Viewer Log: Luke Cage ep 4

Ya’ll ready for an origin story told in flashbacks? Doesn’t matter if you are, because that’s what we’re getting. Don’t worry, Netflix does these kind of stories very, very well. Much like with Jessica Jones origin episode, this story is two in one. One telling what Luke is currently up to, and the other describing how he got into the accident that gave him superpowers. Let’s get to it.

The present story can be summed up in about a sentence. Luke and his Landlady, Connie, are buried under rubble and he’s got to dig them out. Short, sweet and to the point. Oh, and Misty Knight is trying to prove that Cottonmouth did it, while Scrafe does his best to keep her from finding definitive proof. Important? Yes, but not super interesting. The really interesting stuff lies in Mr. Cage’s passed.

Yeah, no one is taking him seriously in that tiara.

A few years back, Luke Cage was doing time in the Georgia prison of Seagate. Oh, and his name wasn’t Luke Cage. He was former Officer Carl Lucas, imprisoned for a crime that he claims to have not committed. He gets on the bad side of several guards, particularly Sgt. Albert Rackham. Rackham beats Luke… er Carl, when he gets a little lippy in their first encounter. On his first night in the cell, Carl has a bit of a breakdown, screaming to himself and sobbing a little. Can’t say I blame him, prison sounds like it sucks. And it doesn’t get much better. Carl remains closed off and reserved for most of the first few weeks in Seagate. The shrink, Riva, insists that he open up to people, but Carl isn’t having any of it. He claims that trusting people is what landed him in Seagate in the first place. Which, if true, is compelling reason to not trust people anymore. Just saying.

While in the yard, Carl is spied upon by a couple of prisoners, one of whom would later go on to be Shades. Pre-Shades and his buddy discuss Carl with Rackham. On Rackham’s orders, the two thugs attack Carl in his cell, but the bigger man fights them both off. After, Rackham makes Carl an offer. Rackham wants him for a prison fight club. If Carl fights, and wins, Rackham will ensure that his stay at Seagate is as pleasant as possible, and Rackham will make a killing in bets. Luke isn’t interested, stating that “Slavery was always a good offer, to a master.” Such good lines in this show. Despite Luke’s best attempts to stay alone, he does seem to befriend another prisoner, a fellow that goes by the name Squabbles. He’s a little off, but seems to be a nice enough fella. Does make me wonder what he did to get locked up, though. While in group, Riva continues to try to break down the steel wall that is Carl Lucas’ defenses. When she needles him about his passed, he hits back asking what person she wronged/failed to make her want to help the scummiest of scummy folks. Riva initially shuts him down, but later lets him know that her brother had done time and died in prison while she was working on her masters. I sense a bonding moment! Squabbles also let’s Carl know about some of the strange goings on at Seagate. It’s a privately run prison, and many inmates believe that the owners use that fact to hide controversial and dangerous experiments. Riva flat out denies it, but something still seems fishy.

Rackham, desperate to get Carl into his fight ring, decides to attack Carl’s weakness. Squabbles. He frames the slow-witted prisoner for causing a fight. Luke finally agrees, on the condition that they leave Squabbles alone for as long as he keeps winning. Luke is an animal in the underground ring, beating dozens of other inmates to a pulp. As the fighting goes on, Squabbles notices that Luke is getting crueler and more sadistic. He and Riva question Carl about his behavior, but he keeps focused on the fights. Eventually, Carl grows tired of fighting and wants out. Rackham isn’t having any of that, and decides to threaten Riva along with Squabbles to keep him compliant. Carl warns Riva what’s coming for her, and vows to build evidence on Rackham to take him down. To this end, he shaves and shapes up his beard and afro. Unfortunately, just after getting cleaned up he’s attacked by Pre-Shades and his buddy again. This time with smuggled in weapons. They beat Carl into a bloody mess and leave him for dead. He’s found by some guards and brought to the prison hospital.

So much hair.

Riva checks in on him. He’s bloodied, bruised, and more than a little heartbroken when he hears Squabbles was killed. Rackham wanted to make Luke really suffer, I guess. Riva begs the head of Seagate’s medical program to help. While reluctant, he agrees. Carl is strapped into a machine and submerged in a chemical bath which would, hopefully, boost his body’s ability to heal. I should note that every guy Luke beat up was brought in for this test, and none of them were seen again, so going into this the survival rate is slim. The experiment is interrupted by Rackham. Intent on keeping his own illegal activities a secret, he overloads the machine in an attempt to murder Carl. This causes an explosion, killing Rackham and the Doctor, and giving Carl Lucas unbreakable skin and super strength. He escapes Seagate and pilfers some threads. A yellow shirt, black pants, and, for some reason, a chain belt. These items, plus the shackles that kept his arms in place, and the tiara that held his head down while in the machine, perfectly recreates Carl Lucas’ aka Luke Cage’s aka Power Man’s original costume. In all its cheesy, possibly black-sploytation, glory. Carl himself puts it best, “You look like a damn fool.”

He meets up with Riva. She agrees to help him get as far away from Seagate and Georgia as they can. Luke shaves the beard and afro down to just a goatee, and decides that he needs a new name for his new look/life. He reveals that his father was a preacher and that Reverend Lucas’ favorite psalm was Luke 4:18. He take the first name of Luke, and as means of embracing his freedom ironically, the last name of Cage. He felt Luke Freeman was a little too on the nose. In the present, he finally digs them free, and when the various news cameras are on him, Luke announces that he is Luke Cage, he has powers, and he’s here to stay.

This is a solid origin story episode. I’ll admit that the question of Luke’s past has been bugging me since his intro in Jessica Jones last year. I find it interesting that he, Jessica, and Matt Murdock aka Daredevil have all been various chemical accidents that gave them Superpowers but they are as of yet unconnected. Danny Rand is going to feel left out once they form the Defenders. He’s the only guy that really had to put in physical effort to get his powers. Just saying. And, while it answered the main question of how Luke got his powers, it does remain rather vague about why he was arrested. He implies that he pissed off the wrong higher ups and that they set him up, but that’s all we really get. I imagine they’ll answer that question in another episode or next season. Got to keep the people guessing. I like the nods to the source material, like Rackham being the indirect cause for Luke Cage and seeing Luke in his original costume. I didn’t think they were going to actually show it, as classic Luke Cage/Power Man is so 1970, 1971 would be making fun of it. Yes, I stole that joke from Cinema Sins’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle review. Check them out on Youtube. I’d say that the two stories, Carl’s time in prison and Luke’s time under rubble don’t mesh as well as they potentially could have, but there is still a good scene. A newly empowered Carl Lucas breaking though a prison wall. Luke Cage smashing his way to freedom from beneath the wreckage of a building. They two are played in tandem. Has it been done before on other shows? Yes, but it’s still well shot. Again, a solid origin story. Next time, episode 5. 

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