Luke Cage - General Discussion

[dkb]

Little disappointed with the finale, didn't really get a big happy moment with the big bad out of the way since most everyone of baddies is still alive. Liked the Claire and Luke kiss though, go Claire! Hoping that Luke is quickly exonerated now that Bobby found the file. Ooh Misty is super pissed now I have a feeling she'll be the one to bring down Mariah and Shades.  Diamondback really is delusional about their Father and that whole situation. Poor Candace.

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, WatchrTina said:

At some point someone complains about Luke's insistence that he be paid in cash (though actually no one in this crowd would ever complain about that since it means they would avoid paying payroll taxes) so it's actually likely that no one at Cottonmouth's club knows where he lives.  It's not like he's pals with anyone there.

Luke never got paid on time because he was getting paid under the table. The guy (restaurant manager?) told Luke that since he pays him under the table, he'll pay him whenever he damn well feels like it. So it makes sense Cottonmouth didn't know where he lived.

Edited October 2, 2016 by GHScorpiosRule

[dkb]

I really really enjoyed this series. It was different from the other 2 in the universe, while still being close in a way. I liked everyone and thought they gave great performances. Although I think the ladies were the best part. Alfre and Simone were great and of course my favorite Claire, Rosario was the best! Also liked the new Inspector Priscilla. I thought she was another baddie but seems legit so far.

Jessica Jones is still my favorite though. I just love Jessica and Trish. Iron Fist has high standards to reach, can't wait for that. Also can't wait for The Defenders, to see all these heroes working together in a more grounded and localized situation.

[FurryFury]

I meant using the spoiler tag :) But all right, I'll try the second one. I guess I am a tiny bit interested in Mariah, all other characters just look really generic. And I seriously can't get invested into Reva's death. 

(It also irked me a bit that Jessica was called a rebound. It's not that I care about her and Luke, she deserves somebody more interesting played by a better actor, but I do feel protective).

[WatchrTina]

On 10/1/2016 at 9:35 AM, AimingforYoko said:

So if Cottonmouth is out of the picture, who put the hit on Luke? Mariah, or Diamondback?

My assumption is that another player has just been introduced to the game.  He said something about "One Judas to another" so I assume that shooter was a former friend of his -- maybe from his Sheriff days -- maybe the one who framed him and now, having seen his face on the news, he's just trying to finish the job.  But if so, how could he have known about the super special bullet needed to hurt Luke?  Shades knew about that so Diamondback knows about that but Shades has a plan to pin the killing of Cottonmouth on Luke so it seem like shooting him the same night would be counterproductive.  Also Shade said Diamondback wanted Luke alive. This feels like two vendettas against Luke bumping up against one another.  I'm intrigued.

Having said all that, HOLY SHIT! MARIAH KILLED COTTONMOUTH.  I did NOT see that coming.

HOLY SHIT!  SOMEONE SHOT LUKE WITH A SPECIAL EVIL BULLET.  I did NOT see that coming.

Points for being unpredictable show.  Good job.

[Enigma X]

16 hours ago, Enigma X said:

Interesting. I found Fisk on Daredevil to be one of the worst Marvel villains ever. 

 

Although Diamondback is in the same category as Fisk as far as villains go.

[Lady Calypso]

So, I didn't like Luke Cage when he was on Jessica Jones, so I had low expectations here. But seeing as I've watched every other Marvel Netflix series, plus with the upcoming series, I decided that it wouldn't feel right skipping this one. Plus, I wanted to see if I would like Luke more on his own show than a bland love interest.

I definitely need to give it a few more episodes because I thought this first episode was just ok, but nothing spectacular like on Daredevil or Jessica Jones. I think this episode was very slow paced and I didn't feel much of the charm that I hoped I would.

Mahershala Ali as Cottonmouth is great. I think he's the one that kept me watching the rest of the episode. I also think that Pop is a great character, one that provided some insight with Luke. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him. I also liked the females enough; they added their own charm. Though I didn't really see the chemistry between Misty and Luke. Maybe it was their dialogue that made it tough.

I'm not in love with this show and it needs to pick up the pace, or else it's going to take me a long time to get through the next 12 episodes. 

I did enjoy the music, the atmosphere, and the colours, though, so there's that. And the ending with Luke beating up the gangsters was a very good scene, so I'll need more of that. 

[WatchrTina]

"Nigga.  I AM your brother."  Wait, what'chu takin 'bout Willis?  

This show . . . it's all about the unexpected closing moment, isn't it?

So let me just see if I've got this straight.  Stryker (a.ka. Willis, a.k.a. Diamondback) and Luke (a.k.a Carl) are (unbeknownst to Luke) half-brothers.  So Poppa the preacher-man was stepping out on Stryker's mother with Luke's mother.  They grow up as friends.  Then something of a criminal nature goes down and Stryker is left holding the bag and winds up in prison (which starts him down the road toward criminal master-mind-dom) while Carl turns his life around and goes off and becomes a sheriff.  Stryker gets out of prison, frames Carl for a crime and gets him sent to Seagate, where he has people on his payroll (Shades) who can make sure Carl's stay is as miserable as possible. Carl "dies" in prison and Stryker's vengeance is complete.

Fast-forward to now.  Shades sees "Luke" at the nightclub and recognizes him.  We'll just hand-wave past the incredible coincidence that the man who framed "Carl" also just happens to be the criminal master-mind / silent partner of the dude who hires "Luke" as a dish-washer years later.  Shades tells Diamondback.  Diamondback does some research on the dark web -- finds out about Luke's special skills -- finds out about his late wife --  and then tells Shades to tell Cottonmouth to leave Luke alone -- not to protect him but because he (Diamondback) plans to take Luke out himself using those super-special one-two punch bullets that Shades showed to Cottonmouth (though why he would show that to Cottonmouth is unclear -- blame it on plot necessity).  Did I get it all?  

Hmmmm  . . . how is it that Stryker is still walking around at the end of the episode without so much as a limp after falling out of a balcony and being thrown through a wall by Luke?  He's not an enhanced individual.  More hand-waving required.

I still don't get why those bullets are able to penetrate Luke's skin.  And I think we are in for a scene with Luke coughing up bullet fragments for days (or excreting them in other ways -- lovely).  The only other option I can think of is that those bullets are made of some special alloy (adamantium?) that is able to penetrate Luke's skin and somehow he's going to be found and helped by someone who owns some adamantium surgical instruments.

My only negative comment -- I REALLY hate Shades saying "That's my girl."

This is a fun ride.

Edited October 4, 2016 by WatchrTina

[Kel Varnsen]

On 01/10/2016 at 9:57 AM, dwmarch said:

What was driving me crazy about that scene was the censored remix of Bring Da Ruckus. This show is violent, bloody, sexy, bullets and n-words flying everywhere... but Wu-Tang can't bring the MF ruckus as background noise over a scene of ass-kicking that definitely calls for it? Stale, although I've enjoyed pretty much everything else so far.

That was pretty annoying. This is the mcu equivalent of an R rated movie. Give me all of the swears. Plus woukd Luke really be listening to a censored version of that song.

7 hours ago, blueray said:

 

Of course there needs to be a hallway fight scene :). It was interesting to watch knowing that they couldn't hurt him. However it did lose the thrill of the Daredevil scene as there was a risk of him getting hurt. But that being said still an awesome action sequence. So far this show has seriously picked up.

The fight scene was fun, but I also appreciated Cottonmouth with the rocket launcher, because otherwise how do you keep up any kind of suspense when you have a hero who can't be killed and whose only friend is already dead. Because 10 more episodes of the Big Payback might start to drag, but a villain crazy enough to blow up a building makes it a bit more interesting.

Edited October 2, 2016 by Kel Varnsen

[WatchrTina]

Yeah that scene between Shades & Diamondback where Shades was concerned about the viral video and Diamondback didn't care leads me to believe that there is someone Diamondback answers to and that person or organization is not going to be happy about another enhanced person getting press.  Is that a hint of oversight by . . . Hydra?  S.H.E.I.L.D?  Whatever was left when S.H.E.I.L.D. was disbanded?  Shades has a hidden agenda.  I've suspected all along that he actually IS an enhanced person (what are they calling them now? 'Inhumans"?) I think he's got special powers involving his eyes (maybe he can "see" when people are lying?) and so far he's keeping it secret

Boiling acid?  Oh FFS.  Really hating that plot line because it's just too horrible.  Luke needs a cure sooner rather than later -- I've been grossed out enough.

Can I just say how much I am enjoying all the strong women in this 'verse.  Sisters are doing it for themselves!

[DearEvette]

I liked this episode better than the pilot.  The pilot felt all set up.  This one felt like we were starting to get into the meat of things.

I did like the scene in the barbershop when Cottonmouth came to get a shave.  The tension slowly crept up and the camera work was great with the full-face close ups and the odd angles  -- it made that scene feel almost claustrophobic, like something was going to break or give any minute.

Also liked the Misty a lot more in this episode.  She popped for me here.  I couldn't help but feel a bit of cognitive dissonance because with her outfit and her hair and her general demeanor she reminded me so strongly of Abbie Mills from S3 of Sleepy Hollow when Abbie's hair went natural.  But I loved the basketball scene, the trash talk that came so effortlessly "Ladies first" (Ha!) and then finding out she played bball in college and that her name was etched in the court.

I could not get into Jessica Jones or Daredevil at all.  But I am finding this one easy to consume. 

[zxy556575]

From the episode thread:

21 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

I could not get into Jessica Jones or Daredevil at all.  But I am finding this one easy to consume. 

It would be interesting to hear how viewers shake out along series lines. I like DD and JJ but had to force myself to finish this one. They are very different in tone, and it seems reasonable that people who like "gritty dramas with sociopolitical themes" might not respond as well to "superhero," and vice versa. (Although JJ is kind of an amalgam of both.)

[Boundary]

I loved, loved, loved it. Daredevil - by coming out first and setting the standards - will still remain my fav but I enjoyed this more than Jessica Jones, which had a repetitive middle section. This isn't a diss on JJ, a brilliant show on its own whose standards is still above a tonne of other tv shows. It's just that some themes connect more with different viewers - an abuse victim who refuses to cow and a black man's brush with law enforcement are two totally different, seemingly unconnected themes, internal vs societal. It makes me anticipate more what Danny Rand's issues are going to be.

A word that came to mind while watching this show was "swagger": the pace, tone, editing, performances, all had a confidence that I couldn't help but buy. And by taking out Cottonmouth halfway through (see? that confidence again), the show allowed itself to evolve; although I wasn't totally convinced by Mariah's evil turn because it felt quite abrupt and rushed (but Alfre's performance was flawless as expected). The ending was also slightly unusual for MCU, in that nothing was really resolved: Diamondback, Luke, Mariah and Misty were all set up for future adventures. Nothing was tied in a bow as such and maybe that's why I'm not entirely emotionally satisfied. I just hope post-Defenders no one is going to forget about justice for Candace.

There were two highlights for me. One was an expanded role for Claire Temple and she was decidedly the most badass we've seen her, although I should've known when she first stepped out on Jidenna's thumping soundtrack. The other highlight was Misty Knight. I know the Punisher got a lot of attention from S2 of Daredevil but this, too, also felt like an audition for Misty's own show, even more so I'd say. But that will depend on Jessica Henwick's portrayal of Colleen Wing I should think.

As far as villains go, I still go with Fisk. The first few appearances of Kilgrave gave me the chills but I think he ended up being over used. Fisk had other baddies to carry the load. Even Cottonmouth seemed to have a few other things other than Luke Cage going on but I still consider him a Fisk-lite. I think a proper villain's attribute is not necessarily the subverted superhero powers, it is the single mindedness not to give up. By making people fall in line not by beating them up but by sheer force of will. If Mariah's arc had not been rushed, I think she'd have been a great candidate; she could still be by end of season 2 but who knows when that'll drop.

[NorthstarATL]

I liked it a lot, but, then, I still recall as a kid getting the first issue of Luke Cage, Hero For Hire, from Downtown Books in St. Paul, Minnesota, which I think I may have been too young to have been in! Mike Colter looks like later iterations of the character, and he's got the "superhero" thing down. The rest of the cast was/is nicely set up, and much richer than the comic series. Personally, I would have followed Daredevil with this, and held back Jessica Jones, which is a fan fic version of Cage anyway, but there might be a reason later in the series for placing it third. Looking forward to the rest.

[netlyon2]

To add to what Scorpios and Bama have said, the incident with the Hand ninjas happened in Daredevil Season 2, so after we saw Claire in Jessica Jones.  The last we saw Claire in DD 2, she was telling off the hospital administrators and quitting her job rather than participate in the cover up.  Based on what she told her mother in this episode, she was blacklisted and can't find another hospital job.

Claire's position is such an interesting one since--as the character who's been on all 3 shows--she has the bigger picture of all the "arcane abilities" that are popping up everywhere.  I suppose Luke and Jessica would be next, since they know about each other and Kilgrave.  It seems likely that

Spoiler

Iron Fist will introduce them (or Luke, at least) to the mysticism angle.  I wonder if Matt will pop up on that series, too, or if he won't find out about the others until Defenders.  I've been following each episode by listening to the Podcast Fandom discussion of it, and for this one they wondered if the introduction of Chitauri tech means that we'll see Inhumans on the Netflix properties, since Agents of Shield is part of the MCU continuity.

(tagged for mildly spoilerish speculation about Iron Fist and Defenders)

[LJonEarth]

Cottonmouth and Mariah and Shades were pretty good, Marvel still has villain issues with Luke Cage. I didn't like Diamondback's motivations as a villain, but we'll see if he shows up again. That being said, I really liked this. It reminded me a bit of Luther. I cared about everyone in the cast, which hasn't been the case with probably any other Marvel show.

I thought the story line was less meandering than Daredevil, or maybe I just cared more.

I'd say my this is second on my list after Jessica Jones, then all of Agent Carter, most of Agents of SHIELD, Daredevil season 2, Daredevil Season 1.

I will never not be annoyed with Alfre being two completely different characters (if what they're saying is true) in the MCU. Never!

[calliope1975]

14 minutes ago, LJonEarth said:

I will never not be annoyed with Alfre being two completely different characters (if what they're saying is true) in the MCU. Never!

I'd like to think that Miriam (Cap 3) is Mariah's less evil twin. 

[ribboninthesky1]

20 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

So our hero-for-hire and his nurse friend spend most of the episode trying to keep this super-dirty cop alive, which is just a bizarre turn of events.

It reminded me a lot of the S1 Daredevil episode where Murdock is holed up with the Russian criminal.  I was never a Scarfe fan, so his corruption justified my dislike.  Still, they sure did try to make him sympathetic towards the end.  I think Simone Missick played the scene very well, but I won't miss him. 

[Kel Varnsen]

On ‎2016‎-‎10‎-‎01 at 1:06 AM, Oscirus said:

There was more chemistry between Luke and Reva in one episode then there was between him and Jessica Jones in that who series.

Shouldn't there be though? Reva appears to be the love of his life and by comparison Jessica seemed to just be a fling.

[Tvtimebomb]

Huh, I'm surprised this is receiving such good reviews.  I found this episode and episode two very slow and boring.  There's so much talking and too little action.  Plus, why is there so much use of the n-word?  It's overused in my opinion.  

I'm not sure I'll continue watching as there are other shows I find better.  There's only so much time in the day to watch for tv viewing and this isn't making the cut.  

[Nanrad]

I don't think the n-word is overused. 

[dramachick]

Rest in peace, Pop.

I am soooooooo ready for Luke Cage v. Cottonmouth.  I've been a fan of Mahershala  Ali since his "Crossing Jordan" days when he was Mahershalalhashbaz Ali.  So glad he has a great villain role to sink his teeth into.

[thuganomics85]

Claire!  As much as I've been enjoying these past few episodes, I was looking forward to her arriving and it was a perfect return, complete with beating the shit out of a purse snatcher.  Love her!  And Rosario Dawson continues to be one of the most beautiful people on the planet.  Sonia Braga as her mother is an added bonus as well.

Also loved seeing Sonja Sohn as the Captain.  Go Kima!  Always great to see a form person from The Wire!  Jessica Jones spoiler 

Spoiler

I hope she doesn't suffer the same fate poor Lester Freeman got on Jessica Jones!

Loved watching Luke just wonder around Harlem and get all the stolen property back.  Especially all the times they tried to shoot him, to no avail.  When will they learn?

So, it sounds like the plan is that Cottonmouth is going to wait and deal with his problem with Domingo first, and once he gets back into Diamondback's good graces, he is going to purchase some kind of bullet that he thinks could actually harm Luke.  But his plan already has a problem, since it looks like Scarfe may be double-crossing him.

All I could think of during the eulogies scenes is that it kind of sucks for Pop that his funeral basically got turn into a political pissing match between Luke and Cottonmouth to be the face of Harlem.  That and, of course, Shades was just wearing his... well, shades in the church, like an asshole.

[Racj82]

9 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

That was pretty annoying. This is the mcu equivalent of an R rated movie. Give me all of the swears. Plus woukd Luke really be listening to a censored version of that song.

The fight scene was fun, but I also appreciated Cottonmouth with the rocket launcher, because otherwise how do you keep up any kind of suspense when you have a hero who can't be killed and whose only friend is already dead. Because 10 more episodes of the Big Payback might start to drag, but a villain crazy enough to blow up a building makes it a bit more interesting.

Actually I believe non swearing current day Luke would listen to the edited version.

[Racj82]

On Saturday, October 01, 2016 at 8:27 PM, dwmarch said:

Wow, I did not see that coming! I thought Cottonmouth was going to end up like Wilson Fisk, being put away "for good" in the last episode. But instead he gets taken out by his own cousin! Brutal!

They actually said an MCU name for once! Captain America was directly name-checked! I was sure this was a rights thing and that the Netflix characters were not allowed to make direct references. But it seems they are allowed unless Captain and America are considered such generic terms that stringing them together behind a qualifier doesn't count.

Having said that, Luke Cage doesn't so much look like Harlem's Capt. America to me so much as he looks like Harlem's Daredevil. The beats of this show are following DD S1 pretty closely. I don't mind because it's a winning formula but formulas are by their nature formulaic...

People keep pointing out the names thing but why would the general public know the codenames of the avengers involved in the incident. Two of them are spies, one is basically a god that barely spends time on earth, hulk is barely called hulk. Iron man has no secret identity so he would just be called Tony often. 

[Primetimer]

And more not-quite-burning questions from S01.E03!

View the full article

[DearEvette]

Ugh.  Scarfe, why?  Why??  I was liking his and Misty's dynamic.  But he turns out to be dirty.  Of course Cornell would have cops on the payroll but why Scarfe?  Dang it!  The minute Chico started talking I knew, I just knew.  But I wonder what he would have done if Misty had taken him up on his offer to go speak with Chico with him?  He probably would have gotten to Chico before he could really talk.  Now I need Misty to shank his ass. And I want her to do it, not Luke.

The music on this show is just perfect so far.  Each selection perfectly punctuates the mood and theme of the episode.  I loved the Ain't It A Sin song. I especially loved the visuals of this old guy right out of the James Brown tradition being backed by a band that was more like the Ben Folds Five.  LOL. 

Also the argument between Cornell and Mariah further punctuates just how blackity black, black ,blackity black this show is for real.  He calls her 'Black Mariah" she calls him a "color struck motherfucka!"   Neither one backing down.  I actually find Mariah a little scarier than Cornell.  His feral qualities are all on her surface, hers are way below and I don't think we've seen them yet.

The action was the best part.  Love the fight scene set to Wu-Tang!  Also that last scene.  Oh Man.

Off to the next episode.

[Primetimer]

You probably binge-watched it all this weekend, so here's a good excuse to rewatch it all again.

View the full article

[Oracle42]

That was one of my favorite lines in the entire series. I loved her.

[Rlb8031]

On 9/29/2016 at 0:20 PM, EricJ said:

A question for current New Yorkers - does "Harlem" actually still exist? That is, is it really still an organic, predominantly African-American community, or is it like Little Italy, a few soul-food restaurants and gospel brunches primarily for tourists surrounded by more recent immigrant populations and waves of gentrification?

Harlem still exists, although its core (a deeply entrenched middle-class of working class folks) is definitely under siege. Far East and West Harlem have been populated by Puerto Ricans and Dominicans going back thirty or more years, so that's nothing new. But the solid African-American community that wasn't lucky enough or smart enough to buy into affordable condos and coops in the 70's, 80's and 90's are seeing their options replaced by luxury housing that is targeted at affluent whites migrating from the upper East and West sides of Manhattan. Most of old Harlem's kids cannot afford to purchase in Harlem as adults as apartments that were going for $150k-300k ten years ago are now in the $800k-$1m range. So the short answer is that if you walk down 125th Street, you'll still see a majority of black faces, but now they are sprinkled with the young FratBro, the yogaGirls, and the StayatHomeMommy clans you'd only have seen south of 116th Street ten years ago.

[Chaos Theory]

I have watched Jessica Jones 3 times already and found it to be one of the best written Marvil stories I have seen yet.  I really enjoyed Daredevil season 1 as well but was incredibly disappointed with season 2.  I hated the Punisher storyline.  Luke Cage was ok but only the first half.  Once Diamondback was introduced the story took a dramatic downturn.

Edited October 7, 2016 by Chaos Theory
Spelling

[Anela]

So-so on the first episode. I like the actor, and liked him in Jessica Jones, but the music is getting on my nerves a bit. 

A friend binge-watched the whole series the other day, and recommended it, so I'll be watching the whole thing. 

[Primetimer]

It's important to know that Luke had no problem getting ladies even in his scruffier days.

View the full article

[zxy556575]

5 hours ago, Anela said:

I like the actor, and liked him in Jessica Jones, but the music is getting on my nerves a bit. 

I'm a musical Philistine, but the vaunted soundtrack that's getting so much critical and viewer respect just gives me a headache. I've muted a lot of it and used closed-captioning instead.

Edited October 3, 2016 by lordonia

[maczero]

On 10/1/2016 at 7:15 PM, WatchrTina said:

Yeah, that's my main complaint about the first episode -- I can't figure out the chronology.  Is this set before or after the events of Jessica Jones season 1?  I assume it is set after though if so, and if Luke has been in prison for a while, then it seems weird that people are still trying to sell DVDs of footage of the event downtown involving Thor and Captain America and The Hulk (which I assume is reference to the battle with the invaders from outer space that happened in "The Avengers").  That seems like really old news at this point.

That bugs me too.  The guy selling the DVD's acted like he didn't know who the Avengers were.  He referred to Thor and Captain America as the "dude with the hammer" and the "old guy with the shield".  So if the general public doesn't know the Avengers by name then the only way I can see this making sense is if it's been less than  a year after the battle of New York.

[DearEvette]

Oh Marvel, never change.  Luke's water-bath chamber looks like Wolverine's admantium chamber.

On 10/1/2016 at 5:17 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

Seeing how Luke was going to heal faster looked oh so very much like Logan being put into the bath of adamantium; yet it was that crooked cop (Hello L&O franchise alumni!) increasing the voltage to maximum/DANGER! that made him invulnerable!

Hehe.  I wrote my comment above before I saw this! 

I did love the shout out to the original Luke, with the "tiara", the bright yellow shirt, the blue pants and the chain belt.  "I look ridiculous!"  

Good origin story, nice attention to detail with the jacked up fro (no grooming products in prison to keep the hair tight).   Not sure what to think of Reva.  Is she on the up and up?  And what was with her cryptic comment about "not always being a psychiatrist."  That more than anything got my spidey senses tingling after her assurances to Luke settled them down again.  Now I am not so sure about her.  But apparently she's dead, so still more back story to go.

But now I am wondering what he plans to do about his identity given the press attention there at the end. 

[FoxyBrown]

Made the mistake of watching this ep during my lunch break. How am I supposed to get back to work after all that?!

[blueray]

Quote

Speaking of secret super-powers, everytime "Shades" takes his sunglasses off I expect rays to shoot out of his eyes like the X-Men's Cyclops.

Me too. I'm not convinced that will not happen ;). There is something with him though.

[ribboninthesky1]

I'm glad I stuck it out - I almost quit this series after the first episode.  But, as I hoped, this series is the one, so far, to get better with each episode. Fingers crossed that it continues.  This is the episode for me where things really begin to come together and take shape. Shame that Ali is out, though - he really brought something special to Cottonmouth. 

[Kel Varnsen]

The only thing that bugged me about this episode is at what point are Cottonmouth's goons going to stop trying to fight Luke. You would think between Fort Knox, surviving the rpg attack and the other fight scenes they would know not to bother shooting him or especially getting into a fist fight. Hopefully after the scene in the club these guys are going to learn otherwise it will be really anoying.

[Kel Varnsen]

4 hours ago, maczero said:

That bugs me too.  The guy selling the DVD's acted like he didn't know who the Avengers were.  He referred to Thor and Captain America as the "dude with the hammer" and the "old guy with the shield".  So if the general public doesn't know the Avengers by name then the only way I can see this making sense is if it's been less than  a year after the battle of New York.

The not naming names thing is extra funny since I thought it was extra funny that in Civil War news reports kept referring to Cap extra formally as "Captain Steve Rogers".

[blueray]

Wow I didn't see that coming! I knew she wasn't a good person but omg.

I still want to know what he was put in prison for. Was this explained in Jessica Jones?

[ribboninthesky1]

Just when I was really getting invested in this series, and especially appreciating what they're doing with the black women as characters, Misty in particular...Misty assaults Claire? What in the entire fuck? I mean, I guess the previous episode, with the glossing over of Mariah's rape for the sake of woobifying Cottonmouth, should have been a hint.  Still, I was willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt. 

And Claire was entirely out of line with Misty, also seemingly out of character.  Misty got a phone call while talking to them at the clinic - there must have been something told to her that compelled her to press forward and arrest Luke.  Of course, the audience knows he's innocent, but Misty's observed their escalating conflict, and Luke directly told her he wants Cottonmouth to suffer.  Sure, he said he wouldn't kill him, but that's hardly evidence.  

[benteen]

First Pop, now Cottonmouth.  Damn it, show, stop killing all the best characters! 

Now we're left with Luke and his one facial expression.

Good episode.  Bummed about Cottonmouth getting killed off.  He deserved it but still, actor was awesome in the role.  Luke has a tendency not to get revenge on the people who have wrong them.

There has been more MCU references on this show than any prior Marvel Netflix show so far.  DD practically ignores the MCU while Jessica Jones has quite a few references.

[DearEvette]

I am sorry but that call in show at the top of the episode felt clunky as hell.  I can't 'hear' a black person fulsomely  praising the police -- especially not in today's BLM environment -- especially not over the an indestructible black male savior.  No way.

So nobody saw a blood spattered man dragging himself all over Harlem.  Not to mention, how the heck did Scarfe manage to stay ambulatory with bullets in his thigh and liver?  I know.... I know.... it is a comic book.  I have to remind myself.  It is a comic book. I can't get mad at a comic book tv show doing comic book-y things.

Luke: "Is this your new VH1 special? Criminal Spinsters"

Mariah: "I will wear your narrow ass out." 

I just loved the way Mariah looked him up and down lasciviously a she said that. Ha!

Also loved the scene of Mariah spelling out all the ways Luke could possibly be killed to Cottonmouth.  She is ice cold.

Actually all the female characters this ep were excellent: Mariah of course, Misty and the way she played Lt. Perez and then her last scene with Scarfe as he lay dying, Claire and how competent she is, heck even the reporter and her calling out of Mariah.  She's got brass ones!

So Cottonmouth is arrested.  He seems to be getting more and more unstable as each episode goes on.  Now that he is in custody and some of his dirty cops are being uncovered, I wonder if he'll spiral even more.

[wanderingstar]

I guess the moral of the story is don't eff with Mariah. Damn.

[calliope1975]

I found it interesting that Mariah lost it when Cottonmouth said she wanted to be sexually abused. Either way, don't ever tell a woman she wanted it. You might just get your ass thrown out a window. 

[benteen]

The rocket launcher at the end was pretty awesome.

I was sorry Scarfe turned out to be on the take.  I liked him.  Though I'm glad he killed Chico.  Chico's voice annoyed the living hell out of me every time he talked.

[WatchrTina]

5 hours ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

Misty got a phone call while talking to them at the clinic - there must have been something told to her that compelled her to press forward and arrest Luke.

I assumed the call she got was from the cops at Pop's barbershop who found the bloody rubber gloves (covered in Cottonmouth's blood and probably full of Luke's DNA from when he wore them to wash dishes) that Shades planted there.  With evidence like that corroborating an eye-witness who placed him at the scene of the crime, they'd have to arrest him.

Edited October 4, 2016 by WatchrTina

[thuganomics85]

Whelp, Cottonmouth has been arrested!  It's all over folks, time to pack it up!  Ha, yeah, we're only halfway done.  I'm guessing something will happen that will get him off.  And then there is Mariah, who I have to think will end up being just as, if not more dangerous then him.  I will not be surprised if that reporter suddenly has a freak "accident."

Figured Scarfe wasn't long for this world once he tried to shake down Cottonmouth.  Dumb move, buddy.  I will miss Frank Whaley and the sleaziness and snark he brought to the show.  Felt bad for Misty, but I kind of wish we spent maybe an episode or two more on their relationship, to really sell their partnership.

Luke just getting annoyed now at people shooting him was hilarious.  At least they brought a grenade launcher this time, so at least they're trying to new strategies.  Not good ones, but A for effort?

Claire's already having to pull bullets out of someone.  She is awesome.  And her mother is equally awesome too.  They better not do anything bad to either of them.

The Trish Talk opening was a nice touch.