I'm tagging this review onto the last episode of Series 1 to look back on the whole first series.
I've come to this character and series belatedly having watched all of the other Marvel Defenders shows starting with Daredevil, them Jessica Jones, the Defenders cross-over and most recently Iron Fist. I enjoyed them all and this one too, although with some reservations.
Luke Cage doesn't run about in a mask or hero costume. Indeed once he comes to the fore to try and protect Harlem, he does nothing to hide his identity from the public which at different times seem to both love and hate him. He's just a big, good-looking, muscle-bound black dude who, through a botched experiment carried out on him in prison where he's serving time for a set-up murder, comes out invulnerable and with super-strength, hence the occasional in-joke references to his comic book a.k.a. Power Man.
The series boasts a predominantly black cast, as you'd expect from its Harlem setting, its urban feel strengthened by the soundtrack of old soul and modern rap (love the former, hate the latter) with the added bonus of original old-school R 'n' B acts performing live at the Paradise (obviously based on the Apollo) night-club.
I have to agree with those reviewers who talk about a second half sag in the season, as occasioned by the sudden and unexpected demise of the local kingpin Cottonmouth. Perhaps the talented actor Mahershala Ali playing him had other projects in the fire and had to move on but if not, it had be a mistake to write him out of the action so soon when his character was certainly big enough to carry the whole season. The follow-up story of Cage's step-brother Diamondback, bringing his old family-based grievances seemed, by comparison, both clichéd and contrived especially when he accesses super-bullets fit to hurt Cage and a powered suit so that he can do battle with him too.
Still there were compensations elsewhere. I was pleased to see the prominence of female characters in the show, the New York settings were great and Mike Colter was a good fit as Luke, I was surprised to see the downbeat, everything-falls-apart ending but appreciate I was being primed for a succeeding second series which I've already started watching. Obviously Shades and Mariah appear to be on top just now but with Misty and Claire alongside him, I don't expect our hero to be caged (ouch!) for too long.
