I meant to post this a few weeks ago, but to the surprise of no one, I watched another Marvel Netflix show. This time it was season two of Luke Cage. Honestly, I liked this season more than the first. This show wasn't perfect and it had a few flaws. However, they were a lot less glaring for me than the first season. If we want to get REALLY specific, I hated Diamondback. Hated him. He's gone, so that makes this season infinitely better. Enough with this conversation, let's get into my review.
As usual, I will try to avoid spoilers, but I'm not human. They MAY happen.
To start off, what I really liked was the villain for most of the season. The villain this time around is John McIver, a.k.a. "Bushmaster". Here we have a compelling villain with an understandable motivation. He is coming after Mariah Dillard and Harlem just happens to be the collateral damage. First of all, I loved the portrayal of him by actor, Mustafa Shakir. I've never seen him in anything before, but this show made me a fan. We have a guy that is just as physically imposing as Luke Cage and feels like a real threat in a way that Diamondback never did. Also, unlike the first season, you have a villain that Luke Cage can actually fight. Secondly, I loved what his inclusion brought to the table of this series. We have a subtext of Jamaican black people versus American black people. You see how these two different cultures co-exist within Harlem. To me, this is fascinating and my not be something most people would even think about. Also, given his motivations, you kind of root for the guy in a way. You get where he's coming from and we get an interesting dynamic where he begins to become the talk of the town as Luke cage loses the faith of people. The two are diametrically opposed and watching that play out is compelling.
All of this leads me to something else I liked about this season. The arc of Luke Cage. This goes hand in hand with Bushmaster. At the beginning, Luke is Harlem's hero and he is reaping the benefits of that. We are introduced to D.W. Griffith, who I would consider is a deep cut for those familiar with the Power Man and Iron Fist series of the late 70's/early 80's. When Luke gets beat by Bushmaster, which is filmed, people lose faith in him and his popularity begins to wane. With this, Luke starts a series of questionable choices that lead him to where he ends up by the season's end. All I will say is that every villain is the hero in their own story. This is the path that Luke begins to walk as he begins to lose relationships due to his own uncompromising sense of morality. In a way, like the people of Harlem, you begin to turn on Luke Cage and I think the series does a good job of that. You start to question his choices and if this is the hero Harlem needs. If that is too subtle, pay attention to what D.W. says to him at the end of the last episode. Luke has lost his way and it will be interesting to see how he gets it back.
To give you a series of quick hits of other things I liked about this season, let me present to you the following in the next couple of sentences. I absolutely love Misty Knight and how she is portrayed in this series. She also gets her own arc and she is an example of characters that get screen time that is well worth it. After losing her arm in "The Defenders", we find her struggling to deal with that. For a brief moment, we get a glimpse into a Daughters of the Dragon team up, as she hangs out with Colleen Wing. This is another nod to the comics that pleased me to no end. In my eyes, seeing these two together almost justifies all we suffered through with the Iron Fist show. I get to finally see this team up realized, in the way I always wanted. Now that we got a taste, I would LOVE to see more of this pair together. Actress Simone Missick is fantastic.
I forgot to mention above, but there is an episode where we also get an appearance by Danny Rand, a.k.a., Iron Fist. We finally get the dynamic that Defenders tried to cultivate. Iron Fist finally felt right after his dreadful series and an appearance in the Defenders that had me second guessing him being around. I still don't like Finn Jones as Iron Fist, but at least here I had less problems with it. If we can get more of this, that would be much appreciated.
Before I move on, like the first season, I absolutely love the music in this series. It still remains fantastic and keeps the blaxploitation feel that I loved.
So I spent a lot of time talking about what I like and I know they were super specific cases, but those are the things that still stick with me months after finishing the series. Now as for what I didn't like, that is also fairly easy.
I read over my review of season one, and I realized how kind I was and neglected to say a few things. Above, I mentioned how i hated Diamondback, but that old review was more glowing. This is what happens when you get older and crankier, folks. What I am trying to get at is I glossed over Alfre Woodard's, "Black Mariah" character. I think it worked in the first season, but in this second season there is such a thing as too much. That is what she was here. In the Bushmaster vs. Black Mariah fight, I was easily rooting for Bushmaster. She comes off as more crazy and unhinged in this season. Also, the tics that Woodard portrays her with starts to grate on my nerves. She does crazy eyes very well, I will give her that. She becomes a mustache twirling villain in this series.
We also have to see her relationship with Shades play out and it's so hard to get a read on the relationship. On the one hand, given the way Shades has been portrayed, you expect him to be playing her the entire time. However, they show that he is hopelessly in love with her. On a side note, I liked that they introduced Comanche into the series, which is another deep cut from Luke Cage lore. So like I was saying, their relationship is weird. Her whole arc and the inclusion of her daughter in this season don't help in humanizing her, but more firmly establishing that she's the worst. Wow, this went on way longer than I thought it would. The one saving grace is that she masterfully manipulated Luke Cage into the place where he ends up by the series end.
I've talked on long enough, but for those that are on the fence, I will say that I think that this season is good. I have talked with a few people that didn't like it or couldn't make it past the first few episodes. I get that, but I will say if you push through, I think you will get something that you will like. Season three is positioned to be really interesting.
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