Week 104: The H Word, Mean Right Hook

The H Word: Here's mentioning for the record that I've seen this series once before.

Considering that a major problem with these Defenders shows has been the use of shadow and darkness to obscure budgetary limitations in the fight scenes, the fact that this series opens with what feels like the worst-looking battle yet is an ominous sign. That sewer fight in Cambodia is badly lit, badly costumed, badly photographed, badly edited, badly conceived, and badly executed. It's probably the worst action scene yet in the combined 66 episodes of these shows so far.

What was the narrative purpose of locking up Luke Cage in Seagate again at the end of his series, only to free him in his first scene here? Was it just tying up a loose thread? It felt like the ending of his series was really setting up something potentially great with that ending, only for it to be completely undone here because he's needed in New York again. Surely the two shows were better planned and coordinated than this? And the timing confuses me, because the various series have taken place chronologically in the same order that we've watched them (judging from Claire Temple's comments), and here we see Jessica Jones still reeling from having been forced to murder Kilgrave, and yet Luke appears to have served the rest of his prison sentence. How long did he have left, a week? Then Danny Rand refers to having spent "months chasing the Hand," so I wonder just how long Jessica's been so rattled. This is where Kelly would tell me to stop overthinking this if she was watching it with me.

Danny Rand and Colleen Wing now fly around in a Rand private jet, as they did in Iron Fist. Given the rise in flight-shaming, I wonder if that detail would be different if the show was made today.

Overall, this is not a great episode of TV. The plotting has so many pieces to move into position that the four main characters haven't even met yet. Sigourney Weaver is severely overqualified to be delivering such banal dialogue—she sounds bored instead of menacing or melancholy or whatever else the writers were aiming for— and we haven't even learned her name yet. The return of Elektra Natchios, hinted at in the opening sewer fight but not confirmed until the earthquake, is handled with less excitement than a cameo by Foggy Nelson. There are a few parts that work, from Matt Murdock's talk with the boy whose situation he understands all too well, to the rapid escalation of Jessica's missing-person case once she enters the apartment, to Misty Knight suggesting a better use of Luke's neighborhood reputation than merely solving a mystery, to Sigourney Weaver's great line about watching cities fall. I even laughed out loud at Jessica's "and get out of my apartment!" banter with Malcolm Ducasse. (4/10)

Mean Right Hook: Thoughts as I watched this:

I love the opening shot from Matt's perspective, as the camera pans around a Hell's Kitchen street with no regard to up or down like his senses. It's a great flourish. And the fight scene in the alley that follows ain't half bad.

Danny meditates alone in Colleen's dojo with his earbuds in? I wouldn't. That place seems to be attacked every other episode.

I never get tired of the sight gags of Luke lifting huge pieces of concrete, here or on his show. I laugh every time. Mike Colter doesn't break character but he has to be enjoying it.

The detail of the radio station managers telling Trish Walker to stop covering the earthquake feels off. First, you can't stop people from talking about a 4.8-magnitude quake striking part of Manhattan, and second, any attempt to silence the press would become news in and of itself really quickly; reporters are not stupid. I don't buy it.

The public records scene where Jessica discovers how far back these fake businesses go is a favorite of mine, but I wish it would slow down and give the revelations more time to land. If you're only half paying attention, you miss just how nuts it all is. This is exactly how weird the Hand should seem to anyone who's not in their world already like Matt or Danny.

Well, Sigourney Weaver's private concert scene confirms it once and for all. The writing on this show is so stiff and awkward that not even a three-time Oscar nominee can make it sound natural.

There's a little detail in Wai Ching Ho's performance here as Madame Gao that I like: She's subtly more emotive and expressive around Alexandra than we're seen her before. She's usually tight-lipped and rigid, but of course, we've only ever seen her from the perspective of her enemies, subordinates, or partners held at arm's length like Wilson Fisk. The shift into softer tones with someone who is a friend, or at least a very familiar ally, is a nice touch.

The fight between Danny and Luke is fun, mostly because watching Danny flail about to zero effect with all of his iMmOrTaL iRoN fIsT training is satisfying to see. Seriously though, the choreography is good; I know they're stage punches but they look impressive, and I wonder how much padding Mike Colter was wearing under his costume.

While holding a blind man prisoner, why did Alexandra have a bag put over his head?

FINALLY some of the heroes meet at the end, one quarter of the way through the series. I kept thinking, This show is called The Defenders, right? Not The Completely Unrelated Adventures of Four New Yorkers Who Have Nothing in Common? I wonder if the showrunners (the same guys who made Daredevil season 2 fyi) would have brought the heroes together sooner if they could have a do-over on the series. (6/10)