Luke’s past comes back to haunt him, Misty loses her cool, and new alliances are formed in the 8th episode of Luke Cage.
Apparently Shades and Mariah are big How to Get Away With Murder fans. After killing Cottonmouth in the last episode, the duo have staged a crime scene Annalise and the Keating Five would be proud of. They want to convince the police that Luke Cage is the one responsible. They even go as far as paying off Candy, one of the Harlem’s Paradise employees, to say she saw Luke at the scene.
Misty isn’t buying it. We’ve seen her deductive reasoning at work before and she knows this time all the pieces just don’t add up. Plus she also knows Luke in the Biblical sense so she believes deep down that he can’t be the one responsible. Misty is on the hunt once again for answers, putting her at odds with everyone around her. She is trying to find someone to blame for everything that has happened, including the death of Scarfe which she still hasn’t had time to mourn. She has been holding all of these emotions in and now they have surfaced in a big way.
Image via Netflix
First Misty sets her sights on Mariah. Mariah won’t bite, she’s too powerful now with the support of Shades that, in a way, her cousin never had. Mariah and Shades are the perfect match, both devious and not afraid to get their hands dirty. (So perfect, in fact, they’ve inspired the ship name #ShadyMariah which has even received praise from Shades himself Theo Rossi.) Misty also tries to go after Claire, but after three seasons of dealing with superheroes, she is too smart to be intimidated by Misty’s interrogation tactics.
Misty is unraveling. She is faced with a hero she doesn’t quite understand and villains she can’t stop using the law. In episode three, Misty and Scarfe had a conversation about the limitations of police officers and what they can actually do facing new threats in this post-incident world. It’s an important question and one that resonates in the real world as well. When do the circumstances outweigh police effectiveness? Are there limits to what the law can do? How do we adjust when things change?
Luke is facing some change himself. For the first time in years he is experiencing pain and he is in serious danger. The Judas weapon did what it was supposed to do- pierce the unbreakable man’s skin and not even Claire knows how to help him. This eventually leads to Luke’s first face to face confrontation with Diamondback aka Willis Stryker. The two apparently have a history, one where they grew up together under the tutelage of Luke’s preacher father and Luke somehow betrayed his friend. We don’t know their entire backstory just yet, but we do know one thing, their relationship is not what Luke believed. They’re not just friends, but brothers.
Image via Netflix
This is all a lot to take in midway through the season. The show spent seven episodes building up Cottonmouth as Luke’s adversary and all that is gone. Now there is a new villain and a new tangled backstory to unravel. It is frustrating at times, but does make Harlem feel like a small neighborhood. Like any community, everyone seems to know everyone else. It is these connections that will make a difference as we draw closer to the end of the season. How these relationships will play out and who will ally themselves together over time.
We end this episode with Luke shot once more, Mariah and Shades bonding over murder, and Misty questioning her own actions. It looks like times they are a-changin’ in Harlem once more and there’s no telling what is going to happen next.
Next: Luke Cage Recap: S1E7 “Manifest”
Stray Observations & Easter Eggs
- Cottonmouth and Diamondback are types of snakes, it all makes sense now
- The way Claire handled herself during Misty’s interrogation would sure make Matt Murdock proud
- Claire: All right macho man. Luke: Actually it’s Power Man.
- Claire: Remember when Jessica shot you? Luke: I’ve been trying to forget that.