‘Luke Cage’ Spoiler Review: Flaws Rise To The Surface In Final 6 Episodes

Too long and drawn-out

The photo above from the finale brawl between Cage and Diamondback is a good microcosm of this problem, perhaps inherent to Netflix shows: scenes and seasons go on way too long. It’s been said plenty, but particularly for Marvel shows, 13 episodes is too many. To sustain the heightened level of conflict over that many hours strains credulity and, inevitably, plot holes and “trapped by mountain lions” moments pile up.

One example is the finale fight, which isn’t very interestingly choreographed and drags on for a good 10 minutes, compounded by the fact that the rage the two characters use as fuel to fight wasn’t given proper weight. Another example is when Claire takes Luke to Dr. Burstein to recover from being shot with Judas bullets. Burstein literally tells the audience what he’s going to do (go to the car, check on Cage) and the next scene depicts exactly that, with no new information shared, other than a barely-funny quip from Cage. Why did that exist? No idea, but I bet it’s because they have no editing restrictions. Sounds great, but in practice, it leads to overindulgence which dilutes the product. Shakespeare said, “brevity is the soul of wit” and writers train to say what they want to say with as few words as possibl. The same should be true on screen.

That’s all I got for Luke Cage! Now that we’ve all had the weekend to digest the season at length, what are your thoughts? Let’s hear them in the comments!