Episode Title: Now You’re Mine
Originally Aired: September 30th 2016
The latest episode of the Marvel and Netflix collaboration may have been its best to date. With only two episodes to go, it is hard not to binge through to the end to experience everything they have planned. Several aspects of this episode reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Die Hard. The episode features one man versus a team of armed gunmen, a psychotic leader that has no value for a life that is not his, and a mix of inept and trigger happy cops outside.
We finally got Diamondback’s motivation from his own mouth and it is just as lame as we all expected it to be. Yes, his preacher father was a piece of garbage and should have treated him better, but killing Luke and dozens of innocent people is not the best way to move past his daddy issues. His obsession has even started to build a rift between him and Shades as they argue over the best way to react to the violence at Harlem’s Paradise. Shades wants to run and live to fight another day, while Diamondback is willing to stay and risk everything to put Luke down. I find myself siding with Shades, because his plan is well thought out, not controlled by anger and I just like him more. This was easily the best Diamondback has been since his introduction but he is still very one note, that note was just lest grating this time around. Diamondback even had my favorite line of the night where he compared his approach to the current events to a rapping style. He also had the runner up line of the night as well “Nothing like an aged Scotch. You know, there was a time you’d cross a Scotsman and he wouldn’t think twice about cutting your head off with a sword. I like a drink that encourages such decisiveness.”
The assistant district attorney from Daredevil is back working with the police on a plan to bring in Luke peacefully. After his experience with the chaos caused by Frank Castle, he is there to keep the Judas bullets off the street. I think he will continue to be a character that we see pop up from time to time because the team of vigilantes and the villains they do battle with will always be an issue for his office. He will be a good way to quickly tell us how the people in powerful government positions feel about our heroes and how difficult life could become for them.
One of the best things about this episode were the interactions between Claire and Misty. Both strong and stubborn women who have a thing for Luke may not like each other that much but the respect each other. I liked the scene between them after they team up to take out a bad guy they sit bloody and bruised in stereotypical masculine poses discussing who taught them how to fight. I just found it to be a striking image of two beautiful women proving they can be as tough as any man can. Their interactions with Luke were also a highlight for me, they were a mix of flirty and teasing that I found very entertaining.
For the first time in weeks, I do not think I will have a complaint section. Was the episode perfect, of course not but there was nothing worthy of bringing up. It had strong acting, funny moments and some OK action all while paying homage to a great movie. With the recent announcement of a Luke cage season 2, I hope this episode has set a new standard going forward that will continue into the future.
Channel: Superhero 