Surprises are good. They shock us out of lethargy, keeps us on our toes and helps us not to get too complacent with things as everything we think we know gets suddenly reshuffled without any warning. If any show was in need of a surprise, it’s Luke Cage who, despite turning in solid episode after solid episode, rapidly feels like it’s running out of ideas. Well, prepare for the show to take a big swing to try and jerk itself off the path it’s on and attempt to be less predictable. However, in doing so, has it made the wrong decision?
For it’s first half, Luke Cage has been delivering a fun slice of neo-blaxploitation that’s given this side-section of the MCU some greatly needed diversity. Watching Mike Colter’s bulletproof black man stand up to organised crime with dignity and a seemingly never ending collection of hoodies has been a kick so far, but there was a feeling that Netflix’s old issues of pacing was in danger of having more of an effect on our unbreakable hero than a hollow point ever could. However, there’s that unshakable notion that the solution could prove to be more damaging than the problem.
It seemed that Luke Cage had finally scored a decisive victory in the battle for Harlem’s soul after the murder of crooked cop Detective Scarfe at the hands of Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes managed to get a pair of cuffs slapped on the wrists of the seemingly untoughable crimeboss. However, after sizable amounts of evidence are suddenly branded inadmissible, Cottonmouth is free to go, which negatively hits the morale of those who tried the hardest to put him away.
While Misty Knight now feels the eye of internal affairs settle on her due to her closeness to the duplicitous Scarfe, Luke Cage finds that Cottonmouth knows about his past life and could use it to send the former “Carl Lucas” back to Seagate Prison if he so chooses. Thoroughly out-maneuvered, Cage weighs up quitting Harlem for good much to the disappointment of Claire; but while his enemies scramble to make sense of their defeat, we find Cottonmouth in something of a reflective mood.
Remembering his youth living with his mobster grandmother, Mama Mabel, he obviously has regrets about leaving the world of music that he loved so much by being forced into learning the ropes of becoming a crime boss. The turning point came when he was ordered to kill his supportive Uncle Pete for double-dealing with other gangs and molesting his cousin, Mariah Dillard; but as Cornell now believes he’s untouchable, his comeuppance is about to come from an unexpected source. After being forced to resign from the council after Cornell’s arrest, an argument with Mariah leads to his cousin violently taking umbrage with some of his comments and ultimately beating him to death in his own club. But while you’d think that the sudden death of Cottonmouth would make Luke Cage’s life easier, a mystery assailant decides to test the hero’s abilities with a Judas bullet that has terrible results.
So, I suppose we’d better tackle the elephant in the room first, and whether you like it or not, the shock murder of Mahershala Ali’s Cottonmouth is both potentially the best and worst thing that could have happened to the show. If we start with the plus column, while Luke Cage has been delivering consistently slick thrills with every episode, there was a very real sense that it had written itself into a corner and was genuinely feeling that if it didn’t do something drastic to shake things up soon, the show would have nowhere to go. Was the rivalry between Cage and Cottonmouth running out of gas? Well, considering that Cage can’t physically be hurt and Cottonmouth is legally slippery, I was kind of feeling that their feud had wandered into a dead end with no way for even Power Man to punch his way out of.
Also, having Cottonmouth brutally taken off the board not only means we get a much appreciated look at his upbringing in the shadow of Mama Mabel, but it means that Alfre Woodard now gets to drop her mask of politics and get more overtly villainous screen time. In fact, as impressive as it is to watch the actress cut loose and cave in her cousin’s chest with a microphone stand, those flashbacks show what a traumatic life Mariah truly had despite Cornell’s accusations to the opposite.
However, there’s one, huge, glaring issue with the admittedly ballsy killing of the show’s major villain and it’s the inescapable truth that the minds behind Luke Cage have gone and murdered it’s most interesting character by far. Even if we didn’t take Mahershala Ali’s swaggeringly charismatic performance into account (which is frankly impossible), watching a regular crime boss trying to desperately pivot and counter a vigilante who shrugs off bullets, rockets and collapsing buildings has been quite fascinating. It’s also worth remembering that Cornell was holding his own against the other villains of the Netflix corner of the MCU without the aid of a muscular bulk or the powers of suggestion, which makes his early exit all the more troublesome.
I could just be worried for no reason. With Cottonmouth gone, it’s not like we don’t have villains to spare. Woodard is every inch the powerful actor that Ali is, so if the show treats her ascension right we could be in for some memorable fireworks. In addition to this, it seems that Theo Rossi’s Shades is making a play to be Mariah’s right-hand man after he approaches her with an out-of-the-blue pep talk. And of course, there’s the mystery shooter who, if you’ve been paying attention, blatantly isn’t a mystery at all. Making his debut by shooting our hero with a super bullet, Dimondback finally shows up in person after six episodes of hushed hype – but even with three antagonists moving to fill that Cottonmouth-shaped hole, is it going to be enough?
Still, with Luke Cage potentially injured for the entirety of the next episode (at least) and Misty Knight waylaid by the fact that all that corruption in the force has hampered her efforts, I’ve got that sinking feeling that Netflix may be up to some of its old tricks. I could be wrong, but aside from leaving Cage writhing on the ground with a Judas bullet in the belly, it actually feels like “Manifest” could have been a great cliffhanger to end a seven episode season on. The fact that we have six episodes left to go, one new crimeboss starting from scratch and a new villain that’s yet to be introduced, it feels like those old Netflix pacing issues I keep going on about are about to make their presence felt once again.
With the death of its major antagonist halfway through the season, you can’t accuse Luke Cage of resting on its laurels. However, the Thor movies didn’t kill Loki for a reason, much in the same way that the X-Men films refused to give up Magneto either. By removing your most interesting piece from the board, you’ve definitely caught us unawares, but I can’t help but think that the show may have just outsmarted itself.
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