Luke Cage Season 2.
Overall: I liked it a lot.
The Bad: The season would play better if you watched 1 episode per week. It’s bingeable, for sure. But, there are relentless recaps in the dialogue. Things that take 55 full minutes to resolve in one episode are completely retconned in the teaser for the next ep. Also, Luke pops real fast. I understand that’s the arc they wanted to tell. The sooner you get in, the better. But, the surrounding dialogue didn’t support the attitude change as much as it seemed to explain it to the audience. “Hey. We’re going to do this thing. Here’s why. Ok?”
The Good: I love the celebration of the corny. Luke is corny, Foggy is corny, Danny Rand is corny. Even some of the action set pieces are corny. On purpose. It gets called out. I loved it.
John McIver/Bushmaster is a villain with a just cause. And his war with Mariah set the stage for Alfre Woodard to dazzle as a scorched earth crime boss. She deserves an Emmy nod for a scene where she explains her family’s past in one of the most restrained, two person scenes you’ll ever see in the MCU.
Misty Knight could easily carry a 6-8 ep season of her own. It doesn’t need to be a backstory. It’d be more fun to watch her character move forward.
There is a lot of blood and collateral damage. It’s not gratuitous. When people fight each with guns, people die. It’s just how that works. It’s done to a real, palpable, and stark effect. It fuels Luke’s conflicted final choice.
Ultimately, that is what makes this season so good. All of the characters end up in different places. Some out of growth. Others out of necessity. All of them on uneasy ground. The potential for season 3 is limitless.