The Defenders Review: Come as You Are (Season 1 Episodes 1-4)
Marvel’s The Defenders is something of a slow burn, initially.
You might be surprised to discover this, given that we’ve all spent several years and four individual series getting to know these character already. And were all pretty much counting down the days until they’d all join forces and fight bad guys together as a team.
So if you were hoping that this show will jump right into that, you’re going to be a bit disappointed. The various members of the Defenders don’t start meeting one another until towards the end of the second episode. And the full team-up we’ve all been waiting for doesn’t happen until back half of the third.
Though when everything does finally all come together, it feels more than worth the wait.
Worth taking almost half the series to get to? That’s not clear just yet. The Defenders only has eight episodes, so it feels almost wrong to spend half of them building to the promised team-up in the title. But when that moment arrives, as a viewer you want to do nothing so much as push play on the next installment.
(I personally made a sort of cheering noise out loud during the final moments of Episode 4. Just saying.)
Though the series’ first half is perhaps slower than some might like, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching. Our four main heroes are all given their own individual storylines to handle that fit in with where they are on their own journeys. (And which helpfully remind viewers where we left them all when we saw them last.)
Matt Murdock has traded in his Daredevil horns for pro bono work. Jessica Jones has a new client in spite of herself. Luke Cage is fresh out of prison, and Danny Rand is chasing nefarious Hand goons all over the world alongside Colleen Wing.
While these four separate stories slowly come together, there’s still plenty for the show to do, even if it’s not necessarily what we want it to be doing. Some of that works (Jessica and Misty Knight sharing screentime!). But some of it really doesn’t (an extended Elektra training montage seems particularly out of place).
But the weakest link in The Defenders thus far isn’t it’s pacing, though some viewers will doubtless have issues with it. It’s the fact that it built its primary story out of the Marvel Netflix’s universe’s least successful pieces.
The Hand – an ancient, mystical evil group of ninjas that showed up in both Daredevil and Iron Fist – is back, and it makes no more sense than it ever has. Led by Sigourney Weaver’s Alexandra – an icy, sinister woman who wants to destroy New York for nebulous, unexplained reasons – they remain bland, confusing and uninteresting.
Longtime Hand ringleader Madame Gao is here again, and we’re treated to the story of Elektra’s resurrection and rebirth as a magic assassin. But there are too many scenes devoted to simply telling viewers how special Elektra’s mystical Black Sky status is, dropping references to Iron Fist’s mystical city of K’un Lun, or talking about unidentified “plans,” “resources,” or “setbacks.”
The most compelling Marvel Netflix villains have always been those who look like they could be heroes, if you squint just right. Alexandra and the Hand barely have identifiable motives or goals. Here’s hoping Weaver gets some material worthy of her in the series’ second half.
On the plus side, The Defenders does manage to solve – at least in part – the problem of Danny Rand. As the hero of his own series, Danny was the worst part of Iron Fist, a whiny, petulant, and often unlikeable jerk. But here, many of his most frustrating flaws are not only addressed, but corrected.
By becoming part of a team, Danny gains some much-needed self-awareness. He’s no longer the only super-powered individual in the story – and his gifts aren’t even that great, when compared to the things Luke or Jessica can do. Perspective, as they say, is everything.
The Defenders also makes the key decision not to take Danny all that seriously. So when he intones something that sounds ridiculous like “I am the immortal Iron Fist,” it’s played for laughs, not urgency.
And, happily, this works. Finn Jones is much, much better at playing an over-eager rich kid with a mystical glowing hand that only works half the time than he is at being tortured a Chosen One. And basically everyone gets to dunk on him. It really makes up for a lot.
Though it may feel like a slog to get to the point at which all four Defenders are in a room together, when it finally happens you’ll be glad you stuck it out. The characters play wonderfully well off one another, in every way that matters.
Jessica’s wry, condescending attitude is a fantastic contrast to Matt’s general air of guilt and drama. Luke’s realism provides a much-needed check on Danny’s privilege. As a foursome, they’re endlessly appealing, and you instantly want to see more of them together.
At the halfway point of the season, we still have a lot more questions than answers. What is The Hand’s ultimate plan? Who is Alexandra, anyway? Can these four misfits find a way to work together – and maybe even be friends?
At least by the time the end of fourth episode rolls around, it finally feels like it’s going to be fun to find out.
Stray thoughts and random observations:
- This thing they’ve decided to do here where they bathe each Defender’s scenes in their corresponding color – red for Matt, purple for Jessica, yellow for Luke and green for Danny – gets super annoying, super quickly.
- It’s possible that the real MVP of The Defenders is Alexandra’s wardrobe, which is gorgeous and perfect in almost every way.
- The moment where Luke shields Danny from a hail of bullets with his body is complete fanservice –that moment is straight out of the comics – and it is nevertheless incredible.
- Finn Jones has been working on his fight training, and it shows. It’s a marked improvement over Iron Fist.
- I have no idea what Elektra’s magic duster coat is about, but it is also an outfit I deeply want to own.
- Am I supposed to be low key shipping Matt and Jessica? Because that’s kind of where I’m at.
- The show tries so hard to pretend that Alexandra is a normal, regular person instead of an immortal monster, but then features hilarious moments like having a restaurant owner remind her that Constantinople is actually Istanbul now.
What do you think of the first half of The Defenders? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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The Defenders is currently streaming on Netflix.
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Lacy Baugher
Lacy is a pop culture enthusiast and television critic who loves period dramas, epic fantasy, space adventures, and the female characters everyone says you're supposed to hate. Ninth Doctor enthusiast, Aziraphale girlie, and cat lady, she's a member of the Television Critics Association and Rotten Tomatoes-approved. Find her at LacyMB on all platforms.