Luke Cage, Season 1, Episode 13: You Know My Steez
Yeah we get a small chunk of the episode devoted to little Carl and little Willis learning how to box, about how the two are nice best buddies who got each other's backs, going off to fight some dude that bullied Carl. It came definitely too late in the story to have any real meaningful impact other than a weak attempt at juxtaposition between the punching in the past and the present. There's no real buildup to the relationship that Luke and Willis used to have as children, just Luke saying that "we were buddies as kids". There's no buildup between the tension of Willis being a bastard who's unloved by his biological father. There's just this flashback. And I think that's the biggest problem with Diamondback. Fleshed out properly, he would have been a good villain, a deeply personal one, but here it really felt like we could've squeezed in more exploration about who Diamondback really is as a person beyond the rambling rant to Boone.
There's a definite feel of trashing the set. We destroyed Harlem's Paradise two episodes ago, and now it's Pops' barbershop that got wrecked. After all the effort that Luke and Bobby went to restore it and get it back to their property, and the obvious meaning that it has for the local residents of Harlem, it's a bit heartbreaking, honestly. Diamondback notes that his Hammer-tech suit makes him an equal with Luke, and, well, Diamondback is just full-on offense and laying down attacks to Luke, who's barely fighting back.
In the chaos, Mariah is actually the most interesting piece of the puzzle. Having lost their folder and leverage over Luke in their hurried escape from two superpowered humans who both hate their guts, Mariah decides to take her own initiative and rescue herself the only way she can. She calls up Thembi, the reporter that roasted her earlier in the season, wanting to spin the story of her arrest in a way that's beneficial to her.
Luke and Diamondback's fight ends up going to the streets, witnessed by a lot of residents of Harlem, among them Lonnie (yay!) and Avengers Bootleg DVD dude, who's videotaping the whole shit. And it's definitely taking cheesiness and corniness to a whole new level. Claire leading the residents of Harlem in chanting Luke's name to show their support for the hero? Heartwarming. The crowd going "oooooooh" at every single punch like it's two kids in a schoolyard? Or the action taking a pause so one of the bystanders can go "man you gonna let that dude talk shit about your mother?" That's annoying. And honestly a bit disappointing, too, since the fight all amounted to just boring ol' fisticuffs. There is a bit where the ESU is ready to shoot Luke with Judas bullets the moment they have a clear shot, but with the crowd nearby that's obviously not going to happen.
The fight ends in a very disappointing way, like this is a Shonen Anime or something. There's some corny "I don't feed it hate" thing where Luke just passively takes the hits, weakening the suit, and then punching Diamondback really hard. Okay, when Diamondback was talking about the wrath of god and shit, he's definitely being metaphorical. And how does a suit even feed on hate? This is Hammer industries body armour, not some mystical enchanted armour imported from Asgard or something.
There's another moment where Luke isn't running anymore and is just staying voluntarily in NYPD, where they explain stuff to the police. It's a bit silly explaining the whole viral 'Luke throws a policeman' scene because the context still doesn't justify Luke throwing the dude a half a block away, but eh. There's a long, long speech about how Luke is a superhero and stuff. And yeah, I get that his big character conflict throughout the season was whether he should be a superhero, but did they need to craft that long of a speech? That said, it's still a lot more awesome than the fight that preceded it, and Luke Cage has the subtlety of a super-strong fist breaking down a brick wall, so I don't really have a problem with this bit.
It's just, y'know, Luke giving a long speech isn't as interesting as Mariah's wonderful, wonderful acting as she delivers a sob story about how she's so scared, about how this Diamond Jack dude threatens her to say that it's Luke Cage to the public. Misty shows off her detective skills, gloating to a suddenly shocked Mariah that, y'know, Misty Knight's Sherlock scans have revealed inconsistencies and rattles out just how Cottonmouth died. They even have a witness to prove it.
But Misty lost her phone during the scuffle (and she only notices now?), which was picked up by Shades, who tricked Candace into going out before Misty is ready for her. And in the middle of Misty's monologue to Mariah, she's interrupted by other policemen that, yeah, they found Candace's body, shot to death by Shades. And Mariah walks off scot-free since a dead person's testimony ain't worth shit, especially since Candace even admitted to taking money from Mariah, while all Misty has to show for her work is a dead civilian she failed to protect, and an admonishment for Priscilla for not trusting the system enough to recruit the NYPD for Candace's protection.
While Mariah walks away free as a lark, though, we get a pretty cool contrast where the hero of the story, Luke Cage, is confronted by the Seagate police right before 'making coffee' with Claire, who gets ready to arrest Carl Lucas. Misty, Claire and Priscilla are very ready to defend Luke, but Luke is done running and lets himself be arrested voluntarily because he's innocent and the truth will come out eventually.
The show's ending is very nicely bittersweet. Mariah, the villain, is free to restore Harlem's Paradise. Luke, the hero, gets arrested for something he didn't do, while Bobby is left to tidy up the wreckage of Pops' barbershop. There is, of course, hope and the promise of vengeance. Bobby found the files left behind by Shades that can prove Luke's innocence, and Claire promises to get the best lawyer (y'know, the blind one) to free Luke. Misty, dressed in a dress that looks like her comic book garb, remain watchful of Mariah and Shades as they celebrate in their throne in Harlem's Paradise. Claire picks up self-defense classes... okay? On the other hand... Burnstein, equipped with the infromation from Reva's drive, has access to Diamondback's unconscious form...
Overall the actual conclusion between Luke and Diamondback is very underwhelming, but the post-battle results are excellent. The surprising downer ending and where all the characters end up are all well done, and while I still think the season's very choppy in its second half, Mariah Dillard is absolutely well done and I would definitely watch the shit of a second season starring her in all her villainous glory. There's also plenty of setup for the Defenders, and with Claire having picked up her ticket to, well, literally the cast of Iron Fist, she's definitely going to be the one to bring together Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and maybe Misty Knight to form the Defenders. That's cool to look forward too, and hopefully that'll have better pacing than this series.
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