Fanboys Anonymous

After 5 seasons of buildup, Marvel's The Defenders is finally here! This is the culmination of the adventures of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist which will see those four and their allies team up to save New York City from the evil threat of The Hand.

All 8 episodes will be released at 3am EST on Netflix and per usual, this post will be documenting my running commentary of thoughts as I binge watch every episode. I'll be adding notes almost as a stream of consciousness and when the series has concluded, I'll be wrapping everything up with a full season recap and review to see just how good or bad the overall package was and the hits and misses in a Reviewpoint podcast video.

So I invite you to follow along and to leave your thoughts in the comments below just the same!







Episode 1 - "The H Word"

- Starting off with Iron Fist after that season had so many struggles? Bold move, Marvel.
- The war you're fighting is in New York City. Of course it is. It's never in Barnum, Minnesota or something.
- ♫ Closing time. You don't have to go home, Jessica Jones, but you can't...stay...here. ♫
- So that whole cliffhanger of Luke Cage being in jail was just immediately rendered a moot point? Lazy.
- Foggy's haircut. Much better.
- Aaron, it's only going to get harder from here, because you're going to have to fight The Hand's offshoot called The Leg. Sorry pal.
- Every time I see a hallway, I expect to see a fight.
- These green screen shots of the earthquake remind me of Gotham and not in a good way.
- Hottie alert. We've got Elektra.
- So why isn't Tony Stark's Iron Legion helping with this earthquake?

Episode 2 - "Mean Right Hook"

- "Who are you?" / "I'm Batman....I mean, Blindman...I mean, Daredevil. Fuck, you saw my face. Forget I said that."
- Shout out to The Incident.
- "It's about fault." Oooh, Danny, bad choice of words right after an earthquake. C'mon, man.
- I still wish they'd throw out more references to the movies. I know we just got something about The Incident, but when talking about the FBI and Homeland Security investigating, would it kill them to say S.H.I.E.L.D. is as well? Or that Damage Control is cleaning up the earthquake?
- Turk!!!!!!! I love how this dude keeps showing up.
- Is it wrong that I feel no sense of danger for someone like Malcolm because I assume he's coming back for the next season of Jessica Jones and thus, won't be killed off here? Unintentional story block.
- Stick!!! The man!

Episode 3 - "Worst Behavior"

- Oh man, I have no idea what Alexandra is eating, but it looks like it could be amazing, or the worst dog food in the world. Also, this is clue #2 that she's pretty ancient.
- I still think the Black Sky name is weird. My original thought was that it would tie into a Blade appearance where it had something to do with vampires and the moonlight and resurrection. That still might pan out, even if Elektra isn't a true vampire or something. But c'mon, all the blood and coming back to life and all? Send Blade up in this shit.
- On the other side is darkness? Well that's depressing.
- That random wipe transition in the Elektra training scene was so jarring!
- Stick cuts off his own hand that easily and just basically grunts about it? Crazy old bastard.
- Stop me if you've heard this joke before. So a white guy, a black guy, a Hispanic girl and an Asian girl walk into a dojo...
- This poor fucking woman. All 3 kids. Goddamn.
- "Where's the fist?" I don't know, Stick. You're the one who cut it off. Where IS your fist? I'll be here all night, folks. Tip your waitress!
- We knew a hallway fight was inevitable at some point. It'd be hilarious if The Punisher just showed up here and started shooting since that's not the same type of thing you can pull off in a hallway action scene. Well, unless you're Hit-Girl.

Episode 4 - "Royal Dragon"

- Oh fuck, I'm going to want Chinese food again, aren't I?
- I like Danny as the comedic relief, like he's supposed to be in this group.
- "My name is Matthew." Perfect time for a pee break. By the way, I dig how the MCU treats secret identities. Realistically, a situation like this calls for protocol to be broken. The average person on the street knowing Luke Cage is one thing, but knowing who Daredevil is is a different thing. The other Defenders, though, need that info.
- We're halfway through this and nothing about IGH?
- Yup. Pork dumplings would be awesome right about now.
- Stick is going to die, isn't he?

Episode 5 - "Take Shelter"

- How come Danny's punches did nothing to Luke Cage but Elektra and everyone else can hurt him so easily?
- So Karen's definitely not going to die either. Colleen shouldn't bite the bullet. Claire is still a possibility, along with Stick.
- Looks like he won't be wearing any white hats any time soon.

Episode 6 - "Ashes, Ashes"

- Why do I feel like this in-fighting about Iron Fist is meant to pad the run time when they realized they didn't have an action beat for this episode? I hope it's for the fight to determine whether Daredevil leads the crew or not.
- Nevermind, Jessica is getting involved...and now Luke, so it's just Danny versus the world.
- Finally we're talking about the hole.
- "You should see my place." He can't, Jessica. He's blind. How insensitive...tsk tsk...
- I can't help feeling like Madame Gao is totally still who I'd rather have in charge instead of Alexandra. Gao FTW.
- Danny Rand and Luke Cage do belong together....as Heroes for Hire...like this series should go in the future instead of having solo extra seasons for each individual character. Give me an anthology Heroes for Hire thing where anybody can crossover at any time.
- So how do Jessica and Matt know that Stick is about to kill Danny?
- Fuuuuuuuuuuuck I knew Stick would end up dying. :(
- "We're not so different, you and I." - We couldn't escape that trope, could we?
- Yesssssssss Elektra you sexy minx you! But still, why did you kill Stick?

Episode 7 - "Fish in the Jailhouse"

- I assume this episode is going to make me want to eat fish, since we've already covered a bunch of other foods? Or maybe it'll make me want prison food.
- Still waiting on that Punisher appearance, guys.
- Is it wrong how often I get distracted by Simone Missick's giant boobs when she's in a scene? Jesus. Big fan.
- Did the Stan Lee cameo picture pass by yet?
- 3 on 3? Please tell me Luke Cage fights Madame Gao hahahaha.
- "You and I, we're the same." - Again?

Episode 8 - "The Defenders"

- Dragons? Dinosaurs?
- I really hope this ends with a full on Heroes for Hire organization being formed with all of these allies and heroes.
- Ooof, some more bad CGI green screen stuff going on here with that elevator and the tunnel.
- Yeah we're not going to get Iron Fist in costume or The Punisher, I guess. That's lame.
- Oh shit, Misty's arm! I guess Danny fronts the bill for the prosthetic?
- So how do they get Matt out of this one? Tune in to Daredevil season 3 folks!
- Hm. That's it? Well that feels underwhelming for a finale.