The Netflix cover image for it looks like a promo for a bloody family sitcom lololol.

 

Four episodes in and it's actually really good. The characters are fun, and even Danny isn't completely annoying now that he and Luke can bounce off each other. Also, Luke totally calls him on being a billionaire white boy totally ignoring anything not directly applicable to himself and his cause. There's a little more emphasis on tough-guy alpha dog posturing before the team clicks than I'd prefer, but this is Marvel. Also, they play up the way that the entire plot comes from the Daredevil and Iron Fist shows, and Luke and Jessica are completely out of their element with the secret societies, ninja armies, zombie terminators, and the entire concept of 'chi'.

 

I'm also four episodes in, and I gotta say: VFO.

All of Rand's dialogue was hammy as fuck. Things got better when he had more than just Colleen to bounce somber one liners back and forth with though. And holy shit the jump cuts in the very first scene were god awful. The fight choreography for Rand seems to have improved though. Cage is still doing his hardly trying fighting style well, and Murdock had a good fight scene in Ep 4. Haven't seen anything interesting from Jones fight wise yet though.

There was one thing that gave me the shits though...

Spoiler

Goddam Stick, you had the leader of the Hand in front of you with her back turned. You had a sword. STICK HER WITH THE POINTY END. Don't let her monologue at the Iron Fist and then waltz off. Jesus.

Where's my man Punisher. Get him in here; he knows how to take care of business.

 

Just finished it. 5/5 no complaints.

Can't wait for the inevitable

Spoiler

Misty Knight spinoff

 

Calling it a day with two episodes left to go, will finish tomorrow. At the moment, I'd put it in the rankings at third place, behind Jessica Jones and Daredevil series 1. Lots of fun moments, good chemistry between the cast, satisfying action scenes and a couple of the sort of holy shit moments that have characterised the Netflix branch of the MCU at its best. It's also - so far at least - completely coherent despite the fact that I didn't finish Iron Fist and barely remember what I did watch, even though that and Daredevil are where most of the plot points come from. There was only one seemingly minor bit of character stuff that made me wish I'd finished it.

 

1st episode:
So far only one episode in, but I feel obliged to mention something that so far hasn't: they did an excellent job with framing the openings for each of the separate characters. Rand, with a shit fight scene, and barely understandable reasoning for it. Jones, waking up in a bar, complete with snippy comebacks and self-flagellation. Cage, in jail with a series-appropriate hip hop song playing in the background. And Murdock, with anger issues and bringing sweet justice in the court room.

Spoiler: This could barely be considered a spoiler.

Also, someone called in one of the other series threads called that it would be Foggy who ended up representing Cage. Can't remember who, but good call.

2nd episode: I'm so glad that they brought back whoever made Matt's parkour scenes seem as fluid as they were the DD S1, because they were shit in S2.

Finished. My one criticism would be is that it felt a little bit rushed. I didn't quite buy the connections they seemed to form in the time that they had, nor the speed at which they went through plot points; they series would have well benefited from a full 13 episode order.

Also,

Spoiler

The devil has come to collect. Get hype.

 

Finished six episodes.

Spoiler

As surprising as the ending was, I would prefer for Sigourney Weaver to stay in her lead antagonist role till the end. Instead they switched to a person who may have more emotional connection to the one of the main characters, but simply doesn't compare to the previous one.

It's the same problem that Iron Man 3 and The Dark Knight Rises have.

Other than that, it's good. Not something special on its own, but as a meeting of four different shows, doesn't disappoint.

 

Finished just a while ago, I thought it ended pretty well. I didn't hate Iron Fist like some people did, but those who did should find the way he's constantly getting his ass kicked physically and verbally a positive feature.

 

I want to binge so bad but I have zero time this week. Fuck adulting.

 

Well that ending was unsatsifying.

I give the series a 4/5 as a whole. It was a very safe script for the most part. They meshed the characters well I thought. Still...it was very...simple. Not great, but definitely good and worth watching.

 

Is finishing the Iron Fist show necessary to start Defenders, I've been putting finishing it off for a while cause I'm not enjoying it.

 

I haven't watched any of the non-Daredevil shows.

JJ is the least bleh of the three. I'd have probably watched her show if it didn't go into themes I don't wanna watch in 'hero' shows.

Luke Cage is boring af.

And Iron Fist... He's so hammy and stupid that I just assumed the writers were in on the joke, right? RIGHT?!

I thought it was a 3/5. By the end I was begging for a certain someone to make an appearance.

 

Just finished episode 7, aka Danny Rand is just the worst.

 

See...I wa excited for Danny when he was first mentioned. In the comics, The Iron Fist is legit. He's not as idiotic or annoying.

This Danny needs to grow up.

 

So, finished it. All in all, it's good fun. It doesn't really do anything special, beyond seeing them all in the same show, but that's not really a big problem; it's a much simpler story - arguably a little too simple - so you can just sit back and enjoy the ride, kinda like the first Avengers film. It's biggest strength was the characters, particularly Matt, Jess and Luke, although Danny did work quite well in the team context.

Spoiler

Wasn't expecting the apparent death of Daredevil, and because I'd forgotten they'd announced a third series already, I actually thought for a few moments that it was going to stick. I hope they either do a Defenders 2, or have him show up in Jessica Jones 2/Jessica show up in Daredevil 3, because they had a good chemistry together - not romantic, particularly, although I could see that being a possibility.

Overall, I'm not that impressed with the Hand. From unsettling and legitimately threatening in Daredevil, to just weird in Iron Fist (the bits I saw, at least; I think I watched the first eight episodes?) to random guys in the Defenders. Madame Gao was typically great, yes, and Alexandra at least had presence, if not a particularly interesting motivation, but the others were underwhelming, and their long-term plan was uninspiring. Presumably, given Matt's survival, Elektra is still kicking around somewhere, so it could be interesting to see them return under her leadership, but on the whole, meh.

The supporting cast were handled pretty well. They all came across as being put in for legitimate reasons, not just fan-service/contractual reasons, and it was worth having Foggy and Karen back purely for the moment when the 'surviving' Defenders walked back into the room, which they sold really well IMO.

Further to my earlier post about Danny being the worst...Jesus, Danny, you get locked in a room with someone who literally just explained that the Iron Fist - as in the magic fist itself, not the person bearing the title - is the key to a literal magic door that's going to make them immortal. Unlike at least two of your three teammates, you know all of this to be true. And you still fucking use the Iron Fist? And not only use it, but allow yourself to be led around like a bull so you can punch the wall? For fuck's sake. And it's kinda sad that the Immortal Iron Fist isn't even the best martial artist on his team, never mind the planet. That said, I liked the way they leaned into the idea that he's not as good as he thinks he is, and kind of an idiot; I think they were trying to get that across in his own series, but it comes across better with a likeable team to bounce off.

I think I had more points to make, but I'm drawing a blank. Basically, a lot of fun, paper-thin plot, good character work, and some decent action scenes.

 

Danny was much better in this than in Iron Fist - his whole character was better, from fighting to personality to everything.

Matt was the best bit about this series imo, showed the struggle of what he was going through, made it come across so good, and the Elektra connection made it even more interesting.

Elektra's motives... pretty sure she just decided "fuck it" near the end and went out for her and only herself.

Claire finding out Luke got hit by Danny was priceless. Some of the one liners were good, others felt very forced.

All in all, I think I prefer DD S2 because of Punisher, but 7.5/10

 

Danny Bland continues to be bland.

 

It's unfortunate, but I would argue one of the main reasons why the plot of the Defenders feels so thin, lazy even, is that they made the decision to only give it a 13 episode run. Many have argued that the other seasons of Marvel's Netflix shows should be trimmed; this show is a good example of why I don't agree. With only 8 episodes, there's only so much you can do to introduce and make believable character dynamics between 4+ main characters, never even mind the villains, that have never met before. And while I feel like they did the best job they could with what they had, it does feel ever so slightly disappointing. They did succeed in making me hate the Iron Fist slightly less, if only because they did what they should have done in the first season of his own show: have characters call him out far more frequently on his dumb ass decisions. And more importantly, have him listen and learn, even if it is still far too slowly for my tastes.

4/5.