Scarfe takes central focus here. It isn't so much in terms of screen time, actually the episode is very well balanced on that front, but his actions are the main driving force of the plot.
It's even stranger, as his biggest contribution for the most part is getting shot by Stokes during a confrontation. I'm not sure what Scarfe was thinking, to be honest. Fishing for more money is somewhat understandable, but even someone as snarky as him should have known that challenging Stokes' power right to his face wasn't going to end well.
You'd think a cop would be somewhat capable in combat, but his immediate response is to go for his gun, which is ironically what does him in. Still, despite taking several bullet hits (not as many as Vito Corleone, but still), he manages to hold out a good while.
Is it weird that I found his death scene more effective than Pop's? I don't think it was so much the added screen time, but the fact that Scarfe's death was more understated in comparison really paid dividends. He and Misty have some tender moments before he passes and it seems like there's more weight behind it. There's no anguished cry, just Misty repeating the word no to herself over and over.
While the two characters don't share a whole lot of screen time together (as Misty spends the episode trying to track her partner down) we do see more concrete evidence that the two were pretty close. Misty is still skeptical about Scarfe being on the take, and even when she does open up to the possibility, she wants to be the one to bring him in and hear him out due to loyalty. It's fairly endearing.
Alfre Woodard also stands out as her character is given new depth. While her "I don't want to know about it" justification for her cousin's activities was always flimsy at best, we see that even taking that into account, she still isn't the person that we think she is. Not only do we get glimpses of her backstory, but she herself starts to become angrier as her career seems to crumble around her.
She also has some creative ways of dealing with the Luke Cage problem. While Luke is impervious to most things: blades and bullets and the like. There is still the possibility of drowning or poisoning. She also suggests burning him to death, but I think that fire's been established as ineffective too. Still, not only does it show out of the box thinking (bullets seem to be the go to solution, even when it's well known that they don't work,) but displays a hint of sadism as well.
Rosario Dawson makes another appearance, meeting up with Luke to find out how he is after the whole shotgun to the head incident. Naturally, her primary role is to motivate Luke into using his abilities for good, though her medical training does come in handy in regards to Scarfe.
I was going to comment on how odd it is that Luke is still getting speeches about how he should use his powers to help people when that's what he's been doing in his attempt to topple Stokes. He still talks about how he wants to keep a low profile, but he's being talked about on the radio (by the by, using Trish's show was a nice touch) and he was seen on live television. They try to hand wave it by saying that he's "Harlem famous" (as opposed to say NFL Football player famous) but it was still odd.
To the episode's credit, his logic does start to make a bit more sense later on in the episode, as he voices a desire to stop once Stokes is put in jail as a result of evidence that Scarfe had gathered over the years.
Said arrest was an odd development given that this is the sixth episode in a 13 episode season. Now, being unable to resist the lure of TvTropes, I have a fairly good idea of what happens from here*, but that doesn't change the fact that this has the feel of a season finale. There really aren't much in the way of loose ends to tie up. Stokes is in jail and Mariah's career is in shambles. You can't really fault Luke for thinking that the job is done.
IGN's review even notes that this undercuts the "binge watch" factor that a Netflix show would usually thrive on as there isn't really that big moment to get you piqued for the next episode.
Still, there's a lot to like here. The episode is emotionally well balanced: providing both a fair dose of humor, action, and serious drama. There are a lot of great character moments and the episode gives everybody something to do. There's even some not unsubtle, but not overly heavy handed foreshadowing for "The Defenders" which makes me happy. I don't know if this will go down as one of the more memorable episodes when all is said and done, but it's a good watch.
*Spoiler alert: The Hand break him out and recruit him....Not really, I totally made that up. That would have been a twist, though. It would have been worth it just to see Stokes' reaction to being freed by ninjas. I figure he'd either be utterly confused or just laugh. I am going to miss his laugh.
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