MANIFEST
*Warning: Spoilers Ahead*
Well, looks like Cottonmouth (CM) played his ‘get out of jail free’ card. Scarfe’s little book of goods on him wasn’t enough to keep him in jail and prosecute him without Scarfe alive to testify to it. CM feels invincible and even sets a parlay with Luke where he reveals the fact that he knows about Luke’s prison background and his real name. CM threatens him that if he doesn’t disappear and leave him alone that he’ll spill the beans and send him back to prison. Not quite sure what Luke is worried about. Guess he thinks they might put him in some special prison for super powered people or something.
CM gets Domingo his guns and asks Shades when he’s going to get his ‘Judas’ bullet. Shades tells him that he’s not going to. Not right now, at least. That he’s too toxic. Shades isn’t happy to hear that he told Luke what he knew about his past. That Diamondback didn’t want him spooked.
We get a look into CM and Mariah’s past with Mama Mable. We see where CM’s talent with the keyboard comes from. He gets coaching from his Uncle Pete who tries to protect him and keep him away from the shadier side of Mable’s business. They show how vicious Mable can be when she cuts off a young punks finger for selling drugs when she explicitly said she didn’t want to. We also see how Mariah was more of the favored child growing up.
Meanwhile Misty is getting heat from her Chief to wrap up the investigation and to look harder into Luke’s involvement since he seems to be everywhere there’s trouble.
Mariah is feeling the heat from the recent turn of events with CM and her association with him. She’s losing support on the council and all of her friends are distancing themselves from her. Shades pays her a visit and tells her that, when the time is right, she’ll find her strength.
Luke starts getting ready to leave when Claire shows up and talks him into staying and fighting.
Luke goes to Domingo and ‘convinces’ him to give up the shipment of guns that he turns over to Misty. But it doesn’t convince her that he’s in the right. He tells her that he’s going to take CM down but not kill him. That he wants him to suffer being locked away.
In a flashback scene we see that Uncle Pete went behind Mable’s back and made a deal with the Peurtoricans. She’s incensed with him and has Cornell (CM’s real name) pull a gun on him. They take Pete out back and Mable and Mariah convince Cornell to shoot Pete as Pete is trying to stop him.
Mariah pays CM a visit at his club and tells him he needs to drop Luke Cage. She’s upset that her rep and position are gone. They argue about Mama Mable. That she sent Mariah to an ‘uppity boarding school’ while making him run the streets. Mariah counters that it was because of Pete that Mable sent her away. The argument gets more heated and boils over when CM accuses Mariah of wanting Pete and flirting with him by running around half naked and that she wanted it. Mariah attacks him from behind and knocks him through the window then beats him to death with a microphone stand. Shades shows up and tells her she ‘stepped up’. She says she didn’t want to do it. He disagrees. He comes up with a plan to pin CM’s death on Luke.
Luke and Claire go for a walk and talk about Luke agrees he can’t keep running. Despite the risk of possibly going back to prison. Then, we see crosshairs from a truck focus on Luke with the gunman saying ‘Hey Carl. One Judas for another.’ and takes the shot hitting Luke right below the belly button. Somehow it goes in and he collapses. We hear what sounds like the bullet blowing up inside him. Luke cries out in pain.
Not sure if it blew his insides up or what. Also, was that the infamous Diamondback who took the shot? Obviously, Luke’s going to live, there’s six more episodes! But I’m a little concerned about how ‘alien’ metal can pierce Luke’s skin. Seems a little far-fetched. Of course, we’re talking about comics here so, whatever. Let’s see how this goes down in the next episode.
All in all, they seem to be closing some of the plot lines and opening some new ones. Still liking the series so far. Only drawback is that I’d like to just binge-watch them faster instead of writing up a review after each episode. LOL! Oh well, hope you all enjoy these!
Rating: 7/10