MCU: Every Netflix Marvel Season Ranked Worst To Best

It's been said enough since Luke Cage's first season debuted back in 2016, but it bears repeating: Up until the season's seventh episode, the show fired on all cylinders. After the death of Mahershala Ali's Cottonmouth at the end of that episode - in itself a moment that's both great and exciting, and a pivotal moment for Alfre Woodard's Mariah Dillard - the show lost its footing, stumbling through the back half of episodes.

Though Cottonmouth's departure from the show was a big loss, it's not as though it couldn't be filled; it's just that the arrival of Diamondback - Luke's brother who suddenly showed up - brought with it such a huge sense of tonal whiplash. His scenery chewing and bombastic approach to everything could've potentially worked better had he been around from the beginning, but dropping him into the show halfway through its run was simply a mistake, which only served to make the race to the finish line feel like a languid walk than an energetic sprint.

Fortunately, though, that doesn't detract entirely from an otherwise great debut season populated by an enjoyable cast around the likeable Mike Colter including Rosario Dawson, Simone Missick, and Theo Rossi, as well as the personality of Harlem itself, the fantastic use of music, and the series' ability to distinguish itself from Daredevil and Jessica Jones by deftly lacing its superheroic tale with social commentary on race and politics.