Spoiler warning for anyone who hasn't yet watched the latest episode of Black Lightning, titled "LaWanda: The Book of Hope."
Black Lightning's series premiere introduced the multi-layered menace of big bad Tobias Whale, and it took him zero time to prove himself an unpredictable foe. In "LaWanda: The Book of Hope," it looked like William Catlett's second banana Lala was going to take the villainous spotlight away, but the episode ended with Lala's quick-but-brutal death by strangulation. CinemaBlend spoke with star Marvin "Krondon" Jones III at Black Lightning's world premiere for DC in D.C. 2018, and when I asked about what that shocking murder means for the future, here's what he told me.
I think it changes the dynamic a lot. One, you have to keep watching to see what happens, because it's really interesting. I just think [Lala] and I had a really, really [close relationship]. Whether you or the viewers saw it that way, our relationship is a close one. And that took a lot out of Tobias to do that, and it's going to give -- down the line -- it's going to add to the domino effect of everything.
Considering the circumstances in which Lala's death went down, I would definitely assume that some pretty heavy dominos are going to fall, and that Tobias Whale might be taking a hit from some of them. Lala was tasked with squashing the belief that Black Lightning was back and ready to keep Freeland's streets safe, and he didn't exactly get that done, though he unwittingly came close to making Jefferson out himself as the electricity-spewing vigilante. In any case, the one thing that Lala did do was justify everyone's worry that LaWanda was sealing her fate by taking videos of The One Hundred's goings-on. Not realizing that LaWanda was using multiple recording devices, Lala shot her in cold blood and was later arrested for his shortsighted actions.
It'd have been one thing if Tobias would have caught up with Lala on the street or in his headquarters before choking him to death, but he did it inside one of the Freeland jail's holding cells. Even though Tobias' connections are such that he was allowed to go in and kill a dude, could Lala's death actually go uninvestigated to the point where no one asks any questions? This sounds like a job for Inspector Henderson, right?
Tobias will be one enforcer down in the near future, which means he's lost a connection to the more street-level gang members. He does have a few other dapper-looking folks to follow him around, but they don't exactly scream "hood." The not-always-reliable IMDb notes William Catlett's name as part of six total Black Lightning episodes, which had me cautiously optimistic that we might get to see Lala in the future, so I asked Marvin "Krondon" Jones III if that might happen. Understandably, he was a little cagey about it.
I don't know. I would hope so. I loved working with the guy, William Catlett, who plays Lala. He's amazing, he's an amazing actor. So yeah, I hope so, you know. I hope so. You gotta keep watching to see.
And keep watching, we will! Get ready for more hardcore superheroism in the near future, because Black Lightning airs Tuesday nights on The CW at 9:00 p.m. ET. Head to our 2018 Superhero TV schedule to catch up with all the latest dates, and then check out our midseason premiere schedule for everything both powered and non-powered.
