Showrunner Salim Akil reveals what he would’ve liked to explore in a fifth season.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the series finale ofBlack Lightning.
Black Lightningended its run with a major death and a surprising return.
Christopher Ammanuel Darby and Laura Kariuki on ‘Black Lightning’.The CW
It turns out JJ was a spirit who lived in the ionosphere and resented Jennifer leaching power from it.
Thankfully, Jen put an end to that tonight.
As the finale concluded, everyone gathered at Anissa and Grace’s apartment.
James Remar and Christine Adams on ‘Black Lightning’.The CW
Jefferson announced he and Lynn were getting remarried (about time!)
In other words, all’s well that ends well.
(Note: This interview was conducted before it was announced that the CW wasn’tmoving forward with thePainkillerspin-off.)
Cress Williams on ‘Black Lightning’.The CW
SALIM AKIL:It kind of was a discovery.
I had an idea of how I wanted to end the series in a season 5.
COVID really hit us hard.
I’m really, really proud of this season.
But to answer your question, the ending actually developed as we went along.
The JJ twist and China’s return in the finale definitely came as a surprise.
What inspired the idea that JJ was actually this spirit that was in the ionosphere?
Just the idea of other realms.
The idea there’s the Akashic realm, the spiritual realm.
If you keep going up there and borrowing energy, how would someone feel about that?
And she was nice enough to come and she was just a joy to work with.
How did it feel to finally stage their long-awaited battle?
I think it’s very satisfying.
Did you have a favorite beat or moment in the fight?
I also like the moment when he’s impaled and we then get to see how old he is.
I didn’t expect Jefferson to actually kill Tobias.
His daughters, everyone has been telling him that this is the only way this is going to end.
Did you feel that was more satisfying than Jefferson simply throwing Tobias in a dark hole somewhere?
Oh yeah, you gotta kill Tobias.
Jefferson came out of retirement at the start of the show and he finally retires in the finale.
Why did that feel like the right ending?
They’re very, very capable.
You have thisPainkiller spin-off in development.
To me, it was something totally different from Freeland.
But also, I wanted to examine what young people’s issues are.
In this regard, I really tried to talk about the duality of the African American male.
So really, you just want to be whole.
What does him forgetting the Pierces open up for you on the show?
Really, it’s a metaphor for moving forward.
So it’s a metaphor for moving on and how painful sometimes moving on is.
Well, I hope they liked the music.
We got very American music in the show, and I really wanted to explore that.
I think that’s what set us apart from a lot of other shows.
When there was violence committed on our show, we didn’t just walk over it.
People were affected by it.
And I really wanted people to see that Freeland is Oakland, Freeland is Richmond, Freeland is Minneapolis.
I really was trying to shine a light on that.
So, I really feel like I’ve added something to the culture.
I’m glad people really embraced it the way that they did.
You mentioned how you originally had a plan the show with a fifth season.
Is there a story line you didn’t get to tell becauseBlack Lightningended earlier?
That was the only thing I think I will miss not being able to do.
I feel very blessed in terms of the things I did get to do.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
