Luke Cage - General Discussion

[brickton]

I was so excited when Misty got shot in the arm, which yea, that sounds wrong, but BIONIC ARM!! Only to be bitterly disappointed that Claire saved it. You're too damn good Claire, I wanted a robo arm. 

[Slider]

So no bionic arm?! WTF?! I swore up and down once Claire mentioned Misty's artery had been nicked that she was losing the arm, only to get a present from Tony Stark.  Damn, I was looking forward to that.

And yes, @Tarasme, it was an Iron Fist easter egg - the flyer said Colleen Wing! YAY!

[Slider]

Mariah had me really confused at the rally - "The cops are out of control - they beat up a kid!" AND "Luke Cage is out of control, we need to arm the cops!" What?  Talk about a mixed message.

[DearEvette]

So that is Diamondback?  Not impressed at all so far.  This guy is supposed to be some major crime lord with a group of minions at his beck and call and he is acting like some over emotional fool. I think it would have been smarter if this actor had been cast as Cottonmouth and Mahershala Ali had been Diamondback.  He seems like he would have made a better fuck up.  I also hate that everything seems to come down to daddy issues.  Sigh.

Oh Misty, you disappointed me here.  You are usually so smart and yet you did everything really dumbly this episode. The writing for her this ep gave me whiplash.  She knows Claire was with him so why is she making such noises about bringing him in?  The gloves are evidence but they can be argued as circumstantial. And there was no reason to take her frustration out on Clare, because that is what it surely was. At first I wondered if she was playing to her boss knowing she was watching.  But then she seemed to snap out of whatever fugue she was in when her boss opened the door.

And then there is  Candace -- how smart is it to not allow your "eye witness" to actually give a statement?  Whipping her out of there so fast actually casts suspicion on her.

But the real kicker is how the heck does one just walk it off from a punch from Luke Cage?  Diamondback must have some reinforced bones himself because the man manages to remain remarkably upright after being punched by Luke, falling from a balcony and bouncing off those hard ass theater chairs and then being flung hard bodily against a  supporting column.  He should have been out!

Also this inspector is a caricature of a hard ass police. Misty's comment "You let your soror skee wee on out of here."  made me chuckle.   So Mariah and the Inspector are both AKAs.  Heh.  Misty imbued that comment with a lot of disdain a college athlete might feel against a sorority.  Perfect delivery. 

And finally, Shades thinks he is in charge and is controlling Mariah.  Fool have you met that woman?  She will turn on your ass too.  He may have said  "That's my girl" all condescendingly and shit, but he did not catch the way she cut her eye at him when he said it.   Naw, she is all about Harlem and black folks she is not going to let Shades pull her strings for long.

Even with my major frustration with this episode it was a mover that's for sure.  And it ended on a nice "Well, damn." moment.

[RainbowBrite]

23 minutes ago, Slider said:

Mariah had me really confused at the rally - "The cops are out of control - they beat up a kid!" AND "Luke Cage is out of control, we need to arm the cops!" What?  Talk about a mixed message.

I was hoping for the crowd to notice her conflicting statements, but I guess for the story's sake that couldn't' happen.

[Grace284]

The kissing in this episode brought to mind a movie I once watched where an alien, unfamiliar with human forms of affection, just licked a guy's face. And even that was less awkward than whatever Claire was trying to do.

[Grace284]

While I have to give it credit for some of the themes it tackled, this was a mess. The writing was often downright terrible ("a fire burns within", eeesh), but outside of a few great supporting characters, the acting didn't lift it. Mike Colter is okay, but didn't really bring anything interesting to the role and made other characters less interesting by proximity. The only time Claire really sparked like she did in Daredevil or Jessica Jones was when she was up against Misty. The attempts to create some kind of relationship between her and Luke was undermined by Rosario Dawson constantly looking like she was trying to end the conversation so she could catch a bus.

Misty was brilliant, as was Mariah. It's just a shame that once Mariah had the opportunity to become the complex villain of the piece, a cliched badly acted import from a low budget 90s WB show kept jumping in front of the camera for attention. I thought Shades was bad, but Diamondback was ridiculous. It's fitting that he kept referring to Justin Hammer, an equally irritating waste of screentime.

I get there's only so much you can do with a guy whose powers consist of throwing things and turning his back, but the action scenes were particularly dull. The endless fight in the last episode was woeful. And calling attention to how silly the villain looks doesn't make the whole thing any less silly.

It's a shame, it started really well, and while the pacing in the Marvel shows has always suffered over 13 episodes, this didn't even pick up towards the end. It just dragged to an awkward halt.

[DearEvette]

Not my favorite ep of the series at all. Diamondback remains a weakness to me. Mariah, otoh, is still scary.

The cops remain dumb, except Misty. Really people?  A guy takes the time to wear a hoodie to hide his face but then screams out his name after killing cop?  The same guy who  after being caught on video specifically NOT killing two other cops, in fact he protected one with his own body.

Claire is cool. So bad to find out Reva saw Luke as just an experiment and was playing him.  

[AimingforYoko]

I agree with most of the criticisms of the final third. Trading Cottonmouth for Diamondback was the worst trade since Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio. And I liked Erik LaRay Harvey as Dunn Purnsley in Boardwalk Empire.

The women were the best part of the series, Simone Missick, Alfre Woodard and Rosario Dawson were the co-MVPs.

[zxy556575]

Not sure why but I thought Reva as Pop's niece? I did take "Reva's people" as being literal truth, but maybe Luke meant it in the honorary family sense.

[Primetimer]

We would take a bullet for you, but please stop asking us to.

View the full article

[Joimiaroxeu]

I couldn't get all the way through Jessica Jones and the first episode of Luke Cage had me kinda iffy. After this episode I'm in.

[Primetimer]

Luke vanquishes his foes, except for the institutional memory of the United States penal system, in the season finale.

View the full article

[blueray]

Quote

Misty charging into the interrogation room accusing Mariah of killing the witness, ruining any chance at all of her confessing and leading to her immediate release...  Although yeah said immediate release was still total unbelievable BS that is not like how things actually work in the real world.

I really think that was really dumb that Misty didn't have her in costody. She should have also had more evidence before she could arrest her. And if that was that case one thing with the witness wouldn't let Mariah out, as there is more proof that she is guilty of something.

I didn't like Demondback and was disappointed that he was getting what happened to Luke. I was really hoping someone would kill him.

[Fiftyninth]

God, did I love Koko's speech about the book he was reading. 

[thuganomics85]

Luke has now been fixed and back to being bulletproof, although the downside is that he finds out that Reva had lied to him about what really happened at Seagate, so now Luke thinks he never really knew the real Reva.  Oh, Luke.  Anyway, he and Claire take a quick trip to Georgia (?), and find his dad's old church, and suddenly remembers that Diamondback/Stryker really is his brother, or half-brother, since his dad had an affair with his secretary, who was Stryker's mom.  Family issues, man!

Meanwhile, Diamondback creates a nifty glove that gives him super strength, and uses it to kill a cop and make everyone (but Misty) think Luke is just wondering around, killing cops.  Mariah equally jumps in on that and uses this as not only a way to turn Harlem against Luke, but maybe even convince to cops to buy Diamondback's Judas bullets.

What are you up to, Burstein?!

Loved Mariah's reference to Jessica Jones and Kilgrave.

[blueray]

Daredevil still remains my favorite. Something about the characters and the story was still the best. I love that Matt for the most part had two worlds, the one where dresses up and beats people up and one where he is a law biding citizen. Maybe I just like a typical superhero show.

As for Luke Cage I generally did like it, however I feel like the brother's reason for being a vilian was really weak. His dad paid more attention to Carl, so what that wasn't his fault. And it sounds like he wasn't a great father to him either. I feel like sending your brother to jail is a enough of a revenge (well still way overkill). I didn't get why he was going through so much trouble to find him and ruin his new life. And it wasn't to find out about his powers or something, because he already could access money to get that suit. I liked how much Claire was in it and her storyline with Luke. And I liked that a woman became a crime boss, it was different to see.

Jessica Jones, I honestly quit after a few episodes. I did not like the tone of this show. So I can't really say if it was good or not, just not my thing.

Edited October 8, 2016 by blueray

[spaceytraci1208]

Just finished this ep...still enjoying the show for the most part, except Diamondback is annoying and Shades still has yet to be interesting lol. Looking forward to Luke recovering and whooping major ass again

*Edited to add* and I was mad they had The Delfonics in those matador outfits for their performance lol

Edited October 9, 2016 by spaceytraci1208

[WendyCR72]

Sigourney Weaver has joined Netflix's The Defenders (and was joined by Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, and other Marvel show leads at NY Comic Con).

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, I was hoping there would be more to Diamondback's hatred to Luke other then their daddy issues, but that seems to be the main factor. Well, I guess it is kind of interesting that his first kill was self-defense in juvi, and that is what made him serve hard time and truly turn to a life of crime, but they kind of glossed all that over in his big speech.  I'm still wondering what his endgame is because there is still enough witnesses that should be able to prove Luke's innocent.  I guess he's just hoping all the confusion and discovery will give him more time?

Misty and Claire teaming up and kicking Shades' ass , was awesome.  Glad to see them on a united front, compared to their last meeting!  Claire also crushing Shades glasses was a nice touch.

Fun seeing Blake Tower make an appearance!  Along with Inspector Riley name-dropping Frank Castle!

So, the cops now have those guns/bullets that can hurt Luke, so he has to surrender.  Yeah, I have a feeling something bad is going to happen concerning those guns.  Someone even worse will likely get their hands on them.

[thuganomics85]

The Method Man cameo was great.  I love that not only was he simply playing himself, getting held-up and Luke saving him, but he also ends up giving him a new hoodie to hide from the cops, and takes to the airwaves to praise, and hopefully be one of the catalysts to making Harlem support Luke again.  Ha!  Also liked them getting Sway in there too.

Candace is finally telling Misty the truth, but Mariah's assistant tailed her, so I'm sure things are going to end very badly.

For a second, I actually thought they might kill Shades, but I should have known he'd find someway to get out of a near impossible situation.  This is what Diamondback gets for not just taking care of it himself, and outsourcing it to a cocky bastard like Zip.  But now Shades and Mariah have become even closer and are working to bring him down, which even included working with Luke.  Crazy!

Oh, Domingo.  So much for thinking you would be one of those minor bad guys that survives season after season.

Turk's return was hilarious; especially getting trapped in the dumpster.  He really is just going to stay in Hell's Kitchen from now on, because even if he has to risk the occasional ass-kicking from Daredevil, it isn't anywhere close to as uncomfortable as this!

Diamondback has gotten himself a new suit that makes him look... goofy.  At least the show seems to be kind of acknowledging it by having Bobby Fish call him something along the lines of a "pimped-out Stormtrooper."  Anyway, Luke vs. Diamondback is finally happening.  Fight!  Fight!

[Actionmage]

I enjoyed the series immensely as I gobbled down the season in a day. Two days later, I re-watched the whole thing with the hubby.

I will be asking Santa for the soundtrack, definitely! Old school R&B with current hip hop and rap? And Sharon Jones sending us out on our melancholy way? Just right.

I was another hoping Claire was talking badass Foggy. He works at Hogarth's firm specifically to handle superhuman cases, so I think Luke fits the bill. I am also one of the embarrassed who hoped the gunfight at Harlem's Paradise was how she got her bionic arm. I'm sure there is mayhem in her future, so there can still be time for bionics later. *g*

I was so happy and impressed that Sonia Braga is Claire's mom! No wonder Claire turned out to be such a badass.  Also happy to see Sandra Sohn; she  was on Miami Vice the last time I saw her, I believe.

For me, while Willis was the more physical threat, Mariah was the eventual Big Bad. She managed to wiggle out of closed nets despite Misty's efforts.  I wonder when Mariah will turn against Shades/ Hernan, if she hasn't already started planning.

I was disappointed that Misty lost her cool at Mariah so soon after a) she was disciplined for the same  and b) another cop was caught and disciplined for actually beating on a kid! Yeah, the tech guy actually could have waited. His information was important, but if he'd bothered to listen in on the session, he would have realized that Mariah willingly taking a deal was better than breaking the flow of the detective and Inspector's interrogation.

The main folks we are supposed to care about, I mostly did.  Pops and Bobby Fish, Misty, Patricia and Lonnie, Aisha, Genghis Connie and her husband, Turk and, of course, Luke himself.  Claire I liked since Daredevil S1, so I didn't need to have to like her, as I already did.  I was saddened for Luke as he kept finding out Reva had never really told him The Truth. Still? I think Reva did love him and Dr. Burstein is a cynical ass who wouldn't believe Reva actually could love someone, especially someone she could be sending to their potential death. ( Btw, sloppiest hard drive breaking, ever! I know, I know...plot contrivance.)

I loved that Scarfe, while dirty as Pigpen, was one of the best detectives in the department.

I think I enjoyed this slightly more than Jessica Jones, but they are 1a and 1b. Not that I wasn't thrilled with Daredevil, but while I enjoyed season 1 of that show, Season 2 was mixed and Matthew had personal troubles, I wasn't as fond of him as I was in Season 1. With that said, though, I find the Netflix shows more entertaining than a lot of current TV/cable/web shows.

Soooo...they're filming Season 2 of Luke, right? XD

[Actionmage]

I loved Misty and Simone Messick was wonderful as the detective.  I look forward to more Misty on Netflix. ::crosses fingers for Daughters of the Dragon, if Colleen is as wonderful as Misty::

[Sakura12]

Marvel does have something for everyone, some people liked Daredevil better, some people liked Jessica Jones and some people like this one. 

For me it's Jessica Jones, Daredevil, then Luke Cage. This show took me about as long to finish as the first season of Daredevil. I finished Jessica Jones in 3 days. I guess the theme of that show just got to me and I really appreciated that they tackled it. I also loved Jessica Jones, she's my favorite character in Marvel TV verse. I'm also one that liked Daredevil S2 better than S1. Probably because I'm not a big Matt fan so I liked seeing the Punisher and Elektra. 

As for this show I was somewhat enjoying the first half and while Cottonmouth wasn't a new type of villain, I liked Mahershala Ali performance. Diamondback was to one note for me and his focus on the second half brought the show down for me. I love Claire like always and I'm glad she had a bigger part then she had in JJ and DD. I also loved she got called the Night Nurse. Don't know how I feel about her and Luke hooking up even though they do in the comics. I just don't want a triangle since in the comics Luke and Jessica are married with a kid. 

Misty grew on me as the series progressed and I loved seeing her and Claire beat up Shades. I liked that there was no jealousy between them either. I didn't like that stupidity that got Candice killed. She should've brought her in for police protection. The final fight was kind of lame and that's why you sometimes have to kill the bad guy. Otherwise he'll keep coming back and now maybe with superpowers. One of the things I liked about Jessica Jones is they weren't afraid to have their hero kill. Someone like Killgrave would never face any kind of trial, he'll just mind control is way out of it. He had be stopped.  I wonder if the Punisher would get along with Jessica? 

However I am really looking forward to the Defenders and I get we are establishing these heroes individually first but I was really hoping for me actual crossovers between the shows other than name dropping and minor characters. 

[Boundary]

Jessica didn't really want to kill until Kilgrave forced the issue. I actually think the Punisher might find Luke to his liking - Luke Cage would be way less judgemental about killing the baddies than Matt Murdoch. 

Beyond the 4 Defenders though, I actually think the supporting characters make these shows. Now that it's going beyond fun cameos, there's lots of value in countless rewatching. When Blake Tower showed up, I struggled to recall whether he was a baddie/corrupt until he confirmed he was against Mariah's plan.

[Kate47]

I feel like that biggie portrait in Cottonmouth's officewas strategically placed. It's like one of those portraits where instead instead of the eyes following you no matter where you are in the room, the crown somehow lands directly on the person who is in power.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Kate47

[DearEvette]

Son of Preacher Man?  Really show?  Isn't that a bit too much on the nose?

The way that Diamondback talks about his mother and father's relationship verges on the inappropriately creepy.

I like loopy on blood loss Misty.  And Loved her and Claire's scenes including their ass kicking of Shades.

So Candace is alive and Shades in is custody. What will prevent either one of them from discrediting Mariah?

Glad to see Misty's boss finally getting a clue.  But damn, did not one test fire these "experimental" bullets to at least see why they would hurt Luke Cage?  Does Mariah really have that much pull with the NYPD to get them some shady ordnance?

It may not seem like it, but I did like this episode, it was tense and it moved. But I think I'd've liked this a lot more if there was another actor playing Diamondback.  He feels like the weak link in so far a very good chain of casting and acting on the show.  He is overdoing it.  Chewing scenery and not in a good way.  And he doesn't come off as menacing or scary just eye-roll crazy.

I actually think the idea of framing Luke is a good one and it works on some level.  But it requires so many implausible elements that it makes the execution really clunky.

[Kel Varnsen]

On ‎2016‎-‎10‎-‎08 at 2:41 AM, thuganomics85 said:

Loved Mariah's reference to Jessica Jones and Kilgrave.

I liked that although a reference to Iron Man and The Hulk destroying a whole section of a city in Age of Ultron would have worked better for me.

Also how does Stryker make money selling those bullets? I thought that was Justin Hammer tech. Why would he be selling weapons to cops using a gangster as a middleman?

Lastly I guess the wound in Luke's stomach was forgotten about to save time?

[thuganomics85]

Weird finale.  Unlike the rest of the Netflix shows, this seemed to be more depressing and kind of left a lot more lose thread opened compared to the norm.  Sure, Diamondback was defeated (even thought is sure look like he's Burstein's next "experiment"), but Mariah gets away with it and now owns Paradise, and Luke is getting hauled back to Seagate.  I guess Bobby Fish finding the folder will end up springing him eventually, but I wonder how long they are going to drawl out that part.  Or will it all be taken care of come Defenders time?

Also, the Luke/Claire kiss was going on so long and shot so awkwardly, I thought for sure something strange was going down.  But, nope, I guess it was just their first and final kiss for the season.

I like Misty, but as soon as she saw that her phone was missing, she should have called Claire's house and give Candace an update or something. She was way too important to not check in.  And then after finding out what happened, barging in and yelling at Mariah certainly isn't helping matters.  It seems like she's buying into Luke's "you can't trust the system!" spiel, but a lot of the mistakes were just on her, sadly.

Claire talking about how she knows a lawyer was great, although I wonder if she was referring to Matt or Foggy.

I'll probably say more once I get around to the All Episodes thread.

[dwmarch]

On 10/4/2016 at 1:54 AM, RachelKM said:

Oh, and I really hope the lawyer Claire kept referring to is Foggy. Matt was a total shit show during Daredevil S2 and she better than anyone knows he is likely to continue to be distracted. 

I was hoping the same thing but apparently Luke Cage takes place just before S2 of Daredevil so Claire and Foggy haven't had that moment together in which he talks down a bad guy at the hospital.

http://www.cbr.com/charlie-cox-reveals-where-luke-cage-falls-in-the-marvelnetflix-timeline/

[thuganomics85]

Overall, I enjoyed it more then I expected (found Luke alright, but kind of dull on Jessica Jones), but I did find myself vastly preferring the first half compared to the second half, because I found Cottonmouth to be way more of a compelling villain then Diamondback.  Mahersala Ali was just captivating in the role, and I loved the twisted relationship the character had with Mariah.  Ali and Alfre Woodard were fantastic together.  As for Diamondback, I really liked Erik LaRay Harvey on Boardwalk Empire, but I just his performance one-not and over-the-top.  Granted, the writing really didn't do him any favors at times, between the campy dialogue and cliched backstory.

I thought Mike Colter was decent in the lead role and didn't embarrass himself, because he was still not as interesting at the past Netflix leads or the supporting cast.  Claire was awesome as always and Misty too, when she wasn't letting her temper get the better of her and messing things up.  

Even though he was only in two episodes, Frankie Faison really shined as Pops.

So, I guess I'll likely put this behind Jessica Jones and both Daredevil seasons (although, interestingly, Daredevil S2 had similar problems with starting out strong with the Punisher, and then underwhelming with The Hand in the second half), but I still enjoyed this more then I expected.

[Sakura12]

This show takes after Daredevil Season 2 because Claire left the hospital when they covered up the reanimated ninja murders because they got a huge donation. She left to go back home to Harlem to see her mother. Which is where we picked up with her storyline on Luke Cage. 

However I would like the lawyer to be Foggy as well since he may be working for Jeri Hogarth, the person that Jessica Jones also kind of works with. It would also be good to have a PI with less rules to follow to investigate Luke's case. 

[tennisgurl]

All in all, I really enjoyed this, although of the three Marvel shows, its probably my least favorite. 

I thought Mike Colter was a solid Luke Cage. He was likable and managed to handle the emotional stuff as well as the action stuff. I also thought he had good chemistry with Rosario Dawson, and their scenes were always good. 

I liked most of the supporting cast. I ended up liking Shades a lot more than I expected to, Pops made a big impression in only a few episodes, Misty could kind of irritate with her tendency to let her temper get the best of her, but I liked her overall (even though she still has both her arms! What the hell?), and I am looking forward to seeing her pop up more in the MCU. Claire is always awesome, and can do no wrong. Everything is better with more Claire. 

I thought Mariah was a great character, as was Cottonmouth. They were both great villains, and had such a complex relationship with each other. Especially Cottonmouth. He is probably one of my favorite MCU TV villains yet. At first, I thought killing him off would lead to some interesting stories, but...it lead us to Diamondback. Oy. Diamondback was kind of funny as a bad guy at first, but then he just became annoying. I just had no idea what his deal was. I could understand the motives of most all of the other villains, but Diamondback/Willas was just so freaking petty. He wants to destroy Luke because...Daddy liked him best? Not really scary, just an asshole. He was crazy over the top, spent most of his time muahahahahing all over the place, and his plans kind of sucked. I mean, punching a guy to death was screaming "I`m Luke Cage bitches!" all over the place? Thats your big plan? He just seemed like such a whiny loser. Not compelling, not funny, just a waste of screen time. 

I really loved the look and soundtrack of the show. It had a retro 70s kind of vibe that worked really well for the character. 

The second half of the season really dragged, mainly because we were stuck with the Diamondback stuff. Still, there was good stuff all throughout. Much like with JJ, this show could do with some stand alone episodes, instead of dedicating the whole season to one plot.

Looking forward to the Defenders...as long as that Pimp Stormtrooper never shows back up!

Edited October 10, 2016 by tennisgurl

[Maysie]

I thought the season started strong but ran out of gas by the end. I much preferred Cottonmouth to Diamondback (and it may be the acting that accounts for that) and characters that I liked or enjoyed watching seemed watered down or something by the final episode. By the end, I was wondering how both Misty and Mariah were so successful at their chosen careers because they didn't seem all that together to me. Mariah was all over the map over how she wanted to proceed in regards to Luke, Cottonmouth and Diamondback. I swear at some points if she'd had a mustache she'd have been twirling it, but at other times she appeared to have twinges of conscience. Misty is a successful detective who "sees" things in her crime scenes and could work anywhere in Manhattan, according to one of her co-workers, yet she's not smart enough to protect her key witness? But she evidently has some amazing healing powers because her arm looked to have no ill effects of a major gun wound.

Every time they did a long shot of Mariah, my husband cringed because he got tired of seeing her smartly dressed but with her dowdy little flat shoes. I said "she's a busy politician - people to see, people to threaten! Mariah can't wear heels all day!" but on a purely superficial perspective, I did kind of get his point. It was a bit of a letdown to see this successful, polished woman and then we cut back to see her all but padding around in her isotoner slippers like she just got off work. Maybe it was a way to show us that Mariah is practical beyond anything else.

I liked the show but I think I would have liked it more if they had cut out an episode or two - trim the fat so to speak - and tightened it up. The final episode felt forced, a bit like there were loose ends that had to be tied up right away, and plot points and character traits were dropped or changed to fit the endgame.

[Maysie]

I guess I didn't mind the overall plot developments in the final episode (Luke goes to jail, Mariah gets a reprieve and Diamondback is going to be a potentially indestructible villain - a good set up for the next season) but it felt like it was thrown together without much thought. I can't get around the fact that it's almost like Misty wasn't seriously injured 24 hours earlier. It's hard to accept that she lost her phone and didn't report it (which, really???) or that she was so careless with her most important witness. I understand they needed to kill Candace to advance the plot, but it made Misty look especially foolish. I think the writers/showrunners need to keep that in mind when they're writing for regular characters. My expectations of Misty are much lower now and much of that is because they sacrificed her to advance the story.

[jah1986]

47 minutes ago, Maysie said:

 

Every time they did a long shot of Mariah, my husband cringed because he got tired of seeing her smartly dressed but with her dowdy little flat shoes. I said "she's a busy politician - people to see, people to threaten! Mariah can't wear heels all day!" but on a purely superficial perspective, I did kind of get his point. It was a bit of a letdown to see this successful, polished woman and then we cut back to see her all but padding around in her isotoner slippers like she just got off work. Maybe it was a way to show us that Mariah is practical beyond anything else.

I totally get this, every time I saw her in her flats it seemed very realistic but it took me out of the scene for a minute.  After all, she's not a twenty-something to be running around the city in heels but the aesthetic is not what we as a viewing audience are used to. It made me laugh every time I saw it.

[ribboninthesky1]

4 hours ago, Maysie said:

I understand they needed to kill Candace to advance the plot, but it made Misty look especially foolish. I think the writers/showrunners need to keep that in mind when they're writing for regular characters. My expectations of Misty are much lower now and much of that is because they sacrificed her to advance the story.

I've thought this since episode 8. Misty went from a street-smart detective with sound instincts and connection to the community she serves to a barely competent, can't-keep-her-emotions-in-check cop for no real reason.  I suppose that learning about Scarfe and watching him die was supposed to be the catalyst to her unraveling, but I didn't buy it.  The first few episodes of their interactions, Misty seemed one beat from annoyance with the man (this may have been my projection because I HATED the actor's line delivery).  Simone Messick completely saved the character for me, because the writers sure as hell didn't know what to do with her (or Reva or Ridley or Mariah, for that matter).  I'm not optimistic about the character's treatment in future productions. 

Edited October 10, 2016 by ribboninthesky1

[AKA...CJ86]

Going to miss Pop.

Favorite moments "Ladies first" and "I'm going back to Hell's Kitchen..."

...and really nailing the music..."Mesmerized"...

[benteen]

I enjoyed it and thought it finished strongly.  I like the dark aspect of the ending and like how Mariah really established herself as a villain at the end.

I've been critical of Mike Colter's acting.  I find his range limited as an actor (Cage shows next to no emotion when he's happy or angry) but thought he did a good job with the speech at the end.

Quote

Misty charging into the interrogation room accusing Mariah of killing the witness, ruining any chance at all of her confessing and leading to her immediate release...  Although yeah said immediate release was still total unbelievable BS that is not like how things actually work in the real world.

Missy really did fail as a cop several times as the show went on.  I got annoyed at her when she snapped at her partner for pulling her out of the interrogation room because she was too busy gloating and spiking the football in front of Mariah's face.  If she were a guy, I would say she was ****-swinging there.  I tend to agree that Mariah wouldn't have been just let out of the police station that quickly.

They really should have done the flashbacks between Luke and Diamondback a lot sooner.

[benteen]

I enjoyed this show and thought it was strong.  I liked Diamondback but hated seeing Cottonmouth go.  Figured Pops would get killed quickly but not after two episodes.  7 episodes in and they had already killed the two best characters.

I like Mike Colter and he works well in particular with his female co-stars.  But I find his range really limited as an actor.  He has literally one facial expression, which doesn't change whether Luke is happy or upset.

I liked Alfred Woodward a lot in this series and like how strong she finished, along with Shades.

I appreciated finding a way to get Luke into his classic comic book costume.

This show tied in more than I expected with the Marvel Universe.  Certainly didn't expect Justin Hammer weapons of all things to be brought up.

Rosario Dawson was great and I'm excited by her continued presence in the MCU and that she is going to start taking lessons from Colleen Wing (as seen at the end when she takes that strip of paper).

I tend to think that these shows don't all need to be 13 episodes.  I liked Luke Cage and loved Jessica Jones but the stories they told were really too small to spread out over 13 episodes.

Edited October 11, 2016 by benteen

[AgentRXS]

Quote

All the good people in Luke's life end up dying: Pops, Squabbles,

I just finished watching Oz on HBO, and I kept thinking "Oh, so that what's happened after Oz ended. Poet got transferred to another prison and is calling himself Squabbles now".  The actor aged pretty well, considering how long ago Oz ended.

I like the concept of this show, but the lead is really boring me. He's so wooden. But the series overall is interesting enough to keep me tuned in, and I'm here for whatever Alfre's got in store for this series.

[Spaceman Spiff]

On ‎10‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 11:00 PM, xqueenfrostine said:

I really enjoyed this series, but I was thoroughly underwhelmed by the Diamondback/Luke Cage fight.  It probably didn't help that I was underwhelmed by Diamondback as a villain.  He chewed the scenery a little too much, which isn't usually something the bothers me but it didn't feel like it fit with the rest of the cast.  I also didn't think he was as well developed as some of the other Marvel Netflix big bads.  

I completely agree. In the episode when Diamondback reveals himself and starts spewing about how daddy loved Carl best I just shook my head wondering if that truly was the motivation behind the character. I also found the supporting cast of villains underwhelming. Cottonmouth, Mariah, and Shades didn't have the impact like Fisk's Wesley, Madam Gao, Leland or the Russian brothers. I felt this was the weakest of the Marvel Netflix series. Enjoyable to an extent, but a let down mostly. The action sequences were muted as well, with Luke just walking and bullets bouncing off him while he is tossing people left and right.

[DearEvette]

This is my favorite of the Diamondback era episodes, largely because of everyone else. He remains a discordant note in the show for me. I mean the man wore a tomato colored coat! He's such a cartoon and that is saying a lot in a comic book tv show.  Damned poor man's Samuel L. Jackson.

I agree Method Man was great.  First the scene in the bodega was fun.  And then the scene with him, Sway, and Heather B talking about the power of the symbolism of a man like Luke Cage including the line in the rap about Trayvon  -- kinda got me in the throat.  It was a great scene.

Zip's swagger when he was man the man in charge for like 10 minutes was funny.  And then he got played.  Bye Zip.  You were an idiot.

Mariah and Shades' scheming is always good except when it just doesn't work out.

Edited October 11, 2016 by DearEvette

[BetterButter]

Luke Cage: Family Matters

[maczero]

Best ep so far!  Really enjoyed the flashbacks.  I agree Colter comes across as wooden but at least this ep gave him more to work with.  Also I can see why Reva was the love of his life.  

[Kel Varnsen]

I also just remembered, the funniest part of the episode. During the rally someone was holding up a sign that said something like "the only super freak we like is Rick James".

[AKA...CJ86]

Why Chico...?  Every time I love someone my favorite shows take them away...

Should have seen it coming as soon as Chico and Scarfe were alone...

This episode really got thins moving.

Loving Mariah!

[Primetimer]

Somewhere out there, Reginald VelJohnson is smiling.

View the full article

[AndySmith]

Not bad. But I've seen better mash-ups.

[jah1986]

I don't watch a lot of mash-ups so I loved this one, it was a lot of fun.