Luke Cage 1.12

Soliloquy of Chaos

Like the last one, this episode picks up where the previous one left off. This time Luke is in chains after surrendering himself to the police. Just before they load him in a paddy wagon, Misty surreptitiously encourages Luke to make a run for it. When the vehicle is stopped at a light Luke breaks free and takes off running. He gets stopped by a cop who remembers him from Pop's Barber Shop. For a second it looks like the cop is either going to shoot him, with Judas rounds, or call for backup but he let's Luke go.

What doesn't make sense is why the paddy wagon stopped for the red light. If they have an important prisoner in the back then I would think they should have the lights and siren on and be going through red lights. I guess the reason they stopped could be because the two officers in the front seat were too engaged in conversation to remember to follow protocol.

Early the next morning Luke stops a hold up at a small convenience store. Method Man, who later talks and raps about the experience on a radio program, is in the shop when Luke walks in and stops the attempted robbery. He helps Luke out by switching hoodies with him and spreading the word about Luke's actions. Soon black men all over Harlem are wearing hoodies with holes in them which helps to confuse the cops. The Larry Davis reference was appropriate but went over my head until I did a Google search.

Shades is in police custody but Misty and Inspector Ridley can't get anything out of him. Eventually Stryker sends a lawyer to bail Shades out of jail. Zip and a couple of Styker's thugs pick up Shades. It looks like they are taking him to meet Styker but then Zip tries to kill him while the other two stand around and watch. Shades manages to get his hands on a gun and kills all three.

Misty gets a bigger role this time around. She bounces around trying to piece things together. She gets a call from Candace, who wants to come clean and testify against Mariah and Shades. Alex, Mariah's assistant, has been keeping an eye on Candace from a distance and reports back to Mariah on her meeting with Misty. Later Misty secretly meets with Luke to compare notes.

Domingo decides the time has come to take down Diamondback. He and a bunch of his boys go to Stryker's warehouse armed to the teeth. Despite having him outnumbered and outgunned, Domingo and his crew end up on the losing side of the fight.

The episode ends with most of the major players converging on Pop's Barber Shop: Luke, Misty, Mariah, Shades, Diamondback. Mariah and Shades want Luke to take down Stryker. They try to bribe Luke with a file on him that should help him to clear his name. Misty wants to arrest Shades and Mariah. Before the conversation gets very far Diamondback shows up in a new suit. Shades tries gunning him down but the suit seems to make him bulletproof. Diamondback says he is the angel of death just before he and Luke charge one another and the episode ends.

Claire did not appear in this episode. She was mentioned at least once. I assume that she will be back in the final episode of the season.

There is some evidence that Misty's arm was injured but by the end of the episode it is hardly apparent that she was injured badly in the prior episode. I suppose there is no telling what may happen to her in the final episode of the season. Maybe they're saving the injury that costs her an arm for the first season of Iron Fist.

There's a lot going on this episode. I'm not sure if everyone is going to survive the end of the season but I will be very disappointed if they don't resolve things between Luke and Stryker. There is some hint that they might be setting things up for the return of Mariah in season 2.

Once again I am very impressed by the music and the way it is used throughout the episode. I wasn't blown away by Method Man's performance at the radio station but it worked very well with the images that were used as he spit lyrics about Luke and Harlem.