Christine Adams made a name for herself among fans of genre TV for great performances in series like Terra Nova and Doctor Who, but it is on The CW’s Black Lightning where she truly shines. Her character of Lynn Michaels, ex-wife of the title character’s alter ego Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), has to deal with a super ex-husband and now two thunder and lightning-charged kids, with younger daughter Jennifer now exhibiting changes beyond her control. If that’s not enough, Lynn has “the Green Light babies” to contend with.
With the direction taken by Black Lightning showrunner Salim Akil and the show’s writing staff, Lynn has become one of the most fascinating women of The CW’s superhero TV series… though she’s not perfect. She’s real. And there’s a lot for her to deal with in Season 2, which airs Tuesday nights on the network.
We spoke with Christine Adams in the Pierce family living room earlier this month for some insights as to what is going on for Lynn — starting with the moment in the season premiere where Jennifer accidentally hurt Lynn.
“It’s that sort of sudden realization of, first of all, this is real, and she does have that power. Because obviously, we hadn’t really seen it. The end of Season 1, we saw how it all went down, but it was such a crazy blaze, but I think in that moment, in the context of sitting at the table having a conversation and then suddenly realizing that your daughter has this power and she has the power to hurt you, and other people, and anyone else, and ultimately lead to her own demise… the whole thing about this season, for Lynn, is that there are going to be so many triggers,” Adams recalled.
“It’s going to be so confusing, because ultimately she wants to keep her family safe, right, but also, there’s this scientific part of it, like ‘what’s happening?’ Then she’s all got this sense of wanting to keep this family together, but they’ve all just done something that they’re never going to be recovered from. So in a very short space of time, [things] are happening. So it is very, very challenging for Lynn, and she’s not going to be able to handle it. It’s just going to be layer upon layer upon layer,” Adams enthused.
Jennifer starting to show powers is a whole thing, especially since the Pierce family still hasn’t dealt with the other time this has happened in the family. “They haven’t really dealt with the fact that Anissa had powers,” she continued. “Because of everything else, it was basically kind of shoved to one side. That, she can control, but she’s going to go in a certain direction.”
In a non-super-powered way, Season 2 will also find Jefferson seeking a direction as he is no longer the principal at Garfield High.
“That’s really just going to destroy him. He’s not going to have that influence in those kids’ lives. It’s just a lot. And I think as capable as Lynn is, she can’t handle this, and I think that’s real. It would be kind of annoying if she’s all ‘I’ve got this. Don’t worry.’ She doesn’t,” Adams admits.
You can see video as well as a clip from tonight’s episode below. Black Lightning airs Tuesdays at 9PM ET/PT on The CW.
