Luke Cage FULL SEASON ONE Discussion (NO SPOILER TAGS NECESSARY)

[General Mike]

Really liked the series a lot until a certain point, maybe episode 8 or so, and then I think it took a step back in quality.

 

[gohei_]

I recall one line about how his wife set it up so everything was in her name and not his? Not sure how that worked after her death, but I vaguely recall that being said at some point.

You know what, that actually sounds familiar. I might just have to recheck his episodes from JJ.

 

[mightiest_mortal]

Finallyy got around to finishing the season. Really not a fan of Bendis Cage at all, but I enjoyed the show nonetheless. Really wasn't wowwed though as I think there were a lot of big issues with the show, so I definately think it's the weaker Marvel series so far.

Strengths -

• Misty stole the show imo. I'd much rather look forward to a Daughters of the Dragon series then S2 of Cage.
• Cottonelle wasn't a particularly charismatic or scary villain but he seemed a real character, with his own personal struggles which made him interesting in his own right.
• Was good to see more of Claire.
• The whole first third was pretty great.
• Set up of Mariah was good. Until the last episode where she started hamming it up a bit too much and doing the evil voice.

Weaknesses -

• Diamondback was AWFUL AWFUL and brought the show down a lot. Netflix series have had some strong complex villains, so using a Ramsay-Bolton level Pantomime villain was a bad idea, and him running round in his own Supersuit was embarassing.
• Everything just kinda seems to happen to cage. He's not particular decisive or proactive in anyway so he doesn't drive the momentum in his own show.
• The script was cheesy as bad place. Awkwardly so at times.
• The pacing of the end 2/3 - It just slowed too much and nothing particularly happened. To be honest I started talking online and playing games while watching by about 2/3 into the season as it didn't keep attention.

 

[Elayis]

This was the first Marvel Netflix show that genuinely bored me. The first two episodes were fine (if underwhelming), but after they changed writers the pacing of the show just went to ****. Episode 4 was one of the most terribly constructed episodes I've seen in awhile. On top of that, I couldn't bring myself to become emotionally invested. None of the characters or performances stood out (though Ali &Woodard are always solid), and the dialogue had a very scripted and telegraphed feel to it.

While Charlie Cox and Krysten Ritter may not be Downey or Evans level, they're solid actors that always felt at one with their characters. In my opinion, Colter doesn't have the skill or the charisma to headline a show. Frankly, there were times he was downright comical in an otherwise intense scene.

This show also served as a reminder why superheroes shouldn't be done on TV: it looks cheap. When the most expensive TV series costs just over half the average budget of a cbm, that's a problem, especially when you have to stretch that across an entire season. To make superpowers look convincing you need to spend money, which is something the current model of television can't really do, even on streaming or cable. Daredevil could pull it off (the producers really stepped up their game in season two) and to a lesser extent so could Jessica Jones, but this show just looked bad.

Now I'm worried I won't enjoy Iron Fist or Defenders either.

 

[javonstokess]

This was the first Marvel Netflix show that genuinely bored me. The first two episodes were fine (if underwhelming), but after they changed writers the pacing of the show just went to ****. Episode 4 was one of the most terribly constructed episodes I've seen in awhile. On top of that, I couldn't bring myself to become emotionally invested. None of the characters or performances stood out (though Ali &Woodard are always solid), and the dialogue had a very scripted and telegraphed feel to it.

While Charlie Cox and Krysten Ritter may not be Downey or Evans level, they're solid actors that always felt at one with their characters. In my opinion, Colter doesn't have the skill or the charisma to headline a show. Frankly, there were times he was downright comical in an otherwise intense scene.

This show also served as a reminder why superheroes shouldn't be done on TV: it looks cheap. When the most expensive TV series costs just over half the average budget of a cbm, that's a problem, especially when you have to stretch that across an entire season. To make superpowers look convincing you need to spend money, which is something the current model of television can't really do, even on streaming or cable. Daredevil could pull it off (the producers really stepped up their game in season two) and to a lesser extent so could Jessica Jones, but this show just looked bad.

Now I'm worried I won't enjoy Iron Fist or Defenders either.

Wow...couldn't disagree more. To each his/her own.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

In my opinion, Colter doesn't have the skill or the charisma to headline a show. Frankly, there were times he was downright comical in an otherwise intense scene.

That's the character for you, Colter did a fine job keeping his play faithful.

 

[AlluAllu]

This show also served as a reminder why superheroes shouldn't be done on TV: it looks cheap. When the most expensive TV series costs just over half the average budget of a cbm, that's a problem, especially when you have to stretch that across an entire season. To make superpowers look convincing you need to spend money, which is something the current model of television can't really do, even on streaming or cable. Daredevil could pull it off (the producers really stepped up their game in season two) and to a lesser extent so could Jessica Jones, but this show just looked bad.

Personally I'll accept even bad special effects if dramatic scenes are good. Structurally television is a better match for superheroes than movies, imo.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I have no issue with special effects used here.

 

[Flint Marko]

What special effects looked bad in Luke Cage? Not saying there weren't any, but I can't recall moments that stuck out to me.
Only thing I had a problem with was Diamondback's terrible costume. I'm shocked they went with that.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

^I'm right there with you.
Except for thinking Diamondback's costume looking terrible, it's silly looking, but not that bad.

 

[Quasimod0]

I think it looked alright. I liked that the guy-who's-name-I'm-forgetting (Bobby?) called him a pimp stormtrooper. lol.

Anyway anybody have any links to some Luke Cage fan art? There was a ton for Daredevil but I haven't seen much here for Cage.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Regarding the Obama/Ellis stuff... trying to sort all this out will just make your head hurt. I remember watching Homeland and thinking about this and it almost ruined the show for me. It's best to just ignore it.

Besides, the "Diet Obama" line was hilarious.

 

[KingCheops]

Overall liked it but rank it second last ahead of DD2. So JJ, DD1, LC, DD2.

A feeling I can't shake, and that really pissed me off in the finale of DD2, is that the editing seems to be way off on LC and DD2. It's like there's a whole bunch of stuff that is relatively plot important just got cut in favor of other things. I can't quite put my finger on it in LC but it seems like we needed a few more bits of backstory that didn't quite make the screen. Still no where near as bad as the army of ninjas that suddenly shrank to a dozen dudes + Nobu.

 

[MrB]

I liked the series, but it's the weakest of all the Marvel shows.

It was boring in parts, i didn't care for Stryker.
Cottonmouth was fascinating. Shades was also a great character.

I loved it everytime Luke was bashing and breaking stuff. It looked so good.

6/10

 

[Elayis]

That's the character for you, Colter did a fine job keeping his play faithful.

Was Luke being shot and screaming in pain supposed to be comedic? Because his acting in that scene was awful.

Personally I'll accept even bad special effects if dramatic scenes are good. Structurally television is a better match for superheroes than movies, imo.

True, if the everything else about a show is good I can overlook wonky sfx (like on Star Trek), but when there are also other problems with a show, what used to be a nitpick is now just another in a long list of issues.

What special effects looked bad in Luke Cage? Not saying there weren't any, but I can't recall moments that stuck out to me.
Only thing I had a problem with was Diamondback's terrible costume. I'm shocked they went with that.

The moments that really stood out to me were Luke's assault on Cottonmouth's HQ in episode 3 and the car chase in episode 8. Again, not terrible, but in comparison to the movies, or even another superhero show like Supergirl (which has spectacular fx for a network TV show), it definitely looks low-rent.

The stunt work also felt very choppy and stiff. For some reason Luke moved very slowly, almost like a robot. It reminded me of the how Ghost Rider moved in his first film. It didn't seem like human moving naturally, more like a stunt guy waiting to hit his cues.

 

[Hellion]

I loved the series... the only blemish to me was pre-power suit and power suit Diamondback. I found the character corny.

 

[TheVileOne]

I maintain that getting rid of Cottonmouth in episode 7 was a critical, CRITICAL, error. Especially just one episode after they killed Scarfe.

Besides that? Cottonmouth just didn't do it as a villain for me. I don't think the ending of season 1 was terrible. But it was a bad and clumsy note to go out on for the first season. Episode 13 was generally very clumsily paced.

If I had one other nitpick, how the bad place does Mariah Dillard even as a councilwoman arrange with the mayor to get the police basically illegal weapons made out of materials from The Incident? How does it go?

"Alright Mr. Mayor, we need to talk. Luke Cage killed a cop. So we need to arm the cops with these special bullets. See these bullets? They are made of Chitauri metal. They can kill Luke Cage. So let's arm the police to kill a person of interest with alien bullets that are obviously illegal."

The way these conclusions are simply reached...well the characters say them, but they don't make a lick of sense.

 

[Random490]

I maintain that getting rid of Cottonmouth in episode 7 was a critical, CRITICAL, error. Especially just one episode after they killed Scarfe.

Besides that? Cottonmouth just didn't do it as a villain for me. I don't think the ending of season 1 was terrible. But it was a bad and clumsy note to go out on for the first season. Episode 13 was generally very clumsily paced.

If I had one other nitpick, how the bad place does Mariah Dillard even as a councilwoman arrange with the mayor to get the police basically illegal weapons made out of materials from The Incident? How does it go?

"Alright Mr. Mayor, we need to talk. Luke Cage killed a cop. So we need to arm the cops with these special bullets. See these bullets? They are made of Chitauri metal. They can kill Luke Cage. So let's arm the police to kill a person of interest with alien bullets that are obviously illegal."

The way these conclusions are simply reached...well the characters say them, but they don't make a lick of sense.

Clumsy is a good way to describe it. I still liked the show but the writing needed another pass.

 

[Alex Murphy]

Have seen only the first episode so far. Right now I'm thinking pretty meh.

 

[TheVileOne]

Clumsy is a good way to describe it. I still liked the show but the writing needed another pass.

Another pass is a good way to put it. I feel like if they had another go at those scripts they could've fixed some of those pacing and plot issues.

 

[Mike Murdock]

I maintain that getting rid of Cottonmouth in episode 7 was a critical, CRITICAL, error. Especially just one episode after they killed Scarfe.

Besides that? Cottonmouth just didn't do it as a villain for me. I don't think the ending of season 1 was terrible. But it was a bad and clumsy note to go out on for the first season. Episode 13 was generally very clumsily paced.

If I had one other nitpick, how the bad place does Mariah Dillard even as a councilwoman arrange with the mayor to get the police basically illegal weapons made out of materials from The Incident? How does it go?

"Alright Mr. Mayor, we need to talk. Luke Cage killed a cop. So we need to arm the cops with these special bullets. See these bullets? They are made of Chitauri metal. They can kill Luke Cage. So let's arm the police to kill a person of interest with alien bullets that are obviously illegal."

The way these conclusions are simply reached...well the characters say them, but they don't make a lick of sense.

What makes you think the bullets are illegal for the police to own?

 

[Wildcard]

I maintain that getting rid of Cottonmouth in episode 7 was a critical, CRITICAL, error. Especially just one episode after they killed Scarfe.

Besides that? Cottonmouth just didn't do it as a villain for me. I don't think the ending of season 1 was terrible. But it was a bad and clumsy note to go out on for the first season. Episode 13 was generally very clumsily paced.

If I had one other nitpick, how the bad place does Mariah Dillard even as a councilwoman arrange with the mayor to get the police basically illegal weapons made out of materials from The Incident? How does it go?

"Alright Mr. Mayor, we need to talk. Luke Cage killed a cop. So we need to arm the cops with these special bullets. See these bullets? They are made of Chitauri metal. They can kill Luke Cage. So let's arm the police to kill a person of interest with alien bullets that are obviously illegal."

The way these conclusions are simply reached...well the characters say them, but they don't make a lick of sense.

While I very much loved season one, I have to agree with just about everything here. It didn't run quite as smoothly as possible towards the end and even feels a bit rushed, imo. I had a hard time believing Mariah, even being a politician, would be able to slither around the things being thrown at her.

Regarding Cottonmouth, I did like him as a villain, though, and wish they wouldn't have killed him off. So much more could've been done with him.

Sorry but Shades and Mariah just aren't proper substitutes for what I felt Cottonmouth brought to the table.

 

[the last son]

Horrible, horrible, horrible decision to kill Cottonmouth. If you had to kill him he was supposed to go out similar to scarface taking on all his enemies and go out with a bang. The acting from Ali was phenomenal and a step above everyone else acting in the show. I liked him so much I truly wouldn't even hate if he came back someway somehow. He was engaging and this was the first time I ever watched a movie where I thought the villain was more interesting than the hero.

When he gets arrested, they should've just kept him in prison until season 2 where he gets his hands on weapons to make him a super villain.

 

[Wildcard]

Agreed! I felt the same way. As great as Colter is as Cage, I felt that Ali was even better as Cottonmouth. And considering this is interconnected with the same universe where people have been shown to come back from the dead, (multiple times, at that) they could totally bring him back.

I'm all for more female villains & characters that are front and centered, but Mariah was a massive downgrade from Cottonmouth & the handling of her "transition" to being a criminal was sloppily handled.

Not to mention the interactions between Cage & Diamondhead weren't nearly as interesting or as tension filled as those with Cage & Cottonmouth.

Bring back Cottonmouth, Marvel. You messed up bad here.

 

[Random490]

I wouldn't say it was a horrible decision. It was a great plot twist and a brilliant idea even though it didn't feel like his full story had been told. The problem was that the follow up villains didn't step up the way the needed to. Mariah doesn't seem like a credible threat, Diamondback was too crazy right off the back that it got borderline goofy, and Shades was just kind of... there.

The real problem is Mariah, At the end of the season we're suppose to look at her as the big bad of the serious. The evil of Harlem incarnate. But throughout the entire season she's hanging on a thread only avoided prison more by the police ineptitude than by her own means. She never seems dangerous, she never appear to be in charge of her own destiny, and she doesn't command power. How are we suppose to see her as the big villain? And this has nothing to do with the actress, that's great casting. It has nothing to do with the plot, it's a good story line. It's the writing, the nuts and bolts of the story the breaks it apart.

The idea should have been down play Mariah in the beginning, then have her break out as the true villain, the real power in the family. Have the series make us intimidated by Cottonmouth only to then have us terrified at Mariah. With a little reworking on the scripts that could have been brilliant. I just hope season 2 does a better job with the character.