Week 105: Worst Behavior, Royal Dragon

Unofficially, we're not really watching this yet because we're all behind schedule... but officially, we're watching The Defenders this week, so I made a theme in Celebrity Goo Game to celebrate: Seven goos based on seven famous relatives or partners of the primary actors in these MCU Netflix shows. Head over and play if you see this in time.

Worst Behavior: This episode has what might be my single favorite scene in the entire MCU, in which Matt Murdock is following Jessica Jones, then he loses her in the crowd, and then we see that she has started following him. It's very well executed, but what really makes me treasure it is that it's one of those rare moments when the superhero gets a comeuppance at his own specialty. Superheroes on screen are constantly demonstrating their powers (see: half of the running time of any X-Men movie), and naturally we've come to enjoy scenes of Matt tailing some unwitting quarry down the streets of Hell's Kitchen thanks to his heightened senses. Jessica doesn't have any powers related to surveillance; she's just a professional who outsmarts him at his own game. The look of confusion on his face as he realizes that she evaded him is priceless. Almost as good is the look he gives when he realizes that he's now the target and that he can pique her interest by demonstrating talents that a blind man shouldn't have. (Plus, this scene has Stan Lee's ultra-quick series cameo in it, on a bus stop poster when Jessica's figuring out how to smoke out her tail.)

The music "Our Weapon" that plays near the beginning when Elektra Natchios trains against the Hand warriors sounds like it borrows heavily from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I know little about traditional Chinese music, so maybe they're just both of the same style, but certain parts sound nearly identical to my ears. That said, thank goodness for Iron Fist devoting most of an entire episode to Harold Meachum's resurrection experience, so that we have a sense of what Elektra goes through in her own revival, and why she lacks some of her humanity afterward.

The story picks up considerable momentum now that the heroes are meeting and their separate investigations are converging, particularly in the tragic story of Cole Miller that dramatizes the stakes of the conflict. It's just such a thrill hearing the music intensify with each hero that finds his or her way to Midland Circle Financial. Jessica gets two great lines in the lobby, "If you grab me like that again, I'll punch you so hard you'll see," and "OK, you are the most full of shit lawyer I've ever met, and I think we should stop and appreciate the magnitude of that statement." The subsequent fight upstairs, scored in part by Run the Jewels (that's one expensive needle drop), is a highlight of the series. Yeah, it's another Daredevil hallway fight, har har, and the camera pans aren't very effective at hiding the cuts, but come on, it's just so much fun to see the heroes leap into action after three episodes of mounting tension. The big shot with one-two-three punches is clearly something that everyone worked hard to get right, but my favorite shot comes a few seconds later, when Jessica knocks a guy out and calmly presses the elevator button, because screw this. Her attitude is the funniest part of this series; she has arguably the least connection to the Hand and yet she's so entertaining that she feels like the MVP of the team. (8/10)

If you're curious to see it, one of the pre-release teasers for the show briefly depicted the aftermath of the hallway fight.

Royal Dragon: Wasn't it broad daylight when the Defenders left Midland Circle Financial before arriving at this Chinese restaurant at closing time? And if they need to barricade the doors and kill the lights for the safety of the restaurant staff, why not hide somewhere unpopulated? I don't have emoji on this website, but this calls for an eye roll.

I appreciate the subtle audio cues for different characters. Consider the early moment just after they arrive at the restaurant, when Jessica and Luke Cage are catching up. When they discuss Danny Rand, Chinese drums play underneath. Luke mentions prison, and there's a synthesizer note that makes a zapping sound like it's from a P-Funk track. Then Jessica talks about working a case and there are soft notes that resemble the theme music to her own show. None of these are showy or dominating, just interesting hints of something on the soundtrack. I really like that.

I wish this episode didn't keep cutting away from the restaurant conversation. Seeing the heroes' personalities bounce off of one another, like the Avengers on a small budget, is the best part of the show. Breaking away from it to show scenes of the Hand can't help but frustrate. I've wanted to know more about the Hand for three seasons now, but not now and like this! Of the Hand scenes, the one where Sowande insults "Black Sky" and goads her into killing his henchmen is the most annoying. Maybe I'm just tired of villains disregarding the lives of their own underlings, but I wanted the henchmen in that scene to look at him all worried and say something like, "Uh, Boss? Maybe don't insult the Ultimate-Weapon-of-the-Hand Lady? Our necks are kind of snappable. Boss?"

Perhaps this is racially insensitive, but while I don't have any problem with the Hand being a mix of races, I do have a problem with the explanation that they were like this millennia ago. How many African warlords made their way to Tibetan monasteries before the destruction of Pompeii? The show never mentions Bakuto's origin—he's Japanese in the comics, while the actor Ramón Rodríguez is Puerto Rican—but he certainly looks of mixed Latino heritage to me, and the Hand definitely pre-date Spaniards arriving in the Americas. So if the Hand don't regenerate in brand new bodies like the protagonists of Doctor Who, then why not explain their mixed-race membership by saying that some were permanently killed along the way and other criminals from the group's international crime ring were invited to take their place? For that matter, how come none of them come back all brain-damaged like Harold Meachum and Elektra Natchios, missing some part of their humanity?

I don't know whether Jessica threw the SUV or forced the driver to drive into the restaurant, but I don't care much, because it's a cool stunt, bigger and more expensive than these shows usually pull off. I do wish that the heroes had taken the opportunity of "Black Sky" being distracted to subdue her or flee rather than defiantly posing together, but hey, it's still a comic book, for better and for worse. (6/10)

Also: It's no big deal and doesn't ruin the show, but I have to call out Stick's extremely fake-looking wrist stump. This show has the budget to crash an SUV through a wall and hire Sigourney Weaver, but it doesn't have the budget to put a green-screen cover over Scott Glenn's right hand and replace it digitally? Or even just to attach a fake arm to his jacket and conceal his real arm inside?

Also: After thirteen episodes of Danny being brash and impulsive on his own series, the moment when Stick calls him a "thundering dumbass" is cathartic. Scott Glenn emphasizes each syllable, giving the insult the weight that it deserves. Red Foreman would be proud.