Luke Cage may be strong, but there’s ways to defeat him and Bushmaster has one that we saw at the end of last episode. Of course he’s not defeated but it establishes there’s a way to beat him. The show ups the stakes in that way and also sets up the eventual confrontation down the road.

Much of the episode revolves around Piranha who has been captured by Bushmaster and then there’s the wagons circling around Mariah. The episode takes more of a police drama side of things with Mariah being offered ways out from it all and talks of what she’s facing when it comes to crimes. It puts in perspective for the audience as to how screwed she really is and how easily she could get out of it by flipping on Bushmaster. She wants to go legit but only seems to be willing to do it up to a point.

That back and forth between Bushmaster and Mariah is interesting as he’s been maneuvering so easily without Mariah noticing until it’s too late. It’s been interesting to see the build though the build is so slow. Still, the previous six episodes are finally paying off.

Then there’ Comanche and his ratting on Mariah. That all comes to ahead in interesting ways. Things really go off the rails and things go very wrong. It’s a plot that’s good and wish there was more of it but it only feels like it was there to get some characters out of the way. We’ll see where it goes but right now it’s good but odd in some ways as the door closes.

But, the big part of the episode is the focus on sons and their mothers. We see Luke’s confrontation with his father concerning his mother’s death. We finally find out why Bushmaster hates Mariah. The sins of the past are laid bare by the two of them. It’s a very dramatic moment and puts those final pieces of the puzzle together.

This is the real pivot episode as we move to the latter half of the season. Bushmaster has made his big moves and some of what’s been weighing Luke down has been lifted from his shoulders in a way. That pivot also feels like it extends to the music. There’s been an interesting mix of blues and reggae throughout the season and here we get a full switch over to the latter as Bushmaster has taken control.

This season feels like it’s about various thematic threads and the small details. Much like the second season of Jessica Jones, this is the long game and things are playing out well up to this point. Slow, but really well.

Overall Rating: 7.95