In a TV show where there's plenty at stake, no one can get by on their own. Every character needs one or two reliable friends. But the friendships don't always end up benefiting the parties involved. Such scenarios can be seen in the Arrowverse's most critically-acclaimed TV show Black Lightning.
Black Lightning's character development is near-perfect, and with it, plenty of mutually beneficial as well as one-sided friendships have played out. However, even the fake friendships have been quite fascinating to follow. Here are the 5 best friendships in the show and 5 worst.
Best: Blackbird (Annisa) And Reverend Jeremiah Holt
Jefferson's daughter Annisa aka Blackbird/Thunder is one of the most exciting characters on the show. She is a member of the LGBTQ community and she's pretty badass too. Unlike her sister, she never hesitated to help her father when she discovered she had special powers too.
Reverend Holt and Blackbird have worked well together in frustrating criminal elements in Freeland which is a fictional city based on Atlanta. In the earlier seasons, Blackbird enjoyed robbing money from members of "The 100" gang and giving it to Reverend Holt so that he could help the less fortunate.
Worst: Agent Odell and Jennifer Pierce (Lightning)
Jennifer has been one of the most annoying characters in the series and for good reasons. She constantly acts like the typical rebellious teenager by frustrating her parents with every chance she gets. She even ran away from home to be with her boyfriend once. And when she discovered she had metahuman abilities, she had to be begged to make use of them.
In the third season, Jennifer ends up forming a friendship with the devious Agent Percy Odell when her parents are in the ASA holding facility. He constantly manipulates her into doing dirty deeds for him including attacking a Markovian facility. She even rats out rebellious soldiers to Odell.
Best: Jefferson Pierce And Detective Bill Henderson
Jefferson's relationship with Bill is like that of Bruce Wayne and Commissioner Gordon. The two always get along and even when they have a disagreement, Bill normally forgets about it. Despite being Jefferson's friend for a long time, he was not aware that he was Black Lightning.
When he found out, he was upset, not because his friend was a superhero but because he didn't trust him enough to tell him. Still, Bill keeps the secret. The detective is always more than glad to let Black Lightning offer some much-needed help in fighting Freeland's hardcore criminals.
Worst: Tobias And Todd Green
Well, this friendship ended with one person killing the other, so yeah... quite unfortunate. In Season 2, Episode 9, Tobias reached out to a young tech genius named Todd Green and convinced him to work for him. Todd had been constantly overlooked so he was more than glad to work for Tobias.
The two formed what looked like a great friendship, with Tobias constantly appreciating Todd's efforts. However, the friendship lasted only a few episodes. In typical bad-guy fashion, Tobias had a bomb wired to Todd's car in an effort to tie up all loose ends.
Best: Kiesha And Jennifer Pierce
Just like their fathers Bill and Jefferson, Kiesha and Jennifer are great friends. The two met at Garfield High School. It is Kiesha who challenged Jennifer to get out of her comfort zone and this influenced her decision to begin using her powers.
Kiesha is also the only person who Jennifer confided too about her obsession with Khalil. Jennifer was also more than glad to help her with her campaign when she was running for treasurer. And when the police searched Jefferson's car, Kiesha was quick to let Jennifer know.
Worst: Lala And Lady Eve
Lala started out as the man in charge of the Seahorse Motel. the location that 'The 100' used for their sex trafficking activities. After repeatedly failing to kill Black Lightning, he was murdered by Tobias inside a jail cell. Luckily for him, Lady Eve used her magic dust to bring him back to life.
Despite the fact that Lady Eve created the "E pluribus unm" programming phrase that was used to revive him, Lala is unappreciative and this leads to a rivalry between the two. However, Eve still manages to control him using the phrase in the third season.
Best: T.C And Jefferson's Family
T.C was introduced in the third season as a metahuman who possesses technopathic abilities. He went on to offer the Jefferson family and their associates more help than they ever imagined. T.C. assisted Gambi and Thunder in letting the outside world know about the evil things that were happening in Freeland.
Most importantly, he built a firewall that trapped the Painkiller programming that had placed inside Khalil. This enabled Khalil to regain control of his mind and body. And during the tense Markovian invasion, he worked with Gambi and Black Lightning to rescue Jennifer.
Worst: Dr. Lynn And Dr. Jace
While in captivity in Markovia, Dr. Lynn and Dr. Jace had a short-lived friendship after having a catfight. Jace won over Lynn's trust and convinced her to open up to her. Lynn ended up telling Jace that she was addicted to Green Light. However, Lynn was unaware that Jace was giving information Mosin.
While the two were working at the ASA facility, Jace also did her best to ruing Lynn's work despite making it seem like she really cared about Lynn. By the end of the third season, Jace's devious ways catch up with her and she ends up getting killed by Commander Williams.
Best: Jefferson Pierce And Gambi
No friendship in Black Lightning tops that of Jefferson Pierce and Gambi. When Jefferson had retired, it was Gambi who convinced him to become Black Lightning again and save the people of Freeland. Gambi is also the brains behind Jefferson's cool suit and those of his daughters as well.
As a former member of the A.S.A, Gambi knows how to deal with metahumans so he is always aware of the best ways to keep Jefferson out of danger. He also has all the cool gadgets that aid Jefferson in his crime-saving missions. Without him, Jefferson would be nowhere near the great hero that he is.
Worst: Mosin And Instant
Colonel Yuri Mosin was also introduced in the third season. In his fight against Agent Odell, Mosin hired Instant, a metahuman with the ability to teleport. The two got along well, with Instant even extracting Dr. Jace from a jail cell as per Mosin's order.
Instant later sneaked Mosin into Freeland to obtain some crucial A.S.A. information. This led to a shootout with Odell and his men but before Mosin could kill Odell, Instant teleported him back to Markovia. Mosin wasn't pleased with Instant's actions so Instant abandoned him. The absence of Instant made Mosin vulnerable and hr eventually got killed by Gravedigger.