The show's strong streak continues, as this is a jam-packed powerhouse episode. Looking back on it, I'm surprised how much ground this one managed to cover, so let's just get right to it.
It opens with Luke sinking into the river, paralyzed after his fight with Bushmaster. As he is unable to rescue himself, it's up to Namor to save the day. No, that doesn't happen, though how cool would that have been? The powder wears off rather quick. It's unavoidable plot convenience, but at least Luke is still reeling, even when he does make it back to his father's church. The subsequent power nap is enough to negate it, but at least there was some aftershock to the ordeal.
To add salt to the wound, Piranha left in Luke's absence, rendering him vulnerable to capture by Bushmaster's gang. While Piranha does comply with his captor's demands to transfer all of Mariah's assets to Bushmaster, it's only a matter of time before they have him head off to sleep with the fishes. Why yes, I did word it in that specific way for a reason, why do you ask?
Really, with his nickname, it shouldn't come as a surprise how things turn out. Some of Bushmaster's goons even poke fun at the name and you can tell by the look on the broker's face that he realized that it was a bad pick in hindsight.
Luke does join forces with a newly resigned Misty to try to come to his rescue, but obviously, it doesn't work out. Though, again, we see that the two work really well together. The byplay between the two is still strong and Misty shows that she can hold her own in a fight with Bushmaster's mooks. While the robot hand does prove useful, you can tell that she didn't really need it just by the way she was fighting. Even Luke seemed impressed. Again, the partnership only goes for a portion of the episode before the two part ways, but it was still fun to see. Could have done without Luke's line about how it was his show when Misty pitched the idea that he was her sidekick. That was a little too on-the-nose meta for me.
Piranha isn't the only one who bites it this episode....what? Misty's boss and Comanche are also killed off after Shades discovers the latter's informant status. Seeing the two working well together last episode just makes it that much more brutal to watch. That was likely intentional on the writers' part. Shades himself admits that the bond the two shared blinded him to the idea of the possibility.
I think Alfre Woodard comes away the MVP this episode. This chapter gave her a lot to work with and she did it all well. Seeing her assert her authority in the first act when she realizes that she has a mole was compelling to watch. She also has rather intense scenes with both Misty's aforementioned boss, as well as Bushmaster. You can tell she's legitimately rattled at points, but she is still able to bring strength and anger to the table when the situation calls for it.
Bushmaster himself has some standout scenes. Sure, he falls into the traditional villain monologuing trope, but he does it pretty well. The latter instance also has the added benefit of giving us more information about the feud. We knew the basics before, but it turns out that there was more to the story, giving Bushmaster more reason to maintain his grudge, even after he had taken all of Mariah's assets.
The episode tries to make a parallel with Luke's resentment towards his dad, but I'm not sure how well that worked. If the arcs had played out differently, maybe something could be done, but the two situations aren't exactly the same.
Speaking of the Luke/dad relationship. It managed to move in some capacity. It's clear that the reverend has some regrets, and there is a point where it seems like the two might mend fences, but the two are both quite stubborn. There is an initial wedge drawn between the two, but by episode's end, it does seem like they are taking the first steps towards patching things up. You have to give Luke's dad credit, even though his son is bigger, stronger, a trained boxer and fighter, and superpowered; he isn't cowed and even says that he's not afraid to break his foot up in his son's behind. The threat falls flat on Luke's end naturally, but still, props for standing up.
The episode ends with Luke coming to Mariah's of all people's rescue. She says she wants to hire him. Her offer is understandable given her situation, but it does put Luke in a weird spot. The fact that she's basically broke and Piranha never even ended up paying him for that protection gig only makes matters worse.
That is, of course, fodder for the next episode.
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