Striker’s morons keep shooting down into the screaming dispersing crowd trying to kill Misty and I can’t see how Dillard can spin any of this against Cage. Claire tries to motion Luke to the kitchen and he takes Misty and Claire to the kitchen. Shades tries to talk sense into Striker but again, he’s a goddamned single minded idiot and refuses to think better of it, because he actually believes if he kills Misty he can blame it on Cage while he uses his Cage disguise to sow confusion. Opening credits.
Misty is getting cold and Luke figures she has a nicked artery. He tells Misty the truth about him and Striker’s connection and opens an old prohibition clear he knew about in the kitchen. Striker makes a big noise and the LT refuses to let swat go in. Striker and Shades search for Misty and Cage while Shades remains skeptical of Striker’s idiot plan. Striker holds the councilman at gunpoint and makes him call the LT and claim Cage is holding him hostage. Misty tries to call the LT on her phone but it’s too damaged. Misty tells Luke to go take care of Striker and save the hostages, finally understanding him, but he needs to make sure she’s stable first.
Striker makes the councilman share a scotch with him. He spouts bible bs to justify his actions, and asks the councilman to read a passage from his late mother’s bible. Claire is with the hostages upstairs, and convinces the goons to let her help a girl whose ankle is injured, and I squee out loud as someone finally calls her the Night Nurse on screen. The girl in question is the one who said she saw Cage kill Cottonmouth. She realizes now she was used and thinks all this is all her fault. Claire asks her how Luke could have gotten out then asks her to fake pass out and cons a goon into taking her downstairs to get the girl’s “diabetes meds”, then knocks him out and goes looking for Cage.
The LT is still refusing to let the trigger happy swat guy go in and an ADA from the mayors office conveniently shows up to offer them Dillard’s Judah ammo. Cage tighten a tourniquet on Misty to keep her alive knowing he’s the only hope he has of being exonerated now. Feeling safe that she won’t bleed out, he gets ready to go upstairs to fight when Claire starts making noise in the staff locker room. Cage brings her to Misty.
The LT is clearly not buying the conveniently timed offer of super ammo and figures out Dillard is manipulating them. The ADA brings up Frank Castle as an example of what could happen if the Judah ammo ever hit the streets, and the LT realizes she’s being set up to take the fall if the hostage situation goes south. Claire treats Misty and Striker us the symbolism sledgehammer by putting “Son of a Preacher Man” on while he whines like a tantrum throwing little boy about how his daddy like his baby brother better. A cop tells the LT the hostages’ stories conflict. Shades still keeps calling out Striker’s idiot plan, and a goon comes in to tell them about Claire pushing one of them down stairs.
Striker talks over the intercom to tell Luke he’ll kill hostages every ten minutes unless Luke comes out. Luke leaves Claire and Misty to go face his brother. Striker gets off the phone from being told Dillard got the Mayor to go for the Judah ammo. He tells a story about him and Luke stealing a car as kids for a joyride and how Luke got sent to the Marines but he went to juvey and killed a kid in self defense and ended up in adult prison. He rambles on about Cain and Abel as Luke heads upstairs mowing down goons. He kills the councilman with the alien tech glove to frame Luke and has his body dumped out the door. The LT reluctantly gives SWAT the all clear hades is washing blood off his hands, presumably from killing the waitress, and discovers the secret trapdoor to the prohibition basement. Luke kills the power leaving only the emergency lights. Shades finds and attacks Misty and Claire saves her. They knock him out and cuff him to the pipes. They compliment each other on their fighting prowess.
SWAT gears up ready to go in. Luke frees the rest of the hostages and it turns out the waitress isn’t dead yet, as Striker is using her as a hostage. He throws her off the balcony and Luke catches her. Luke dodges Striker’s last bullet and SWAT arrests him. Zip gets Striker out and Misty tells the LT Luke is innocent. Claire hand Shades over to the cops and Luke is perpwalked out. End of episode.
