Mahershala Ali - Blowin' Up the Spot (Episode 8) lyrics

THE STREETS OF HARLEM Luke is still bleeding in the street. CLAIRE: Luke, stay with me. Breathe. Breathe. Just breathe. Don't move. Okay? I've got you. Luke screams. A few moments later, we see Luke being loaded into an ambulance. The mysterious man is loading up his clip. He follows the ambulance in his armored car/tank. In the ambulance, Luke regains consciousness. CLAIRE: Hey there, you. Luke struggles to sit up. Claire helps him. CLAIRE: Okay. Come on. Relax. Relax. You're okay. LUKE: Where am I? CLAIRE: Uh, you're in an ambulance. You went into shock. I called my friend Manny. He used to run with my uncle back in the day. He's driving. He's discreet. LUKE: What the hell did you do that for? CLAIRE: What do you mean? LUKE: No hospitals. I can't be in the system. CLAIRE: He borrowed it. Like I said, he's discreet. But you bleeding out in the back of a gypsy cab? That would get even more attention. We need to keep you safe. Drink this. You can't dehydrate. I saw you looking for the shooter before you pa**ed out. Did you see who it was? LUKE: No. CLAIRE: On a scale from one to ten, how much pain are you in right now? LUKE: ...Three. CLAIRE: Liar. LUKE: I'm okay. CLAIRE: You're not okay. The bullet penetrated through your skin. I didn't even think that could happen. LUKE: That makes two of us. CLAIRE: I looked for an exit wound, but... LUKE: I know. It's still in there. CLAIRE: The sound that it made, like it was drilling into you I wanna get a closer look. See what's going on inside of you. I know a place. LUKE: Whatever we gotta do. There's the sound of a gunshot. The bottom of the ambulance explodes and the whole thing tips over. OPENING THEME Claire and Luke are in the back of the tipped over ambulance. LUKE: You okay? CLAIRE: Yeah...Manny? MANNY: Who was that son of a b**h? - CLAIRE: Are you okay? MANNY: I'll be fine. But somebody took a shot at us. You guys got to get out of here. go! Luke and Claire hoist themselves out of the ambulance. The man trying to k** them picks up a new gun. CLAIRE: Watch out. The two hide behind a car. MAN: CAN YOU DIG IT? CLAIRE: What the hell? LUKE: Every Friday night at the drive-in.The Warriors. MAN: Ca-arl, come out and play-ay. CLAIRE: You know him, don't you? The man hears approaching sirens and turns to leave. MAN: I'm enjoying this sh**, Carl. Keep running. Luke stands up as if to follow him. CLAIRE: Luke, hey. You can't fight him yet, Luke. You're too weak right now. Come on. HARLEM'S PARADISE Cottonmouth's body is covered with a sheet. Mariah is sitting at the bar. There's a brief flashback. FLASHBACK MARIAH: I didn't want it! SHADES (in the present): You having second thoughts? What's on your mind? MARIAH: I'm not having any thoughts. Is that normal? SHADES: As long as you stay on the clock, it doesn't matter. This conversation is intercut with the police investigating the crime scene several hours later, with Misty overlooking everything. SHADES (voiceover): The secret to every great lie is it has to run parallel to the truth. Every moment wasted brings you one step closer to jail. MARIAH: So what do we do? SHADES (voiceover): DNA is our friend and our enemy. We must treat her carefully. Head straight to the bathroom and clean up. MARIAH: I don't have any clothes. SHADES: I had Alex take care of it. They're in there. To make this stick, we'll need a patsy. MISTY: Oh, how the mighty have fallen. BAILEY: Karma is a cruel mistress. MISTY: She does not like being a side chick. She eventually gets hers. BAILEY: Brace yourself. MISTY: It's that bad? BAILEY: Yeah. SHADES (earlier): Did you forget anything? MARIAH: The bottle. MARIAH FLASHBACK: No! MARIAH NOW: I hit him on the head with a bottle. SHADES:Did it break? MARIAH: No. SHADES: That's good. MISTY: Make sure we photograph the stage. Compare the photos with the last performance filmed here. See if there's anything missing. Microphone stand, a monitor, anything. BAILEY: What do you think? You're the visualist. Misty visualizes. MISTY (voiceover): You see all that trauma to the head and the face? The fall couldn't have done that. It's not enough height. She imagines Cottonmouth falling from his office window and dragging himself to the stage. MISTY: But he's not dead yet. So let's say our perp did hit him over and over again with a blunt instrument until he's dead. SHADES: The trash bag is for the clothes you're wearing. Every stitch goes in. Jewelry, too. Spurlock will incinerate them. The towels you use, the rugs They all go in that trash bag. Get dressed from the clothes in the garment bag. MARIAH: I look like I'm in shock. Is that why you're speaking to me as if I'm a child? SHADES: I need you to hear me. I want you to win. Do what I say and when you get away with this you can go back to being the s**y domineering b**h that we all hate to love. Now go. MARIAH: That's the last time you will ever call me a b**h. Shades pulls on a pair of kitchen gloves over another pair of latex gloves. He walks over to Cottonmouth's body. SHADES: Look at what you did. MISTY: Destroying the face... Quick cut to Shades punching Cottonmouth's face through the sheet over and over. MISTY: ...that's rage. But walking away without leaving a trail of blood? Who's ever done that? SHADES: Temper, temper, Carl. Misty looks up to see Mariah looking over the crime scene. She's in a new set of clothes. MISTY: Councilwoman Dillard, my condolences. MARIAH: Oh, please. My cousin's still laid out on the floor and you're talking about condolences. What's the condolence? The sheet? I think you're taking this personally. MISTY: Why aren't you? We are working as fast as we can. They said you called this in. MARIAH: Around noon, I called Cornell and told him that we needed to talk. He said he was busy and that he would get back to me. So I went in to work. I mean, what could I do? Thanks to him, I had a million fires to put out. Around 10:00, I realized that I hadn't heard back so [inhales] I decided to come here. MISTY: "Thanks to him." So you were mad. MARIAH: Frustrated, yes. Mad? Never. He was my first cousin, but I practically raised that boy. I loved him. MISTY: So when you got here was the door locked? MARIAH: There is a code on the VIP entrance. It keeps the paparazzi away. It changes every week. Yes, I had access. MISTY: So you let yourself in. Then what? MARIAH: Then I found him, sprawled out like a goddamn rag doll. MISTY: So he was already dead when you got here. MARIAH: Yeah. But then I heard someone else crying. MISTY: Who? MARIAH: Candace. Candace Miller. Candace is Cornell's VIP hostess. Candy's worked here at Harlem's Paradise since we re-opened. Misty goes to the next room to talk to Candace, but Mariah can see them, and stares at Candace through the whole conversation. Misty notices MARIAH: Ms. Miller, I'm Detective Misty Knight. What did you see? Take your time to collect your thoughts. CANDACE: I don't need time. I saw who did it. It was Luke Cage. There's a quick cut of Claire helping Luke walk down the street. OUTSIDE THE PRECINCT Reporters shout over each other as Mariah arrives at the stationhouse. REPORTER: Can you confirm that it was Luke Cage who k**ed your cousin? REPORTER: Is Harlem's hero a cold-blooded murderer? FRANK: Or did he just take out the trash? MARIAH: Who said that? FRANK: I did. Frank... Mariah's speech is intercut with Shades leaving damning evidence in the barbershop, Candace pacing the police station, and Luke and Claire staggering into a clinic. MARIAH: My cousin Cornell Stokes was a complex man. Conflicted, but underneath all the bluster was the soul of a musician. He was a true Harlem original. But what about this stranger? That's the garbage. But in your media rush to anoint a savior after the explosion at Genghis Connie's, no one asked the crucial question. Who the hell is Luke Cage? You label Cornell Stokes a gangster, a thug. But as many people recently witnessed at Mount Olivet, Cornell was a repentant man dealing with his violent past. Making amends for his wrongs. He had every intention of of cooperating with the police. Goddamn vigilantes who call themselves heroes, like Luke Cage, they are dangerous. They are a menace to the safety, the security, and the sanctity of our community. You know what? People have used a lot of words to describe my cousin, but one word they have never used is "coward." And only a coward would hide in the shadows and k** an innocent man...that's-that's it. Mariah breaks off abruptly and goes into the station, leaving the reporters shouting after her. THE EMPTY CLINIC Claire helps Luke onto a table. CLAIRE: That guy's putting innocent people in danger to get at you. LUKE: I'm gonna put a stop to it, but I need your help. Luke takes a flash drive from around his neck and hands it to Claire. LUKE: Hold on to this. I can't lose it. LUKE: Okay. CLAIRE: I'm going to sterilize the area. You feel that? LUKE: A bit. Keep going. CLAIRE: No. I'm gonna see what kind of anesthetic they have here first. LUKE: No d**. CLAIRE: Luke... LUKE: I can't be compromised. Innocent people could die. I can't risk it. CLAIRE: All right, macho man. LUKE: Actually, it's Power Man. That's what Pop used to call me. CLAIRE: That's even cornier. Okay. I'm going in. Claire tries to cut him with the scalpel but nothing happens. CLAIRE: All right, I'm gonna press even harder, okay? Claire presses harder. CLAIRE: Wild. This is supposed to be soft tissue, but it's almost as impenetrable as your skin. LUKE: Give it to me. Luke presses the scalpel into his own wound until it snaps. He throws it aside. LUKE: I gotta get it out. It's getting hard to breathe. CLAIRE: Okay, let's look inside. She wheels over an ultrasound machine. AN INTERROGATION ROOM MISTY: Anybody waiting for you at home? CANDACE: My parents. I'm moving out as soon as I finish night school. MISTY: Nice. The quicker you answer my questions, the quicker you can go. Okay? CANDACE: Okay. MISTY: State your name and address for the record. CANDACE: Candace Miller. 555 Edgecombe Avenue. MISTY: How do you know Mr. Stokes? CANDACE: He was my boss. MISTY: I noticed your hair was wet. CANDACE: I took a shower. MISTY: Crime scene officers combed every inch of Harlem's Paradise. We also noticed that the shower in Mr. Stokes' private bathroom had been used. CANDACE: I used it. MISTY: When? CANDACE: After I was saw Mr. Stokes. MISTY: So, you're one of his...friends? CANDACE: Yes. MISTY: He has several? So I a**ume you have his code for his private entrance. CANDACE: What private entrance? Ben Donovan enters the room. DONOVAN: Don't say another word, Ms. Miller. I'm representing you now. MISTY: Is this snake your lawyer? Candace, if you're not guilty, you'll answer my questions. DONOVAN: Nice try. My client isn't under arrest, Ms. Miller? CANDACE: I'm not guilty. What else do you want to know? DONOVAN: Ms. Miller, don't say another word. MISTY: We used luminol and found traces of blood in Mr. Stokes' shower, even though it had been heavily bleached. DONOVAN: Stand up and walk out. MISTY: It's a good thing you got this high-powered flunky. I'm about to nail your a** to the wall. CANDACE: It was Luke Cage! After I showered, I came out to see Cornell. I still needed my paycheck. I heard loud voices and a struggle. That's when I walked out and I saw Mr. Stokes down below on the floor. Luke Cage saw me and ran away. He was wearing bright yellow gloves, like the kind he used to use when he washed dishes. MISTY: And you're positive it was Luke Cage? CANDACE: You would know. I saw you two at the bar together the other night. I saw you talking outside, too. May I go now? MISTY: Candace, look me in the eye. You were too scared to go upstairs and serve Cottonmouth without Luke. Table number seven, right? And then you started sleeping with him? But you still call him "Mr. Stokes." And you can't even tell me about his private entrance! What do they have on you, huh? Is it money? How much are they paying you? DONOVAN: This is over. We're done. Out in the hall, Mariah is on the phone. MARIAH: Your delivery arrived right on time...Yes, thank you. Okay, gotta go. ALEX: You k**ed it out there...I'm sorry. MARIAH: Don't be. Just get that clip up on the website within the hour. Send the link to all my supporters, the donors. If we play this right... Misty slowly applauds Mariah. MISTY: And the Oscar goes to... MARIAH: Alex, would you wait in the car with Tony? ...Detective, do you have a problem? MISTY: Just call 'em like I see 'em. MARIAH: So you have your suspect, Luke Cage. MISTY: Who says I only have one suspect? You ready for our interview? Your cousin was attacked by somebody he was close to. That's what those wounds tell me. It was pa**ion. And hatred. MARIAH: And Luke Cage didn't hate my cousin and me, when he showed up at my brownstone trying to intimidate me? MISTY: What do you have on Candace? MARIAH: What do you have on me? MISTY: Other than the fact that your edges are a little damp? MARIAH: That's what I thought. You ain't got sh**. You know what? I'm not under arrest, and I changed my mind. You want to talk to me, you call my lawyer. Where's your partner? Oh, I forgot...sorry! Misty gets up in Mariah's face. MISTY: Who the hell do you think you're talking to? RIDLEY: Detective! MARIAH: Priscilla, you need to teach your people some manners. RIDLEY: Mariah, I'm so sorry for your loss. MARIAH: Thank you for being there for me. RIDLEY: Of course. MARIAH: Oh. It has been a very hard day. RIDLEY: I'm sure. MARIAH: Hey. Are you gonna make it to the Founders' Day Lunch at Cecil's? RIDLEY: You know I'll be there. MARIAH: Oh, great. Bye-bye. They hug and Mariah leaves. MISTY: You hugged her. RIDLEY: She's my soror. I had to. You like Mariah for this? MISTY: I do. RIDLEY: You have an eyewitness, Detective. MISTY: Who I can't trust. RIDLEY: Who puts Luke Cage in the box. MISTY: The evidence points to two suspects. One of them was someone Cottonmouth was close to. RIDLEY: Because the door was locked? MISTY: Because they got to gangster number one without catching a bullet. Come on! RIDLEY: Mariah called us. MISTY: Then she called the press. And she put Luke Cage on blast. Look, I was just about to compel her to make a statement before you let your little soror skee-wee on out of here. RIDLEY: Where is Cage? Because Mariah's not going anywhere, guilty or not. But your real number-one suspect is ghost. What are you gonna do about it? THE CLINIC Claire covers Luke's stomach with ultrasound gel CLAIRE: Okay. LUKE: Is it a boy or a girl? CLAIRE: It's either twins or you need to start doing some sit-ups. LUKE: What is it? CLAIRE: There's no bullet. It's just shrapnel. Yeah, the bullet drilled into your skin and exploded. All the pieces that are left are just trapped. LUKE: How much? CLAIRE: A lot. And they're moving. LUKE: We couldn't get the scalpel in. How you gonna take the bullet out? CLAIRE: Remember when Jessica shot you? LUKE: I've been trying to forget that. CLAIRE: Well, I drained the fluid in your skull by going behind your eye socket. I'll figure this out. Luke's phone is ringing. Claire takes it out of his coat. CLAIRE: Blocked ID. Whoever it is has called three times. LUKE: See who it is. Claire puts it on speakerphone. CLAIRE: Hello? MISTY: Hello? This is Detective Misty Knight. Who is this? Misty gestures for Bailey to trace the call. CLAIRE: Uh, Claire Temple. Um, we met the other night. I'm the nurse with the van and, uh Scarfe. LUKE: Misty. MISTY: I need you to come down to the station. LUKE: We've already been through this. No. MISTY: Cottonmouth's dead. He was k**ed earlier tonight. I need you to come down to answer some questions. LUKE: You think I did it? MISTY: A witness puts you at the scene. CLAIRE: Oh, this has got to be a joke. MISTY: Claire, stay out of this. CLAIRE: He's been with me all night. He hasn't k**ed anyone. Bailey almost has a lock on their location. MISTY: Luke, listen, I've got crime scene guys combing through the barber shop and the apartment upstairs. Just make it easier on yourself, okay? LUKE: Claire, hang up. They're trying to trace the call. Claire hangs up. MISTY: Luke. Luke! BAILEY: They're close. I've got a target area. He's near the park. Do you want to send a unit? MISTY: No. What's in the area? BAILEY: Uh, a few shops, a women's clinic. I know that look. You're about to... MISTY: I'm bringing him in myself. BAILEY: I didn't finish my sentence, Misty. You're about to do something stupid. Don't. MISTY: Listen, don't tell the inspector. Don't tell anybody. HARLEM'S PARADISE Shades surveys the club. Zip, Sugar, and Amos come in. SHADES: I thought you went back down south, Sugar. SUGAR: Ain't nothing down there for me. I'm back. SHADES: What do you guys want? ZIP: Well, Cottonmouth's gone, so... SHADES: Yeah. You guys did a real bang up job protecting him. SUGAR: What are you talking about? He sent us away. ZIP: Anyhow, sh** done changed. so we gonna need to work out some type of... SHADES: What? Severance? Y'all work for me now. AMOS: What about the club? SHADES: It belongs to Mariah. But I'm in charge. Do you understand? Good. And do me a favor. Buy some new clothes. Please. We're first cla** all the way. ZIP: You ain't worried about Luke Cage? SHADES: Leave. THE BARBERSHOP, A CRIME SCENE AGAIN. Crime scene technicians find the bloody gloves in the garbage. THE CLINIC Claire smears some of Luke's blood onto a slide and puts it under a microscope. LUKE: We gotta hurry. CLAIRE: I just want to examine your soft tissue cells, see if there's another way in I haven't thought of yet. LUKE: Just make it quick. CLAIRE: Holy sh**. Your epithelial cells are simultaneously super elastic and energy absorbent. The cells that line your organs are stuck together like Legos, which is normal. But when I try to pull them apart, they snap back together. LUKE: What does it mean, for real? CLAIRE: Don't quote me on this because I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like the thing that makes you super strong is the same thing that's trapping the shrapnel and forcing it in deeper. Misty comes in. MISTY: Did I miss the party? Is that a gunshot wound? I thought bullets couldn't hurt you. LUKE: Join the club. MISTY: Luke, who shot you? LUKE: I never saw him. CLAIRE: We were walking in Mount Morris Park. The shot came out of nowhere. LUKE: Sniper. Medium range. CLAIRE: I went with him in the ambulance, but then the shooter attacked. We barely got out. MISTY: The ambulance that got flipped over? Well, then that's your alibi. CLAIRE: Alibi? Misty's phone buzzes. MISTY: Hello? Yeah...Okay. Okay. Thanks, Bailey. Luke Cage you're under arrest for the murder of Cornell Stokes. LUKE: You're kidding me. Claire sees a red dot appear on Luke's head. CLAIRE: Get down! They all drop to the floor. The bullet hits the wall and whirrs as it burrows deeper into the drywall. MISTY (to her radio): 10-13. Harlem Women's Clinic. 10-13. Shots fired. DISPATCHER: 10-13 Harlem Women's Clinic. The bullet in the wall explodes. CLAIRE: What the hell kind of bullet does that? Misty tracks the movement of a flashlight outside. She gets a sense of his location and fires her gun repeatedly out the window. MISTY: I got him! I'm gonna go check it out. LUKE: Your backup isn't here yet. MISTY: When we get through this, I'm still arresting your a**. CLAIRE: You okay? Maybe she got him. Claire checks out the window. A moment later a hand crashes through and grabs at her. She stabs it in the forearm with scissors she palmed earlier. Luke drags the attacker through the window and throws him onto the ground. Luke sees his face for the first time and freezes. The attacker takes the opportunity to knee him in the groin and get away. They continue to fight, and the man gets his hands on his gun again. He fires it, but nothing happens. The fight continues. Misty comes back in and the attacker gets a hold of her, using her as a hostage and leaving the clinic. LUKE: Misty! MAN: Let's spend some time together. The man takes Misty out into the alley at gunpoint. MAN: I see Carl's taste in women hasn't changed. He likes frizzy hair and a tight frame. MISTY: Carl? Who's Carl? You mean Luke? MAN: No, I mean Carl, Misty. "Your adversary, the devil walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." First Peter chapter five verse eight. See my daddy was a preacher. Oh, come on. Aren't you gonna beg? Not even a little bit? MISTY: If you're going to shoot me, then do it. Back inside the clinic, Claire goes to Luke's side. LUKE: I have to go after him. Help me up. This is my cross to bear. No one else can do this. He stumbles towards the exit. In the alley, the man forces Misty to her knees. LUKE (distantly): Misty! MAN: You're slowing me down, baby girl. Besides, Luke likes you. I'll hurt you later. He'll suffer more that way. The man hits Misty in the back of the head with the bu*t of his gun and leaves. LUKE: Stryker! Luke finds Misty and goes to her side. OUTSIDE AN ABANDONED THEATER Stryker shoots the lock off of the entrance to an abandoned theater and goes inside, leaving a smear of blood on the door handle. BACK IN THE ALLEY Claire finds Luke and Misty. CLAIRE: Oh, my God...Go. End this. OUTSIDE THE THEATER Luke notices the trail of blood and follows it into Stryker's hiding place. LUKE: Stryker? Stryker! STRYKER (unseen, distantly): You left me to rot, Carl. LUKE: We can work this out. STRYKER (unseen): Work what out? My life? We see Stryker in a stairwell, loading his gun with more Judas bullets. STRYKER: My mother destroying herself? Being away for so long? Nah. There's nothing left to work out. "I did not come to bring peace but a sword." Ain't that what the great Reverend James Lucas used to scream at us? Preached peace and prosperity every Sunday on the pulpit, but come Friday night on the sideline? Nothing but fire and brimstone. Luke finds his way from the lobby into the main theater. Stryker is standing above him, in the balcony. STRYKER: Guess he saved the sin for Saturday night like everybody else. And everybody else caught hell but you. All the world's a stage for the preacher's son and I was a quarterback. And no matter how many pa**es I threw he was all about running the ball. Because he wanted the game in your hands. Hello, Carl. LUKE: Willis. STRYKER: I prefer Diamondback. LUKE: Because you're a snake just like Cottonmouth. STRYKER: I am a snake. I've shed my skin for something better. Stronger. You left me to rot, Carl in a gutter. But I changed that sewer into a garden. LUKE: I wasn't a good friend. I should've stood tall but I didn't. And you paid the price. STRYKER: I've been watching you. Harlem doesn't realize they're worshiping a false idol. LUKE: False idol? STRYKER: You, Carl. You. You're the golden calf. But I got commandments for your a**. I'm gonna bring the pain. Reva's d**h? LUKE: Keep her name out of your mouth! STRYKER: The crimes you went to jail for? The torture you endured once you were inside? All me, I'm afraid. Well, not Reva's d**h. I just like saying her name just to watch you squirm. LUKE: You ruined my life. STRYKER: I gave you wings.I sent you to hell and you come back with superpowers. Ain't that a b**h? Luke takes advantage of Stryker's distraction to run at the supports of the balcony, bringing Stryker to his level. A long fight ensues. Luke is at a disadvantage due to his injuries, but obviously he's still got a bit of an edge. STRYKER: You're bleeding, Carl. Luke throws Stryker through the doors into the lobby. The strain makes him cough blood. MEANWHILE, AT THE STATIONHOUSE Ridley and Misty are watching Claire sleep in an interrogation room. RIDLEY: Cooper went at her for about an hour. MISTY: What did she say? RIDLEY: Not much of anything. Nothing we need in terms of finding Cage or your attacker. MISTY: I got it from here. RIDLEY: You're in no shape to talk to her. MISTY: I'm fine! RIDLEY: Are you? MISTY: She'll talk to me, I promise. We have rapport. Misty goes in to Claire, slamming the door behind her. MISTY: The attacker. Who was he? CLAIRE: I already told the other guy I don't know. You know, I helped you. I helped your partner. Luke helped you. Why are you... MISTY: Mmm-mmm. No, no, no. The shooter, when he attacked, what did he say? What's his connection to Luke? Did Luke say? CLAIRE: You know, it's a blur. MISTY:Who's Carl? Look, it is critical that I find Luke. CLAIRE: So why aren't you outside looking for him? MISTY: Why won't you help me find him? CLAIRE: I want a lawyer. MISTY: Why? You're not under arrest. But I can do that. I can arrest you. CLAIRE: For what? MISTY: Cottonmouth's dead and you gave Luke an alibi.That's accessory to murder. That's hard time. CLAIRE: I'm not scared of you. I did nothing wrong. MISTY: That son of a b**h is out there hurting people. But you won't do anything to bring Luke Cage in and end this. CLAIRE: I'm out of here. MISTY: Sit your a** down! Now, people have been walking out on me all day.No more lies and no more deception. You are going to tell me what happened and where I can find Luke. CLAIRE: Back off. What, you think just because you got jumped by a psycho and lost your gun, you get to talk to me like that? Do your job. MISTY: What do you know about the job? CLAIRE: You're either too weak to stand up to pressure, or too stupid to see that Luke is innocent. You probably couldn't find your own a** with both hands. Misty attacks Claire, grabbing her throat and pushing her against the wall. MISTY: Who's weak now, huh? Huh? Ridley comes in and Misty lets Claire go. RIDLEY: Detective Knight! I apologize for how you've been treated, Ms. Temple. Would you like to press charges against Detective Knight? CLAIRE: Please. Luke Cage is innocent, Misty. You're after the wrong man. That's my statement. Write it down. Claire leaves. MISTY: Look, Inspector, I, um... THE THEATER. LUKE: Willis! Luke stumbles into the street, but Willis is nowhere to be found. IN A CAR. Mariah hands Candace an envelope. MARIAH: You done good, baby girl. I know you were uncomfortable. CANDACE: I didn't like your cousin, and I would never sleep with him. But now I'm on record with that. I'm not a who*e. MARIAH: No, you're not a who*e. You're a businesswoman. And that, in your lap, represents a chance to change your life and that of your whole family. That's power. CANDACE: Did Luke really do all of that? MARIAH: You never really know what anyone is capable of. Go on, get some rest. You'll come back to the club in a few days when it opens. Candace gets out of the car and walks into her building. SHADES (from the driver's seat): You think it worked? MARIAH: She's a good girl. She won't fold. SHADES: What if she does? MARIAH: We'll have to k** her. And everybody else in that apartment. Make it look like a home invasion, which would be a damn shame. You know, Duke Ellington used to live in that building. And Count Basie, too. I'd hate to bring down the market value. SHADES: That's my girl. MARIAH'S BROWNSTONE Mariah sits down at her desk and looks at the photo of Mama Mabel. She speaks to it: MARIAH: I'm not like you. and turns the frame over. THE STREETS OF HARLEM Luke is limping down the street. Stryker comes up behind him. STRYKER: Carl! They call this bullet the Judas. You barely survived the first blast. You won't survive the second. Any last words? LUKE: Willis I'm sorry. You don't have to do this. I loved you like a brother. STRYKER: n***a, I am your brother. Stryker shoots Luke, who falls backwards into a garbage truck and is driven away.