Luke is visited by Mariah’s old lawyer, who needs a word. Luke takes the meeting outside the Barbershop to respect DW’s wishes. They eventually make their way to Harlem’s Paradise where they are met by Tilda, and the lawyer proceeds to read through Mariah’s will, with both learning that Mariah changed the will at the last minute, giving the club to Luke Cage instead of Tilda, which shocks both of them. Luke jokes that he should burn the club down, but instead decides to take the club and use it to keep an eye on the criminals of Harlem as he watches over them as the new King, even putting on a full three-piece suit Cottonmouth style for his first night in charge where he is joined by Misty, now the Captain of the Harlem PD. She is worried about him becoming the new King and threatens that she will not hesitate to take him down if he starts to “act the fool,” a threat that we all know she is good for.
And so the season ends with the band playing a song all about the adventures of Luke Cage while our hero has basically become the new Mariah/ Cottonmouth, leaving us worried about his very soul, and whether he can really remain a “hero” while being the crime King of Harlem.
So all in all, this felt like a much better season than the first one as the plot-lines felt more evenly spread out, the characters a little more developed, the fights more exciting, and everything just seemed to move along at a nice clip, never losing too much momentum and really feeling like something I really wanted to see more of, and could not help but binge-watch. Misty, of course, stole the show, and I hope to see more and more of her throughout the Netflix MCU, not just in ‘Luke Cage.’ Not only for her fighting prowess and bionic arm, but also her common sense in a world of heroes and superpowers, her humor, and her humanity, all make her the most compelling character of the show. I was sad to see Claire go, but am intrigued to see what they do with her now and whether this opens the door once more for Luke to reunite with Jessica Jones, who he does marry at one point in the comics. And leaving Bushmaster alive at the end, while it does open the door for the character to return and wreak havoc? I still think his story is done and ‘Luke Cage’ did right by the man by not having him just die like almost every other Marvel villain, but at least we can have hope that the man found some semblance of peace for the remainder of his days. Of course it is a blow for the show to lose Alfre Woodard, especially after the phenomenal performance she gave this season, but at least she will be remembered for her amazing character, and Mariah will, in a way, live on in Luke, as deep down they both love Harlem and wanted to protect it in their own way.
That’s it for my reviews of ‘Luke Cage’ season 2, hope you enjoyed them, and I’ll see you back here for the next Marvel/ Netflix show that premieres!
