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[dewittsend]

‘The Defenders’ Review [Episodes 5-8] {REPOST}

“Come as you are,” for better, and worse.

Something I neglected to fully delve into in my last review is the technical genius of episode four, easily the best episode of the series. Those color pallets I mentioned? Each of them is represented in this Chinese restaurant the foursome has escaped to. The bright neon lights both within and outside of the eatery are casting all sorts of beautiful shades onto our main characters and the colorful painted walls within, helping to create the perfect atmosphere for the delivery of some pretty A-game dialogue and performances. And the episode ends, as you might recall, with the Rolling Superstones getting ready to square off against Elektra. In fact, let’s look at that image again.

It’s a great moment. And one of the few this series has left to offer.

Well, crap.

It’s almost laughable how immediate the drop-off in quality is from the first four episodes, which are traditionally the ones screened ahead of time to critics. After the tantalizing cliffhanger of “Royal Dragon,” where we see Blink-MCU ready to take on Elektra, the fifth episode, “Take Shelter”...begins with classical music...and Madame Gao mobilizing her men...and Sowande (the “White Hat” Luke was tracking) in a van with HIS men...and oh, this dude Murakami is on the rooftop...and he jumps down and crashes into the middle of the fight, which has apparently been going on for some time.

We missed it.

It was such a sloppy way to open up an episode, and a total letdown for me, considering that throughout most of these fight scenes, the heroes are just knocking out randoms in black suits. It would’ve made a difference to see them take on a “mini-boss” like Elektra all on her own. This may seem like nitpicking but it’s merely a precursor to the other dropped balls in this second half.

Summarizing eps. 5-8 actually won’t be as hard as 1-4, because there isn’t a great deal of character or plot development. During all the chaos at the Royal Dragon, Matt of course tries to get through to Elektra, convinced that there’s still good in her because she’s hesitated on each of the multiple occasions she’s had to kill him, but she escapes before he can seal the deal. She does NOT, however, escape before Murakami can see them having a moment, and she attacks him for attempting to kill Matt, leading him to question her loyalty.

There’s an unnecessary side plot with Colleen that starts up when she gets her stomach sliced open by Bakuto (surprise! This asshole’s back!). She’s taken back to the police precinct, where all our supporting characters have been relegated for protection. After she gets patched up by Claire because I guess Iron Fist forgot he can heal people, she reveals a feeling of general uselessness to her friend. MIND YOU, she’s like a triple black belt in four Japanese martial arts and knows how to use a katana, which is kinda the same thing everyone else in this show is doing, yet she thinks she’s outclassed.

Though in Colleen’s defense, it seems that every single member of The Hand can teleport, because they all do the Batman disappearing trick, and I’m as SICK OF IT as she is.

After the skirmish at Royal, Luke captures Sowande. Now, they all try to get information out of him. Jessica Jones...punches him back INTO consciousness, which I don’t think is possible, but whatever. He taunts all of them, knowing there’s no pain they could put him through that would make him divulge any information about The Hand or their motives. “Cut off a finger,” he tells Stick, “and you can still use a hand.”

I guess HYDRA and The Hand had to flip a coin on sinister slogans at some point.

There’s a pretty great torture moment where Daredevil slings his billy club cord around Sowande’s throat and gradually tightens it, but of course, the hardcore nigh-immortal super ninja doesn’t give in. He’s actually able to escape his bonds and briefly takes Danny hostage, before Stick beheads him.

Ep. 6, “Ashes, Ashes” contains a standout in a show full of people flipping and punching each other in the face, and that is Daredevil vs. Iron Fist. Prefaced by a tense escalation of dialogue between them both, Matt and the rest try to explain that they think the best way to keep The Hand from getting to Danny is to keep him away from the fight. Essentially, he’s being grounded. Perhaps rightly so, Danny feels betrayed. His anger starts to boil, and despite efforts from Luke to keep him civil, he punches Matt right in the face. But we all know the Devil eats those for breakfast. So the fight begins, and I gotta say, I had a good time watching it! It’s well-choreographed, WELL-LIT (don’t. get. used to it.), and a bit more satisfying than Cage’s match with Blonde Ralph Macchio, if only because Murdock feels no need to hold back. And it’s interesting to see their fighting styles collide, with Matt being much more aggressive, and Danny’s wushu-inspired training favoring deflection and redirection. (((Except for the fact that he starts it.)))

*EDIT: I MADE GIFS OF THIS FIGHT SEQUENCE. ON GIPHY. AND THEY WERE REALLY NICE LOOKING, BUT THERE WAS A PROBLEM. KEEP READING TO SEE MY OTHER EDIT LATER ON AND GET DETAIL. SORRY.*

In the end, it takes the efforts of all the heroes to put Danny down (although again the show dodges an opportunity for a mini-boss moment, as for the majority of this fight, everyone else is just watching this happen). They tie him to a chair and try to formulate a strategy. While Jess and Matt reestablish contact with John Raymond’s family to gain information about exactly how much he knew, Stick and Luke keep watch over Danny. This allows the latter pair to try and act like they have chemistry.

Matt and Jess discover a map of the Midland Circle tower in John Raymond’s piano (after Matt...plays the theme song of the show...on the piano..?) and are on their way to bring it back when Matt senses some SHIT GOIN DOWN. Because while Luke and Danny were yuckin it up, Stick concocted some sort of sleeping inhalant. He uses it to knock out the Black man of steel and is about to kill Danny, because, of course, this is the only way he sees to completely deny The Hand. The other two hurry back, but it is actually Elektra who {somehow} finds their hideout and {somehow} is just in time to save Danny’s life by trying to kidnap him. She kills Stick before Matthew can stop her, and proceeds to knock the rest of them out one by one, managing to {S O M E H O W ?} PULL Luke Cage onto his back with some TV JUDO — I’m sorry. I am. But I have to address this.

This is another big issue. In her resurrection, Elektra is constantly referred to as the “Black Sky.” We’ve heard about these things beforehand. Apparently, they’re natural-born killers. And apparently apparently, they come with some form of enhanced strength and durability. At least, that’s what I’m forced to synthesize. Elektra is twice, two whole times, struck directly in the chest by Iron Fist’s iron fist in this show, and somehow doesn’t return with her ribs protruding through her back. Super-strong and actively remorseless Jessica Jones smacks her around numerous times, but she isn’t phased. And LEAST LOGICALLY OF ALL, she repeatedly manhandles Luke Cage, and it’s as if this dipshit forgot he shoulder-checked a van and tanked an RPG blast like two months ago! Her abilities as a Black Sky are completely ill-defined. ‘Well Justin don’t worry about it, because she’s, like, the best fighter ever probably,’ which, based on what the show demonstrates, translates into “She’s stronger than a man who can wring metal pipes like a towel, but when she punches Matthew Murdock in his de-helmeted face he’ll still {s...ome..how} keep all his teeth.”

So, whatever, Stick’s dead, and it almost means something, but then doesn’t. The only time it’s mentioned is when Matt tells Foggy in the precinct. And Charlie Cox acts the scene well because he’s phenomenal, but it doesn’t quite feel adequate.

Gee maybe if....you had made.....a little more than eight episodes.....you could’ve given some time.....to this major character’s departure....

Next, Elektra brings Iron Fist back to Alexandra. Yeah, remember her? This show sure doesn’t. Every time she shows up, it’s a surprise. To be accurate, it’s not like she totally disappears. There are scenes between her and the other Fingers of The Hand, but they’re all boring. These people have known each other since the dawn of time, but they can’t be bothered to say anything interesting to each other, or have some emotion when they find their brother with his head REMOVED from his body.

And yeah, I’ll say it — it doesn’t look good that the Black immortal was the first one to die.

After Finn Jones gives us some of his patented “I Am Vibrating With Anger!!!” acting and has brought his small face to peak punchability levels, he’s wheeled off to his episode wrap, and we get a closing moment that honestly made me shout.

Alexandra is confronting her dissident cohorts and putting her foot down about who’s in charge around here, damn it, when she gets shanked in the back with a sai.

*EDIT 2: YEAH SO I REALLY WENT INTO THE EFFORT TO USE GIPHY TO MAKE MY OWN GIFS AND I TRIED FOR HOURS BUT COULDN’T UPLOAD THEM PROPERLY OR AT ALL. I’M REAL SALTY AT TUMBLR RIGHT NOW. SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO RESOLVE THAT. UNTIL THEN, ENJOY THE CRAPPY GIF OF THIS MOMENT THAT TUMBLR DID HAVE AVAILABLE.*

^Sigourney isn’t even acting in this moment. She’s legitimately confused about why her time was wasted.

Yes, Elektra kills Alexandra, and I shouted because it was a shocking twist. But that didn’t mean it was a good one. I mean for God’s sake. You hire NATIONAL TREASURE and SCI-FI ICON SIGOURNEY “GET AWAY FROM HER YOU BITCH” WEAVER AND ALL YOU DO IS MAKE HER A POSTER-CHILD SO THE CRITICS WILL GIVE YOU A NICE SCORE ON ROTTEN TOMATOES? This GREAT actress was PIMPED OUT for four episodes and then REAMED.

What are we DOING, Marvel?

That question is in my notes several times. Let’s hurry up and finish ep. 6 so I can tell you why.

The show has a fleeting chance to get interesting again after taking out its best performer by perhaps turning Elektra into a rogue agent of chaos. Perhaps she manages to kill ALL the “fingers” and assumes her place as The Hand’s leader, a position she does hold numerous times in the comics. Or, even the vanilla option of her trying to fight Alexandra’s siblings and fleeing, wounded, to find Matthew and restore their bond, eventually standing with The Defenders against The Hand — either of these would’ve been better than what actually happens, which is that she’s turned into a nonsensical and lazily-written sociopath with zero authentic motivation to be doing any of what she does in these last two episodes.

Penultimate chapter “Fish in the Jailhouse” opens with a flashback conversation between Elektra and Stick to remind you that he mattered at one point. It’s just a retroactive and very obvious attempt to make you understand the emotional weight of the fact that she killed him given the father-daughter dynamic they’re supposed to have.

Episode six ended with a big “RUH-ROH” moment because we were shown police lights flashing over the unconscious Matthew’s face. Our heroes wake up in the precinct, where the cops, namely Misty and her captain, are understandably perplexed as to why a lawyer would be found unconscious with two superheroes and two very dead bodies. It’s a nice way to generate conflict between Matt’s dual lives, but it ultimately leads nowhere. Jessica, Luke, and Matt all break out of the precinct to go find Danny.

Meanwhile, Elektra has The Hand’s balls in a vice. Bakuto, Gao, and Murakami are all like ‘Aye maybe you should chill out trick, cuz there are three of us and we all know how to pluck a chicken, nahmsayin?’ and Elektra is all ‘Nah fam cuz we ain’t got no more of that magic sludge to bring you back if I murk your ass so try me if you want to.’ And that’s enough to get them to listen to what she has to say, which is...nothing.

Seriously, Elektra’s arc makes no sense! Alexandra was the only person she listened to or took orders from, so she kills her, but we never find out why! It wasn’t FOR the good guys, even though she says “His name is Matthew” to Alexandra when she sticks her (Weaver’s character had earlier ordered Elektra to kill Daredevil, “whoever he is.”). Maybe she just did it to prove that she could, but again, if she’s feeling that bold, why not try to murder the rest of the leadership? It’s not as if you need them for anything! Clearly you can handle all four of The Defenders on your own!

Whatever. Elektra still wants to find out what’s trapped behind the wall at the bottom of the pit underneath Midland Circle oh, crap. I haven’t explained this part.

Iron Fist is the MacGuffin of this series because his chi can open the door to a secret passage buried hundreds of feet underneath New York. The Hand have been burrowing tunnels, and finally found the spot they needed. What’s behind the door? A giant F*%$#!G dragon skeleton, the reveal shot of which is pretty sick. I’ll update with a GIF or image if I can find one. But this is all that’s left of Shao Lao the not-so-Undying, the dragon who Danny Rand had to face in order to receive his power. Although there is no, no, zero, NEGATIVE reason for this incalculably powerful dragon to be buried underneath New York!!! How does that work? Isn’t K’un-Lun in another dimension? Oh, it doesn’t matter? We only have eight episodes to resolve this? Okay. My bad.

The insinuation is that it is from within the vestiges of this dragon and others like him that the Fingers of The Hand receive the substance that revives them. And that’s the setup for the finale. But before I can move on to episode 8, I have to talk about...the World’s Worst Thing.

There is a fight scene that occurs...between the Fingers of The Hand...and the three Defenders who come to rescue Danny...and....there’s no splitting hairs about it: this scene is atrocious.

It’s heinous. It’s an affront to fight scenes everywhere. Every fight scene ever made at least tried more than this one did. In 19 years of life, a huge chunk of which has been spent watching action and martial arts movies, I’ve almost never seen a comparable mess of close-ups, cuts, and crap choreography. Never mind that the entire encounter could’ve been filmed inside an elephant’s rectum it’s so dark, but when you CAN see something, it’s Mike Colter and Krysten Ritter pushing cinder-blocks back and forth with an ancient telekinetic Chinese woman and then pretending to punch her in the face or swing a car bumper into her. And then they replace that ancient telekinetic Chinese woman’s 73-year-old actress [Wai Ching Ho] with what can only be described as a digital bean bag so it looks like she can withstand that kind of force as she’s tossed into the cement floor. Meanwhile Charlie Cox is over on the other side busting his behind to make these stunts and strikes look good against the other two bad guys, who for what it’s worth also probably trained extensively, but you can’t appreciate ANY of their hard work because you’re just watching silhouettes bop around in an arena too cramped for MICE to wrestle. It’s so, so terrible. Easily the worst sequence in the whole of the MCU.

Episode 8 is called “The Defenders,” and it’s basically just a lotta punching. Colleen steals a ton of C4, confiscated from John Rayburn’s home, from the evidence room in the precinct. She brings it to the Defenders, along with Claire, who doesn’t need to be here, except if she was gonna die! She does not, and this is also the first time she interacts with Matt in the entire show’s run. I don’t even think either of them reacts to this fact.

🎵Whaaaat are we dooooiiiiiiing, Maaarveelll???🎵

They all decide they have to blow up the building to stop The Hand permanently, so while Colleen and Claire go to set the bombs, the rest of the team heads to help Danny. God knows he needs it.

Daredevil, Jess and Luke find a secret elevator to ride down to the bottom of the pit, where they haul off on the rest of The Hand, who seem to just be sprouting up from the ground at this point. Colleen and Claire are interrupted in planting the charges by Pretty Boy Bakuto. I wanted to see this slimy, second-rate Ra’s al Ghul actin, discount yet still older Orlando Bloom lookin fool get his spine pulled out through his nose, but his actual death is just a beheading. Not quite as satisfying. In the process of the battle, Misty shows up, and loses an arm protecting Claire. This is a setup for her to receive the bionic replacement she bears in the comics, and it’s honestly not the avenue I expected Marvel to trust itself in taking. I applaud them for it, even though Misty was otherwise useless in this show.

I’m really trying to finish the summary so I can get to my conclusion. It’s not that things are complicated, it’s just that there’s so much noise to cut through here. Once Bakuto is dead, Colleen realizes that “RUH-ROH,” the timed detonator was accidentally triggered. So down below, Luke, Jess, and Dan are all like ‘Ayo Double D, we gotta double-dip on outta here!’ and Daredevil’s all ‘Nah, I can’t. Iss mah shorty, she’s actin’ wiiiilllld, she won’t let me go out. But I think I can help her remember she’s good, nahmsayin?’ And the others are like ‘Nah you’re mad weird!’ But they leave him anyway because we really, really have to make sure that our fans think we’re killing Daredevil.

Matt and Elektra have an emotional sex-fight, wailing on each other and saying nonsense lines. Again, it would mean more to me if Elektra was indeed still brainwashed for sure, but I can no longer tell what her character is, so it’s just two hot people in red kicking each other. The bomb blows up, we see them embracing and then the screen is covered by an onslaught of dust.

The wrap-up of this finale is probably the best part. I don’t mean that cheekily in that it’s close to the end, but it feels more paced and well-planned than anything else in the last few episodes. Each character gets a pretty obvious setup for the next season of their respective shows, and then, surPRIIIIIIISSSSEEE, if you're a five year old—Matt wakes up in a nunnery, bandaged and badly bruised, and the nurse tending him tells someone to ‘Get Maggie. Tell her he’s awake.’ Or something to that effect. It’s a visual callback to the Frank Miller comic Born Again, if I’m not mistaken; a beautifully written graphic novel that takes Matt Murdock out of his element. Disbarred and living on the streets, Matt is reduced to his basest instincts, his rage ever-building while Kingpin rises to influence yet again, and Daredevil’s reputation is slandered. Meanwhile, the enigmatic Sister Maggie may share the most important link with Matthew yet. If season three is going to follow that storyline, I’m definitely intrigued for what’s coming.

That, ladies and gentlemen, was Marvel’s The Defenders. And, despite my tough tone, it’s not all bad. It’s just frustrating to see the pattern throughout these shows whereby all of the effort and funding is poured into the first few episodes so critics will give it a good grade and then the next six (or in this case, four) episodes are so clearly lackluster by comparison. There are some nice moments between the supporting cast while they wait on their super loved ones in the precinct, and there’s a stellar moment between Foggy and Karen when Matt doesn’t walk through the door with the others. But, like I said, Claire Temple, who we first met in Daredevil (where Rosario gave her best performance out of all these, if you ask me) has no time at all to spend with Matt. The lack of a scene between the two of them reflecting on how this all started was jarring! Or a moment for Jessica to realize that Luke is with Claire. The foundation is being well-paced for their eventual romance, but right now it just seems like that’s because Luke is omitting the mention of his relationship with Claire. I think with just two more episodes--scratch that, even just ONE more, we could’ve had time to do these things. We would all have watched it. Your investment would not have been in vain, Marvel.

I also found myself annoyed because while I understand we may never see Jessica Jones drink space bourbon with Rocket Raccoon, or watch Luke Cage arm-wrestle with Thor, I don’t understand how any conversation about “getting help” for this massive threat to New York City doesn’t at some point have someone say: “Oh what about Tony Stark who lives literally twenty blocks away in the tallest building on Earth? Maybe we can at least try to contact him? Maybe we can at least think about trying? Danny? Billionaire to billionaire? No?” Marvel keeps shoving “THE INCIDENT” down my throat, so we know that this is indeed the same universe where aliens attacked New York, but The Avengers came out five years ago and not one of these people can even say “Hey where’s Iron Man???” The joke is RIGHT. THERE! A RICH GUY on your team has the word IRON in his NAME! JUST MAKE THE JOKE! Give me a BREAK!

What ARE WE D--forget it.

Now, for some good reactions: although she was essentially robbed, Sigourney Weaver brought her absolute best to her part. And as far as the Defenders themselves, I think Krysten Ritter and Charlie Cox were really pulling their weight the most. Their scenes together were always the most entertaining to watch, and they just both have such a good grip on their characters. Not to speak ill of Mike Colter. I think at times he falls victim to what I like calling “the Superman Syndrome”: a character is indestructible, and therefore the writers make him unrelatable. He does have a number of good moments, though, especially when paired with Ritter. Plus, he’s charming, and looks so much like the Luke Cage on printed page that I don’t even need to suspend my disbelief. This man probably really is bulletproof. The cinematography and screenplay of the first four episodes is prime. 

I can also appreciate the inverse to the threat the Avengers faced, which came from the skies above, where the Defenders are combating evil from beneath. If they even thought about it that much. And there is some really cool fighting. Aside from the end of episode seven, very little of the choreography is actually bad, it’s just that after watching people do handsprings into flip kicks for six hours your brain kind of turns it all off. The big battle in the pit at the climax of episode eight is #1. too damn dark, aGAIN, and #2. filled with more of the same we’ve seen these characters do aaalllllllll theeee tiiiime. Danny and Matt do a barrel roll. Luke and Jessica awkwardly shove folks. And, on that note, anyone remember the first time we saw Luke fight and he only needed to tap people’s foreheads to knock them out?

He was backhanding crackers into Limbo! But now he needs to cock his elbow to put someone to sleep? Just keep up with yourself, guys. Come on.

Personally, I would’ve liked more team-up super combos from them. Allow me this one childish desire to see Luke Cage and Danny Rand simultaneously pound the ground and send out a radial shockwave that puts everyone on their backs. Can you ALLOW ME THAT, WORLD?

In the end, I would still recommend this series, if only because we’ve been building to it for two years now and people should see what’s been offered to us. While it is an incomplete package, it’s still not the worst of the bunch.

However the finale doesn’t give me the impression these four people will ever team up again. And, honestly, that may not be the worst thing.

THANK YOU for reading if indeed you did read! Stay tuned for an unscheduled upload like this sometime in the indeterminate future. Keep watching, my friends. And as always, Blessings & Blexcellence!

[dewittsend]

‘The Defenders’ Review [Episodes 1-4] {REPOST}

So far, so okay.

As of this moment, The Defenders has pretty much met my expectations. That’s not to say it’s great, though. Not yet.  

It’s difficult to pick where to begin, because there’s a lot to cover. And I may not talk about scenes in their exact chronological order, because I’m summarizing the important information. And since this series won’t stop shoving his importance down my throat, I guess we’ll start with Iron Fist aka Danny Rand, played by actor Finn Jones—which, while I am on the fence about this, may be the first issue. I was disappointed with Iron Fist’s own Netflix series. To me, it felt rushed. A last-minute collage of sloppy choreography, boring writing, and confusing character choices. I often found Jones’s acting to be cringe-inducing at best, and his is the first character we’re reintroduced to.  

SPOILERS AHEAD! Do proceed at thy own caution.

We find Danny in Cambodia, hot on the heels of The Hand after the events of his series left him looking at an empty mountainside where K'un-Lun, the monasterial city he was raised in, used to be, with no trace of his mentors to be found. He is currently joined by friend with benefits and best-part-of-his-show Colleen Wing. Rand gets into a tussle with the revived Elektra [Elodie Yung reprising, and notably annoying me less], who is here hunting down an enemy of The Hand. Brainwashed and merciless, a la the Winter Soldier, she gives Danny a hard time, but he fights her off and she retreats temporarily. Our heroes have a vague conversation with the target of Elektra’s assassination, who tells them that the war they’re fighting will be finished in New York City before croaking.  

We’re privileged (and I do mean that because Krysten Ritter is a delight) to catch up with Jessica Jones next, as she’s kicked out of a bar that’s closing at what appears to be 8:00 in the morning and runs into her friend Trish Walker. Jones is still recovering from the psychological toll of her battles with Kilgrave, and as such has indefinitely suspended her investigative services. She is approached by a woman whose husband, named John Raymond, is missing. Jessica initially blows her off, but is driven to take the case when someone calls her office and warns her against taking it. She’s stubborn like that.

Luke Cage is on his way out of a short stint in prison. His fellow inmates are cheering as he is walked out of his cell. We get a great moment where a fumbling rookie cop can’t find the right keys to remove Cage’s cuffs, so he just snaps the chain himself and drops the crumpled rings into the warden’s hand. The supporting cast of these individual series are turning up left and right, and doing so in smart, sensical ways that really make this world seem well-connected. For instance, it turns out that Franklin “Foggy” Nelson was Cage’s attorney, and is the reason he’s out so early.

Foggy, by the way, now works for rich-people lawyer Jeryn Hogarth after he and his best friend Matt Murdock chose to dissolve their law firm. But they’re still friends, sort of. It’s complicated.

And where IS Daredevil? The Man Without Fear and the man who started it all, Matthew is currently a man defeated. Although he now takes the majority of his cases pro bono, the fulfillment of that isn’t enough to stave away the dissatisfaction he feels since choosing to hang up the horns. Karen Page, now officially a reporter, catches up with him over a slightly awkward cuppa. They have a solid scene together, illustrating the romantic tension budding between them. Karen still believes in Daredevil’s ability to affect change, as she always has. Matt thinks those days need to stay behind him. Of course, it’s only so long he can do that.

Promises promises.

This may be a good time to talk about each character’s signature color and lighting palettes. They’ve been used as tonal gauges, and they may have something to tell us about who these people are. For Matt, it’s obviously red, which carries the instant connection to the Devil and brimstone, to rage and blood. Cage’s is yellow, which is well known to be a color invented by God for black people to wear. It also reflects the warmth with which Luke views his community. Danny’s is green {EDIT 2021: representative of his status and wealth as well as a nod toward the importance of jade in kung fu symbolism}, and we’re probably never going to see him rock the Iron Fist costume so just be happy he’s got loose-fitting green clothes that look nice when he’s punching people. Finally, Jessica’s ranges between blue and purple; harking back to the “Purple Man” who consumed so much of her life when she was under his control, and also reflecting her much colder dispotion towards people and their problems, despite being a P.I. There are times when this lighting technique gets kind of oppressive, like when Matt’s entire apartment is bathed in fire-tones, but it helps to create some truly memorable cinematography. Case in point: one of this first half’s best moments is Luke’s bus ride back into Harlem. Set to a silky D'Angelo track, we see the golden glow of the sunset filter in through the bus’s gritty and fingerprint smudged windows. And views of the Manhattan skyline, and of Harlem’s streets, through what looks like avintage film camera, all with a sepia tint. It’s breathtaking, soothing, and probably had a little extra impact because I’m a Harlem resident myself.  

Cage reunites with his boo Claire Temple, Rosario Dawson’s nexus character through all of these shows, for a little bit of brown sugar. But before the two can settle into a routine together, Cage is pulled back into the sorrows of the streets by Detective Misty Knight. She informs him that several young men in the community have been getting involved in some seedy affairs, and some of them have gone missing. It seems they’re being used as expendable henchmen, pulling off whatever odd jobs they’re told to, whether it’s delivering drugs or making dead bodies disappear (which is what Danny Rand catches him doing later on). Cage takes it upon himself to investigate the affairs of one young man in particular named Cole.  

In between all of this, we’re introduced to our Big Bad. National Treasure and sci-fi icon Sigourney Weaver portrays the enigmatic Alexandra, whose body is beginning to fail her after centuries of life. Weaver is doubtless a tremendous actor, but even she can’t escape some typical mustache-twirling clichés (a friend of mine put it better than I can: “It’s not innovative for the cream white villain to find beauty in Rachmaninov but not in the lives of others, like, we understand!!!”). That aside, she brings something fun to this show just by the virtue of who she is. And at six feet, the actress’ physical presence really makes an impact. Alexandra towers over characters like Madame Gao and is almost eye level with Luke Cage. Her presence feels like a legitimate threat, and Weaver does an excellent job of portraying someone with significantly more power than she lets on. Our first demonstration of this is in a scene between her and Madame Gao, who has been built up throughout these shows as a force to be reckoned with, who had Vincent D'Onofrio’s Kingpin shaking in his shoes. This scene between them ends when Alexandra literally tells Gao to “finish feeding the birds for me,” hands her a bag of seeds, and walks away like the CHIEF CHICK SHE IS GO ‘HEAD SIGOURNEY!!!

*ahem* So sorry.  

It is eventually revealed that Alexandra is the person behind Elektra’s revival and reconditioning. Conveniently, Elektra doesn’t remember anything about her past life except how to fight. Thus, Alexandra has been using her to take out The Hand’s enemies and as a personal bodyguard. And after receiving the news that her body is reaching a terminal state of decline, Alexandra decides to accelerate her plans for the destruction of New York. As such, she has her people trigger a massive earthquake (the ramifications of which have not yet been fully uncovered) that affects everyone within the island of Manhattan. Nothing is exactly leveled yet, though. This seems to only be the beginning of her sinister plot.  

This brings the first episode to an end, and over the course of the next three, our four vigilante heroes follow individual leads that start to bring them together, at first in pairs. Iron Fist has a confrontation with Luke Cage in an alleyway when Cage catches the Kung Fu kid beating up on Cole. They have an entertaining fight, as the petulant and bewildered Rand keeps striking Cage with no affect. He finally unleashes the iron fist right onto Luke’s jaw and knocks the big man off of his feet into a metal gate. It’s only later, when Luke recants the experience to Claire, that she sets up a meeting between the two, and they have a conversation that is another highlight of the show so far. Cage essentially privilege-checks Danny for being a rich white kid and taking out his frustration on the underprivileged with little regard for their lives, instead of trying to use his wealth and influence to take The Hand down from an administrative level. These two characters are famously friends in the source material, and I can see the direction the writers are trying to take them here, wherein the older Luke is mentoring Danny and opening his eyes to a side of life he’s never considered before, even with all the trauma of losing his parents and being tortured raised by monks. Danny has a tendency to fly off at the handle, so the more patient Luke is there to ground him. It’s more father and son than two good friends, but it’ll have to do for the versions of these characters we’ve been given.  

Jessica Jones returns to her office at one point to find John Raymond with a gun to her friend Malcolm’s head. He’s panicked, telling her that there’s no future for him now that The Hand know he’s being investigated. On cue, Elektra crashes down the door to Jessica’s apartment and attacks. Raymond shoots himself before she can kill him, and she escapes before Jessica can catch her. But because of her rooting around in all of this, in addition to stealing evidence from a crime scene, Jessica’s put herself on Misty Knight’s radar. When she’s brought in for questioning, Matt Murdock steps in to defend (ha) her.  

At one point, we see that Alexandra has a hostage—Stick, Matt Murdock’s blind mentor. They have an exchange that contains the phrase “old friend” and other related banter. Stick, rather unexpectedly, starts prophesying about the Iron Fist, which confused me because he’d never mentioned him in either season of Daredevil. You’d think he might have in season two, when the Hand presented a more imminent threat to the city. But nah, he just spent the majority of his screen time groaning that Matthew wasn’t joining “the war.” So it seems a bit ham-fisted for him to now have this hard-on for Iron Fist, even if it does make sense that he’d know who he is. I just think it required some more setup. Anywho, big surprise, Stick gets hold of a weapon and slices his own hand off to escape, continuing to cement himself as perhaps the most hardcore old man on television.  

See? No biggie.

All our protagonists’ investigations lead them to one building: Midland Circle. Danny arrives there in suit and tie, ready to threaten them with financial and political action, as well as reveal himself to be “The Immortal Iron Fist,” which he says more often than “hello,” but since everyone in this series makes fun of him for it I can kind of excuse it. Alexandra, nonplussed as always, tells him that the only difference between him and the other Iron Fists she’s met over the years is that this time “I won’t kill you.” And GOD do I get chills.  

What follows is the action highlight of the series’ first half. Iron Fist gets better choreography than anything we saw in his show. He spends about a minute fighting Alexandra’s security detail, and right when he gets overpowered, Luke Cage busts in. They do battle side-by-side for a while, all until Jessica and Murdock (wearing Jessica’s scarf over his face) arrive on the same floor. It may be this show’s “hallway sequence,” as these Marvel Netflix projects have become known for. It’s well-lit and gives everyone a good amount to do—except Jessica, who might be the most vulnerable of the four as she’s got no real fighting technique, and for all her strength lacks any indestructible skin to fall back on when confronted with weapons. Although for what it’s worth we finally get to see her reunite with Luke Cage. That reunion is built on in the next episode (not that way, pervert) and it’s great to see their chemistry ignite again.  

There’s a point in the skirmish when Matt senses that “Someone’s coming. Something.” This something is Elektra, but he doesn’t realize it at first, and they fight for a good while. Matt takes a moment to listen to her breath, which causes him to stop fighting. But she doesn’t have a heartbeat. WHICH IS ACTUALLY SUPER SPOOKY AND COOL! She hesitates when he says her name, then raises her blade to strike Matt down, only to be knocked away yet again by Danny. What a guy, that guy.  

The four of them escape together, and in the next episode commandeer a Chinese restaurant as a temporary hideout. This is the first time we get to see all four of them interact, and it’s pretty fun. Cage and Jones muse over how absurd this situation is, because oddly enough, they’re sort of the straight men in this situation. They may have powers, but their worlds have never been touched by the supernatural. Rand and Murdock, however, are well-versed in this field. Thusly, they spend a good deal of time trying to catch the others up. This is also the episode that has some of Charlie Cox’s best acting yet, as a paranoid and frustrated Matt who doesn’t want to give in to the idea that A. what he suspects to be happening is in fact happening and B. he needs to involve these people in his life in order to handle it. And to some extent, all of them feel that way. While Danny is keen to team up, Jessica is immediately against it, and Luke is reluctant as well. All of them are loners by nature, who’ve each experienced pain as a result of opening up to people.  

When we’re done watching them bounce dialogue off each other, Stick shows up, sword in one hand, stump as the other, to do what he does best—exposit and tell the heroes what the stakes are. It’s not long before Alexandra ALSO sneaks into the restaurant (everyone can move like a ninja when this show wants them to) and tries to reason with her enemies, saying that if Iron Fist is willing to go with her, she’ll spare the lives of his friends. Which is almost definitely completely 105% a lie. The episode, and the first half of this series, ends with Elektra ready to square off against the four vigilantes + Stick.

To give my overall impression, I’m enjoying Defenders so far, and I think the actors are too. The problem to this point isn’t the actor’s level of chemistry, but that of the characters. I’m still hoping to see the bond between Danny and Luke expand into something more than just “shut up white kid,” even though that may well be what Danny needs to hear a few times. There needs to be a believable dependence between these four people. And although I know it’s a lot to juggle, I hope the supporting characters aren’t just dropped completely. They probably won’t be, though. I expect that as The Hand start getting closer to what they want, the ramifications will spread across the Defenders’ sphere of influence, from Turk to Claire Temple*.  

Other expectations/hopes for the latter half include:  

A cool introduction of the Hand’s remaining “Fingers”

Colleen v. Elektra!!!!

White Hat will be from, or have ties to Wakanda

Elektra will inevitably snap out of it. The hope here is to see her pick up her signature dual sai and stand with the Defenders

Alexandra could have some further connection to one of these heroes. Preliminarily, I thought it would be interesting if she was Matthew’s long-lost mother. Though, I guess that would really be pushing it

*Claire can’t survive this, right? I mean we all know Luke and Jessica have to end up together, and Claire’s not just going to give him up. I don’t want to see her go, but I also don’t know if there’s any way for her character to develop. Of course, there’s no guarantee Marvel will stick to the comics…but the Jess-Luke romance seems like too much of a fan favorite to pass on.

Stick’s gonna get stuck and tell Matt he’s proud of him

Whatever happened to Stone/maybe Lord Darkwind, the spooky dude Stick was talking to in season one of Daredevil? Let’s get him out here

Someone just say Tony Stark’s name. I mean, come on. The guy lives in the tallest building in New York and no one’s wondering what he’d think about all this? I know we can’t afford RDJ but is his character’s name gonna break the bank? (Yeah, it definitely would.)

Bullseye tease? Maybe? I dunno, man, they already robbed him of his big moment by killing Elektra without him

I already got THAT THING spoiled for me, THAT THING about THE OTHER GUY, but it would be on this list if I hadn’t

Oh and also Blade please

And so conclude my thoughts on the first half of The Defenders. There they are, lookin’ like Nirvana. Which I guess makes sense, given the marketing for this series. I’ll be writing a similarly long-winded and unnecessary reaction to the latter half. I hope you’ll check them both out.  

THANK you for reading if indeed you did read! Keep on watching, friends. And as always: Blessings & Blexcellence!

-JKW