The Creator

The Creator is the eleventh episode of the second season of the television series Luke Cage.
==Synopsis==
Shaken by Mariah's latest act, Luke combs the city for a witness. Flashbacks reveal a fateful encounter between the Stokes and McIver families.
==Plot==
The NYPD investigates the mass slaughter in Gwen's, suspecting the Stokes Crime Family as the culprits. Luke Cage blames himself, as he did not take Mariah Stokes down when he had a chance, but Misty Knight tells him that this is not him. During the investigation, Knight comes across Anansi's burned body but notices that he was shot with the revolver. Meanwhile, Cage notices a blood trail and concludes that there was a survivor who witnessed the massacre and managed to escape.
Tilda Johnson provides medical assistance to Bushmaster, so he can fully recover — even though she does not have enough Nightshade. Johnson tells Sheldon that the artificial Nightshade grown by the Stylers would not help him, but Sheldon replies that his friend is a survivor and that he will make it.
Alex Wesley brings Stokes and Shades to the new safe room at Harlem's Paradise, reinforced by the Atreus Plastics developments. Shades warns Stokes that the bunker will not stop Bushmaster after what she did at Gwen's, but Stokes reminds him that they did it together and that he was just as complicit. Stokes assures Shades that whenever Bushmaster comes after her, she will be ready to get rid of him once and for all.
Investigating the massacre, Mark Bailey provides Knight and Cage with the information on the victims, and they pinpoint their survivor, Ingrid Mackintosh. Cage goes to search for Mackintosh before the Stokes family gets to her, while Knight ponders if Tomas Ciancio was right and that some other gang in the city was responsible. Cage responds that they need to find Mackintosh regardless, so he interrogates the local criminals, who all deny their involvement.
The NYPD later recovers video footage of Mackintosh leaving the restaurant, and Knight assumes that she was seeking medical help. She tells Cage to stand down and let the NYPD search the hospitals, but Cage decides to proceed anyway. Priscilla Ridley informs Knight that the public and the press are already aware of the massacre and the survivor, and the New York City Hall wants Knight to make a statement. Knight refuses at first, as she needs to focus on the ongoing investigation, but Ridley says that her future career heavily depends on the case. 
Watching the press conference, attended by Knight, Stokes finds out that there was a survivor who witnessed everything. Stokes orders Shades to find Mackintosh and kill her so she won't be able to testify, but Shades hesitates, saying that Stokes had crossed the line. Stokes tells Shades that it is not a good time to argue and that he must completely dedicate himself to the cause, as Mackintosh was too big of a threat to be left alive.
Discussing Bushmaster, Sheldon tells Johnson that for as long as he knew him, he was the strongest person he ever knew. No matter what he had to face, McIver would always survive, and the Nightshade only revealed his inner strength. Johnson claims that the Nightshade is slowly killing him from the inside, but Sheldon replies that he cannot die until he gets his revenge on the Stokes family. Sheldon tells Johnson about how McIver's parents were betrayed and killed by the Stokes family, while Bushmaster himself was nearly killed by Pistol Pete, but Anansi and Maddah Myrie saved him with the Nightshade. Johnson is horrified, but Sheldon notes that the same blood runs in her veins, and McIver will not stop until the Stokes family gets what they deserve.
Knight examines Anansi's body and links the gun wounds to the same revolver that was used to kill Candace Miller. Mark Bailey suggests that whoever killed Miller could have dumped the gun and let it be picked up by a different person who killed Anansi. However, Knight disagrees. She goes through the forensic report and concludes that the revolver was extremely rare and was most likely a trophy that only the Stokes family could possess, which would allow the police to link both murders to Stokes.
Stokes organizes a meeting with Hai-Qing Yang and offers a cooperation between the Yangsi Gonshi and the Stokes family in heroin trafficking in New York City. Stokes proposes to expand the drug business in Harlem, but Yang notes that the Stokes family was always against dealing with drugs, since he remembered when Mama Mabel called the shots. Stokes reminds him that Mabel and the old guard of the Stokes is gone, and she is willing to branch out to new grounds and be partners with Yang.
Cage searches for Mackinstosh in Clinica Sonando, where he confronts the Stokes family members who were gunning for Mackintosh. Cage takes them out and finds Mackintosh who is afraid that Cage wanted to take her hostage and use against Bushmaster, but Cage assures her that he only needs her safe. Cage tries to get Mackintosh to safety, but Shades manages to get to her. Shades prepares to pull the trigger, but he decides not to kill her and leaves before Cage finds him, still being shaken up from all the murders he had to commit while working for Stokes. Mackintosh begs Cage to take her to see Anansi's body, saying that the violence will not stop until Stokes is dead. Cage does not want to fight fire with more fire, and Mackintosh notices that he is not too dissimilar from Bushmaster — although Bushmaster let his anger consume him, unlike Cage who internalized the anger.
Back at Harlem's Paradise, Stokes is faced by the illusion of Mama Mabel who tells Stokes that she is nothing but a disgrace to the Stokes family. Stokes argues that she is building the perfect community for Harlem citizens, but the Stokes name always ruins everything, blaming Mabel for all her troubles. Mabel reminds her of Cornell Stokes' murder, but Stokes dismisses it as well, before the illusion of Pistol Pete speaks to her. Stokes is furious at both of them and claims that she will rule not only Harlem, but the entire city, and no one will stop her.
Johnson concludes that Bushmaster's wounds are too severe and being subjected to the Nightshade might kill him, but Sheldon demands her to proceed regardless. Bushmaster suffers from the Nightshade effects but manages to regain consciousness and completely heal his wounds. Johnson, however, informs Bushmaster that the Nightshade has poisoned his internal organs, and he is very likely to succumb to the side effects and die, to which Bushmaster says that he has cheated death before. Sheldon later brings the tragic news of the slaughter at Gwen's and the death of Anansi.
Knight searches through the police archives for the information about the revolver used to kill Anansi. She manages to find the file of the unsolved murder of Peter "Pistol Pete" Stokes, now certain that the Stokes family are involved in all the murders. Ridley notices that since Rafael Scarfe was the lead investigator on the Pistol Pete's case, Blake Tower would not find it admissible. Ridley tells Knight that they need either the gun or the witness to go after Stokes, but Cage informs her that Mackintosh will not testify.
Bushmaster, Sheldon, and Johnson come to Gwen's to witness the aftermath of the slaughter, as Bushmaster silently looked at the blood on the floor. Bushmaster realizes that the attacks was meant for him and none of the innocent people had to suffer Stokes's wrath. He then thanks Johnson and tells her that she is free to go, knowing that she is different from her mother. Johnson offers Bushmaster her condolences for the suffering Stokes brought to him, and she leaves.
Interrupting Stokes and Wesley, Shades confronts her, saying that she has broken the code of the streets by killing innocents without reason, although she objects that Shades' hands were just as dirty. Shades tells Stokes that he let Mackintosh live and that he's leaving the family, but Stokes reminds him that if she goes down, Shades will go with her as an accomplice. Shades refuses to reason with Stokes and prepares to leave, but she reminds him of Comanche, realizing that Shades used to love him and proceeds to mock Comanche's death, angering Shades. Shades tries to strangle Stokes to death but realizes that she is not worth it and leaves the club. Johnson then arrives and asks Stokes if she was the one who slaughtered the people at Gwen's and, once Stokes confirms it, she leaves her as well.
Shades comes to the 29th Precinct Police Station and approaches Knight, surrendering himself to the police. Knight questions why Shades wants to help her now, to which he replies that Stokes went too far and that she needs to be stopped at all costs, even if he had to work with the police.
Cage and Bushmaster face each other at the morgue, but Mackintosh stops them from fighting, as she needed time with Anansi. Bushmaster is grateful to Cage for keeping his aunt safe, and although Cage says it was only a right thing to do, Bushmaster replies that the world is more complicated than that. Cage says that he would stay out of the way and let Bushmaster and Stokes to kill each other, but he cannot let Harlem suffer in their war. Bushmaster expresses his respect towards Cage, admitting that if their lives were different, they could have been good friends. Cage then warns Bushmaster to walk away because the next time they fight, Cage will make sure that he will not stand up again, leaving Bushmaster to comfort Mackintosh. 
Walking out of the morgue, Cage gets approached by Sugar, who tells him that the situation in Harlem is out of the control and that Cage needs to become something more than a hero to protect it.
==Cast==
Main Cast:
*Mike Colter as Luke Cage
*Simone Missick as Misty Knight
*Theo Rossi as Hernan Alvarez/Shades
*Gabrielle Dennis as Tilda Johnson
*Mustafa Shakir as John McIver/Bushmaster
*Alfre Woodard as Mariah Stokes
Guest Stars:
*LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Mabel Stokes/Mama Mabel
*Kevin Mambo as Sheldon
*Karen Pittman as Deputy Chief Priscilla Ridley
*Curtiss Cook as Peter Stokes/Pistol Pete
*Justin Swain as Detective Mark Bailey
*John Clarence Stewart as Alex Wesley
*Sahr Ngaujah as Paul Mackintosh/Anansi
**Desmond Elisha Denis as Young Anansi
*Heather Alicia Simms as Ingrid Mackintosh
**Melissa Vassell as Young Ingrid Mackintosh
*Rey Lucas as Detective Tomas Ciancio
*Henry Yuk as Hai-Qing Yang
*Sean Ringgold as Sugar
*Shannon Harris as Gwen McIver
*Jeff Auer as Terence Rogers
*Felix Betancourt as Ricky
*Angel Dillemuth as Tony
*Tarah Rodgers as Stephanie Miller
*Mekhi Hewling as Young John McIver
*Toree Alexandre as Young Mariah Stokes
*Jayden D. Brown as Young Cornell Stokes
*Chaundre Hall-Broomfield as Young Benjamin Donovan
*L'Antionette Stines as Maddah Myrie
*Alex Allen as Young Nigel Garrison
*Antwayne Eccleston as Young Sheldon
*Ashley D. Kelley as Young Nurse
*Melissa Rakiro as Stephanie's Sister
*George Pogatsia as Italian Thug
*Krista Donargo as Pastry Chef
*Daniel Keith as Jerry
*Jamar Greene as Goon #1
*Kurt DeVille as Goon #2
*Truck Hudson as Goon #3
*Tristan Laurence as Reporter #1
*Anthony Salvador Lewis as Reporter #2
*David Healy as Reporter #3
*Hope Blackstock as Reporter #4
*Melvin Cross as Jamaican Gangster (uncredited)
*Kurt DeVille as Goon Two (uncredited)
*Leroy Phillips Jr. as Hospital Orderly (uncredited)
*Gilbert Soto as Puerto Rican Mob Boss (uncredited)
*Kyro Wavebourne as Korean Mob Boss (uncredited)
==Appearances==
===Locations===
*New York City, New York
**Gwen's
**Harlem's Paradise
**29th Precinct Police Station
**Circo's Pastry Shop
**Clinica Sonando
**Columbia University (mentioned)
**Pop's Barber Shop (mentioned)
** (mentioned)
*Kingston, Jamaica (flashback)
**McIver Residence (flashback)
===Events===
*War for Harlem
**Attack on Ingrid Mackintosh
**Rum Punch Massacre (flashback)
**Rescue of Mariah Dillard (mentioned)
*Assassination of Tom Ridenhour (flashback)
*Destruction of McIver Residence (flashback)
*Attack on John McIver (flashback)
*Assassination of Candace Miller (mentioned)
*Assassination of Pistol Pete (mentioned)
*Murder of Cottonmouth (mentioned)
===Items===
*Misty Knight's Prosthetic Arm
*Nightshade
*
*Bushmaster Rum (mentioned)
* (mentioned)
===Vehicles===
To be added
===Organizations===
*New York City Police Department
*Stokes Crime Family
*Yangsi Gonshi
*Italian Mob
*WHiH World News
*WNEX New York
*WJBP-TV
*Puerto Rican Mob (mentioned)
*Korean Mob (mentioned)
*Atreus Plastics (mentioned)
*New York Bulletin (mentioned)
===Creatures===
* (mentioned)
===Mentioned===
*Danny Rand
*Quincy McIver
*Buggy Stokes
*Karen Page
*Chris DiMolina
*Candace Miller
*Sheldon's Mother
*Comanche
*Rafael Scarfe
*Blake Tower
*
* (picture)
*
==Trivia==
*The Creator is a song from the album of the hip-pop duo .
==Music==
Song title 	Artist 	Location(s)
Reggae Rockers 	Nicodrum & Friends 	
*Flashback to Kingston in the mid 1980s as a young Bushmaster watches teenage Mariah Stokes and Cornell Stokes interact.
Dusts of Gold 	Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad	
*Misty Knight looks around Gwen's and invisions how the shootings and Anansi's death happened.
Shades Legacy 	Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad	
*Mariah Stokes tells Shades to take care of business while she works to secure their future.
Way Inna Babylon 	Num & Nu Afrika 	
*Luke Cage watches the parade go by as he plans how to use it for cover.
Bringing It Back 	Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad	
*Luke Cage tries to convince Ingrid Mackintosh that more war is not the answer, then she comments on the danger of him holding in his anger.
Viens On Se Barre	Nicodrum & Friends 	
*Luke Cage and Ingrid Mackintosh hide in the parade as they make their way to her place.
Brothers In Arms 	John Hyde 	
*Flashback to a young Bushmaster selling fruit at a market in Trenchtown, when Pistol Pete comes up and shoots him in the stomach as part of the feud with the Stokes.
Look Around 	Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad	
*Shades catches Mariah Stokes flirting with Alex Wesley.
==References==
==External Links==
*
*
*
Category:Luke Cage (TV series) Episodes