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| Image Courtesy www.tvinsider.com |
Last night I finally managed to finish Luke
Cage season 1 after a lot of being busy—and a lot of Internet and Netflix
frustrations. Consequently, here is my (non-spoiler)
review of the second half of the season, episodes 7-13. If you missed the first half, here
it is.
If you’re looking for a quick
verdict of whether or not to see it, the answer is: Yes.
Luke Cage follows in the tradition of Daredevil
and Jessica Jones by offering a good, character-driven series that mixes
in strong super-powered action. The character
beats his extremely well, particularly with the main characters.
As I said in my review of the
first half, episode 6 ties things up a little too neatly. After finishing the series, I can say that
that neat ending may be the neatest one of the season! Episode 7, “Manifest,” picks up where 6 left
off and builds from the foundation laid by the first half. The first half in fact did not conclude as
neatly as it appeared, and this messiness propels the plot forward.
All of the characters get strong
development, particularly Luke and Misty.
Luke in particular does a good job of carrying the series as it delves
further into parts of his past of which even he is not aware. The second half of the season also does a
good job of setting Misty’s character on a similar trajectory to her comic
counterpart.
The villains shift somewhat in
the second half of the season, which is actually a good thing. It’s not that the villain who is removed for
the second half was not compelling. Rather,
the added villain adds a whole new element to the season that is far greater
than what is lost. I wasn’t too enamored
with the new villain at first, but by the end of the season I was completely
sold. The character was kept out of all
the marketing before the season, so I really don’t want to spoil the
identity. But the entrance is pretty
unforgettable.
The second half of the season
works in a lot of good action sequences, including a really good final fight
between Luke and the main villain. However,
this fight does suffer a little. Unfortunately,
I’m not sure how else they could raise the stakes when the hero has bulletproof
skin and super-strength.
As a whole, Luke Cage
season 1 definitely lives up to and exceeds expectations. The story is great. The characters are great. There are a lot of shared universe nods, but
in general they do not distract from the story at hand. In fact, it’s a testament to how comfortable
Marvel and Netflix are with this shared universe that we don’t even blink when
supporting characters from the other series appear in this series.
Overall I highly recommend Luke
Cage. And as far as sex and violence
go, if you could get through the other series you will have no problem with
this one. In fact, there is even less
sexual content than Jessica Jones, and less violence and graphic imagery
than Daredevil. I still don’t
think I would recommend it for children, but if you’re not a fan of gore and
sex you will be able to enjoy it.
If you’ve seen Luke Cage season 1,
what do you think of it? Let me know in
the comments, but avoid spoilers!
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