Code Of The Streets - Luke Cage blog
(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)
Oh yeah! NOW we’re talking!
After the slow and slightly iffy start the series had in Moment Of Truth, things really start to kick off in Code Of The Streets. In my previous review, I talked about how the narrative arc lacked any sort of emotional anchor, meaning I had absolutely no reason to care about what’s happening. Here in episode 2, it feels like the writers have answered my plea with a vengeance. This is truly gripping television.
The episode revolves around Luke and Pop trying to find Chico, who was part of the inside job against Cottonmouth’s operation, before either the police or Cottonmouth himself find him first. Now i didn’t give two shits about Chico in the previous episode and I care even less now. He’s a plot device. Nothing more. But having said that, he’s a plot device that’s used very effectively as we get a greater insight into Pop and Cottonmouth’s history.
Turns out back in the day that the two were really good buds. Cottonmouth got his name from when he had his teeth knocked out in a fight and Pop doesn’t actually refer to the father figure stuff, but actually refers to the sound his fists make when he hits someone. I love this new development. Initially set up as the cliched wise old sage, suddenly the character has gone off in another direction and become a lot more interesting. I love it when a show can second guess you like that and take you by surprise. Looking at Pop, you wouldn’t think he’d be the type... and that’s the point. Initially starting off in a similar place on the moral spectrum, as time went on Pop went one way and Cottonmouth went the other. So when the two finally meet again in the barbershop, they might as well be total strangers because they’re now practically polar opposites to each other. Pop tried to get back on the straight and narrow whereas Cottonmouth dived deeper into the criminal lifestyle.
On a quick side note, I LOVED the scene in the barbershop! Paul McGuigan at his very best! It’s so unbelievably tense. Plus there’s the added tension from whether or not Shades will recognise Luke. Great acting, great writing and great direction.
But let’s talk about the big thing. Pop’s death. Now if I can be a Negative Nelly for a minute, the moment Pop said he wanted to arrange a parley with Cottonmouth to negotiate Chico’s safe passage out of New York, they might as well have put a countdown clock on top of Pop’s head. What I didn’t expect however was that the countdown clock would be the equivalent of a small egg timer. Normally the death of a major character is saved toward the end of the series in order to raise the stakes for the finale. So yes, my jaw hit the floor when Pop was killed. Not to mention the cold blooded savagery of it. Two episodes in and already we’re killing people off? They’re really not fucking around. And even though we’ve spent so little time with him, it still feels like a punch to the gut thanks to the writing, Frankie Faison and Mike Colter (more on him later) helping to make us feel an emotional connection to the character in a very short space of time.
Pop’s death also gives Cottonmouth greater depth and complexity. I criticised him previously as being Kingpin lite, and it seems the writers are addressing that by making an effort to distinguish him as his own identity. In Daredevil, Kingpin was introduced slowly and gradually, only giving us tidbits of information about him over time. With Luke Cage, they’re not hanging about. Here we are, second episode, and Cottonmouth is front and centre. He also seems more emotionally conflicted than Kingpin was. He uses the abuse his ancestors suffered as an excuse to justify his criminal behaviour, saying that black people fought for the right to self determination, control and power. Unlike Kingpin, Cottonmouth doesn’t do what he does out of desire to change or fix something. He does it as a means to survive. He’s in a comfortable place in his life, which Pop is a part of if only peripherally, and wishes to preserve it. So when that comfortable life is warped or changed in some way, Cottonmouth can’t handle it. When he learns about what happened to Pop, he kills his lieutenant and then there’s a surprisingly tender moment where we see him sat on the floor weeping. Seeing Cottonmouth in such a vulnerable position really humanises him in a way that makes him a pretty unique antagonist in the MCU’s rogues gallery, as well as giving Mahershala Ali the chance to flex his acting muscles. It’ll be interesting to see how the death of Pop will affect him as the season goes on.
But the biggest praise has to go to Mike Colter. Oh... My... God!
Marvel have played host to loads of wonderful actors over the years, but Colter just takes it to a whole other level. He’s so comfortable in Luke Cage’s skin and is able to flawlessly and effortlessly tell you exactly what Luke is thinking and feeling without needing to utter a single word. His pain when Pop gets killed, his mix of shock and silent fury in the aftermath, and his final passionate monologue to the gunman about Crispus Attucks is incredibly powerful and just blew me away. I practically stood up and cheered at the end.
The only real weak link is Misty Knight, who just seems to be utterly irrelevant to the plot (you could easily replace her with a nameless cop and the story would be the same) and we still aren’t given any reason to care for her nor any indication as to what her purpose is in this story other than as a potential love interest for Luke (which creates its own set of problems, but I’ll go into that another time depending on what happens in the next few episodes). She also seems to be a little bit of a thicksicle. You can practically see the hamster wheel in her head turning as she tries to work out how Luke was able to shield that kid from gunfire and have a shirt riddled with bullet holes, but not be dead. We’re slipping dangerously close to bollocks territory like Jessica Jones did. So a giant green rage monster, that’s plausible. But a guy with the power of mind control? Don’t be absurd!
But that honestly doesn’t detract from what is an incredibly powerful, tense and emotionally provocative episode. Code Of The Streets makes up for all of Moment Of Truth’s shortcomings, giving Luke Cage a lot of momentum going forward. Before I said I wasn’t gripped. Now I’m well and truly gripped, and I hope the show doesn’t let me go anytime soon.
