Netflix has delivered 13 fresh, steaming hot cups of Luke Cage and boy, were they worth
the wait!
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here, and today I'm breaking down the ending of
Luke Cage Season 2 for hidden clues, easter eggs, and what it all means for Season 3.
Obviously, spoilers ahead for the show so take care if you're not up-to-date or add
this to your Watch Later playlist.
At the end of season 2, Bushmaster is severely weakened after Luke thwarted his attempt to
kill Mariah and Tilda tells him he needs rest and nightshade he can only get in Jamaica.
Mariah's in prison charged with multiple murders, but soon dies at the hands of her own daughter,
which means that Shades' deal to give evidence on Mariah is no longer valid, so he's arrested
for his crimes.
Mariah has set up Luke for a fall by leaving Harlem's Paradise to him in her will.
She thinks the club and the power that comes with it will act as a siren's song to Harlem's
hero, corrupting him and everything he stands for.
So, is she right?
Well, a running theme in Season 2 is the fine line that separates a hero from a villain,
whether that's Luke Cage and Bushmaster, or Luke and Mariah.
And showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker has said he regards the relationship between Mariah
and Luke as "very similar to Batman and the Joker" in that "they complete each other.
One is the reason the other exists."
And Mariah more or less tells Luke this in the finale.
"You made me find who I really am."
"In a strange way, we're responsible for each other."
And there are certainly numerous moments in the final episode that draw parallels between
the Stokes family and the path on which Luke now finds himself.
For instance: We see Luke standing in front of portrait
of Biggie Smalls wearing a crown, just as Cottonmouth did last season and Mariah does
this season.
And then there are those images of Luke standing in front of that round window looking down
on Harlem's Paradise, like a king in his castle surveying his domain.
everything flows thru here.
"I can watch from above, like a hawk."
"Or a dictator."
We also see Luke's whispered conversations with his new crew which includes Sugar, one
of the Stokes family's men.
And that moment where Misty is shut out of Luke's new life, after previously working
with him for Harlem, clearly and ominously echoes the end of The Godfather.
Also shut out by Luke is Claire, who Luke says should go home when Sugar tells him she's
arrived at the club.
This feels in stark contrast to how Luke defended Claire against Mariah at the start of the
season.
Rosario Dawson's not sure if she'll be in any more Marvel series after this, so it seems
like the show is creating an option for her not to return; while also alienating Luke
from all his old friends.
We also see Harlem's hero meet with other crime bosses, like Rosalie Carbone, as Mariah
did at the auction.
Geographically, Luke is still in Harlem, but symbolically, he's a long way from his former
home at the barbershop now that DW has kicked him out for becoming a 'crime boss', a Luke
Corleone, and a Luke Trump, as he calls him.
DW wants the shop to return to the neutral status it had before Tone murdered Pop there
in season 1.
According to showrunner Cheo Hodari Choker, by DW calling Luke "Trump" he's "basically
saying, 'You're deluded if you think the way you're doing things is going to change things
for the better.'"
And Coker has also compared Luke's path this season to the Shadowland storyline in the
comics where Daredevil takes over the Hand.
However, there are still signs that Luke certainly intends for things to be different with him
in charge compared to the Stokes.
The portrait of Biggie is taken down from the wall and replaced with one of Mohammed
Ali, which itself is reminiscent of images we've seen of Luke throughout the series.
However, the way Cottonmouth's Biggie portrait is swapped out here reminds me of the end
of season 1 when Mariah did the same, replacing it with her Basquiat painting.
Luke may momentarily stand in front of Biggie's crown, but he's adamant that he's not the
king, but rather the sheriff or diplomat of Harlem.
So, maybe Luke will prove Mariah's season 2 schemes against him and Cottonmouth's 'Everybody
wants to be a king' speech wrong.
Likewise, when DW accused Luke of taking on the role of 'a king', Luke replied using a
chess analogy: "I thought you weren't a king."
"I'm a rook."
"Wait.
Don't do this man."
"You don't have to do it like this."
"Somebody has to."
That's interesting because this idea of Luke being a castle wall that protects Harlem picks
up on similar imagery that Mariah used to describe herself as the 'protector of Harlem'
to the judge.
In Mariah's mind, the Stokes shored up the wall around the neighbourhood, in other words
by protecting their own criminal empire, they also protected other people around them.
With Mariah out of the game, and crime rampant again, Luke believes he can try and plug the
holes in the wall himself.
Luke's new clothes may be more formal than usual, akin to Cottonmouth and Mariah, but
they still have a golden tinge to them, a sign that, underneath, this is still the yellow-T-shirt-and-hoodie-wearing
hero we've met over the last two seasons.
As Comanche said earlier this season, 'Even if you put it in a 3-piece suit, street's
still street.'
So, while the show certainly draws parallels between Luke and Mariah, the Godfather, and
the 45th US President, I don't think we'll see Luke go fully or irredeemably Stokes,
Corleone, or Trump in Season 3.
More likely, we'll see him teeter on the edge and maybe fall over for a while as he struggles
to maintain his integrity, his identity as a hero, and also his temper, as we saw happen
at Claire's apartment early on in the season.
And, of course, it's important to remember the words of Luke's dad at the very end of
the season 2, which, for me, had vibes of Uncle Ben's 'with great power comes great
responsibility' speech.
"With that kind of power comes its share of pain."
"What comes out when that pressure is heaviest?"
"That's the real magic."
"That's what defines being a man."
"That's what defines being a hero."
So, expect the pressure on Luke to increase in Season 3.
One of those pressure points will likely be Tilda Johnson, who's rather obviously annoyed
that after all her mother's talk of 'Family First, Always', Mariah's will only gives her
Cornell's keyboard while leaving Harlem's Paradise to Luke.
Tilda's character in the show, where she's an holistic doctor and Mariah's estranged
daughter, is rather different from her comic-book origins where Tilda Johnson, aka Nightshade,
is a genius criminal scientist with a penchant for turning people into werewolves and using
robots to run Harlem.
Yet, despite those differences, the show includes numerous hints to TV Tilda's comic-book counterpart,
including her intelligence, her scientific background, and how she uses Nightshade to
help Bushmaster.
And the 'Beso de la Araña', or 'Spider's Kiss', which Tilda uses to poison her mother
in prison is likely a hat-tip to the Spider-Island storyline in the comics where Nightshade gains
spider powers.
And, when she arrives at Harlem's Paradise after Luke's taken it over, Tilda's look is
a clear nod to the design of her villainous character in the comics.
All of these comic-book call-backs, as well as Tilda's anger over the will, and the fact
that she used her herbal knowledge both to aid Bushmaster and to murder her mother, indicate
that we'll see Tilda return in Season 3, where she could well be set up as an antagonist
to Luke.
Another pressure point on Luke in season 3 will be criminal underworld boss, Rosalie
Carbone.
Although Carbone only plays a small part in Season 2, the incredible power she wields
could well be crucial for Season 3.
As she tells Luke, she has Russian crime syndicates on her side as well, so he better tread very
carefully in his future dealings with her.
While Carbone agrees to wall off Harlem against the current crime wave, she doesn't see this
as a long-term thing: "A lockbox around Harlem?"
"How much would it cost to get a key made?"
"I can't be bought."
"You can't answer that truthfully yet, sweetheart."
"You don't know your price yet."
And at the end of episode 13, there's a potentially ominous moment when, after the rapper Rakim
says 'you pay with your life in the king's paradise', the camera cuts to Carbone.
In the comics, Rosalie is part of the Carbone crime family and falls for Frank Castle, aka
the Punisher, until she realises who he is after which she puts out a hit on him.
I don't think we'll see Castle turn up in Luke Cage next season, but what we could see
is Luke taking on a similar role to him, with Carbone putting the moves on Luke, especially
given how she ends their meeting.
"Next time, let's do this over coffee."
"I don't like espresso."
"No one's made you a proper cup."
Still, the next time we'll see Carbone will actually be in Season 3 of Daredevil, so obviously
whatever happens with her in that show could well affect her future in this series.
Now, what did you think of Season 2 of Luke Cage?
And what would you like to see happen next?
Let's continue the conversation in the comments below.
Tap left to check out my TV and Movies Explained playlist including Jurassic World 2, and tap
right for my Marvel playlist including Avengers and Ant-Man and the Wasp!
If you enjoyed this video, a thumbs-up is always appreciated.
Thanks for watching and see ya next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!
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