Luke Cage 1.04

Step into the Arena

- Luke works to get himself and Mrs. Lin out from the rubble of the building that Cottonmouth destroyed with a rocket at the end of the last episode but the bulk of this episode is focused on Luke's past: his life in Seagate Prison, how he met his wife, how he got his superpowers, and his early encounters with Shades
- there's some information dropped about Cage that I did not know: he is a former policeman or law enforcement officer; Luke Cage is not the name he was born with (Carl) but the name he adopts after he gains his powers and breaks out of prison; although his law enforcement career would seem to be a liability in prison I can't recall any negative reprecussions specifically because of that
- I did not recognize or remember Reva Connors, his future wife, from her appearances in Jessica Jones; I don't think she had many lines in those 3 episodes of Jessica Jones; she played a significant role in this episode
- Aside from Shades there are only two other prisoners who are named; one is Comanche, the enforcer who together with Shades beats Carl almost to death; the other is Squabbles, who arrives at Seagate at the same time as Carl, is a repeat offender, and becomes his (sorta) sidekick
- loved the moment, and it was only a moment, when he looked very much like he did back in the day with the tiara, bracelets, yellow shirt, and green pants
- the prison doctor who tries using some super technology to heal him is played by an actor who played a lawyer on the Wire

- I know I'm missing some hip hop references on this show; I'm enjoying the music but I don't know most of the artists or tracks; when I googled the name of this episode I discovered that it is also the name of a track by Gang Starr, am artist that I am familiar with by name only
- I don't get the criticisms about the show moving too slowly; I wouldn't say it is fast paced but I like the pacing so far; I remember hearing the same sort of comments about Jessica Jones; I think most of these comments come from people who binge watch these shows
- overall I think this is a good episode; I think I would still say that season 1 of Jessica Jones is my favorite of the Marvel Netflix shows but I am enjoying season 1 of Luke Cage and plan to continue watching