Luke gains confidence after the ineffective Judas bullets from the first episode, but this may prove a problem as enemies find new ways to hurt him.
At the end of the previous episode, Luke was shocked when a Judas bullet was unable to penetrate his skin, leading to a confrontation with Mariah. This episode starts as he tells Claire what happened, and she theorizes that his repeated experimental dip to remove a bullet last season may have further strengthened his skin. After Claire suggests they test him, they head to a field where the "Harlem's Hero" app causes a crowd. Luke goes through multiple physical tests easily tossing and hurling a 400-lb tire, leaping 24 feet in the broad jump, and running the 40-yard dash in 3.72 seconds. Luke's abilities amaze the crowd, and a Nike scout propositions Luke, at which point Bobby steps in. Luke poses with fans as Claire watches, worrying about the possibility of something worse than a Judas bullet coming into play. Angry about the failed Judas bullet, Mariah rants to Shades, sending Comanche out, and stands firm that she won't sell her Basquiat. Determined to sell the gun business, Mariah asks if Arturo is a problem, but Shades assures her the police can't prove anything. He says he is there to handle these things for her, and Comanche watches disapprovingly. Misty returns to the police station, where she gets a less-than-friendly welcome back from Nandi, a detective from the same academy she attended. We quickly learn Nandi has a chip on her shoulder from Misty always being ahead of her, and likes being in a higher position. She and her partner, Mark Bailey, go to interrogate Arturo, and though Misty wants to join, Ridenhour has her at desk work. Elsewhere, Bushmaster pries bullets from last episode out of his chest. He heads out to a friend, telling some kids along the way that he could take on Luke Cage. At the restaurant "Gwen's," he meets with his friend, and says he can take out both Mariah and Luke. We learn that while he has a longstanding grudge against Mariah, his problem with Luke is the popularity the Power man has garnered in Harlem, which used to be his town. He says he needs more of something called Nightshade, which gives him his power, despite his friend saying it also increases pain. Bushmaster isn't the only one who isn't a fan of Luke's, as his father visits the barbershop, getting an icy response. As they are in the process of moving, Luke suggests another shop, and James leaves. To Luke's annoyance, Bobby notes a similarity between them in their swagger. He also says people are Tweeting that Luke is about to get paid a lot, though Luke says he doesn't need the strings that would come with the cash. Claire arrives and is surprised Luke doesn't want to make amends with his father. He accidentally hurts her by saying family to him just means "low expectations, disappointment, and death." The two argue as Claire says she'd be ecstatic if a father who lost her tried to reach out, but he says James lost him long ago. She tells him breaking a peace offering isn't bravery, and Luke angrily asks why she questions his bravery. Luke assures her he will deal with James when he's ready, and she replies she doesn't want him to make the mistake of waiting until his father is already dead, like she did. Back at the station, Misty tries to check on the interrogation, getting an unprompted bout of angry questions from Nandi, who thinks Misty wants pity. Bailey explains that some people are uncomfortable with her being back with her injury, and after assuring her he isn't one of them, lets her go into the interrogation room. She tells Arturo that possessing Judas bullets can land him at the Black Site, offering him a better sentence if he spills on Mariah. Before he can say anything, however, Ben Donovan, a lawyer in Mariah's pocket, gets him out. Angry that Misty tried talking to Arturo when she wasn't handling the case and after he had lawyered up, Ridenhour tells her she's close to losing her job. Misty tips off Luke, and he, Bobby and Claire worry where she will take her guns next. Not knowing of Nigel's death or even knowing him, Luke says he is only sure giving Cockroach the weapons would be like giving a Crip or Blood nukes. Luke goes out to "fumigate," questioning multiple guys on the streets until he learns Cockroach has a baby mama and is told her address. As Luke searches, Mariah meets with an associate to talk about raising money. The woman suggests Mariah reconnect with her daughter, Tilda, to boost her popularity after the scandal surrounding Cornell. With Shades, Comanche asks about him letting Mariah boss him around. After making a crack at Shades and Mariah's relationship, he backs off, explaining he wishes he and Shades were the ones picked for the experiment Luke underwent. The two meet with Arturo, who, despite them breaking him out of jail, accuses Mariah of setting him up. After threatening to go to the cops, Arturo begins insulting Mariah, angering Shades enough to kill him. Comanche quickly dispatches the guards and asks how they'll get the money now, but Shades simply tells him to get the surveillance tape as they leave. Misty struggles to use her left arm and notices the other officers staring, as Bailey said, and one even makes a crack about her arm. Angered, she stands and tells them to get a look, because she's still the same person and wants them to get to work. Ridenhour alerts everyone of Arturo's death and Misty leaks the info to Luke. She goes inside and begins her strange detective method where she seems to play everything back, but is sent away when an annoyed Nandi arrives. Mariah visits her daughter Tilda's apothecary, but Tilda gives her the cold shoulder, assuming Mariah wants something. Mariah says she can't chancge the past, and upon still getting little response, says she respects Tilda's boundaries and leaves. Luke visits Cockroach's apartment, finding a son with a bruised arm. The son explains he tried to protect his mom from his dad. After the mom slams the door in Luke's face, a neighbor ushers him over and gives him a warehouse location where Cockroach gambles. At the warehouse, Luke quickly clears the room and intimidates Cockroach, who pulls out a strange gun. An unworried Luke gets a shock when the gun sends him out the window onto a car below, dislocating his shoulder, and he calls Claire, who was talking to Bobby about Luke's emotional problems. After popping his shoulder back into place, Claire notes the injury as proof he's not invulnerable, like Matt wasn't. Luke snaps that he's different, but it's strange how she keeps meeting super-powered people. Claire says his rage comes partially from his father, angering him further. Luke explains that lies have caused problems his whole life, as his father's lies set in motion Willis becoming Diamondback, him going to Seagate, and his wife and Pop's deaths. Claire says these feelings are like a Judas bullet killing him from within, but he replies that if she wants to help, she needs to stay out of his head. Tilda gets a visit that night from Bushmaster, who buys what he needs for his Nightshade, then she goes to Mariah's club and agrees to a second chance. Though staying calm, Shades seems irritated at Tilda's inclusion, especially when Comanche notes that she has taken his place. As the episode comes to a close, Claire listens in on a fitting sermon that plays as Luke tries to take out his frustrations, getting a call about Cockroach, and we see the effects of Bushmaster's Nightshade. While it was obviously a part of the previous episode and will show up again, a key component of this episode in particular is the importance of forgiveness. Tilda has agreed to give her mother another chance, not knowing Mariah's ulterior motives, as she likely isn't happy with a toxic relationship. At the same time, she will have to find out why Mariah really found her, as it will be big in the news, at which point she will more than likely be angry. While Mariah's offer was intended to be warm on the outside but hides a negative secret, attempts from James to Luke may be the opposite. Given the two's horribly rocky past and relationship, every meeting with them is full of barbs, but James repeatedly says he does want to reconnect with Luke. His offers fall on deaf ears, unlike Tilda listening to Mariah, and has further fueled the bouts of rage Luke has had. Luke says lies have ruined his life, suggesting that he is suspicious of James and is afraid of being further hurt emotionally. James' sermons have been used thus far as metaphors for the thin line Luke is currently walking between being a superhero vigilante and some sort of villain of a puppet on a string. Luke's recent fury has led to some interesting moments with Claire, as one might expect a superhero show to create drama by having them break up at any problem. Thus far, however, Claire has worked to be patient with Luke, understanding where his problems lie, and he doesn't just yell, but tries to say what he thinks is wrong. Another parallel seems to be forming be forming between Misty and Shades, as neither likes recent developments in their life. For Misty, the other cops are completely alienating her, making her feel mocked and isolated. As things continue to go well for Nandi, who takes every opportunity to insult her, and things go poorly for herself, Misty seems more and more willing to help Luke. Likewise, Shades is willing to do whatever is necessary to help Mariah, and becomes angry when she is insulted. Now that Tilda is back in Mariah's life, he may begin to feel jealous and a likely route would be Tilda advising Mariah differently than what he says. With Bushmaster on the horizon and the issues he's already facing, Luke has more challenges on the horizon in future episodes.
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Jessica Jones ended the last episode stuck in a jail cell, so now she must open up to others if she wants to get out and figure out the true culprit.
In the last episode, Jessica and Trish found Inez, a former IGH nurse, only to head back to Jessica's apartment and find a squadron of police ready to arrest her. While they were away, Pryce Cheng's associate broke in and stole all their files, but "Leslie Hansen" arrived and murdered him. With only the obviously super-powered crime scene as a clue, the police could only conclude Jessica killed him, despite her claims of innocence. As Jessica angrily paces, "Hansen" burns her clothes and all of Jessica's files, and Jessica calls Hogarth, who urges her to tell the police everything she knows, as alienating everyone around her will only leave her alone. Trish, coming down from her high on Simpson's drug, learns from her mom that she has been asleep for 26 hours. Despite Trish's concern for Jessica, her mother says she has gotten Trish a meeting with people at ZCN. Jessica uses her one call to tell Malcolm she isn't mad about the theft happening, but wants him to find out everything he can about IGH from Inez. At "Hansen's" place, a bout of piano practice attracts a neighbor Sophie, who says her son Aaron, who has been emotional, calmed after hearing the playing. "Hansen" allows Sophie in, but becomes agitated as Aaron begins crying, and her playing becomes distorted. Sophie, shocked at her neighbor's breakdown, collects her things and bolts from the house before "Hansen" destroys the piano in a fit of rage. Back at the jail, Jessica relents and tells the police everything she has learned about IGH and shows them the picture she has of "Hansen. Malcolm, meanwhile, questions Inez about another nurse, Luanne McClure, who she said "Hansen" murdered, despite a man named David Kawecki serving prison time for murdering her after her body was found in his bathtub. Inez becomes upset as Malcolm questions her, but he urges her to cooperate, as he can't help if she doesn't give him information. Jessic and Hogarth get a moment to themselves where Jessica tries to calm down after realizing Hogarth's medication has sickly side effects. The police come back and tell Jessica that although they found no proof of "Hansen" existing, a camera outside her apartment showed "Hansen" suddenly bin frame at the murder scene a split second after a completely blank photo. Though one officer says she'd prefer Jessica being behind bars, the other explains he remembers Killgrave forcing him and others to hold their own guns to their heads, and he and some other officers support her. Outside, Jessica asks Hogarth to provide Inez with a safehouse, and Hogarth notes that Jessica didn't mention Inez to police, a tactic that was ineffective before. Hogarth agrees that Jessica can get Inez to her after Jessica says Inez is her responsibility, saying that she will handle it and Jessica's paranoia is exhausting. Cheng charges in as the two prepare to leave, demanding to know how Jessica is out after she obviously killed his friend. As Hogarth tries to defuse the situation, Cheng rants that he and his friend survived two wars until Jessica, and that he heard everything that happened to him. Despite his prodding, Jessica stays calm, saying he doesn't know why she's free because he's a crap investigator, and that as she is free now, she'll discover the true killer, walking away as Cheng stands dumbfounded in the street. Jessica goes back to the apartment where Malcolm shares what he has learned, including that Kawecki is apparently mentally incompetent. Though Jess thinks is could be a ruse, Inez assures her that Kawecki is harmless, then rants that she couldn't possibly forget "Hansen's" ferocity. Malcolm convinces her to go back to his apartment with the door locked to wait, and Jessica says she can handle sneaking into the facility Kawecki is being kept at. She writes down Hogarth's informtaion and tells Malcolm to take Inez to her and say he is Jess' associate, to his surprise and joy. Malcolm goes back to his apartment, discovering that Inez stole his TV. He finds her in the street trying to hock it, and he threatens that if she doesn't help, he will leak her location to IGH, finally getting her to agree. Jessica, meanwhile, visits Oscar to ask him for a fake ID for the facility. Despite police surrounding the building related to her and the obvious danger of helping, Oscar agrees as he still believes the woman who saved his son wouldn't be cold-blooded. Trish and her mother head to where her meeting is set, only for Trish to learn it is actually an event Griffin put together to propose. Jessica, having been called by Griffin, shows up and is as confused as Trish. Despite everyone's joy, Trish merely gives him a halfhearted "thank you," and after he asks Jessica not to ruin Trish's day, he leaves to speak with Trish privately. Malcolm and Inez arrive at Hogarth's, and despite going along with the plan, Inez says Malcolm is the worst kind of person, pretending to care when he's in it for himself. Hogarth assures him it is good Jess seems to be rubbing off on him. Jess heads back to Oscar's later for the ID, and is sad that she must turn down dinner with him, Vido and Oscar's mother. We see "Hansen" burning her piano's remains, then go to Hogarth's where Inez wonders why the award-winning lawyer would be helping. Hogarth explains she wants to know everything about IGH, especially their experiments. Jess gets into the facility Kawecki is at, and asks him what happened with Luanne. She notices inconsistencies as he says Luanne was nice but didn't want to date him, yet he somehow got her into his apartment and essentially hugged her to death. He becomes upset that Jess doesn't believe him, saying he simply forgets things sometimes, and she calms him by talking about octopuses, as he is drawing one. Kawecki eagerly explains that he is like an octopus, being antisocial. He says they have DNA unlike any other creature, with their genes called "de novo" or "out of nowhere." Jessica asks how he knows so much, and he says his friend Dr. Karl told him. When he continues that he used to join Karl for lunch at the aquarium, Jess asks if Karl is also the one who told him he killed Luanne. He starts to become agitated again, so Jess asks if he'll draw a picture of himself at the aquarium with Karl, which he beings doing. The episode comes to an end as Trish and her mother have a confrontation about her actions at Griffin's proposal, and Jessica investigates the aquarium. A key component of this episode is on multiple characters' secrecy, especially Jessica, who has a hard time trusting most people. Jessica's reluctance to cooperate with police comes from her preconceived notion that they won't believe her no matter what, and likely from her horrific experiences with Killgrave. As Hogarth notes, however, she has to let people in completely if she wants their help, as alienating those around her won't yield good results. It is this advice that not only leads to Jessica's release, but also in the revelation that at least a few officers are more than willing to help her succeed. It could also be that this good experience contributed to her following actions, where she realized Cheng was goading her and she could tell him off without violence. Both Jessica and Malcolm also benefit as a result of her trusting him more, as they are able to work better and get more done. Jessica, meanwhile, faces more difficulties from secrets, as her desire to be more helpful has caused her to hide her new drug addiction from Jessica. In the proposal scene, we learn that Griffin's sneaking around in previous episodes, like downloading information from Trish's computer and his secret phone call, were all related to him popping the question. I liked that this was the surprise that resulted, as I didn't understand why the show would show us these moments if he was a villain. Obviously it creates curiosity and tension as we wonder what he was doing, but it would have made it boring if he were actually revealed to be with IGH. On the note of IGH, it's interesting that Hogarth told Inez she wanted to know specifically about the experiments they conducted. While it's obvious this information could help Jessica, she didn't say she was going to ask anything. Given her diagnosis and desire to find a cure, it's likely that Hogarth is trying to fix herself using the IGH experimentation. While I had thought IGH would experiment on Trish and turn her into Hellcat, it could be that something happens to Hogarth and Trish simply continues using the drug. Inez, of course, has to reveal many dark secrets to help Jessica, but in her case there is more of a dangerous element, as she has no way to protect herself from IGH. With more secrets now out and Jessica getting closer to IGH, the danger is becoming more prominent with Hansen an unpredictable foe. The Bakers are finally given the chance to speak in court, as the whole town reels after Clay leaked Hannah's tapes online. The episode opens with Olivia and Andrew Baker getting emotional about Hannah as they look at baby pictures. While Olivia thinks they can use the tapes' leaking to their advantage, Andrew believes it could do more harm than good. Clay wakes up to a buzzing phone, as everyone is asking what he did, and Sheri says she's calling an emergency meeting. He goes to school with Justin, who thinks everyone must be looking at them because of him being back, only for Sheri to quickly tell him. He asks if Clay did it, but Clay, finally getting an answer from Skye, leaves. An anxious Marcus tells Courtney this could ruin his chances at Harvard, and we then see Jessica confused as everyone stares at her, until Alex tells her what happened. Bryce finds the word "Rapist" painted on his locker, and initially tells his friends there's nothing they should or could do, because someone was just messing around, until he hears the tape Clay made of him admitting what he did to Hannah. Immediately suspicious, he accuses Zach, who says the tapes were posted anonymously, and we see angry students lock Tyler in the darkroom. At court, Andrew says that even if Hannah couldn't trust her classmates, she should have been able to trust the school, as they chose it partially for its zero tolerance policy on bullying. He explains that Hannah had been bullied at another school, and they wanted to avoid a repeat incident. His words about the school needing to pay attention echo as we see Tyler still trapped in the darkroom. We then cut to Chloe, who overhears girls in the bathroom wondering if she knows what Bryce did, and if so, why she would be dating him. She goes into the stall where someone wrote that Jessica is a slut, and marks out any negative comments about rape survivors, to Jessica's surprise. Mackenzie arrives at the darkroom to free Tyler, and says that, despite what she heard about him, she doesn't want to cancel their date. Bryce, finally worried, calls his dad for help, but hangs up when he sees Justin, who says he is going down. Bryce points out that if he does, Justin goes with him, to which Justin replies that he doesn't care, but Bryce also says that he has politicians and others essentially in his pocket who will testify to what a great guy he is. After Bryce tells Justin he's nobody and nothing, he flashes back to the day after the party where Bryce raped Jessica, as he tearfully told Jessica that she must not remember that they had sex and she was into it. Tyler soon gets shaken down again as a furious Zach accuses him of taking pictures of his sister and being the one who put a rat in his locker. Tyler swears that he didn't do it and Zach leaves, promising that if Tyler comes near his sister, he will kill him. In class, Justin breaks down and meets with a drug dealer, then we cut back to court as Sonya questions Andrew about his girlfriend. She points out that he began his affair prior to Hannah's death, and asks that even if he broke it off for a time, if Hannah might have known of it and taken it hard. In a flashback, we learn that Hannah saw him with his girlfriend, Valerie, and told him to break it off and tell Olivia, otherwise she would, to which he agreed. In the present day, however, we realize he never told Olivia, and as Sonya steps down, he tries to blurt out how Hannah's problems were all school-related. At a baseball game, Bryce's father tries to calm him down by saying that they'll hear his side of the story when he testifies, and his mother notes that he doesn't want to seem like he's attacking Hannah by speaking early. Though Mr. Walker expresses complete confidence in his son, saying at this point the tape is just a story and claiming the kids are just jealous of Bryce has. Mrs. Walker seems doubtful, obviously believing her son could have done what she heard. Nervous after the pictures he found, Zach demands that they leave the game, but his mother says he needs to support Bryce. Finally standing defiant against his former friend, Zach takes his sister's hand and leaves. Marcus, meanwhile, has been blackmailed again, with a message saying it's him or Bryce. He gets up to speak, and is forced to say that he is quitting as head of his gentlemen's club, as he can't be a gentleman and support "A rapist like Bryce Walker." Principal Bolan tries to calm the situation by saying it was a prank in poor taste, and Bryce tells his parents about the blackmail and tells Chloe that everything is a lie. Tyler and Cyrus, again out shooting, talk about Marcus actually doing what they wanted and Mackenzie asking Tyler out. He tells Tyler he's okay with it and trusts him as long as he's not actually a pervert. Tyler, in a daze, watches a bird land near the cans they're shooting, and kills it with a single shot. He soon becomes fascinated with the thought of it being alive and flying one minute, then dead the next. Alex tries to call Clay about the tapes, and Bryce confronts Marcus, telling him his words were the worst mistake he could have made. Jessica, now at home, comes in as her dad is telling her mom he doesn't care what she wants, they need to come forward, and she goes up to her room to be alone. Once there, she reads the article published after the tapes were released. On the stand, Olivia says that if the school had sent out a notification after Hannah's poem was read, the parents could have talked, and Dennis takes this to mean the school was either negligent or ignorant. Sonya asks Olivia if she ever noticed signs that Hannah may have been in distress, and she remembers a time after Andrew cheated on her when Hannah came into the store for seemingly no reason with Olivia's favorite flowers. Despite this, she says she noticed nothing, and admits that while her family has a history of mental illness, Hannah never showed signs and never saw a therapist. Clay visits Skye in a mental health facility, where she says she is finally happy and has decided to make changes in her life, and that he is not at fault for what happened. After the court date, Olivia and Andrew talk about his affair, which leads into him saying they were partially at fault for Hannah's death. Olivia becomes angry, but he says that he is simply tired of fighting all the time and will be sitting out the case. Skye tells Clay her mom wants her to move in with relatives, and she has agreed, wanting a fresh start. Clay is hurt, thinking she'll forget him, but she says she'll always love him and that he is a good person who can help people, just not the way he thinks they need it. Alex, still trying to find Clay, goes to his house, where he finds Justin lying on his back, overdosing on heroin and choking on his own vomit. After finally manages to flip Justin over, causing him to throw up on the floor. While Jessica reaches out to Olivia, Justin tells Alex no one would have cared if Alex hadn't saved him, and Alex says not to joke like that. Justin apologizes and asks where Alex's scar is, and he says it's on the side of his head, which is why he grew his hair out. Justin tells about a time where people were mocking Alex's hair, and Justin responded that they were being stupid. Clay comes home, angry about Justin's condition, but Alex tells him to stop. He apologizes that his actions may have hurt Jessica, saying it may be time for her truth to come out, too, and Justin asks what gives him the right to decide. Finally calm, Clay says he is trying everything he can to make things right, but that he needs their help to do so. At a boxing session, Tony flirts with his trainer and boyfriend, Caleb, talking about how he is full of energy. When the one-eyed man comes in and shakes his hand, however, he draws back, deciding to leave when the man thinks he recognizes him. Alex and his dad have a light argument about his door and apologize for how they each acted at the party. Alex asks if he could play the game "Desert Duty" again, because when he did at the party, he remembered something. His dad says it's probably not a good idea, since it's a shooter, and Alex sadly relents, saying it was probably a stupid idea. As the episode finishes up, Jessica has a more open meeting with Olivia, while Clay has an explosive encounter with his parents about his actions. While he yells at his Hannah ghost, Justin, upset at every instance of fighting, heads out to meet with someone. Naturally this episode focused a lot on the repercussions of Clay releasing the tapes, and how everyone else feels about it. While thinking he was right in doing so, the article that comes out even says he may have done more harm than good, though now Bryce is in hot water. Although he has people in his pocket, a large force of people has begun developing against him, and it will be hard to stay free when even his own mom is against him. We saw very little of Zach this episode, though his temper exploded in a shocking way, and it was nice to see him finally stand against Bryce. The scenes with Skye were an interesting aspect, considering how much she managed to improved, deciding she wanted to take control of her life back. It was also a wakeup call for Clay, as saying that he can help people in a way other than he thinks is good to say how he needs to consider other people's feelings. This culminates in the scene with Alex and Justin, where the latter asks why Clay has the power to decide when certain truths should come out, as obviously the only person he's truly trying to help is Hannah, rather than Jessica. Olivia had a big wakeup call as well, as despite realizing earlier signs she missed from Hannah, she is finally being confronted with the fact that she wasn't dutiful enough. Jessica continues to struggle, perhaps more-so now that the tapes have been released, but also seems to be improving and becoming able to open up to people. Along the lines of Clay and Jessica, a nice theme the show brings up now and then centers around how men often dictate what women should do or want. The most obvious case is Bryce, being a repeated rapist, but different lighter forms are brought in with other characters, especially Jessica. Clay has continually tried, even since season one, to make the others come forward about what happened, and this season has focused on Jessica. In this episode, he thinks he should be able to say when she should come forward, and her dad does the same after hearing the tapes. Even with Hannah, or in this case, Ghost Hannah, Clay decided to release the tapes despite her telling him not to, saying that she doesn't get a say now that she's dead. This is likely a metaphor about Clay's own morality and how he's struggling with what to believe and do. Ever since first seeing Hannah, she has served as a sort of conscious whenever he was being harsh about something, trying to urge him in the proper direction, like when she says why Justin is shivering during his detox. Obviously he can't just get this information out of nowhere, meaning Clay already knew what was wrong with Bryce and needed a voice of reason to remind him. As the show talks about mental illness and needing to reach out for help, Clay seeing a dead person talking to him is a huge warning sign that he might need bigger help like Skye got at the mental health facility. With the tapes out now and people struggling as they decide what to do, the next testimony will likely cause more waves in the situation. After being sent to prison at the end of the first season, Luke Cage is back to take on the gangs corroding Harlem, while dealing with his newfound fame.
Though he started out wanting to stick to himself, Luke takes no issue with going back to his gangbusting, starting this episode with a raid. Luke walks in to find a row of guns aimed at him, and he shakes his head and asks why they're bothering. One man responds they have to show they at least tried, and they begin firing as he takes them all down. He tells one that he doesn't want his name on any packages, and going outside we learns this means a new drug is going around called "Luke Cage." From Reverend James Lucas, Luke's father, we hear a sermon in which he talks about his son's popularity, but warns that we shouldn't worship men because men are susceptible to greed and pride. Over at Pop's Barbershop, D.W. and Bobby bicker about Luke 's life and activities being constantly broadcast online, particularly because of an app that tells people where Luke is after anyone sees him. Despite pointing out that Luke isn't in it for the money, Bobby suggests that he find a way to get sponsored so that he can start profiting, as their rent and insurance rates have gone up. We cut to Misty Knight going through physical therapy with Claire Temple, struggling to adjust to her life without her right arm. She tells Claire not to look at her with pity, because she would do it again if she had to, but Claire says it is not pity but appreciation for what Misty did for her and Colleen. After a short scene with Shades hearing from Comanche that they have no rivals, we see Luke again, looking at a map of Harlem showing his drug busts. Misty arrives and the two talk about how breaking up the drug rings is going slowly, as no matter how fast he works, new locations will pop in its place. Luke tells Misty she should be out there, asking her to join him, but she leaves, saying she's done. In a meeting with Piranha Jones, Shades and Mariah are told that Glenn Industries has information on huge tech coming soon out of Atreus Plastics, and that if they invest, they'll be getting billions in legal money for the rest of their lives. As the two consider the proposal, a waiter comes out asking if Shades and his "aunt" are out for a special occasion, prompting calm anger from him and light jokes and attempts to calm him from Mariah. Luke, meanwhile, has dinner with Claire, who also suggests he try to make money like typical law enforcement, saying people don't know if he's a cop, hero, or vigilante. A man comes by requesting a photo for his son, and Claire tells Luke to just relax. In a montage, we see the differing lives of returning characters, with Misty dealing with her new situation, Shades returning to the restaurant to beat the waiter from before, and Luke and Claire having a night together. Luke heads out after this, speaking with his informant "Sugar," who claims to be little more than a driver now that he has a family. He tells Luke about Mariah "going straight" and Luke leaves, scratching his car for seemingly not telling him everything. Heading out, Luke meets with his father, the two trading barbs as Luke believes he wants something. James goes back and forth from venomously saying that Luke things the world revolves around him and claiming to want a fresh start. Luke, tired of his father's ego, says he lives his own way, mentioning the former's unmended mistakes. At Harlem's Paradise, Mariah trains a new hostess, Stephanie, how to do more than just serve by using her body to manipulate information out of male customers. In a short scene, we get our first look at new supervillain John "Bushmaster" McIver, calmly stating his intention to conquer Brooklyn, then Harlem. Back with Luke at the barbershop, D.W. comes in, telling Luke that more and more people are dying from the "Luke Cage" heroin. He asks if Luke can try to hurry cleaning up the streets, only to be told about the difficulties in drug busting. Luke says he only has one lead on drug traders in the city, but D.W. recalls a man named Arturo Gomez with gang ties. Bobby recognizes the man as "Arturo Rey III of Merlin discount furniture, and they realize he has renamed himself "King Arthur." Luke heads to Harlem Paradise, where Mariah watches Stephanie reel in the owner of Atreus Plastics, Mark Higgins. Shades comes by and briefs her on the different gang leaders hoping to buy her business, including names from the last scene. In the meeting that follows, Arturo assures Mariah that with the legal millions he already has, he can bring peace combining with her guns. Nigel Garrison of the Yardies claims that using Mariah's guns, he can keep the peace as well as stop anyone who comes along. The third person, Dontrell "Cockroach" Hamilton, laughs at the others, saying that he doesn't want her whole business, just controlling interest, and will make sure to "keep Harlem black." Luke arrives, but Mariah says he can't even touch her, especially because Claire is within sight, so he is forced to leave. He and Claire fight outside, as she says that he can't do this all alone as he isn't invincible, and she was able to get photos of the people he was looking into by pretending to take selfies. He explains that he worries because every time every time he sees Misty's arm, he thinks of what could happen to Claire, who is his weakness. Sugar calls Luke the next morning, telling him there is going to be a rendezvous at the docks, only to then call someone else to say that Luke took the bait. Misty encounters Cockroach outside the grocery store, shocked to learn that he got out of prison due to Scarfe being a dirty cop. Shades pays Mariah a visit as she drinks for her grandmother's birthday, to tell her Cockroach offered a good, low risk offer. She counters that with Arturo, they better protect Harlem, and she would for sure make enough money to clean her name of being a Stokes, which she hates. As the two get intimate, Shades mentions that Arturo is ready to finish the deal that night, and to sweeten the deal, he gave Arturo some "presents." Luke goes to the docks near the episode's end, making a shocking discovery before making a statement for someone who shows up. He then heads to the police station and having a run-in with Misty and another cop. We get another scene showing what Bushmaster is capable of, and Luke has another conversation with Mariah. This episode was definitely a strong start for Power Man's return to Netflix. It quickly gets through talking about how Luke went to jail and is now out, and his past activities have inspired Harlem. The series shows how even heroes have to find a balance between just helping and finding a living, as for Luke, whose identity is public knowledge, there are problems like rent and insurance to look at. With touching on this topic, it's likely that Danny Rand, the Iron Fist, will become a series regular, as Luke has talked about needing a partner, and in the comics he and Iron Fist form the "Heroes for Hire," offering their services for payment. It's somewhat disturbing to see the relationship between Shades and Mariah, but this seems to be intentional by the showmakers, as even Piranha made a face as they got intimate. With Misty, we get some interesting progression as she learns to live without her arm. As comic fans know, Misty has a bionic arm in the comics, so it will be cool to see how she gets the arm and gets back to fighting crime. The series seems to be giving us a good, strong villain in Bushmouth, as we don't learn much about him in the first episode, but what we do see makes him intriguing. He seems completely unworried about Luke, and is confident in his ability to take Brooklyn and Harlem. Whatever the season has to offer, I'm excited to see it, as Luke Cage brings justice to the bleeding streets of Harlem. Clay prepares to testify, but not everything goes according to plan when defense lawyer Sonya brings out some unexpected questions. In the previous episode, Clay began to wonder if he really knew Hannah after hearing everyone else's testimonies, but Justin noted how unfair it is that being interested in two guys suddenly labels her a slut. This episode starts in an especially trippy manner, with an animation of Clay and Hannah talking about their existence and thoughts on things like love and infinity. The odd style, something completely different from anything ever seen in the show before, stands out in an odd way. I personally wasn't very into it, but others might be. Seemingly a dream from Clay, the intro does serve as a good way to compare how happily he seems to dream with how glum he is after waking. He calls Skye to give an update on his life, and after seeing his family having breakfast with Justin, causing Clay to become a bit jealous. Annoyed with how well they're getting along, Clay goes outside to get the paper, which he finds marked to say that Hannah lied. As Alex also wakes up, he finds his mom with balloons, talking about his birthday party that he is clearly not excited about. We cut to Tony meeting up with his boxing coach and new love interest, who, when Tony asks, explains the man with one eye was the victim of a mugging. As Tony listens, he is visibly bothered. At the school, Jessica leads a confused Alex to a hallway where Zach waits to show him a "happy birthday" banner. Bryce and Scott Reed interrupt, joking about how Alex's mom should bring cupcakes and how he might get a new cane this year. As they walk away, an enraged Alex screams at Bryce, calling him a rapist and causing him to stop momentarily. Zach berates Alex, saying doing things like that doesn't help anybody, but Alex fires back that doing nothing isn't helpful, either. Jessica, upset at Alex's actions, asks how he could do something like that and leaves. In the darkroom, Tyler gets a surprise visit from Mackenzie, who asks him out on a date, to which he agrees. Clay, in court, tells the jury about the Hannah he knew, who would talk to him about simply things like zombies or more important things like hopes and dreams. We see the two the previous summer, when he explained he'd be going to his grandparents' house, and she asks him to write to her. Despite promising to do so, we cut back to now as he says he never did, as we always think we have more time with those we care about than we really get. He gets emotional, though seems disingenuous as he glances at Olivia Baker. Back at school, Marcus shows him the video Tyler and Cyrus found, which they sent to blackmail him into wearing a dress at school. To Marcus' surprise, Bryce responds that, regardless of Marcus trying to help him in court, he owes him nothing. Sonya takes advantage of Clay being set up with marijuana in the previous season to set him up as a bad influence, noting how he later tries to buy some from Bryce and also keyed Zach's car. She asks if he is responsible for Hannah's death like he accused Courtney of being, and is cut off as he tries to say the defense let other kids and adults get away with worse. The defense asks if, despite never being in a relationship, they ever spent a night together, and Clay admits that they did, and did drugs. Later after court, Clay apologizes to his dad for not being honest with him and his mother, and says maybe kids hide the truth to protect their parents. Before he left, we hear Sonya ask why Clay didn't do anything when he apparently heard Hannah say something dark, though we don't know what that is. At the school's pep rally, Marcus arrives dressed as a cheerleader to get around Tyler's blackmail, enraging the latter. Zach and Bryce get each other with secret barbs as the athletes put Jeff's jersey up, which Clay stays behind to see, as did Sheri. We see Jeff in the past invite Clay to a party at his place with a few friends, which he now mentions to Sheri that the defense somehow found out about. She suggests that his mom found it in his test records, remembering his mom asking what it means when a girl and boy suddenly stop texting. Alex and his dad run into Tyler at the Baker store, and invite Tyler to Alex's party, which he says he will attend. Olivia and Andrew Baker have gone to Hannah's grave after court, with Olivia raging about the lack of care given to it. As the two share a tender moment as he assures her they had good times, he suggests they have dinner. Jessica is at the mall with Nina and her boyfriend, amazed at how cute they are together and how amazing he is. As she and Nina try on clothes, she suddenly thinks back to Bryce stripping and raping her, causing her to hyperventilate and run out of the store with the clothes. As the alarm goes off, Nina gives the clothes back and apologizes, and asks her boyfriend to get them some gelato. Jessica, surprised by his reaction, learns that Nina hasn't told him about them being survivors, saying there's no need to. The Bakers, at a diner they used to go to, make small talk until Andrew says they need to finalize their divorce, rather than staying in a weird limbo. Initially shocked, Olivia asks if he wants to marry his girlfriend, and he says he wants to close a door he can't go back through. While driving around, Clay thinks back to Jeff's party, where they, Jeff's girlfriend, Hannah, Sheri, and Alex all hung out and they convinced him to take ecstasy. As everyone hit their giggly high points, Jeff and his girlfriend left, and Clay and Hannah almost began holding hands. In the present, Clay heads to Alex's party, where only the Standalls, Zach, and Jessica also arrive. Alex tries to apologize to Jessica, but she says they don't need to talk. Tyler later shows up, but Zach and Jessica berate him, saying it was creepy that he took pictures of a comatose Alex, and tell him to leave. They bring up what he did to Hannah, and Clay tells them that Tyler at least tried to help Hannah in court, which they didn't do. Alex, already annoyed with the party and Clay's testimony, says that Clay seems to think that he didn't let her down like them. The scene shifts into the real version of the animation from the beginning, as we see the drug caused Hannah and Clay to open up to each other more. Zach gets a call from his mom and gives generic, shady answers to her, angering Alex, and leaves. For much of the rest of the episode, the focus remains on the group as Alex has an angry breakdown, confronting his friends and family with how he feels now. We also get some time with Tyler, who wants Cyrus' help in messing with Zach more as a result of Marcus getting around his blackmail. Clay also gets a third Polaroid after leaving Alex's party, and he and Jessica have reactions to a sight at his house. In one final flashback, we see the aftereffects of Jeff's party and learn what Hannah said, and in the present day we see some deterioration of Bryce and Chloe's relationship and a decision Clay makes that might will have consequences later. Dennis was definitely right when he told Olivia that Sonya would tear Clay apart, as she throws him curveballs he wasn't expecting in his testimony. When he gets annoyed with Zach and Jessica, Clay says that Zach's testimony labeled her a slut, but as Zach points out, Clay's testimony labeled her a drug user. With Zach saying this, it shows how Clay has seemed to think himself as better than others this season, as despite knowing he could have taken steps to help Hannah, he chastises others for their inaction. This and a phrase Clay uses at the end of the episode continues this season's trend of showing his negative aspects like the first season showed his good. The lack of action against Bryce has resulted in Clay being a lot angrier this season than he ever was before, which caused problems in his testimony. He thought he was being smart in expecting certain questions and wanting to target certain people like Bryce, but he didn't know everything Sonya had in her arsenal to use against him. There is some contrasting in how Clay's parents are seeing everything and talking to him. After Clay's testimony, his dad mentions that despite parents always loving their kids no matter what, kids feel the need to lie to them. At this point, Clay opens up to his dad and apologizes for his secrets, but when Cheri mentions the texts, he becomes angry, likely feeling betrayed as he suspects his mom is the reason the court found out about the drugs. We get a lot with Alex in this episode as well, showing how angry he is about the situation his attempted suicide has left him in. While Bryce ended last season by taking on Bryce directly, the birthday scene at school has Alex screaming at Bryce, and for me it was more satisfying than when Ryan told off Courtney last season. The wishy washiness he has seen from Zach combined with how people have been treating him, both obviously negative and attempts at positivity have finally gotten to him to the point that he will take on anyone he feels deserves it. Tyler is continuing his downward spiral, being more and more bold in messing with people he doesn't like and dragging Cyrus into it. With Jessica we get a painful look at how Bryce has affected her, as she seemed to not even realize exactly what she was doing in the clothes scene. Simply taking off her clothes is enough to trigger a flashback to Bryce prying her clothes off. In this scene, she also finds it odd that Nina hasn't told her boyfriend how they might or what she herself went through. While Nina has an understandable reason for this, Jessica seems to disagree with her. With Clay making a questionable decision at the end of the episode, he may cause more problems than he solves in future episodes. Jessica's tasks continue to pile up as she tries to balance Hogarth's case, Cheng's lawsuit, and now the discovery of "Leslie Hansen."
The episode opens with Jessica attending mandatory anger management, where the teacher has everyone throw a ball against a wall as they describe their troubles. Despite wanting to leave, Jessica is pulled in after everyone has taken a turn, and as she gets brutally open about what has happened to her, her throw breaks the wall. Shocked by her strength, the teacher signs her court order and she leaves. Returning to her apartment, Jessica shows Malcolm a tabloid magazine showing him and Trish, wondering about them as a new couple. Trying to focus on the case, Jessica scans the photo of "Hansen," distracted by Oscar and his ex-wife arguing until she realizes "Hansen" is wearing a wig. She calls Trish, who expressed her annoyance at Jessica's actions and what she now has to deal with. Jessica apologizes and shares her revelation, and Trish replies that it had to have been a good wig, suggesting it was made of human hair, narrowing their search to three shops in the city. After Jessica hangs up, Oscar's son Video comes over to escape his fighting parents, badgering her about her powers. She yells to his parents when they notice he's gone, and turns to see him at her window, asking if she could save him. Jessica pulls him back in as he starts to fall, and his mother uses it as a reason why she should have custody of him, while Oscar tells Jessica she has 25 days left. Still dealing with the press, Trish is relieved when Griffin shows up, kissing in front of reporters to prove they are together. Inside, he offers her a place at his company, but she says she doesn't want to be known just as his girlfriend. At Hogarth's office, Cheng stops by to ask why she is no longer backing his lawsuit. When she says he should stop fighting when he can't win, he notes that something is different about her and says he hopes she can deal with it. Jessica and Trish head to the wig store Trish went to as a kid, and after some bribing, are told "Hansen" pays in cash for wigs, having lost all her hair. Jessica suggests she may have cancer, and if IGH is paying her bills, there would be medical records. Outside, Trish shows Jessica the video Malcolm took of Max Tatum. It has been three days since her threat to go public, so Jessica says they should go back, promising to try not to hurt him. In an attempt to undermine Jessica's business, Cheng comes over as Malcolm works, offering him a job in exchange for info, but is turned down and leaves a card. Trish and Jessica show the video of herself to a young actress in Max's movie, and she quits. He complains to them about it, but Jessica demands his hospital clearance. When he refuses, Jessica threatens him for preying on young girls. He says he only went after Trish, whom he loved, and an enraged Jessica gets him to agree by slamming her fist through his car. Later, Hogarth gives Jessica a call to ask about Chao and Benowitz, and the latter explains that while she has been busy, she dug into their expense accounts. Hogarth gives a simple explanation for everything Jessica found, and tells her to dig deeper because her partners are not foolish enough to leave obvious evidence. She answers a knock at the door to find Oscar offering whiskey as a peace offering, saying Video told him how Jessica saved his life and the eviction is dropped. He turns to leave, but Jessica invites him to come inside and drink with her. We cut to Trish and Griffin in the bedroom, and she tells him she is grateful that he stuck around after her poor track record with boyfriends. She goes to shower, and when he hears the water start running, he takes a call, saying that Trish "doesn't know anything" and to keep it that way. Back at Jessica's, Oscar explains that he doesn't hate super-powered people, he just hated her. He tells her it was simply her timing that was off, as he had only been out of prison for a few months. Jessica opens up about being treated unfairly because of her powers, and as the two bond, she kisses him. She goes for his pants, but he says them moving so fast from hating each other before is wrong, and leaves. The next day, Malcolm confronts Jessica at the elevator, demanding more work and a cut of her profits at Alias, and she agrees to give him 20%. She leaves, and he has a comedic awkward moment when he messes up the name of the girl in his apartment. Hogarth visits her doctor after several failed calls, requesting a cure for ALS. The doctor says she can't give her that, but Hogarth brings up possible illegal European drugs. Mentioning how her own father died from brain cancer that immobilized him, Hogarth tells the doctor that she'll go to a back alley doctor if necessary. Jessica and Trish discover that IGH only covered medical bills for Jessica, Whizzer, and a woman named Inez Green, who they discover is homeless. Using Green's arrest record, they track her to a location on the streets, and Trish retrieves Simpsons bag, wanting to bring a large gun and his drug. Jessica refuses to let her bring the gun, but allows her to take an enhanced taser after they find it can even knock out Jessica. A homeless man directs them to the person in the picture, and once there Jessica searches for her. When Jessica is attacked, Trish takes Simpson's drug and rushes in with the taser, but they discover it is another woman. A friend of Cheng, meanwhile, breaks into Jessica's apartment to steal all her files, leaving as Malcolm enters with a woman. Despite realizing they have been robbed, Malcolm doesn't find the man. As Jessica and Trish find out who the woman really is, Cheng's associate has a horrific meet-up that causes further problems for them. While this episode mostly goes with Jessica's problems being solved quickly, like with Oscar or finding the homeless woman, more are piled on in their place. In Jessica's case, it's never a simple matter, because everything that happens to her ends up a confusing, wound up mystery for her to solve. Despite convincing Max Tatum to help, there is the potential for him to cause problems due to her damaging his car, though of course Trish can leak the video. Pryce Cheng is the most pressing matter, both because he still has his lawsuit against Jessica and because of this episode's end. Despite being the mastermind behind the break-in at her place, it will likely be difficult for Jessica to prove him of any wrongdoing. Oscar and Jessica's relationship took a turn I expected back when they first met, though I was surprised he turned her down. At the same time, I'm glad he did so, because like he said, it was weird. They hated each other a short time before, and I personally just get tired of how every superhero show needs a complicated romance arc in each season. Of course there is also the fact that, knowing how things go in the comics, I'm still waiting for the time that Jessica and Luke Cage will tie the knot. Trish taking Sampsons drug is going to bring an interesting aspect to the show, as now along with Jessica's anger issues, she will deal with problems similar to Simpson. While I was initially unsure how they would eventually make Trish become Hellcat, it seems the showrunners plan to have Simpson's drug play a key role in her transformation. As IGH is still a mystery and has been able to give people superpowers, I still wonder if Trish will perhaps be experimented on as well at some point. Hogarth's situation has potential for an interesting future, but could also cause more problems for her. Jessica is already having a hard time finding any dirt on Chao and Benowitz, and her determination to even use illegal drugs to cure her ALS could lead to her partners having further grounds to push her out. Jessica may have taken steps to solving everything this episode, but now she's got a lot more on her plate to deal with. Zach Dempsey delivers perhaps the most shocking testimony thus far in the Baker case, as Justin comes out of hiding. Hannah opens the episode writing the letter she gave to Zach, who is reading it before his testimony, and he assures his mom everything will be okay. After a short scene where Clay asks Sheri about the Polaroids to no avail, we go outside the court. Despite Andrew and even Olivia's friend Jackie suggesting a united front by holding hands, Olivia stands firm against Andrew. Inside, Zach explains the jocks typically talk about sexual exploits with girls, often untrue, though he doesn't name anyone specifically. At school, an exasperated Clay quizzes Alex on what he remembers for a doctor visit, but the latter quickly becomes frustrated. Tyler, meanwhile, tells Cyrus about his neighbor calling his dad about the guns, resulting in his dad calling Cyrus' wanting to take them to a gun range. After his violent encounter with Mrs. Foley's boyfriend, Mr. Porter gets out of jail, with his wife saying she is proud he watches out for the kids, but urges caution. Ryan, wondering about Hannah's words, asks Sheri if she knows what the clubhouse is. Thinking he wants to dig up dirt on Hannah, she shuts him down. Back at court, Zach confirms that no one did anything after a dark letter from Hannah was real aloud in class. Porter gets a visit from the baseball coach, who comes in to essentially blackmail him by saying he knows about the arrest and has a police friend who can make it go away. Justin finally makes his return to the school, telling Jessica he couldn't forget her and that he will stay or leave depending on what she wants. She tells him she wishes he were dead, and as he turns to confront Bryce, he collapses. Despite snapping at Chloe that he's fine, Bryce is clearly scared and agitated about Justin's return. The defense lawyer, Sonya, asks if Hannah reached out to Zach directly after he dark note, and when he says yes, she asks how often they talked. Zach explains that he apologized to Hannah for his past actions, then began going to the movies just to see her. They got closer as a result, even having a date at her house that her parents didn't know about. Prodded about why he told no one, Zach explains he wanted to keep it between them because it was the summer his father died and he found they connected well. As Sonya keeps asking about the nature of their relationship, Zach finally reveals he and Hannah lost their virginities to each other and had sex throughout the summer. Through more flashbacks, we see them repeatedly together during the summer, growing closer as they explore more. After the testimony, an upset Olivia vents to Andrew about their daughter becoming a woman without them noticing. They argue about how they handled problems during their relationship, and he finally admits to living with his girlfriend and her daughter. At Clay's house, Justin hides as someone breaks in and searches his bag, coming out just in time for Mr. Jensen to find him. Word quickly spreads about Zach's testimony, and in the locker room he finds a pair of panties with Hannah's name and a blood spot in his locker. Enraged as Bryce begins laughing, he starts a fight that the coach quickly breaks up. Knowing how Clay felt about Hannah, Olivia is determined to bring him to testify despite Dennis and Andrew's objections, and Dennis finally agrees to contact him. Upset that Hannah had a relationship with Zach but shortly after pushed him away, a fuming Clay rants at Zach, saying he didn't deserve her and to go away. When Sheri comes to let him know about the clubhouse, he snaps that he doesn't care anymore. Tyler and Cyrus learn proper gun handling from Mr. Standall, who agrees with Tyler's dad that they should learn from an expert, and says Tyler is a good kid who has been a good friend to Alex. After Alex's doctor visit, he blows off PT by sitting in the locker room, where he rants to Zach that he is "plateauing," meaning he will never improve further. He gets violently angry, but during a scuffle he makes a surprising discovery. Olivia tries to convince Clay to testify, and while he says the testimonies have made him feel like he didn't know Hannah, Olivia asks if he can put them out of his mind. Jessica finally opens up to the survivors group, telling them about her rape and how ever since, she has felt Bryce every time someone gets close to her. We cut to Tony, entering the place he had his parole, only to leave upon seeing a scarred man learning self-defense from his trainer. Tyler and Cyrus, now drinking some kind of concoction, hack into Zach's iCloud account, finding a photo of Hannah, as well as a video of the jocks with a naked girl at the school. Cyrus wants to leak it, but Tyler suggests messing with Zach first. As Jessica and Nina leave the group, she congratulates Jessica on taking steps and telling her story, saying she should be proud of taking control back. The episode comes to a close with more confrontations, as with previous episodes, starting with the Jensens talking to Clay and Justin, who gives Clay advice about how he feels not about Hannah. Following this comes brutal honesty between Zach and his mom, as well as flashbacks showing the source of Zach's picture and how Hannah dealt with Zach's desire to keep things between them. Zach's character took a sharp turn from things we've seen before, though not unbelievably so. His decision to finally be open with everyone and how he feels reveals a lot about his and Hannah's past. Last season we didn't get much about Zach's home life aside from his mom being overbearing, but here we learn that his father's death hit him hard. While last season he initially helped try to keep Clay quiet, here he is open about everything and is more than willing to take any punishment he deserves. As we've seen with past characters interacting with their parents in new ways, we see a confrontation between Zach and his mom, as he finally confronts the poor communication skills she taught him that cause problems in his life. We also get some emotionally raw moments with Justin, both in him telling Jessica how he's felt as well as in the final scenes with Clay and his family. Like Zach, he spent last season trying to keep Clay quiet, but now he not only wants to get the word out, he also helps Clay personally. While much of the episode focuses elsewhere, Jessica's openness was great to see, as there is a sign she is finally able to start taking her life back from Bryce. Earlier this season, she abhorred the idea of being in a survivors group, saying she even hated the word. With Nina's help, however, she has made strides in telling her story and feeling more comfortable with herself again. Her account in the group shows the kind of lasting damage that is done to a survivor over time, as she says she feels his breath when someone kisses her and feel him pressing her down and forcing her to submit. With Clay, we're getting much more of the negative aspects of his personality than we did last season, which I've enjoyed seeing. He said at moments that he feels like he didn't really know Hannah and doesn't know how to feel anymore. In the same way, we are learning things about him we didn't know before, like his extreme jealousy toward Zach where he acts like he deserved Hannah more than Zach, like she was an object. Much like he has to try not letting the defense's argument completely change his view of what kind of person Hannah was, we have to try to understand that these things don't make him a horrible person, but rather more complex than we previously saw. Now that Clay will be called to testify at some point, an interesting argument will likely appear as a hopefully stubborn Clay faces the crafty Sonya. With Simpson now dead, Jessica has to amp up her efforts to discover her secret past and stop whoever is behind the recent murders.
Jessica and Trish begin the episode at a beach, where Jessica says she has repeatedly contemplated suicide, tossing Simpson's body out to sea. Though neither are happy with the situation, Jessica notes that the police would be an issue if she was discovered with another dead body. Searching his car, the two find an arsenal that Trish decides to keep, knowing the kind of power they're up against. Hoping that Jessica's mind might hold the secret to what she went through, Trish brings in a doctor to have him hypnotize Jessica. He tells her to think of a happy place and a door to her memories, but Jessica struggles to think of somewhere relaxing. The hypnotism a bust, Jessica goes to leave with Trish's notes about Jessica's case when Griffin arrives, worried about Trish. We go to Hogarth's company, where her partners Linda Chao and Steven Benowitz reveal they know about her medical condition. The two explain they want her to leave the company, now with legal right to demand. Though Hogarth says she won't give in and Benotwitz expressing sympathy, the two say that they will force her out if necessary. Later, Foggy Nelson offers his help, but she fumes that they aren't friends and he can do nothing to help her. Back at Jessica's apartment, Malcolm comes by with an eviction notice, explaining it is illegal for Jessica to run a commercial business out of her apartment. Enraged, she visits Oscar, accusing him of being prejudiced against super-powered people, but he calmly states that she's not a protected class, and as her life brings accidental death and cops, she has 30 days to clear out. The scene transitions back to Trish, arguing with Griffin about whether she should continue looking into the situation like Jessica. He explains he's been worried lately about being left behind, as his past girlfriend did, and the two decide to take time to think about their situation. As Jessica drinks and tries to figure out her own situation, she falls asleep and begins dreaming. Finding herself hooked up to a whiskey IV, she stands as ash falls from the ceiling, then finds a hospital door from her photos before the disfigured man she saw attacks her. Malcolm wakes her with the news that Oscar has done time for check forgery, which is why he worried about her bringing police to the apartment. After Malcolm says their old superintendent was a great person, causing Jessica to realize he must have something on their landlord, and sends him to find out what it is. Jessica and Trish then head to IGH, where she goes through the door from her dream and finds the name Leslie Hansen. The two find Hansen's apartment, which been cleared out, and a neighbor says he saw someone take everything to the basement. Thinking Hansen burned all IGH evidence in the furnace, Jessica reaches inside to find a human skull. Malcolm, meanwhile, learns the landlord has a negative view of Jessica, who was rude to him in the past, but Oscar was "good to him." The landlord explains that he is happy to see Jessica go, especially because his boyfriend, coming from Cambodia, will need a place to stay. At the morgue, Jessica sneaks in and files a report about the skull, leaving it on a table. Trish goes to the coroner, whom she knows, and agrees to get him a fancy food recipe he wants in exchange for his report, saying she heard police talk about the skull. Jessica goes back to the apartment, where Malcolm gives his report and she realizes how Oscar got his position. She goes to the bathroom and clogs her toilet with tampons, and when Oscar comes by to fix it, she takes his keys and sneaks into his apartment. Initially having to get past his son, she finds pictures of the landlord and his boyfriend, and when Oscar comes back she accuses him of forging the boyfriend's passport. Unfazed, he says she has nothing on him because he can simply tell the police he used the photos as reference for the painting he made. Trish has gone back to her own apartment, and is startled by Griffin while watching Whizzer's video, as she didn't realize he'd be back so soon. Lamenting that his words went unheard because she didn't read fanmail, she goes to put away the groceries Griffin brought, and he quickly downloads her files to a drive. Jessica then gets a visit from Hogarth, who says she needs help, revealing Pryce Cheng's lawsuit and ripping up what she has about it. Hogarth reveals she has ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and could die from it in eight years or one. Wanting her name to stay on the company after her death, she asks that Jessica dig up something on her partners that she can use against them if they try to force her out. Shocked and quiet after the revelation, Jessica agrees to help, telling Hogarth there is always out there on everyone. Trish takes to her radio show to contact Leslie Hansen, who calls moments later requesting they meet at a bar. Annoyed with Trish's rash decision, Jessica takes and sends a cell phone picture of Trish to paparazzi, claiming that she and Griffin are having a rough time. The episode comes to a climax as Jessica goes to meet with Hansen and has Malcolm watch Trish, who gets a call that takes her for a loop. We see more of Jessica's own detective style with this episode, showing how intelligent she is as she comes up with the way to identify the skull and figures out Oscar's background with little information. Trish is becoming more annoyed with how powerless she feels in situations like this, wanting to help but unable to do the things Jessica can. As I've mentioned in a past post, the comic Trish Walker is the superhero Hellcat, so it's possible that as she recklessly goes deeper into more dangerous situations, she'll get abilities her own abilities. It's interesting thus far how characters like Trish are weaved into shows and movies in the Marvel world, like the Punisher starting in Daredevil and later bringing Billy Russo, or Simpson appearing in the first season of Jessica Jones. While not exactly like their comic counterparts, the shows do a good job of introducing classic characters in small ways and developing them over time. Hogarth's reveal to Jessica is a big moment for the episode, partially because of how easily and cliché they could have taken it. Hogarth could have easily been diagnosed with cancer, which while obviously being a deadly, vile disease, would be the most obvious move and a lame attempt at getting sympathy for Hogarth. Giving her ALS is more interesting to me, personally, because this disease sounds horrific while keeping the victim or others from doing anything. As Hogarth explains, ALS is a neurological disease. Victims experience a degeneration in the spinal cord to their muscle neurons. As their muscles waste away, people not only lose the ability to move, but even to eat, speak, or breathe. There is currently no known treatment that either halts or reverses ALS, despite scientific research successfully progressing. Of course, the Internet brought focus to ALS a few years ago with the ice bucket challenge, but with many participants seemed to not understand the point of the ice water, which was to let you know what an ALS victim experiences. The idea that Hogarth, who has worked hard to become a well-known, respected lawyer, would be diagnosed with ALS, is quite a blow because of how powerless it will make her over time. Even if it's for her own self-interest, it's surprising how willingly she gives up Cheng's lawsuit for Jessica, and she has an emotional moment of opening up. Seeing Hogarth so vulnerable sends home how deadly the disease is, and how weak it can make a person feel. With new facts constantly coming to light, Jessica will certainly make new discoveries in following episodes, but also face some deadly challenges from IGH. We get another look at Hannah Baker's poetry with the fifth episode of 13 Reasons Why, as Ryan Shaver takes the stand. Ryan opens the episode saying that Hannah was an artist in need. As he explains that art should shock people, we see Tyler and Cyrus making shirts that say "assholes." The testimony continues that the world expects people to stay silent, and we see Mr. Porter as he discovers a brick thrown through his car's window that says "Know your place." We head to the school, where Bryce tells Chloe that his parents want to have her over for dinner, and he shows slight concern about the case by asking about Jessica. At Clay's, Justin continues to struggle with his detox as the fake Hannah works like Clay's conscience and rationale. He convinces Justin to take a shower, but the move almost results in Mr. Jensen discovering their secret. He later shows Justin the Polaroid, but the latter doesn't recognize the location, and Tony arrives to watch Justin as Clay goes to school. A short cut to Zach shows his mom's lack of concern for Hannah's case, having been convinced of her reputation by the defense's strategy. At court, Olivia sees Andrew Baker, who has finally decided to be there for Hannah, though she is wary of his support. Ryan's testimony goes on, as he explains that no one took Hannah's poem seriously, despite it being read in class. Back at school, Cyrus and Tyler laughably strut down the halls in their new shirts, and Porter calls Tyler to his office. To Tyler's surprise, he doesn't care about the shirt, but questions Tyler about the pictures of Jessica that showed up in the classroom. Outside, Clay meets with Alex, who says he's listened to his tape multiple times and feels like he's missing something from the story. Clay has a realization after noticing a man chalking the field, leaving Alex by advising him not to listen too hard. Ryan, meanwhile, counters the defense attorney's argument that the school is expected to determine a poem's certain meaning by saying they're trained to. The attorney has Ryan read some of Hannah's poems, all of them focusing on her feelings about the boys who had wronged her. After Ryan finally admits some are about Justin, the defense notes it as odd that she kept in touch with someone who had wronged her so. Through flasbhacks, we see that, when Hannah and Ryan were friends, he often acted to prevent her from interacting with Justin. Despite the latter's attempts to talk to her, Ryan gets in the way, telling her to banish him from her mind. Ryan argues that Justin was simply a bad decision and Hannah was writing about love because it was what she so desperately needed, not necessarily because she was obsessed with boys. After the testimony, Tyler fumes over Ryan's words, and decides to get back at him with his new friends. At Clay's, a restless Justin tells Tony how he fell to drugs. Tony explains the reason he is afraid of Justin going outside is because if he gets busted, it will be his third strike and he'll go to jail, but he finally relents due to Justin's current state. We then go to Alex, who tells Jessica he is there for her as the two ignore talking about their kiss. In another room, Clay examines the photo, telling Hannah he saw one of the school's chalk machines, which would make Bryce's crimes relevant to the trial because at least one took place on school grounds. Despite looking around the school, Clay fails to find the room, and vents to Hannah about how he doesn't understand people falling for the wrong person, and how he feels like he didn't really know her. Tony and Justin, meanwhile, take a walk outside, only to be spotted by someone clearly from Liberty High, word of which quickly spreads. After the court date, Olivia thanks Andrew, assuring her friend that she is over him, only to follow him to his new girlfriend's home, where she sees the woman's daughter. Later, Ryan visits her to offer his sympathy, and helps her look through some of Hannah's poems. She believes one to be about Justin, but it seems to be about Bryce. While there, Ryan thinks back to when he stole Hannah's poem, in the process revealing the letter he previously gave to Tony, detailing a day where Tony came to her after beating someone up for mocking himself and Ryan. With athletics at Liberty, we see tension between Zach, paranoid after finding the rat in his bag last episode, and Bryce, as Monty watches, suspicious. Things also come to a boil between Chloe, gushing about Bryce's parents, and Jessica, who finally exclaims that she doesn't want a boyfriend like Chloe suggests, calling her clueless. With word of Justin out, Porter calls Jessica to his office, but she stays adamant that she doesn't want to talk to him and doesn't care about Justin being back. As dinner progresses at the Walker house, we see Bryce interact with his father as his mother carefully observes Chloe, noticing bruises on her arms. Despite not lasting long, the scene does a lot to show that Bryce is the kind of person he is because of his father, who tells him obedience is important in a relationship. With his mother, we see further that she actually listened to Porter's words and has likely dealt with what Bryce does, as she continues watching despite Chloe saying the bruises are from cheerleading. In a PT session, Alex opens up to Zach about his kiss with Jessica, and explains that, ever since waking from his coma, he hasn't felt anything "down below." Meanwhile at Clay's, Sheri arrives to watch Justin, and has an encounter with Mrs. Jensen where she explains a boy and girl suddenly not texting means they broke up. The episode comes to a climax with multiple encounters for different characters, starting with Ryan heading to a bar for a date. Following this comes a decision from Jessica, a confrontation for Tyler from his mom, an experience for Alex, and, inter-cut with decisions from Jessica and Clay, a shocking confrontation for Porter. The strong point of this episode is definitely the dinner scene at the Walker household. The fact that Bryce's actions are a learned behavior speak to how the things he does repeatedly happen and are taught through generations, despite cultural abhorrence for them. When Porter first went to see the Walkers, finding only Bryce's mother, I at first thought it looked like a case of her not caring for what he had to say. In this episode, however, I thought back and realized her apprehension at him being there seemed to come from her husband's talk of needing "obedience." It's nice to see her taking steps to try watching out for Chloe, and shows that Bryce is being closed in on from all around. It's hilarious to see how Tyler's newfound confidence shows itself, while also being interesting, because Cyrus would be expected to "corrupt" Tyler into violent action, he is, in fact, into more simple pranks on people, whereas Tyler is bringing violence to Cyrus with scenes like at the gun range. As has been the case with everyone to testify so far, it's nice to get a little more depth on Ryan. Last season he seemed to have little interesting background to me, though I did love, as most did, when he confronted Courtney. Here, we see through his cynical, sarcastic outer shell to find how alone he truly feels. He expresses to the court that it can be dangerous to feel alone and powerless, and we see throughout the episode that he is craving someone to be close to. With the defense lawyer continuing to create an image of Hannah being a needy slut, and those who bullied her feeling the noose tighten, following episodes are sure to ramp up both tension and results. He succeeded in taking down Rawlins, but now Frank Castle is in a tight spot after Russo had to leave him for dead.
The final episode of this season begins with Madani and Micro rushing Frank to Madani's parents' home, urging her father to help. Despite her mothers disapproval, her father notes that sometimes freedom fighters are labeled criminals, and saves Frank from a punctured lung. Russo has since made it to his apartment and patched his bullet wound, and despite police arriving, he effortlessly eliminates them all and blows up the apartment. Now conscious, Frank learns of Russo's escape and, despite Micro giving him money stolen from criminals and a warning from Madani, is still set on revenge. Madani gives a report on what happened to Rafi and Hernandez, saying Frank overpowered her and escape, but the two note how obviously false this is, as Frank was critically injured at the time. Despite them pressuring her to give the true account, Madani refuses to budge, stating accusations can be dangerous, such as ones she could make about Rawlins. Unlike Frank, Micro attempts to return to normality, reunited with his family at a safehouse, though his wife has a hard time dealing with him repeatedly disappearing. In an attempt to find Frank, Russo has gone to Curtis, who wakes up with his gun missing and Russo maintaining a civilized rage. Russo allows him to put on his prosthetic leg and make coffee, asking how long Curtis has been lying to him and demanding to know where Frank is. Reaching for his coffee, Russo realizes there is a problem and dives out of the way of a sniper bullet from Frank, simultaneously clipping Curtis' shoulder with a pistol shot. Frank calls Curtis and tells him to put Russo on. Curtis slides the phone to Russo, who commands Frank to eject his magazine and round. The two agree to meet at Midnight at Frank's "painted ponies," and Russo tells Curtis to call an ambulance before leaving. In a flashback to the carousel where Frank's family died, we see them having a day with Russo. Amidst light riffing, one moment hints at Russo's rage as Lisa Castle jokes about his being an orphan but claiming to be named after Billy the Kid. In another sign, he and Frank agree it is horrible that the Kid was betrayed by his friend for fame and money. Back with the Lieberman family, we see things steadily improve as Micro plays cards with the kids. Finally accepting his return, Sarah leads him away to have sex. We head to the carousel, where Russo takes two young workers hostage. Frank, arriving later that night, sends the location to Madani, who immediately heads out. A gunfight ensues, resulting in a leg wound for Frank and a shot to the cheek to Russo as the carousel spins the foes and the hostages. Hitting his boiling point after having his face damaged, Russo threatens to shoot the hostages. Frank willingly comes out unarmed and is shot repeatedly in the chest. While Russo taunts Frank, Madani arrives and takes a shot, but he manages to turn and shoot her in the head. Frank takes the opportunity to body slam Russo, and the two engage in some impressive hand-to-hand combat. The two go back and forth, with Russo finally injuring Frank by using both his combat knife and the hidden blade on his wrist. For fans of the comics who have been waiting for Russo to physically become his literary counterpart, this climactic episode gives a satisfying conclusion. With this fight finally taking place, a lot of emotions are raging. Given the history between the two and what Frank learned this season, it's not surprising that the combat gets as violent as possible. Despite everything he's done throughout the season, it's also interesting to see how Russo sticks to his honor. In the scene with Curtis, Russo sticks to his word despite having numerous opportunities to kill Curtis. Though Frank is able to trick Russo initially upon approaching the carousel, it is also noteworthy how impressive Russo is tactically and physically. In his first scene for the episode, we see him take down numerous police officers, all without doing more than walking and firing single shots from his silenced gun. Not as much happens with Micro in this episode, though it is clear he and Frank have developed a brotherly bond and it is still nice to see how his family life heals. While not entirely believable, the speed at which they accept him back gives a warm feeling. Madani is key throughout the episode, continuing her typical defiant nature, not willing to compromise what she believes is right. Along with how she saves Frank's life at the start of the episode, she's the reason he is able to continue his mission less impeded, since she doesn't give him up. One aspect of the episode that did make me roll my eyes, to be honest, came from Curtis and Russo. At different points, both of them say that Russo and Frank aren't too different. It feels like as long as Western media has made a hero vs. evil story, there has been the "classic" phrase "you're not so different, you and I." Even Dr. Evil of Austin Powers made fun of this back in the 90's, saying it to Austin and then mentioning it in the third film. It doesn't ruin the episode, but it's a cliché that I, for one, am sick of hearing. It's tired, and overused, and a lame, on-the-nose way of saying two characters are meant to be mirrors of each other. Regardless, the episode is a great end to the Punisher's first violent season, and I can't wait to see what Frank Castle brings to the table in season 2. |
AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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