Sweet Christmas, he’s back! Yes, “Sweet
Christmas” is his catchphrase, and the fact that Mike Colter can say that and
still be awesome speaks volumes about this series and this character. He’s big,
powerful, largely invulnerable, and got his own series. Let’s get to it.
So, how’s Luke been faring since he
and Jessica’s… break up? I suppose they weren’t really dating, but they did end
up breaking a LOT of stuff. So yeah, break up. Well, he’s gone from being the
owner of his own bar to sweeping up hair at a barber and washing dishes at a
club. So… not great. He is hit on by an attractive single mother, but is…
conflicted about seeking out relationships. Partially because of his dearly
departed ex-wife, and partially because the last woman he saw socially put a shotgun
to his chin and pulled the trigger. He’s bullet proof and under mind-control,
he’s fine. He seems to have a strong bond with the owner of the barber shop, a
kindly old man named Pops. Pops encourages Luke to keep moving forward, and not
dwell in the past. He also likes giving Luke nicknames, like Power Man.
 |
| He's coming at ya, with a fist! |
After closing up at the barbershop,
Luke spots one of the local kids, goes by Chico, with a gun acting all shifty.
Luke halfheartedly tries to stop him, but decides to stay out of it. He moves
onto his night job at the local club Harlem’s Paradise, where he’s bumped up
from dishwasher to bartender because another local kid, Dante, called in sick. We’re
then given our first look at our villain for the series, Cornell “Cottonmouth”
Stokes. Cottonmouth runs the club, like Luke he’s an ex-con but unlike Luke he
seems to revel in breaking the law. He’s joined in his private box by Harlem
Council Woman Mariah Dillard, his cousin, and local gang leader Domingo.
Cottonmouth is looking to offload some high quality Hammer Tech guns on
Domingo, with the proceeds going to Mariah’s plans for Harlem. What a neat little
system, too bad it doesn’t work out.
The gun deal is interrupted by
three kids, Dante and Chico and their ringleader Shameek. I think I spelt that
right… They kill both Cottonmouth and Domingo’s goons, and steal the million
dollars that was about to change hands. Dante gets cold feet about the whole
thing, prompting Shameek to kill him. Greedy punk only wanted to split the
million 50/50 anyway. Back with Luke, he’s doing a decent job as a bartender,
and a slightly better job hitting on a pretty woman at the bar. Unfortunately,
he’s pulled away. A coworker was asked to bring a few bottles of champagne to
Cottonmouth’s box, and quite frankly she’s uncomfortable being up there alone.
So the titans meet. Cottonmouth is impressed with Luke, and offers the big man
a “better” job that involves firearms. Luke isn’t interested, and leaves them
to their premature celebration. A few minutes later, Dane, with his last few
breaths, calls Cottonmouth’s #2 Tone and tells him what went down. Cottonmouth
is not pleased. 1. Because the sour deal messes up his and Mariah’s plans, and
2. It’s going to put him in hot water with the guy that supplied the guns, an
arms dealer named Diamondback. More snakes, hooray.
 |
| Not sure why, but I can really believe this guy as being untouchable. |
Luke meets up with the bar woman,
they hit it off, and enjoy a “private” evening together. The next day, Luke’s
date, detective Misty Knight, looks into the shooting, while Luke goes to work.
Pops tells Luke about his method for saving kids. His barbershop is considered
neutral ground in Harlem and he uses that to give kids a place to work and hang
out away from all the bad business outside. He’s a good guy. Around the same
time, Cottonmouth meets up with an old associate, Shades. He works for
Diamondback and is going to be looking after things until things stabilize.
Cottonmouth is less then pleased with the subtle takeover. Cottonmouth puts a
hit out on these two. Chico is in the wind, but Shameek is pretty easy to find.
Dude was spending a good chunk of his ill-gotten gains at a “gentlemen’s” club.
Why do they call them that when the least gentlemanly things go down there?
While Luke is working at Harlem’s
Paradise, he sees Shameek being brought in, and recognizes Shades from his
stint in prison. He keeps his head down, and the idiot that wears sunglasses at
night doesn’t notice him. Cottonmouth tortures Shameek for Chico’s locataion,
but goes berserker nuts after the punk spits on him. The next day, Misty and
her team find what’s left of him. Kid’s face looks like he’s been hit by a
truck. Later that night, Luke’s landlords are being shaken down by thugs. Luke
steps in, and wipes the floor with them. After things settle down, the landlords
want to hire Luke to look after their place. He turns down the money, but
promises that he’s got their back.
An explosive start to Luke’s solo
run. I have to say that I liked Mike Colter as Luke Cage in the Jessica Jones series last year, but I
love this man in Luke Cage. Unlike in
the last show, where he’s trying to keep his head down and largely succeeding,
we’re really seeing him step up as a hero now that he’s back home in Harlem. He’s
got a great cast with Simone Missick as Misty Knight and Frankie Faison as the
fatherly Henry “Pops” Hunter.
But what’s a hero without his
villain? Nothing much. And Cottonmouth is a great baddy. Mahershala Ali is great
as the at times suave, other times ruthless club owner. There’s a great bit in
the scene where he’s beating on Shameek where he explains why he loves a portrait
of Biggie Smalls that he has in his office. Because everybody wants to be the
king. He and his corrupt counterpart
Mariah Dillard (Alfre Woodard) are a great dastardly duo. They’re like Wilson
Fisk broken into two parts, with Cottonmouth as the upfront criminal, and
Mariah as the underhanded public person.
The series has a real… jazzy vibe
to it. I love the look, love the feel, love the music, love just about
everything about it. And it only gets better from here. Next time, part 2, it
hits the fan. Not the actual title, but pretty much the best summary I can
think of.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Cage_(TV_series)#/media/File:Luke_Cage_Netflix.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Mike_Colter_as_Luke_Cage.jpg
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