While Luke tries to protect Mariah, Misty has her hands full with Ridenhour's death and the feud between Bushmaster and Mariah. The episode opens on Shades on a rooftop silently burning evidence surrounding Comanche's murder, thinking back to the last words he said to his late comrade.
A shaking Tilda wonders how her mother can be so calm as they sit at the precinct, but Mariah says people will always be after them. Tilda says they should tell the police everything, but Mariah replies they will handle everything on their own. Mariah still refuses after Luke enters, despite Tilda asking where they could go since Bushmaster has Harlem's Paradise and the brownstone was destroyed, as Mariah said. Noting the empty precinct, Luke asks an officer where everyone is, but she can't say. A paranoid Mariah asks what he said to her. She reminds him she hired his service, but he says that was just to get her here, and explains he probably saved her to find out why Bushmaster hates her so much. Misty and the others then arrive to bring Mariah to interrogation, and after Misty is annoyed with him for working for Mariah, she tells him about Ridenhour. Noting the snitch he had at Harlem's Paradise, she believes Mariah sent someone to take care of the leak and kill her former boss. Shades pays a visit to Comanche's mother, but she doesn't believe the story he concocted, nor that her son was a snitch. They reminisce about Shades and Comanche growing up, and though she doesn't want it, Shades leaves her a roll of money. Back at the precinct, Tilda is interested in Luke's powers and theorizes about things that could damage him. He notes that she lied to him at the store, as she saw Bushmaster there. She tells him Mariah doesn't want her talking, and though she wants things back to normal, he says that doesn't happen around Harlem. He turns and notices the pictures of Ridenhour's murder, recognizing Comanche, as Misty mourns her fallen boss. Surprisingly, Nandi enters and comforts her, saying that Ridenhour never finished and turned in Misty's paperwork, and as far as the higher-ups know, she's in command. She also says that Misty would be the best one to do the job, as she would want the latter to run the case if she was killed. Bailey comes to share the ID of the other person, just as Luke comes to explain about Comanche and Shades being close. Misty connects the dots that Comanche was the mole and Shades probably killed him, though she knows she has no evidence. Misty is surprised there isn't more attention to a high ranking official being killed, but they realize the gangsters don't want another Scarfe in charge. Noting she has to much to deal with right now, Misty asks Luke to get info from Tilda, agreeing to let him do it his way. At Harlem's Paradise, Bushmaster happily replaces things like Mariah's painting, telling his uncle the money they make will go home to those who need it. He wishes his mom could be there to see it, but Anansi says she would be proud of what he has, but not how he got it. Bushmaster ignores his uncle again, then flies into a rage when a man comes in and says Mariah and Tilda survived thanks to Luke, destroying his chair. While Luke moves in on Tilda, Misty interrogates Mariah, not going along with the shrugged explanations of two men with masks, even tricking her saying Tilda mentioned three men. Tilda, meanwhile, tells Luke about Bushmaster and his strange ability, and how he said the Stokes family ruined his life. After hinting she knows something about Cornell, Misty says to cut the crap because they both know who did this. Mariah brings up Ridenhour and a confused Misty says he was murdered the night before, to Mariah's pained surprise. Honestly, though Alfre Woodard's performance here is a bit laughable, as her reaction to a former boyfriend's death caused her to make a weird noise that didn't tell me she was actually upset. She keeps up the act, however, saying she barely knew Comanche. Misty brings up Shades and suggest that she change her tune while she can. Ben Donovan arrives, saying Mariah is just a victim who has cooperated. Nandi tells Misty about Shades being seen near Comanche and Ridenhour's death scene, so she holds him. Tilda stops speaking to Luke when Mariah comes in and he and her mother take digs at each other, and Mariah starts talking about Luke's temper and Claire. Mariah says she'll go wherever she wants as we cut to Misty, walking through what she believes happened to Ridenhour and Comanche, first showing her at the site then transitioning to the interrogation room with Shades. Donovan comes up with a counter to everything she says, but after stepping out momentarily he returns to say he won't be representing Shades anymore. Smirking, Misty says Mariah doesn't want to go down for a cop-killing, and tells Shades he could go to prison for life. At Harlem's Paradise, Bushmaster struggles with not having Nightshade for a time, saying he needs it to end things despite Anansi saying it's killing him. Bushmaster calls in the Stylers, disregarding the idea that Mariah could sue, and tells them to look for anyone close to Luke to draw him out. Mariah fumes at Donovan, who says he's loyal to money, not her family. As Donovan leaves, Luke assures her he will keep her alive until Harlem is safe from Bushmaster. As they all leave and Mariah chooses to leave without Shades, a Styler cab drives up and Luke takes them down, telling the others to go. Luke learns of the bounty of his and Mariah's heads, and tells the now-present Nandi he's going to protect his family and go after Mariah. Inside, Shades surprisingly opens up to Mariah about how close he and Comanche were, saying he lost a brother. Misty asks him to help her understand, bringing up another of Shades's kills, Zip. Shades brings up Scarfe, saying she knows about the life, but Misty stays calm and brings out the crime scene photos. She tries to convince him to take a deal, but he says he won't talk until he gets another lawyer, and as she continues to enrage him, Nandi arrives to tell her about Mariah. Misty reluctantly lets Shades go to swap her focus when they find they have no evidence, and attempts to drive a wedge between him and Mariah by saying Donovan wouldn't have left without her say-so. Over at the church, Luke fails to convince his father to go elsewhere for safety, as the latter says Luke will have to protect him from the church. Sugar comforts Mariah as she goes through the charred remains of her house, looking for her gun. Shades arrives and the two bicker as she says Donovan quit and he rants about how this is her fault because she sold the guns when she could've sold her painting. He gets through to her as they calm down, saying she became a gangster when she killed Cornell, and that with Bushmaster's guard down they can strike at loved ones. Misty apparently had an effect on Shades, as we see as Mariah leaves that he has the gun she was looking for. The cops head to Harlem's Paradise, and as Bushmaster says it's his birthright and denies the hits on Mariah and Luke, they find nothing noteworthy and are forced to leave, Misty disgusted that Donovan has switched alliances. Mariah heads to Tilda's shop, explaining she has nowhere to go as Tilda says she herself is going to find somewhere to start fresh. As the episode winds down, Mariah and Tilda open up and reveal crucial facts, and as Bushmaster struggles without the proper Nightshade ingredients, Luke fights to protect those around him. The vulnerability we see from Shades in this episode was definitely one of my favorite aspects, as despite not cooperating with police, he shows emotion throughout and obviously feels pained over his actions. Ben Donovan turning on them threw a massive wrench in Shades and Mariah's plans, and without him there to keep Shades from talking, the latter seemed about to break down as Misty brought up Comanche. Another positive aspect comes from the few interactions we see between Luke and his father in this episode. The two may have only just reconciled, but that was enough that Luke and James now speak more respectfully to one another and seem to have developed a bond. Another changed relationship that simply raises questions is Nandi's sudden kindness toward Misty, whom she was constantly fighting with before. Sure, you could say Ridenhour's death has softened them up to each other, but they despised each other before and suddenly changed their tunes. The same could be said about Luke and James, but at least there the two were forced to talk and admit their own mistakes and feelings to one another. Here, Ridenhour dies and suddenly Nandi is suddenly praising Misty and immediately wants her in the top position at the precinct. A more believable change that I enjoyed came because of this, however, as Misty was able to keep things a lot calmer than she used to. The most obvious example of this is when Shades mentions Scarfe; a typical method used to get under Misty's skin. Not only did this not work; she also didn't allow Nandi to put definitive guilt on Mariah with no proof, and let Shades when they had no evidence. Bushmaster isn't seen a lot during this episode, but we get a surprising amount of emotion, like with Shades. Without his Nightshade, which Anansi says is like a steroid, Bushmaster seems to struggle, and earlier this season his uncle said it increases his pain. Perhaps because of his withdrawal, his rage has only been enhanced, especially when put with Mariah and Tilda's survival, with him snapping his chair into pieces. Similar to the wedge coming between Shades and Mariah, a divide is widening between Bushmaster and Anansi, as the latter becomes more disappointed with his nephew's actions and refusal to let things end. With Bushmaster's crusade continuing, things are about to get bloody for Luke and those he cares about.
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