As promised, here are the recaps for the second half of Luke Cage. The recaps for these episodes will be published separately, as individual articles, instead of in one big post like the first six episodes. Happy reading!
SOME SPOILERS AHEAD:
Cottonmouth is dead.
And he didn’t even get a full episode to enjoy his victory/freedom.
I don’t know why it didn’t immediately jump out at me that flashing back to his childhood meant that he was going to die. That’s what I said with Pops; any character who isn’t the main character, once you get their backstory that means their number’s up.
It only occurred to me that he was going to die when Mariah got the news that she was being made to resign from political office. When she lost it right then, I just got the feeling that she was going to kill him. After all, the entire mess he found himself in is the very reason why she lost her job.. And no matter how much she – or Alvarez – tried to talk some sense into him, he just wouldn’t listen.
I found it really strange earlier in the episode when Alvarez was giving her the speech about her not having any power and that she could have power. I didn’t understand what he was doing then, but by the end of the episode when she killed Cottonmouth and he came out of nowhere, grabbing her face and speaking to her like a lover calming down his upset partner…Either he is into her or he’s manipulating her to seize control of Cottonmouth’s operation. I think it may be a bit of both.
But why does he care so much about the Stokes family business? Why is he so invested? What is motivating him to take over? I think that this thing he has with the Stokes family is about more than just taking it over; I think its very personal and that it means something to him.
Also I’m pretty sure he’s Diamondback?
Back to Cottonmouth’s backstory.
Ma Mabel was a cruel and vicious woman. She did do more to help the community than Cottonmouth and Mariah ever did. They were both – Cottonmouth more than Mariah – involved in the crime part of Ma Mabel’s operation, not the helping the community part. As much as both of them spoke about wanting to do that. They haven’t done it in a very visible way, not that we’ve seen on the show thus far.
I’m confused as to why Ma Mabel pushed Cottonmouth so hard to get involved in criminal activity but Mariah was the one that she pushed to do something else.
Mariah did say that she was put into boarding school to get away from her uncle Peter, but I don’t think that Mabel did that to benefit Mariah or keepher safe. I think that, like Cottonmouth, Ma Mabel thought Mariah welcomed the abuse and it was more about stopping her from getting “fresh.”
It was a little sad seeing their uncle Peter die; only a little – he did molest Mariah. Particularly because he was, as Cottonmouth said, the only one who had his back. And Cottonmouth really could have gone in a different direction if he had had uncle Peter to encourage his talent and his pursuit of that. He could have made something of himself; he really was the only one who had the opportunity to get out of the family business. And it’s unfortunate that he didn’t get to.
Mariah was never getting out of it, as much as she fought against her inclination toward it. That was destined for her. She always demonstrated this loyalty and devotion to Ma Mabel, the idea of her and what she stood for, even though she didn’t want to be her. So it seems like Mariah was always the one who should have taken over the family business and not Cottonmouth.
I didn’t expect Claire to be around this long. I assumed she was only going to be in the show for the one episode as a cross over with Daredevil and Jessica Jones. But it looks like she’s a current resident of Luke Cage. She’s taken over Pop’s role of being the motivational force behind Luke; the person encouraging him to use his powers for the greater good.
Luke’s hesitation to do the hero thing, like really do it, is a bit annoying. He can’t keep flip flopping between doing it and not doing it. He’s already put himself out here as a saviour for the community. Granted it was for selfish reasons, but he did directly help others when Cottonmouth sent his goons to attack everyone.
I knew the Judas bullet was going to work, but seeing it work was still kind of shocking. And I thought it wasn’t going to happen anymore since Cottonmouth is dead and I thought he would be the one to shoot Luke, not this sniper Alvarez has apparently sent. Then again, Alvarez is apparently after Cottonmouth’s operation and if he’s going to take it over he’s still going to need to deal with Luke.
Random thoughts:
- No, he can’t walk on water, but it’s funny you think it’s possible.
- Settle this like gentlemen? You’re totally setting him up!
- I love that the former inspector was replaced by another Black woman.
- Young Mariah didn’t seem happy with the prospect of becoming a lawyer.
- I’m surprised Mariah doesn’t have people killed.
- He’s getting black mailed into being a tank again?!
