Welcome back to Harlem! This first episode of season 2 serves mostly to introduce and re-introduce all of Luke Cage’s players, so pull up a bar stool at Harlem’s Paradise, and let’s check in on everyone. Sweet Christmas, there are a lot of characters!
Luke is being Luke, though now there’s a camera in his face pretty much full time, as well as an app that tracks his whereabouts (surely that won’t be problematic…). He and Claire are still together, but there is a tension between them that seems ready to boil over at any moment. They can’t even go out on a dinner date without granting selfies to adoring fans and arguing over the role of a hero. Romantic!
Misty has lost her arm, and she is coping with the injury (read: drinking a lot). She really, really, REALLY wants to go back to being a cop, but it doesn’t seem like the rest of the squad is anxious to get her back. She also feels their pity, and she is not a fan. Things DO seem to look up for Misty, though, when Luke brings an unconscious Arturo to the precinct for interrogation.
Who’s Arturo? I’m so glad you asked! But first, let me bring you up to speed on everyone’s favorite crooked politician slash nightclub owner slash murderer – Mariah! Ms. Dillard is trying to rid herself of all of the negativity of her maiden name and go clean, with the help of her henchman and – wait for it – BOY TOY, none other than Shades!!! And they are INTO each other, y’all. I’m not sure what their end game is, but I am here for this cougar and her cub.
Back to Arturo…he is one of the potential buyers for Mariah’s illegal gun business, and she needs the cash BAD (though she refuses to sell the Basquiat painting in her office/lair). Somehow, they arrange for Arturo to lure Luke out to one of his trucks, blow him up, and then shoot him with a Judas bullet. Surprise, surprise – Judas bullets don’t hurt Luke Cage anymore! Luke knocks Arturo out and then screams into the nearest camera, “Yo, I’m Luke Cage. You can’t burn me, you can’t blast me, and you definitely can’t break me. You wanna test me? Step up. I’m right here. I ain’t going nowhere. You know where to find me. I am Harlem. And Harlem is me.” Hmmm…methinks there might be some folks who want to challenge those assertions…
Which brings me to “Bushmaster,” a Jamaican man who appears on the scene, takes out a rival gang member (who was also a potential “investor” for Mariah), and takes about a half dozen bullets in the chest without batting an eye. Looks like we have our first new villain of the season!
The last new character we meet is quite possibly the most interesting. It’s the Reverend James Lucas, Luke’s estranged father. The only thing that’s clear from their grumpy run-in on the street is that these two men have some difficult history. Reg Cathey plays the Reverend with a mix of calm pulpit wisdom and gruff, world-weary swagger, and I cannot wait to see where this family dynamic takes us.
That just about sums up the major personalities. Keeping up? Then onto the next episode!
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