Special Edition Podcast
Special Edition – Luke Cage
Show Notes
Conor Kilpatrick and Ron Richards are joined by surprise special guest Josh Flanagan to talk about the third 13-hour original series from the partnership of Netflix and Marvel Studios — Luke Cage!
Running Time: 00:39:45
Music:
“Good Man”
Raphael Saadiq
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Like you guys I loved the show even with its mild issues and yes it could have been done in 8 or 10 episodes. Some quick comments though.
1. Come on Ron, the Method Man scene was one of the highlights. Luke is a street level hero and Method represents us. Also you need to understand to New York Hip Culture (and in fact Hip Hop as a whole) Wu Tang as a movement as a super group is very important they have to be recognized in a show like this.
2. I loved the way the embraced the blackploitation origins of Luke Cage and subverted it. The fact is Luke Cage was created by 2 white guys who thought they were writing how black people talked and lived, which was fine for a time but we have moved so far from that now. But the show was able to honor those problematic themes by the music, the tiara, having Misty in the last episode with her classic afro
3. One of the strengths you identified were the actors but its really the characters. When you look at the characters they are different, which is not often something seen with shows featuring POC. They had different motivations, different speech patterns. As a POC I surely noticed it and loved it also as some one from the Caribbean, there is a line when they are looking for Misty in the club where the guy in talking about the waitress says “the West Indian looking chick” . Yes this would come up in normal conversation in a black neighborhood in NY.
4. Rosario Dawson is awesome. That is all
5. I felt that they couldn’t have Luke Cage come from Harlem the way this series was structured as that would mean he would have known cottonmouth, most likely been in the gang and this show did not need for his origin to be tied to crime more than it was.
6 Trivia you should know, Dapper Dan who give Luke his suit is a real person who was the Hip Hop Tailor of Harlem http://www.sneakerfreaker.com/features/dapper-dan-the-hip-hop-tailor-of-harlem/ I loved that he was in it and it was a high point for me given his role in NY Hip Hop culture. One of Method Man’s aliases is Johnny Blaze inspired by the comic book character and yet another reason why his cameo makes sense and Ron is wrong 🙂
I did enjoy all the villains in the show. I agree Diamond back did feel a step below everyone else. I didn’t think the story they told with him was terrible, but it just wasn’t as strong as the crime narrative we already had with the Mariah and Cottonmouth. Mariah was one of the strongest parts of the series. Also Shades should have been ridiculous. On paper he doesn’t work, but somehow I loved that character. I was cheering for him when he escaped the assassination attempt toward the end. Also I sympathized with him when after all the build up he gives Diamondback we find out Diamondback has no plan and is just reacting to everything around him in an insane bid to get his revenge against Luke. His reaction to Diamondback pretty much mirrored my own.
Since I felt Shades and Mariah were so strong I’m pretty jazzed to see if they actually do a Luke Cage Season two with them as the main antagonists.
After Cottonmouth is killed and Luke is shot by the Judas bullet I agree the show definitely lulled until we got toward the end. I feel like the show was it’s strongest in the beginning with Cottonmouth in the villain seat. The Scarfe and Misty stuff was all good, and I agree the Pops stuff was all great.
It felt authentic to me. It didn’t feel like a white person’s idea of a black hero or black comic book show. It felt like a black creation and because of that I feel like it was bigger than a marvel tv show.
Undoubtedly the weakest of the Marvel Netflix series. I think they set the tone early, unlike Jessica Jones and Daredevil, the show starts of ploddingly and takes a while to find its groove.
I think both Ron and Conor hit the nail on the head, the major problem were the villains. Killgrave and Wilson Fisk were both super powered, albeit in muted ways. Cottonmouth only fires an RPG, that is his only badass moment, the rest of the time he is moaning, helpless and is never able to mount even a half decent offensive. I think if they incorporated some of his comic book powers, such as his speciality with poison, it would have show him capable in his villainy and raised the stakes. Although Diamondback was hammy, you at least believed he was a credible threat.
Shades was definitely one of the highlights, as was the origin episode and the Mama Mabel flashback. Music was great, but all in all, the weakest so far.
I just finished and I really loved this. Daredevil 1&2 and JJ felt like a slog at certain points but I never got bored with Cage. I was even binging at certain points. I thought the music selections were perfect. I really loved how it walked right up to the edge of Blaxploitation Cinema but it never went super-campy or Tarantinoesque. I do wish Cottonmouth had stuck around longer as Mahershala Ali was amazing. Don’t even get me started on Rosario Dawson. Great stuff!