Review: ‘Luke Cage’ comes out on top amidst shaky second act

Can Marvel do anything wrong? After eight years of successful Marvel movies and TV shows, can we safely say that a bad Marvel show is not happening? Its latest entry, Netflix’s Luke Cage, comes out on top even after a shaky second act. The indestructible superhero follows blind vigilante Daredevil and super-strong private investigator Jessica Jones in the lead-up to Netflix’s superhero team-up series The Defenders.

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Mike Colter plays the titular superhero after he was introduced as a subplot in last year’s Jessica Jones. The series takes Luke Cage to the streets of Harlem where he attempts to live a new life away from his rocky past. As he settles down into the quiet life of a barbershop’s janitor, he finds himself in the middle of Harlem’s criminal underground going up against the likes of Cottonmouth, Black Mariah, Diamondback, and Shades.

Director Cheo Hodari Coker crafts a gripping tale that stretches what’s possible within a single Netflix season. With the number of subplots that Coker squeezed into 13 episodes, it might even be more appropriate to split Luke Cage’s first season into two mini-seasons or acts. In fact, the divide between two acts is so clear cut that we’d do well to review them both separately.

The Cottonmouth era

Episodes one through seven deal mostly with Cage’s war against Cornell Stokes, Coker’s version of Cottonmouth. On its own, this first act is brilliant piece of storytelling.

The series starts off in Pop’s Barbershop. Quaint and humble in its operation, the barbershop and its fatherly owner are soon established as institutions recognized and respected by the Harlem community We see that Pop is a centerpiece that will eventually tie most of the main characters together. This is where we first find Luke, trying to get by as a janitor. On the flipside, Harlem’s Paradise, a club owned by Cottonmouth (assisted behind the scenes by his cousin Black Mariah Dillard and the mysterious Shades), is a foil to Pop’s Barbershop. Whereas the latter is a pinnacle of Harlem’s hardworking and forgiving common folk, Harlem’s Paradise is founded on the criminal underworld. This is also where we first find Luke, employed at a second job as a dishwasher at the club.

The first act excels in containing Cage’s story within itself. Rather than setting up future seasons or the inevitable Netflix crossover, Luke Cage paints a complete picture of Harlem and the power play between its agents. We’re given both the origins of Cage and Cottonmouth. Instead of setting up the tired “superhero-versus-supervillain” plot, Luke Cage presents two ordinary humans thrust into circumstances they never asked for. We’re never meant to root for the standard good versus evil. It’s a matter of which ideals matter most, which we see come to the fore after a series of unfortunate events grip Harlem by the throat.

And then episode seven happened.

The Diamondback era

Without giving too much away, episode seven signaled the abrupt departure of Cottonmouth as the main baddie and introduced Diamondback as the marionette behind the strings. This is where the Marvel Cinematic Universe instinct kicked in. Act two, composed of episodes eight through thirteen, feels like a rushed romp to setup a conflict between Diamondback and Cage in classic MCU fashion.

At the height of Cottonmouth’s plot, the last thing we needed was a new villain to take his place. It would’ve been alright if Diamondback was an effective villain. He’s definitely eviler than Cottonmouth, but the latter is much more charismatic than the earlier. On his own, Diamondback fails to live up to Cottonmouth’s buildup as the main baddie.

Ultimately, we learn that Diamondback is motivated by the tired trope of daddy issues. Whereas Cottonmouth was a dynamic character, Diamondback feels like your run-of-the-mill, monster-of-the-week villain. His time in season one blinks in and out of existence with a forced origin shoehorned in just for posterity.

If anything, Luke Cage’s second act is saved by the unlikely tandem of Black Mariah Dillard and Shades. Recognizing how much Diamondback is ruining the power balance of the criminal underground, Dillard and Shades tries to save their control over Harlem through politics and public opinion. After the inevitable final showdown between Diamondback and Cage, Dillard and Shades work behind the scenes to set up a potential second season.

Throughout the entire season, we were bombarded by Easter eggs left and right. These callbacks were nonconsequential to the main plot, but they did make the show’s Harlem feel lived in. They’re not shirking away from their extended universe, but they’re not putting the focus on them, too. At the start of episode six, we hear the familiar voice of Trish Walker (Jessica Jones) on the radio as she gives praise to Luke’s efforts to make Harlem safe. We hear small mentions of the Avengers. We even see Luke’s tacky yellow shirt and tiara costume from his early days as a comic book character.

Moving outside the realm of simple callbacks, a couple of plot points arise from past Marvel entries to tie the whole series together. First of all is Hammer Industries, a company owned by Justin Hammer who shared the spotlight opposite Tony Stark in Iron Man 3. The company is responsible for creating Judas bullets, which are explosive rounds that successfully penetrate Luke Cage’s indestructible skin. Secondly, Claire Temple once again makes an appearance in the series, but for a more supportive role beside Cage. Prior to Luke Cage, Temple has made appearances in Daredevil and Jessica Jones. It’s obvious that Temple is being primed as the Netflix universe’s version of Nick Fury, that one link to bring the superheroes together to form a super team.

Also tying the series together is the NYPD subplot that sees the introduction of sleuth tandem Misty Knight and Scarfe. The subplot started off slow, but eventually gained enough momentum to make an impact on both Luke Cage and on the streets of Harlem. We eventually see how the authorities react to superheroes banging on their door. Knight and company were looming forces throughout both acts. Even with the shifts in political power, the NYPD remained consistent as relevant plot points.

Ultimately, Luke Cage neatly ties its own plot to a single season that leaves us wanting for more Luke Cage action. If you take a blind eye to Diamondback’s ineptitude to stand toe-to-toe as a plot device, Luke Cage is a strong entry into the Netflix universe.