REVIEW: Luke Cage S2 Ep1 – Soul Brother 1

Welcome back, Luke Cage! And it’s nice to see you again, Marvel’s Luke Cage.

The premiere (directed by Lucy Liu, by the way), checks all of the boxes, IMO: Luke being awesome, Claire being awesome and not taking any nonsense from anyone, Misty being awesome and refusing to take her pension because there’s still justice that needs doing, Mariah Dillard being creepy but oh-so-compelling, and the intriguing and disturbing introduction of the main villain, Bushmaster. Plus, the music continues to set the mood perfectly.

“Claire’s home brew,” indeed.

I’m enjoying Luke and Claire’s relationship, I will say. They understand each other well. The fact that they’re such a good match, however – and especially the fact that Luke gets to say in the season premiere that he can’t lose her – makes me nervous. And now that Rosario Dawson has expressed doubts about doing more Marvel Netflix shows after this, I’m even more nervous. They better darn well not kill her off!

Mariah and Shades, on the other hand, are not what I’d call enjoyable. They are interesting, though. I still don’t feel like I have a handle on Shades’ motivations. He does seem to care about Mariah, and I don’t think he’s faking his attraction to her, either. But I can’t shake the idea that he has some deeper goal. (Also it’s still weird when a guy wears sunglasses indoors, dude.)

After having seen that beautiful clip of Misty taking down bad guys even with her missing arm, I need that to happen soon. And of course I need her to get her badass bionic arm pronto, as well. I’m glad the news of her ex-partner Scarfe’s cases being overturned gave her something to fight for. Now we just need to see her properly equipped for that fight!

It’s interesting that Luke’s dad is apparently going to be around this season. The sermon we saw him practicing wasn’t incorrect: no man is a god, and even bulletproof skin doesn’t turn Luke into a god (or God). Though I’m also glad the reverend knows he might have to work a little harder if he wants an actual relationship with his son. That said, I’m sure the theme of Luke’s vulnerability even though he apparently can’t even be stopped by Judas bullets now will be a big deal this season. And I also have a feeling that the ‘Harlem’s Hero’ phone app, as well as Luke’s fame in general, will not be a good thing once the bad guys really start to strike.

Seems like a more promising introduction than that of Diamondback, too.

Which brings me to Bushmaster. We don’t know much of anything about him yet, except that he hates Mariah and the Stokes family. (He can also rock a white suit, but that’s neither here nor there.) His own brand of bulletproof-ness seems to be more along the lines of a “bulletproof” vest, in that his skin doesn’t deflect bullets, but it does stop them without allowing them to cause damage. I’m sure we’ll learn more about how that’s possible. I’m looking forward to it.

And I’m looking forward to pretty much everything about the rest of the season! Bring it on.