When we last left Luke Cage, he had
risen from the rubble of the old Chinese restaurant, the metaphorical phoenix
rising from the ashes. On camera, he announces his existence to the world, a
colossal (expletive deleted) you to Cottonmouth and his allies. Luke Cage has
made his move, let see now the snake handles it.
 |
| Yeah, I would not cross this man. |
Cottonmouth is… annoyed that the
rocket he launched at Luke Cage wasn’t a heavy enough hit to take Luke out. He
and his various goons brainstorm a way to take out their nigh invulnerable opponent.
One of the goons, trying to show some initiative and intelligence, offers a
counter idea. He’d been reading a book, which is probably more than a little
shocking for Cottonmouth, and thought that maybe the best option is a non-aggression
pact. They leave Luke and his part of town alone, and maybe he’ll leave
Cottonmouth and Mariah’s part of Harlem alone. Cottonmouth takes this idea…
poorly. He executes the goon, and tell his boys to start hustling everyone in
town for protection money. He calls it the “Luke Cage Stupidity Tax.”
Around the same time, Claire Temple
arrives in Harlem. For those who don’t recognize the name, she’s probably the
least lucky nurse in New York. She met up with Daredevil when he was getting
his start in Hell’s Kitchen. She helped patch him up a few times, they have a
bit of a relationship, but break things off after Matt Murdock’s nightly
crusading got too much for her. After taking a break from Daredevil, she ran
into Jessica Jones and an unconscious Luke Cage. She and Jessica do their best
to save him from a badly battered brain and internal swelling. After that, she
was part of the night shift at a hospital, when Matt Murdock accidentally
brought a horde of Ninja Zombies from the Hand organization down on her head.
She quit her job after the higher ups tried to hush up the insanity of Zombie
Ninja’s from the report. Which leads us here, the Night Nurse is going home to
Harlem. She meets her mother, and informs Mrs. Temple that she wants to do
something to help the supers in need. Momma Temple seems to think her daughter
is nuts, but still tries to be supportive.
Back with Luke, he and colleague Bobby
Fish are in the process of rebuilding Pops Barber shop. They also get Luke a
suit for the funeral. Around the same time, Cottonmouth’s goons hit Harlem
hard, taking everything of value from the locals. Including a championship ring
from a woman named Iesha. It was one of the few things from her dad’s baseball
career that she could keep him from selling for drugs. Iesha, and most of the
other troubled citizens go to Luke and demand that he does something about
Cottonmouth. Which Luke does, while still in his suit. Crime fighting never
looked so classy. He’s able to get a good chunk of the stolen goods back, but
Iesha’s ring eludes him.
Back with the baddies, Shades is
trying desperately to be Cottonmouth’s voice of reason. His main idea is that
Cottonmouth sell Harlem’s Paradise, they make back all the money they owe
Domingo and Diamondback and then move on from there. Cottonmouth won’t have any
of that, though, as Harlem’s Paradise is everything to him. Luke shows up a few
minutes later to parley. This doesn’t go well, as Luke is forced to beat the
snot out of more goons. And Shades, who’s only now getting a good look at Luke,
recognizes him as Carl Lucas. But, on the plus side, Luke gets Iesha’s ring
back.
 |
| Night Nurse can't catch a break. |
A short time later, Shades and
Cottonmouth are brainstorming ideas for taking out Luke. Shades has an idea to
solve the problem. He shows Cottonmouth a video of a special HAMMER tech
bullet. They're made from some metal taken from the aliens that invaded New York a few years back during the idiotically named "Incident." Said bullet is able to pierce some high-tech body armor, burrows into
the target then explodes. Shades put it best, “If you were going to kill Jesus,
this was the bullet you’d use. That’s why they call it the Judas.” Diamondback
is someone that could supply it but the bullets are insanely expensive. We don’t
get the exact number, but Cottonmouth reals when he sees it and asks “Per
bullet?” to which Shades confirms. Their new game plan is to get their money
problems squared away, and then get Diamondback to get them a few Judas
bullets.
With the cops, Misty is informed by
the captain and one of their lieutenants that they believe Scrafe might be
dirty. Misty refuses to believe it, and ends up covering for him. A little bit
later, the Lieutenant, who is also dirty, lets Scrafe know that his new job is
to get the guns back at all costs.
Luke meet’s Iesha’s dad while
looking for her, and does his best to convince the former ballplayer to stop
being a terrible, terrible dad. He has…mixed results. He then preps for the
funeral, is upset that he brand new suit is riddled with holes, and goes to
said funeral. While Pops estranged son talks about the father that he made time
for, Luke slips in and meets Iesha. He slips her the ring, and stealth-fully
crushes the gun she was planning on using on Cottonmouth. While the funeral is
going on, Scarfe decides to look out for numero uno and makes off with the
guns. Cottonmouth and then Luke speak. It’s like watching a presidential
debate. Cottonmouth vows to protect his city form outside forces, hint hint,
and Luke promises to protect the ideal of Harlem. The two men are basically
declaring war on each other.
This episode shows, not when an
unstoppable force meets an immovable object, but when two diametrically opposed
unstoppable forces collide. Despite trying to remain in control during the
events of the last few episodes, Cottonmouth is definitely starting to slip. He’s
running out of time, running out of street cred and running out of patience. Luke
is forcing him into a corner, and this particular viper is getting extremely
desperate. The Judas bullet is his one potential edge, but it’s just beyond his
reach. I hate to imagine what he’s going to do when he gets his hands on
Scarfe. Luke, on the other hand, is stepping up his game. I like how they seem
to have moved him up from hoodie to his current costume. That’s right, as of the
“All New, All Different” Marvel rebranding, Luke Cage fights crime in a
three-piece suit. It’s as awesome as it sounds. It was interesting to see how
into Iesha’s personal quest Luke got. Iesha’s dad, Eddie, probably isn’t worth remembering
now, but in getting the ring back, Luke is trying to protect the memory of him.
Which, is kind of a nice message. I think so, at least. I like that, between
three different shows (one of which having multiple seasons) I’ve yet to see a
legit bad episode of any Marvel’s Netflix’s series. Sure, some are
significantly stronger than others, but not one that I’d say “oh god, avoid
this at all cost.” Kudos Netflix, Marvel and Disney. Next time, episode 6.
http://www.marvel616.com/2016/03/revelada-data-de-estreia-de-luke-cage.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Temple_(Marvel_Cinematic_Universe)#/media/File:Temple.png
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