It’s the 9th episode of Luke Cage and the characters are starting to feel the pain.
Episode nine of Luke Cage is all about pain and healing, both physical and emotional. By this point, all the characters have suffered in some way and are dealing with the consequences of their actions. Life in Harlem is not easy on anyone and everyone is trying to figure out where they go from here.
For Misty, this means facing an interrogation by a police psychologist, Dr. Krasner, (John Scurti) like she’s a criminal. The doctor wants to understand what lead Misty to snap and attack Claire in the last episode. Misty wants to be out on the street looking for the man who stole her gun and threatened her life. The encounter with Diamondback shook Misty more than she is willing to admit. She likes being in control. Being powerless in that moment forced her to confront emotions she had been working hard to suppress.
Misty prides herself on her ability to see everything around her. It is this photographic memory that has become both her gift and her curse. “I see everything and I forget nothing. Every investigation, every suspect, every murder, every crying mother. It is all in my head,” she tells Dr. Krasner. It pains her to know that she was completely blind to the fact that Scarfe was working for Cottonmouth. It’s the reason why reconciliation between her and Luke will be difficult, Misty only trusts a few people and so far those people she’s let in have turned out to have devastating secrets. Now Misty has been lead to a dark place, doubting her own abilities while heading back out on the street to confront Luke.
Image via Netflix
Everyone is after Luke, but can’t seem to find him even though he waltzes back into the diner run by his known associate Claire Temple’s mother. Go figure. Luke needs help as well. He is feeling the pain in a more physical sense having now been shot by the Judas gun twice. With Reva’s flash drive of stolen information from Seagate, Claire is trying to work on a plan of how to remove the now exploded bullets. The best plan Claire can come up with is to take Luke to the doctor that caused his condition in the first place, Dr. Noah Burstein.
Neither Claire nor Luke trusts the former prison doc. The information on the flash drive that Burstein is so eager to have back is the same data Reva died to protect. (Spoiler alert for Jessica Jones) This flash drive is the same one Kilgrave had Jessica kill Reva to obtain. It contains not only information about Luke, but also the videos of the experimentation and torture of Kilgrave as a child on it. It brings up questions about Reva’s role across multiple series. Why did she have all this information? And what did she really know about what happened to her husband?
Image via Netflix
The man with the unbreakable skin is on everyone’s minds as Mariah, Shades, and Diamondback form a tentative alliance to take Luke down after taking out the rest of the competition in Harlem. They might not be feeling the pain the way Luke and Misty are, but they are sure ready to bring it. Diamondback and Mariah are an equal match, both ruthless and cunning, although in this case Mariah may be one step ahead. She brilliantly convinces Diamondback to make the hunt and killing of Luke into a business move. Now that a video of Luke injuring two police officers has surfaced on the internet Diamondback can use this as an opportunity to legitimize his operation. He can sell the Judas weapon to police officers so they can protect themselves and fight back against powered individuals.
"“You gotta go big pharma on this s***. You invent the disease, then you sell the cure.”"
Mariah is nothing if not a good businesswoman. She is stepping into the void left by Cottonmouth, but she also wants to make their operation legal. Like Claire told Luke, Harlem needs heroes that operate outside of the shadows. This makes Mariah much more dangerous than her cousin or even Diamondback. Despite her actions, that now include murder, she still believes her intentions are noble. And villains who believe what they are doing is for the greater good are the worst kind.
Now that Mariah and Diamondback are taking their fight to the public it will be interesting to see everyone taking sides. Misty seems to be disillusioned with the law and at this point it is only a matter of time before she teams up with Luke. That is, if Luke manages to come out of the acid bath unscathed. (We’re honestly not that worried about him.)
Next: Luke Cage Recap: S1E8 “Blowin’ Up The Spot”
Stray Observations & Easter Eggs
- This episode is so intense Luke says, “Sweet Christmas” twice
- “My mom has a car, we haven’t totaled that one yet.”
- There just *happens* to be a sweatshirt just Luke’s size in the first dryer Luke opens
- Cottonmouth’s window is fixed, but the only person we staring out of it is Shades, who seems to stay on everyone’s good side while also working everyone over
- DWYCK stands for “Do what you can, kid” which is what everyone is trying to do in this episode, the best they can