Luke teams up with an unlikely ally to combat a new strain of heroin, though the latter still hasn't abandoned his plans for vengeance. After making a deal with Misty, Shades tries to help in taking Mariah down, who is throwing a massive party.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Back-to-Back Badasses: How Bushmaster and Luke fight off a the Yangsi Gonshi.
- Bullet Time: The Slo-Mo scene of Bushmaster dodging Shades' gunshot.
- Call-Back:
- The Bushmaster brand dope is one to the Luke Cage branded dope seen early in the season and manufactured by Arturo Rey III.
- Luke and Bushmaster's team-up to destroy the drug lab is very reminiscent of Matt Murdock's rescue of Frank Castle from the Kitchen Irish.
- Eric Hong, the Korean boss at the auction, recalls how his brother Peter was killed by Diamondback at the meeting in Colon's Gym, and Mariah's presence at that meeting, which prompts Rosalie to comment about the death and destruction that seem to follow Mariah around.
- Seeing Luke show up at Harlem's Paradise with another bullet-riddled hoodie (from helping Bushmaster fight the goons at the drug lab), Mariah says she ought to introduce Luke to Dapper Dan. Luke replies that he already does, and the last suit he got from Dapper Dan was one that Cottonmouth's men put bullets in too.
- Mariah brings up the conversation she had with Luke's father back when they were hiding out in the Rand Medical Centre and uses this as evidence to show that Luke has always had a heart of gold and will protect her when the time comes.
- Continuity Nod:
- Eric Hong is the brother of the late Peter Hong, who got killed by Diamondback in the last season of the show.
- Like in Iron Fist, the Yangshi Goshi employ hatchets as their weapons.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: When Luke tells Mariah he doesn't plan on saving her a third time from Bushmaster Mariah points out that he has always saved her and his goodness means that he is the only one she can always rely on. She also throws a huge free gala at Harlem's Paradise in order to draw Bushmaster out knowing that Luke will come to protect those there and, by extension, her. She even smugly mouths "I told you so" to Luke when he arrives at the club.
- Crucified Hero Shot: Luke after being thrown out of Mariah's office window.
- Cultural Posturing: Rosalie Carbone wastes no time telling Mariah that the Italians, the Chinese and the Japanese have run vast criminal organizations for centuries, while African Americans are incapable of getting any organization running.
- The Don: Rosalie Carbone is the head an Italian-American crime family.
- Enemy Mine: Luke and Bushmaster team up to shut down the Yangsi Gonshi refinery manufacturing drugs branded with Bushmaster's name.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Tilda lays a flower at Cottonmouth's grave, and says to his stone that he was the only Stokes who gave a damn about her even though he knew the truth about her parentage.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- The main reason Shades gives the cops for turning on Mariah, even the criminal world has rules and slaughtering a restaurant full of bystanders breaks them all.
- Also, Bushmaster heavily condemns the distribution of hard drugs, moreso when they're being done in his name.
- Eric Hong initially hesitates when being summoned to a meeting with Mariah in the back of an auction house, reminding her that his brother ended up dead when he went to a meeting with her (courtesy of Diamondback).
- Gambit Pileup: The climax of the episode sees several different gambits combining into one: Bushmaster coming to kill Mariah once and for all, Misty and the cops having Shades wear a wire and retrieve the gun used to kill Anansi and Candace; Tilda wanting to kill Mariah; Mariah humoring Shades just to get him inside the panic room to kill him for snitching on her, and Luke just trying to make sure Mariah lives to see jail.
- Hallway Fight: Luke pulls Bushmaster into a hallway during their encounter in the climax. This lasts about ten seconds before John gets the upper hand and is able to incapacitate Luke.
- Hour of Power: Tilda gives Bushmaster a concentrated dose of Nightshade to enhance his superhuman strength so that he can massacre Mariah by himself. However she warns that the effects are temporary and it could cost him permanent physical and mental damage if he takes the shot all at once. Naturally Bushmaster does so.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Luke gets Bushmaster into a chokehold and is preparing to choke him to death, but it's at Misty's pleading that he doesn't finish him off. This allows Bushmaster to get out of the hold and escape.
- Internal Reveal: In his confession, Shades reveals that he killed Candace and Comanche, and also reveals that Tone killed Pop, Cottonmouth killed Tone in response and confirms that it was Mariah who killed Cottonmouth.
- Laser-Guided Karma: What finally brings down Mariah and leads her to being arrested is her attachment to her family's .38 and refusal to get rid of the gun. Indeed, once Shades hands the gun over, Misty arrests her on the spot.
- Mêlée à Trois: The climactic fight is a three-on-one fight with Luke, Misty and Shades taking on Bushmaster, all to keep him from killing Mariah so she can go to prison.
- Moral Myopia: Shades' opinion on who in the criminal game can and can't be killed is very interesting. When retelling Tone's death, someone who by his standards broke the rules and caused pain he shouldn't have by killing Pop, Shades is gleeful and specifically notes how the fact that he never stopped screaming made the moment extra perfect. When recounting Anansi's death, a relative innocent in the whole affair, the fact that he never stopped screaming until Mariah shot him still horrifies Shades so much that he loses his composure for the first time in the entire scene.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Numerous people bring up the fact that deep down, Luke and Bushmaster are actually quite similar.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Mariah mocks Luke for his inability to end her, instead always coming to her rescue, which effectively makes him her strongest pawn.
- Smug Smiler: Shades recounts most of his criminal activities with an absolutely disgusting amount of glee.
- Sad Clown: Until, that is, Misty brings up Anansi's horrific death. He goes quiet.
- Spiteful Spit: Comanche's mom, Janice, spits in Shades' face after she hears the truth about him killing her son.
- Talking to the Dead: Tilda visits Cornell's grave to thank him for being her only family member who actually loved her.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Luke demands Bushmaster doesn't kill any of the Yangsi Gonshi as his prize for their team up in taking down their facility.
- Took a Level in Badass: With the extra shot of Nightshade, Bushmaster is strong enough to bust down reinforced steel doors, and it takes the combined strength of Luke, Misty and Shades to finally wear him down. And even then, he is strong enough to escape.
