By Alexander Holloman 6/25/2018
**NOTE: This Review contains MAJOR Spoilers for Luke Cage Season 2.**
Season 1 of Luke Cage had one fundamental problem: its handling of the show’s villains. In season 1, we were introduced to Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, a Harlem gangster and club owner, portrayed by the now Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali in an excellent if a bit short-lived performance. However, his arc lasted merely seven episodes, in which he was ultimately murdered by his cousin, Mariah Dillard, portrayed by Alfre Woodard. However, Woodard’s character would take a relative backseat to season 1 big bad “Diamondback”, portrayed by Erik LaRay Harvey. I have to admit, I was ultimately disappointed by the narrative choice to trade Mahershala’s deeply complex psychological villain for somebody who could have a punch-out with Luke Cage, a character that didn’t receive proper or sufficient character development, had a goofy suit, and difficult-to-swallow motives.
Season 2 changes all of this. It begins on an extreme high note. This season has less of an emphasis on plot, a greater emphasis on character and world building. It acts as a sort of reverse Campbellian Hero’s Journey, with the protagonist being a fully realized character who begins to experience doubts, hit rock bottom, and rebuild himself as something else entirely. All the while, there is a sort of war between four factions: Mariah Dillard, the Harlem Police, John McIver, who refers to himself as “Bushmaster” (portrayed excellently by Mustafa Shakir), and Luke Cage. There is the external war for Harlem, and there are many internal wars going on within the minds of the main cast. Luke finds himself at a crossroads unsure of how to best protect Harlem and whether to allow two warring parties to eliminate each other or to intervene. Mariah grapples with her past while presented with an uncertain future, and reaches a watershed moment that forever takes her down a dark path. Hernan “Shades” Alvarez (portrayed by Theo Rossi) must determine his place within the sphere of influence, grappling between his feelings and loyalties, both of which are constantly tested. John McIver must determine how far he is willing to go for vengeance, by what means he pursues his goals, and grapples with a King complex, seeking both retribution and domination.
I really can’t continue this review without discussing the villains of this season and their role within the larger narrative. Season 1 suffered from having three major villains and a scattered series of subplots that sometimes felt a bit disjoint. In Season 2, all of the villains, their interactions with the protagonist and with each other, their confrontations and disagreements and grudges, all of these things are interconnected and a focus on character development, actor chemistry and dialogue progresses the plot slowly but cumulatively. Again, in this season we also have three major players in the realm of antagonists: John McIver “Bushmaster”, Mariah Dillard/Mariah Stokes “Black Mariah”, and Hernan “Shades” Alvarez. I don’t have as much to say of the latter two as they are pre-established characters, but the way this season fundamentally shifts their characters is something that demands a look. For now, let’s begin with John McIver.
Mustafa Shakir’s John McIver (“Bushmaster”) is a captivating character that steals every scene he inhabits. He’s a man driven by vengeance, but Luke is not his target, Luke is merely the obstacle standing in the way of his true target, Mariah Dillard (whom he regularly corrects to “Stokes. Mariah Stokes.” whenever her name is brought up in conversation). Over the course of the season, you learn more and more about his character and discover that his father Quincy entered into a partnership with Buggy Stokes, Mariah’s grandfather.
Mariah and Shades do not walk out of season 2 in the position they left off season 1 in. Shades gradually sees the same sort of decay in Mariah that he saw in Cornell in season 1, and after a few pivotal moments, including Mariah’s Massacre of innocents in Brooklyn, his murder of Comanche, Mariah’s comments about Comanche which lead to a physical altercation and the end of their romantic relationship, and an ultimate desire to break away and bring Mariah down. Mariah suffers a psychological decay as she feuds with McIver, leading to her embracing the Stokes heritage she previously shunned, pushes away her Daughter, Tilda, orders the execution of all who have ever worked for her in an attempt to weaken her legal prosecution by way of a lack of witnesses, her conflict with Shades, her conflict with Luke, and all of this leads to her ultimate downfall, where she is taken into custody and awaits conviction. Luke meets with Mariah one last time, who was unbeknownst to her poisoned by a kiss from her now estranged and vengeful daughter, Tilda on a final visit mere moments before Luke’s arrival. The poison works its magic and in her final moments, Mariah seems to shift from anger to happiness, pride, stoicism, introspection, and finally, acceptance. It is a fitting end to a very well-developed “love to hate” villain. As the headline of the newspaper Shades reads in the Diner proclaims, “The Witch is Dead.” In her will, as a last act, Mariah leaves Cornell’s keyboard to Tilda, and leaves everything else to include Harlem’s Paradise, the nightclub, to Luke. As for Shades, his confession against Mariah would have granted him amnesty from his many crimes and several murders, except the conviction didn’t come through as Mariah died while in custody, which leads to Misty happily arresting him with a grin alongside a posse of cops while he eats in a local diner.
The season does end on a bit of a bittersweet note, as in order to curb crime and protect Harlem, he embraces a different but highly familiar Gangster-esque role as the new owner of Harlem’s Paradise, and makes not so subtle threats against the local gangs. He curbs crime by controlling it, and as the so-called King of Harlem, Luke finds himself in a moral gray area that puts him directly at odds with D.W., Misty, and potentially his other allies. Tilda was set up as a villain for a possible third season, donning her classic gair buns as her character Nightshade in the comics. And in the end, Luke himself is not exactly a saint, either. I’m excited to see where it all goes. I liked that this season subverts the typical hero/villain narrative in favor of a more realistic, morally gray world, something Marvel Netflix shows are becoming famous for. Gritty realism and strong narratives and character development.
This season thrives in its character and world building, actor chemistry, and camera angles. This season demonstrated once more that Luke Cage has one of the most culturally rich, soulful, diverse, and downright excellent soundtracks in the MCU. The show made effective use of reaction shots, particularly in Episode 10, “The Main Ingredient”. In one episode, there was an interesting camera transition that overlapped Luke, McIver, and Dillard’s heads together. There was one particular scene in the season finale that was a near shot-for-shot recreation and direct homage to The Godfather. This season had definite strengths in cinematography, soundtrack, lighting, writing, direction, and acting.
My only gripe with this season is that it does drag on just slightly. The season starts off with a bang and ends on a high note. In fact, the first three and the last four episodes are my favorite in the season. However, the season does drag its feet just slightly in small increments during the second act. The first and third acts are brilliantly executed, and the second act teeters from slow to highly engaging from scene to scene, but is by and large still highly watchable overall.
My absolute favorite episode of this season was the aforementioned Episode 10, “The Main Ingredient”. This episode showcases a few watershed moments in the show and among the state of the characters that is crucial to the progression of the season, and it effectively kick starts the third act of the season, the point of no return. The episode features an excellent crossover with Iron Fist, as Danny Rand comes to Harlem to assist Luke with Bushmaster, and together, they take down a drug ring implemented by Mariah as a means of defaming McIver by selecting the word “Bushmaster” as the name of a new string of Heroin. The episode has a fantastic mixture of lightheartedness and comedy mixed with some very serious, graphic, and mature themes. The episode moves from scene to scene between anywhere from funny and entertaining to dark, grim, and difficult to watch, not due to a lack of quality, but due to a very tragic massacre and wanton slaughter. This scene is the pivotal turning point that directly impacts the character arcs of Cage, McIver, Dillard (who hereafter goes by Stokes), Shades, and Misty. The balance was much needed, and the episode did not feel disjoint.
The writing of a sort of mature and more focused Iron Fist was refreshing. Finn Jones’ Danny Rand was charismatic, funny, mature, and wise, and there was a role reversal of mentor/mentee in the episode, where it was Danny helping Luke in a very critical way. Akela Cooper clearly understood the source material, and wrote the character very well, and while Danny was critical to the plot of the episode, he did not dominate the episode, and it still felt very much grounded as a Luke Cage story while providing a possible first look at a new and more fully realized Danny Rand, which will bode well for a sophomore season of Iron Fist.
Ultimately, Shakir’s John McIver continued a narrative trend from Jessica Jones Season 2, taking note from Janet McTeer’s Alisa Jones as a character who is intended to be a villain, does horrible things to justify their place as a villain, but becomes so sympathetic by the end of the season that you actually root for them to a degree. In McIver’s case, the difference between hero and villain is very narrow. If Daredevil is one bad day away from becoming The Punisher, then The Punisher is one bad day away from becoming Bushmaster. Bushmaster does a few noble things, and his quest for vengeance is built more so on avenging and protecting his family and family legacy than anything, making him a highly complex and ultimately sympathetic villain. I’d love to see more from John McIver, should the writers decide to pursue that avenue any further.
The Actor chemistry was immense, and the actors played very well off of one another. Characters with minimal prior interaction got a lot of attention. Simone Missick’s Misty Knight had perhaps the most opportunity to interact with different characters. Other noteworthy side characters with integral and/or interesting contributions to the plot of season 2 are Colleen Wing (reprised by Jessica Henwick), Darius Jones/Comanche (Thomas Q. Jones), Reverend James Lucas (Reg E. Cathey), Tilda Johnson (Gabrielle Dennis), and Tom Ridenhour (Peter Jay Fernandez). This season focused primarily on character development and how these characters interact with/seek to change/cope with the world they live in. This season is about characters figuring out who they are, and while in the show this sometimes leads to fatal or life-altering decisions and actions, it only benefits the actors and the overall quality of the show.
Marvel’s Luke Cage Season 2 premiered on June 22nd, 2018. All Episodes are available on Netflix.
Starring: Mike Colter, Mustafa Shakir, Theo Rossi, Alfre Woodard, Simone Missick
Weighed Critic Rating: 8.6/10 (B)
Casual Viewer/Personal Rating: 8.8/10 (B+)
Jack in the Soapbox 