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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 323183" data-attributes="member: 23">Luke Cage Season One (2016) <img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-UOiquzJa9YM%2FV-8F1cBz_OI%2FAAAAAAAAS48%2FL1C_1D22hoEstSAAP-TaluGE3Orop_f6QCLcB%2Fs1600%2Fmarvel-luke-cage-poster.jpeg&f=1&nofb=1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 427px" /> Moment Of TruthMy question going into this would be the question of what this series’ “thing” would be. Daredevil had the extreme violence. Jessica Jones the soft core porn. Turns out Luke Cage has both these elements, and throws in some taboo language for good measure.In theory, this should make Luke Cage feel more powerful, however because its older sibling series have already pushed the envelope those elements are less pioneering and so more workaday. Granted, we’re only one episode in, but the sex isn’t as full on as in Jessica (a good thing in my eyes. Luke Cage’s sex has erred on the side of good taste). And the violence feels somewhere between predictable and derivative. In particular, the scene where Cottonmouth beat a young robber to death echoed almost beat-for-beat the shocking moment in Daredevil where Fisk did something similar to someone who’d angered him. The result was that the remake felt a little like karaoke or pantomime.As far as the language goes, there was one “f**k” and a number of n-words thrown round in this first episode. The latter is an MCU first, I think. Almost bizarrely, due to societal changes the very idea feels more daring in a 2016 than it did when it was occasionally dropped by characters in the comics thirty-plus years earlier. I’m with Alfre Woodard on this one: I don’t like hearing “reclaimed” epithets bandied about so glibly. However this dialogue simply feels truthful and organic. I believe this is how these characters speak in this place and time.With the lead characters being black, there’s an acknowledgement of this in the references used. This first episode alone name-checked Malcolm X, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Nelson Mandela among others, and Alfre Woodard even dropped in the phrase Black Lives Matter.There’s also a bit of an Empire vibe going on with the soundtrack and the locations (Cottonmouth’s club). There’s a lot of funk, soul, R&B and even a smidgen of jazz. It’s a heavier soundtrack than my preferences run to, but not a deal breaker. There was a singer at the club that I thought had a really good voice. Turns out he’s a professional singer-songwriter called Raphael Saadiq.I found it difficult to get into the story to begin with - the first half of the episode felt like a lot of chatter about sports and whatnot, most of which went over my head. At one point I remember thinking that there were some great actors slightly wasted so far. But I do remember it took me a couple of episodes to get the feel for Daredevil and Jessica, so I’m reserving judgement. I do like the relationship developing between Luke and his landlords now that he’s rescued them and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.Even though she hasn’t been named yet, it’s great to see Misty Knight. She’s close to how I’d imagine a live-action Misty to look, so that’s a plus.Luke’s comment “I’m not for hire” felt to me like a bit of a dig at the character’s origins, but at least we know where we stand.</blockquote>

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