Jefferson Pierce quotes from Black Lightning

Jefferson

That box, you gave your mother, the box my father's research. Where'd you get it?

Anissa

I got it from your father's editor, David Poe.

Jefferson

Why?

Anissa

Dad, when I first got my powers I didn't know what was going on with me. So I started doing some digging on the internet and I saw that grandpa was doing research on missing kids and enhanced abilities. So, I reached out to his editor and he gave me what he had. I did what I could, but it was so over my head that I had to give it to mom.

Jefferson

It was selfish and reckless to give that box to your mother without giving her all the details. Your grandfather was murdered. You don't think he was researching anything else that may have been dangerous?

Anissa

So you think the box was the reason for the break-in?

Jefferson

I don't know, but if there's a chance that it is, you have to warn David Poe. No powers, just you!

Jefferson

I came as soon as you called. What is it? You okay?

Lynn

Remember when Anissa was 10-months-old and she kept trying to walk?

Jefferson

Yeah, of course I remember. She'd fall, then she'd cry, she'd fall, and then she'd cry. She did it over and over again. A week later she was walking.

Lynn

Ever since the day she was born, she's been stubborn. She never stops. She will keep falling until she walks. You have to help her, Jefferson.

Jefferson

Are you kidding?

Lynn

Eventually she will go back out there, whether we like it or not. And if she doesn't have someone to look after her, she will get hurt, or worse. Training her is the right thing to do.

Jefferson

Okay, what happened to "powers are the drug that destroys lives, and I'm an addict"? Do you want that for Anissa? To destroy her life?

Lynn

I'm not talking about destroying her life. I'm asking you to protect it.

Jefferson

Freeze.

Anissa

[surprised] Freeze?

Jefferson

He might be racist, but he wasn't a threat. You probably broke his ankle and maybe gave him a concussion.

Anissa

The flag on the t-shirt?

Jefferson

No, I know why it happened. You looked and you assumed he was a threat. So you didn't actually see that he wasn't. [Anissa sighs and starts walks away] Look, our goal is to stop crime and violence with no harm to civilians, even if we don't appreciate their world view.

Jefferson

Woah! How much force do you need?

Anissa

Enough to get through the wall.

Jefferson

And how much is that?

Anissa

I don't know.

Jefferson

Tap it with your finger.

Anissa

[Taps the wall with her finger and makes fractures] Okay, clearly that wasn't it.

Jefferson

Then whatever you think.

Anissa

[Blasts through the wall with her palm] Okay, maybe I could've used a little less.

Jefferson

You think?

Anissa

Let's go Dad.

Jefferson

Wait, when you power up, are you susceptible to radiation?

Anissa

I don't know.

Jefferson

Chemicals?

Anissa

I don't know.

Jefferson

Okay, what about water? Are you like a witch? Do you sink or can you swim?

Anissa

I don't know!

Jefferson

You don't know a lot.

Anissa

Okay, I've finally realized the most important part of a stakeout.

Jefferson

Go to the bathroom first?

Anissa

That would've helped a lot more than all of your "you're gonna die" talk.

Henderson

I got some vacation days stored up. I'll use them to do some investigating. Just do me one favor.

Jefferson

And what's that?

Henderson

If I end up dead, in some alley somewhere, and they say I was dirty, make sure my wife and my family know the truth.

Jefferson

I'm not gonna let that happen.

Jefferson

I'll never let anything happen to those girls. You know that, right?

Lynn

Is that a promise you can really make?

Jefferson

You know I will lay down my life for them, for all three of you.

Lynn

You really think the thought of you having to lay your life down makes me feel any better?

Jefferson

I wish I knew what he was saying.

Anissa

No, no, I've got it. He says "something's wrong, I can't reset it, move the lab tonight, get the last batch out." C'mon, we gotta go, let's go follow him.

Jefferson

How the hell did you hear that?

Anissa

I didn't. So a bunch of us took a lip-reading class so we could know what the police were saying in the homicidal protest.

Jefferson

You know you're not bad at this?

Anissa

Really?

Jefferson

Don't get a big head. I said "not bad".

Jefferson

Thirty years ago, Gambi worked for a clandestine government agency, called the A.S.A.

Anissa

With that secret room of his, it had to be something like that.

Jefferson

And after all the political uprisings around the country, the A.S.A. put Gambi here, to report on their illegal experiment that was supposed to make black folks in neighborhoods like Freeland, docile, so they could control them. They put something in the water supply and in the vaccines.

Anissa

And they called us paranoid.

Jefferson

But the vaccines inadvertently gave a few kids powers. Gambi reported kids who displayed abilities, and those kids were kidnapped.

Anissa

Look, Dad, I know. He told me. And he also told me that he was extremely naive. He thought he was being a good soldier, but when he realized what was actually happening, he leveraged his knowledge of the program to make them stop.

Jefferson

So that makes everything he did okay?

Anissa

No, it doesn't make it okay, but Dad, he saved you and he's protected you all those years. He cares! C'mon, you know he does. And he did everything he could to make things right.

Jefferson

Yeah, well there are some things you can't make right.

Jefferson

Anissa told me what happened. Are you okay?

Jennifer

Yeah. [pause] No.

Jefferson

Look, I promise you, you will be, okay? You will live the life that you want to live. Not the one Anissa, or me, or... or your mother, or anyone else wants you to live. The life you want. But you have to learn to control your powers. Someone could get hurt.

Jennifer

I didn't ask for this.

Jefferson

I know. Believe me, I know. But you still have to deal with it.

Where's everyone else at?

Jefferson

Behind that preposition.

What?

Jefferson

Look, it is bad English to end a sentence with a preposition.

Oh. Where's everyone else at, bruh?

Anissa

So, he says the A.S.A. is gonna be looking to kill us.

Jefferson

They are.

Anissa

So then, I don't know, shouldn't we all just get along?

Jefferson

Can we all just get along.

Anissa

What?

Jefferson

Rodney King asked "can we all get along". It's an existential question, rather than a directive.

Anissa

Okay, so can we?

Jefferson

I don't know.

Jefferson

Deputy Chief Cayman, I would be happy to follow you to the police station to straighten out whatever misunderstanding there seems to be.

We're almost done.

Jefferson

Look, if you could tell me what you're looking for...

We found Green Lightning in your car.

Jefferson

What? No, that's impossible!

[finds a packet of Green Lightning] Oh! You got that Green Light, cuz?

Jefferson

That is not mine.

Mr. Pierce, you're under arrest. Turn around, put your hands behind your back.

Jefferson

This is ridiculous!

Are you resisting?

Jefferson

You can't come in here and– [Glennon pulls out his pistol and after a pause Jefferson raises his hands] I am not resisting, I am complying. [an officer handcuffs him]

Jefferson

I don't know how things are gonna be, moving forward.

Gambi

I don't expect you to forgive me.

Jefferson

Well, I might not be able to. But I still can't forget what you've done for me, for my family. I want to find a new balance, somehow.

Gambi

Okay. Just let me know what you need from me.

Jefferson

I need you to help me save those children.