The subject of identity is a familiar one to comic book superhero fans. Bruce Wayne attends a costume party dressed as himself. The X-Men try to exist as people who aren’t defined solely by their mutant abilities. How can Clark Kent get by with merely a pair of glasses as a disguise? It’s fun to explore the various personae of a character who lives a secret life.
“What’s my name?” Luke Cage asks in his season 2 premiere, and over the next 13 episodes we see him take on a number of roles. Carl Lucas, Power Man, Hero for Hire, partner to Danny Rand, Soul Brother #1, commercial spokesman, vigilante, and even Harlem itself. We watch Luke try on each of these identities and more. Most of the humor comes from Luke’s search for who he truly is and how he fits into his world. The ultimate answer was genuinely surprising and a great way to top off the season. The 13 episodes it took to get there, however, made it a long journey.
The season opens with Luke (Mike Colter) defending his very name as drugs stamped with the words “Luke Cage” are making their way around Harlem. That enterprise gets shut down before the opening credits. His exploits are being documented by his young pal D.W. Griffith – D-Dub for short – who’s making a killing selling Luke Cage merchandise. Things look good for Harlem’s hero. Of course, that can’t last long, and a new threat soon arrives in the form of John “Bushmaster” McIver, a Jamaican who holds a long-standing family grudge against ex-councilwoman and current crime queen Mariah Dillard. Luke finds himself an unwilling participant in their war, having to switch sides with each turn in the story.
If only I had cared about that story. Bushmaster (Mustafa Shakir) would ordinarily be a worthy opponent for Luke. With the help of some herbal voodoo, he’s inhumanly strong and practically bullet-proof. His revenge comes with a moral code, and Shakir portrays a menacing presence while still demanding sympathy from the audience. Unfortunately, his beef with Mariah (Alfre Woodard) just doesn’t have enough weight to carry the season. Woodard is ordinarily a terrific actor, but she just looks tired here. She made an imposing presence in the first season as we watched Mariah’s rise to control Harlem. This time, even while performing some pretty heinous acts, she never comes across as much of a threat. And the whole war does little more than make Luke Cage a supporting player in his own series.
Family plays an important role in shaping identities, and this season serves up its share of familial conflict. We meet Luke’s father, James Lucas (Reg E. Cathey). In season one we learned about the history that led to the estrangement between the two. Now Luke must come to terms with the fact that James is no longer the monster who turned his back on his own son. Mariah, dealing with her own identity crisis, tries to reconnect with her daughter Tilda (Gabrielle Dennis). Tilda wants nothing to do with her own twisted lineage, but it looks like we’ll have to wait until next season to find out how well she was able to escape her mother’s corrupting influence. We also get to see Bushmaster’s backstory and why he seeks revenge – a revenge motivated by his loyalty to his family, even when his family disagrees with his actions.
We have several returning familiar faces. Simone Missick takes control of every scene she’s in as Misty Knight. She’s strong, sexy, and she has a new bionic arm. It’s Misty who turns out to be the true star of the season. Rosario Dawson is back as Claire Temple, the common thread that connects all of the Marvel Studios series on Netflix. She looks almost as tired of this superhero business as Woodard does. Theo Rossi’s Shades spends most of his time repeating the same dialogue to Mariah over and over, but he does hold a surprise or two for the audience. We even get visits from Iron Fist‘s Danny Rand (Finn Jones) and Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick). By the end of the season, though, the character I found myself most drawn to was D-Dub (Jeremiah Craft). He takes on the role of Luke’s conscience, and I’m very interested to see how his story plays out in future installments.
Then there’s the big man himself. Colter gives one of my favorite types of performances as Luke Cage. I absolutely believe that he is the same kind of gentle giant he plays. Luke Cage is all power and all heart, and Colter conveys that effortlessly. I wish that he had been able to stand out more this season. He had his fights, he opined wisely, and he made love like a man, but very little made an impression. Which is why the final reveal of who Luke Cage really is now didn’t work. It could have been a great moment, but the season didn’t earn it.
Full disclosure: I love what Marvel Studios is doing, and I eat it up. Whether on TV or on the big screen, there is nothing out there that makes me feel more like a kid again than when I’m watching Marvel’s superheroes in action. Even a lackluster season like this (or Iron Fist, or The Defenders, or Jessica Jones: Season 2) can excite me far more than it probably should. Yes, this series suffers from the same problem as most of the other Netflix shows. Thirteen episodes is too many. I would suggest eight, but that turned out to be too many for The Defenders. But what the series gets right is enough to carry me through. I like these characters and the actors portraying them. I liked the cool bar fight that Misty and Colleen found themselves in. I like an interesting bad guy such as Bushmaster. I love the music in this series and the care taken to find just the right song to emphasize the action. I find I have an unconditional love for almost all things Marvel. So I have to take two stances when it comes to recommending Marvel properties. First, as the objective critic, I must be honest and say that this season was merely average. If you enjoy Marvel and Luke Cage, take some time to watch it over a week or so. There’s definitely fun to be had. But as the nerdy Marvel fan, my response is always the same: What do you mean you haven’t watched it yet? This stuff is great!
Luke Cage is streaming on Netflix.
