Luke Cage Episode 2
I have the sads. Amazing episode but I still have the sads.
Poor Pops. He probably died thinking that Cottonmouth ordered the hit. The way he talked about him and Chico's father had that tone of old affection that older men and women get when they reminisce about long ago friends. He felt some fear of Cottonmouth where Chico was concerned but he still trusted that his shop was a safe haven and that Cotton had enough lingering affection on his side to keep things that way. And he probably died thinking that, no, Cotton no longer had such affection and broke their trust. So sad.
I feel for Cotton as well because he had every intention of maintaing the trust and honoring Pops' shop as the safe haven. Like he told Shades "there are supposed to be rules". Very Corleone. Ali sold Cotton's grief and rage on that rooftop. Him talking about how Pops can rebuild and that he'd contribute an anonymous donation made the reveal so much sadder. I imagine his star will shoot straight up as a result of this show. I also liked how Shades was genuinely against Tone shotting up Pops' shop and felt bad for Cotton's loss. No one can call him two dimensional.
What I liked most about this episode is that we saw how integral Pops is to the characters and Harlem. Pops was shown to know so many people and they all had affection for him. Luke, Cotton, Chico, Misty, the various extras all contributed to show us a man whose very presence helped shape his part of Harlem. And, it was Pops' death that pushed Luke to not only take the step of becoming the superhero but made him angry enough to not care about being quiet. Luke's own grief and rage in the final scene was a nice mirror to Cotton's. Both men grieving the loss of a father figure. Both men who will move forward from this pivotal moment on parallel paths. Both men who will circle one another until the story comes to a head. It's going to be fascinating to watch.
In the mean time, RIP Pops.
Poor Pops. He probably died thinking that Cottonmouth ordered the hit. The way he talked about him and Chico's father had that tone of old affection that older men and women get when they reminisce about long ago friends. He felt some fear of Cottonmouth where Chico was concerned but he still trusted that his shop was a safe haven and that Cotton had enough lingering affection on his side to keep things that way. And he probably died thinking that, no, Cotton no longer had such affection and broke their trust. So sad.
I feel for Cotton as well because he had every intention of maintaing the trust and honoring Pops' shop as the safe haven. Like he told Shades "there are supposed to be rules". Very Corleone. Ali sold Cotton's grief and rage on that rooftop. Him talking about how Pops can rebuild and that he'd contribute an anonymous donation made the reveal so much sadder. I imagine his star will shoot straight up as a result of this show. I also liked how Shades was genuinely against Tone shotting up Pops' shop and felt bad for Cotton's loss. No one can call him two dimensional.
What I liked most about this episode is that we saw how integral Pops is to the characters and Harlem. Pops was shown to know so many people and they all had affection for him. Luke, Cotton, Chico, Misty, the various extras all contributed to show us a man whose very presence helped shape his part of Harlem. And, it was Pops' death that pushed Luke to not only take the step of becoming the superhero but made him angry enough to not care about being quiet. Luke's own grief and rage in the final scene was a nice mirror to Cotton's. Both men grieving the loss of a father figure. Both men who will move forward from this pivotal moment on parallel paths. Both men who will circle one another until the story comes to a head. It's going to be fascinating to watch.
In the mean time, RIP Pops.