Encoded by Hunter Crazy4TV.com
[camera shutters clicking]
I should have let that bitch burn.
You were right.
Hey. You're bulletproof, not clairvoyant.
Danny and I went to Harlem's Paradise.
We should've ended it there.
Should've went upstairs and snapped her neck.
That is not you.
Right now...
the way I feel...
could be.
The brass band's about to pull up any minute.
Misty, you can stay. Luke's gotta go.
Now's not the time.
You really think Mariah Dillard's responsible for this?
I know it in my bones.
This... whole thing is just a smoke out.
To force Bushmaster to respond.
Rude boy culture definitely demands a response. No doubt.
-We ready to end Mariah or what? -Slow your roll.
You can't discount the Italians, the Puerto Ricans, the Korean mobs.
Any of them could have done this.
Come on, man. Never!
Hey, Tomas, these are all 9mm casings, right?
Well, it looks like it, yeah. But it's too early to tell.
This looks like a close-contact wound.
And there are no shell casings near this body.
It's maybe a revolver.
Misty...
see this blood trail?
It's going in the wrong direction.
Somebody survived.
If anybody finds a living witness...
They won't survive much longer.
[theme music playing]
What are you doing? The nightshade we have.
It's not enough.
We need the real thing. Not this GMO crap you guys manufactured.
You're a survivor, bredren.
[Bushmaster groaning]
Fight.
[children laughing]
Stop it, Corny!
You got my hair wet. Cornell!
May May, get in the pool!
[young woman] Johnny!
Johnny!
Go talk to the bell captain and get more bags.
It's a holiday, you know? You still have work.
Auntie Ingrid, where's Mommy?
Go!
[Gwen] You can't ignore me. It's my turn to speak.
[Mabel] You ask me, you already said too damn much.
Come on, Maybelline, Gwen's reasonable.
Let's settle this shit.
Nobody asked her to stay away.
Did that on my own, after what you did to Quincy.
You kidding me?
He shot Buggy!
Show some respect, you murdering, stealing bitch.
-Sit down, please. -You wanna sit down now.
-Settle down. -Where's my money?
Settle, settle, settle. Please be reasonable.
Both men are dead. It was a tragedy.
All Ms. McIver is asking for
is her fair share of her late husband's estate.
My clients owe him nothing. Or her.
Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Stokes,
this piece of paper is an agreement... both men signed
acknowledging a 50% split on everything, from the rum company to the club.
You gonna base this shit on a goddamn cocktail napkin?
Pete played guitar at Smalls Paradise the night they signed it.
You were there too, Maybelline.
You remember all the good times we shared.
The plans beyond the rum label? The resort?
Buggy always liked it down here. Not me.
Too many goddamn mosquitoes.
[Pete laughing]
Always reminded me of the fields.
We both know my client would win in open court.
That's bullshit.
-What do you propose, Counselor? -Open your books in court.
-[scoffs] -That's not gonna happen.
[Rogers] Or we can settle this moment privately.
What you thinkin'?
Half of Quincy's shares of the sold Bushmaster
and continuing profits of Harlem's Paradise.
[Mabel laughing]
Don't... don't... don't start.
Your ass...
Get me something to drink.
Before I tell somebody.
[Pete] If she thinks we'll open our books,
she must be smoking that shit they tried to sell me at the airport.
Place your hand on the touch pad.
Hey!
This is biometric black James Bond shit.
Little gift from Atreus Plastics.
I love it.
[door unlocks]
I was thinking we could hang the Basquiat on this wall, Madam.
Oh, yes!
The Afzelia wood veneer will offset it beautifully.
Brilliant, boy.
And underneath all of this, Atreus resin.
It's three feet thick.
They developed it with the intention of building a bunker
-that could withstand nuclear attack. -[Shades scoffs]
You think that this plastic bullshit
is gonna prevent that man from coming to get you
after what you did last night?
What we did.
When the time is right,
we will pop him in his bumbaclaat ass once and for all.
We're building this safe room for a reason, Hernan.
Bushmaster's coming.
And when he does, we'll be ready.
[Billie] Please don't do this.
[gunshot]
I'm gonna haunt you for the rest of your days.
You're gonna eat, but you won't taste.
You're gonna sleep, but you won't rest.
Everything you love, you're gonna lose. You hear me?
You hear me?! [shouting]
[Misty] Come on, who are you?
-Is it you, Mariah? -[Luke] Misty. Misty.
Luke.
What are you thinking?
I'm thinking, "You ruined my concentration."
-Misty. -Yeah?
Name's Stephanie Miller. Junior at Columbia. Jamaican parents.
That's her baby sister that she was killed with.
-She wasn't even 15. -Jesus.
Paul Mackintosh aka Anansi.
He served some time in Jamaica,
but he's been on the straight and narrow for 20 years.
He owned Gwen's.
Hmm. It says here that Gwen's was named in honor
of co-owner Ingrid Mackintosh's sister,
Gwen McIver.
That's him. That's Bushmaster.
Was Ingrid among the dead?
No. She checked in on her work card, but she wasn't ID'd with the other bodies.
She's our witness. Gotta be. I'm on it.
Hey.
Wait.
We gotta consider what Tomas said.
You think any of the other crime families could have done this?
We need answers either way. I can shake the trees easier than you can.
I gotta try and stop this shit before it gets any worse.
Just don't mess up my case, please.
And don't get caught.
Wasn't planning on it.
I've got a few quick questions for ya.
Tell me about the killings at Gwen's.
No, no, no. Wait, it wasn't us. I swear to God. It wasn't us.
Ask around about me. If you're lying, it's on.
Understand?
Espresso?
Hey, Misty. I'm in Queens.
Just finished hollering at the Italians,
none of the other families had anything to do with this.
It's gotta be Mariah.
[Misty] Check your text.
Is that who I think it is?
It's surveillance video of Ingrid around the corner from Gwen's last night.
Look, I appreciate your help, Luke, I do, but I asked you not to mess up my case.
I don't want Mariah slipping through any loopholes.
I want her dead to rights.
Yeah, I just want her dead.
This is an open phone, Luke.
Look, I'm gonna call Tomas.
He will scramble hospitals in Brooklyn, and I will do the same up here.
That's gonna take too long. She's either gonna look for her nephew
or she's gonna try to slip through the cracks.
Tell you what. I'll look for her in Crown Heights myself, all right?
The West Indian Day Parade is today. You won't be able to find her.
Hello?
He did not just hang up on me.
Mercedes, we need to talk.
Press already has a name for it. "The Rum Punch Massacre."
Karen Page just called for a quote, asking about a living witness.
What? So we have a leak?
Gwen's was as much a community center as it was a restaurant.
And people know that the owner, Paul Mackintosh, died.
They figured his wife must be out there somewhere.
And the press will not sit on that story.
Well, we need Ingrid alive.
-Look, I've got to go. -No, no, no. You need to delegate.
Mayor wants us to reassure the public
Brooklyn's tragedy won't extend to other boroughs.
"Us"? You're deputy chief.
Okay, you can handle this while I go and find Ingrid.
The commissioner and the mayor asked for you, specifically.
-Me? -Yeah.
-Why? -They want the lead investigator
on the case to calm people's nerves.
And it don't hurt none that you a sister,
given how insular the West Indian community can be.
Look, I don't have time to be a poster child.
Well, you need to make some time.
You could be commissioner one day, and it starts right here.
[reporter 1] Detective, there been any arrests made in this case at all?
I'm Detective Misty Knight with the 29th precinct.
I'm here to answer your questions.
Is the massacre in Brooklyn connected to recent Jamaican violence in Harlem?
What about the man who attacked Luke Cage? Is he involved in this?
[Misty] As lead investigator on that case, I can't discuss any details.
But I can assure you that we are all working very hard
to tamp down the recent rise in violence.
[reporter 2] Are there any suspects?
[Misty] None that I care to alert by answering that question.
[reporter 2] How is Luke Cage involved in this case?
Luke Cage is not an officer with the NYPD.
[Luke] Excuse me.
Is this woman a patient here?
No, I don't think so. [continues indistinctly]
Thank you.
If he's not involved, what's to prevent another massacre from happening in Harlem?
Me.
And every single officer in this department
who works this sometimes-thankless job day by day, keeping our city safe.
No matter the personal sacrifice.
You Luke Cage?
The woman you're looking for, she have papers?
-I don't know. -Have you tried the clínicas?
Clínicas?
They're neighborhood infirmaries. Cash only.
-That's where she might be, you know. -Thank you.
New York Bulletin reporter Karen Page has it from an inside source
that there was a survivor to the so-called Rum Punch Massacre?
I resent that flippant name.
Look, this is not a sound bite or a headline.
Innocent people were slaughtered.
And when the time is right, we will release a full report.
-Thank you. -[reporter 4] Was there a survivor at all?
-[clamoring] -[reporter 4] Was there a survivor or not?
[Misty] And when the time is right, we will release a full report.
-Thank you. -Was there a survivor or not?
We have a survivor.
Who?
Tater tot's wife.
Find that bitch and take her ass out.
If she was lucky enough to survive that, she ain't saying shit.
I need you to tell me what you were thinking.
Doing that.
He came at me. I didn't start this.
Alex sent Ricky and Tony to Crown Heights.
They're already combing the neighborhood.
Meet them there.
That goddamn parade is today. You better find her quick.
[chuckles]
Alex?
Alex is a shot caller now?
I don't have time for your insecurity.
I see you, Hernan.
I see the conflict in your eyes.
I smell your fear.
It used to be mine.
We're gonna make big moves, man, you and I.
Just like we talked about.
But in order for that to happen,
I need you to leave Hernan behind, just for a while,
and be my Shades.
You think you can just wash your hands of this?
You think it's that simple?
I do.
I need you to do what Shades always does.
Take care of business while I secure our true future.
Can you do that for me, darling?
Yes.
Yes, I can.
[Misty] Bailey, were any .38 slugs recovered from Anansi's body?
Tomas just slipped me the ballistics report,
and only 9mm guns were used.
A revolver is an anomaly.
Why are you so interested in it being a .38?
Candace Miller. She was killed with a .38.
[grunting]
I'm worried his body can't tolerate much more.
[in Jamaican dialect] Keep going. Johnny can take it.
Ya hear me? I said keep going.
Okay. Can you at least give me his medical history?
How long have you known him?
Since we were both 11.
Has he always used nightshade?
No. But he's always been strong.
When we were younger, they injected kids with a free vaccination.
My mother didn't trust it, you know? But a lot of people did.
They gave us money. They gave us food.
Johnny got the injection with all the other children.
They all died.
But Johnny, he lives.
-What was in the injection? -I don't know.
But after that, they called him special.
Blessed.
Nightshade doesn't give.
Nightshade reveals.
-It also might be what's killing him. -Maybe.
But he can't die until he finishes what he's supposed to do.
Kill my mother?
Why?
All over some Bushmaster rum?
The rum is only the beginning.
[man] Throw it in there!
[indistinct shouting outside]
[Gwen] We got to get out of here.
-Now! -Mommy, you first.
-You first, Mommy. -No! You go! Help me up after!
Run, Johnny, run!
No, Mommy. Mommy... Mommy, no.
More wood for the fire.
Sorry, babe.
Told your mom I wasn't dealing with no goddamn lawyers.
Mama Mabel.
I didn't know everything.
It's horrible what they did to him.
[Sheldon] Your family.
Same blood runs in your veins.
Misty.
That slug that we pulled from Anansi's body came back with a match.
The bullet was fired from--
From the same gun that was used to kill Candace Miller.
You're right.
But I know what you're thinking.
-There are millions of guns in this city. -Yeah, not that gun.
Whoever killed Candace may have dumped it,
then it was picked up by Anansi's killer.
No, look.
It says that the striation marks are unique,
and they suggest an older model .38.
Something this rare wouldn't be kicking it around Harlem.
It's a trophy piece.
Something a flamboyant former councilwoman might be carrying around?
Boom.
You're the gun lady of Harlem. Why the sudden interest in the dope game?
Guns are great. They maintain the peace.
But heroin...
everybody's on it now.
That's true currency.
I couldn't agree with you more. But that's our business.
And no one wants to stop that.
If we can come to a satisfactory agreement,
I'm willing to allow Yangsi Gonshi to run China White through Harlem.
I heard you're sitting on half a billion.
And no one's called it "China White" in ages.
You don't need this.
I'm old enough to remember your grandmother.
It goes against the family credo.
Well, they're all dead, and I'm running the shit now.
And I am thinking bigger than they ever did.
It's time, Yang.
It's time for us to let the ghosts of the past die.
It's time for you and me to tear down that wall.
Together.
Together?
[speaking Mandarin]
[man grunting]
[Luke] Hey!
[stammering] Whoa, whoa. Wait, wait, wait. Listen, I was just doing my job.
That's what you were doing at Gwen's? Your job?
I wasn't there. Swear to God.
You run home. Tell Mariah I'm coming.
Lady, I'm here to protect you!
[in Jamaican dialect] I know you, Luke Cage!
You've come to take me hostage to lure my nephew.
Look in my eyes. I'm not here to hurt you.
Let's get a move on before Mariah's people come back to finish the job.
Come on. We can lose them in the parade.
[reggae music playing]
-[Shades] Get in there. Get in there. -[nervously] Wait.
-Be quiet. -Wait.
-Don't move. Don't move. -[sobbing] Don't hurt me. Please!
You.
I saw you.
Please, please.
[gunshots]
-Please. -Shut up!
-Close your eyes! Close your eyes. -Oh, my God!
Have mercy.
-Mercy... -[breathing heavily]
Please have mercy.
Please don't shoot me.
Please, please don't shoot me.
[shrieks]
[crying]
She'll come for me anywhere.
Like they came for my sister.
Just take me to my husband. Let me see his body.
No, not yet. Look, I gotta get you to Harlem.
-Misty can help-- -No Harlem. No cops.
Then what do you want to me do?
I'm so tired of seeing women and kids caught in the cross fire.
The killing has to stop.
It won't happen till the last of the Stokes is buried in dirt.
Take her out. You have the power.
She can't stop you.
Just kill her.
Help me do this the right way.
Please.
Tell the police what you saw last night.
You want me to relive when she shot my husband and burned him?
Do you know what that feels like, Luke Cage?
To see someone you love suffer?
Ripped away by someone else's hand?
Then you know what it's like on the other side.
The anger and the rage. The taste of blood in your mouth.
But more war... isn't the answer to war.
Otherwise, it's just...
It's just chaos.
Come on.
The two of you are a lot alike, you know?
You and my nephew.
He lets his anger go.
You internalize it.
Your way is much more dangerous.
-How far is your place from here? -I'm close.
We could stop by and get a few things.
But it's a risk.
Either they're watching your place, or the cops are.
Is there any place else?
I have a friend, Luis. He has a restaurant.
It'll have to do.
Come on.
[reggae music playing]
[grunting]
[Tilda] I told you.
It's a risk giving more nightshade right now.
And I told you to take it.
[sighs]
Sheldon!
What you got?
Pineapple, plants and mangoes. Everything fresh!
-[gunshot] -[grunts]
[man] Lord have mercy!
Who's that?
Sorry, coconut.
When you get to hell, tell Quincy that was for Buggy.
[crowd clamoring]
No, no, no.
-Stay with me. -Anansi, don't let him die.
Not Gwen's boy.
Ingrid, he's not gonna die. Not today.
You're sure this science thing is gonna work?
If you don't calm down, I'm gonna put you out.
Just calm down.
[exhales]
[chanting indistinctly]
Maddah, you sure you can heal him?
Nightshade no heal. Nightshade reveal.
[continues chanting]
Breathe if you want to live. Come, darling.
Breathe. Breathe.
Come, my darling. Good boy. Good boy.
[gasping]
-Breathe, my darling. That's my boy. -[grunting, gasping]
[grunting]
Good boy. That's it.
Breathe, my darling.
[Bushmaster screaming]
Keep breathing.
[gasping and coughing]
You see? You see, he's strong.
You see? He's special!
[Ingrid] Johnny was healed and given new life.
That bushwoman's nightshade hardened his skin,
but he was special long before that.
Anansi knew it
when he survived the vaccination that killed all of the other children.
[panting]
That's why he fought so hard to save him.
Hey, hey, hey.
[panting]
Welcome back, me Dads.
"Our miracle boy," Anansi would say.
The nightshade saved him.
But he was always indestructible, just like you.
We're nothing alike.
He protects his people.
Just as you do for Harlem.
I would never put my loved ones in danger.
Or use them as human shields.
Or shoot up churches. Or cut off heads.
Last night was a retaliation.
When he sees evil, he tries to destroy it.
You wouldn't do the same?
You no have to say it. I see it in your eyes.
Streets are starting to clear.
We can go to Anansi now?
Misty and the police wanna talk to you first.
No. Just get me to Anansi, Luke Cage.
Please. I beg you.
Jerry, anything?
Striation marks are unique.
Probably some sort of custom-made piece.
[Jerry] Got something. Unsolved homicide from a few decades back.
Guy dragged out of the river.
Cause of death?
Single gunshot wound to the chest. Bullet's a match.
Got ya.
I'm still better than you.
You keep telling yourself that, May May.
Drugs are a plague.
I don't have to listen to you.
You forget, you're dead and gone.
I'm right here.
Where I will always be.
And you out here dragging our name through the goddamn streets.
I legitimized our name.
I built community centers and real estate projects,
safe spaces for women and kids.
And every time,
something connected to you came up to taint it.
All of this is your fault.
Even killing sweet Cornell?
He wasn't sweet anymore, after what you did to him.
[Pete] Hey!
Lay off her, Maybelline. She's doing the best she can.
We agree about the drug game.
I said the same thing.
You was always smart, tough.
Beautiful.
Just like I molded you.
Shut up.
I forgive you for telling Cornell to shoot me.
That was me, you disloyal nigga.
Mmm-mmm.
She pushed it over the top.
Just like our daughter is doing now.
You keep Tilda's name out of your filthy mouth.
She's more ambitious than both of us.
Guess that's how it's supposed to be.
Her uncle ain't supposed to be her daddy!
Walk slowly, Pete.
She is clearly working some shit out.
This is my world.
[Mariah breathing heavily]
I'm owed! I am owed!
And before I'm done, I will control this whole goddamn city!
Got it? Got it?
Everyone will want to know you're alive. Where you have been.
[panting] All right, then. Make the call.
What was the cost?
After what my family did... I feel like I owe you.
No. I'm talking about my body.
What was the cost?
Nightshade poisoned your internal organs.
-Liver, spleen-- -Am I dying?
It's not good.
I cheated death before.
And maybe you'll cheat it again, but right now you're living on credit.
My credit's good, yeah?
What?
Anansi...
What happened?
Tell me.
-I can't. -Tell me.
-Same gun. -Same markings and everything.
Links Mariah to all three homicides.
Scarfe was a patrol cop on this Pistol Pete Stokes case.
-Filed the missing persons report. -Ugh. Come on, Priscilla.
DA's not gonna touch anything
with Scarfe's name on it with a ten-foot pole.
Fine. We'll nail Mariah on the other two.
Without the gun, it's circumstantial at best.
We need a living, breathing witness.
Where's Ingrid Mackintosh?
I'm on it.
[Misty over phone] What the hell do you mean she won't testify?
She's been through hell. I'm not gonna make her go back, okay?
Did you tell her that we will protect her, give her whatever she needs?
Right now, all she wants to do
is take Anansi's body back to Jamaica and be done with this.
Never see Mariah again.
She wouldn't have to take his body anywhere
if Mariah didn't murder him in cold blood!
Luke, what is wrong with you?
A few hours ago, you wanted Mariah's head on a platter.
And we'll get it. Okay? Just not like this.
Not at the cost of Ingrid's sanity.
Look, she just wants to go home. Okay?
I'm sorry, Misty.
[exclaims in frustration]
This attack was meant for me.
Not them.
What about her?
Hmm?
You want her to run back to her mother?
Let her go.
Thank you.
I'm so sorry.
[both laughing]
Do you want another?
I should go, Madam Councilwoman.
Oh, God, Alex.
Mariah. I insist.
Well, that was quick.
No.
Alex has always been loyal.
His value is appreciating just when I need it.
-Leave. -I say when he goes. Not you.
I'll see you tomorrow, Madam.
What the hell was that? Are you jealous or some shit?
No.
Not at all.
It's actually like I'm seeing you all over again for the first time.
There's a code of the streets. Actual rules to this shit.
Innocent people are dead, Mariah. You broke the rules.
Candace was innocent.
You had no problem blowing her brains out.
She was guilty the second she took our money.
She broke the rules when she started snitching.
And I was protecting you.
But dead is dead.
Are you a vegan now?
You've been a goddamn carnivore the whole time I've known you.
A predator. I loved that.
Did you kill the bitch or what?
I'm done.
She could go to the cops, Hernan.
If I go down, you go down.
Your ass was right next to me the whole time, firing.
I told you to use the old man as leverage.
You didn't have to kill all those people.
You knew what was gonna happen when you found that place.
That's why you scouted it.
Bushmaster started this war. I'm just ending it.
You lost your heart, Mariah.
It was the best part of you.
I saw your face... when that old man was burning.
You never even blinked.
Well, I'm still all heart, my bae. Best believe.
But I am done babysitting.
You said, "Your first is always the hardest."
And then it gets easier.
You were correct.
You were right there for me, Hernan.
Remember?
We were downstairs.
I had never been so scared in my life.
Then I heard a voice.
-[whispering] It was yours. -Hmm.
It was so... calm.
And so strong.
If I wasn't covered in blood, I would have straddled you right there on the bar.
You saw who I was from the start, and you wanted that.
You made me who I am.
You made me--
You really are a crazy-ass bitch.
-Get back here. -Get off me.
You have been off-kilter ever since dirty-ass snitch died.
Oh, what's his name?
Yeah. All those looks he gave me.
All that heat.
So y'all was just gay for the stay?
Or was it a true Brokeback romance?
[scoffs]
No surprises.
A woman knows who her man has played around with.
I just wish I had pulled the trigger on Comanche's snitchin' black ass.
I would've popped him twice in the gut,
so he could bleed out slow.
And you could watch!
-[snarling] -[grunting, gasping]
[grunting]
[coughs]
You ain't even worth the effort.
You're pathetic.
You get back here! [coughing]
I'm not done with you.
You don't walk away from me, Hernan!
[coughing]
Hernan!
[coughs]
I thought you left town.
Did you do it?
Did I do what?
The restaurant.
All those people. Did you...
Did you give the order?
Give the order?
I lit the goddamn match.
And pulled the trigger.
Goodbye, Mother.
-Whoa, I ain't here for that. -Then what are you here for?
Mariah's gone too far this time.
She's gotta go.
And I'm gonna help you do it.
Uncle...
I'm sorry.
[Ingrid breathing shakily]
Don't start!
The two of you need to talk.
-I need my time with Paul. -Auntie, but...
[sobbing]
Thank you for keeping my auntie safe.
-The kindness will not be forgotten, yeah? -Kindness got nothing to do with it.
-It was the right thing to do. -The right thing to do. Wrong thing to do.
You think too simply, Luke Cage.
The world's a more complicated place, you know?
Don't tell me how complicated the world is, man.
You don't know me.
The pain that I carry inside.
My whole life is pain.
You think that makes you special?
To be honest,
I'd love to see you and Mariah kill each other.
But in this story, I guess I'm the good guy.
And I can't let that happen.
You and me...
we're not so different, you know?
We could have been bredren.
[Luke chuckles]
Well, I never had much luck with brothers, to be honest.
Walk away.
For good.
Because if we mix it up again,
I'll make sure you don't walk away this time.
Feel me?
I'll be ready.
I'm not looking forward to killing you, yeah?
-Auntie... Auntie, come, come, come. -[crying]
Why are you following me, man?
I came looking for you at the barbershop.
Mariah sent you alone?
I don't work for Mariah no more. She's crazy.
Call the cops. Turn yourself in. Nothing I can do.
That's not gonna do anything.
Look around, man. Shit is out of control. Somebody's gotta take it over.
Harlem doesn't need a sheriff anymore.
You're right.
It needs a king.
Let's talk.
[funk music playing]