Luke is wounded and running while Mariah tries to consolidate power safely and Misty tries to get a grip on herself.
So, I’ll admit it, I left out one fairly crucial detail from the last episode’s synopsis that comes heavily into play in this episode. So I’ll just bring it up here: After Diamondback knocked Misty out, deciding to leave her alive after stealing her gun and holding it to her head, Claire stayed behind to take care of her when Luke ran after Diamondback. After that, Misty took Claire in for questioning, still trying to apprehend Luke. During the questioning Claire got under her skin, making her question her loyalties, and Misty lost it and attacked her. There, all caught up.
The next day, Misty is confronted with a therapist working for the department, interviewing her about recent events and why she would assault a witness. She’s forced to confront some hard truths about herself and the toll that this case, her relationship with Luke and her ex-partner’s involvement and guilt is taking on her ability to be objective in the field.
Meanwhile, Diamondback pays Shades a visit, ready to kill him for setting up Cottonmouth’s death, but decides to give him another chance and insists that Shades is not in charge of the operation. Shades goes to Mariah to let her know it is in her hands, and that she needs to take control before everything falls apart, so she sets up a meeting with the various factions that were doing business with Cottonmouth.
Luke comes to and stumbles his way out of the garbage truck, trying to make his way back home. With the cops looking for him for Cottonmouth’s murder he has to keep a low profile, and ends up having to fight off a couple of officers, a fight which gets captured on video. He makes his way back to the restaurant where Claire’s mother works and finds her deep in research, trying to find a way to remove the bullets from his wounds. She suggests that they track down and visit Dr. Burstein, the researcher that originally gave Luke his powers, hoping that he will have a better idea of how to approach the problem.
The video of Luke vs the Cops goes viral, and on a suggestion from her assistant, Mariah is able to use it to her political advantage, casting Cottonmouth and herself in a better light as people trying to protect the community against this savage powered outsider.
Burstein is shocked to find out that Luke is still alive after the explosion in the lab, and using the data that Reva stole when she left the program, he believes that he may be able to understand the original conditions enough to be able to temporarily reverse them, allowing Claire to perform surgery to remove the shrapnel. It’s extremely risky, however, and may boil Luke alive if they get it wrong. Realizing that he’ll die without it they go ahead.
Mariah’s meeting gets underway and she informs the other bosses that she wants out of the crime business, planning to go legitimate and is open to hearing buyout propositions. Before negotiations can get underway, Diamondback arrives and starts killing everyone, consolidating control for himself. He only leaves Domingo and Mariah alive, and when he asks her why she should live, she suggests a new partnership, and a plan to turn the current political climate in their favor by selling his advanced weapons to the police department to deal with threats like Luke Cage.
Burstein and Claire begin the experiment on Luke, hoping to soften up his skin, but things go wrong. After enduring increasing pain with no results, Luke goes into cardiac arrest and flatlines.