This show does a ton of telling instead of showing. Was Mariah and Bushmaster really causing that much chaos? With exception to the church. All their gang war did was disrupt some trap houses, 2 night clubs, and a restaurant. For the day to day people of Harlem, they seem so unaffected.
You know what would've fixed this? Removing the omniscient eye with so many perspectives. The season would be more compelling if Luke Cage is trying to do his best to contain the chaos from these two minimally seen forces while their chaos is abrupt and actually causing havoc. The restaurant scene particuarly would become a giant surprise when for the first time, they attack innocents. By focusing only on Cage and the neighborhood, you could establish a true change in setting if harlem went from bright and sunny to boarded up windows.
Also, isn't it weird for 12 episodes Luke spent trying to stop Mariah from dying to Bushmaster but when she dies to her own daughter he doesn't just accept and approve her death. He fucking enjoys it. WHAT!? How is that even logical? Shouldn't he be mad?
Mariah and Shades also have zero onscreen chemistry. I've never seen two actors in a romance be so dispassionate. Which I would be fine with if Shades wasn't actually in love with her. In my opinion, Shades' potential is a bit ruined the moment he kept talking about true love with Mariah. He seemed in Season 1 to just be the Littlefinger of the series but ended up being Moon Boy.
I'm also not sure why Shades was bisexual this season. I'm all for LGBTQ+. But the moment, dreads and him sat in a room and talked about being prison lovers, I knew he was going to die and shades was going to kill him. His sexuality was not genuine but a shitty plot device to make Dreads death sadder. Which is shameful.
The plot also has too many conveniences. Challenges presented to characters seem less like something they solve but something that conveniently goes away. Luke Cage needs money because he violently beat up an abuser and in general he needs money to survive, That's interesting theme to take for a super hero show instead of other super heroes shows that the main characters just inherit millions of dollars. (Looking at you Flash/Arrow) How will Luke solve that hurdle? Oh, he takes a show for $150,000. Okay, this is interesting. He's going a little against his morals- Oh, his accuser is beheaded so the law suit is dropped and he doesn't have to figure out how to make money. That's convenient.
I think the only time I was happy with the show was when Mariah got her wealth back. That was the first time the show had logic. On the flip side, Iron fist. Why would you buy a drug warehouse moments before you burn it down. That's an immediate federal case and the police would have reasonable doubt to believe Rand enterprise was in the drug trade when they are bailing trap owners out especially when the day before there was a shoot out with Bushmaster and Mariah at your unopened pharma warehouse. Seriously, what the fuck was that scene?
I also feel Bushmaster lost all threat after episode 8. He spared Luke's life multiple times for no reason. Why introduce him by having him gut the eyes out of an enemy to show he is ruthless then have him just make a pass at his largest foe? A man, that if he killed would propel him to godhood in Harlem where Mariah's goons would probably fold just knowing he killed the Bullet proof man. But it's okay. Kick Luke on the pavement. Then kick him into the river. Oh, you want to kill him with your knife now.... after you have no night shade- cool.
Other Nit Picks:
Can this show decide what is Luke Cage's power? If you punch Luke Cage, do your bones break like in episode 1? OR can you punch him normally. The show is very wishy-washy when it comes to this.
Musical Performances. I'm fine with them but you dont need to give each performer a large chunk of screen time if they have no consequence to the plot. In Tron:Legacy, that entire movie was a Daft Punk synth electronic music video. Their time on screen: 3-4 seconds.
Social Commentary. If your not going to tackle being black in america, stop throwing off lines randomly like you are. No line annoyed me more than: I'm black,an ex con and in a hoodie. And For the jury, Black negates both * (paraphrase). If you're not going to tackle systemic racism, why bring it up? He's a vigilante. He's a criminal. That's all you need to discredit yourself.
Misty: Why did you even lose your arm? You got a mechanical arm which the prop department lazily made. It's just a glove. Seriously, they didn't even put in sounds in post production for its mechanics? A light weight, fully silent arm might be more advanced than even Stark's suit. Why even cut off the arm if the mechanical one has no drawbacks. It actually fucking enhances her strength. What should be a handicap is an immediate strength. She did very minimal training to even get used to using it. One scene she is clumsy. The next she is using it as her main hand again.
More Misty: Misty's greatest super power is knowing what the audience already knows. All of her sherlock moments made me laugh when she reenacts the crime scenes. Wow, this would be real interesting if I didn't see EXACTLY what happened last episode. Again, this goes with the first point I made about perspective. This is an element that could've been cool if we weren't an omniscient eye. If Luke Cage and Misty actually had to solve mysteries to find Bushmaster/ Mariah's plans and chaos, that'd be cool. But, you know, easier to just spoil everything.
I honestly have no hope for season 3. How can Luke Cage be a crime boss when he is so self righteous? How can he be a crime boss if he cant kill? All he can issue are empty threats. I see Crime Boss Luke Cage lasting for a total of 1-2 episodes before they abandon the concept and go back to status quo.
Oh, god. I wrote all this and didn't even mention what the most dangerous theme about season 2 was: Policing doesn't work. Vigilantism is true justice.
The system is apparently so broken, they would rather have witch hunts than trials.
