- "You realize Mariah is behind all this, yeah? All to destroy mi name. You must protect your name."
"Yeah. That's about the first thing you and I agreed on." - ―Bushmaster and Luke Cage
Can't Front on Me is the twelfth episode of the second season of the television series Luke Cage.
Synopsis[]
Luke teams up with an unlikely ally to combat a new strain of heroin. As Shades plows ahead with his plan, a massive party draws everyone to the club.
Plot[]
A new strain of heroin, known as Bushmaster, floods the streets of Harlem, as D.W. Griffith and Aisha Axton witness the effects firsthand. Luke Cage recalls how Arturo Rey III used to put his name on the packages and doubts that Bushmaster and the Stylers would willingly participate in the drug business. Sugar confirms that Bushmaster was not involved, and that the Stokes Crime Family now works with the Yangsi Gonshi to spread heroin in Harlem, despite the Stokes' creed not to involve in drugs.
Mariah Stokes and Hai-Qing Yang organize a meeting with Eric Hong, Anibal Izqueda, and Rosalie Carbone at the Calderwood Auction House. All three of them agree that their partnership might be jeopardized because of Bushmaster, but Yang assures them that they have plans in motion to deal with him. Stokes proposes to open the wall around Harlem to other criminal gangs in New York City for whoever is willing to pay enough, which does not satisfy Carbone.
With Shades in lockup, Priscilla Ridley voices her concern that Shades only wants to take Stokes' spot and the NYPD would not be able to prosecute him. Misty Knight reminds her that with Shades' intel, they could finally be able to take Stokes down and solve the murders of Candace Miller and Tom Ridenhour. Ridley reluctantly agrees to request the help of Assistant United States Attorney to build a federal case against Stokes and her organization.
Bushmaster follows Yang to the Yangsi Gonshi Warehouse where the Triad organizes production of the heroin. Bushmaster confronts Yang on his plans to tarnish his name by putting it on heroin, but it was all just a trap to lure Bushmaster out. The Yangsi Gonshi members ambush Bushmaster, but Cage arrives just in time and joins forces with him to take down the Triad. Bushmaster is determined to destroy the warehouse and kill the Yangsi Gonshi members with an explosive charge, but Cage does not let him do it, although Bushmaster escapes regardless.
Tilda Johnson visits Cornell Stokes' grave, remembering how he was the only Stokes that she was proud to have as family. Johnson remarks all the pain and suffering that the Stokes name brought to her, noting that even knowing the truth about her, Cornell never stopped loving Johnson. She then makes peace with how she is deep down and leaves flowers on Cornell's grave before leaving.
Cage comes to Harlem's Paradise and speaks with Stokes about the destruction of the Yangsi Gonshi's drug lab, but Stokes denies her involvement. Cage tells Stokes that Bushmaster will come after her soon and that he will not be there to safe her, but Stokes disagrees. She states that Cage will not be able to stand still and will come rescue Stokes anyway, as the conviction in his heart was his biggest weakness. Cage replies that things change and leaves, while Stokes organizes a large free concert at the club to make sure it will be full of civilians.
Johnson comes to see Bushmaster and Sheldon, saying that her mother is too dangerous and Bushmaster needs to kill her once and for all. She tells Bushmaster about the secret passageways at Harlem's Paradise that will lead his right to Stokes. Johnson also provides Bushmaster with a secret weapon, a supershot of Nightshade that can double his powers, although it was highly dangerous. Sheldon tries to convince Bushmaster that going after Stokes does not worth his life, but Bushmaster still needs his vengeance.
Knight organizes an official testimony for Shades with Colin Dunbar and Patricia Wilson, offering him a full immunity for his intel. Starting with the Seagate Penitentiary incident that made Cage bulletproof, Shades tells the police about the attack on Pop's Barber Shop by Tone, but Wilson recuses herself as Shades' lawyer, since her son almost died in the attack.
Hearing news about the big concert, Cage realizes that Stokes is trying to surround her with the collateral damage, so Cage could resist coming to stop Bushmaster. Cage admits that he is tired of everything and that he cannot stand all the pain the Stokes family had brought to people close to him. He ponders on whether or not he should come to stop Bushmaster once again, knowing that the next life Stokes ruins will be on Cage, but Griffith notes that Cage cannot sit it down, no matter how badly he wants to.
Continuing his testimony, Shades admits that Stokes was the one who murdered Cottonmouth and that they paid Miller to accuse Cage as the culprit. He also admits that when Miller broke her silence and wanted to confess, Shades murdered Miller to silence the only witness who could put Stokes behind the bars. Shades then confirms that the same revolver was used to kill Anansi in the Gwen's massacre. Knight briefly loses her composure but gets Shades to admit that Comanche was Ridenhour's inside man and when Comanche killed Ridenhour, Shades then killed him, too. After Shades' brief altercation with Janis Jones (who had been listening to the testimony behind the glass), Knight tells him that, unless he retrieves the gun from Stokes, his deal will not work out.
At the night of the concert, Shades comes to Harlem's Paradise to reconcile with Stokes, in an attempt to get the revolver. Meanwhile, Knight tells Cage that Shades gave up everything about Stokes, but Cage doubts that something like that would work with her. Stokes and Shades go to the bunker where Stokes reveals that she knew that Shades has been working with the police, and threatens to execute him for betrayal.
Infiltrating the club, Bushmaster ignores Johnson's warnings and injects himself with the full dose of Nightshade, brutally attacking Stokes' bodyguards. Cage and Knight engage in the fight with Bushmaster. However, he became strong enough to subdue even Cage. Bushmaster then breaks into the bunker, avoiding Shades shooting at him, and prepares to kill Stokes, only to be stopped by Cage and Knight. Cage manages to defeat Bushmaster and even tries to kill him, but he hesitates, which allows Bushmaster to escape his hold and flee from the club.
The SWAT team, led by Ridley, arrives at the club, although they fail to catch Bushmaster, who successfully escapes from the area. Shades then provides Knight with the revolver, which allows her to arrest Stokes for all the murders she committed. Stokes warns her that the public opinion will be on her side regardless, but Ridley states that they have enough evidence to prosecute her. Knight is satisfied with the victory, but Cage warns her that even though Stokes is under arrest, nothing is over yet.
Cast[]
Main Cast:
- Mike Colter as Luke Cage
- Simone Missick as Misty Knight
- Theo Rossi as Hernan Alvarez/Shades
- Gabrielle Dennis as Tilda Johnson
- Mustafa Shakir as John McIver/Bushmaster
- Alfre Woodard as Mariah Stokes
Guest Stars:
- Kevin Mambo as Sheldon
- Karen Pittman as Deputy Chief Priscilla Ridley
- John Clarence Stewart as Alex Wesley
- Sean Ringgold as Sugar
- Jeremiah Richard Craft as D.W. Griffith
- Annabella Sciorra as Rosalie Carbone
- Henry Yuk as Hai-Qing Yang
- Louie Gasparro as Anibal Izqueda
- Marcus Choi as Eric Hong
- Ninja Devoe as Aisha Axton
- LaTonya Borsay as Janis Jones
- Cassandra Freeman as Patricia Wilson
- Darius Kaleb as Lonnie Wilson
- Tim Moriarty as Colin Dunbar
- Ilyana Eberhardt as Tisha
- Jen Casey as Kiki
- Sean Ashanti as Tyson
- Billy Carter as Auctioneer
- Pai-Sen Wang as Hatchet Man
- Kemo Coleman as Nervous Guard
- KRS-One as Himself
- Stan Lee as Irving Forbush
- Sway Calloway as Himself (uncredited)
- Heather B. as Herself (uncredited)
- Vinnie Velez as Club VIP (uncredited)
- Sam Moko as Harlem Millennial Party Attendee (uncredited)
- Warner Miller as Tone (archive footage; uncredited)
- Brian 'Sene' Marc as Chico Diaz (archive footage; uncredited)
- Deborah Ayorinde as Candace Miller (archive footage; uncredited)
- Sahr Ngaujah as Paul Mackintosh/Anansi (archive footage; uncredited)
- Thomas Q. Jones as Darius Jones/Comanche (archive footage; uncredited)
Appearances[]
Locations[]
- New York City, New York
- Ponce, Puerto Rico (mentioned)
- Seagate Penitentiary, Georgia (mentioned)
- Switzerland (mentioned)
Events[]
- War for Harlem
- Battle at Yangsi Gonshi Warehouse
- Infiltration into Harlem's Paradise
- Rum Punch Massacre (flashback)
- Rescue of Mariah Dillard (mentioned)
- Attack on Rand Enterprises Research Facility (mentioned)
- Ambush on Luke Cage (mentioned)
- Assassination of Tom Ridenhour (flashback)
- Attack on Pop's Barber Shop (flashback)
- Assassination of Candace Miller (flashback)
- Murder of Cottonmouth (mentioned)
- Duel at Malcolm X Boulevard (mentioned)
- Massacre at Colon's Gym (mentioned)
- Escape from Seagate Prison (mentioned)
Items[]
- Misty Knight's Prosthetic Arm
- Bushmaster
- Hammer Industries Explosive Charge
- Yangsi Gonshi Hatchets
- Bushmaster Rum
- Nightshade
- Stokes' Revolver
- The Souls of Black Folk
- Luke Cage (mentioned)
Vehicles[]
To be added
Organizations[]
- New York City Police Department
- Stokes Crime Family
- Yangsi Gonshi
- United States Department of Justice
- Carbone Crime Family
- Korean Mob
- Puerto Rican Mob
- Stylers (mentioned)
- United Nations (mentioned)
- Yakuza (mentioned)
- Casio (mentioned)
- Forbush & Associates (poster)
Mentioned[]
- Eddie Axton
- Peter Hong
- Diamondback
- Tom Ridenhour
- Cornell Stokes (grave)
- Pistol Pete (grave)
- Buggy Stokes (grave)
- Mama Mabel (grave)
- Dapper Dan
- Arturo Rey III
- James Lucas
- Albert Rackham
- Noah Burstein
- Quincy McIver
- Gwen McIver
- John McIver's Grandfather
- Pop
- Piranha Jones
- Claire Temple
- Turk Barrett
- Stephanie Miller
- Shabba Ranks
- Romare Bearden
- W. E. B. Du Bois
- Nina Simone
- Stevie Wonder
- Sly Stone
- Curtis Lee Mayfield
- Biggie Smalls (picture)
- Billy Batts
- Ike Turner
Trivia[]
- Can't Front on Me is a song from the album Mecca And The Soul Brother of the hip-pop duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth.
Music[]
| Song title | Artist | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Miriam Got a Mickey | Souls of Mischief & Adrian Younge | |
| Black Noise | Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad | |
| Shame on a N*gga | Wu-Tang Clan |
|
| April Sonata | Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad |
|
| Bushmaster Nightshade | Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad |
|
| Love's Gonna Get'cha (Material Love) (Boogie Down Productions cover) |
KRS-One |
|
| Jack of Spades (Boogie Down Productions cover) |
KRS-One |
|
| Bushmaster Breaks In | Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad |
|
| Return of the Savage | Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge |
|
