Viewer Log: Luke Cage ep 9

When we last left Luke, he was informed that a childhood friend turned enemy is actually his brother, and was then shot for the second time by said brother… I feel like I should say, Scott, Matthew, my brothers, I am so very glad that neither of you is likely to shoot me. At least… I think. Back on task. Luke escaped the deranged Willis aka Diamondback by falling into the back of a garbage truck.

While Luke does his best to avoid getting tetanus, Shades reopens Harlem’s Paradise. He’s riding high after taking Cottonmouth’s club, which doesn’t last when Diamondback stops by. Willis isn’t happy that he lost Luke, and that their goons couldn’t pick up the trail. He murders one of the lesser goons in frustration. And then chastises Shades, for thinking he could just waltz in and take Cottonmouth’s spot. Apparently, Willis doesn’t want his new top henchman thinking that killing his former top henchmen will go unnoticed. Zip distracts Diamondback with an update on Luke, probably saving Shades’ life.

Yeah, Luke vs Drill, Luke wins.
Even when he doesn't want to.

Luke escapes the dump truck, gets a change of clothes and limps away. A news segment reveals that the cops are looking for him.  So not a great continuation to a sucky day.

We then get a very interesting scene with Mariah and Cottonmouth’s corpse. She kisses the top of his shroud and gives us a little more of their background. Apparently, Cornell’s father was a druggy that OD and his mother ran off a short time later. They’ve been rather vague about the age difference between Mariah and Cornell, but she was old enough to remember baby Cornell being dropped off, and that she was his primary caregiver. Growing up, she called him Mo. Cornell assumed that this was a weird shortening of Cottonmouth. So obviously wasn’t a huge fan of that one. In actuality, she was shortening it from Moses. As he was her abandoned little prince. Which is pretty darn sweet. She admits that she did everything to protect Cornell, but in the end, she couldn’t save him from their family’s bad business. How sad. Shades arrives, breaking her silent reflection, and tries to convince Mariah to help him transition into being the new local crime boss.

Luke’s luck lapses, and a couple of curious cops corner him. They try to bring him in, but unfortunately for them, Luke is still about 90% bulletproof, so it doesn’t really end well for them. Why would you ever try to take on a man with documented super strength with just two people? That plan was doomed to fail from the start.

Mariah goes to Domingo and sets up a meeting with Harlem’s top crime bosses. Luke meets up with Claire. They agree that his only option right now is to get out of town. Claire had been researching Seagate Prison, and learned that the head doctor at the private prison was still alive. The dynamic duo tracks him down and makes him a deal. In exchange for Riva’s, Luke’s dearly departed wife’s, hard drive, the Doc uses his knowledge of Luke’s anatomy to fix the bullet holes.

It's hard to see these two together, knowing how
it'll all end.

Back with the bad guys, Mariah and Shades try to re-solidify their powerbase. Well, re-solidify Shades’ powerbase, Mariah is clearly trying to get out of the crime game. Unfortunately for them, Diamondback got wind of the powwow, and intervenes. The slippery serpent murders most of the assembled crime bosses, aside from Domingo, Mariah and Shades. He makes it clear he’s taking more or less direct control of Harlem, and these three will continue to work for him. Regardless of how they feel on the matter. Can’t argue with that logic… and live.

The Doc preps Luke for the procedure. While the flashdrive filled in a number of blanks in the Doc’s research, and that he has all the chemicals and tech needed to recreate the procedure, he doesn’t know how hot the solution needs to get to effect Luke. So, there’s going to be a fair amount of guess and check here. Also, if you’re wondering why the Doc’s home lab has all the equipment he needs… he stole it when his Seagate research was shut down. Pretty simple explanation. They try once, and fail, and then try again, and Luke’s heart stops. So… not a great day all around.

I think that this episode’s best scene was Mariah with Cottonmouth’s body. In only a handful of minutes we get all of the important notes of their history, and how much his death must be having on her. He was arguably the most important person in her life, and she ended it. Anger; uncontrollable, savage, and cruel, ended her the life that she held most precious. How very sad. With Luke’s story, it’s your typical “hero lost his powers and needs to reclaim them.” But with bullet holes. Said bullet holes do make fixing Luke and getting him back to 100% a little more pressing then mopey Peter Parker having to get them back in Spider-Man 2. Oh no, Mary Jane was kidnapped, again. Not the same as “I’m literally bleeding to death and my body makes it impossible for conventional medicine to help me,” now is it? So yeah, a pretty standard hero powers-lost story with a short but above average scene in it. Next time, either more Luke Cage or we’ll pause and try something a little different. We’ll see.

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