The 11 most important moments in Luke Cage season 2
By Lacy Baugher
Marvel’s Luke Cage season 1 production still. Photo: Myles Aronowitz/Netflix
Shades and Comanche’s stakeout heart to heart
Real talk: Season 2 of Luke Cage is several episodes too long, which means that the show has do to something to fill all that time. This means there’s a lot of talking. Like, a lot. Sometimes that means a lot of exposition. Sometimes it’s repetitive, and sometimes it’s incredibly illuminating.
Look, the complaints about the pacing problems are more than fair. But in a shorter version of this season, there’s no way that a particularly groundbreaking scene between Shades and Comanche ever would have happened. And it’s lovely.
While they’re waiting for Luke to return to Pop’s Barbershop, Shades and Comanche have a most interesting heart-to-heart. Comanche isn’t too thrilled with Mariah’s skills as a leader, nor is he thrilled about his bestie’s romantic entanglement with the new queen of Harlem. Shades, perfect boyfriend that he is, defends his lady, and the two start talking about their past. To be clear: The discuss their past, together.
Yup, the MCU has one of its first officially male LGBT characters: Shades Alvarez is bisexual. And it’s not just the admission itself that’s incredible here, either. It’s the nuanced way these characters discuss their relationship, which took place when they were both at Seagate Prison. This chat not only gives Comanche’s random hatred of Mariah more context, it colors in both characters in new and unexpected ways. While Comanche’s romantic feelings appear to have been genuine — and to still exist outside of prison — Shades’ are more complicated.
His explanation of prison as a separate world with its own rules that no one on the outside would can understand is heartbreaking, and strangely understandable. These aren’t the sort of men who are going to end up at the Stonewall Inn or waving rainbow flags in the pride parade. They can’t even talk about whatever happened between them in plain terms. (Everyone tries real hard to avoid anything that sounds like “I loved you.”) Yet, they don’t shy away from acknowledging that something did happen. It’s a fascinating conversation.
Unfortunately, the show doesn’t really come back to this moment properly. It’s one of the most well done, understated scenes in all of season 2.