Black Lightning (2018–…): Season 2, Episode 11 - The Book of Secrets: Chapter One: Prodigal Son - full transcript

It's where they were giving the original
vaccinations to the kids of Freeland.

I can't pinpoint exactly where
they are, but they're here.

Khalil is a danger to you
when he's with you.

Because of Tobias?

Yes, because of Tobias.

He has to turn himself in
to the authorities.

Your father's right.

Something
went wrong with Khalil's transport.

Everybody's dead.

Khalil?

There's no sign of him.



I wanted you to
be great like Alexander.

If you can't walk
with the giants,

then you shall crawl
with the snakes!

We ask you to
come by here right now, Lord,

and put your arms around him.

Hang on, son.

He's gonna keep you.

Play one of the best new FPS shooters,
search Steam for PROJECT WARLOCK

I have some
unfortunate news to share

that I was contemplating
whether I should share it or not

because there's so much
going on in Freeland.

Khalil Payne, you remember him?

He grew up right here
in the church.

He is currently in the fight of his life.



He's fighting for his life right
over here at St. Lewis Hospital.

Brother Khalil is in a bad way.

He needs your prayers,
but God willing,

he will win the battle.

'Cause, you see,
Jesus will help him overcome.

- - Come on, somebody!
Won't he do it?

All right. Yeah.

Brother Khalil is not the only
person currently in a battle.

See, every second
of every minute of every day,

every man, woman and child
right here in Freeland

are fighting for their lives
whether they realize it or not.

Freeland is under siege

by enemy forces seen and
unseen, known and unknown!

The One
Hundred and other rival gangs

are killing each other.

The problem is the stray bullets
have been killing our children.

Mr. P?

Wait... No.

I need you to do
something for me.

Yeah, okay. Anything.

Easy. Easy.

I need Black Lightning
to kill Tobias.

I can't do that.

I... I'll give you
everything that you need...

to take down his operations.

I know his routes,
his... contacts, everything.

I won't do that.

We have to let the judicial
system handle Tobias.

The system?

You mean the system
that let Tobias

get away with shooting me
and Reverend Holt?

The same system that let him
rip my spine out of my back?

You mean the system

that let him get away
with murdering your father?

Mr. P, is that the system
that you're talking about?

Huh?

You promise me, can you
make him suffer like me?

Yes.

I'm sorry that
I wasn't there for you...

when you needed me.

You were always there...

I just couldn't see you.

Over hundreds of
years of slavery and Jim Crow laws,

the one thing we have
learned as a people

is that we cannot depend
on the Democrats,

or the Republicans,
or the Independents.

The one thing that has been
constant and consistent

during our struggle
in this country

has been God
and our black sweat,

and our hard work, and our
determination to change our condition.

We have to fight and battle
forces in our community

and outside of our communities.

We cannot depend
on Black Lightning

or Thunder
or anybody else to help us.

We, us, we have
to take back our streets,

we have to take back
our neighborhoods,

we have to take back
our communities,

we have to take back
our culture.

With God's help and our
own hands, we can do it.

No more moaning, no more tears.

We're not gonna
ask anymore for justice,

we're gonna
take our retribution.

We're not gonna
be victims anymore.

Hey, what are you doing
on my car?

Are you trying to steal it?

- What? No. No.
- You're trying to steal my car.

- Ma'am, I wasn't...
- Hello, 911?

Yes, I caught a woman
breaking into my car.

She's African-American.

She threatened me. And she's, like, 5'6".

Oh, my... Oh, my God!
What did you do?

- Me?
- Yes!

Your car got hit by lightning. You
want to call the police on God?

We cannot let this world

put out the fire
that our ancestors lit

that carried us
through the darkness.

Oh, my God.

Oh, God, my new handbag was in there.

I'm sorry, I know that's
secondary, but it was expensive.

Like, it is a brand new car.
I mean, it was a brand new car.

So, look, I'm walking out of the
hospital and the next thing I knew,

a bolt of lightning hit my car.
I could've been killed!

We've got to teach our children

not to bend or bow down!

To claim
what our ancestors left.

Teach our children
to claim their destinies

- and embrace their power...
- Jennifer.

...so that they, boldly,

can use it for the benefit
of our people.

We got a long way to go.

I said we got a long way to go!

But we've come so far.

- So far.
- Yeah.

Tell it to them.

- Nobody has given us anything.
- Nothing!

- And they're not gonna give us anything.
- No, sir.

I said every ounce of freedom
that we have, we had to take it.

So I say thank God
to Harriet Tubman!

Thank God, Fannie Lou Hamer!
Thank God, Rosa Parks!

Thank God,
Martin Luther King, Jr.

- Let me hear you say "Amen."
- Amen!

If you're with me,
let me hear you say "Amen"!

Amen!

Oh. Let the church say...
Let the church say "Amen."

- Oh, my God!
- Someone call 911.

Synced & corrected by MaxPayne
== https://subscene.com ==

Dad.

Get in.

Okay. All right,
are you ready?

I can't siphon off the electricity.
There's too much of it.

Who are you calling?

It's me!
Perenna. Open the door.

Hi, Jefferson.

You may want to let me in
before somebody sees me.

Perenna, what are you
doing here?

Hello, Jennifer.

I sensed that you might need
some help, so I stopped by.

- How are you feeling?
- Not good.

I see.

Mr. Pierce?

Jefferson? I need you to give
me and Jennifer some privacy.

No. No,
I'm not going anywhere.

Dad, I'm fine, please.

All right. I'll be
right outside the door.

Okay... let's get to work.

These Negroes would have a vigil

for an apple fallen from a tree.

Look at them. All this over a purple,
six-button-suit-wearing clown.

Ooh. Oh. Girl fight.

Rewind that.

That's Dr. Helga Jace.

Who's that?

Crazy-ass scientist.

I haven't seen her in 30 years.

She looks exactly the same.

She's supposed to be in prison.

Looks like she tried to do an
experiment on a bunch of kids.

They all lost their feet.
One died.

That's what she does.
You see that on her ankle?

Yeah, it looks like an
electronic enclosure device.

Gives you a little shock if you
try to break a preset perimeter.

Hmm. But why is she back in
Freeland working on the pod kids?

I bet if anyone knows where those four
metas at the clinic are, it's her.

Todd, you ready
to put in some work?

Oh, for sure.

Good.

Remember,
control your breathing.

Good.

Now still your mind,
your soul, still your heart.

Can you feel that?

Yeah.

How do you feel?

I feel calm.

Okay, now take control
of the power.

As you come down slowly,

pull the energy
back into yourself.

Good. You ready?

Yeah.

- Everything okay?
- Yep.

Are you sure?

Yeah. I'm going to go
spend some time with Khalil.

Okay.

What did you tell her?

What she needed to know.

Dr. Conley. How are you? Can
I speak to you for a moment?

Hello, Dr. Stewart. I'm sorry
about what happened to Khalil.

- Family friend?
- Yeah.

How can I help you?

As you know, in my research
I've been working

with the children
exposed to Green Light.

Yes.

So I have experience working
with enhanced individuals.

I thought I might be
able to offer some help.

Your work is primarily
experimental,

so I wouldn't really be able
to entertain it

as a course of treatment
for Khalil.

My work has gotten results.

It's also caused the deaths of
several of those enhanced people.

Look, Lynn, everything that
can be done is being done.

The anesthesia
Khalil's body is producing

has gone into overdrive trying
to deal with his injuries,

making it toxic.

Well, my team could
bring in some treatments

that we've developed
in our research.

Like I said,
that's not going to happen.

We can't allow experimental
procedures on our patients.

Have you tried removing the
glands that produce the toxins?

You can use a different class
of anesthesia in the operation.

We've tried that.

Well, can you
replace the implant?

We wouldn't even know how.

Whoever rebuilt his spine

has technology
that no one I know of

has in the United States
or elsewhere.

Hey, Jeff. How you doing?

I've been better.

Look, I hate to
tell you this, but, uh...

What?

Reverend Holt had a
heart attack during his sermon

in front of
his entire congregation.

What?

Wait, are you sure
it was a heart attack?

Tobias has been trying to get
Reverend Holt to sell the clinic,

but he wouldn't do it,

and Tobias is used to
getting what he wants.

That's why I'm betting he's
behind the bombing of the clinic.

- Doesn't matter without proof.
- Yeah.

If we can't use Khalil's
testimony as evidence,

maybe we can use it
as the information

to help build a case
against Tobias.

We may have something.

Hey, Bill.

I know where Tobias lives now.

Okay, but I can't go in there
without a warrant.

The last time I arrested Tobias,

he ended up having
a press conference

on the steps
of my police station...

and called me out
for false arrest.

Look, in order to catch Tobias,

we have to work together.

Isn't that what we're doing?

What?

I have...

resources that can help you.

What does that mean?

Why are we here?

Okay, look, Bill, you my boy...

and I should have told you
a long time ago

who I really am, that is on me.

But I just wanna make sure now that
there's no more secrets between us.

I'm a cop, you're a vigilante.

Are we good?

We're good.

Okay.

Oh, hell no. Really?

Oh, Jesus.

What the hell?

You got any other
dead people around here?

Lady Eve? Joey Toledo?
Jimmy Hoffa?

No, just Gambi.

Is this it, man?
Anything else?

This is everything.

Deputy Chief Henderson...

I faked my death because there were
some very serious people after me.

And I needed to smoke them out.

I asked Jefferson
to keep my secret.

Do you know
who tried to kill you?

No, sir. Not yet.

And I'm guessing you're
not really a tailor, huh?

No, I am a tailor...
That's just not all that I do.

Well, bully for you.

Y'all got all this
fancy tech down here

and the only means
of communication

you provide me with
is this cheap-ass phone?

We're old-school.

It's more like cheap school.

I, uh, had a tox screening
done on Reverend Holt's body.

He was poisoned.

But how did you even get access
to the body to get a tox screen?

It takes us weeks
to get results.

I have people,
and we don't have weeks.

Tobias is up to something much
bigger than Reverend Holt.

- He just did that for fun.
- Now we just need to prove it.

We need to get him
on more than just one murder.

Yeah, one murder
never sticks with Tobias.

I mean, he always finds a way
to bribe or intimidate the jury.

Murder a witness.

But if we can get him for
a whole bunch of murders...

A continuing
criminal enterprise.

If we can get enough evidence
that Tobias is running one,

we could turn it over
to the feds.

They'll RICO him
and put him away forever.

That is the plan.

So... you in?

What y'all got to eat down here?

Baby?

Are you okay?

Mom, all people are made up of
millions of electrical impulses.

Okay.

I can see those sparks.

What do you mean?

I mean, I can see inside people.

I didn't know you could do that.

Neither did I, but...

Baby?

On a healthy person, those impulses
pulsate at a rapid and steady pace,

but the electrical impulses
inside of Khalil

are slowing
and they're getting dimmer.

I can see him dying
and I can feel him dying.

I'm sorry.

But since those synapses
are electrical,

I was thinking maybe I could
help them along.

Help them along?

Yeah, I can control electricity.

So maybe there's a way that I could
give his synapses a jump-start.

- You know, like a car?
- I don't think that's a good idea.

Khalil is not a car,
you can't jump-start him.

What?

Mom, the pods.

We could put Khalil in a pod
in hibernation until we can...

We can figure out
how to help him.

Think about it.
Those vaccine kids,

they've survived in pods
for over 30 years.

We could do the same thing
with Khalil.

He's enhanced,
he's not a meta-human.

I couldn't survive
in one of those pods,

and I'm not sure
he could, either.

Maybe not, but we have to try.
Mom, we have to try.

Please.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Grace?

Hey!

He... Hey.

What are you doing here?

I know what it's like to be waiting
in the hospital when someone's hurt,

and I thought you could use some
greasy hamburgers and fries.

Mmm.

- Mmm, my God! They smell so good.
- It's the onions.

And the grease.

Look...

I'm not going to tell you that
everything happens for a reason,

because I don't believe that.

I came to tell you that I care,

and I'm sorry that you and your
family are going through this.

Thank you.

All right,
let's bless this food,

because I am starving.

Yeah, it's all yours.

I told you what would happen
if you came up short.

You always knew I'd rule.
Knew before I did.

But did you know I'd have to
deal with such incompetence?

Damn! They don't make these
shiftless Negroes like they used to.

A little bit of discipline
and they fall apart.

Take care of that for me.

I don't dispose of bodies.

Well, I'm expanding
your job description.

Very good work on that thing
with the reverend.

Poisoned handkerchief.
Hadn't heard that one before.

Good work on paying me on time.

Look, I know I never apologized.

You're apologizing?

I was wrong to end it that way.

It was a long time ago.
What's done is done.

Besides, what happened helped
me find my true calling.

Good.
Now get rid of that body.

Dr. Conley, I'm here to run
some tests on Khalil

to determine if he's a
candidate to be put in stasis

until we can find a way to figure
out if we can help him out.

It's illegal for you
to run any tests

or medical procedures
on a patient in our care.

This is ASA
official business now.

Also signed by Khalil's mother,

who's giving us authority
to help in his care.

I'm sorry, we will not allow
an outside entity

to perform work
on a patient in our hospital.

If you prevent her son from getting
treatments that might save his life,

I'm sure she will sue this
hospital, and I'm sure she'll win.

Then I'm sure she will take
all of that money

and sue you personally
into homelessness.

Deputy Chief Henderson. I'm always
happy to see a brother come up.

Nice digs. So this is
your secret hiding place?

No secret, Deputy Chief.

I'm just like
any other citizen of Freeland,

except wealthier.

To what do I owe this
unannounced, no-warrant visit?

Khalil Payne showed up
at St. Lewis Hospital

- with his spine ripped out.
- I heard about that.

What a shame.

Khalil should have been more
careful who he pissed off.

Word on the street is the
person he pissed off is you.

It's true, I was angry.

Angry's not the word.
Disappointed in Khalil.

I had such compassion for his
situation, a track star losing his legs.

I mean, I tried to mentor him,

but after I saw what he did
to those children at Garfield,

I cut ties with him.

I can't stand by lawlessness
and violence, Deputy Chief.

I'm sure a man like you
can understand.

When was the last time
you saw him, Tobias?

It's been a while now.

Last I heard,
Khalil tried to abscond

with a bunch of stacks
from The One Hundred.

My opinion? They probably were
making an example out of him.

You like what you see?

I need you to scan as much
of the room as possible.

Wonder how you can afford it.

It's called good
old-fashioned hard work.

Look, you can arrest me
if you want,

but we both know
how that's going to end up.

I'll lawyer up,
get released in a few hours,

then hold another
press conference about you.

Go back
to the pool cues on the wall.

And the incompetent Freeland PD.

So you need to arrest me
or get out.

- That's it.
- 'Cause I have somewhere to be.

- - Got it.
That's a safe.

I have the make and model.

We have what we need, Henderson.

You can get out of there.

I'll be seeing you again.

Aw, don't go away mad,
Deputy Chief.

Just go away.

Hello, Dr. Jace. I'm Todd.

- Who are you?
- I just told you, I'm Todd.

You told me your name,
but who are you?

I'm the person getting you a
one-night "get out of jail free" card.

I'm wearing an ankle device.

I know.

That should do it.

Please act like you're reading.

Stand up now, please.

You have got toys.

That's right, mama.

What do you want from me?

Well, it's not really
about what I want.

It's about what Tobias wants.

- Tobias Whale?
- Do you know of any other Tobiases?

Damn.

I guess orange is the new black.
Long time no see.

- And yet we both look the same.
- Indeed.

You never thanked me for
creating the anti-aging serum

- that's kept us both so young.
- True that.

Maybe that's because
when you gave me the serum,

you didn't know if it would
keep me from aging or kill me.

The day I thank
a crazy scientist

for experimenting on my ass
is the day I die.

Now, why don't you elucidate
me on what you've been up to?

Big picture and small.

I was the architect of the original
vaccine program in Freeland.

When it ended,
I went to Markovia

to create a meta program
for them.

News reports of Freeland's
Green Light epidemic

caught my eye, and I came home.

Except you came home before
that and got your ass arrested

for resuming
your same old tricks,

illegal experiments on kids.

Lie to me again and I'll rip your
tongue out with fingernail clippers.

The ASA helped me defect
a few years ago,

hoping to cripple
Markovia's meta program,

but I got in trouble,
as you've described.

Recently, I've been
brought out in ASA custody

to work with the pod kids.

But you killed somebody else
and they threw you back inside.

- Multiple somebodies, yes.
- Aw, that's a shame.

I have something that might be
of extreme value to you.

I already know there's
meta-humans in the clinic.

But no one but me
knows where they are.

You get these metas and you will have
more power than you ever imagined.

You have no idea

how much power
I've imagined having.

Well, then this is just
what you're looking for.

J...

J, I'm dying.

I can feel it.

It's okay.

The briefcase isn't there.

Yeah... makes sense

Makes sense.

I mean, with Khalil ready
to turn state's evidence.

Then the visit by Henderson?
Tobias is not stupid.

He knows he's being watched.

We tried.

Hey.

Jefferson, you need
to come back to the hospital.

I'll be right there.

I gotta go.

I'll be here.

Mom, you have gotta
get Khalil into a pod fast.

- He doesn't have much time left.
- Baby...

The toxins in Khalil's body is
stopping us from putting him under.

If we can't put him under,
we can't put him in a pod.

I'm sorry.

We can't save him.

Jennifer, sweetheart...

you should go and tell Khalil

anything that you need
to tell him...

...while you still can.

- Wait a minute.
- What's wrong?

- Where are we?
- We're at prom.

No... seriously, where are we?

J, am I dead?

No.

Not yet. Almost.

But we're in my head,
in my safe space.

How is that even possible?

I mean, it's a long
story, and we don't have time.

I wanted a little more time
with you before it was too late.

Oh.

I love you, Jen.

I love you, too, Khalil.