Take Three: Luke Cage

Luke Cage: Season 1, Episode 3 “Who’s Gonna Take the Weight?” (B)

I’m realizing more and more than this show is one that’s probably meant to be binge-watched like “Daredevil” since it’s an origin story in a lot of ways that takes plenty of time to develop and really get going. The one exception to that, of course, is that Luke was outed as the one who ripped off a car door to burst through another door and then used it as a shield from the gunfire coming his way. Cottonmouth’s response was to personally take the shot to blow up Luke’s home life, and I imagine that he’ll be pretty surprised to learn that Luke won’t be at all harmed by the major explosion. This episode was much less about action than it was about offering worldviews and perspectives on what justice is supposed to be. The most unfortunate revelation is that Rafael, after espousing the attitude that they should thank vigilantes for cleaning up the streets, is on Cottonmouth’s payroll and has no qualms about strangling a witness with his tie just when he’s really ready to talk. That explains his perception of cops as irrelevant, and it makes me very worried about Misty’s livelihood given these Marvel Netflix shows’ penchants for killing off major supporting characters during their freshman seasons. Misty is on to Luke, but that just means that she’s behind since apparently everyone else already knows his secret. You can tell that Luke is enjoying this a little bit, waving his enemies towards him to tempt him, though I imagine he’ll be much less positive about the endeavor going forward. I’m glad to see Mariah demonstrated some personality, letting Cottonmouth know that she’s in this just as much as he is.