- "You're wasting your gifts, my brother. This gangster life not what our ancestors fought for. Not what our people died for."
"This is exactly what they died for. Self-determination, control, power. [...] Money outlasts respect. Respect will put your name on the side of a building, but the money that put your name up there comes from some place." - ―Mariah Dillard and Cornell Stokes[src]
Code of the Streets is the second episode of the first season of the Netflix exclusive television series Luke Cage.
Synopsis
Luke is pulled deeper into the fight for his neighborhood when, as a favor to an old friend, he tries to help a kid who's in trouble with Cottonmouth.
Plot
After Stokes' inquiry, Luke Cage locates Chico Diaz, who returns to Pop's Barber Shop for protection at Pop's behest, while Pop lies to detectives Misty Knight and Rafael Scarfe about Diaz's whereabouts. Pop sends Cage to parley with Stokes on Diaz's behalf, but one of Stokes' men, Tone, is tipped off to Diaz's location by Turk Barrett. Tone shoots up the shop, killing Pop and critically wounding Diaz while Cage shields a young boy with his body; Knight becomes suspicious of Cage when she discovers that he was unharmed despite getting shot. Angered by Pop's death, Stokes kills Tone for his actions and gives Mariah Dillard the money he stole. Pop's death also affects Cage, who decides not to settle for less anymore and instead use his abilities for good, the way Pop had suggested to him earlier.
Cast
Main Cast:
- Mike Colter as Luke Cage
- Mahershala Ali as Cornell Stokes/Cottonmouth
- Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard
- Theo Rossi as Shades
- Simone Missick as Misty Knight
Guest Stars:
- Frankie Faison as Henry Hunter/Pop
- Frank Whaley as Detective Rafael Scarfe
- Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett
- Ron Cephas Jones as Bobby Fish
- Cassandra Freeman as Patricia Wilson
- Brian 'Sene' Marc as Wilfredo "Chico" Diaz Jr.
- Darius Kaleb as Lonnie Wilson
- Jermel Howard as Shameek Smith
- Warner Miller as Tone
- Hugues Faustin as Dante Chapman
- Steven Ted Beckler as Nate
- Cedric Benjamin as Jamel Shabazz
- Elijah Boothe as Young Adult Cottonmouth
- Edwin Freeman as Young Adult Pop
- Peyton Smith as Chauncey
- Camrus Johnson as Torre
- Alsharik Sejour as Mamba
- Anthony Aroya as Victor
- Unknown actor as Wilfredo "Fredo" Diaz Sr.
- Faith Evans as herself
- D-Nice as himself
- Annie Pisapia as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Ann Marie Seall as Bartender (uncredited)
- Kellen C Wingate as Detective (uncredited)
- Lynn Marocola as FDNY Paramedic (uncredited)
- Mohammed Hossain as Photographer (uncredited)
- Nancy Cejari as Clubgoer (uncredited)
- Nicholas Marocola as FDNY Paramedic (uncredited)
- Nora Sommerkamp as Clubgoer (uncredited)
- Phil Oddo as Reporter (uncredited)
- Saliyl Dotson as Bartender (uncredited)
Appearances
Locations
- New York City, New York
- Chicago, Illinois (mentioned)
- Savannah, Georga (mentioned)
- Seagate Prison, Georgia (mentioned)
- Switzerland (mentioned)
- Turkey (mentioned)
- Puerto Rico (mentioned)
- Jamaica (mentioned)
Events
Items
To be added
Vehicles
To be added
Organizations
Mentioned
- Zip
- Mama Mabel
- Shameek Smith
- Reva Connors
- Domingo Colon
- Bert Hunter
- Kelly Knight
- Candace Miller
- Crispus Attucks
- Benjamin Franklin
- Donald Goines
- Walter Mosley
- George Pelecanos
- Richard Price
- Dennis Lehane
- Chester Himes
- Bobby Fischer
- Jesus
- Pat Riley
- Cheryl Miller
- Barney Miller
- Quentin Tarantino
- Pop's Free Hair Cut List
- Puffy
- Fox News Channel
- Horton
- Kenyatta
- John Shaft
- Easy Rawlins
- Michael Corleone
- The Cat in the Hat
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Django Unchained
Trivia
- Code of the Street is the name of a song included in the album called Hard to Earn of the hip-pop duo Gang Starr.
- Tone compares his shooting up of Pop's Barber Shop to the Candyland Massacre from Django Unchained.
Music
| Song title | Artist | Location(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Doxy | Miles Davis |
Luke Cage and Pops discuss Donald Goines, other poets and Black heroes other than Shaft. |
| Mesmerised | Faith Evans |
Faith Evans sings at Harlem's Paradise; Mariah Dillard tells Cottonmouth he's wasting his talents which he disagrees with; Turk Barrett meets with Shades and Tone, he tells them where Chico Diaz is located; Patricia Wilson looks for Luke at Pop's Barber Shop; Shades and Tone head to Pop's; Luke reports back to Pops. |
| Cristo Redentor | Donald Byrd |
Cottonmouth takes a moment on the roof top of the club; Rafael Scarfe and Misty Knight drink as Misty continues to be perplexed by Luke Cage and the bullet holes in his shirt; Luke comes to a resolution about what he should do as holds the Pop's Barber Shop swear jar and a leaflet of Mariah Dillard's; Cornell cries over a picture of himself, Pop and Fredo Diaz; Luke challenges Mamba to shoot him. |
