The premiere is mainly focused on revealing how Lukes life has changed since we last saw him.
In the intervening months, hes become a local hero in Harlem.
Theres even an app that tracks his whereabouts, because kids and their technology are just crazy!
Credit: David Lee/Netflix
However, this attention isnt all good.
But Luke isnt only busy with the streets this season.
MaybeLuke Cagewill do the same.
Obviously, Luke survives.
Luke knocks Arturo out and deposits him at the police station.
Yo, Im Luke Cage.
You cant burn me, you cant blast me, and you definitely cant break me!
I am Harlem, and Harlem is me, says Luke, speaking into D.W.s camera, before dabbing.
Raise your hand if you think Lukes arrogance will get the better of him this season.
While all this is going on, Misty is busy adjusting after losing her arm onThe Defenders.
When shes not doing physical therapy with Claire, shes busy sulking at home.
Alas, theres no sign of her prosthetic arm in this episode.
HopefullyLuke Cagedoesnt waste much time getting to it.
Before the episode ends, we get our first real introduction to Bushmaster.
As I mentioned earlier, Bushmaster arrives in New York but decides to postpone visiting Harlem.
Instead, he heads to Brooklyn to let his fellow Yardies know whats up.
Watching that brutal display of violence convinces the other Yardies to fall in line behind him.
Luke definitely isnt ready for the Bushmater.
(Luke Cagedrinking game: Drink every time you fail to say Bushmaster with a straight face.)
Claire examines Lukes Judas bullet wound and realizes he must have gotten even stronger over time.
How strong, exactly?
Well, the only scientific way to find out is to test him!
Luke, as we know, doesnt really care about how well hes paid.
He just wants to feel good and strong.
Performing astounding feats for adoring onlookers does that for him, but meetings with his father do not.
This time, James shows up to the barbershop and asks for a cut.
Unfortunately, he never got the memo that Pops isnt really a barbershop anymore.
Luke brushes him off and gets back to the superhero activity he enjoys so much.
With Arturo Rey behind bars, he decides to seek out Cockroach.
Misty pulls up an address for Drea, and Luke goes to check it out.
After surviving that Judas bullet, Luke is really feeling his oats.
He just storms into Cockroachs dice game and relishes the speed with which most people clear out.
Actually, yeah just because bullets dont pierce your skin doesnt mean you cant be hurt.
As Claire fixes Lukes shoulder, she reminds him that hes not invulnerable.
But what Clairereallywants to talk to him about is reconciling with his father.
We all have our share of family trauma, but those are some pretty raw scars!
Maybe Claire should lay off for a bit and let him heal with his dad in his own time?
Just my two cents.
Instead, Claire does the exact opposite of that!
Claire means well, but I fear shes missing a lot of important Lucas family context here.
That said, Luke does appear to have a problem keeping his vengeance strictly within righteous bounds.
Believing that Drea ratted him out to Cage, Cockroach returns home to beat her and threaten his son.
This inspires the old lady next door to give Cage a call, and he arrives with a vengeance.
This theme presents itself from the beginning of the episode, which picks up immediately after the preceding one.
There isnt much Claire can do there, so she calls Misty and some paramedics.
New York subways are terrible right now!
They spend the entire interaction just dunking on him.
When Luke shows up at the Yardies warehouse, he finds Bushmaster and his men waiting for him.
For Luke, this is a great outlet for his frustration.
All in all, shes frustrated because losing an arm has changed so much and she still hasnt adjusted.
You know what does help her regain her swagger?
Getting into a bar fight with some drunk idiots who call her a bitch.
The adrenaline of the moment helps Misty figure out how to fight with just one arm.
Eventually, Colleen joins the fray too.
Furthermore, this crossover works better than most crossovers on Marvel-Netlfix shows because it feels natural.
Luke leaves, but hes not done feeling the pain.
But Harlems not your yard, boy.
Its mine, Bushmaster defiantly declares as the episode ends.
As onlookers gather, Bushmaster proceeds to kick Lukes ass, leaving him unconscious on the pavement.
People love the king… almost as much as they love seeing the king get knocked down.
For all her killer lines, Mariah Dillard isnt very genre-savvy!
Luke, meanwhile, goes to check out the scene of his real defeat: Claires apartment.
All Claire left him was a letter, the contents of which are not yet revealed.
Misty talks to Gideon, who has history with Bushmaster.
Sounds familiar, doesnt it?
The point is driven home when Bushmaster visits Mariah at Paradise.
Bushmaster disagrees, and points to the Kingfish performance happening in the club.
Royalty may make the history books, but the people theyve wronged live on in song and story.
Back at the barbershop, Luke learns that hes losing another ally.
Shortly after he leaves, Luke gets served papers!
Man, sometimes it just isnt your day.
However, hes not alone in this conundrum.
All Souled Out begins with Luke and Foggy meeting with Cockroach, who sues Luke for assault.
Luke has two options: Pay $100,000, or go fight it in court.
However, theres an obvious problem: Luke doesnt have that kind of money.
Thankfully, help comes from an unlikely source that tests Lukes convictions.
Because he loves Luke so much, hes willing to pay him whatever.
So, Luke demands $150,000.
Hes someone who values his honor and dignity because of everything hes been through up until this point.
So, the last thing Luke wants is to feel as though hes lost ownership of body once again.
Furthermore, taking this job would basically violate his idea of heroism and compromise what he believes in.
Unfortunately for Luke, the party turns out to be far worse than he couldve imagined.
At one point, some douchy bros just break a bottle over his head.
However, the situation only escalates from there.
However, the festivities are interrupted by the Yardies, who give a shot to kidnap Piranha.
Luckily, Luke saves his butt and tells him he needs to hire himself a hero.
I mean, hes very proud of the fact that his investment firm is based in Harlem.
But theres an obvious disconnect here between what he practices and what he preaches.
Look at the way he commodifies and fetishizes Luke and his symbols like the bullet-ridden hoodie.
Meanwhile, our favorite detective finds herself on the precipice of moral compromise, too.
Misty steals the bullet from the evidence locker and breaks into Cockroachs apartment.
However, it doesnt take too long to find out where the head went.
But I feel better now, because this episode is also pretty epic.
Bushmaster is certainly putting Mariahs guns to good use!
It works, just barely, and they manage to stay out of sight for now.
They make for Lukes classic base at Pops barbershop, assuming hell bring the lawyer there.
But the scene is very worthwhile anyway.
This relationship is going to explode eventually, and I have a feeling itll be something to watch.
Misty, meanwhile, is evaluating her choices.
Every character is facing these questions this season, and everyone has different, evolving answers.
At the end of the day, though, Luke still thinks he can do it all himself.
Looks like their previous encounter has dimmed everyones interest in following Lukes every move.
But onlookers or no, its a good fight, Luke trading powerful blows with Bushmasters capoeira kicks.
For a second there, it even looks like Luke will win the fight.
So then, of course, Bushmaster has to use some obeah tricks.
He blows dust into Lukes eyes that paralyzes him.
It doesnt look good, folks!
For once, there was truly no shortage of incident.
On and On wastes no time in picking up where the last episode left off.
As you would expect, this close call with death really shakes Luke up.
Once the fights over, they find Piranha or rather, whats left of him.
Bushmaster beheaded him and left his head floating in a tank, because the dude has no chill whatsoever.
Bushmaster isnt an idiot, though.
And now that he has Mariahs money, Bushmaster heads to Harlem to take his foe down.
Years later, some men found them and burned down their home while his mother was still inside.
Despite their closeness, Mariah rejects Ridenhours offer.
Alas, the Stylers show up at her brownstone before she and Tilda can flee.
D.W. interrupts Luke and James heart-to-heart to tell him about the fire at Mariahs place.
So, Luke springs into action and rushes to save his nemesis.
When Mariah finally regains consciousness on the street, shes surprised he saved her and asks to hire him.
Whether or not hell say yes, remains up in the air.
Youd think that this was enough action for one episode, but theres more.
After Mariah rejects his deal, Ridenhour meets up with Comanche.
Shades crashes the meeting because he suspected something was up with Comanche.
(I guess that brings Shades personality traits up to: Hes cool and stone cold.)
While On and On wasnt lacking in incident, it still left me feeling a bit cold.
There werent any knockout moments in this one as there have been in the previous episodes.
That being said, it did leave excited about whats to come.
Boy, did it!
But he promises to look after her, like his best friend would have wanted.
He shows up to the police station, where a burned and shaken Mariah is being interrogated.
He leaves Shades to fend for himself.
So all they have to do is wait for his guard to drop like theirs did.
Unfortunately, it doesnt look like thats gonna happen anytime soon.
James church while Luke is attending service, and luckily hes able to fight them off.
He manages to make it to Tildas shop just as she and Mariah get attacked.
Power Man and Iron Fist are back in business!
As Ive mentioned before, its more consistent than the first season in many ways.
That said, the episode features two of the seasons best and most moving scenes to date.
Its just a shame that the things in between those moments dont necessarily hold up.
She does the latter here, delivering a controlled yet devastating performance.
The episode spotlights other parent-child relationships as well.
While they wait for Mariah to return, Luke and James continue down their path of reconciliation.
But John is an addict at this point and refuses to heed his uncles counsel.
Misty and Deputy Chief Ridley convince the D.A.
Unfortunately, Nandi decided to collect the bounty on the Stokes womens heads.
Thus we arrive at the seasons third Luke vs. Bushmaster showdown!
Unfortunately, thats not true at all.
Because we have four more episodes left, Bushmaster uses a concealed bomb to escape police custody.
This episode begins with a litany of Harlem residents (including a little girl!)
stopping Luke on the street to mock him for losing track of Bushmaster yet again.
No better time, then, for Danny Rand to return!
But hes put to good use here.
Before we get to that, lets check in on new cop Nandi Tyler.
Earlier in this season I complained that Nandi didnt really have enough to do.
Well, she finally got something to do!
Like Bushmaster, Nandi doesnt want to see Mariah continue to get away scot-free with all her horrendous crimes.
And yet, get away she does.
Shes certainly more evil.
That downer is tempered, somewhat, by the fun of the Luke/Danny team-up.
My comic-nerd lizard brain also couldnt get enough of the two creatively combining their powers.
That kind of stuff makes Dannys rich-white-boy shtick worth it.
After 10 episodes,Luke Cagefinally reveals Bushmasters past via some flashbacks to his childhood.
She believes this proves Mariah was responsible for all three murders (which isnt exactly the case).
Mariah can tell Shades isnt doing well but doesnt care, and dispatches him to Brooklyn to handle Ingrid.
Honestly, this is the first time Ive ever cared about Shades.
Furthermore, she even starts having hallucinations about Pete and Mabel, which is peak Shakespearean.
Shes losing it and acting more rashly because of it.
It might be slightly off-center, but he has one.
There he finds Luke, who kept Ingrid safe during the day.
While Ingrid says goodbye to her husband, John and Luke step outside for a respectful chat.
This one did not disappoint.
Bushmaster, for one, isnt going to take it lying down.
Luckily for him, Luke is there too and has his back.
Heres hoping this show lasts long enough to find a use for every single track off36 Chambers.
He comes this close to killing Bushmaster, Superman-and-Zod style, until Misty finally convinces him to back down.
The Jamaican escapes, but there is some good news.
Shades hands Misty the fabled Stokes gun, allowing the cops to finally put Mariah under arrest.
As Mariah takes her perp walk out of Paradise, Misty sees it as a win.
Luke doesnt and unfortunately, as well see in the finale, hes right.
However, I definitely couldnt have predicted that Luke would basically become the new Cottonmouth of Harlem.
Christian, did you find this finale as surprising as I did?
What did and didnt you like the final hour of the season?
CHRISTIAN HOLUB:This season really did not end how I expected it to!
In some ways, this twist further illuminates what happened this season.
Mariah thought so too, and now that shes made him her heir, its come true.
Speaking of Bushmaster, what do you think about this seasons new villain now that weve reached the endpoint?
So Im glad he got away with his life, at least.
Im sure you appreciated the Columbia shout-out, eh?
I definitely agree with you about Bushmaster.
But Shakir quickly won me over with his electrifying performance.
The other thing I liked about Bushmaster as a villain is that all the Jamaicans spoke in patois.
Im of Caribbean descent, so I really appreciated that touch, especially all the jokes.
It also helps show that the black community isnt monolithic.
That conversation really reminded me of stuff I heard growing up around my family.
Obviously, Bushmaster and the Yardies werent the only villains this season.
We also had Mariah and Shades.
What did you think of their arcs this season?
Were you as surprised as I was that Shades became more than just cool as the season progressed?
CHRISTIAN:Yes!!
Who could blame her for resenting that she was incestually impregnated and denied an abortion?
And with her empire crumbling around her, might as well be honest to someone, right?
In a show full of narcissistic idiots, Missicks eye-rolls and eyebrow raises provided some much-needed levity.
What did you think of our newly bionic Misty this season?
Misty Knight was the best part of this season for me.
Its fair to assumeLuke Cagehas some big plans for Misty in season 3.
To wrap up, what are your hopes for season 3, Christian?
Im glad Bushmaster survived, because Id like to see Shakir again.
Chancellor, thanks again for recapping alongside me, and thanks to all of you for reading!
CHANCELLOR:Forward always.
