‘Luke Cage’ Episode 9 Recap: Cops & Robbers (& Superheroes)

In a television show centered around a black superhero, so much of the story has been commentary on the experiences of ordinary black folk. A large part of the ordinary black experience is having to carefully navigate interactions with the police, and Episode 9 of Luke Cage, “DWYCK,” explores the dynamic between law enforcement and the black community.

As we’ve seen in previous episodes, Luke (Mike Colter) is a stand in for so many black men who’ve been criminalized and then brutalized or killed, most obviously Trayvon Martin and his hoodie. This time Luke is the victim of profiling by police. Luke, nursing his wounds from being shot by Diamondback (Erik LaRay Harvey), is walking in obvious pain down the street. Officers in a police car spot him from behind, and identify him incorrectly as a drunk. Rather than check to see if he is ok, they call into dispatch, at once criminalizing him. “Is it our suspect?” the dispatcher asks. “We have a black male but need verification” is the officer’s reply. A generic description like “black male” is specific enough to profile a man who has been merely walking. The officers, one white and one black, exit their car and ask Luke if there’s a problem. Luke tells them he’s just taking a walk, minding his business, but the white cop demands identification. “To walk?” Luke asks with incredulity. The officer orders Luke to turn around and remove his hoodie. “May I ask why?” Luke asks. “Because I said so” is the officer’s reply. Luke does so, and upon recognition of him as a suspect of him in Cottonmouth’s murder, they draw guns. Luke then goes into self-preservation mode, apologizing just before fighting them and escaping in their car. Of course, no ordinary black man would be so lucky.

All this isn’t any easier for the black women inside police department. Misty Knight (Simone Missick), after a violent incident with Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), is being interviewed by a psychologist to assess her fitness for return to active duty. We learn that the police’s disregard for victims like her cousin is what moved her to become an officer. In 1995, Misty’s cousin had been raped and murdered by neighborhood men, but they didn’t do much to investigate as her cousin was just “another poor worthless bitch from the Polo Grounds.” It’s not clear that Misty is regarded much differently by the police now, even as she is herself an officer. She is held to a different standard than her male counterparts, even with her sparkling resume and her deep connections to the neighborhood that make her incredibly effective at her job. Her one instance of loss of control is the reason for this interview, even while the PD is accused of more devastating instances of brutality every day. The entire precinct failed to identify Scarfe as a pig on Cottonmouth’s payroll, yet it is she and Captain Aubrey who have suffered the consequences. There’s an open Internal Affairs investigation on Misty, and the former black female captain was forced out because of the corruption of her white male subordinate as the while male leaders of the police force collude to cover up the crime. Misty’s new supervisor, Investigator Ridley is also a black woman, but has been especially hard on Misty, perhaps because she has to cover her own behind. She certainly behaves like someone who has bought into the institutional bias �� she has little interest in finding the criminal who has just brutalized Misty, instead focusing and directing Misty to focus on that black man in the hoodie, of whom edited dash cam footage of him attacking those profiler police officers has just “leaked.”

But of course, Luke Cage is a story about a superhero, with supervillains being all villain-y. So we should discuss that.

Shades Alvarez (Theo Rossi), confronts the goons who cannot find Luke. Diamondback, not content to let Shades be the head honcho, steps in and shoots one of the goons to assert himself as the real threat, and to motivate the rest of them find Luke. Once alone with Shades Diamondback presses him, accusing Shades of encouraging Mariah (Alfre Woodard) to kill Cottonmouth in an attempted takeover. Apparently Diamondback is greatly put out at the loss of Cottonmouth whom he regarded as a brother. That seems out of left field, especially considering that we were introduced to Diamondback as he began his mission to kill his actual brother.

Mariah is at the morgue, remorsefully talking to Cottonmouth’s dead body. She monologues about how it came to be that she raised him after his father overdosed and his mother abandoned him. Mariah almost apologizes for killing him when Shades, her dark angel walks in and interrupts. Shades continues to be the force that keeps Mariah from returning to her good side, reminding her that she did what she had to do in killing Cottonmouth, and telling her of the danger that awaits her if Luke Cage remains on the street and if she doesn’t take over Cottonmouth’s criminal business dealings. So Mariah goes to visit Domingo Colon and asks him to bring all the crime bosses in NYC together so that she can arrange a buy out of Cottonmouth’s assets.

As of the last episode, Mariah is no longer a councilwoman, but her assistant Alex figures out a way spin the leaked dash cam footage of Luke Cage into a political advantage for her. Still, she must attend the sit down for all the bosses, where dressed in all black and with Alvarez by her side she attempts to come to terms with the other crime bosses Colon has brought together. Diamondback arrives uninvited, though, and kills everyone except Colon. Immediately, Mariah’s criminal side takes over; She watches the crime bosses die without flinching much like she had when Cottonmouth tossed Tone over the roof after Pop’s death. Mariah does not fear Diamondback’s wrath and she negotiates a truce with Luke Cage as the peace offering. She tells Diamondback of the viral video of the dash cam footage of Luke, and instead of using it to earn her political back, she proposes selling Judas bullets to law enforcement that will take out Luke Cage and “the rest of these superfreaks.” She wants to do like Big Pharma and “invent the disease and sell the cure.” Of course Mariah tries to pretend not to be a part of this, but Diamondback tells her that she is “way into this.”

The Claire-Luke storyline is still a thing, and so I guess we have to address it. Claire is at her mother’s diner researching Luke’s cellular make up, trying to find a way that he can be treated. Luke, having just escaped the two cops, meets her. He’s still in great pain, and his wounds are starting to become infected. Clair suggests that they go to Dr. Noah Burstein, the doctor from Seagate Prison who made Luke what he is. Despite Luke’s protestations, Claire insists he’s Luke’s only hope and drives him to Dr. Burstein’s home. Ok, I fear that internalized misogyny may be part of my dislike of Claire, but this character is super lame. She does nothing but function as a plot device, which, in a story full of rich characters– particularly female ones — really gets in my craw. Dawson ex machina. A friend of mine pointed out that Claire is well fleshed out in Marvel’s Jessica Jones and Daredevil, so maybe the writers of Luke Cage didn’t feel the need to give Claire much more development. But that doesn’t hold for me. We don’t know a damn thing about Shades Alvarez, and he’s still very compelling. This iteration of Claire Temple stinks and so does this retread storyline. Reclusive doctor with failed dreams of making humans infallible is forced into hiding after disastrous event only to be forced to save the one person on whom his crazy experimental treatment works. But wait—he might not be able to save the hero! Oh my Luke’s in danger. Yawn. This is boring. How did we get here? The least interesting story in a superhero story is the superhero?!

[Watch Marvel’s Luke Cage, Episode 9, “DWYCK” on Netflix]

Rae Sanni is a comedian and writer from Brooklyn, NY who has been bringing her unique perspective on everything from pop culture to race and gender relations to audiences all over. Rae co-hosts the monthly stand up comedy show LoudMouth!. You can find Rae on Twitter @Raesanni, where she muses on her love for Rihanna, NBA players, and being a black person.