Now the show is seemingly cancelled, though the future of the characters is still to be decided, I thought I'd submit my opinion on the two seasons of "Luke Cage" that Netflix has provided.
So what has worked? The actors and character have been pretty much universally excellent. There is one notable exception that I'll come back too. Mike Colter is great in the title role, no longer mourning his wife (in fact she's barely spoken of) he's free to become Harlem's hero - whilst his bond with Clare (ever excellent Rosario Dawson) grows. Though his relationship with the police is complicated, he usually finds a willing confidante in Misty Knight (Simone Missick) who also becomes a player outside the confines of just this series. Whilst it's hard to say whether the Harlem of "Luke Cage" is authentic, looking at it from the other side of the planet, it feels perilous and alive. Like a lot of superhero films and shows, it's often the villain that defines its success and whilst not as good as either Kingpin, in Daredevil, or as entertaining as Killgrave in Jessica Jones - Luke does have a few good ones. Mahershala Ali plays gangster and club owner Cottonmouth in the first season, and gives the type of performance his talent usually provides. The second season switches to the Yardies as the antagonists and Mustafa Shakir is enjoyable as Bushmaster, aggrieved leader of the group. Though Cage's most constant villain is probably his best, Alfre Woodard gives a stellar performance across two seasons as Mariah Dillard, at the start a politician trying to cut the ties of her families sordid past (and present) but by then end a coldblooded murderer and head honcho. I suspect it'll be ignored come awards season, as it's "genre" TV but it'll be a serious overlook.
Now the problems. Midway through the first season, Cottonmouth is replaced as the villain by the much less compelling Diamondback (Erik Harvey). It's not a total death knell for the season, but it's a significant downgrade that hamstrings what's left. It's perhaps a symptom of the desire to make each of these seasons' 13 episodes, whether or not the story actually warrants that much time. I'm not sure why they have that, Netflix has that perfect system that should allow them to make as many variations on seasons as they see fit. A proper season of six episodes, followed by another one of seven a few months later would be fine, when you don't have to worry about scheduling and advertising, but instead both full seasons we got include quite a large degree of repetition in order to fill the desired run time and, specifically to the case a "Luke Cage" the gang of criminals that inexplicably believe that theirs are the bullets that are going to be the ones to kill him, despite him being famous across the borough, if not the city, for being bulletproof. The musical numbers too, though often great performers are another indulgence that betrays the padding nature of much of it.
I hope there's more "Luke Cage" in one form or another as Mike Colter charismatic turn deserves it and the story is left an interesting point, but what we've had is an decent show and even if I does end at the climax of the second season one that's just about worthy of the time investment.
