Liam Hoofe reviews the seventh episode of Luke Cage season 2…
Bushmaster finally rises to the top of Harlem in an action-packed episode of Luke Cage packed with several twists and turns.
At the end of the last episode of Luke Cage, the titular hero had been thrown off a bridge by the season’s antagonist, Bushmaster, and it looked as though all hope was last. This episode kicks off with Luke dragging his way out of the river and leaning on the one man he has done his utmost to avoid throughout the season, his father. Luke and his father briefly reconcile, before Luke realises that his father has let Piranha go, effectively giving Bushmaster the one thing he needed to take control of Harlem.
Luke then partners up with Misty to track down Bushmaster and The Stylers, which gives us our first glimpse of Misty in action and damn, does she look good. She holds her own and impresses Luke, and also drops a teaser for the Daughters of The Dragon spin-off that I’m adamant is coming. Unfortunately for them though, Bushmaster has already got what he needs out of Piranha and the duo finds his head floating around in a fish-tank.
Turns out Bushmaster has managed to take control of Mariah’s accounts and uses this as his final play before ambushing Mariah and her daughter, Tilda, towards the end of the episode. While this is all happening, we see Luke and his father reconciling somewhat, and Luke’s dad reveals to him that Bushmaster’s mother died in a fire when he was a child and that he was helpless to do anything about it.
Bushmaster then decides to test Tilda’s loyalty to her mother by recreating the exact situation that saw his mother taken from him. He frees Tilda and then sets Mariah’s place on fire. Luke is notified of the incident and manages to save Mariah, leading to her asking Luke if she can hire him. This is an interesting development and it looks as though Luke may have no choice other than to work with Mariah if he really wants to bring down Bushmaster, who is growing into an excellent villain. The insight into his background really helps pad him out a little further, and also makes him something of a sympathetic character.
Talking of great villains, we also saw Shades realise this episode that his one-time lover, Comanche, is working with Ridenhour, to supply information on Shades and Mariah. This leads to one of the episode’s tensest scenes, a shoot-out which culminates with both Comanche and Ridenhour lying dead. Just what impact this will have on Shades is uncertain yet, but it looks as though he is getting close to some sort of breaking point. The death of Ridenhour will also have a huge impact on Misty Knight, which will no doubt prove interesting in the coming episodes.
‘On and On’ was an excellent episode of Luke Cage which brought a lot of the episode’s key components crashing together. Bushmaster looks to have finally taken control of Harlem, while Luke is starting to clear his head and put his past behind him. Snakes and Mariah are both struggling to maintain any sense of order, and Misty will now have another major obstacle to overcome with her mentor being dead. Things are shaping up quite nicely for the second half of the season.
Liam Hoofe
