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: Now You're Mine

 "What you talkin' about, Willis?"

This is a taut, exciting episode crammed full of action and drama in equal measure. It's a hostage situation in Harlem's Paradise, with Luke in hiding protecting Misty, who now at last believes wholly in his innocence. But Stryker is willing to kill hostages, and happy to manipulate the police outside into blaming Luke for everything.

It's gripping drama, full of Luke being stoic, noble and heroic as ever in a world that doesn't deserve him. But Claire, too, is awesome, as is the wounded Missy, realising the truth and being big enough to apologise to Claire. We hear more of Stryker's backstory, and his unfair prison term while his mother died alone. It's intertesting that it should be held back this late.

There's a guest appearance from Blake Tower of Daredevil, making these Netflix shows (which they still are) feel more of a coherent unit. There are also signs that those who matter, if not those higher up, are beginning to believe in Luke's innocence. Perhaps. But he does the right thing regardless.

The ending, with Luke in custody, Misty badly injured and Diamondback free, leaves everything up in the air. This is brilliant telly. Two to go...

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: Just to Get a Rep

 "Don't you need a gun?"

"I am the gun!"

This is yet another superlative episode. On the surface it's about the deliciously bad yet nuanced Cottonmouth- a bit man, but much reduced after Luke's coup last episode- against Luke, who has almost no resources but is super-strong and invulnerable. And Luke, by now, is determined to fight the good fight, despite Misty's entreaties that vigilanteism will just cause more suffering in a debate we've seen many times here, and in both Daredevil and Jessica Jones. The climax has Luke following Cottonmouth's nasty, populist speech at Pop's memotial- denouncing "foreigners" and "arcane abilities"- with a veiled and uplifting denunciation of cottonmouth.

This round is to Luke, then. Especially as he successfully puts a stop to Cottonmouth trying to make Harlem's businesses suffer to get revenge on Luke. But it seems there's trouble ahead. Cottonmouth may be in financial trouble, but he's acquiring special bullets (an alien metal?) that may be able to hurt Luke. And Shades finally recognises Carl Lucas, and explains all to Cottonmouth: this could prove equally troublesome.

Yet it's not just about that; there are character moments aplenty. Cottonmouth has a genuine pride in refusing to sell his club because "No one black has ever done anything like this". He may be a bigot, like his cousin, but he is what he is for a reason. And there's lots of subtle social commentary on Harlem and what it means to be a black man in America.

There's also Claire, fresh from quitting at the hospital after the cover-up in the second season of Daredevil, arriving home and reminiscing on the strange things she's seen. It's clear she's going to do something.

I'm loving this. Excellent telly.

Luke Cage: Step in the Arena

 "I'm kind of strong..."

Wow. I'm on record as saying, several times, that superhero origin stories often disappoint. I'm not familiar with the no doubt very '70s original from the comics, but this was superb. Perhaps we had something of a textbook prison drama with, as the esteemed Mr Zimmerman once put it, "an innocent man in a living hell", complete with overt Deep South racism, illicit gladiator fighting, an evil governor you love to hate, lots of exercise equipment, violence, and a doomed best friend. 

Thje sheer number of cliches is a strength here, though, not a weakness. Sometimes a cliche can provide a short cut to allow you to whiz through lots of events at pace, which happens here. This is absolutely in tune with the thoughtful mood of the series while also being absolutely a superhero origin story. Best of all, we get a glimpse of Luke dressed, briefly, in a version of his proper Power Man costume until he catches himself in a mirror and remarks that he looks like a "damn fool".

We even get links to Jessica Jones as Luke first meets Reva in flashback, although not all is revealed- we still know not how or why Carl Lucas was originally framed in the first place. But this is a massive and superb episode, framed by brief sequences in the present day as Luke helps Connie to escape from the rubble. 

Surely Misty has to be wondering what Luke's secret is?

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.