'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 13: 'They Reminisce Over You'

 

The season, and alas, the series comes to an end.  On the plus side, it ends on a high note, delivering an entertaining and compelling conclusion to the proceedings.

At first, I thought that the episode would focus on the trial of Mariah, but that was only the beginning.  She does get to deliver a good speech about the role that she plays in Harlem when trying to get the judge to reconsider bail at her arraignment.  It turns out that she was Harlem's "Guild of Calamitous Intent", bringing a sort of order to the city's crime element.  She even makes a subtle nod to "A Few Good Men" in the process. Sure enough, with her gone, things do start to get crazier and more violent, as various gangs try to swoop in on the now open turf.

Admittedly, this assertion is somewhat undercut by the fact that she herself was starting to break the "rules" of the "game", but it did make for some fascinating plot development.

While Mariah spends the rest of the episode in prison (awaiting her trial), she still plays a pretty significant role in the plot.  She not only mirrors Fisk in asserting her dominance in the prison, but also shows herself to be a power player by having her own people taken out, lest they follow in Shades' footsteps and turn snitch.  

A lot of the episode's highlights feature Mariah in some capacity.  She has some great scenes with Shades, Tilda, and even Luke.  

Luke's arc here is...weird.  They really want to sell the idea that Luke now has to become the thing he hates, but I don't really buy it.  Even with Mariah leaving him the club, everybody acts like he has to become a gangster. DW abandons him and tells him to take his superhero activity elsewhere. Mariah herself clearly states that her intent in doing this is to draw him to the dark side, as it were.  

The thing is, though, he could make it a legitimate business, and the fact that he removed the Biggie poster and replaced it with something else does show that he intends to change things.  

Yes, the episode also shows him meeting with a mafia don to "broker a deal", but even that "deal" was more of a "this territory is under my protection, stay the hell out" than it was anything crime related.  I mean, the Doctor tells enemy aliens that all the time.

Sure enough, when Misty confronts him, Luke does say that crime is on the decline and that he is in the process of steering things in the right direction.  He even tells Misty that he's counting on her to keep him honest in his goings on here.  That doesn't really sound like somebody who is turning heel.  Nevertheless, that "Godfather" nod was a nice touch.

Overall, this was a solid ending.  It managed to balance action, drama, character, and even threw in a few bits of humor in there for good measure.  That's what you like to see; not just from a finale, but from any episode in general.

It's kind of a shame that the show didn't get a third season as there were plenty of seeds planted for another arc.  Who knows, maybe Luke will make a return to the MCU.  It does seem like Disney is working to better integrate the earlier shows into the bigger picture, but we'll see how things play out.

For now, though, it's kind of good to check another show off the list.  Up next, the second season of everybody's favorite hero, Iron Fist.

Click here to open an E-Trade account

Click here to open a RobinHood account

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

Click here to open a FundRise account

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 12: 'Can't Front On Me'

 

We come to the series' penultimate episode.  You'd think that things would be ramping up, but the episode is surprisingly slow.  

Some of it is justified.  Luke, for example, is torn as he doesn't know which horse to back.  Both Bushmaster and Mariah present their own threats to Harlem.  He considers just sitting it out, but that doesn't end up being an option.  Even if Mariah didn't throw the big free concert to bring in potential collateral damage from her showdown with Bushmaster, I have a hard time buying that he'd just let him kill her.

Heck, Mariah herself directly says as much when the two have a brief palaver early in the episode.  It's one of the episode's stronger scenes.  There's mutual disdain, but Mariah also gets chances to taunt her adversary and even toss him a measure of respect, though he doesn't really care for it.

He does briefly team up with Bushmaster to take down one of Mariah's drug lairs.  The show had teased the idea of the two being "brethren" more than once, so this was a good way to pay that off.  It was a good action beat.  I actually thought it popped more than the Luke/Danny raid.  The choreography was more impressive, and Bushmaster was something of a wild card.  He hits Luke once (though it seems to be more of Bushmaster acting on impulse) and Luke has to stop more than once to keep Bushmaster from killing their opponents.  

A lot of the episode is devoted to Shades offering his confession to Misty.  It's mostly recalling events from the show.  You can see it as a nice refresher, or as padding.  Credit where it's due, though, Theo Rossi does a great job with it.  The big poop eating grin he has as he's talking about what he did at various points is pretty priceless.  We also see how much Mariah's actions affected him, as all that goes away when he talks about what happened at the restaurant.

Things do converge in the episode's final half, as everybody convenes at Harlem's Paradise, each with their own goals and objectives.  It was here where the episode picked up and really saved itself.  Misty brings Shades there so that he can acquire her gun to be used as evidence, Bushmaster goes to finally take out Mariah after being spurred by Tilda, and Luke goes to keep people from getting hurt.

With an amped up does of Nightshade, Bushmaster is able to regain some of his physical menace that he had before.  I thought that the show provided a good enough reason not to have Danny participate in any attack on the gangster, but seeing Bushmaster here, yeah, the Iron Fist would have come in handy.  Despite this, the final "Bushmaster vs. Everybody" brawl was a lot of fun.  It was exciting, tense, and memorable.  It really delivered as far as climaxes go.

The whole "will Luke kill Bushmaster" thing was a weak element, though.  Why didn't he just put the guy in a sleeper hold or knock him out?  Just letting him go was pretty dumb.  It does leave something for the final episode to address, but the point still stands.

The closing bit with Mariah getting arrested was pretty cathartic.  She's convinced that it won't stick, and Luke isn't sold either, but for now, it was satisfying to see.  I did also smirk a bit when she referred to herself as a "millionaire philanthropist".  It's pure coincidence in universe, but that is one of Tony Stark's more memorable lines, so I have to think that the writers did that on purpose.

Compared to prior episodes, this is a bit of a step down.  Once it kicked into gear, though, it managed to deliver some solid entertainment.  

Click here to open an E-Trade account

Click here to open a RobinHood account

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

Click here to open a FundRise account

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 11: 'The Creator'

 

In the aftermath of Mariah's retaliatory strike against Bushmaster's family, it is discovered that there was a survivor.  

While there is a window of time where Mariah is unaware, it is short lived as Karen Page gets wind of it and makes it public knowledge.  What's funny is she doesn't even appear in the episode.  On the one hand, the continuity nod is nice, but you really have to wonder what she was thinking.  

Sure enough, Shades is dispatched to tie up that loose end. While the last episode strongly implied Shades being shaken by the attack, this episode makes it quite clear that he was not OK with what happened there.  It's to the point where he can't even bring himself to pull the trigger when he does finally find her and have her dead to rights.

He's one of several characters who point out to Mariah that she is breaking the "rules" of street crime. In addition to the ruthless attack, her newfound desire to start trafficking heroin into Harlem is called out both by another drug dealer and by hallucinations of Mariah's grandmother and granduncle, who like Don Corleone, vehemently opposed drug dealing being a part of their operation.  It's a little jarring, as a couple of episodes ago, she was building a free clinic; now she wants to bring in heroin.  

It's a pretty drastic turnaround, but it does seem like Mariah is losing her marbles.  Even the aforementioned hallucinations make a point to say that she's working through some issues.   

Alfre Woodard continues her performance streak here.  Her scenes make for some of the episode's standout moments.  Her final confrontation with Shades is especially memorable.  Not only is that scene a highlight in and of itself, but it leads to another shocking bit where he willingly turns himself in to police custody if it means helping take Mariah down.  The other underling who walked also goes to Luke with a similar pitch.  It seems like everybody has Mariah in their sights now.

Ironically enough, Bushmaster doesn't.  He is still recovering and when you see him, you can tell that he was in no shape to take on the Heroes for Hire.  It's a close call, but more Nightshade manages to do the trick, though Tilda does tell him that the process damaged his organs and he's living on borrowed time.  

This, coupled with seeing the wreckage at the restaurant is enough to convince him to just walk away.  He does have a solid scene with Luke, where he genuinely thanks Harlem's hero for keeping his aunt safe and the two discuss ideologies. The repeated comparisons between the two were a little on the nose, but Bushmaster does once again state that the two could have been close under different circumstances.  After Jessica Jones and Punisher did the whole hero-villain similarity thing back-to-back, I guess doing it a third time in a row was a bit of a stretch.  

The episode also features some flashbacks that detail Bushmaster's origins.  A lot of it is just showing us things we were told, but it flowed well.  It was interesting seeing the previous Stokes family in action and we do get a brief cameo from Cornell.  It didn't take up the whole episode, but it added a little bit of extra flavor to the proceedings.

  This was a very solid episode.  There were plenty of great character moments and instances of progression.  The status quo was shaken up on several fronts and it does seem like things are reaching the endgame.  I'm guessing the next episode will be the final confrontation with the finale acting as a denouement, but I'll just have to watch and find out.

Click here to open an E-Trade account

Click here to open a RobinHood account

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

Click here to open a FundRise account

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 10: 'The Main Ingredient'

 

The long-awaited reunion between Luke and Danny Rand finally arrives.  The defender of K'un L'un pops in to offer Luke some backup in regard to Bushmaster. 

Oddly enough, Bushmaster doesn't appear at all in this episode.  It's explained in universe as him laying low and recovering from the events of the previous episode.  Still, seeing a 2 on 1 fight where Luke and Danny take him on would have been cool to see.  I guess that's why they had Luke win the last round, to cement that a "team up" wasn't really necessary.    

Instead, Danny offers more in the way of mental and spiritual guidance.  Given his background, it's not that out of place.  It is a little odd, as Luke has mended fences with his dad, so you'd think that he'd already be on the way to a calmer and more assured mindset.  

In any event, it does give the two a chance to shine, as the bond between them remains as strong as it did when they met up back in 'The Defenders'.  They do get a somewhat perfunctory team up fight against some generic mooks when they raid Bushmaster's Nightshade garden.  Even though they never confront him directly, they did deliver a blow of sorts by taking away his source of strength.  Of course, we also know that the plant has severe detrimental side effects, so in a way, they're also doing Bushmaster a favor.

Where Bushmaster remains absent, Mariah steps up in spades.  We see her get her fortune back, but that's only the first step as she delivers a blow of her own to the rival criminal.  It gets to the point where even her underlings are having second thoughts.  One straight up walks off and quits and even Shades gives a horrified look as Mariah unleashes her fury.  Considering he's the one who talked her into embracing the gangster lifestyle, that's quite telling.  He probably should have kept his mouth shut and just let her start her new life as a philanthropist, but hindsight is 20/20.  

Alfre Woodard delivers performance wise.  This season has really given her plenty more to work with and she's been knocking it out of the park.  

Sadly, Misty doesn't get as good a deal.  She's left pursuing Nandi for her snitching.  You'd think that this would allow Misty to use her detective skills, but Nandi basically left a trail of large, easily seen breadcrumbs to follow.  It's almost like she wanted to get caught.

Even the interrogation of Nandi by Misty isn't as good as others the show has presented.  The two apparently go way back, but that relationship wasn't really fleshed out enough for the scene to land the way the writers might have hoped.  Credit where it's due, though, Nandi does get to call out Misty for the immunity deal she had cooked up.  It gave Nandi a little more validity and nuance than the typical dirty snitch cop usually gets.

All in all, this was a solid episode.  A little oddly placed, but it managed to work out pretty well.  It brought Mariah's villainy to the forefront, gave Luke some character development and saw a nice little mini-superhero team up.  It's an hour pretty well spent in my opinion.

Click here to open an E-Trade account

Click here to open a RobinHood account

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

Click here to open a FundRise account

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 9: 'For Pete's Sake'

 

With Bushmaster gunning for them, Luke and the others hide out in a Rand pharmaceutical center that is about to be opened until they can come up with a concrete plan.

This, not surprisingly, leads to a more dialogue driven episode.  It works extremely well as the characters all bounce off each other in fascinating and entertaining ways.  Both the script and the cast bring their A-game so each scene stands out.  You'd think that there would be a highlight or two, but just about every scene works and keeps you engaged for the episode's whole duration.

Misty and Mariah clashing is, of course, fun to watch.  You could almost put those two in a room and just have that be the episode as they are both capable of some pretty amazing snark.  It gets to the point where Misty is on the verge of outright attacking Mariah, but Luke breaks it up before it can start.

Another highlight comes from the fact that we see characters who wouldn't seem to sync up interact.  Luke's dad gets solid scenes with both Mariah and her daughter.  The prior is especially notable as Mariah seems to drop her guard and open up about parenting.  It's a really good scene, even though Mariah is later shown to have just been trying to get the guy's cell phone to make a call.  A later conversation shows that the deception goes even further, as Mariah reveals that she has no love for her daughter and with understandable reason.

The episode does culminate with a big action climax, as Bushmaster and his squad storm the building.  Again, just about everybody gets a chance to shine here.  Luke and Bushmaster face off again, with Luke taking the win, though Bushmaster does give him a hell of a fight.  Misty herself gets to face off against some mooks, and while Mariah doesn't throw hands like the aforementioned characters, she does get her hands on a high-powered assault rifle and dishes out some pain and payback of her own.

While Bushmaster does end up in cuffs and police custody, you kind of figure that it's not going to stick.  This isn't the season finale.  Sure enough, he escapes.  There are obvious parallels to Fisk's but the scene still works really well.  It doesn't feel like a rehash.  The story Bushmaster tells is equally compelling and Mustafa Shakir does a great job delivering it.

This was a very strong episode and coming down to the final four is bittersweet.  On the one hand, this is gaining some serious steam.  On the other, I have quite a few other shows to get through in order to get caught up. Still, it's going to be interesting to see how things play out going forward.

Click here to open an E-Trade account

Click here to open a RobinHood account

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 8: 'If it Ain't Rough, It Ain't Right'

 

The show may have jumped streaming services, but we continue on.  

I did have to play a bit of mental catch up, as it has been a while.  The episode does take its time before moving forward.  It works, as characters are mourning losses; so, a slower, more somber tone is more appropriate.

Overall, the episode is still largely dialogue driven.  The police interrogations actually are a highlight for the episode.  Mariah and Misty clash quite nicely and the detective also manages to give Shades a run for his money as she quickly picks up how things went down with Comanche and Ridenhour.

Most of the characters do get highlight moments, but Mariah likely comes out the episode's MVP.  Her character goes through an emotional gauntlet and Woodard pretty much nails all of it.  Oddly enough, the one weak bit was when she was supposed to be genuinely shocked by Ridenhour's death.  Her big no fell flat, which is ironic as it was supposed to indicate the opposite.  Still, Mariah endures fear, anger, potential betrayal, and her trademark confidence all within the span of 40 or so minutes.  It's impressive.

The scene where she and Shades clash is another highlight for the episode.  It seems like a wedge is going to be driven between the two, but their bond endures.  I could have honestly seen it go the other way.  It's a little jarring, but seeing Shades go back to motivating Mariah to get her gangster groove back was still pretty heartwarming in its own weird way.

Luke himself is largely relegated to the sidelines.  He gets some hero moments, but there's a lot of other stuff going on and he takes it upon himself to go make sure his dad is safe.  To his dad's credit, he doesn't flinch when Luke says that gangsters are gunning for him.

In fact, when the gangsters do make their move (apparently forgetting any rules about killing on hallowed ground), he beats one down as retribution for shooting his son.  Yeah, Luke is bullet proof, but it was still a noble and heartwarming sentiment, and an awesome moment in general.

I don't know if I'd mark this as a stand-out episode, but it definitely has its strong suits.  It moves at a brisk pace and there are plenty of solid character moments.  The finale also makes good with the action as the shootouts are pretty tense.

The episode ends with Luke suggesting that they call Danny for a favor.  It would be a cool hook, except that Danny doesn't show up until the episode after next.  I guess we'll have to wait and see what the favor was, then. 

Click here to open an E-Trade account

Click here to open a RobinHood account

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

Click here to become an E-Poll member

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 7: 'On and On'

 

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.   

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

Click here to become an E-Poll member

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 6: 'The Basement'

 

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.  

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

Click here to become an E-Poll member

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 5: 'All Souled Out'

 

Luke's assault of Cockroach comes back to hit him hard, as the abusive criminal hits the hero with a lawsuit.  

It's strange, we're supposed to sympathize with Luke, but the way Cockroach was talking, he wasn't entirely wrong about how things played out.  His suit very easily could have been legitimate.  Luke's beat down was severe and Luke is a vigilante who didn't have any legal authority to be there.  Rather than dwell on the moral ambiguity, the narrative pretty much absolves Luke by revealing that Cockroach was faking his injuries.  It's a little surprising, you wouldn't think he would have had to resort to that.

In any event, Foggy (who returns as Luke's counsel) suggests that Luke just settle and pay the money to make the case go away. 

As far as legal settlements go, $100,000 isn't terrible, but it is more than Luke has, forcing him to find some ways to scrape some cash together.  Luke explores several options, and Misty even suggests just asking Danny, but they all fall through for various reasons.  An opportunity does present itself, and while Luke isn't too enthusiastic, he does agree, as it would allow him to earn more than enough to cover the cost.

On the other side of things, Mariah has the opposite situation.  She made a killing with her stock (and blackmail) maneuvers and is ready to put that money to work.  Her first act is to open up a free clinic.  Hearing her talk about how she's going to pump her newfound capital into the community to lift it up was...oddly inspiring?  I mean, yeah, she's a villain and she's not the first one to go on about how she's acting in the greater good, but it does seem like she's turning over a new leaf and focusing on a brighter future now that she no longer needs to rely on crime to bring in money.  It was a highlight of the episode, oddly enough.    I think she also deserves credit for being clearer in her intent.  Fisk talked a lot about how he cared for the city and wanted to bring it to new heights, but Mariah shows it to a much greater extent.

The episode's third sub-plot focuses on Misty.  She gets her robot arm; but spends most of the episode reminiscing after discovering that Cockroach's claim of being arrested under false pretenses was valid.  A lot of her time is spent in flashbacks.  Given that we know of Scarfe's corruption, there isn't much in the way of development, but it was still nice to see him again.  He and Misty still played off each other well, though their friendship and banter do take on a darker light in some scenes.  

I was surprised by how much humor was in this episode.  There's usually a couple of good jokes, but this put quite a bit of emphasis on it.  Given that each character is doing their own thing, it adds to the "breather" feeling.  It also lowers the viewer's guard for what happens at the end.  Sure, the episode's quite old at this point, but I'll still avoid spoilers as I think the shock helps make that scene work. 

All in all, it was a very solid episode.  All of the plots worked well, the characters each had their shining moments and things moved at a pretty brisk pace.  The one time I checked the clock was more out of curiosity than boredom.  It's a solid 48 minutes of television.  

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

Click here to become an E-Poll member

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 4: 'I Get Physical'

 

This episode picks up right where the last one left off, with Bushmaster ambushing Luke on the street.  Given that we're early in the season and this is the first confrontation with the "big bad", it should come as no surprise that Luke ends up with the L this round.  

Credit to Luke, though, he doesn't get quite as curbstomped as I thought he was going to.  He actually does an OK job dodging Bushmaster's attacks.  Unfortunately, he can't land any real hits, so it's only a matter of time before he gets knocked the heck out. 

The effects from the fight linger throughout the episode. Not only was the whole thing video-taped, eventually going viral to the point that Stephen A. Smith weighs in on it; but Luke is still physically reeling afterwards and many characters put forth the idea that he has a concussion.  Luke mostly shrugs it off, but it's clear that he's faking.  To his credit, he does try to call Claire for some medical assistance, but she doesn't answer given what happened when they last spoke.

The fight also triggers shockwaves in the criminal world, as Shades is made aware of just how dangerous Bushmaster really is.  He's also able to pick up on the fact that he is likely gunning (ha, get it? Cause he bought her guns) for her.  After all, he took down Luke Cage with little to no effort, why would he need to buy guns?

Mariah herself is spooked, as she is familiar with the name.  Shades thinks it has to do with Cornell, but she's quick to correct him, saying it goes back further than that. She still puts on a brave front, though.  While her facial expression makes it pretty clear that she's terrified, she still does a pretty good job of talking tough when he refers to her as "Stokes" as opposed to her preferred "Dillard".

The episode actually does flesh out Bushmaster's backstory quite a bit.  We get his name and a rundown of his history.  Even the source of his powers is made clear. It's peppered throughout the episode, so it isn't too much of an exposition dump. 

The scene of him returning to his family diner also stands out as being an episode highlight.  We've seen some interactions, but it was still nice to see him cheerful and in a good mood.  Sure, friendly villains are nothing new for the Netflix wing of the MCU, but it was still well done here.

Speaking of character interaction, the portion of the episode where Luke and Misty partnered up to follow Bushmaster's trail also stood out.  The two play well off each other.  It's almost a shame that the plot has them part ways fairly quickly.  On the plus side, Misty gets a note from Danny and Colleen showing her a robotic arm that they designed for her.  I do like the fact that the show is keeping these characters close by.  It helps sell the links that the characters developed over the course of "The Defenders".

Luke and Bobby also have a good heart to heart, where the latter reveals that he is leaving to donate a kidney.  Bobby was always kind of peripheral, but he did have a knack for making every scene he was in count.  It's a little sad to see him go, but this was a positive note to go on.  As he notes, he gets to be the hero.  He could come back later on, I don't know.  Guess I'll just have to see.

Really, the only flaw this episode had was an overly long musical montage.  The music was, again, provided by a performance at Mariah's club.  The band was good, but the song went on much longer than I think it needed to.  It's a pretty minor complaint in the grand scheme of things.

It was good to dive back into this show.  Even after the long break, I didn't really have too much trouble keeping up, which is a good thing all things considered.  I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

Click here to become an E-Poll member

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 3: 'Wig Out'

 

This episode picks up where the last one left off, with Luke hanging around after beating Cockroach up something fierce.  You have to figure that was awkward for all parties.  His family is still cowering in the corner and he's just sitting there.  Yeah, he's waiting for Claire so she can administer some first aid, but they don't know that.  Having Misty come in to effectively let Luke off the hook probably didn't help matters.  She does get flack for it later, but again, they don't know that.  

 Claire, on the other hand, is still concerned. To the episode's credit, it isn't quite as blunt force as its predecessor was, it just continues the plot thread.  There is still tension between the two and it culminates in one of the episode's final scenes where the two hash it out.  It's an appropriately intense scene, and the two actors do pretty solid work, but there are script elements that undercut it.  Luke tying his whole hero endeavor to his manhood comes out of left field.  It's never been an issue with him before and it, frankly, makes no sense that he's bringing it up to the extent that he is.  In any event, the two seem to have parted ways, as Luke's anger issues are clearly becoming more apparent.

On other fronts, we do see Mariah using blackmail to help set herself up for her upcoming "retirement".  It is very much akin to something you'd see on "Melrose Place" but it worked.  She is also bonding more with her daughter.  It's nice to see the two coming closer, though Shades is still not on board with the whole arrangement.  

He does note that he's being reduced to errand boy when Mariah tells him to go get the money from the last viable buyer.  Oddly enough, him bringing up manhood would have made more sense than Luke's did.  Considering Mariah just tells him to shut up and do it, it's probably a moot point.

This does allow Shades to meet Bushmaster face to face.  It's a pretty memorable scene.  Of course, having the latter hand the prior a duffel bag full of money with a decapitated head in it would leave an impression.  Credit to Shades, though, he doesn't flinch.  I thought he'd be unnerved, but a later scene shows that he's happy to see the deal going through.

In a similar fashion, Luke also meets Bushmaster.  He's trying to stop the deal from going through and tries to exert some pressure.  Up until this point, it didn't seem like the two had any real conflict.  Even one of Bushmaster's men points out that they have a common enemy in Mariah.  But, Bushmaster is still a criminal seeking to grab power, so that puts the two at odds.  Bushmaster does propose an alliance to take her down together, but he could have been joking.  Luke doesn't bite anyway so it looks like we'll have a three way face off this season.

Misty's part of the plot had the most meat to it.  She's still grappling with the loss of her arm, which she equates to a part of her identity and soul.  Unlike Luke's manliness thing, this actually makes sense.  She did lose a literal piece of herself, but she also invokes her playing basketball and being right handed when lamenting what she'd lost and how she's struggling to adapt.

Luckily, Colleen pops by to help.  The two do play well off each other and it is a nice way to show the linked nature of the shows in a more subtle way.  I know Danny's going to pop in later, but for now, it was like a little mini-crossover.

All in all, this episode was decent.  It had a good bit of humor, and there was enough action to keep things going.  Almost all of the characters saw some progression and it ends in such a way that you want to tune in to see what happens next.  It did feel like there was some padding here and there.  The script also needed some work, but not a bad entry by any stretch.

Random musings

- Even if Luke was faster than Usain Bolt, doesn't his status as a metahuman render that comparison invalid?  If anything, the comparison is complimentary to the runner as he would (I presume) hold his own and come in a close second in a race

- Colleen is given grief for wanting to go to a library if she had a million dollars.  Perhaps a better option would be to buy a ton of books and put a library in her house.  Assuming she doesn't want to just fund a local library, that's also an option.

Click here to become an E-Poll member

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 2: 'Straighten it Out'

 After no selling a Judas bullet, Luke decides to test how far his figurative zenkai boost has gone.  I was expecting a montage of Luke getting hit by friends and fans with various objects to see what would faze him, but instead, all we see is him performing various physical feats.  It does show us that Luke is a powerhouse in and of himself, and it is a fun sequence, but I'm not sure it really accomplished the goal that the characters wanted. It does allow us to see a glimpse of that "friendly neighborhood Luke Cage" persona.

In an interesting twist, Claire becomes concerned that Luke's power boost could become a detriment later.  His abilities made it hard to treat him when he did get injured, and this development could just make that worse.  

She's also concerned about Luke's estranged relationship with his father.  You can kind of see where she's coming from.  She does relate her own past to Luke's situation and her intentions are good, but at the same time, some of her ideas don't hold water.  I mean, the distance eating Luke from the inside could be true for some, but it hasn't really come up until now, so I don't really see it.  

As if that weren't enough, she's also concerned that Luke is going too far and following too closely in Matt's footsteps.  She's just very concerned this episode and it's enough to drive a wedge between the two, which I have to imagine is very concerning.

Luke does seem to prove Claire right in the final fight against Cockroach.  It was partially satisfying, given that it's established that Cockroach is a domestic abuser, but the more the fight goes on, the more you can see that Luke is slipping to the dark side and it starts to become a tad unsettling.  Even he's appalled by what he did by the episode's end.

Even though this season's story line is standing on its own, I did enjoy the nods to the other heroes.  There was even a mention of the Incident. You'd think that they could throw some allusions to more current events in, but still continuity references are continuity references.  I'll take them where I can get them.

Bushmaster gets some more screen time and some more development.  He doesn't quite have Stokes' charm and personability, but he has a fair share of it.  He gets on well with neighborhood kids and leaves a generous tip for a shopkeep who provides him with some medicinal supplies.  Speaking of the Stokes', Moriah seems to be the object of his ire.  He is made aware of Luke Cage, but doesn't really seem to have any serious beef with him.  He scoffs at Luke's reputation, but that's about it.  I got Clubber Lang vibes from the way his grudge is being developed.  Whether it goes deeper than that as the season unfolds remains to be seen.

Moriah herself is still intent on going legit by selling off her cache of guns.  Her club is pretty packed, so I don't know why it would be that hard for her.  The musical act seen here was quite good.  Just keep doing that, but apparently, that's not an option.

Instead, she reaches out to her estranged daughter...for PR reasons?  You'd think that they would make some parallel with Luke and his estranged parent, but the script mostly dodged that. It might come up later, but so far, no real connection has been made between the two character plots..  Said daughter does eventually come around to the idea, so we'll see how that plays out.  Maybe the reconnection will prove to make things worse, proving Luke's point, or go the opposite way and show how Claire's analysis was astute.  It's too soon to say.

All in all, this episode was solid.  It wasn't quite as good as the one that came before it, but there's still quite a bit to enjoy.

Click here to become an E-Poll member

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 1: 'Soul Brother #1'

 The second season of 'Luke Cage' kicks off on a high note, picking up where the last season left off, but also setting the stage for what's to come.  

Unlike 'Jessica Jones', we actually see reference to the events of 'The Defenders', this largely comes from Misty's presence as she still comes to grips with the loss of her arm.  This does give her character a bit of a mini-arc, as she starts off wanting to back off from crime fighting, but decides to get her job back when she learns that Scarfe's corruption has resulted in the release of several criminals.  

For Luke's part, he is still Harlem's hero and is becoming something of a local figurehead.  People come out to get selfies with him and there is even Luke Cage merchandise, both mundane and illegal.  On more than one occasion, Luke is told to try to monetize his herodom.  He (again) declines, but valid arguments are made for it.  The barbershop is struggling and he could also put the money to good use.  Claire also points out that cops and firefighters get paid, there's no reason he shouldn't.

On that note, it kind of sounded like the police chief was offering him a job.  His speech started off like an anti-vigilante tirade, but the "you should do what you're doing legally" part gave me that impression.  Granted, Luke throws it back in the guy's face, but assuming that was his intent, it was an interesting curve ball to throw the street level hero.

The bit with Luke's reverend father was an odd addition.  His "sermon" lost some of its kick due to the fact that he was just rehearsing.  One also can't help but wonder how well it would have been received seeing as everybody seems to like Luke.  He also has a quick run in with Luke.  Maybe more will be made of it later in the season, but it seemed oddly out of place and didn't really add a whole lot to the plot.

It does seem like the fame is getting to Luke's head.  He's still likable and charismatic as ever, but the unbreakable skin and the constant attention are subtly starting to have an effect.  At one point in the episode, he challenges Harlem's underworld to come at him.  Given that he survived an explosion and even managed to shrug off a Judas bullet, I understand the rush, but the scene also gave me flashbacks to Iron Man 3 when Tony called out the Mandarin in a similar fashion.  As I recall, that didn't end well.  Whether this is setting up a "pride comes before the fall" thing remains to be seen.  It's still early in the season.

While drug dealers make for the episode's primary antagonist, the end of the episode does mark the arrival of what appears to be the new "big bad", a martial artist crime lord who goes by the name of Bushmaster.  His hand to hand combat skills are impressive, but I was very perplexed as to how the gangsters he was attacking kept missing when they were trying to shoot him.  Even stormtroopers would have been able to hit a target from that distance.  Come to find out, the bullets did hit, they just don't hurt him.  It'll give the season a figure who can fight Luke on that level.  Mariah makes a play to get Luke off her back by threatening Claire, but even that doesn't end up working as well as you'd think it would.  

Speaking of, it looks like Mariah wants to retire.  She is presented with the opportunity to get controlling interest in a successful plastics company and give her family name a rebranding.  It does require quite a bit of capital.  Why she doesn't just invest what she can, I don't know, but that appears to be her arc so far.  

Like I said at the top, this was a strong start.  The main characters are all given something to work with.  The episode's well written and paced well.  You're never bored.  There's a healthy dose of humor to keep things from feeling "grimdark" and the fights are still entertaining, even if they are all fairly one sided.  I wasn't expecting Lucy Liu's name to pop up as director, but she did a good job; so there you go. 

Click here to become an E-Poll member

Click here to become a Swagbucks member

2019 Docket and Goals

Happy New Year everyone!  It's that time where we try to lay down a plan for what's to come in the next 365 days.  As noted before, a lot of what was supposed to be done in 2018 wasn't.  As such, a good chunk of this year's docket is just carry over, but we'll go through it anyway just for the sake of record.


Stephen King


Back log

Hearts in Atlantis
Castle Rock Season 1
Sleeping Beauties
Strange Weather
The Outsider
On Writing
Secret Windows
The Plant
Dreamcatcher
Black House
Cell (movie)
Mr. Mercedes series
The Dark Tower movie


New additions

Castle Rock Season 2
It part 2
Elevation




Brad Thor

Backlog

Path of the Assassin
State of the Union
Blowback
Takedown


Netflix

Back Log

The Punisher Season 1
Daredevil Season 3
Jessica Jones Season 2

New Additions

Luke Cage Season 2
Iron Fist Season 2
The Punisher Season 2



Legends of Tomorrow


Back Log

Season 3


New additions

Season 4- Once again, I'll have to wait for this to hit Netflix in order to watch it, but the plan is to binge it when it does happen.  It may not be current, but I'm going to make a point of getting through it quickly this time around.



Anime

Back Log

Attack on Titan season 3
Rurouni Kenshin (?)


Archive restoration (?)

Reviewstream

Back Log

Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition rule books
JLA trade paperbacks


The dividend income reports will continue and I will also continue to post the latest episodes of "Let's Get it Right".



Oh, and I, of course, aim to finally finish "The X-Files".


Goals


Savings challenge

I neglected to mention it in the 2018 review, though I did bring it up on Twitter, but this year I completed two savings challenges.  The 52 week "dollar a week" challenge and the "penny a day" challenge.  These were two that I had started back in the day when I was still trying the whole "self employed content creator" thing.  With my new station, I was finally able to put those to an end.

This year I plan on keeping the momentum going by taking on the extension of the first challenge.  It turns out that some people push the weekly challenge to two years.  Rather than stopping at 52, they just keep going, putting aside $53, then $54, then $55 and so on.  For all intents and purposes, I'm doing this challenge twice, as the plan is to move the slated amounts to my primary savings account, as well as the online savings account.


Bring dividend forward income to $400

Right now, my forward income sits at about $70.  I wanted to find a number that was feasible, but still somewhat challenging.  With purchases and DRIP, I think that this meets that criteria.  If I break it before, that's awesome, but right now, that's where I'm setting the goal post.


Max out IRA contribution

When I first opened the IRA, I mentioned that the odds of me doing this were slim.  Truth be told, that's still the case.  This is more of a mental thing.  I figure, if I set my sight on that, it will push me to get as close as I possibly can. Even if I don't hit the goal, I think having this mindset will still be beneficial in the long run.



$300 in Side Hustle

This is something that I haven't really talked about, but I want to add it to the itinerary anyway.  Right now, my main side hustles are Apptrailers, Epoll, and Reviewstream (there's also the Patreon, ad revenue, and the Amazon affiliate links, but they haven't really brought in income so they're side hustles in name only....SHINO.)  Epoll will bring about $60 at best.  App trailers is nice, but if I'm going to pull this off, Reviewstream will have to be a factor.  This should be a motivator for me to write more and make sure I cross that threshold.  Again, I think that this is a goal that's feasible, but will still present something of a challenge.


Car


As of now, I am without vehicle.  It's something I am aiming to remedy.  I've given serious consideration to getting a bike, which is odd as I've only ridden once since elementary school.  It's cheaper, better for the planet, and everything is fairly close by here.  It makes a lot more sense now than it did when I was living in Maryland or Kansas, but I figure I'd still need to get a car at some point.  I'm not looking forward to adding two more monthly expenses to my cash outflow, but if I can knock the car payment out quickly enough, it might not be that bad.


Walk the Year Charity Miles Challenge

I'm a big fan of the Charity Miles app.  I plug it frequently and was even going on daily 4 mile walks for a while.  I haven't been doing a good job as of late and I'm hoping that this will get me back on the horse.

Fun fact, we're one day in and, because I didn't walk today, I'm already behind schedule.  Auspicious.


Read 26 books

I noted before that I got no reading done.  I really want to amend for that this year.  I know that 52 books is the average, but I figure that starting small will work out better.  There's another reason I only have this many books coming into play, the next goal.


Read 26 graphic novels/trade paperbacks

I've been trying to get back into comics lately.  Rather than go back to the individual issues, I want to shift my collection to trades so that I can show them off on a bookshelf.  Rather than argue about whether these count as books, I'm putting them in their own separate category so that I can get the best of both worlds.


Swagbucks

I had heard that this was a great side hustle, but it hasn't really panned out for me.  The site brings my computer to a crawl (my laptop is a little on the old side,) which means I only log in when I have to.  As that hasn't worked, I want to try to put it to use in order to up my philanthropic game.  You can donate points to different causes and organizations.  Since I have the account anyway, I figure this will at least put the account to better use than it has up until now.  As the point cost isn't as high as the other rewards, I'll be able to "cash in" more frequently.



3 year goal

Oh, we're going beyond just the year.  I want to try to think in the long term, and as such I've got some goals that go beyond.

For this one, I want to bring my forward income to $6,000 a year.  This will bring my dividend income to Spoony's Patreon income level. It's important that I hit this goal as soon as feasibly possible.   I have my reasons.

It sounds lofty, but I'd like to think that I can pull this one off.





5 year goals


House

I've only ever been a renter, but the idea of being a homeowner has really grown on me.  That down payment scares the crap out of me, but I figure with enough prep time, I can take it.


3x Salary Saved for Retirement

Back in January, MarketWatch posted an article stating that, by the age of 35, you should have twice your annual income tucked away for retirement. Millenials....did not take kindly to this information.  While it was mathematically impossible for me to hit this goal after discovering it, I did resolve to hit the next marker, which is having 3 times your annual income tucked away by 40.

Funny thing is, I'm quite confident that I can pull this off.  Technically, I am still behind, but I have been viewing these past few months as a "head start".  I'm maxing out the 401k and pumping money into the IRA, both of which will generate increasing amounts of income as time goes on.  Add to that the fact that my birthday is in March and that gives me three more months before the 5 year challenge technically even starts.

Now, you might be asking where the stock portfolio fits.  It does and doesn't come into play as far as my retirement is concerned.  The dividends are designed to help finance and carry me through my golden years, but I'm not counting the portfolio into the overall total.  I could use market value, but that's way too fickle a beast.  As such, I'm viewing it as its own thing that is only tangential to the overall goal.


I'll admit that this is a lot, but I'm confident and fired up.  2019 is going to be huge.  2018 had its perks, but this is where I push myself to my limit, and then break past it.

'The Defenders' Episode 8: 'The Defenders'

Thus, the culmination of Marvel's "Phase one" of the Netflix wing of the shared universe comes to its conclusion.  It went by quick, but I can say that it was a fun ride.

As to this episode, it certainly has its moments, but it isn't without problems either.  A part of this could just be hype.  I was excited for this, and any ending would fall short of expectation.  Maybe, but at the same time, the episode did have issues.

While Luke does protest, the team does ultimately decide to go through with the plan to just blow up the building.  Granted, they say that no innocents will be hurt, but it still seems like a pretty big line to cross.  I'm also not sure how this ends the Hand for good.  Don't they have global influence?  I mean, yeah the dragon skeleton is under there, but they don't know that.

In either case, they have to get Danny first.  Naturally, it means we get a big fight scene where the team takes on another group of ninja mooks.  It's a fun sequence and there is a moment at about the halfway point where it looks like the four heroes are about to make their last stand, but considering that this is the "war for New York" that has been teased since the first season of "Daredevil", you might find it underwhelming.

Even the Hand's ultimate objective was rather blase all things considered.  All the talk about the rising was just bunk.  The shock wave seen in the first episode?  Who knows?  I'm also not sure how sucking the bone marrow out of a dragon skeleton is going to collapse the city.  I mean, the thing is big, but not that big.

Again, because the fight takes place in a cave, lighting becomes an issue.  It's frustrating, but at least you do get to see most of the memorable blows and hits.

The inclusion of a rap song was...jarring to say the least.  I know a lot of people lambasted it...but I thought it kinda worked?  In some ways it is out of place, I can't argue that, but hearing it while watching the team kick ass did make for fun watching.

We also finally get our 4 on 1 fight against Elektra.  That undead ninja assassin is one tough cookie, let me tell you.  That was cool to see.  It was also interesting to see Jessica's fighting style improve.  She's not a highly trained martial artist, but her punches look cleaner and she generally does a better job holding her own.

Colleen Wing fans will also be happy to see her get in on the action, taking on Bakuto in a one on one sword fight.  I've seen people insist that she should be the defender instead of Danny, but I think it's clear at this point that she is essentially the fifth member.  It's not really an either/or deal.

Speaking of fifth member, I was kind of disappointed that there was no appearance, or even mention of Frank Castle.  If you're talking about going to war, he seems like a natural pick.   I know I joked about it before, but I didn't really expect a Spider-Man appearance, but at least a mention would have been nice.  Maybe that'll be something Marvel can work on later on down the line.  I still think that a Spider-Man/Defenders team up not only seems natural, but maybe even inevitable.

But I digress, of course, ultimately the episode boils the final fight down to Matt vs. Elektra.  The fight is more drawn out, but these two have a more personal connection, so in some ways the fight carries more weight.  The whole thing was very reminiscent of "Return of the Jedi", with Matt trying to bring Elektra back into the light.  Or, if that doesn't float your boat, think Batman at the end of "Batman Returns" with Selina.  Cox really sells the sincerity in Matt's pleas and it gives the scenes the emotional umph they need to ascend beyond melodrama.

For Elektra's part, she initially scoffs at his naivete, but slowly seems to come back to the fold, though maybe not in the way Matt intended.  Did anyone else find it odd that Elektra went from fearing death and never wanting to go back to insisting that she and Matt were destined to die together?  It was a pretty drastic switch.  Also, if she said that there is no afterlife and that there is only empty darkness beyond the mortal coil, than why would them dying together have any sort of symbolic meaning?  Very strange.  You could argue that she's nuts, but still.

I'm torn on the whole plot point regarding Matt's "death" (spoiler alert: he's not dead.)  On the one hand, you could argue that it was a waste of time.  "Daredevil" is getting a third season, so there's literally no tension from the viewer's perspective.

On the other hand, Matt's sacrifice does affect the other characters.  Foggy, Claire, and Karen obviously; but even the other heroes are changed by what happened.  There was some solid character growth and progression on that front.  Luke and Jessica begin to mend fences and Danny finds new purpose in becoming New York's new street protector in Matt's absence.  Hopefully, finding out that Matt's still alive won't undo that.

Really, I think the episode's biggest problem is the hand wave of the fact that the team blew up a building.  The cops don't bother pressing charges?  OK, it's nice that Luke won't be going back to jail, but that really strained suspension of disbelief.  Even if they were going to argue it was in the defense of others (which they could honestly try, the cops did say that they were aware of the Hand before,) I don't think that the case would just be dropped like that.

All in all, though, I'd say the finale worked.  It gave everybody a highlight, moved characters forward on several fronts, and closed the book on the Hand (theoretically anyway, though I'm not sure what else could be done with them at this point.)  It'll be a couple of years, but I'm still hoping that the team can reunite for another adventure in the future.

Click here to join our Patreon campaign