Moment of Truth

Moment of Truth is the first episode of the first season of the television series Luke Cage.
==Synopsis==
With tension building in the streets of Harlem thanks to ruthless club owner Cottonmouth, Luke finds it increasingly difficult to live a quiet life.
==Plot==
In the wake of events in Hell's Kitchen, Luke Cage moves to Harlem and started working as a sweeper at Pop's barbershop. Cage discusses basketball players with Pop, Bobby Fish, Chico Diaz and Shameek Smith. Later, they meet at the storeroom where Pop says that Cage must use his abilities to help people, but Cage only wants a quiet life.
After his shift in the barbershop, Cage spots Diaz with a gun. Diaz refuses to explain himself to Cage and drives away with Smith. Cage then walks through Harlem to his second job - to Harlem's Paradise nightclub where he works as a dishwasher. In the club, Nate asked him to replace Dante Chapman as a bartender. 
Meanwhile, Cottonmouth meets with Mariah Dillard at the club to discuss Stokes' criminal business which keeps Dillard's political projects afloat. Then Domingo Colon joins them to celebrate their weapon deal. While they're talking, members of Stokes Crime Family meet with members of Colon Crime Family at the Harlem junkyard to exchange to sell them assault rifles designed by Hammer Industries. However, Diaz, Smith, and Chapman ambush them and quickly kill all criminals at place to steal money. Chapman grows nervous and Smith shoots him before he and Diaz grab the money and run away.
Behind the bar, Cage meets Misty Knight who orders a Cosmopolitan. He notes that she watches on Stokes but thinks that she was one of his women. After a brief flirt, Cage is asked by Candace Miller to go with her to the VIP lounge to bring Stokes his order. There, Stokes approaches Cage and offers him another job for a man of his size. Chapman manages to call Tone before his death and informs him about robbery.
Later, Cage meets Knight outside of the club and they spent the night together at Cage's apartment. At night, Cage dreams about the time he went to Seagate Penitentiary where he was beaten by fellow inmates. In the morning, Knight received a call from her job and leaves Cage. Knight and the New York City Police Department, arrive to the junkyard where Rafael Scarfe examined the crime scene and confiscates Stokes' weapons. She then unmasks the body of a recognized Chapman.
Stokes contacts with Colon to be clear about robbery, but Colon refuses to listen to him. Then, Shades arrives to his office to speak with him on behalf of Diamondback who provided Stokes with weapons to sell. Cage learns from newspaper that Chapman was killed and discusses his death with Pop who was Chapman's mentor. Pop immediately realizes that he was killed by Smith and Diaz. 
Dillard works on her New Harlem Renaissance project while Stokes' men guards her. She then gives an interview to Megan McLaren about the history and possible future of Harlem. She talks about her project for re-building Harlem before Stokes comes to speak with her. Dillard informs Stokes that she needs that money because if she does not pay for her project, her assets will go on audit and Stokes' illicit activity will be exposed. Tone informs Stokes that information about the robbery was confirmed, but Smith and Diaz disappeared. Stokes orders to pay double to find the location of them.
Tone manages to find Smith in a strip club and brings him to Harlem's Paradise. Cage notices Shades, who was his co-inmate in Seagate. Stokes then takes Smith's money and brutally beats him to death, ordering Tone to dump his body on the streets. Knight and Scarfe find Smith's body and make conclusions about the robbery case.
At night, Zip and his fellow gang members go to Genghis Connie's to demand contribution to Dillard's project from Connie and Jin Lin. However, Cage stops them and quickly defeats all of them. Connie asks if she could hire Cage to protect them. Cage refuses payment but promises that he will protect them.
==Cast==
Main Cast:
*Mike Colter as Luke Cage
*Mahershala Ali as Cornell Stokes/Cottonmouth
*Simone Missick as Misty Knight
*Theo Rossi as Hernan Alvarez/Shades
*Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard
Guest Stars:
*Frankie Faison as Henry Hunter/Pop
*Frank Whaley as Detective Rafael Scarfe
*Parisa Fitz-Henley as Reva Connors
*Dawn-Lyen Gardner as Megan McLaren
*Jacob Vargas as Domingo Colon
*Brian 'Sene' Marc as Chico Diaz
*Cassandra Freeman as Patricia Wilson
*Ron Cephas Jones as Bobby Fish
*Darius Kaleb as Lonnie Wilson
*Jermel Howard as Shameek Smith
*Jade Wu as Connie Lin
*Clem Cheung as Jin Lin
*Warner Miller as Tone
*Hugues Faustin as Dante Chapman
*Deborah Ayorinde as Candace Miller
*Steven Ted Beckler as Nate
*Arethea Brooks as Sheila
*Justin Swain as Mark Bailey
*S. Robert Morgan as Oliver
*Jaiden Kaine as Zip
*Kelvin McGrue as Koko
*Sean Ringgold as Sugar
*R. Marcos Taylor as Amos
*Jeremiah Richard Craft as D.W. Griffith
*Ester Jiron as Girl #1
*Megan Gabrielle Harris as Girl #2
*David Chen as Thug
*Christopher Chirdon as Schmidt
*LaShonda Reese as Lip Syncer
*Raphael Saadiq as himself
*D-Nice as himself
*Thomas Q. Jones as Darius Jones/Comanche (uncredited)
*Craig Walker as Big Al (uncredited)
*Nancy Cejari as Clubgoer (uncredited)
*Gina Diaz as Resident (uncredited)
*Olivia Rose Eierman as Student #3 (uncredited)
*Nick Gifford as Passerby (uncredited)
*Miguelangelo Hexylvania as Passerby (uncredited)
*Mohammed Hossain as Pedestrian (uncredited)
*Decater James as Hustler (uncredited)
*Cassandra Jeudi as Clubgoer (uncredited)
*Phil Oddo as Pedestrian (uncredited)
*Alexandra Santini as Clubgoer (uncredited)
*Phil Sarpong as Clubgoer (uncredited)
*Mike Scerbo as Bar Patron (uncredited)
*Ann Marie Seall as Bartender (uncredited)
*Nora Sommerkamp as Clubgoer (uncredited)
*P. Strathen as Clubgoer (uncredited)
*Unknown Actress as Marisol (uncredited)
*Unknown Actor as Tony (uncredited)
*Unknown Actress as Passion (uncredited)
==Appearances==
===Locations===
*New York City, New York
**Pop's Barber Shop
**Genghis Connie's
**Harlem's Paradise
**Crispus Attucks Complex
**Mount Olivet Baptist Church
**Colon's Gym (mentioned)
** (mentioned)
** (mentioned)
** (mentioned)
*Georgia (flashback)
**Seagate Penitentiary (flashback)
* (mentioned)
*Miami, Florida (mentioned)
*Russia (mentioned)
*Latvia (mentioned)
*Puerto Rico (mentioned)
*Jamaica (mentioned)
===Events===
*Ambush at the Harlem Junkyard
*Attack on Zip's Gang
*Duel of Delaney Hall (mentioned)
*Battle of New York (mentioned)
*Arrest of Wilson Fisk (mentioned)
===Items===
*Hammer Industries Assault Rifle
*The Incident
*
*Mjølnir (mentioned)
*Captain America's Shield (mentioned)
* (mentioned)
===Vehicles===
*
===Creatures===
* (mentioned)
===Organizations===
*New York City Police Department
*Stokes Crime Family
*Colon Crime Family
*New York Bulletin
*WJBP-TV
*New Harlem Renaissance
*
*
*
*Avengers (mentioned)
*Hammer Industries (logo)
*Dominican Mob (mentioned)
*Cuban Mob (mentioned)
* (mentioned)
* (mentioned)
* (mentioned)
* (mentioned)
===Mentioned===
*Jessica Jones
*Fredo Diaz
*Bessie
*Tony Stark
*Thor
*Steve Rogers
*Hulk
*Mama Mabel
*Pistol Pete
*Salvador Colon
*Wilson Fisk
*Justin Hammer
*Diamondback
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*Ray Charles
*
*
*
*
*
* (picture)
*
*
*Pop's Free Hair Cut List
**
**
**
**
**
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
==Trivia==
*Moment of Truth is the name of a song included in the of the hip-pop duo Gang Starr.
*When Connie Lin says that she wants to hire Cage, an offer which he turns down by saying, "I'm not for hire", it is a subtle reference to the group Cage formed with Danny Rand in the comics: Heroes for Hire.
*The episode features the MCU's second use of the expletive 'fuck', after New York's Finest. It is spoken by Tone after a dying Dante calls him about the robbery.
==Music==
Song title 	Artist 	Location(s)
Dap Walk 	Ernie and The Top Notes, Inc. 	
*Pop talks basketball in Pop's Barber Shop with the other barbers and customers as Luke Cage works.
Funky Four Corners 	Richard Marks 	
*Plays in the barbershop.
Feel It in Your Bones	Directory 	
*Plays in the barbershop.
Missionary 	21 the Producer 	
*Shameek Smith waits in his car. While taking out the garbage, Luke Cage runs into a gun-carrying Chico Diaz. Diaz gets into Smith's car and they drive off.
Good Man 	Raphael Saadiq 	
*Raphael Saadiq performs at Harlem's Paradise nightclub; Cottonmouth watches the performance before meeting with Mariah Dillard and Domingo Colon; Luke Cage washes dishes in the back; Cage meets Misty Knight as he bartends.
Angel 	Raphael Saadiq 	
*Cottonmouth tells Domingo Colon and Mariah Dillard about his military-grade merchandise; Montage of a shootout at the weapons deal between Stokes and Colon mean goes down when Chico Diaz, Shameek Smith and Dante Chapman rob them.
The Sure Shot 	Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge	
*Cottonmouth is informed about his shipment; Misty Knight texts on her phone when Luke Cage arrives outside.
Think Deep 	Coleman Hawkins 	
*Luke Cage and Misty Knight kiss goodnight before she leaves.
==References==
==External Links==
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Category:Luke Cage (TV series) Episodes