History YMMV / LukeCage2016

-->'''Cheo Hodari Coker''': Luke, being bulletproof and walking through [redacted for spoilers] was really more influenced by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger's invading the police station in ''[[Film/TheTerminator Terminator]]''. And we shot it that way. But when you see the images of a bulletproof black man in a hoodie walking forward... it just has like the symbolic meaning that I don't think we even anticipated.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: For the first four episodes of season 2, the CGI work done to digitally erase Simone Missick's right arm is entirely convincing, and the crew clearly knew it as before Misty gets the robot arm, they seem to be constantly looking for ways to show it off.

** A heroic black man who originally allies with an [[AntiHero less heroic]] protagonist in their story, before becoming the protagonist in his own story, with themes centering around prejudice of their race. Are we talking about Luke Cage or [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedFreedomCry Adéwalé]]?

** A heroic black man who originally allies with an [[AntiHero less heroic]] protagonist in their story, before becoming the protagonist in his own story, with themes centering around prejudice of their race. Are we talking about Luke Cage or [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedFreedomCry Ad&eawal&ea]]?

** A heroic black man who originally allies with an [[AntiHero less heroic]] protagonist in their story, before becoming the protagonist in his own story, with themes centering around prejudice of their race. Are we talking about Luke Cage or [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedFreedomCry Adéwal&ea]]?

* Okay a heroic black man who originally allies with an [[AntiHero less heroic]] protagonist in their story, before becoming the protagonist in his own story, with themes centering around prejudice of their race. Are we talking about Luke Cage or [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedFreedomCry Adéwal&eacute]]?

*** For season 2, an explanation is given for why gangbangers continue to try shooting Luke when they know it won't work. The season opens with Luke storming a drug lab making Arturo Rey's "Luke Cage" branded heroin. The men there point guns at Luke, who says, "[[HereWeGoAgain Really, guys?]]" One of the thugs replies, "[[VillainousValor We gotta know we tried, man!]]" suggesting that they believe it to be a badge of honor to be beaten up by Luke.

** Piranha [[spoiler: just ups and leaves the church just so that he can call someone (his momma) and tries to leave town. Predictably, Bushmaster and his men capture and kill him.]]

** The entire season 2 was compared with ''Film/BlackPanther'' in various aspects:

** Mariah Dillard's screams of "I DIDN'T WANT IT!" in response to [[spoiler:Cornell Stokes as she beats him to death.]] The delivery is highly overacted, but it makes sense for the character and circumstances that she would lose composure.

** Season 2 comes with a pretty heavy-handed theme that's nonetheless relevant and necessary: crime does not pay. Even rising to the top of the criminal underworld comes with misery, from destroyed personal relationships and constantly looking over your shoulder. [[spoiler: ''All'' of the major villains are worse off by the end of the season; Mariah falls from grace both as a politician and crime lord and is sent to prison and then later killed by her own daughter, Bushmaster never gets his revenge on Mariah and almost all of his family is dead and his body is broken beyond repair, and Shades finally faces the music for his crimes after he sticks by Mariah's side and kills Comanche, someone whom he actually loved and was working to get them both out the gangster lifestyle. Not to mention the countless underlings killed and shady businessmen ruined by their shady dealings or killed themselves.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: When Cornell expresses frustration at finding ways to kill [[NighInvulnerable Luke]], Mariah runs a list of less direct ways to deal with him, such as drowning him, suffocating him, or harming his loved ones. [[spoiler: Cornell is killed before he can think of a way to implement these ideas and Diamondback ends up using [[KryptoniteFactor Judas Bullets]] to deal with Luke more directly]]. Season 2 ''does'' feature some of these ways, such as [[spoiler:Bushmaster paralyzing him before pushing him in the water]] and [[spoiler:an italian Mook briefly trying to suffocate him with a bag]], but both attempts go poorly.
* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: In season 2, the CGI work done to digitally erase Simone Missick's right arm is entirely convincing, and the crew clearly knew it as before Misty gets the robot arm, they seem to be constantly looking for ways to show it off.

*** Why gangbangers always shoot Luke is eventually explained in the opening scene of season 2 when Luke is busting the lab making the "Luke Cage" branded heroin. Luke says, "[[HereWeGoAgain Really, guys?]]" and one of the thugs replies, "[[VillainousValor We gotta know we tried, man!]]" suggesting that they believe it to be an honor to be beaten up by Luke.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: When Cornell expresses frustration at finding ways to kill [[NighInvulnerable Luke]], Mariah runs a list of less direct ways to deal with him, such as drowning him, suffocating him, or harming his loved ones. [[spoiler: Cornell is killed before he can think of a way to implement these ideas and Diamondback ends up using [[KryptoniteFactor Judas Bullets]] to deal with Luke more directly]].

* MagnificentBastard: [[HonestAdvisor Hernán "Shades" Alvarez]] is a charismatic criminal of Harlem who during his time at Seagate Penitentiary ran a prison fight ring along with Comanche and a corrupt warden. Upon returning to Harlem, he became the HyperCompetentSidekick of the Stokes family, the most powerful crime family in Harlem, brokering deals for the family to gain high tech weaponry. Despite his loyalties, he has no problems turning against his masters when they turn against him, such as when he planned to kill Cottonmouth only to find Mariah Dillard committing the act which Shades helped her coverup by [[FrameUp framing]] Luke Cage and Diamondback for the deed, killing any witnesses in the scenes, and successfully sending Luke back to prison. During that time Shades becomes enamored with Mariah helping her become the leader of her crime family with him as her lover, only to become [[EvenEvilHasStandards horrified]] of her decision to massacre an entire restaurant full of innocents, so much so that he orchestrates her entire downfall by becoming an informant for the police. Always maintaining his cool and suave demeanor, Sades even accepts his final defeat with grace.

-->'''Luke''': ({{Beat}})... [[LampshadeHanging You look like a damn fool!]]

** Season two comes with a pretty heavy-handed theme that's nonetheless relevant and necessary: crime does not pay. Even rising to the top of the criminal underworld comes with misery, from destroyed personal relationships and constantly looking over your shoulder. [[spoiler: ''All'' of the major villains are worse off by the end of the season; Mariah falls from grace both as a politician and crime lord and is sent to prison and then later killed by her own daughter, Bushmaster never gets his revenge on Mariah and almost all of his family is dead and his body is broken beyond repair, and Shades finally faces the music for his crimes after he sticks by Mariah's side and kills Comanche, someone whom he actually loved and was working to get them both out the gangster lifestyle. Not to mention the countless underlings killed and shady businessmen ruined by their shady dealings or killed themselves.]]

-->'''Luke:''' [[SarcasmMode It's called deductive reasoning.]] If a rocket launcher couldn't stop me, what's a little pea shooter gonna do?

* BellisariosMaxim: Mahershala Ali clearly isn't old enough to be playing Cottonmouth as portrayed here, especially when contrasted with the age-appropriate Alfre Woodard and Frankie Faison. But everyone loves his performance so much that they don't care.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Mama Mabel. Just how much ''did'' she really care about her neighborhood, or even her family? She's remembered as violent and ruthless, but also as someone who genuinely looked out for her neighborhood and had a particular soft-spot for victims of domestic and especially sexual abuse... but as it turns out, when Pistol Pete was abusing Mariah, Mabel's response was to send the latter off to a boarding school to keep her out of his reach (which Mariah cites, in the present, as the reason why Mabel chose to neglect Cottonmouth's musical talents in favor of giving Mariah the better education). She didn't seem to have any problem continuing to work with Pete up to the point when he started making deals behind her back, and despite praising a young Cottonmouth for his honesty, she then forced him to kill Pete when Pete was the only person to treat Cottonmouth like he had potential beyond just some street thug. Did she ever really care about the fact that her brother-in-law was sexually abusing her granddaughter? Or did she at least not care enough because Pete was still useful as a business partner up until he started to make deals behind her back?

** Mariah pretty much crosses the line with ''everyone'' in season 2 after she [[spoiler:orders a restaurant full of innocent people killed and personally kills Anansi by ''burning him alive''. Even Shades is completely taken back by the brutality and that's when the heroes and other villains come to the realization that she needs to be stopped at all costs.]] The ''only'' thing keeping Mariah from being a CompleteMonster is her [[DarkAndTroubledPast tragic upbringing into a crime family and repeated rape as a teen by her own uncle]] that can at least explain her behavior.

* MagnificentBastard: Shades, with his charisma and ability to remain in a position of power even as leadership changes. He's considered by many fans of the show, and Theo Rossi, to be like a Harlem variant of [[Series/GameOfThrones Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish]].

*** Luke Cage is a bit hard to pin down at the end of season 2 but he is most probably like Jon Snow. Like Jon, Luke has a strong moral compass and took the throne with the intention of ruling Harlem with honor. Also like Jon, Luke gained the throne even though he was not supposed to inherit it. But, in a bad comparison, Luke might be going into this role with a certain naivete. While ruling Harlem “the right way” might sound good at first, it doesn’t look like Luke has a clear strategy in mind. Being just and honorable is one thing but making morally grey decisions that might benefit criminals could prove to be Luke’s downfall. Just look at Jon and his cousin Robb. Robb tried to be as honorable as possible and ended up alienating the Karstarks when he chose to execute their leader. Meanwhile, Jon was killed ([[BackFromTheDead then not]]) by his own men for the decisions he made that he thought were in the best interests of the realm.

** Mariah pretty much crosses the line with ''everyone'' in season after she [[spoiler:orders a restaurant full of innocent people killed and personally kills Anansi by ''burning him alive''. Even Shades is completely taken back by the brutality and that's when the heroes and other villains come to the realization that she needs to be stopped at all costs.]] The ''only'' thing keeping Mariah from being a CompleteMonster is her [[DarkAndTroubledPast tragic upbringing into a crime family and repeated rape as a teen by her own uncle]] that can at least explain her behavior.

** As pointed out below, a number of scenes that were never meant to have political subtext in the first place simply acquired said subtext thanks to the increased prominence of the black community's struggles.
** The scenes with the police complaining about how the community hate them when they need them and how hard is to be a cop send a conflicting message when the show features multiple corrupt cops and in the very same episode features police abusing their power and breaking the law. Given the frequent police controversies in recent years.

* MoralEventHorizon: Mariah's killing of [[spoiler:Cottonmouth]], while brutal, was in retaliation for a ''very'' ugly and uncalled-for remark. The list of villains who ''haven't'' killed for less can be counted on one hand, and it's questionable whether the act was intentional. But personally ordering the completely innocent Candace's assassination showed that she had inherited the role Mama Mabel had held years ago
** In Universe, Mariah crosses it with [[spoiler:her paramour Shades]] in Season 2. Shades has a breakdown after watching [[spoiler:her burn Bushmaster's uncle alive after slaughtering a restaurant full of innocent people]]. Candace even gets brought up, with Shades saying he considered an acceptable target the moment she took the money and then snitched.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Diamondback. Some fans love the LargeHam performance and [[spoiler:his personal connection to Luke that makes for a more emotional climax]], while others just find him silly and wish [[spoiler:Cottonmouth had stayed for the whole season.]] And others still think [[spoiler:his character wasn't really foreshadowed beyond his name, with Luke making no reference to him]], and as such, this makes the show's writing [[spoiler:clumsily try to catch the audience up on who he is.]] Others would've preferred the focus instead shifted to Mariah and/or Shades, [[spoiler:though they're set up for future stories]].

** Bushmaster has a lot of Frank Castle behind him: ruthless killer who clashes with the main character, is morally gray, and is after a villain who killed his family.

** When Mariah criticizes Cottonmouth having Zip and his other goons hand out flyers, Cottonmouth justifies his actions by saying "They pass out flyers, get contributions, tributes. (Jamaican accent) Just like in Jamaica, you know?" Politics and gangs are intertwined so much in Jamaica that it's not uncommon to see goons who were in a shootout one day passing out fliers the next day.

** Mariah going berserk on [[spoiler:Cottonmouth]] and beating him to death was already disturbing as it was, [[spoiler:but season 2's reveal of Tilda's parentage adds several more layers.]]

* {{Misblamed}}: The [[NeverLiveItDown infamously unpopular]] storytelling decision in season 1 to [[spoiler: kill off Cottonmouth halfway through the season]] is sometimes seen as a point of contention against the showrunner, Cheo Hodari Coker. In fact, [[spoiler: Creator/MahershalaAli had only agreed to play Cottonmouth if he wouldn't have to commit to a full series, so the plan right from the get-go was to have him only appear in seven episodes]].

** Luke stopping a convenience store robbery and randomly running into Method Man feels like it's from a completely different show than the gritty drama ''Luke Cage'' usually is. Though his rap song about Luke, "Bulletproof Love", is actually pretty good.

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: The rehabilitation that ''The Defenders'' started on Danny Rand continues during his guest appearance in Season 2, with him having greatly matured and providing solid assistance to Luke without ever overshadowing him, plus some more puncturing of his pretentious philosophical talk which he's much more good-natured about.
* RewatchBonus: The antagonistic scenes between Commanche and Mariah in Season 2 have extra layers of meaning [[spoiler: when you realize that [[BadassGay Commanche is in love with Shades.]]]]

** The Stylers of season 2 are somewhat reminiscent of [[VideoGame/{{SaintsRow2}} The Sons of Samedi]]: An Afro-Caribbean gang that quickly establishes themselves as a feared new player in the criminal underworld. Their members wear primarily green, listen to reggae, use military grade weaponry (including rocket launchers), and [[ImprobablyCoolCar drive custom vehicles which easily identify them]]. Bushmaster and Mr. Sunshine are both [[BloodKnight Blood Knights]] with [[HollywoodVoodoo Voudoun-themed powers]] which [[MadeOfIron help them shrug off bullets]], and explicitly state that they will always be able to fight as long as they draw breath. During an early confrontation with TheProtagonist, they attempt to disorient him by exposing him to loa dust. They also convert a warehouse into a drug lab/grow house that the Protagonist burns down.