Luke Cage Episode 1 Recap: Soul Brother #1

Source: Netflix / Netflix

Once again it’s on! After taking a break from saving the world in The Defenders, Luke Cage done made it back to Harlem to reclaim his throne as the Black hero that everyone hailed before King T’Challa came through to dethrone him.

But prior to him teaming up with Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist (ugh!), Luke Cage spent a season dismantling Cottonmouth’s empire, finding out his preacher papa was a player, and ultimately taking down his childhood friend/half-brother turned homicidal maniac, Diamondback. In the process saving Harlem from a criminal organization and dealing with a long overdue sibling rivalry thing, Luke Cage learned to love a single cup of coffee, trust strangers, and take responsibility for his past and present actions.

In the premier episode to season 2 of Luke Cage we get reintroduced to some familiar faces while getting acquainted with some new players in the game. Here’s a quick recap of Soul Brother #1.

WHAT MY NAME?

Picking up where he initially left off, Luke Cage continues his war on drugs but unfortunately for him fighting crime isn’t putting any money in his pockets (the man doesn’t believe in drug money “finders fee”). Struggling to pay the rent for Pop’s Barbershop, everyone in Luke’s circle is encouraging him to take on a sponsorship or two just to make ends meet but of course Luke is reluctant to cash in on his celebrity. Speaking of which now everyone in Harlem can track his whereabouts with the Hero App which allows everyone to know Luke’s every move. While this new hero monitoring annoys Luke to no end, he doesn’t let it interfere with the mission at hand, getting “Luke Cage” heroin off the streets and the prime target in his crosshairs is Washington Heights drug kingpin Arturo Gomez a.k.a. Arturo Rey III.

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Photo: Netflix

Source: Netflix / Netflix

MISTY KNIGHT            

The sexiest one-armed woman in the world is back on the job. Following the events in The Defenders in which Misty lost her arm protecting innocent citizens (everyone loses an arm in the Marvel universe), Ms. Knight struggles with her new handicap – and cruelty that comes with it – but refuses to retire and gets back on her po-nine to five. But much to her dismay she has a new roadblock in Captain Ridenhour who isn’t a fan of Luke Cage and his vigilante style of fighting crime.

Source: Netflix / Netflix

MARIAH DILLARD

Harlem’s Paradise is once again thriving and Cottonmouth is nothing but a footnote in the history of Harlem, but Mariah Dillard’s ambition to go legit is as immense as ever. After her childhood friend/accountant, Raymond ‘Piranha’ Jones provides her with some inside information that has her dreaming about going legit once and for all. All she has to do is come up with $20 mil and convince a powerful CEO to sell her controlling interest in his company by any means necessary. In an effort to make her dream come true, Mariah’s lover/partner, Shades puts out word that their gun running business is up for sale and gathers New York’s biggest street kings in Arturo Rey III, Nigel Garrison and the Yardies, and Dontrell “Cockroach” Hamilton to begin a bidding war for the franchise.

Source: Netflix / Netflix

SON OF A PREACHER MAN

In the very first episode of the season we’re finally introduced to Carl’s, ahem, we mean Luke Cage’s father, Reverend James Lucas (Reg E. Cathey). The man that raised Luke and secretly fathered season 1 villain Diamondback had a rather rough reintroduction to his son. Touching down in Harlem for a minute, the good reverend gets to talk to his estranged son for a hot second and admits that he wasn’t ready to talk to Luke when he got sent to Seagate Prison and would like to write a new chapter with Luke in his life, but Cage isn’t exactly keen on forgiving his father so quick and questions his sudden openness to reconciliation with his superhero son. “I was rockin’ full congregations since before you were born, negro, on my name alone.” Talk about tough love.

Source: Netflix / Netflix

BUSHMASTER

This season’s primary villain John Mclvin a.k.a Bushmaster ain’t no joke and wastes no time making his presence felt in the season premier. The Jamaican badass who’s set up shop in BK and has a bone to pick with Mariah Stokes as he feels Harlem is his birthright quickly establishes himself as the new original don dada. After cutting out OG Nigel Garrison’s eyeballs and taking a few bullets to the chest like they were thumbtacks, Bushmaster lays down the law and claims The Yardies crew as his own.

Source: Netflix / Netflix

JUDAS BULLET

In season 1 the Achilles heel to Luke Cage’s bulletproof physical was the deadly ammunition round known as the Judas Bullet and no time was wasted in utilizing this superman’s kryptonite in episode 1. After Sugar (remember him) gives Luke some false info to set him up, Luke is ambushed by Arturo Rey III and blasted with one of the high powered bullets in the gut, but nothing happens. Realizing that he’s now truly invincible, Luke lays out Arturo before giving out a PSA letting everyone know that he’s unbreakable and wants all the smoke from anyone wanting to take on Harlem. Little does he know, Bushmaster is lurking somewhere in the streets of Brooklyn, waiting for his moment to pounce on Harlem’s Hero.