had happened right after Episode 2. It's still messy, I'll put it that way, but for the whole family it's different because we've been on a journey, so it's not black and white."
Black Lightning airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
Nafessa Williams, Black Lightning" data-image-credit="Carin Baer, Carin Baer/The CW" data-image-alt-text="Nafessa Williams, Black Lightning" data-image-credit-url="" data-image-target-url="" data-image-title="Nafessa Williams, Black Lightning" data-image-filename="180124-nafessa-williams-black-lightning.jpg" data-image-date-created="2018/01/25" data-image-crop="" data-image-crop-gravity="" data-image-aspect-ratio="" data-image-height="1380" data-image-width="2070" data-image-do-not-crop="" data-image-do-not-resize="" data-image-watermark="" data-lightbox="">Other Links From TVGuide.com Black Lightning