Luke Cage - General Discussion

[Cthulhudrew]

Ditto to millenium and RainbowBrite.

I get why they changed elements of Cage's origin for the show- wanting to move him away from the blaxploitation roots- but I feel that they swerved too far to the other side of the spectrum and made him too "safe" as a character. And it doesn't help that Mike Colter's performance is so bland (IMO).

Edited June 30, 2018 by Cthulhudrew

[MisterGlass]

Tilda, drag the chair outside.  Untie her later.

I am also tired of musical interludes.  Have the music, but don't end every episode with lingering, silent pans over all the characters.  This would make every episode at least five minutes shorter.  As with last season, this show drags for me.

[FishyJoe]

So the bottom line is that cops are useless and if you can't beat criminals, join them.

Sweet Christmas, this season went downhill as soon as the Iron Fist showed up.

[Dezzdemona]

I binged this season over the past couple of days.   It's a holiday weekend here in Canada, but it's about 112 degrees so it's indoor time.   Overall, I enjoyed the season.  I thought both Cottonmouth and Bushmaster were worthy villains, and then Mariah proved to be the most soul-less of them all.   Mariah/Shades was cringeworthy from start to finish, but I did enjoy Shades otherwise.  I was not surprised Tilda killed Mariah, but I was taken aback at how venomous she was over not inheriting the club.  Tilda is firmly in the villain category going into Season 3, if  there is one, along with the mob bosses in VIP.  I'd really like a Season 3 because I liked Luke until the last 15 minutes of the finale.   I want another season so he can be rescued from the role he seems to be taking on.   Power corrupts, and he's embraced it will all the trappings.  Sad ending for a "hero".  I did enjoy Misty and Claire kicking ass along the way.  I always enjoy seeing some good strong women and on this show, not one of them was identified by her relationship.   Bonus.

[Quark]

On 6/30/2018 at 12:06 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

We don't know if he doesn't want to see Claire in general or if he doesn't want her at Harlem's Paradise, along with why he wanted Claire to go home. Earlier in the season, he didn't want Claire to be at Harlem's Paradise because it was dangerous for her to be there with Mariah in control. He knew that being associated with her would make her a target. So did he not want Claire there to avoid having various crimelords making that connection of how important she is to him? Was it a "not now, we'll talk at home?" 

 

I see you're point about it being dangerous, but he is basically the boss of Harlem now. I can't imagine anyone would dare mess with him.

[HolmesUltimateQu]

On 6/30/2018 at 1:27 PM, catrice2 said:

Luke Cage wasn't even the best part of his own show. That was Bushmaster.  I don't know why Alfre Woodard getting rave reviews. I thought her acting was horrible and there was no chemistry between her and shades

I found myself ROOTING for Bushmaster. I didn't want him to die. I wanted him to win. LOL, I was also shipping Tilda and him. So here we are now -- with me wondering if Bushmaster is coming back so he can get together with Tilda. 

At the end with Luke, though, I thought, "Hmm... You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."  Especially with him sending Claire home. 

[Racj82]

Godfather parralled all over the place. Basically, Luke much like Michael Corleone, thinks he can make things better if he's in charge. Control things from the inside. But as we see all the time, power corrupts. 

Yes, the season was too long as always but I was entertained overall. Great performances all around.

I've grown tired of Iron Fist somehow being the worst thing ever. He wasn't bad on the show and him being on it didn't make anything worse. I thought he worked well with Luke. None of the marvel Netflix leads work well on their own. They need the right people to bounce off of.

It made perfect sense for Luke not to want to see Claire because she would never accept what he's doing and nothing has changed. He's let all of this madness change him possibly for the worse. They won't work the way things are now.

The responses here don't reflect anything. The responses for these Netflix shows are always light. People are watching at different speeds. It's also hard to talk about these shows episode by episode. They all kind of work as a whole. The next season might not even be on Netflix. Disney's streaming services would be up by then. Only hiccup is if Disney will have their non family friendly stuff on there.

[marcee]

I enjoyed it. I loved BushMaster and I, too, found myself rooting for him. I enjoyed how the Iron Fist episode made everything feel more lighthearted. You can get really dragged down with all the torture, violence and gore. I felt like there was more joking and self deprecation with Danny around. I found it fun and a bit of a breather. I like how DW has kind of become Cage's conscience... through it all, he balanced Luke. When Luke was getting too cocky, DeeDub reminded him of his BushMaster beatdown. And when he went all CrimeBoss, DeeDub told him the truth. Too bad Luke didn't listen. I won't miss Mariah and I sure as hell won't miss Mariah kissing Shades. Ewwwwww.

[Meedis]

To think I was all worried about Tilda making it through her first episode.    LOL.    She's a quiet lethal weapon though I can't believe she put that poison on her lips and it didn't affect her.    Though what an appropriate "kiss of death" she gave to Mariah.   Loved her retro-ish hairstyle in her closing scene at the bar.

I concur to not missing Mariah kissing Shades.   That looked all kinds of uncomfortable for both actors...LOL.

Overall I was entertained.   Farewell Reg E Cathey.   Wonder if his real-life death will be played off in Season 3 (if there's a Season 3).

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 7/1/2018 at 10:52 AM, Quark said:

I see you're point about it being dangerous, but he is basically the boss of Harlem now. I can't imagine anyone would dare mess with him.

The thing is you can't count on the criminal element in this show to be rational or smart. After the five millionth time that it was shown that guns won't kill or even harm Luke and fighting hand-to-hand with someone who can crumple metal isn't a good idea, people still do it. After Bushmaster used that powder to take Cage down and it worked, he should have given some to every single Styler, as well as other gas/poison-based weapons. 

Assuming there is going to be a Season 3, I'd imagine that there are a quite a few people who would be willing to mess with him:

1. Tilda - she's pissed that all she got from her mother is a keyboard and Luke got the club.

2. The various crime lords - at some point, they are going to push back on Luke's keeping them out of lucrative opportunities in Harlem

3. Diamondback - I know a lot of people didn't dig him, but I could see him being brought back after he gets powered up 

[PsychoDrone]

Show is kind of slow, but I'm still here for it.  Diamondback was a complete joke.  Diamondback screaming, "I'm Luke Cage!!!" in attempt to get people to believe he was Luke causing mayhem was the height of stupidity.  NEVER, NEVER, NEVER bring him back.

I'm watching wondering when/how Misty is going to get her bionic arm.  Will it be before or after she leaves the force to become a PI?

Bushmaster looks to be an interesting adversary for Cage.  He has to be better than Diamondback.  Mariah and Shades, especially Shades, just aren't that interesting.

Edited July 3, 2018 by PsychoDrone

[catrice2]

22 hours ago, marcee said:

I enjoyed it. I loved BushMaster and I, too, found myself rooting for him. I enjoyed how the Iron Fist episode made everything feel more lighthearted. You can get really dragged down with all the torture, violence and gore. I felt like there was more joking and self deprecation with Danny around. I found it fun and a bit of a breather. I like how DW has kind of become Cage's conscience... through it all, he balanced Luke. When Luke was getting too cocky, DeeDub reminded him of his BushMaster beatdown. And when he went all CrimeBoss, DeeDub told him the truth. Too bad Luke didn't listen. I won't miss Mariah and I sure as hell won't miss Mariah kissing Shades. Ewwwwww.

I was so creeped out by the Mariah Shades thing that I talked about it to people who all concurred.  My sister sent me an article from something yesterday where a columnist wrote about it asking please make it stop and it was so funny because all the comments under the article pretty much said the same thing. It was so bad that I missed key elements of the story because I just could not deal with them pretending to be attracted to each other and had to fast forward.  For me the character of Shades would have been more believable without that whole arc. I wonder if that was his swansong or if they intend to have him come back if it is renewed? I actually would like to see if they could establish a relationship between Luke and Tilda. Even the way she says his real name creeped me out.

[AKA...CJ86]

I'm here for Misty's arm... but please, let her have it soon and kick some ass... not be a last second tease for next season.

Bushmaster continues to be amazing.  He's going to force Luke and Mariah to join forces, isn't he?

My favorite recurring element is Mariah vs Comanche.

Like Cthulhudrew mentioned... Colter is so bland.  And it seems the bright spots of supporting characters will be out of play.  Maybe that leaves an opening for Colleen and Danny?

[bettername2come]

Mariah: Why are you looking up?

Misty: I'm looking for a lightning bolt. I just prayed with the devil.

[Jade Foxx]

Alfre Woodard plays maniacal/tortured/haunted Mariah so well. 

Big props. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Featurette: the long road to paradise (music and Harlem's Paradise)

[Joimiaroxeu]

Hate to say it but half the time I can barely understand what Bushmaster says. He could ease up on the accent a bit, IMO. Or the show could provide subtitles. (At which point they'd probably get accused of racism...)

Is Shades jealous of Mariah's daughter? That won't end well if he is.

Sometimes brutality gets things done. Oy, Luke is going dark knight. (Oops, that's DC Universe,  not Marvel. nm.)

So was Bushmaster putting Luke through some kind of initiation rite for the fraternity of bulletproof guys in Harlem? That was an odd scene.

Loved Tilda's dress at Mariah's political reception.

[Enigma X]

I don't mean this in a snarky way, I am honestly wondering. Does Netflix not provide the option of closed captions? I thought they did. I ask because I see people saying they had trouble with understanding Bushmaster and subtitles should have been provided.

Edited July 5, 2018 by Enigma X

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, Enigma X said:

I don't mean this in a snarky way, I am honestly wondering. Does Netflix not provide the option of closed captions? I thought they did. I ask because I see people saying they had trouble with understanding Bushmaster and subtitles should have been provided.

Netflix does closed caption and Luke Cage was specifically closed captioned. The closed captioning for the Jamaican slang wasn't always spot-on. Like one of the characters might say "Him a hard man to dead" and the closed captioning would render it "He's a hard man to kill."

Although I don't have hearing issues, I watch everything with closed captions. Some people do not. 

[Daltrey]

Am I the only one who finds the relationship between Chief Rittenour and Misty completely ludicrous?! He spends 6 episodes telling her to sit at her desk, keep her nose out of it, mind her own business until she's had enough and basically tells him to fuck off and quits. The next day he finds on the outdoor court and practically begs her to come back, he needs her and she's the only one who can help him crack the case. She again says FO before eventually changing her mind and coming back, only to have him get killed at the end of the episode. then at the beginning of this episode she shows back up at the precinct angry as hell and practically in tears like he was her father or something. Give me a fucking break, he was a completely arrogant, hypocritical asshole who treated her like shit most of the time!

[amass]

I watch everything with closed caption so I didn’t realize they weren’t subtitles for what he says since he’s speaking in a Patois and the cc is a translation 

Edited July 6, 2018 by amass

[Taryn74]

I wish I could figure out what it is that makes this show so draggy.  The characters are interesting enough, (most of) the actors are engaging, the storylines are interesting enough (on paper) . . . but every episode I feel like I'm being dragged through quicksand just to get through it.  I find myself checking the time left about 15 minutes into each episode.  I sometimes have to even pause it and go do something else halfway through.  :/

Grandma next door was the highlight of the episode!

[diebartdie]

On 6/23/2018 at 7:07 PM, mxc90 said:

 

Was that Mariah's plan to tell Tilda the club is her's and instead give it to Luke to make her evil? 

 

Mariah fully intended on Tilda taking over the club UNTIL Tilda called her "mother" and not "mommy" which clued Mariah that Tilda was up to something (which we found out was murder, THE family business).

On 6/28/2018 at 1:35 AM, Cthulhudrew said:

I think I buy Luke's turnaround into the crimelord of Harlem as much as I buy Tilda's pivot to the side of evil.

I don't think Luke see's himself that way (yet) even though that is exactly what he is now. Tilda I dont think is evil at all. I think her heart was broken (when she found out the truth of her conception) and then all the craziness (Bushmaster) broke her mind.

On 7/2/2018 at 1:38 PM, Meedis said:

To think I was all worried about Tilda making it through her first episode.    LOL.    She's a quiet lethal weapon though I can't believe she put that poison on her lips and it didn't affect her.  

From what I've read, that technique is accomplished by first putting on a thick coat of lipstick, then the poison. As long as you can avoid licking your lips, the cosmetic acts as a barrier.

I loved this season, all the way. I loved Alfre Woodard's portrayal of Mariah, I thought it was awesome. I had trouble sometimes with the Jamaican patois but overall, I dug it (and gotdamn but I want to try some Bushmaster rum now! Rum is my favorite). I hope there is a season 3 if only to see Luke in another fine suit, damn that man is hot.

[Yokosmom]

Quote

Tilda, drag the chair outside.  Untie her later.

I was thinking that too, until I really thought about how heavy a chair with an adult would weigh.

[Snorfbat]

(Oops. Wrong episode.)

Edited July 6, 2018 by Snorfbat

[Snorfbat]

OMG THEY WENT WEREWOLF!

I've been joking with a buddy that the show was going to have a drug-induced-werewolf subplot in reference to Nightshade in the comics, who could use drugs to create and control werewolves.

AND THEY DID IT!

Thus did this become my favorite season of a Marvel show.

[MisterGlass]

It was a wooden chair on what looked like a wooden floor, and Mariah isn't a large woman.  I think it's feasible.

[Taryn74]

On 7/5/2018 at 12:31 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Hate to say it but half the time I can barely understand what Bushmaster says. He could ease up on the accent a bit, IMO.

So was Bushmaster putting Luke through some kind of initiation rite for the fraternity of bulletproof guys in Harlem? That was an odd scene.

I have to turn on the cc every time he's on the scene.  Just can't make everything out otherwise.

I think the scene where he was breathing in that....whatever it is and then sparring with himself while watching the video of Luke and his dudes fighting was supposed to indicate that he's learning Luke's moves and how to counter them?  I don't know.

[AgentRXS]

On 6/23/2018 at 7:07 PM, mxc90 said:

Was that Mariah's plan to tell Tilda the club is her's and instead give it to Luke to make her evil? 

I believe so. Mariah spent all her time looking down on the Stoke family business and Mariah (and rightly so!). This was Mariah's way of turning her into a Stokes after all. I had to LOL at Tilda's reaction to the will. She wanted nothing to do with the family business but had the nerve to be put out when Mariah left her nothing but Cornell's keyboard? Bish please.

I loved this season and will miss Mariah, even though I understand why she had to go.  I only hated that Luke actually took ownership of the club. I have no desire to see the superhero go dark/into the belly of the beast to try to change things from the inside--I already saw Angel Seasons 4 & 5 once, and that was enough.

Bushmaster was 10x a better villain than Diamondback. Luckily, I used to work in (2) Jamaican owned/operated offices in my life, so I had no trouble understanding the patois.

It will be interesting to see where Season 3 goes from here, if it gets picked up. Tilda is no Mariah so they better find someone good and charismatic to replace Alfre Woodard.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 6/28/2018 at 9:47 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Luke was just jinxing himself by daring people to come for him and saying that no one can hurt him. Don't do that, Luke!

Yea, in a world where mind control, magic and Ant-man all exist, bragging about how you are bullet proof seems kind of dumb and not that great a power by comparison. Like could Ant-man shrink down and punch Luke directly in the brain. For that matter what would happen if someone used mind control on Luke and made him punch himself?

[Taryn74]

Is it wrong that I kinda love Piranha?  If it is, I don't wanna be right.  I was really upset when I thought Luke wasn't going to get to him in time.

 

On 6/24/2018 at 2:30 PM, peridot said:

It was also good to see Bushmaster's uncle call him out on his brutality and how that could impact other Jamaican-Americans.
I'm worried about the uncle now, since Mariah knows the Bushmaster's main hangout.

Agreed.  I liked that the uncle made it clear he still loved his nephew, but he wasn't going to sugarcoat that what he's doing is wrong and it effects far more than just himself.  I felt more genuine "family first, always" from him than I ever have Mariah.  She just uses people, even her own family, for her own gains.

I hope the uncle and aunt stay safe.  I really like them.

[The Kings Foot]

I just want to say I'm surprised Vybz Cartel's "bullet proof" or Bounty Killa's "bullet proof skin" didn't make it into the series. They used an entirely pre 2000 set list for the Jamaican music. 

[Taryn74]

I'm going to stop liking people on this show.  As soon as I do, they're marked for death.  First Piranha, now the uncle and auntie just trying to run a legit business and make their way here.  I'm sure Tilda will be toast before the season ends, too.

Mariah passed the point of no return a long time ago, but damn.  She has lost anything resembling humanity.  I hope Shades is playing a really long con here and ends up putting her down for good.

On 6/26/2018 at 10:49 PM, Cthulhudrew said:

The heck with Claire; Turk is the real thread holding the Netflix MCU titles together.

Heh.  As soon as Luke said he knew right where to find a rat, I perked up.  I knew Turk was coming!  Love Turk.

[PsychoDrone]

How is that the henchmen haven't caught on yet? Really tired of these guys attacking Luke with knives, crowbars, and/or regular guns like they don't know about him. It's really stupid. Would be nice to see one, or all, of them just back down when he steps to them. What sense does it make to risk bodily harm against someone that is a known powered individual. Seeing it over and over again is the show just being ridiculous.

[Taryn74]

9 minutes ago, PsychoDrone said:

How is that the henchmen haven't caught on yet? Really tired of these guys attacking Luke with knives, crowbars, and/or regular guns like they don't know about him. It's really stupid. 

Well, we did have those guys in the first (or second?) episode say they had to show they at least tried to fight back, when Luke scoffed 'Really?' at them.

[Taryn74]

Dear Diary, 

Today I empathized with Bushmaster, and rooted for him to kill a woman and put her head on a spike.  Not sure what that says about me.

[ribboninthesky1]

The Claire/Luke argument just emphasized Mike Colter's weakness as an actor.  I keep imagining Mahershala Ali in the role, and what he would do with the character.  The miscast really drags down the show, because Colter just wasn't meant for this.  I don't know what the casting people were thinking with him, and Theo Rossi as Shades.  They're turrible. 

On a positive note, the dialogue seems much more natural, and the music still rocks.     

[Taryn74]

Wow.  Season started off extremely slow, but then took off and kept me guessing all the way up to the end!

Not gonna lie, I'm very intrigued by Luke taking the role of boss of the crime lords.  I think he's finally starting to understand the kind of hero Harlem really needs.  As long as he can keep his head and keep from becoming corrupted by it, I have faith he'll be okay and will actually do some good.

I think he sent Claire away because he knew she would never listen to him if he tried to explain his decision to her, and it's best to just leave her cut out of his life than try to reason with her.

I would be way more confused about Tilda's abrupt about-face if it weren't for the comic book post in the S02E13 thread.  (I know nothing about the comics, but that hair is a dead giveaway even if they had never used the word Nightshade LOL.)  Makes perfect sense now!  I'm intrigued to see where her character goes if we get a S3.

As brutal as Bushmaster's methods were, it is nice to see he was a man of his word.  Once the last Stokes had paid for the sins of the family, he was done.  I could really see his side of the story by the end.  He was a way more compelling villain than Diamondback ever thought about being.

I love that DW is opening the barber shop back up and keeping Pop's 'Switzerland' legacy alive.  Also love that he had the cajones to kick Luke and Sugar out for talking shop, ha.

Re: ages.  I had always assumed Mariah was in her early 60s but I'm guessing she's supposed to be more like mid- to late- 50s, and Bushmaster in his mid- to late- 40s.  There's just no way in those flashbacks that she's 15+ years older than Johnny/Bushmaster, it's more like 10 at the most.  And from the flashbacks (labeled 'mid 80s' and then 'two years later') and the date on the ballistics report on Uncle Pete (1987) it seems like Mariah was in her very early 20s when she got pregnant with Tilda (obviously in late 1986 or early 1987) which would put Tilda at around age 30 now.  That lines up well enough.  I guess I'll just have to fanwank that a hard life has made Mariah look ten years older than she really is, heh.

[bloodstar]

It makes me really upset to say that I disliked everything about the episode. It left such a sour taste in my mouth I can't even bring myself to try to watch episode 2. 

 

The dialogue was trite and cliched in several spots, and I mean bad high school English class level of trite and cliche. the sex scene was pointless and jarring, there wasn't even a juxtaposition with another event to justify going PG-13 sexytime (Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with nudity and/sex in a show, i think Altered Carbon  was *fantastic* and it was an extremely hard R, but there needs to be a point and reason, and I do count naked sword fighting as a valid reason lol).

 

The characters seemed like two dimensional cutouts as opposed to actually having nuance. I know, you can't please everyone, but wow. I felt like subtly was ignored for the sledgehammer of *do you see what were setting up?* 

 

Finally, Lucy Liu's directing was disappointing, maybe I'm just over thinking it, but it seemed like so many scenes were padded with silence and motionless characters.

I loved season 1 of Luke Cage, and I am sure I will try to watch episode 2 at some point, but right now. Just no. :(

[Taryn74]

S2 took about 3 - 4 episodes to really start warming up for me.  I feel you!  Ended up MUCH better than S1 IMO though, glad I stuck it out.

[PsychoDrone]

I'm not sure what to say about this season. Better than the first, but not really hard to do considering the stupidity of Diamondback. I really would have liked if Infinity War had affected things. Now THAT would have been an ending. Unfortunately, we have Luke as a "crime" lord. What happened to burning Harlem's Paradise to the ground?

These series need to be less episodes. Thirteen is too many. It always includes too much filler or artificially lengthening the shows to get to the magic 13. A better, tighter story could be told in 10 or less episodes.

[TV Diva Queen]

On 7/6/2018 at 12:35 AM, Taryn74 said:

I wish I could figure out what it is that makes this show so draggy.  The characters are interesting enough, (most of) the actors are engaging, the storylines are interesting enough (on paper) . . . but every episode I feel like I'm being dragged through quicksand just to get through it.  I find myself checking the time left about 15 minutes into each episode.  I sometimes have to even pause it and go do something else halfway through.  :/

Grandma next door was the highlight of the episode!

I hear ya.....last night I was on epi 9 or 10 and it was dragging on and on and I checked the TV to see if I fell asleep and Netflix jumped ahead a couple episodes.  Nope.  I was awake and it was a real long ass hour.  

[millennium]

Theo Rossi groping Alfre Woodard's 65-year-old ass.   Just no.   I know his character was in prison but ...

[millennium]

This series is even worse than the last one.   Good God, how much Alfre Woodard are they going to shove down our throats?  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Thomas Q. Jones discusses S2 of Luke Cage:

[TV Diva Queen]

I just wiki'd Rosalie and it IS Annabella Sciorra.  At times I was catching her distinct voice but then when I'd look at her, I wasn't 100% convinced.  We all age, but I had a hard time placing her.

[AKA...CJ86]

Well as discount bin as Misty's arm was compared to her MCU brethren, it was still awesome.

Go ahead Luke, off Piranha, I'll look the other way.

Bushmaster publicly airing Mariah's dirty laundry/dealings... she's got some 'splainin' to do.

This was the first episode I thought was a chore to get through... until the last minutes.

[millennium]

The Marvel series are getting progressively worse.   These stories could be wrapped up in a two-hour movie but instead they're being padded out to fill 13 hours.  And it's not working.  

I will never watch another Luke Cage episode.  I will never again watch anything featuring Alfre Woodard either.

I got the feeling that Rosario Dawson bailed on the production midway, or maybe had a better project to work on, because Luke not telling Claire to go home to her face was a major fail from a dramatic standpoint.   I suspect they had to do it because Rosario simply wasn't available.

Really, just one of the worst things I've seen this year.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 6/25/2018 at 1:48 PM, Unclejosh said:

Yeah the closed captioning just translates it which is weird.

If they are going to be translating it, which I do appreciate, why not make it subtitles rather than making it so I have to turn on the captioning everytime Bushmaster is on screen.

The fight was nice, although Luke grunting "can't move" was super corny.

Also someone refresh my memory, who did Shades throw off the roof?

[ruby24]

I agree that the Mariah/Shades stuff was really, really awful. Those two actors did NOT want to be kissing each other, it was so uncomfortable to watch over and over again.

I don't know what was going on with Alfre Woodard on this show, because I've definitely seen her be great in stuff before, but there was something so off about her performance in this. She seemed off balance somehow. Like physically, even. Whoever said she reminded him of a drunk person is correct.