Luke Cage Season 2 Episode 5 Review: All Souled Out

This article comes from Den of Geek UK.

This review contains spoilers.

Luke Cage Season 2, Episode 5

Yes! It’s your boy Foggy all up in Luke Cage, guest starring that makes actual sense. Defenders may have dropped the ball, but if it means we’re going to see a lot more casual crossovers like this one I am all for it. This is the beauty of a shared universe: you don’t have to know Foggy and Donovan’s history together to get more out of that scene, but when you do, man. This is what I’m here for. Everything from “Have you considered wearing a mask?” to his sad face when Luke declined a cappuccino for them both. Give that guy his own show, please.

By comparison, one of the banker dudebros at the party saying the words “big green guy” pointedly? Please. My least favorite thing about Marvel’s TV shows is when they act like they’ve lost the license to use Marvel characters. If you mean the Hulk, just say the Hulk. If I lived in the MCU I’d be talking about the Hulk all the frickin’ time. I mean, I already talk about the Hulk all the frickin’ time and he’s not even real. You know what I never do? Call him the big green guy.

Okay, that’s off my chest.

I’ll say this for Cockroach: Charismatic and simple-minded though he was, no-one deserves to die like that. Though I did enjoy him scrambling to put on his sling when Misty bust in on him. The sad part here is that we will never again see him wielding the six-barrelled shotgun. Of course, it means Luke doesn’t have to worry about that $100,000 dollar settlement fee, but look at it this way: if I was wondering who killed Cockroach, I might start by talking to the guy who he just sued and who recently beat the hell out of him in his own home, so maybe Luke has stuff to worry about after all.

Misty getting her robot arm was inevitable from the moment she first appeared so I’m glad they finally got to it, although so far it’s proving weirdly pedestrian. I’m not expecting an Iron Man-level bag of tricks, but at the very least let’s get some super-speed or super-strength out of it. I did enjoy the focus on Misty in this episode generally, not least the context we got of her past with Scarfe – the conflicted memories of having fun and doing good with him, tainted by the knowledge that he was crooked.

Luke’s hero for hire (ahem) gig did at least bring some levity to the show, though, and that’s one thing these Netflix series can always use more of. Piranha brings some great energy to the scenes he’s in generally, and his larger-than-life act plays well against Luke’s impenetrably calm and soft-spoken demeanour. I’d say I want to see him back for Luke Cage season 3 in an increased capacity, but this being a Marvel-Netflix show he’s probably going to get strangled with his own intestines in episode seven.

With Bushmaster and his gang AWOL for the bulk of the episode we get lots more time with Mariah, Shades and Commanche, and I’ll say it again: this stuff is gold. I care more about Shades’ struggle to keep his gang of crooks in order than anything else in this show, and probably because this is a struggle that could go any way. Shades, unlike Luke, isn’t the star of this show so everything about him is at stake. I hope this show treats him nice…

Sadly, given what happened to his compatriots at the end of this episode, it doesn’t look like Shades is going to catch a break. I should say, though, I’m getting a little suspicious of Tilda. Part of me thinks her wide-eyed innocence is an act, although that might be because I know she plays a villain in the comics. I’m gonna watch her closely in the next few episodes…