Mariah takes the war to Bushmaster, while Luke teams up with an old friend to confront his “anger issues”.
Luke Cage – “The Main Ingredient”, Season 2, Episode 10
Airdate: June 22nd, 2018
Director: Andy Goddard
Writer: Akela Cooper
Based on Marvel Comics Characters by: Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, and John Romita Sr.
What You’ll Find Out:
With Bushmaster back on the loose, Luke seems to have lost the heart of Harlem. A timely visit from Danny Rand, the Immortal Iron Fist, helps Luke get his head back in the game, as the pair discover that Bushmaster visited Tilda, pay Mariah a visit, and burn down Bushmaster’s attempts to grow Nightshade. By the end of the episode, despite Luke’s dismissive treatment of Danny’s philosophy, Luke seems to be achieving some sense of balance—balance which will be necessary to defeat the enemies he faces on all sides.
Thanks to Bushmaster being in the wind, Mariah manages to regain all of her lost assets, including Ben Donovan, Harlem’s Paradise, her money, and her number one lackey, Shades. Despite regaining all she had lost, however, Mariah’s thirst for vengeance is not sated, and with Anansi in her possession, she takes the fight to Gwen’s, slaughtering Bushmaster’s bredren to leave “a message”, despite Shades’ misgivings.
As a minor side-story in the saga of Misty Knight, Nandi’s betrayal is discovered by keen detective work (with an assist from IA) and Nandi is brought to justice. In the end, Ridley, on a temporary assignment, offers command of Harlem PD to Misty.
What Just Happened?
I find myself at my most mercurial with this particular episode. On the one hand, there were a number of events I was very pleased with, not the least of which was watching the careful balance between Power Man and Iron Fist. On the other hand, however, a good deal of the dialogue writing felt off; a great deal of the dialogue was stunted or out of character. The sequence between Misty and Nandi felt exceptionally forced, and while there had been nods to their prior relationship through basketball, the entire thread of the stolen iPod felt inorganic and forced. A line here and there leading up to this episode could have made that moment much smoother, but as it stood, it was one of the low points of the season from a writing perspective. But enough of the bad.
On to the good. Mariah regained control of Paradise, but no longer as Mariah Dillard. Mariah Stokes, as she has come to embrace her heritage, returns to Paradise with a new symbolism. Before, Paradise was home to blues and jazz, and then reggae under Bushmaster’s short regime. Now, under Stokes, Paradise turns to a different musical inspiration: hip-hop. While Luke and Danny reignite the “Money, Power, Respect” element of this season, kicking red shirt ass to a Wu-Tang soundtrack, so too does Paradise harken to an era of New York hip-hop regarded by many as the Golden Age of Hip Hop, by placing Faith Evans and Jadakiss on stage, performing over the posthumous Faith and Biggie track “NYC” (released last year). The Basquiat is back in Paradise, badder than ever before. It will be interesting over the final three episodes to see who else appears to perform at Paradise with this newfound musical theme.
Rating: 8/10
Final Thought: Despite the lack of a Bushmaster appearance and my issues with the writing, live-action Heroes for Hire and the presence of some of the most distinct voices of a generation have most likely led to an over-inflated rating for this episode. I’m among the half-dozen or so people in fandom that actually enjoyed Iron Fist, so viewers beware—I’m aware of the skew. Sorry, not sorry.
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