Luke Cage (Netflix)

Seen two reviews so far now. One overall positive, and one overall negative. Though, if nothing else, both said that the action scenes were done well.

On episode 3. Great music, cool dialogue but daaaaamn, it's slow.

Not surprised. Wasn't even half way through the first episode before encountering very obvious filler-footage. Which does not bode well for the rest of the season.

First episode was a bit slow, but I still dug it overall. One thing I found interesting was that

Spoiler:
Judas bullets no longer seem to work on Cage. I am guessing this has something to do with the second treatment he got when they removed the bullet fragments in S1.

I legit lol'd in the 2nd episode when

Spoiler:
Cockroach tried kicking Luke in the nuts and hurt his leg.

Originally posted by TheVaultDweller
First episode was a bit slow, but I still dug it overall. One thing I found interesting was that

Spoiler:
Judas bullets no longer seem to work on Cage. I am guessing this has something to do with the second treatment he got when they removed the bullet fragments in S1.

Claire remarks that after he was submerged in acid in season 1

Spoiler:
Cages strength/durability increased

One thing I missed about Luke, which made its return in the first episode as well, is the

Spoiler:
forehead slap KO

Damn, after starting on episode 3, I actually feel bad

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about laughing at Cockroach. Luke seriously phucked him up. And the scary part is, Luke wasn't even straining himself. I mean, yes, he wasn't going as light as he normally does, but he was basically just casually ragdolling the guy around the room and left him looking bloody, battered and half-dead. That's one thing the netflix shows do better than the films IMO. Show you what people realistically would look like if they took a proper beating from a superhuman.

Also, lol at Shades just appearing there silently, like a damn creeper. People who have watched episode 3 will know what I mean.

I genuinely like Danny’s character progression. He genuinely cares about Luke and it seems the events of Defenders really gave him some perspective about the threats out there.

Only on episode 4 so far and there's a lot of pointless scenes in some of these episodes so far IMO. Granted it doesn't completely take me out of the show like Jessica Jones S2 but it is something that irks me.

My only complaint is Mariah has had way too much screen time
Other than that it’s been a decent season and it definitely makes up for JJ Season 2. Bushmaster has been a good villain

I've been enjoying it overall so far. Yeah, there have been some slow moments, but nowhere near as bad as JJ s2 dragged at points IMO. Bushmaster (at least up until the point I have watched) has been infinitely better than Diamondback. Mariah is... Quite frankly, that woman seems batshit insane at this point. Not in the lick the toilet seat kind of way, but in a horribly, horribly delusional way, to the point where her worldview clearly does not line up with the actual reality around her in many instances.

One thing that is kind of funny to me, considering the wider context of the MCU, is the fact that people have struggled and spent billions over the decades, in universe, on various super soldier-type programs, yet

Spoiler:
you can apparently buy all the ingredients you need to create your own all-natural super-steroid at the local herbal healer lol. You just need the right recipe/knowledge.

But then, as The Defenders showed us, the cure for death is lying underneath New York. It's just that almost no one knows about it. The Netflix guys really don't care about introducing some what could be considered gamebreaker elements in their shows.

Originally posted by TheVaultDweller
One thing that is kind of funny to me, considering the wider context of the MCU, is the fact that people have struggled and spent billions over the decades, in universe, on various super soldier-type programs, yet

Spoiler:
you can apparently buy all the ingredients you need to create your own all-natural super-steroid at the local herbal healer lol. You just need the right recipe/knowledge.

But then, as The Defenders showed us, the cure for death is lying underneath New York. It's just that almost no one knows about it. The Netflix guys really don't care about introducing some what could be considered gamebreaker elements in their shows.

Spoiler:
nightshade is deadly to most people and a death sentence. Something about bushmaster makes him immune to the poison but anyone else would probably have died before they got the benefit of it. Remember hes the only kid that survived the flu shots in jamaica and it permanently unlocked a level of super strength. Its why he could hurt cage even when not dosed on it

Well, I still some ways to go, so obviously don't have the full picture. So, not going to peek at the spoiler tag there in case it's something I haven't seen yet. But I assume there will be some explanation or other in the show.

So whats the consensus? Is it at least an improvement on S1?

I still have to finish Jessica Jones S2 before I start on this?

It’s much better than season 1

Bushmaster is a great villain

I agree. Much better than season 1. Overall I'd put this in 4th place behind Punisher and the first two seasons of Daredevil as far as the Marvel Netflix shows go. Bushmaster was a good villain and it served the season well to only have one main 'villain' and learn from the mistake of Diamondback in season 1. A good watch. Will probably run it back again over the 4th of July.

IMO, it definitely sits more strongly than s1 did around the same point where I am now. And s2 has a few really solid surprise performances from certain more minor characters/cast members that make them shine more than you would think.

Spoiler:
Like the whole thing between Shades and Comanche was surprisingly sincere and sad.

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Foggy cameos. He has surprisingly good onscreen chemistry with Luke.