Marvel's Luke Cage: 10 Things That Must Happen In Season 2

10. Mariah And Shades Growing More Ambitious

Though we all may lament Cottonmouth's premature departure in the seventh episode of Cage's first episode, it's hard to deny that Mariah and Shades are just as formidable on screen; the former for her ruthless political ambitions, and the latter for his, well, manipulative nature. The two hold the keys to Harlem by the end of the first season, but is this the equal relationship Mariah thinks it is?

Throughout Cage's 13 episodes, Shades was positioned next to her to outmanoeuvre Cottonmouth in an attempted power-grab by Diamondback. It ultimately failed, because you know, Luke Cage was there and all that. But Mariah is well and truly entrenched in both the criminal underworld and the local political sphere by the time the final credits role. Shades, in an elevated role, is now at the epicentre of Harlem's largest criminal network, and is in prime position to pull Mariah's strings to suit his own goals too.

A great way to shift the power dynamic totally would be to keep the two guessing as to who's really in charge. I get the sense even Shades doesn't truly know at this point, so to throw a subtle power struggle into the mix would add a great deal of tension to forthcoming episodes.