Flashbacks invigorate Luke Cage but don’t do much for character development

I know it must get a little
repetitive to read these reviews where I keep saying that I want something more
from Luke Cage. I’ve been more
critical of the season because I know that there is a confident, sexy, socially
conscious show buried deep in Luke Cage. Even
though I’m not the season’s biggest fan, this episode felt a little easier to
watch and it made me excited about the rest of the season. Maybe because it was
shorter than the previous two episodes, but “The Creator” felt more stylish
than some of the other episodes this season. Everyone is coming together to
defeat Mariah. The show is moving with purpose. Mariah is positioned to be the
Big Bad of the season and Misty is putting together all the pieces to take her
down.

The notable feature of this
episode is the use of flashbacks. I am conflicted about what the show chooses
to flash back to but they’re interesting to watch and well shot. The island of
Jamaica is a pleasant change of scenery from the police station, Pop’s, and
Harlem’s Paradise. Luke Cage doesn’t
have a flashy or swift visual style and the flashbacks move quickly and
confidently. Unfortunately, one of the weaknesses of Luke Cage is how often it repeats information.

The first few flashbacks about
Bushmaster’s life were showing us the history between his family and Mariah’s. We
know how the Stokes family screwed the McIver family out of their share of the
profits. Do we need to see the lawyers in Jamaica? We see Mariah treating
Bushmaster with disdain. We could all assume that young Mariah was just as
entitled as she is now. Bushmaster described the fire that killed his mother
and that moment was very important for his character arc. Why are we seeing it
again? To see that Mabel throw the legal documents on the fire? We didn’t need
to see Bushmaster’s suffering to know how it affected him or to even seen that
final twist of the knife from Mabel. Burning his mother alive is cruel enough.
We’re watching the emotional wreckage of his mother’s death every moment
Bushmaster is on screen.

By repeating information over and
over, Luke Cage puts itself at a
disadvantage when it comes to timing. As the season has gone on, the episodes
have gotten longer and if the show didn’t take time to repeat itself, there
would be more time for those character beats I keep asking for.

Speaking of those confusing
character beats, Luke’s emotions seem to change based on what’s necessary for
the story. He begins the episode furious at Mariah for the massacre at Gwen’s
but over the course of the episode, he changes his tune because the show
requires Mariah to live for two more episodes. It’s not a great sign when our
lead’s behavior doesn’t make sense from moment to moment. Plus, he’s often just
a mouthpiece for the messages of the show. He’s sitting across from Anansi’s widow
telling her that the answer to war isn’t “more war.” Okay, Luke. We get it. Very
little seems to challenge Luke and it’s easy for him to reconcile his beliefs
with the demands that the other characters place on him. There don’t seem to be
any moral obstacles standing in Luke’s way. The only conflict for him is how
he’s going to logistically how to get Mariah. Watching someone plan on
television isn’t particularly interesting.

Luke Cage’s flaws haven’t been erased but taking some risks when it
comes to the storytelling make a difference and have me more excited as we
enter the last few episodes of the season.

• That’s it, I’m nominating “Will
  you at least tell me his medical history?” as the worst line of the series.
• The way the West Indian Day
  parade is shot is warm and very pretty. Everyone kept
  mentioning how hard it would be to get around during the parade and we didn’t
  get a single chase scene through the crowd. Too expensive?
• After Shades leaves Ingrid in the
  clinic, she takes a band-aid off her head to reveal a completely normal and
  unblemished head. Someone on set didn’t even try that day.
• No special musical guest this episode!