Another club performer montage? Seriously, the show is over doing it. It isn't helped by the fact that I found this to be the weakest number to date.
On the plus side, the episode manages to succeed on every other front, as the chess match between Stokes and Luke turns into a war of escalation.
As Stokes is now financially strapped, he is forced to shake down the city residents and businesses in the hopes of recouping his losses. Shades scoffs at the idea that he can pick up $7,000,000 this way, but he actually does manage to accumulate a sizable pile of cash. On top of that, he manages to turn the city against Luke by telling his goons to let the victims know that Luke's actions are what caused this. The conflict may be devolving into a metaphorical street fight, but it was a rather clever move on Stokes' part.
For his part, Luke's tactics aren't exactly subtle, but he doesn't really need them to be. All he has to do is walk up to various crooks and start smacking them around before collecting the stolen property. It's not like they can hurt him. It (more or less) gets results and it is quite fun to watch, so everyone appears to come out ahead.
Well, Misty suggests otherwise, and she's not entirely wrong. She even calls Luke out on escalating things and putting lives in danger. I didn't really buy it when she said before that vigilantes didn't know what they were doing, but it does seem like Luke isn't looking at the bigger picture regarding the possible repercussions for his actions.
Claire makes her first appearance of the season. Dawson's presence is often a highlight, but her scenes are also beneficial in that they help cement this show's place in the overall timeline. I had read that this takes place before the second season of "Daredevil", but Claire alludes to the Hand's attack on the hospital, showing that it happens at least somewhat along side it's latter half, or slightly after the show's end. It does make you wonder though, why Frank Castle hasn't been brought up, especially in regards to the philosophical debates about the role of vigilantes/superheroes.
Speaking of not being brought up, this episode does make vague reference to a couple of the Avengers (and Chitauri material does become a plot point) but I do find it strange that there is no mention of the inhumans. Citing Thor or Hulk or "the incident" when talking about how strange things have gotten makes sense, but the global terrigenesis that transpired in "Agents of Shield" should have more lasting impact on the overall narrative for the shared universe. Not only are there a lot more powered people around as a result, but there were also massive casualties, as not everyone was conducive to being turned. This is also something that happened in the public eye. A lot of the events on "Agents of Shield" are fairly covert, but this was widely reported and documented, so it's absence is rather jarring. It wouldn't even have to be an in depth connection, even just an off-hand reference to the events, like the ones used for the movies, would go a long way towards making the MCU more cohesive.
Another highlight is Stokes, who is in rare form here. He's menacing when he needs to be, but the show continues to show that he has depth, principles, and even a pretty decent sense of humor. He's rather amused when one of his underlings notes that they're reading about sociological theories and he borderline geeks out when Shades shows him, and offers him access to incredibly deadly bullets made from Chitauri metal.
While both Ali and Colter bring enough gravitas to make the confrontations between the two characters tense, the fact that Luke is impervious to just about everything makes the conflict a little one sided. With Stokes armed with alien bullets, it does balance the scales a bit.
It was nice to see, though, that the two could table their conflict to honor Pop at his funeral. Were this a daytime soap, you can bet that there would have been a showdown as tensions between the two adversaries boiled over, but both manage to keep their cool and deliver sincere and heartfelt speeches to honor the man who meant a lot to them both. That doesn't stop them from taking passive aggressive swipes at each other during said speeches, but all things considered, they both did rather well.
All in all, this was another solid entry. It achieved its desired goal of kicking things up a notch in regards to the war between Luke and Stokes. It also did a little to help set up the Defenders as Claire notes that she wants to work with the heroes she's come across, lending credence to the theory that she helps bring them together. It wasn't a huge foreshadowing moment, but it was still nice to see. The episode was paced well and managed to move things forward on several fronts. It's hard to believe we're already coming up on the halfway point, but there we are.
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