written by Kiara Williams

SPOILER WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT

Woo boy, this episode hasn’t done much to ease the tension, has it?

My favorite part of this episode was Misty getting her fierceness back. So far, we’ve been able to tell that Misty has been trying to work through the pain of losing her right arm, but she’s obviously still felt inadequate up to this point. (It doesn’t help that people still keep pointing it out or making jokes. What the hell, guys?) But! With Colleen’s help, Misty gets into a bar fight and wins. Also, Colleen doesn’t jump in until Misty decides that she is able to fight on her own. Also-also, it’s a pet peeve of mine when capable female fighters are always stuck fighting only other ladies, so it was nice seeing Misty and Colleen take down a whole bar of dudes.

The most important characters in this episode, though, were Luke and Claire. This wasn’t the way I hoped Luke would go after beating Cockroach within an inch of his life. Unfortunately, it only worsened his attitude. Luke sank deeper into his anger instead of fighting against it, despite seeing how it affected Cockroach’s girlfriend and child. He decided to be unapologetic about his actions instead of reflecting on what he’s done. I feel like by now, Luke should know better than to sink into the idea that the identity of a black man can only be two-dimensional. After the previous episode, I didn’t think I’d be on Claire’s side at the end of all this, but here we are. Claire even said that anger can be a tool! Which is basically what I said last time!

I cannot blame Claire at all for deciding to take some time away from Luke. He triggered her when he knocked open a hole in her wall. Claire is a victim of familial domestic abuse and Luke knows this. Luke really comes off as an abuser at the end of this episode, even saying “I would never hurt you”, which is Abuser Language 101. It’s really unfortunate that Luke let his anger turn him into this. I still don’t agree with Claire trying to get Luke to contact his father, but there’s no excuse for this. I appreciate that Claire stands up for herself and walks away the moment she feels unsafe; I was worried that Claire would stay and justify Luke’s Sad Dude Tears. I have personal experience with Sad Dude Tears. They’re not worth staying for. I hope Luke can dig himself out of his gross behavior soon. I would hate to start rooting against the guy I loved so much after last season.

Luke Cage is available now on Netflix. Kiara can be reached on Twitter @DJPrincessK and her webcomic can be found at http://www.electricrosecomic.com/.