At the Attucks center, gunfire rings out and men run out. A couch smashes through a window, and then Luke walks out carrying the bag of money, his head covered by a hoodie.
Earlier Today
The Harlem community is still shocked over Pop’s death. Cornell watches the news in his office.
Luke wakes up in his apartment and looks at Pop’s swear jar. He hits the streets and sees Connie working the accounts at a table inside. He goes to the barber shop and looks at the shrine outside and remembers what Pop told him about always looking forward.
Two men are loading toys loaded with cocaine when a SUV pulls up and the Hispanic occupants kneecap the two men. They grab the toys and take off. Misty and Scarfe are still on the scene but nobody has seen anything. They decide to go to the hospital to talk to Chico.
Luke is picking a coffin for Pop and asks to see the body. The mortician, Joel Spurlock says that it’s still being prepped for viewing, but Luke says that he’s all Pop had and wants to make sure he’s taken care of. Cornell comes in and says that the expenses are already taken care of. Once Spurlock leaves, Cornell insists that he always had Pop’s back and the man responsible for his murder has been taken care of. Luke warns that Pop’s death is still on Cornell, and Cornell tells Luke to step off before he gets hurt. When Luke warns that he’s just getting started, Cornell laughs and asks how the job search is going, and walks out.
Back at the shop, Luke picks up Pop’s discarded hat. Bobby comes in and says that he sorry Luke earlier at the shrine. Luke hangs the hat up and wonders how Bobby knew Pop. Bobby says that they used to play chess until Pop got too busy, and then Bobby started coming there. He admits that he always won, and figures the bank will take it eventually. Bobby says that he used to do Pop’s taxes and knows who is owed what. Luke promises that it won’t happen on his watch, and Bobby warns him that’ll take $80,000. He says that they as long as they pay the bills, things will be fine. Luke figures that he can rob Cornell to give him trouble, and says that he won’t touch Cornell the way he should. Since he can’t touch the kings, he’s going to take out all of Cornell’s other pieces.
At the hospital, Misty and Scarfe talk to Chico and figure that Dante was the inside man on the heist. Chico finally says that Shameek killed Dante but claims that he’s assuming it. They tell Chico that Cornell had the barber shop shot up trying to get at Chico, and that they want Chico to testify so they can put the people responsible behind. Chico says that he can’t help them and insists that he’s the victim. Undeterred, Misty tells him to step up and save some lives. The teenager says that the streets will handle it and Misty agrees before walking out. Scarfe takes off Chico’s handcuffs and says that he’s free to go. He points out that Chico has no clothes and no money, but his friends will take care of him. Scarfe gives Chico his card and leaves.
At the funeral home, Cornell tells Hunter that Pop deserves the best. Hunter points out Tone’s corpse nearby, and Cornell tells him to make it disappear.
Luke goes to the hospital and runs into Misty. She points out that he’s been in the middle of everything recently, and Luke says that he’s going to see a friend. Misty refuses to let him see Chico, pointing out that three people connected to Luke are dead. Luke tells her to find Pop’s killer, and Misty says that Luke’s business and her investigation is one of the same. As Luke says she knows where he lives, Scarfe comes over. Luke walks off and Misty leaves with Scarfe.
In the hospital room, Luke tells Chico that Tone acted on his own... and died on his own. He says that as long as Cornell has his cash, he’ll be satisfied. Chico insists that he’s out and starts to get dressed, and that the bullet that killed Pop probably bounced off of Luke. The teenager figures that Luke is a super type, and says that Pop’s death is on Cornell. Luke asks for his help hurting Cornell, and has Chico tell him everything Dante told him about Cornell’s operation. The teenager gives up the location of the locked room at the Attucks Complex where all of the money ends up. The trio went after the gun shipment because Attucks is a fortress. Luke gets the location of Cornell’s stash houses, and Chico figures the raid earlier was Domingo’s doing. He figures that if Domingo hits Cornell gets hit a few more times, he’ll move everything to Attucks to keep it safe... and Luke can be Domingo.
At the club, Cornell is auditioning his new singer. Charles Bradley.
A hooded Luke hits one of Cornell’s stash houses. Once he knocks out the thugs, he rips open the safe with the money and destroys the guns. When the officers arrive, they see the cash in the safe, untouched. Meanwhile, Luke hits another stash house
Later, Misty and Scarfe hear about the attacks. They check out one of the stash houses and a strung out girl there tells them that a dude in a hoodie rolled through. She says that she saw his face but all she can say is that he was fine.
Mariah meets Cornell in the park and tells her that everything is fine. She wonders why he has welders putting up steel doors and bars, and Cornell says that they got hit and have to take precautions. Mariah warns him not to put all of his eggs into one basket, but Cornell figures that the Complex is the perfect fortress. When she talks about her affordable housing initiative, Cornell laughs and says that it’s all a front. Mariah says that Cornell is a strong asset but his reckless actions are often a liability. She insists that she truly cares about what is happening in Harlem, and that the only way to save it is to fortify it against the real invaders. Cornell dismisses it as a fantasy but Mariah tells her cousin that it’s all to serve a greater good. The complexes will restore the community and they’ll both get rich, and assures Cornell that she’[s always ready.
Luke is watching the park and sees Mariah enter the Complex.
At the station, Scarfe tells Misty that they have to make Chico thinks that he needs them. He realizes that Misty is distracted, and she says that she can’t stop thinking about Pop. Misty knew him since she was 9, and Pop got her started in basketball. Scarfe figures that she can’t get a guy because she’s a Boston fan in New York, and Misty says that the barber shop was always safe until Luke started working there. Her partner has figured out she had sex with Luke, and Misty finally admits that she did. However, she still thinks there’s something weird with Luke.
Uninvited, Domingo and his bodyguards arrive at the club during the day. Cornell figures that Domingo has been hitting him, but Domingo says that someone is setting him up. He eats a candy bar and tosses the wrapper on the floor in a gesture of contempt, and talks about plover birds. Domingo tosses the rest of his candy bar on the floor and says that Cordell feeds on his scraps and he lets him. He says that he doesn’t need to bust up Cordell’s rackets and tosses another wrapper on the floor, and asks how Diamondback feels about Cordell breaking his word. Domingo demands a refund for the guns, and Cordell refuses. The crime lord mutters something in Spanish and leaves. When Cordell’s thug Zip wonders what Domingo said, Cordell says that Domingo just declared war on them.
That night, Cordell’s men gather at the Complex. Luke watches them go In and then Mariah leaves. He then rips the door off of a parked SUV and smashes into the Complex, using the door as a shield. Luke bulldozes his way through the hallways, knocking aside anyone who gets in his way and letting the door take most of the gunfire. He finally wraps it around one thug and keeps going up, rips a pipe out of the wall, and takes on more of the thugs.
More thugs arrive and Luke steps into an empty room and takes them all on. He finally picks up a couch and swings it around, smashing them down and throwing the couch out the window Luke then walks to the vault and grabs the guard through the barred gate.. After he knocks the guard out, Luke kicks the gate down and finds Cordell’s money. He takes one bag and walks out.
Later at her office, Misty tries to work out the crime scene in her head from the photos. She figures that Luke was responsible, and tells Scarfe that money “allegedly” belongs to Cornell. Scarfe wonders why the thief left most of the money behind, and Misty figures that the thief took it to get it off the streets. She points out that despite all of the gunfire, the thief didn’t kill anyone. Misty figures that whoever was responsible wanted them to shut it down, and Scarfe wonders why it matters. He doesn’t see a problem with a vigilante, but Misty insists that it’s a breakdown of the system. Scarfe points out that there isn’t much they can do as cops when there are superhumans in the world. Misty doesn’t believe it, insisting that they don’t have the training, but Scarfe says that they should thank whoever is responsible. She goes back to looking at the photos, and realizes that they match the ones she saw in Luke’s shirt after the barber shop shooting. Scarfe gets a call from Chico saying that he wants to talk, and Misty lets Scarfe deal with it.
Scarfe meets with Chico under a bridge. Chico says that he heard about the Complex raid and figures that it’s his turn to tell the cops everything. He says that he’ll name names and dates connecting everything to Cornell, out of respect to Pop. As he starts to mention Luke, Scarfe garrotes him with his tie.
Furious, Cornell smashes apart his club furniture when he hears about theft. Mariah says that the attack was on her office and people are going to start asking questions. When Cornell starts to come at him, Mariah promises to cut his throat if he does. Zip brings Scarfe in and the crooked cop p-ours himself and Cornell drinks. Cornell comes down and Scarfe says that Chico is dead in his trunk. He says that he also knows who raided the projects and says that Luke is responsible. The detective has traced Misty’s locations through her GPS and tells Cornell that he has Luke’s home address. Cornell says that it’s time to talk to Luke and walks out.
At the shop, Luke comes in and finds Bobby there. He gives him the bag of money and tells him to pay off Pop’s bills. Bobby admits that he stayed around to clean up the place, and Luke says that they need the place open. He asks if Bobby is going to run it, but Bobby warns that he’s no barber and asks Luke. Luke says that it’s a question for another time but says that he’ll have an answer soon because he likes to get things done.
Luke goes to Connie’s to eat, and tells Connie that he worked up an appetite earlier. He gives her a wad of cash to cover his rent, and says that what matters is what she does with the money. Connie hugs him, while across the street on a rooftop, Cordell aims his rocket launcher. He sights in on Luke and fires, and Luke sees the missile coming and dives just as it hits the restaurant... and explodes.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 2, 2016