Luke Cage: On and On
June 30, 2018 1:32 PM - Season 2, Episode 7 - Subscribe
Reeling from the showdown on the bridge...
...Luke teams up with Misty to find Piranha. The hunt for the snitch heats up. Bushmaster reveals his endgame. (written by Nicole Mirante-Matthews, directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green)
AV Club review - Luke Cage doesn't know what to do with its strongest characters
Den of Geek review
*Luke, sinking further under water, has flashbacks of his mother seeing him in prison for the last time, Reva, Seagate, and his father in coach-mode telling him to wake up, and he snaps out of the paralysis and swims to the surface. He makes it to the church and collapses; when he comes to, Reverend James tells him that Piranha left church a half-hour after Luke left for the bridge, saying he was going to charter a jet from Teterboro and call his mother.
*On a basketball court, Misty practices hoops with her robot arm. Ridenhour comes to ask her to return to work, telling her he has an off-the-books CI in place at Harlem's Paradise. He says that Luke has been spotted by a church and wants her help in getting him to bring Piranha in.
*At the club, Mariah demands of her crew that they find Piranha. She says she knows that one of them is a snitch, because Ridenhour brought up Cornell throwing Tone off a roof, which no one outside of the organization should know. She stabs one of her men in the hand with a letter opener, and Shades cautions her that fear isn't always the best way to maintain power, that she should try to be better than Mabel or Cornell. Tilda arrives at the club, and later pleads with Mariah to walk away from the whole mess, but Mariah shows her the balance on her bank accounts and insists she has to fight to keep what's theirs.
*Reverend James offers Luke a hoodie and asks him to stay at the church, but they argue and Luke leaves.
*Piranha is revealed to have been captured by the Stylers already. Sheldon and Bushmaster give him a laptop and demand he enter the passwords to transfer all of Mariah's money.
*Misty finds Luke at Pop's; they catch each other up - Misty found the address of the livery cabs (Irie Taxi Co.) and they go to check it out. After a crowbar fight with a handful of henchmen, they find they are too late to rescue Piranha, whose decapitated head is in a fishtank being nibbled at by actual piranhas. Later at the crime scene, Ridenhour tells Mariah that he still thinks he can get Mariah to agree to a plea deal, much to her and Luke's disgust.
*At the club, Ridenhour tells Mariah the news about Piranha, and that while she can probably get away with minor charges for the insider trading, things will go much worse for her once the investigation of the murder reveals whatever crimes she committed to get the money for the stock deal. He insists he still cares about her, and wants her to cut a deal by putting all the blame on Cornell and Shades, but she tells him "bye". He asks if Tilda knows Mariah almost died giving birth to her, and whether she knows her actual birthdate and who her real father was. She orders him to shut up and go away, then checks the online accounts again and finds the balance has gone to $0.
*Shades talks to Comanche about the mystery snitch; Comanche lies that he believes it's Sugar, and Shades tells him to check it out.
*Bushmaster gets measured for a new suit, and monologues to his uncle about wanting Mariah's soul in payment for his mother's.
*Luke returns to the church, and Reverend James tells him he was sorry to hear about Piranha's murder. Luke tells him about how his life flashed before his eyes when he was pushed off the bridge, and thinks maybe God was trying to tell him something, that "the world may be my problem, but it's not always my fault."
*Comanche meets with Ridenhour and is freaked that everyone knows there's a snitch. Shades appears, and Comanche bluffs that this was Sugar & Ridenhour's rendezvous that he discovered. Ridenhour tells Shades that he can offer him the same deal as Comanche, and Comanche shoots Ridenhour dead. Shades shoots Comanche with Ridenhour's gun, and says that his love blinded him to Comanche being a snitch.
*At her brownstone, Mariah gathers up her remaining cash with Tilda. Bushmaster arrives, and Mariah shoots him, to no effect.
*At a bar, Misty gets flirty with a guy, but leaves when Detective Bailey calls with the bad news about Ridenhour.
*Back at the brownstone, Bushmaster's men pour gasoline around the room, where Tilda and Mariah are tied to chairs. He tells them how his father and Buggy Stokes built an empire together, but Buggy betrayed and killed him when the mobsters/dirty cops/corrupt politicians said they'd let him keep Harlem's Paradise if he did. McIvers shot Buggy in the gut before he died, which killed Buggy after 5 months. Bushmaster's mother fled with him back to Kingston, but then someone threw threw a Molotov cocktail into their home. His mother put him out a window and told him to run, and he never saw her again. Bushmaster cuts Tilda free, and says maybe she'll prove a better daughter than he was a son, then drops a lit match and walks out as the flames spread. Tilda hesitates, then tries to free Mariah.
*Back at the church, Reverend James apologizes to Luke for blaming his mother's cancer on Luke, but he has nothing to say for himself about Willis. D.W. arrives with the news that Mariah's brownstone is on fire.
*In musical montage, Shades sees the flames from a rooftop. A be-suited Bushmaster arrives at Harlem's Paradise, and he and his crew celebrate their victory. Misty arrives at the Ridenhour murder crime scene. Luke smashes into the brownstone and carries Mariah to safety, and when she comes to consciousness, she says she wants to hire him.
...Luke teams up with Misty to find Piranha. The hunt for the snitch heats up. Bushmaster reveals his endgame. (written by Nicole Mirante-Matthews, directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green)
AV Club review - Luke Cage doesn't know what to do with its strongest characters
Den of Geek review
*Luke, sinking further under water, has flashbacks of his mother seeing him in prison for the last time, Reva, Seagate, and his father in coach-mode telling him to wake up, and he snaps out of the paralysis and swims to the surface. He makes it to the church and collapses; when he comes to, Reverend James tells him that Piranha left church a half-hour after Luke left for the bridge, saying he was going to charter a jet from Teterboro and call his mother.
*On a basketball court, Misty practices hoops with her robot arm. Ridenhour comes to ask her to return to work, telling her he has an off-the-books CI in place at Harlem's Paradise. He says that Luke has been spotted by a church and wants her help in getting him to bring Piranha in.
*At the club, Mariah demands of her crew that they find Piranha. She says she knows that one of them is a snitch, because Ridenhour brought up Cornell throwing Tone off a roof, which no one outside of the organization should know. She stabs one of her men in the hand with a letter opener, and Shades cautions her that fear isn't always the best way to maintain power, that she should try to be better than Mabel or Cornell. Tilda arrives at the club, and later pleads with Mariah to walk away from the whole mess, but Mariah shows her the balance on her bank accounts and insists she has to fight to keep what's theirs.
*Reverend James offers Luke a hoodie and asks him to stay at the church, but they argue and Luke leaves.
*Piranha is revealed to have been captured by the Stylers already. Sheldon and Bushmaster give him a laptop and demand he enter the passwords to transfer all of Mariah's money.
*Misty finds Luke at Pop's; they catch each other up - Misty found the address of the livery cabs (Irie Taxi Co.) and they go to check it out. After a crowbar fight with a handful of henchmen, they find they are too late to rescue Piranha, whose decapitated head is in a fishtank being nibbled at by actual piranhas. Later at the crime scene, Ridenhour tells Mariah that he still thinks he can get Mariah to agree to a plea deal, much to her and Luke's disgust.
*At the club, Ridenhour tells Mariah the news about Piranha, and that while she can probably get away with minor charges for the insider trading, things will go much worse for her once the investigation of the murder reveals whatever crimes she committed to get the money for the stock deal. He insists he still cares about her, and wants her to cut a deal by putting all the blame on Cornell and Shades, but she tells him "bye". He asks if Tilda knows Mariah almost died giving birth to her, and whether she knows her actual birthdate and who her real father was. She orders him to shut up and go away, then checks the online accounts again and finds the balance has gone to $0.
*Shades talks to Comanche about the mystery snitch; Comanche lies that he believes it's Sugar, and Shades tells him to check it out.
*Bushmaster gets measured for a new suit, and monologues to his uncle about wanting Mariah's soul in payment for his mother's.
*Luke returns to the church, and Reverend James tells him he was sorry to hear about Piranha's murder. Luke tells him about how his life flashed before his eyes when he was pushed off the bridge, and thinks maybe God was trying to tell him something, that "the world may be my problem, but it's not always my fault."
*Comanche meets with Ridenhour and is freaked that everyone knows there's a snitch. Shades appears, and Comanche bluffs that this was Sugar & Ridenhour's rendezvous that he discovered. Ridenhour tells Shades that he can offer him the same deal as Comanche, and Comanche shoots Ridenhour dead. Shades shoots Comanche with Ridenhour's gun, and says that his love blinded him to Comanche being a snitch.
*At her brownstone, Mariah gathers up her remaining cash with Tilda. Bushmaster arrives, and Mariah shoots him, to no effect.
*At a bar, Misty gets flirty with a guy, but leaves when Detective Bailey calls with the bad news about Ridenhour.
*Back at the brownstone, Bushmaster's men pour gasoline around the room, where Tilda and Mariah are tied to chairs. He tells them how his father and Buggy Stokes built an empire together, but Buggy betrayed and killed him when the mobsters/dirty cops/corrupt politicians said they'd let him keep Harlem's Paradise if he did. McIvers shot Buggy in the gut before he died, which killed Buggy after 5 months. Bushmaster's mother fled with him back to Kingston, but then someone threw threw a Molotov cocktail into their home. His mother put him out a window and told him to run, and he never saw her again. Bushmaster cuts Tilda free, and says maybe she'll prove a better daughter than he was a son, then drops a lit match and walks out as the flames spread. Tilda hesitates, then tries to free Mariah.
*Back at the church, Reverend James apologizes to Luke for blaming his mother's cancer on Luke, but he has nothing to say for himself about Willis. D.W. arrives with the news that Mariah's brownstone is on fire.
*In musical montage, Shades sees the flames from a rooftop. A be-suited Bushmaster arrives at Harlem's Paradise, and he and his crew celebrate their victory. Misty arrives at the Ridenhour murder crime scene. Luke smashes into the brownstone and carries Mariah to safety, and when she comes to consciousness, she says she wants to hire him.
That wasn't quite how I expected Comanche to go out. I definitely didn't think that he and Ridenhour would go out in the same episode, much less in the same two minutes.
So Ridenhour is (was) Tilda's dad, or is there someone else?
Although I don't know how this season's going to end up (there's still a lot of ground to cover), I don't really see an obvious or good major villain for season 3 at this point. I don't mind Mariah and/or Shades still working as a thorn in Luke's side, but I don't think I'm that interested in another rise and fall of Mariah. I don't know anything about the comics, and I'm sure there are plenty of options to pull from there, but I'm not too interested in another "someone shows up in Harlem and wants to take over" story.
posted by minsies at 9:38 AM on July 12, 2018
So Ridenhour is (was) Tilda's dad, or is there someone else?
Although I don't know how this season's going to end up (there's still a lot of ground to cover), I don't really see an obvious or good major villain for season 3 at this point. I don't mind Mariah and/or Shades still working as a thorn in Luke's side, but I don't think I'm that interested in another rise and fall of Mariah. I don't know anything about the comics, and I'm sure there are plenty of options to pull from there, but I'm not too interested in another "someone shows up in Harlem and wants to take over" story.
posted by minsies at 9:38 AM on July 12, 2018
He blamed Luke for his mother's cancer?!
Goodbye Comanche, you deserved better.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:13 PM on August 3, 2018
Goodbye Comanche, you deserved better.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:13 PM on August 3, 2018
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Was that Dapper Dan measuring Bushmaster for a suit? It's not in his imdb credits yet, but I have a vague memory that he was going to be somewhere in S2.
posted by oh yeah! at 1:43 PM on June 30, 2018 [2 favorites]