It’s been something of a strange, uneven journey for Luke Cage. Debuting within the first season of Jessica Jones, he soon graduated to his own show which hoped to simultaneously honor the comic book character while giving him some much needed updating. Dropping the jive-talking for some post-modern neo-blaxploitation, the show strived to mix the grit of Netflix’s Daredevil show with the superhero malarkey of the MCU at large, while delivering some pointed and needed – if sometimes heavy handed – commentary about black culture.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that the show aired a full two years before Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther hit the big screen, so it’s kind of easy to forget what a big deal Luke Cage was set to be at the time.
But with a season finale comes the big, MCU, final act, and as that spectacle is something the show has noticably struggled with in the past, can Marvel’s Hero For Hire brush up on his balancing skills to bring us the best of all worlds?
When we last left the show, it seemed that Luke’s villainous half-brother, William “Diamondback” Stryker, had been reading the MCU bad guy manual and had gotten to the chapter about climactic showdowns. Clad in a special suit to combat Cage’s special abilities and only looking marginally ridiculous, the two start trading blows as flashbacks take us back to their childhood as young Luke is trained by William for a boxing match. Wisely, Misty Knight, Mariah Dillard, Shades and Bobby Fish all make themselves scarse as the two brawl within what’s left of Pop’s Barber Shop.
But soon the fight spills out onto the streets of the very city they’re fighting for and the people of Harlem soon have themselves a front row seat for the fight of the century. However, after countless haymakers and a lot of property damage, Luke soon perseveres over his brother, leaving him in an unconsciousness heap waiting to be scraped up by the cops, but with the physical challenge taken care of, the many ramifications of what’s occurred over the last few days have to still be straightened out. This means Mariah has to go on the defence and takes steps to sow some last seeds of dissention before Misty finally arrests her for the murder of her own cousin.
However, things don’t exactly go the way our heroes would hope, and while a relationship between Luke and Claire seems likely, the past refuses to be forgotten. After Mariah leaked Luke Cage’s real name to the press, authorities arrive with the news that even though Harlem’s hero has been exonerated of all the crimes leveled at him, he’s still guilty of escaping Seagate Prison before his time was over. Worse yet, Mariah manages to dodge jail due to Misty’s chief witness making a horrible mistake – but as Luke goes to jail and Mariah takes control of the Harlem’s Paradise night club, the city is left to mull over the things that their bulletproof hero stood for.
For an episode that literally starts mid-punch with a superhero fist fight, Luke Cage’s final episode is actually impressively rather bleak. While our hero manages to score the knockout blow on his antagonist with a full thirty minutes left of the episode, it’s almost like the show is making a conscious effort to strengthen its grittier side after allowing power suits and car crushing strength to rule the first half of the finale. To be honest, it’s not actually that bad a fight at all. Sure that Hammer Tech suit is a little goofy and it’s hardly a Harlem-based crunch-fest to rival Hulk vs. Abomination in The Incredible Hulk (which curiously no one mentions throughout the entire 13 episodes despite it only happening 8 years ago), but thankfully it manages to avoid resembling the climax of forgotten, 1993, super-hero comedy, The Meteor Man, despite being remarkably similar.
However, it really does seem that that the big, superhero fist-fight is here primarily because the very nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe demands it, but once it’s dutifully dispensed with, you can feel the tone of the episode quickly scurry back to doubling-down on those urban themes and delivering a decidedly down-beat ending. It seems that being the savior of Harlem means a lot more than punching a man in a silly helmet as Cage voluntarily agrees to return to jail to finish off the remainder of his prison term. It’s the final pivot of Alfre Woodard’s Mariah, who proves that the end of the series truly belongs to her, as she not only narrowly avoids jail, but – thanks to some classic plotting by Shades – gets off scott free after he tricks and blows out the brains of Misty’s only witness. It’s a shocking downer of a twist after such a triumphantly themed brawl, but the show tellingly ensures that hope and dignity still remain even though it’s the villains who come out on top.
I still maintain that dropping Mahershala Ali’s Cottonmouth so early was a mistake, but the gradual ascension of Mariah finally proves to be worth it as she blows out of the police precinct, dropping sass-bombs as she goes. Of course, we all know that Luke won’t remain in jail for too long, simply because both Bobby Fish finds the file that’ll clear his name and we obviously still have that Defenders team-up to come – but the show ensures that there’s enough connective tissue to play with, such as a budding romance with Claire Temple. However, I have to say that the relationship feels a little surplus to requirements when any true comic book fan knows that he’s destined to still end up with Jessica Jones somehow, and I tend to think it was only added to make his return to jail all the more tragic. Speaking of tragic, while Misty Knight never ended up losing her arm, she did end up losing a hell of a lot more, and while she arguably was the worst casualty of the weaker episodes (shot, held hostage, constantly slow on the uptake), she weathers getting outwitted by Mariah with far more dignity than she has done over the previous seven episodes combined.
While not as dazzling as the previous episode, Luke Cage finishes his first solo season with style. I won’t lie, it was an undeniably a rocky road and I genuinely think it was pretty touch and go at times – but it’s pretty cool that a show that tended to struggle while mixing its various tones managed to fully display both in the final episode. Still, Cage can take pride in the fact that, when at it’s best, it could stand shoulder to shoulder with his other, Netflix/Marvel mainstays, even if it succumbed to some of the franchise’s weaknesses more than it’s compatriots. But with Iron Fist eagerly waiting in the wings, can these shows ever manage to bring those pesky flaws into touch before that big Defenders team-up?
A surprisingly somber close to Luke Cage leaves the show with plenty of meat to chew on for future seasons, but while it was sometimes a strain to get there, the Hero of Harlem ultimately finishes strong with an episode that compartmentalises all the targets that it had to hit. While not such a smooth blend as some other episodes of the season this finale of two halves (half superhero romp, half urban crime drama) still manages round things up right. Over to you, Danny Rand; let’s see what you got.
🌟🌟🌟🌟
We Have Issues 