'Luke Cage' Season 2: All of the Biggest Twists, Reveals and Deaths

Lukes Powers Have Increased

In the season 2 premiere, Luke is set up for assassination by Mariah Stokes. Following a false lead, Luke arrives to investigate a truck, only to find it's rigged to detonate with him inside. After walking away unscathed, Luke is ambushed by crime boss Arturo Rey, who uses a Hammer weapon to shoot Luke close-range with a Judas bullet. However, the Chitauri weapon no longer poses a threat to Luke: the second "Power Man" treatment he got in season 1 has left his skin more unbreakable than ever. Unfortunately, that power proves corruptive...

Power Man Has a Dark Side

As it turns out, Luke Cage has a much bigger dark side than even he ever imagined. Harlem's Hero struggles to establish his place in the social order of things (not cop, not crook - something in between), and that pressure becomes personal, when his father re-establishes contact.

Luke's internal strife finally boils over when he first nearly beats Dontrell "Cockroach" Hamilton to death for abusing his lady and child - and then again, when he lashes out at Claire. In one of the season's dramatic highlights, Luke and Claire have a fight that ends with Luke punching out Claire's apartment wall. After that, Power Man must confront all the darkness he's hiding inside - and it doesn't workout like you would expect (more on that later).

Luke and Claire Break Up

After Luke's frightening tease of domestic violence potential, Claire hits the breaks on their relationship, due to the trauma of her own troubled family history. She leaves and goes home to Cuba for a visit, while using friends like Danny Rand to keep tabs on Luke. However, by the end of the season, Luke has been through so much, and changed so much, that he no longer wants to save what he and Claire had.

Shades Is LGBTQ

Turns out that Shades Alvarez (Theo Rossi) was much more complicated than we initially thought. Mariah's pet psycho boy has a life-long best friend in Comanche (Thomas Q. Jones) - and that friendship became a jailhouse romance when the two were locked up in Seagate Prison together. However, Shades makes it clear that he has little interest in continuing the romance out in the free world.

Comanche Is a Snitch

It turns out that Captain Tom Ridenhour was closer than anyone to bringing Mariah down, by setting in informant in her camp. Comanche's prison release was staged for that reason, Ridenhour slips up: in talking to his old friend Mariah, he reveals knowledge of a crime that only Mariah and Shades know about, leading Mariah to sniff out the snitch, and Shades finally realizing is the one closest to him. Shades kills Comanche soon after.

The Superhuman Experiments Were Worldwide

New villain Bushmaster shows off superman abilities that may not be quite as powerful as Luke's, but certainly mark him as more than the average man. In learning Bushmaster's origin, we also learn that a young John McIver was given a supposed vaccine like ll boys in his Jamaican village - only this was no mere vaccine. The serum killed the other boys, but left "Johnny" endowed with enhanced strength and durability - gifts enhanced by the Nightshade herb he mixes to unlock the full potential of his gifts.

Nightshade Incest

Luke Cage season 2 introduces Mariah's daughter, Tilda Johnson (Gabrielle Dennis), who is a homeopathic doctor specializing in plant and herbal remedies. Tilda takes pride in thinking of herself as a Dillard (her father) and not a Stokes (her mother); however, after finally seeing Mariah for the monster she is, Tilda gets a taste of her mother's wrath.

In one of the season's other great dramatic moments, Mariah reveals to Tilda that her true origin is being the incest child of Mariah and sexually abusive uncle, "Pistol" Peter Stokes. In season 1 we learned of Mariah's incestuous relationship with Pete, but season 2 adds the darker tale of a child being born from that, and Mama Mable Stokes ripping the child away, to hide the shame.

Needless to say, that reveal shatters Tilda, and changes her into something more fitting of her bloodline and legacy...

Shades Snitches on Mariah

Shades has one of the strictest "code of the streets" of any criminal in Harlem's underworld, but even he has a breaking point. After having to kill Comanche, and enduring all the loss of profit that Mariah causes via her feud with Bushmaster, Shades decides his queen hasn't been a good ruler, and decides to od something about it.

At first, Shades nearly strangles Mariah to death - but instead he snitches to Misty Knight, revealing every crime that he and Mariah committed. When that's not enough, he goes undercover in Harlem's Paradise wearing a wire, but the ploy doesn't work. Mariah finally goes down, but since it didn't require Shades' testimony, he ends up being arrested for all of his crimes.

Mariah Dies

The evil queen of Harlem is finally taken down - but in the end, it isn't a rival that finishes her off - or even her superhero nemesis. Instead, Mariah gave birth to her own doom: her daughter, Tilda.

After learning her tragic origin, and seeing the Stokes legacy for what it truly is, Tilda takes steps to reclaim her power. First, she fuels Bushmaster with a Nightshade blend to make him even more powerful, then she creates a 'Spider's Kiss' poison as a shade of lipstick, and smuggles it into the jail where Mariah is being held, to deliver a fatal goodbye kiss. Mariah dies in Luke's arms, with Harlem's hero refusing to save her (again).

"Luke Trump"

At the end of season 2, with Mariah gone, Harlem becomes a gangland war zone. The resulting power struggle between gangs has the cops and citizens wishing there was someone who could close this Pandora's Box - and Luke finally realizes that the authority the streets need is him.

Using some negotiation and a little intimidation, Luke brings all the crime families to heel, and sits them at the table. The cabal that Mariah formed between the Asians, Blacks, Latins, and Italians is (loosely) preserved, with Luke Cage reigning as the authority on all things moving through Harlem. Luke takes over Harlem's Paradise, and reigns as the new (if not more benevolent) crime boss. It doesn't go ever well with everyone, as those closest to Luke (Claire, his biggest fan D.W.) get pushed away, with D.W. cutting his former idol with a new nickname, "Luke Trump."

After all this, Luke Cage season 3 is going to be an interesting affair...

*****

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Luke Cage season 2 is now streaming; Iron Fist season 2 will be released on a date TBD - and Punisher season 2 is currently in production.