WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for "The Book of Occupation: Chapter Five," the latest episode of Black Lightning.
It took three seasons, but Tobias Whale has finally figured out that Jefferson Pierce and Black Lightning are one and the same.
The revelation came in "The Book of Occupation: Chapter Five," the fifth episode of Season 3. Coincidentally, it also happens while Tobias is a patient of Dr. Lynn Stewart at the ASA's Pit facility.
Earlier in the episode, viewers find out that Tobias Whale is Patient 49, the key to stabilizing the meta gene. Lynn administers the MB4 serum to Tobias, which gives him augmented strength and eternal youth, thereby saving his life. Without the serum, Tobias' body was beginning to revert to its natural age, leading to withdrawal and slow death. Now, he is back to his healthy state and ready to reveal how he pieced together Black Lightning's secret identity.
While waiting for Lynn to extract a sample of his bone marrow, Tobias opens up on how he got himself trapped in The Pit. And each time he comes back to Black Lightning conveniently appearing every time Lynn's daughters, Anissa and Jennifer, are in danger. "Once is chance. Second time is a coincidence. But a third, now that's a pattern," he says.
He then recalls how a young girl with firecracker powers "lit his ass up" after Jennifer's boyfriend, Khalil, had his spine ripped out of his body. Tobias even asks Lynn what her super suit looks like. He is a pretty smart guy and has worked his way up the criminal food chain of Freeland, so it was only a matter of time before he connected the dots tying Jefferson Pierce to Black Lightning.
However, Tobias is a fair man and promises Lynn that after he kills Jefferson/Black Lightning, he'll spare Lynn and her daughters. Lynn responds by driving the bone marrow needle into Tobias' hip without any anesthesia. For the most part, she keeps her cool around Tobias, but when Lynn is alone with Agent Odell she demands that he make Tobias disappear -- permanently.
This is all leading to a showdown between Black Lightning and Tobias Whale. The latter murdered Jefferson's father when he was a kid, and Jefferson is the reason Tobias was finally captured and detained by the ASA. They are headed on a collision course, but could the duo find themselves reluctantly working together to kick the ASA out of Freeland? If so, they would be free to continue their blood feud undeterred. With the ASA putting Freeland on lockdown and the Resistance preparing to strike back, Black Lightning may see the secret agency as the real enemy.
Airing Mondays at 9 pm ET on The CW, Black Lightning stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning, China Anne McClain as Jennifer Pierce, Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce/Thunder, Christine Adams as Lynn Stewart, Marvin "Krondon" Jones III as Tobias Whale, Damon Gupton as Billy Henderson and James Remar as Peter Gambi.