What I’m Watching: Luke Cage

Luke Cage: Season 1, Episode 4 “Step in the Arena” (B)

This was an origin story episode if ever there was one, getting back to the first day that Luke, then Carl Lucas, arrived in prison. The hair on his face and on his head didn’t look particularly real, but that’s part of what makes him seem like a completely different person. The guard with a sadistic obsession with making him miserable by forcing him to fight or watch those he cares about be hurt felt like a familiar character, which just suggests that I’ve watched too many prison-themed television series and movies. After Luke got beaten up the first time and thrown in solitary, he was ready to get his revenge, but it wasn’t until he got thrown into the tank by the experimenting prison doctor that he was imbued with his unbreakable exoskeleton, a formidable event that allowed him to literally punch his way out of the prison. That served as an appropriate transition to him in the present saving Connie from certain death and severe limb impairment, carving a miraculous path to safety. Misty greeted him with appropriate reverence, and she’s onto him even though he’d rather just put on his hood and disappear into the night. Reva was painted as truly insightful, sensitive, and caring in the way that she helped Luke in prison, and seeing them on the outside after he broke out was one of the first times Luke hasn’t seemed so lonely. Unfortunately, anyone who has seen “Jessica Jones” knows that things don’t work out well for her.