When in doubt, just go Die Hard I guess.
For the last couple of episodes, Luke Cage has consistently found itself on the wrong foot as yet another Netflix/Marvel show tried to stretch its storyline to fit a drawn out episode count. However, while the show had firmer footing whenever it chose to avoid the usual trappings of a superhero property and lean more into a neo-blaxploitation/urban crime vibe, it’s been struggling to regain its balance ever since Mahershala Ali’s villainous Cottonmouth bit the dust surprisingly early.
Since then we’ve been stuck in something of a holding pattern as it’s fumbled its way through origin stories, near-death scrapes and various twists that failed to grip as much as the The Wire-esque crime drama the show started as. However, now that we’ve reached something of a late-season action episode, can the show flex those unbreakable muscles and forge ahead despite action not exactly being one of its strengths?
When someone like Luke Cage decides to crash an anti-Luke Cage rally, you know that shit hitting the fan is next to inevitable. However, it might surprise you to know that it wasn’t appearance of Harlem’s tarnished hero that actually set off all the chaos – but in fact it was Misty Knight, after she finally chased down some leads and cornered arms psycho manufacturer, William “Diamondback” Stryker in the Harlem’s Paradise club. Bullets obviously flew, but while most dug into walls or bounced off Cage’s unbreakable skin, one managed to find its way into the very breakable arm of detective Knight. Clearing a path towards the kitchens, Luke carries the wounded cop out of the line of fire, but is no closer to getting them out of the club.
Shades is understandably concerned about the rather erratic behavior of his boss Diamondback and suggests that his hatred of his half-brother Luke is skewing his decision making process, but Stryker is adamant that taking this siege all the way – hostages and all – is the path to victory. Meanwhile, one of those hostages proves to be Claire Temple who arrived with Cage, and while the police swarms around outside, wondering what to do, the plucky nurse tries to figure a way to escape from the various gunmen and get back to Luke.
Outside, debate rages over whether or not to use the Cage-killing Judas 2.0 bullets that Mariah Dillard has convinced the cops to arm themselves with, but the more clear thinkers in the group know that the second they’re used, it could set a dangerous precedent on the streets. Not helping matters is the fact that Diamondback now seems devoted to trying to frame his brother for as much shit as he possibly can, including the murder of politician hoatage, Damon Boone. But even if Cage can punch his way out, can he manage to save the ailing Misty and avoid getting arrested for all the accusations that have recently been leveled at him?
One of Luke Cage’s most noticable Achillies heels so far is – surprisingly for a superhero show – the action. Not only has the show’s more grounded approach nixed any Hulk-level tests of strength, but even if it did I strongly doubt the budget could have handled it. Additionally, whenever they haven’t been pumping the brakes by concocting various ways to injure or hamstring their lead, the show’s writers have struggled to stir up many convincing threats to stir up tension. Finally, even when Luke is finally required to kick ass, it’s all staged so awkwardly with him essentially bopping thugs on the head and then tossing them aside, that it fails to be overly exciting or even ironically cool anymore. However, with a big (and somewhat illogical) siege now erupting at Harlem’s Paradise, it seems like the show has one last chance to put together some gripping action before the season ends.
OK, so first things first, there’s a lot of things that don’t make sense about the siege to begin with. Firstly, I’m not entirely sure what Luke Cage thought would happen after showing up at an anti-Luke Cage rally while there’s a warrant out for his arrest, but what manages to exceed this is the fact that Strkyer is all about making some awful decisions of his own after shooting up his own trap and then leaving plenty of witnesses around to scupper his plans of framing Luke. Yes, we could argue that his hatred of Luke has clouded his judgement (the writers admit as much by having Shades deliver that exact, same accusation), but it certainly doesn’t help Diamondback’s case when charges of him being a far less effective villain than Cottonmouth seem to stick to the character like glue.
In defence of Erik LeRay Harvey, he’s still delivering a zinger-flinging, comic book antagonist as required, but Mahershala Ali’s more realistic Cottonmouth helped balance the show better by not playing up to supervillain conventions. However, I’m going to let the majority of this slide for a simple reason – the writers have finally discovered how to put Cage in a high-pressure situation that doesn’t look cheap and still carries tension despite the fact that our hero can’t be hurt.
The rather obvious solution is to go down the Superman route, i.e. if you can’t hurt the hero, make him responsible for everyone who can be hurt, so having him have to break a siege from the inside out where everyone else is in peril proves to be a smart move. Most of the time, Luke is looking out for a wounded Misty (yes, she’s waylaid again, but it actually serves a purposes this time), but with Claire trying to escape being a hostage, Stryker having to rethink his plans on the fly, and the police outside trying to ensure they make the right decisions, it all seems way more vital and even feels more in line with first half of the season. We even manage to get a few, old school, iconic superhero moments, like the show making a big statement of Luke punching his way through a brick wall despite the fact that we’ve already seen him perform more impressive feats.
However, for the second time this season, we have an episode that could serve as a perfectly acceptable season finale despite the fact that we still have multiple episodes left to go. The first time was around the midway point when Cottonmouth was killed, and this time we also see a lot of plot threads get nicely wrapped up (Shades arrested, Misty proven right) with just enough teases left for a whatever comes next (Luke arrested, Stryker escapes). But with two whole episodes left to see, this return to form could prove to be all too brief.
By putting a superpowered spin on Die Hard in a night club, Luke Cage manages to reclaim a sizable amount of lost mojo by finally finding a way to squeeze super strength out of a gritty tone and a limited budget. The gravity, the pace and even the sass of multiple characters (Stryker is espesially bitchy here) all seem to have been invigorated now that the plot is getting to stretch its legs once again. But considering we now have two whole episodes to wrap this up, I’m fully expecting Cage’s narrative powers to wane once more.
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