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Following a critically acclaimed debut season, Black Lightning is set to return for Season 2.
Episodes of the new season will air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, starting with the premiere on October 9. If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch a live stream of the show (or watch it on-demand, or DVR it) on your computer, phone or streaming device via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 50-plus live TV channels, including the CW (available live in select markets, which you can find here). You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the show on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” comes with both its extensive on-demand library (which has most shows available after they air) and 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
The CW (available live in select markets, which you can find here) is one of 85 channels included in the main Fubo bundle. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the show on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of Cloud DVR (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours), as well as a “72-Hour Lookback” feature, which allows you to watch most shows up to three days after they air even if you forgot to record them.
DirecTV Now offers four different channel packages, all of which include the CW (available live in select markets, which you can find here). You can sign up for a free trial right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the show on your computer via the DirecTV Now website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the DirecTV Now app.
If you can’t watch live, DirecTV Now includes cloud DVR, although it is in the Beta stage.
Preview
Much like the other DC shows on The CW (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow), Black Lightning enjoyed a successful first season, earning an impressive 96 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Of the 48 reviews from critics, 47 of them were positive.
Still, while it’s similar in the fact that the first season garnered praise, Black Lightning, which isn’t part of the “Arrowverse,” was also able to create its own identity separate of those previous CW superhero shows.
“Black Lightning has set up an intriguing premise that’s been pushed along by a cast of well-defined characters,” wrote The Atlantic’s Pilot Viruet. “And it’s already managed to distinguish itself not only from the Arrowverse, but also from Marvel’s Luke Cage, the series that’s usually mentioned in the same breath.”
That review came following just the second episode, but the show continued to receive acclaim during its 13-episode first season, which concluded last April with “Shadow of Death: The Book of War.”
The second season, meanwhile, will pick up immediately following the conclusion of the first. The season premiere is titled “The Book of Consequences: Chapter One: Rise of the Green Light Babies.”
“The things that happened in season one, we in a sense wake up [in season two] and try to proceed as normal, and are confronted with all the consequences and all the things that have changed,” said Cress Williams, who plays Jefferson Pierce aka Black Lightning. “So there’s a lot of repercussions to come.”
Salim Akil, the showrunner and the writer and director of the season two premiere, gave a hint of a potential theme during the season:
One of the biggest stereotypes that is out there is that all white people are rich and doing great. This season, what we want to show is that it’s one of the [most] hurtful stereotypes… aside from the stereotypes of African-Americans and Latinos, that is one of the worst stereotypes, because what it tends to do is divide us.
“If we could find those common grounds and see that we’re all suffering and dealing with the same (expletive): crack, opioids, ‘I need a better job’, ‘I need a better school and better education’… so going into this new season, we’re gonna debunk that stereotype.
It’s unclear how many episodes will be in Season 2, but it’s expected to again be shorter than the 23 the other “Arrowverse” shows typically have.