Marvel's Luke Cage: 10 Ups And 2 Downs From Season 1

Downs...

2. The Story Sags A Little In The Final Third (And Needs Tightening As A Whole)

Although the show manages to avoid a midseason slump, it still doesn't avoid the pitfall of having a few too many hours to fill compared to story it has to tell.

When the acting and the characters are this good it can be easier to forgive, but there's definitely some fat to this show that would be trimmed with a slightly shorter episode length.

The pacing at times can be an issue; it's a deliberately slow series, and does it well on the whole, but there are some long, exposition heavy scenes that start to drag on a bit too much. Coupled with this is the plot, and various subplots, which get stretched too thin or leave some plot holes. The police's handling of the hostage situation at Harlem's Paradise, and the aftermath, is iffy at best (though maybe that's another message on law enforcement), while they drag out Luke's stint at Dr. Burstein's, Harlem's hero spending too much time outside of Harlem.

The episodes fluctuate in length, from 45 minutes to just over an hour, and the longer ones could probably do with a bit of trimming down and tightening up, especially as the show moves into the final third.