| Connie Lin |  We want to hire you.  |
| Luke Cage | I'm not for hire... but you got my word ma'am: I've got you.". |
Appearances
Featured Characters:
- Luke Cage (Main story and flashback)
Supporting Characters:
- Pop's Barber Shop (First appearance)
- Bobby Fish (First appearance) (Unnamed)
- Chico Diaz (First appearance)
- Pop (First appearance)
- NYPD
- Detective Misty Knight (First appearance) (Unnamed)
- Detective Scarfe (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Stokes Crime Family (First appearance)
- Cottonmouth (Cornell Stokes) (First appearance)
- Tone (First appearance)
- Zip (First appearance)
- Sugar (First appearance) (Unnamed)
- Amos (First appearance)
- Koko (First appearance) (Unnamed)
- Councilwoman Mariah Dillard (First appearance)
- Domingo Colon (First appearance)
- Shades (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)
Other Characters:
- Shameek Smith (First appearance; dies)
- Lonnie Wilson (First appearance)
- Kristaps Porziņģis (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Phil Jackson (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Michael Jordan (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Kobe Bryant (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Pat Riley (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Al Pacino (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Muhammad Ali (Named only) (Topical Reference)
- Nelson Mandela (Named only) (Topical Reference)
- Richard Roundtree (Named only) (Topical Reference)
- Derek Fisher (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Charles Oakley (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Patrick Ewing (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Anthony Mason (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- John Starks (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- LeBron James (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Kevin Ollie (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Rick Pitino (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Doc Rivers (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- New York Knicks (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Patricia Wilson (First appearance)
- Bessie (Patricia's husband) (Mentioned)
- Jessica Jones (Mentioned)
- Wilfredo Diaz (Mentioned)
- Dave Griffith (First appearance) (Unnamed)
- Avengers (Mentioned)
- Tony Stark (Mentioned)
- Thor (Mentioned)
- Captain America (Steve Rogers) (Mentioned)
- Hulk (Dr. Bruce Banner) (Mentioned)
- Ollie (First appearance)
- Genghis Connie's (First appearance)
- Connie Lin (First appearance)
- Jin Lin (First appearance)
- Nate (Luke's boss) (First appearance)
- Dante Chapman (First appearance; dies)
- Raphael Saadiq (First appearance)
- "Mama Mabel" Stokes (Mentioned)
- Pistol Pete (Peter Stokes) (Mentioned)
- Salvador Colon (Mentioned)
- Wilson Fisk (Mentioned)
- Hammer Advanced Weapons Systems (Named only)
- Justin Hammer (Mentioned)
- United Parcel Service (Mentioned)
- God (Yahweh) (Invoked)
- D-Nice (First appearance)
- Candace Miller (First appearance)
- Comanche (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
- NYPD
- Mark Bailey (First appearance)
- Unnamed officers
- Ghostsbusters (Mentioned)
- Dante Chapman's mother (Mentioned)
- Biggie (Photo)
- Diamondback (Mentioned)
- Ray Charles (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- New York Bulletin (Newspaper)
- Jedi (Mentioned)
- Marisol (First appearance)
- Langston Hughes (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Malcolm X (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Zora Neale Hurston (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Duke Ellington (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- Crispus Attucks (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
- WJBP-TV (First appearance)
- Megan McLaren (First appearance)
- Tony (Mariah's bodyguard) (First appearance)
- Passion (a stripper) (First appearance)
- Reva Connors (Only in flashback)
- Benjamin Franklin (Mentioned)
- Jin Lin's father (Mentioned)
- Floyd Mayweather (Mentioned) (Topical Reference)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth-199999 (Main story and flashback)
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- New York (Main story and flashback)
- New York City (Main story and flashback)
- Manhattan (Main story and flashback)
- Harlem (Main story and flashback)
- Malcolm X Boulevard (First appearance)
- Pop's Barber Shop (First appearance)
- Genghis Connie's (First appearance)
- Mount Olivet Baptist Church (First appearance)
- Harlem's Paradise (First appearance)
- Colon's Gym (Mentioned)
- Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Mentioned)
- St. Nicholas Avenue (First appearance)
- Crispus Attucks Complex (First appearance)
- Malcolm X Boulevard (First appearance)
- Harlem (Main story and flashback)
- Manhattan (Main story and flashback)
- New York City (Main story and flashback)
- Miami, Florida (Mentioned)
- Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts (Mentioned)
- The Green Monster (Mentioned)
- Georgia (Only in flashback)
- Seagate Prison (First appearance chronologically) (Only in flashback)
- New York (Main story and flashback)
- Latvia (Mentioned)
- Jamaica (Mentioned)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- Hell (Invoked)
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
Items:
- The Godfather (Mentioned)
- Scarface (Mentioned)
- Carlito's Way (Mentioned)
- Mjolnir (Mentioned)
- Captain America's Shield (Mentioned)
Events:
- The Incident (Mentioned)
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.
Cast
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Luke Cage | Mike Colter |
| Cottonmouth / Cornell Stokes | Mahershala Ali |
| Detective Misty Knight | Simone Missick |
| Shades | Theo Rossi |
| Councilwoman Mariah Dillard | Alfre Woodard |
| Henry "Pop" Hunter | Frankie Faison |
| Detective Rafael Scarfe | Frank Whaley |
| Bobby Fish | Ron Cephas Jones |
| Domingo Colon | Jacob Vargas |
| Patricia Wilson | Cassandra Freeman |
| Wilfredo "Chico" Diaz | Brian "Sene" Marc |
| Lonnie Wilson | Darius Kaleb |
| Shameek Smith | Jeremel Howard |
| Connie Lin | Jade Wu |
| Jin Lin | Clem Cheung |
| Tone | Warner Miller |
| Dante Chapman | Hugues Faustin |
| Candace Miller | Deborah Ayorinde |
| Reva Connors | Parisa Fitz-Henley |
| Nate | Steven Ted Beckler |
| Sheila | Arethea Brooks |
Notes
- The song the episode is named after is "Moment of Truth", from the Gang Starr album of the same name. Like the song, the episode is about how one is defined by their action or inaction when struggles arise.
- The songs featured in this episode are:
- "Dap Walk" by Ernie and The Top Notes, Inc.
- "Good Man" and "Angel" performed by Raphael Saadiq himself.
- "The Sure Shot" by Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge
- "Think Deep" by Coleman Hawkins
Trivia
- Pop calls Luke Cage "Power Man", a reference to his long-time alias in the comics.
- At the end of the episode, the couple at Genghis Connie's offer to pay Luke for his services, but Luke tells them that he's not "for hire." This could be a reference to the Heroes for Hire, a group in the comics that Luke Cage is well-known to be part of.