Marvel & Netflix’s Luke Cage Recap Episode 12; “Soliloquy of Chaos”

Reviews, Top Story

lukecage

Luke is being restrained by crooked cops itching for an excuse to shoot him dead, still thinking he killed a cop. Misty interrupts to talk to Cage like she still thinks he’s guilty to secretly tell him Claire is safe and not to try to escape, but Luke realizes he has to stop Striker so he breaks free. An older cop catches him, but he’s a cop whose hair Pop cut for years and if Pop had faith in Luke so does he. He lets Luke go, because hey he’s too old to chase him. Opening credits.

Striker is watching a news report of the hostage situation and Turk shows up to talk business. Zip shows up and almost gets choked to death for questioning Striker. Domingo’s crew convinces him to take Striker out while he’s vulnerable, and Shades gets processed at the cop shop. The LT scolds Misty for not being in the hospital. She needs to prove Luke is innocent. The LT asks why Luke is running if he’s innocent and Misty rinds her he’s a black man accused of a cop killing and the cops have special bullets. The LT sends Misty home rather than let her interrogate Shades, saying she’ll do it herself and I still don’t completely trust her.

Dillard tours the wreckage of the club, angry that Striker messed everything up so badly, but her aide tells her to spin this into a legacy. Luke is looking for a way to get ahold of Claire and sees a robbery in progress and goes to stop it. I laugh my ass off as Method Man is in the corner store being robbed and one of the crooks recognizes him and apologies and he’s a huge Wu Tang fan. Luke saves him and the store owner and also recognizes Method. They shake and hug and trade hooded and Method just thinks it’s bomb. The store owner tells Luke he could get paid for this as the Hero for Hire running joke continues. Luke calls Claire on one of the robbers’ phones.

The waitress calls Misty offering to talk in private because she wants to do right by Luke and Luke trusts her. Meanwhile the LT tries to interrogate Shades and Shades simply keeps saying “lawyer”. He laughs as she leaves, but once she’s gone he looks scared. Misty meets Candice and she tells Misty the truth about Cottonmouth’s murder as she records it. We flash back to Shades telling Dillard how to clean up and Candice tells Misty everything. She can’t live with the guilt after Luke saved her life. She promises to testify if Misty can protect her. She knows Dillard will kill her otherwise. Misty brings her to Claire not knowing Dillard’s aid is watching.

Method Man is on a radio show talking about his encounter with Cage, pointing out if he was guilty why would he stop to stop a robbery while on the run? He says Luke inspires him and he live raps a tribute to Luke. As he drops sick rhymes we get a Montage of black folks on the street refusing to show the cops any fear while wearing hooded with holes in them to show support. The assholes swat cop harassed Bobby at the barber shop and Bobby scolds him for being a dumb as thinking Luke would be there. After he leaves Bobby signals Luke with the blinds that it’s safe to come in. Bobby scolds Luke for coming back to Harlem instead of making a fresh start with Claire. Bobby helps him figure out the best way to track down Striker. He knows Turk is still around and still owes him one for getting Pop killed. So Bobby calls him with an offer of bogus Nikes. Shades gets released and Misty watches him walk. Dudes is as good as dead. Zip takes him to Striker and tries to kill him in the elevator. Shades breaks free and kills Zips bodyguards, then leads Zip to the roof to ask him to confirm Striker ordered the hit then kills him. He takes Zips sunglasses and leaves.

Alex reports to Dillard he lost Misty and Candice, but knowing Candice is turning on her is useful info. Striker calls and tries to use Shades’ supposed death to scare her into serving him, then walks in with a bag full of money. He apologizes for the club and demands her loyalty. He subtly threatens her and leaves.

Turk goes to meet Bobby and Cage grabs him. He tells him he should kill him for getting Pop killed then hurls him into a dumpster and punches the lid shut and Turk tells him where to find Striker. Domingo and his crew show up at the warehouse to kill Striker and the Idiot Ball must just be standard issue for Harlem gang leaders because instead of just shooting Striker outright he brags about Shades killing Zip and gives Striker a chance to pull a gun. Striker dusts them all and quotes the bible again and I’m sensing a theme here.

Dillard is staring at the gun Mama Mabel made Cottonmouth kill his uncle with when Shades shows up. He offers her the bottle she beat Cottonmouth with as a sign of good faith. They agree they need Luke to take out Striker, as “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Luke shows up at the warehouse and finds the corpses of Domingo and his gang, with only Domingo still breathing. Luke asks him what happened and hears beeping. He finds a bomb Striker left for him with little over a minute left on the timer. He gets away with Domingo. Domingo says he can’t stop Striker.

Luke meets Misty to tell her what happened at the warehouse and tells her to go get Turk. She in turn tells him Shades got Zip. Shades and Dillard talk about whether Luke will play nice given their framing him for murder. They talk about Cottonmouth and Dillard admits she’s a lot more like Mama Mabel than she ever wanted to acknowledge, that Cottonmouth was right about her.

They meet Luke at Pop’s to offer him his freedom, with a file that proves Striker framed him, but Misty followed Luke and tries to arrest them. Before anyone can resolve anything, Striker shows up in a stupid ass Demolition Man looking outfit calling himself the Angel of Death and after throwing a grenade into the shop and chasing everyone else off it’s just him and Luke, and now it’s on. End of episode.

Penny is a now divorced intersexed disabled lesbian in BC Canada. She's been watching wrestling and reading comics since she was a kid, and knows her stuff. She lives with her pets and passes her free time writing, drawing, doing paid photoshop work (including logos done for Pulse's Own Mike Gojira), and is a part-time Queer model.