Although the show appeals to younger kids, there are many laugh-out-loud moments courtesy of the lines delivered by the actors. This is a hero to unequivocally root for. Your family will love this hilarious mockumentary of elementary school kids who establish their own detective agency and solve mysteries in their school and neighborhood. The story of a vigilante-turned-principal looking to get back into the game because of drug violence on his streets is a refreshing one, and helped keep Black Lightning grounded and relevant throughout its run. The first season also made a lot of smart choices about when to introduce the powers of characters other than Jefferson Pierce (a charming Cress Williams), and also didn’t feel the need to dispatch of its Big Bad by the season’s end (though it did take care of a host of more minor villains throughout).
But the series also might be the superhero genre’s most intelligent it knows what it wants to say about race and politics without ever being preachy. The CW’s dynamic series is laudable for a number of reasons, the most obvious one being that it focuses on a black family, and the second most obvious one being that its lead character isn’t a teenager. Just when I was starting to think we had reached peak superhero fatigue, Black Lightning hit the scene and shook things up.
