Warning: SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED.
I've fallen behind in my binge watching of Marvel's Luke Cage, but today I decided to procrastinate even more by watching season 1, episode 6. Also, I said in my last review that I was most likely reviewing The Flash next, but clearly I was wrong. Let's get started.
If you don't know Marvel and its usual content, let's just say Luke Cage is a stark contrast. Marvel is known for generating vanilla movie after movie, 2-hour long films that mildly entertain us. But that's just it - they're merely mildly entertaining, and we move on. They're also known for being extremely boring and un-diverse in their casting choices - many of which I still personally want to fight the studio execs for. Casting a white woman to play an Asian man in Dr Strange? Really, Marvel, really?
But this is Luke Cage we're talking about. Set in Harlem, Luke Cage has a distinctly black tone, with a majority of its main and supporting cast being black. And frankly, I'm still surprised that Marvel, of all studios, created this. The same Marvel that has one token black man per film produced a show starring people of color. Like, there are literally one or two white people at max. Amazing.
Moving on to the actual plot - in this episode, Misty is heartbroken to find out her detective partner Scarfe has been corrupt this whole time. Scarfe is one of the few white people, by the way. Scarfe ends up being killed by the man he was secretly working for and the main villain of the season - Cornell Stokes, aka Cottonmouth. I think if you've watched the previous episodes and even the beginning of this one, his eventual death was foreshadowed quite clearly. I'm not sure how I feel about it, to be honest. I genuinely liked Misty and Scarfe's partnership/friendship, and was disappointed when we found out he was actually corrupt. I immediately stopped liking him then, but his death still stings a little. I'm mostly sad for Misty, who had known him for a long time.
The episode opened up with an audio of Trish Talk talking about Luke and his influence on Harlem. If you haven't watched Marvel's Jessica Jones, Trish Walker is Jessica's best friend and also hosts a radio show. It's pretty brief, but I thought it was a creative way to open the episode. Also, I miss you, Trish! Come back to me! But this isn't her show, so...moving on. The audio transitions to Cottonmouth's cousin and aspiring councilwoman Mariah, who knows about and has even (secretly, of course) contributed to her cousin's illegal activities. Luke watches and lets her know he doesn't trust her. Mariah questions, "Are you threatening me?" Again, not too long of a scene, but I filed it away as memorable.
Meanwhile, Claire Temple has returned to Harlem (YES!!!! I LOVE HER!!) and meets Luke for the first time since she took care of him in Jessica Jones. Their chemistry throughout the episode is very natural, and I'm excited to see where it goes. The first quarter transitions from Claire and Luke talking to Scarfe being shot and evading Cottonmouth's resources, and it was slightly confusing. The show does this thing where it abruptly changes scenes, and I end up having no clue what time of the day it's supposed to be, or how long something lasted. In my opinion, it's unnecessary and only serves to confuse.
Claire follows Luke back to the barbershop where they discover a severely injured Scarfe. Luke is understandably angry at Scarfe, and Claire is a sunshine for not asking questions and even staying to help. (Have I mentioned that I love her a lot?) Scarfe tells Luke that the evidence to turn Cottonmouth in is in his apartment, and Luke sneaks past Misty and her new partner (I forget his name already) to get in. He succeeds, but Misty still figures out that someone entered the building and narrowly misses Luke, who jumps out the window to escape.
Now this is where the episode gets clunky. The entire sequence of Luke returning to the barbershop and moving Scarfe to a safer location is very strange to me. Misty and the cops can track Luke closely enough to know he is going back to the barbershop, but still can't actually catch him? If they can see or even guess that he's going to the shop, how does it take them so long to actually get there? Also, why can't Luke shake them off? Couldn't he take a few wrong turns to mislead them? The whole setup was very off-putting to me.
Anyways, Cottonmouth's men end up getting there first, and because of them, Claire is unable to get Scarfe proper medical attention in time. He succumbs to his wounds from Cottonmouth, and Misty gets there just in time to see her long-time partner die. (Misty would've gotten there earlier, but her (corrupt) new partner was trying to distract her. Fortunately, Misty is a smart, badass detective, so she figures it out and tricks him into revealing his connections with Cottonmouth. That was a great scene.) While the acting is very good, the writing isn't. Scarfe is literally still able to walk, albeit poorly, and then all of a sudden he's dead? How is that possible? It just feels unrealistic to me.
At the same time this all goes down, Mariah is being interviewed by a reporter named Thembi. Thembi rightfully realizes that not all is what it seems with Mariah, and calls her out on the holes in her campaign. Seeing Mariah go from (relatively) relaxed to scared and cold is so satisfying. Things Thembi did: that. Mariah gets offended and kicks Thembi out of her house. Later on, when Cottonmouth gets arrested from Scarfe's evidence - turns out half the NYPD was corrupt as well - Thembi comes back and interrogates Mariah even more. Welp, Madam Councilwoman is screwed.
Overall, I felt that this episode was just as interesting as its predecessors. I can tell that Luke Cage will be one of those shows where it's impossible to not be interested. Yes, it did have its flaws, but I'm curious to see how Cottonmouth will be back on the streets again. After all, this is only the 6th episode out of 13. I'm a little scared to find out what he has up his sleeves.
Rating: 8
Extras that didn't make it in: In the beginning, Mariah was listing all the ways Luke could be taken out without using bullets, such as poison and drowning. That was funny, but it raises legitimate questions. Would those actually work? Why didn't Cottonmouth even bother attempting her suggestions? Also, Cottonmouth's temper sucks. It really does. I feel like he'd be more successful with his plan if he didn't overreact to every setback.
*My next review will probably actually be Monday's episode of Jane the Virgin! See you then!
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