'Luke Cage' Recap: 'Step in the Arena'

​Written by Scott Edwards

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

It seems like there is no way to get a nice peaceful night in Luke Cage’s Harlem, especially if you have made enemies with the dreaded Cottonmouth. Firing a rocket launcher at his new arch nemesis, Luke’s home, his restaurant and his land lady Connie are in the midst of being taken off of the planet forever. But Luke is strong and was able to keep Connie safe from the falling rubble and with a little bit of livable area, the two will be fine, that is until they start smelling a gas leak. Needing to get them both out of the rubble before a spark sets off the gas, Luke has to let Connie know that he is super strong and she needs to keep it quiet.

Arriving at the scene, Misty and Rafael are blown away to see what happened to the restaurant. With Rafael giving up the who was behind the heists of Cottonmouth’s money, he also gave the gangster the address, but does a great job in showing surprise in what has happened. Taking note that the explosion was external and not internal, the two are able to find a surveillance tape that shows a rocket launcher being used and while they know who is behind it, they cannot find any proof to back it up that can be used in court. With more questions than answers, Misty gets a call from the fire crew as they have noticed something strange happening in the rubble and she is astonished to see who is coming out without a scratch.

That is all that happened in real time because most of this episode was a flashback to find out who Luke Cage really is. Arriving at Seagate prison, the new inmate Carl Lucas (Luke) is not about to make any new friends, especially when the other inmates find out he was a cop. Trying to keep his head down, and remain strong enough to keep himself safe and of sound mind, Carl finds out that such a feat will be harder than he could imagine. Going to group sessions every week to see how others react when being asked questions, Carl finds that Reva is a breath of fresh air. After his new friend Squabbles helps him open up emotionally, Carl starts to understand how important it is to have friends on the inside and he starts to open up in the sessions.
 
Putting Reva in her place, she is impressed on his thoughts and knows that he was not guilty of the crimes he was imprisoned for. With little she can do to help him in his situation, she can be a friendly ear, but that only goes so far when Carl is being asked to do something he wanted to avoid. When Guard Rackham gets to Carl when he is alone, he offers the oversized inmate immunity from the system on one condition, he must join the fight club they have set up. After declining once, he is threatened with the loss of life, but not his own; if he does not fight, Squabbles will die instead. Entering the ring, Carl cleans up and becomes a threat to be reckoned with, but when Reva sees the state of decline he is going through, she wants to know why. With feelings for the young doctor, Carl comes clean with her about the fights, but he knows that if he stops, something bad will come his way.  Being beaten within an inch of his life, Carl is inserted into a healing chamber, but when the process is interrupted, he is given the gift that everyone wants, but no one really needs as he becomes the Power Man...Luke Cage.

Not a bad back story overall, but I still want to know what he was sent to prison for as it is not answered in this episode, but besides that it was good. We finally get to see Reva for more than a couple minutes and how much she cared for the inmate who became the vigilante Luke Cage. We also got to see how the human side of Luke worked in prison, and even though he was forced to do something that he did not want to do, he came back from that mindset pretty quick and was ready to make a new life for himself. The attempted breaking of Luke in prison by Rackham was great and even though I did not know where he was going with it, it turned out pretty bad ass, along with his enforcers Comanche and Shades doing his dirty work, it was pretty epic. I could not get over the fact that every time a guard or doctor got the chance to announce it, they did, saying that Luke was a cop. It was like they were trying to give him a death sentence in Seagate, but what was funny is that none of the other prisoners attacked him because of that. Well, it is time to see what Luke is able to do next since Cottonmouth tried to blow him up and failed because there is nothing that can hurt Power Man, except for maybe a broken heart.

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