I now choose to believe this is the only reason that did not happen.

JJ never leaned as hard into the noir as I wanted it to, and I agree, it didn't have as strong a bench either.

I mean, he does look like Mike Colter.

Oh man. I just realised the power pack on Diamondback's suit was diamond shaped. He literally had a diamond on his back.

I'm pretty sure it was a statement of intention on her part, but I don't think he was expecting it, which makes me think it wasn't intentionally rude. The big, arrogant-as-hell-grin says it was welcome, I think. (I mean, he's been throwing out vibes for many episodes now, right?)

People consistently not wanting a lawyer is an intensely irritating trend on television. Shades had that one totally right.

That would be great. I would also accept team Mariah/Shades as dubious, short-term allies against whoever Sigourney Weaver is.

It is also, as others have pointed out before, a wonderful quote from Mufasa.

100% Foggy. Matt would be a terrible choice.

I thought the lip bite was pretty great. (My SO declared it, and Mariah, as 'sexy').

Agreed. I was furious with Misty, who right at the end of the previous episode said she wouldn't let Mariah get away, doing pretty much exactly that at the beginning of this one. The verbal smack down felt totally justified, and sets Misty's character on an interesting path going forward.

Taken as a whole, I came out liking Luke Cage the most, because I feel like despite its issues, the overall style and the strong ensemble cast came out best.
I'm currently ranking them LC, DDS1, JJ, DDS2.

I loathed the first half of this finale. Right before it started, I turned to the people I was watching this with and said "this better not start with a flashback", which of course, it did.

Yeah, I think overall I liked Luke Cage best, too. I understand people's frustrations with Diamondback, but I think the show as a whole has more strengths than it does weaknesses. I've already found myself rewatching the show and enjoying these episodes because the material with Mariah, Shades and Misty is fun to…

Agreed. They could all do with at least a 10 episode cut off. I'm not sure why anyone is treating this like a Luke Cage specific problem when it's now happened three times. I found JJ particularly protracted by the end.

The score for this show is incredible. I listen to it often, and thoroughly recommend it to everyone.

They really are the best. I'm so distressingly behind them.

I feel like that exchange with Misty, where he tells her that he doesn't have everything figured out, rings very true. He's playing a great game of survival speed chess.

So, do we think that Shades would have eventually given Mariah the bottle anyway and hatched a plot to take out Diamondback, even if it weren't for the attempt on his life? I kind of wish they hadn't spelled out that this meant he no longer had anything on her, and let the subtext speak for itself.

Threads messed me up for weeks. Between that and Terminator 2, I was very, very afraid of nuclear war when I was a teen.