Let me first point out that I am a human being – a flawed human being with imperfections and biased opinions. I have never liked film noirs, jazz music, gangsters, the mafia, or anything to do with thugs. Furthermore, I find it difficult to enjoy a TV show if I cannot connect with the main character…or any other character at that. Luke Cage has all of that – which is why I considered it boring, and my least favorite of the three shows. I watched others talk about how great it was…how it is better than the other MCU Netflix shows, or even other recent Netflix shows like Stranger Things and for once, I’m out of the loop because I don’t get it. However, with this universe, it is pertinent to watch these shows for potential continuity.
So I watched the show, and I was ultimately bored with it. There were good episodes, but in general – I found it a lackluster experience from the get go. The best episode was the third, and some others came close as well. However, this show tried to do what Jessica Jones did – as his abilities are practically unstoppable, they introduced an emotional aspect to it that served as his vulnerabilities. The difference between the two comes down to if I can connect with the character – and for Luke Cage, I just couldn’t. As I pointed out before, I also didn’t like the music choices or even villains – the end fight was trying to be epic in a way, but it was so typical and blah-inducing – I’m having a hard time finding something in this show that can be considered a “wow” factor. I’m just glad I’m caught up and don’t have to worry about it anymore…I just know there’s going to be a second season…sigh.
I had a decision to make – how was I going to rate this…because I didn’t want my own personal objections to get in the way. So here’s what I came up with. Netflix had a specific goal in mind when they made this TV show, and a lot of people really do like it – so I have to say they did what they sought to do. However, I believe there is also an entirely different group of people that didn’t like it – and I feel like this rift between the two is more apparent than any other the other shows Netflix has done with Marvel. I’m not one to explain why that is – but I can tell it exists. So I’ll just say this – Luke Cage is a well-done show that positively achieves what it wanted to achieve – which told a story without worrying what an audience would think of it. If they loved it great, if they didn’t, oh well. However, when you take that kind of risk – you create something that is possibly not entertaining – which is what I experienced when I watched it.
Look. I’m not a genius, but when I’m struggling to get through a season and groaning at the idea of watching another one…I’m pretty sure they did something wrong. That being said, I can’t ignore where it did go right – so that’s how I came up with my score.
