Bushmaster's gruesome maneuver from the last episode sends shockwaves, as it puts just about everybody on high alert.
Even Mariah herself is clearly rattled, not so much by the macabre, but by the fact that her dream seems to be crumbling just as soon as she got it. It seemed like she was starting to spiral, but Shades manages to snap her out of it. It was nice to see, but seeing Mariah start to lose it seems like it could have been a compelling arc as we move into the second half of the season.
There's still plenty else to keep viewers satisfied. It's clear that a gang war is brewing. We see Bushmaster's men fanning the city in their hunt for Piranha. Shades also starts to gear up, putting aside his differences with Comanche in the process.
That was also nice to see. After so many episodes of the two butting heads over various things, this episode makes it clear that the two still have each other's backs and are quite tight. The conversation they have while they stake out the barbershop is one of the episode's many highlights.
Interestingly enough, Luke and Piranha bond a little. It's reluctant on Luke's part, as he just wants to wrap things up quickly, but his guard does start to drop over time. Granted, it's clear that Luke's protecting Piranha has more to do with what he can offer as far as stopping both Bushmaster and Mariah, but progress is still progress. Luke does make a point to drop the guy off at his dad's church, which also allows him to begin the process of mending fences.
Having Piranha also enables Luke to call out Bushmaster...literally, he calls him on a cell phone and challenges him to a fight.
Considering how the last fight went, you might not have high hopes. Luke does fare a lot better. He still gets hit quite a bit, but he's able to dish out as much as he can take. He is also able to get up more than he was before. I guess either that sucker punch really did a number on him, or it was another instance of his body adapting to something that had hurt it before. Granted, Luke still loses, but Bushmaster had to pull a dirty trick in order to get things back in his favor. It still makes for a potent cliffhanger, but it's clear that Bushmaster is quite beatable.
As enjoyable as the fight was, I also enjoyed the pre-fight banter. Bushmaster does make another pitch for the two to join forces. The first time around his tone suggested that it was a joke and not meant to be taken seriously, but this time sounded much more legit. It makes sense, Luke is only an enemy by proxy. Mariah's his real target and Luke has no fondness for her. Bushmaster even says near the tail end of the fight that in another life, the two could have been brethren. Common enemy or not, Bushmaster is still a criminal, and Luke is still a hero. It does give their dynamic a bit of added flavor, though.
This was another strong episode. It was very well balanced. The episode managed to squeeze in some drama and character development, a decent amount of action, and a few bits of humor to keep things interesting. As noted before, this shows that the stakes are going up and tensions are rising, so you get the feeling that things are really going to start gearing up going forward.
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