List of Black Lightning episodes

Black Lightning is an American superhero television drama series, developed by Salim Akil, that premiered on The CW on January 16, 2018. It is based on the character of the same name, created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden, featured in publications of DC Comics. Cress Williams stars as the titular character alongside China Anne McClain, Nafessa Williams, Christine Adams, Marvin Jones III, Damon Gupton, James Remar, and Jordan Calloway. The series sees the retired Black Lightning return to his life as a superhero and follows the effects of his vigilante activity on his professional and family life.

During the course of the series, 58 episodes of Black Lightning aired over four seasons, between January 16, 2018, and May 24, 2021.

Series overview

Black Lightning series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released		Rank	Average viewers (in millions)
			First released	Last released
1	13		January 16, 2018 (2018-01-16)	April 17, 2018 (2018-04-17)	160	2.73[1]
2	16		October 9, 2018 (2018-10-09)	March 18, 2019 (2019-03-18)	179	1.44[2]
3	16		October 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)	March 9, 2020 (2020-03-09)	130	1.09[3]
4	13		February 8, 2021 (2021-02-08)	May 24, 2021 (2021-05-24)	151	0.74[4]

Episodes

Season 1 (2018)

Main article: Black Lightning (season 1)

Black Lightning, season 1 episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	1	"The Resurrection"	Salim Akil	Salim Akil	January 16, 2018 (2018-01-16)	2.31[5]
2	2	"Lawanda: The Book of Hope"	Oz Scott	Salim Akil	January 23, 2018 (2018-01-23)	1.94[6]
3	3	"Lawanda: The Book of Burial"	Mark Tonderai	Jan Nash	January 30, 2018 (2018-01-30)	2.21[7]
4	4	"Black Jesus"	Michael Schultz	Pat Charles	February 6, 2018 (2018-02-06)	1.88[8]
5	5	"And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light"	Rose Troche	Adam Giaudrone	February 13, 2018 (2018-02-13)	1.81[9]
6	6	"Three Sevens: The Book of Thunder"	Benny Boom	Charles Holland	February 27, 2018 (2018-02-27)	1.64[10]
7	7	"Equinox: The Book of Fate"	Bille Woodruff	Lamont Magee	March 6, 2018 (2018-03-06)	1.46[11]
8	8	"The Book of Revelations"	Tanya Hamilton	Jan Nash	March 13, 2018 (2018-03-13)	1.45[12]
9	9	"The Book of Little Black Lies"	Tawnia McKiernan	Keli Goff	March 20, 2018 (2018-03-20)	1.55[13]
10	10	"Sins of the Father: The Book of Redemption"	Eric Laneuville	Pat Charles	March 27, 2018 (2018-03-27)	1.55[14]
11	11	"Black Jesus: The Book of Crucifixion"	Michael Schultz	Melora Rivera	April 3, 2018 (2018-04-03)	1.50[15]
12	12	"The Resurrection and the Light: The Book of Pain"	Oz Scott	Jan Nash & Adam Giaudrone	April 10, 2018 (2018-04-10)	1.54[16]
13	13	"Shadow of Death: The Book of War"	Salim Akil	Charles D. Holland	April 17, 2018 (2018-04-17)	1.68[17]

Season 2 (2018–19)

Main article: Black Lightning (season 2)

Black Lightning, season 2 episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	U.S. viewers (millions)
14	1	"The Book of Consequences: Chapter One: Rise of the Green Light Babies"	Salim Akil	Salim Akil	October 9, 2018 (2018-10-09)	1.16[18]
15	2	"The Book of Consequences: Chapter Two: Black Jesus Blues"	Oz Scott	Charles D. Holland	October 16, 2018 (2018-10-16)	1.02[19]
16	3	"The Book of Consequences: Chapter Three: Master Lowry"	Rose Troche	Jan Nash	October 23, 2018 (2018-10-23)	1.18[20]
17	4	"The Book of Consequences: Chapter Four: Translucent Freak"	Salli Richardson-Whitfield	Adam Giaudrone	October 30, 2018 (2018-10-30)	0.97[21]
18	5	"The Book of Blood: Chapter One: Requiem"	Michael Schultz	Lamont Magee	November 13, 2018 (2018-11-13)	0.90[22]
19	6	"The Book of Blood: Chapter Two: The Perdi"	Oz Scott	Pat Charles	November 20, 2018 (2018-11-20)	0.99[23]
20	7	"The Book of Blood: Chapter Three: The Sange"	Eric Laneuville	Keli Goff	November 27, 2018 (2018-11-27)	1.06[24]
21	8	"The Book of Rebellion: Chapter One: Exodus"	Tawnia McKiernan	Jake Waller	December 4, 2018 (2018-12-04)	0.96[25]
22	9	"The Book of Rebellion: Chapter Two: Gift of the Magi"	Benny Boom	Adam Giaudrone	December 11, 2018 (2018-12-11)	1.13[26]
23	10	"The Book of Rebellion: Chapter Three: Angelitos Negros"	Salim Akil	Jan Nash & J. Allen Brown	January 21, 2019 (2019-01-21)	0.86[27]
24	11	"The Book of Secrets: Chapter One: Prodigal Son"	Rob Hardy	Pat Charles	January 28, 2019 (2019-01-28)	0.93[28]
25	12	"The Book of Secrets: Chapter Two: Just and Unjust"	Jeff Byrd	Charles D. Holland	February 4, 2019 (2019-02-04)	0.95[29]
26	13	"The Book of Secrets: Chapter Three: Pillar of Fire"	Robert Townsend	Lamont Magee	February 11, 2019 (2019-02-11)	0.94[30]
27	14	"The Book of Secrets: Chapter Four: Original Sin"	Oz Scott	Pat Charles & Keli Goff	March 4, 2019 (2019-03-04)	0.77[31]
28	15	"The Book of the Apocalypse: Chapter One: The Alpha"	Salim Akil	Jan Nash	March 11, 2019 (2019-03-11)	0.75[32]
29	16	"The Book of the Apocalypse: Chapter Two: The Omega"	Salim Akil	Charles D. Holland	March 18, 2019 (2019-03-18)	0.85[33]

Season 3 (2019–20)

Main article: Black Lightning (season 3)

Black Lightning, season 3 episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	U.S. viewers (millions)
30	1	"The Book of Occupation: Chapter One: Birth of Blackbird"	Salim Akil	Salim Akil	October 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)	0.89[34]
31	2	"The Book of Occupation: Chapter Two: Maryam's Tasbih"	Oz Scott	Charles D. Holland	October 14, 2019 (2019-10-14)	0.63[35]
32	3	"The Book of Occupation: Chapter Three: Agent Odell's Pipe-Dream"	Benny Boom	Pat Charles	October 21, 2019 (2019-10-21)	0.61[36]
33	4	"The Book of Occupation: Chapter Four: Lynn's Ouroboros"	Mary Lou Belli	Adam Giaudrone	October 28, 2019 (2019-10-28)	0.52[37]
34	5	"The Book of Occupation: Chapter Five: Requiem for Tavon"	Robert Townsend	Brusta Brown & John Mitchell Todd	November 11, 2019 (2019-11-11)	0.71[38]
35	6	"The Book of Resistance: Chapter One: Knocking on Heaven's Door"	Jeff Byrd	Lamont Magee	November 18, 2019 (2019-11-18)	0.62[39]
36	7	"The Book of Resistance: Chapter Two: Henderson's Opus"	Oz Scott	Lynelle White	November 25, 2019 (2019-11-25)	0.65[40]
37	8	"The Book of Resistance: Chapter Three: The Battle of Franklin Terrace"	Neema Barnette	Jake Waller	December 2, 2019 (2019-12-02)	0.60[41]
38	9	"The Book of Resistance: Chapter Four: Earth Crisis"[a]	Tasha Smith	Lamont Magee	December 9, 2019 (2019-12-09)	0.90[43]
39	10	"The Book of Markovia: Chapter One: Blessings and Curses Reborn"	Eric Laneuville	J. Allen Brown	January 20, 2020 (2020-01-20)	0.54[44]
40	11	"The Book of Markovia: Chapter Two: Lynn's Addiction"	Michael Schultz	André Edmonds	January 27, 2020 (2020-01-27)	0.66[45]
41	12	"The Book of Markovia: Chapter Three: Motherless ID"	Bille Woodruff	Adam Giaudrone & Lynelle White	February 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)	0.72[46]
42	13	"The Book of Markovia: Chapter Four: Grab the Strap"	Salim Akil	Charles D. Holland & Asheleigh O. Conley	February 10, 2020 (2020-02-10)	0.65[47]
43	14	"The Book of War: Chapter One: Homecoming"	Benny Boom	Brusta Brown & John Mitchell Todd	February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)	0.64[48]
44	15	"The Book of War: Chapter Two: Freedom Ain't Free"	Oz Scott	Pat Charles	March 2, 2020 (2020-03-02)	0.62[49]
45	16	"The Book of War: Chapter Three: Liberation"	Salim Akil	Charles D. Holland	March 9, 2020 (2020-03-09)	0.55[50]

Season 4 (2021)

Main article: Black Lightning (season 4)

Black Lightning, season 4 episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	U.S. viewers (millions)
46	1	"The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter One: Collateral Damage"	Salim Akil	Salim Akil	February 8, 2021 (2021-02-08)	0.52[51]
47	2	"The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Two: Unacceptable Losses"	Bille Woodruff	Charles D. Holland	February 15, 2021 (2021-02-15)	0.44[52]
48	3	"The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Three: Despite All My Rage..."	Salim Akil	Brusta Brown & John Mitchell Todd	February 22, 2021 (2021-02-22)	0.37[53]
49	4	"The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter Four: A Light in the Darkness"	Mary Lou Belli	Lamont Magee	March 1, 2021 (2021-03-01)	0.41[54]
50	5	"The Book of Ruin: Chapter One: Picking Up the Pieces"	Bille Woodruff	Adam Giaudrone	March 8, 2021 (2021-03-08)	0.46[55]
51	6	"The Book of Ruin: Chapter Two: Theseus's Ship"	Mary Lou Belli	Jake Waller	March 15, 2021 (2021-03-15)	0.48[56]
52	7	"Painkiller"	Bille Woodruff	Salim Akil	April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12)	0.39[57]
53	8	"The Book of Ruin: Chapter Three: Things Fall Apart"	Bille Woodruff	André Edmonds	April 19, 2021 (2021-04-19)	0.42[58]
54	9	"The Book of Ruin: Chapter Four: Lyding"	Keesha Sharp	J. Allen Brown	April 26, 2021 (2021-04-26)	0.32[59]
55	10	"The Book of Reunification: Chapter One: Revelations"	Benny Boom	Jamila Daniel	May 3, 2021 (2021-05-03)	0.32[60]
56	11	"The Book of Reunification: Chapter Two: Trial and Errors"	Bille Woodruff	Asheleigh O. Conley	May 10, 2021 (2021-05-10)	0.30[61]
57	12	"The Book of Resurrection: Chapter One: Crossroads"	Benny Boom	Brusta Brown & John Mitchell Todd	May 17, 2021 (2021-05-17)	0.36[62]
58	13	"The Book of Resurrection: Chapter Two: Closure"	Salim Akil	Charles D. Holland	May 24, 2021 (2021-05-24)	0.50[63]

Ratings

Black Lightning : U.S. viewers per episode (millions)

Season		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	1	2.31	1.94	2.21	1.88	1.81	1.64	1.46	1.45	1.55	1.55	1.50	1.54	1.68	–
	2	1.16	1.02	1.18	0.97	0.90	0.99	1.06	0.96	1.13	0.86	0.93	0.94	0.94	0.77	0.75	0.85
	3	0.89	0.63	0.61	0.52	0.71	0.62	0.65	0.60	0.90	0.54	0.66	0.72	0.65	0.64	0.62	0.55
	4	0.52	0.44	0.37	0.41	0.46	0.48	0.39	0.42	0.32	0.32	0.30	0.36	0.50	–

Audience measurement performed by Nielsen Media Research^[64]

Notes

1. The episode was originally titled "The Book of Resistance: Chapter Four: Third Stone From the Sun".^[42]