I haven’t watched Luke Cage all the way to the end, but I
have noticed a pattern of how the episode go. They show a scene from the end of
the episode at the beginning. Not the first show I’ve seen do this, but worth noting
I think.
The episode opens to Luke with a
gun to the back of his head. The young punk holding the firearm calls Luke the
N word, which sets him off a little. “Young man, I’ve had a long day. I’m
tired. But I’m not tired enough to never let nobody call me that word.” Really
like that opening few lines and the longer speech that follows. Despite the grammatical
errors. We then jump back and over, to Misty Knight figuring out the shooting.
She mentally replays what she thinks happened, which is pretty darn accurate.
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| Tony Stark and Hank Pym really need to figure out those unstable molecule costumes. For Luke's clothing budget's sake. |
We then jump over to Luke at the
barbershop. He learns from Pops how Cottonmouth and Mariah operate. While
operating in two distinctly different circles, both use intimidation tactics to
get what they want. Their discussion is interrupted by none other than
Cottonmouth and Shades. The snake themed criminal wants a shave. While Pops
shaves Cottonmouth, Cottonmouth seems to covertly asks Pops if he knows where
Chico is. Pops plays dumb, but Cottonmouth doesn’t push the issue. Which is
smart, when a guy has a razor to your throat. After the shave, when it looks
like Cottonmouth is going to leave without paying, Luke none too subtly asks if
he should lay the smack down on them. The situation is tense, but end without
anybody getting their butts kicked. Once the baddys go, Pops begs Luke to find
Chico. Luke wants to keep out of it, but Pops calls in the favor that Luke owed
him. Payment for Pops not asking too many questions when Riva and Luke came to
Harlem. While frustrated at being forced to get involved, he starts looking.
Meanwhile, Cottonmouth drops off Shameek’s
half of their cash off with Mariah. She’s rather upset with the fact that it’s only
half of what was missing. She embezzled funds to pay for renovations to Harlem
Paradise, and needs to redeposit the entire amount to avoid suspicion. Another tense
moment, but the cousins separate before they kill each other. Back with Luke, he
finds Chico hold up in a crappy apartment. He offers to help the scared kid,
after pointing out that the guy doing this pro bono found him in 4 hours and
that Cottonmouth is going to be paying his search teams handsomely, but Chico
refuses. Because he’s stupid. Luke goes back to Pops. He’s disappointed to hear
about Chico’s choice. Pops fills Luke in on some of his past. Back in the day,
Pops was a thug. He got the nickname Pops back then, as it was the sound his
fists made when he hit folks. He ran with a young Cottonmouth, and Chico’s dad.
He was eventually locked up for ten years, and after he got out tried to make a
difference in people’s lives. He also tries to look after Chico, as his Dad got
in bad with drugs. After story time, Chico shows up, having changed his mind
about running. They just barely hide him from Misty and her partner Scarfe, who
arrive looking for info.
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| Evil rarely looks so suave. |
Pops, knowing that the cops will be
watching him for a while, asks Luke to go to Cottonmouth and ask for a parley.
His barbershop is in general considered neutral ground in Harlem, and hopes
that he can get Cottonmouth to see reason. Luke goes, and offers Cottonmouth
the deal. Cottonmouth is very hostile, but agrees. Despite all of the apparent
bad blood between them, Cottonmouth clearly still has a great deal of respect
for Pops. He also fires Luke, but Luke counters by saying he quit before
walking in. Meanwhile, one of Pops regulars sells Chico out to Cottonmouth’s
goons. Shades and Cottonmouth’s #2, Tone, go to kill Chico. Shades insist that
they wait for Chico to walk outside, but Tone is impatient. He fires a couple
of hundred rounds into the place. Luke shields the one patron, Pops is hit in
the neck and Chico is hit a few times. Luke plays dead while Shades and Tone grab
the money and run. Luke tries to save Pops, but he’s drowning in his own blood.
His last words are spent reminding Luke to move “forward, always forward.”
Shades and Tone drop the money off
with Cottonmouth. Tone, expecting to be rewarded, happily tells his boss how he
mowed down the barbershop and killed those guys that disrespected Cottonmouth.
He also uses the actual name in front of his boss, which is a no-no. He’s Mr.
Stokes when you’re in his presence. Enraged that Tone not only killed his
former friend and used the nickname that he despises, Cottonmouth tosses Tone
from the roof. We return to the opening scene, where Luke takes his anger out
on the punk’s gun. He swears to step up like Pops did, and sees Mariah walking
with Chico’s bag. He swears “Always forward, Pop,” before the credits roll.
Like his former girlfriend Jessica
Jones, Luke is very much against the idea of being a hero. Throughout the episode
he’s fighting tooth and nail to stay out of the problems that are popping up
with Harlem and Cottonmouth. But, also like Jessica, he keeps getting pulled
in. It is particularly satisfying to see him start helping people and do it
incredibly well. Again, tracked down a guy in Harlem in four hours, that’s
impressive.
I knew that Pops had a target on
his back from the get go. He’s the father figure, they almost never last to the
end of the story. That being said, I was expecting to see a little more of him
before he got the ax. Just saying. But, seeing Cottonmouth’s extreme reaction
to Pops murder does characterize this particular baddy incredibly well. He’s a
criminal, no two ways about it, but history, loyalty means a whole hell of a
lot to him. Even years later. If I had to choose the thing that Netflix has done
better than anyone else, its characterizing its villains. At least Kingpin, and
now, Cottonmouth. A hero is only as good as their villain, and those two are
given plenty of time to develop. Which is great. A great continuation to a
great series. Next time, part 3.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3322314/mediaviewer/rm4227270656
https://twitter.com/themcuexchange/status/775738048126578688
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