Luke Cage: You Know My Steez

 "Most of these guys wear spandex. Who would have thought a black man in a hoodie would be a hero."

And so- later than expected, due to so much current television absolutely having to be blogged in such a short space of time (Stranger Things; Obi-Wan Kenobi; The Boys; and now Pistol)- we conclude the first season of Luke Cage in my everlasting quest to complete the formerly Netflix Marvel stuff before turning to the more recent series on Disney Plus.

This series has been superb. Much as there is some truth to the criticism of a mid-season lull after Stokes is killed, this is superb telly. The fight between Luke and Diamondback (using his suit from the comics!) is epic superhero set piece, chreographed like- and echoing flashbacks of- a boxing match. 

The goodies don't win; Mariah and Shades get off, while Luke is taken to prison in Georgia despite being cleared of his "crimes" in Harlem. And yet this is far from depressing viewing, and not only because Bob finds the folder which will presumably establish Luke's innocence; indeed, narratively, it has to. So we can bask in Luke's nobility- and nobility he has; this gent would fit in as a Knight of the Round Table- as he's taken back to Seaview, yet with a note of hope.

Because this episode makes clear that Luke has the adoration of all of Harlem including its admiring police deparment. And he gets a very meaningful snog from Claire, who finally lets slip her real feelings.

There's more; Misty struggles with the failure of the system todeliver justice as Candace is murdered and Mariah walks free. The world is not perfect, and that is, perhaps, while superheroes are necessary- a theme of all these Netfix Marvel shows. Yet there is hope. There are good people like Luke, Claire and Misty. The world is not beyond redemption.

I shall now catch up a bit with my current telly rotation, and Breakng Bad too, before Iron Fist joins The Green Hornet in my regular rotation.

Luke Cage: Soliloquy of Chaos

 "What are you, a pimp stormtrooper?"

I know, it's been a while: a confluence of Stranger Things, Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Boys meant new telly had to overshadow my planned content. But, now that only The Boys is still going, I can plough on.

Anyway, yes, as ever with penultimate episodes, this is an exercise in getting the pieces in place for the finale, so Misty can go after Mariah and Luke can give Diamondback a good kicking. And yes, it's a little eyebrow raising not only that Shades has a folder conveniently clearing Luke of the crimes Diamondback framed him for in the first place. Also, Luke doesn't even bother to check. And since when did Americans free black people from prison after their innocence was proven without dragging their feet? There's no justice in that country. And don't get me stsrted on their bail scams, their plea bargain corruption, their not letting people vote after they've served their time.

But this is a superb bit of telly despite the above plot hole. I'm no hip hop head, but the stuff with Method Man is profoundly moving, with the Harlem community coming behind Luke, a black man unjustly harassed by the police. I noticed the Trayvon Martin reference, which was highly appropriatre. Yet we also have Priscilla, by now established as hard but fair, as a counterpoint to a Misty who by now is entirely on Team Luke.

The tension, the action (Shades escaping his planned murder in the lift), the calm chess playing grace of Bobby, the characterisation of Mariah and Diamondback, the acting throughout, the fact that Luke has the cops on his side... my God, I'll miss Luke Cage. This is damn good telly.

Luke Cage: Take It Personal

 "I am my brother's keeper. Whether I like it or not."

This is an episode of answers, as the season starts to inch towards its denouement. Yes, the new team of Maria and Diamondback are cleverly manipulating all of Harlem- including the cops, by framing Luke for a cop killing- against the ever-decent yet unfortunate Mr Cage, who also suffers the heartbreak at this point of realising that Reva, whom he loved, betrayed him from the start. At least Claire is a true friend... just a friend? She's certainly a far better medical professional than that Dr Mengele assisting her...

But answers there are. Luke and Claire discover the true scale of the experiments at Seagate, and learn more of his powers- he is ageless. Meanwhile, Misty learns the identity of her attacker, that Luke was Carl Lucas, and that he and Stryker were tried together for grand theft auto, I'm sure wew shall hear more of this.

There are bigger bombshells, though, in Georgia- Luke realises, through the medium of flashbach, that Stryker is his half-brother through his father's affair. Wow. 

Mistry is extraordinary here, going a long way to redeeming herself, even as the rest of the police disgrace themselves with reckless and racist witch hunts. She finds Stryker, he shoots... and all hell breaks loose. Once again, after last episode's cliffhanger, it's topped this time as Luke protects an injured Misty from an armed mob with his body...

This is a wonderful television series, with so much social subtext. There's so much here about the interplay between racism, business and police brutality. Superb.

Luke Cage: DWYCK

 "What's up, Doc?"

So much happens in this extra-long episode, in which Luke truly reaches rock bottom and literally everything is in flux. There's clearly a lot to happen as the season enters the final stretch. This is bloody good telly.

Luke is wounded, seemingly dying, and lucky to be looked after by the awesomely determined Claire as he ends up with the doctor from Seabrook prison who originally experimented on him, zooming towards a dramatic cliffhanger as the dramatic and tortuous cure turns out, perhaps, to be as deadly as Diamondback's bullets. It's extraordinary stuff.

Speaking of Diamondback, who is he? Is he Luke's brother, unacknowledged? He's certainly a chaismatic villain, with his Biblical quotes and his slow taking over of all that Cottonmouth once had... including Mariah, clever and manipulative as she is, whose talents are now to be used by him in an extraordinarily murderous gangland scene which changes Harlem's underworld for good.

Finally, and mostvimportantly, we get some extraordinary character stuff for Misty, with an extraordinary performance from Simone Missick as a psychiatrist teases out of her why she snapped at Claire; the fact that Diamondback performed that sadistic mock exacution, something that's going to take a lot of healing.

Action, drama, suspense... this is top telly.

Luke Cage: Blowin' Up the Spot

 "Who the Hell is Luke Cage?"

... And suddenly, the status quo is gone. Cottonmouth is shockingly dead, with the actual season big bad being either Mariah, Shades or both. Luke is on the run, crrudely but effectively framed for Cottonmouth's murder, but his innocence will help him: any scrutiny threatens to expose his status as a fugitive.

Oh, and he's been shot- and hurt, by a special bullet fired by Stryker, or Diamondback... and is shot once again at the end. He and Stryker clearly have a history; he once wronged Stryker and was framed as a result. Yet more is to be revealed. And, through it all, Luke never stops being decent, upstanding and honourable. No wonder Claire sticks with him through thick and thin, unlike Misty, who has her doubts and makes some very serious mistakes, losing Claire's respect in the process. That's a nice touch; a characyer we like proves to have flaws and nuance.

The status quo has utterly changed, and it's shocking to see. Luke is desperate. Stryker, Mariah and Shades all seem to have linked plans. I don't generally enjoy stories of framing and injustice, but this is fresh and exciting.

Luke Cage: Manifest

 "Sometimes, if you want justice, you have to get it yourself."

Wow. The middle episode, just after all seemed so neatly wrapped up last episode, and we have such a reversal of fortune here. Without Scarfe to testify, the evidence won't stick against Cottonmouth, so he's released. Misty's captain is replaced by a hardarse who suspects Misty, but especially Luke. Cottonmouth uses his knowledge of Luke's past to blackmail him. Suddenly, he has things to fear.

Yet he has two women with conflicting advice. Misty, despite her soft spot for him, wants him to top meddling and leave policing to the professionals. But then there's Claire, positively evangelical in urging him to use his power for good, and not to run from his demons. It's moving how he trusts Claire enough to tell her everything.

Mariah's political career is falling apart after last episode. Yet Shades, displeased with Cottonmouth on behalf of his boss, has plans for her. The flashbacks of the two of them are fascinating; we learn of Mariah's studying, the sexual abuse she suffered, and of the young Cottonmouth's piano playing proclivities, neglected in favour of the family business of crime... and we see his first murder, at his matriarch aunt's bidding, of his traitor uncle who was also sexually abusing Mariah.

And then the episode finishes with real force as Mariah, goaded by Cottonmouth about the sexual abuse, throws him through a window to his death... and there is Shades, to suggest blaming Luke, about whom the police are now suspicious. Ouch. And, if that isn't bad enough, we end up with someone (Diamondback?) shooting him with bullets that can actually hurt him.

Wow. It's an interesting structure to the season to seemingly end things and then do this. And it seems Cottonmouth is not the big bad after all. Who is Diamondback...?

This is compelling telly.

Luke Cage: Suckas Need Bodyguards

 "Bugger off!"

This is, I must hasten to point out, a splendidly clever and entertaining episode in its own right,  but it's surprising in how suddenly it seems to tie up the first half of the season and offer what looks like an ending of sorts, with Cottonmouth arrested on the strength of Scarfe's detailed notes of his work for Cottonmouth and the full scale of the police corruption, now exposed and destroyed. The subplots of Cottonmouth's increasing desperation reach their climax, their nemesis here.

Also in serious triuble, both from her dodgy cousin's arrest and from a rather gleefully well-executed media ambush. It seems the baddies are defeated. Except... early in the episode, Maria suggests to Cottonmouth various ways to kill or hurt Luke. I suspect this will have consequences.

Luke's powers, too, have become very visible, at least locally. This, too, will have consequences. And there is much musing over this. From Trish (remember her, from Jessica Jones?) supporting him on the radio to the more determined suppirt of Claire, Luke has his friends. 

Yet there's another emotional heart of this episode; Scarfe's confession and death. His last few scenes may be mostly action, but he redeems himself by destroying Cottonmouth. But poor Misty loses her mentor. She's a decent person while he's a despicable human being who is directly responsible for his son's death by keeping a gun in his house. 

We end with... an ending. or do we? I'm calling it: Cottonmouth will in some way use Luke's fugitive past against him. This is good telly.

Luke Cage: Who’s Gonna Take the Weight?

 “He was fine!"

This episode has, in contrast to the last two, a relatively simple plot. Luke Cage decides to strike back at Cottonmouth by attacking several of his stash houses and then his main fortress so that the money is all confiscated by investigating cops. The centrepiece is a big set piece of his doing exactly that, to a rather fitting Wu-Tang Clan soundtrack.

There are consequences though, not the least of which is Cottonmouth gettig his very personal and very fiery revenge at the end. Luke, I suspect, can't be hurt by this, but his friend at the rerstaurant very much can. The peoople he cares about are very much vulnerable, even if he isn't.

Misty Knight knows damn well what Luke is up to, as shown by an amusingly confrontational yet flirtatious conversation. A later conversation between Misty and her partner Scarfe is fascinating, and eches debates about vigilanteism in Daredevil- should we approve of what Luke is doing?

Yet all this, and the various criminal diplomacies and wars around Cottonmouth and Mariah, is overshadowed by the big reveal that Scarfe is working for Cottonmouth- and kills Chico to stop him talking.

This is good. Very, very good indeed.,

Luke Cage: Code of the Streets

 "Jesus saves." I don't."

Wow. That was an unexpectedly eventful and deeply layered second episode with a lot going on. This is classy, richly textured television.

There's a lot of development here. We get the backstory of Pop, Chico's dad and Cottonmouth all being young thugs together, until Pop turned himself around after serving a ten stretch in prison as his lady was pregnant. Ouch. That goes to show how the concept of prison is so problematic- it punishes not only the guilty, but their innocent family and children too. We get more of Pop encouraging "Power Man" to be a hero. We get the We get emphasis that the barber shop is "Switzerland", so it's a betrayal, and shocking, when Pop dies the way he does.

We get some fascinating philsophical debate between Cottonmouth and Mariah, much of it framed by black history. We get an eventful appearance by Turk. We get Luke learning who Misty really is. And we get a superb shot, by the same Paul McGuigan who directed similar scenes in Sherlock, of Misty standing at a scene of a crime and literally seeing what happened. She's pretty good at basketball too.

This is extraordinary, easily as good as Daredevil and Jessica Jones so far, in a similar style but definitely its own thing. I'm loving it.

Luke Cage: Moment of Truth

 "Everyone has a gun. No one has a father."

This is a superb first episode. I'm hooked.

Obviously, I was rather annoyed when all the Defenders episodes vanished from ther former abode but, now they've been rehomed, it's time to resume marathoning the whole lot. I'm of a generation a little too young to have read more than the odd issue of Power Man and Iron Fist back in the day, and never really read the early '90s Luke Cage issues, so I know the character from more than Jessica Jones, although I know much of the outline.

Knowledge of the comics means little, though; you can start here very easily, give or take the odd Easter Egg. We have some vague exposition and a brief flashback telling us Luke was framed in the past, Shades was involved, and he receiveda beating in rison that gave him his powers. But we see that he's a decent, hardworking fellow, honestly working dead end jobs to make ends meet and trying to do the right thing- with a little shagging on the side; the ladies seem to like him.

We also get to know- Biblically, in Luke's case, the police detective Misty Knight, not a PI here, who also seems essentially decent. Yet we also see some other major characters, one being Harlem itself which really shines out here as  place with glamour on the one hand and a hopeless trap on the other; a place of racial tension as waves of immigrants move into a traditionally black neighbourhood; and organised crime syumbolised my Cottonmouth, already giving the impression of being a superbly written and played villain, as nuanced as Wilson Fisk and with politcal connections through his corrupt councillor cousin Mariah.

Much of the plot here focuses on Cottonmouth and the doings of his underlings, as well as his rivalry with the mysterious Diamondback. But we end with Luke, having tried to stay out of the hero business, unable to stop himself- although, ironically given the chacter's origins, he's not for hire.

This an excellent opener, splendidly done and already addictive.

Scrooged (1988)

"Where are we? Trump Tower?"

This is my Christmas movie to slot in before said holiday properly commences. There may or may not be others. We shall see. It's a good way, for now, to try and forget that bleeding election.

And a bloody good Christmas movie it is. The opening is wonderful with a series of bizarre scene of Santa, his elves and, er, Lee Majors, all taking part in a shootout at the North Pole. We soon learn that this is just a television programme, and are introduced to the mean and cynical Frank Cross, a Sscrooge for our time who just happens to be producing a live televised version of A Christmas Carol.

The plot runs as we'd expect, of course, but that's the point- this is like a very different cover of a classic song. So here we have a Christmas Carol in '80s New York, where the Ghost of Chrstmas Past not only drives a yellow cab but is played by the lead singer of the New York Dolls. Bill Murray is awesome, and behind the scenes arguments with Richard Donner don't seem to show up on screen at all. We even get the great Robert Mitchum in a supporting role as Frank's boss.

The ending wouldn't fly today- a hostage situation, with a gun, as a major part of a happy ending. But there's no denying that this is a true Christmas comedy, full of Christmas spirit without being excessively schmaltzy. It's warm, it's comforting, but it's not afraid to use the dark side of humour too. A real seasonal classic.