History Recap / LukeCage2016S2E1SoulBrotherNumberOne

** Mariah's introduced about to play the stock market by investing in Atreus Plastics as they are about to be acquired by Glenn Industries. In the ''Daredevil'' comics, Atreus Plastics was a front company for Glenn Industries' illegal manufacture of explosives (with Glenn Industries' CEO Maxwell Glenn being the father to one of Matt's girlfriends). Here, Atreus and Glenn are separate entities, Atreus being a plastics company involved in no shady dealings, and same for Glenn (and Heather Glenn not making her debut until ''Daredevil: Born Again'').

!! Tropes in this episode include:

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Take note of the fact that when Stephanie is being interviewed by Mariah for a waitressing position at Harlem's Paradise, Mariah makes note of her "being one way in Lakeville, [[Recap/LukeCage2016S2E3WigOut another on Flatbush]]." And the fact that after this scene, we cut to Bushmaster and his lieutenant discussing plans for their first move against Mariah.

** Mariah's introduced about to play the stock market by investing in Atreus Plastics as they are about to be acquired by Glenn Industries. In the ''Daredevil'' comics, Atreus Plastics was a front company for Glenn Industries' illegal manufacture of explosives (with Glenn Industries' CEO Maxwell Glenn being the father to one of Matt's girlfriends). Here, Atreus and Glenn are separate entities, Atreus being a plastics company involved in no shady dealings, and same for Glenn.

-->'''Luke:''' If you ever say Claire Temple's name out loud again, I'll kill you. I'll go to jail with a ''smile'' on my face. No bullet can kill me, no jail can hold me. You hear me? Nothing can stop me from getting to you.

-->'''Ridenhour:''' You can't keep doing what you're doing.\\
'''Luke:''' Kicking ass and shutting down drug labs? I have no idea what you're talking about.\\
'''Ridenhour:''' I've got a map that says otherwise.\\
'''Luke:''' Oh. That's just my reputation preceding me.\\
'''Ridenhour:''' You're an unlicensed weapon. You need to work with us, ''legally''.\\
'''Luke:''' I'm doing your work ''for'' you. Allegedly.

** Shades debriefs Mariah on the prospective gun buyers, who all have connections to the criminal players of the first season.
*** Arturo Rey III, the so-called "Discount Furniture King of Washington Heights", smuggles coke and heroin in his couches. He recently acquired a large swath of territory by forcing the Colon brothers out of the drug business completely in the wake of Domingo's death.
*** Nigel Garrison is the leader of the Yardies, controlling the guns and gangs of Crown Heights and Jamaica, Queens. His brother Neville Barnwell was one of the four crimelords that Diamondback killed in the fatal meeting at Colon's Gym.
*** Dontrell "Cockroach" Hamilton is a fresh out of jail player whose conviction by the late Detective Scarfe was tainted.
** Atreus Plastics, the company that Piranha Jones is pitching for Mariah and Shades to make an investment in, had been alluded to before, as one of their trucks was used in the season 1 finale of ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' as part of Wilson Fisk's attempted jailbreak.
** Claire is seen coaching Misty Knight in therapy, and she mentions Matt when bringing up Midland Circle and Misty's injury, which happened in ''Series/{{The Defenders|2017}}''.

* DontYouDarePityMe: Misty ''hates'' the idea of people pitying her for the loss of her arm. Claire has to explain it's not pity, it's ''gratitude''. Misty has to argue her way back into the precinct; she doesn't want a purple heart, she's not interested in retiring on tax-free 3/4-pay for life. She's a ''cop'', god dammit.

* OhCrap: Arturo shoots Luke with a Judas bullet. Luke falls to his knees, grunting in pain, the bullet explodes... and he stands up. [[SubvertedTrope Those aren't a problem any more.]]

-->'''Mariah:''' Plastics? That's our future? ''[Mariah starts laughing. Shades and Piranha just stare]'' Damn, none of y'all saw ''Film/TheGraduate''?

** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the beginning by Luke but [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the thugs when one of the them claims, "We gotta know we tried, man".

* PassThePopcorn: Colleen just sits there drinking her beer at the start of Misty's BarBrawl, refusing to help. [[LovelyAngels She does join in eventually]], however.

-->'''Luke:''' If you ever say Claire Temple's name out loud again, I'll kill you. No bullet can kill me, no jail can hold me. You hear me? Nothing can stop me from getting to you.

* RealityEnsues:
** Thanks to Scarfe turning out to be a DirtyCop, at least some of his arrests were tainted, causing genuine criminals like Cockroach to walk free.
** Luke's rise in fame comes with a lot of downsides. The Harlem's Hero mobile app allows obsessed fans to track his every movement (like a personal Waze), and some try to catch Luke at the barbershop, etc. The barbershop also now has tour buses coming by every other hour.
** Bobby Fish mentions that the insurance and rent on Pop's has doubled as a result of Diamondback's attack.
** Diamondback's massacre of the gang bosses from season 1 has just led to new gangs filling the vacuum, Arturo Rey and Cockroach being among the new players.

** Luke's rise in fame means there's a Harlem's Hero App, obsessed fans who try to catch Luke at the barbershop, etc. Also, Bobby Fish mentions that the insurance and rent on Pop's has doubled as a result of Diamondback's attack.

* ActionPrologue: We are treated to one where Luke Cage busts a drug ring selling Arturo Rey's Luke Cage drug.

*** Arturo Rey III, the so-called "Discount Furniture King of Washington Heights", smuggles coke and heroin in his couches. He also pushed the Colon brothers out of the drug business completely following Domingo's death.
*** Nigel Garrison runs the Yardies, and controls the guns and gangs of Crown Heights and Jamaica, Queens. Diamondback killed his brother during the meeting at Colon's Gym.

** Atreus Plastics, the company that Piranha Jones is pitching for Mariah and Shades to invest in, had been alluded to before, as one of their trucks appeared in the finale of ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' season 1 as part of Wilson Fisk's attempted jailbreak.

* EyeScream: Bushmaster slowly slicing Nigel Garrison across the face with a knife.

** Glenn Industries is said to be preparing to buy out Atreus Plastics. In ''Daredevil'' vol. 1, Atreus Plastics was a front company for Glenn Industries' illegal manufacture of explosives. Here, Atreus is a plastics company involved in no shady dealings, and Glenn is also a legitimate company.

** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the beginning by Luke but [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by the thugs when one of the them claims, "We gotta know we at least tried".

-->'''Mariah:''' Plastics? That's our future? ''(Mariah starts laughing. Shades and Piranha just stare.)'' Damn, none of y'all saw ''Film/TheGraduate''?

* TheYardies: Nigel Garrison is their new leader, as his brother, Neville Barnwell, was one of the four crime lords murdered by Diamondback during the meeting at Colon's Gym.

* EyeScream: Bushmaster slowly slicing Nigel Garrison with a knife.

** Claire teasingly calls Luke Cage "Power Man" at one point in the episode.
** ''Daredevil'' fans may recognize the name Glenn Industries because their founder is the father of Heather Glenn, one of Matt's love interests in the comics.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Nigel is a new villain, and gets killed in his first appearance by Bushmaster.

* WrestlerInAllOfUs: At the beginning, Luke slams a criminal through a table, WWE-style.
* TheYardies: Nigel Garrison is their new leader, as his brother, Neville Barnwell, was murdered last season by Diamondback.

* PosthumousCharacter: James Lucas is portrayed by Reg E. Cathey, who passed away prior to this season premiering on Netflix.