'Luke Cage' Recap: 'DWYCK'

​Written by Scott Edwards

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

​After attacking Claire Temple in the interrogation room, Misty Knight has some problems of her own that she needs to work out.  Being forced to talk to Dr. Krasner, Misty would rather be out on the streets than wasting her time talking to a shrink. Having to open up about her past, Misty is forced to re-live some of the events that made her who she is today and while it could be a good thing, it also opens up old wounds that she would rather not visit again. But the biggest thing that has led to her turn to violence is losing her gun to Diamondback and being forced to watch him smile while toying with her life. Needing to find out who the new enforcer in Harlem is, Misty is forced to prove that she is ready and fit to get back on the streets, not only to do her job, but to bring Luke Cage in once and for all.

While getting Harlem’s Paradise back up and running, Shades is surprised to see that he has a new quest as his former boss Diamondback is in the house. Finding out that Diamondback and Cornell were friends, Shades is now forced to play second fiddle once again to the more powerful gangster, but with the framing process still working against Luke Cage, now is the time to figure out how to put the Power Man down once and for all. Knowing that he cannot go at it alone, Shades hypes up Mariah to get as much information out about Cage as she can, but she will also have to find a way to run her cousin’s business before things start to fall apart.

Waking up in the back of a trash truck, Luke knows that he is on the run and will do anything to keep himself from winding back up in police custody. With Claire trying to work on a cure for him, the two are faced with only one option to get the bullet fragments out of his body, by turning to Dr. Burstein from Seagate. Before passing out on the drive to the doctor’s home, Luke starts to mumble about what Diamondback said before firing one more shot at Luke and believes that his old friend is lying about being his brother, but he has more pressing issues to deal with before facing off against the only man that can hurt him. Passing along the data that Reva downloaded from Seagate’s computers, Dr. Burstein believes he has found a way to weaken Luke’s bullet proof body to get at the shrapnel that is killing him, but it may be more costly than anyone thinks.

This episode however is really all about Mariah and what she needs to do next with her cousin’s business after killing him in a fit of rage. With direction from Shades, Mariah is able to get a gathering of all of the heavy hitters in the city together to discuss a buyout to keep her free from the gangster life. But little does she know that Diamondback has plans for the meeting as well and even though he was not invited, he makes sure that everyone knows that he is in attendance. Killing all of his competition, Diamondback turns his eyes to his friend’s cousin and notices that she is all kinds of crazy. With ideas coming out of her mouth, Mariah knows ways to make his business more profitable, but she will need to be the face of the business to make it work and she is going to have to get her hands dirty once again instead of walking away.

Just like every Marvel show on Netflix, every episode manages to top the last one and there is no change in that with Luke Cage. Seeing the shame that Mariah feels about what she did to Cornell and what she wants to do to make it right, she is forced deeper into a life of crime than she ever thought she would be. Shades is shut down on his aspirations of taking over Cornell’s business by his stronger ex employer and may be looking for a way to get out from under Diamondback’s grasp. Misty is facing her own demons as she is being looked at in a different light after letting her emotions show for once and now she has to answer to Inspector Ridley to keep her job. While I still think there is something crooked about Ridley, I will have to wait and see what the storyline brings to the table on that. Claire is able to locate someone that can help Luke out, hopefully, but she may have made the wrong decision as the doctor does not really have any answers as what to do next. And Diamondback is on a murdering spree, and it is not just Luke Cage he is looking for and if anyone is not on his side, he will murderize the hell out of them. Also, I miss Cottonmouth. With the club back open, we get another fabulous number by a classic group, The Delfonics this time and they just kill it like they have been doing this since the sixties. Well, only a few episodes left and now we have to wait to see if Luke Cage can make it through the surgery and what Diamondback has planned for Mariah since she is the new face of Cornell’s business.

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