Luke Cage S1 Ep12 – Soliloquy Of Chaos

Always the hero.

I guess the climax couldn’t come any other way than with literally every important character facing off in Pop’s barber shop. (Minus Claire – I miss you. You can feel free to show up for the finale!)

I’m kind of thrilled that Shades is still around, and that he and Mariah are still in cahoots. Shades is much cooler than Zip. It helps that I loved Theo Rossi on Veronica Mars, I’ll admit. But his admiration/crush on Mariah is played so earnestly that I can’t help but find him sympathetic, somehow. And I definitely don’t want Mariah to just be under Diamondback’s thumb. Still, they both underestimate him.

Also, hey, is Misty really going to be able to stay in the field, pretty much doing her usual awesome stuff, except with a severely injured arm? Because I don’t want her to collapse out of the action at a key moment. That would suck. But I’m glad she found Candace and got the truth. If only she’d found a less insanely dangerous time to come without backup to arrest Mariah!

The mutual admiration between Luke and Method Man was fun, too.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the cameo that I honestly wouldn’t have figured out on my own. Thankfully for those of us not in the know, the show itself makes sure we don’t miss Method Man, aka Clifford Smith, aka one of the members of the Wu-Tang Clan. In this episode the rapper runs into Luke Cage, who saves his life. In return, Method Man releases a song called “Bulletproof Love” to encourage people to have Luke’s back and not believe the lies that he’s a killer. I looooved the montage of men on the streets wearing hoodies with bullet holes in solidarity. Powerful. (Also, if you enjoyed that song, it is available for purchase now.)

So Diamondback has some kind of super armor or something, as is evidenced by the fact that Shades’ bullets didn’t kill him. My greatest wish at this point is that, whether or not Luke can easily punch through it, the conflict between the brothers will end in Willis’ death. I’m pretty bored of him by this point. He doesn’t have the pathos of Cottonmouth. The crazy, revenge-fueled half-brother isn’t all that original of a villain, actually. And super villains not dying so that they can come back the next season is always a point against the show, in my book, so I hope I won’t have that to dread. I understand not tying up every last loose end, but still.