Method To Madness: Luke Cage

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OPINION -- My Problem With The Marvel Netflix Shows In The Wake Of The Defenders "Experiment"

I wrote about what I thought about Marvel's The Defenders in a review about a year ago and it pains me to see that these Netflix Marvel Cinematic Universe-centric shows are still treading the same waters and repeating the same mistakes that plagued that crossover/team-up series.

I keep getting asked by friends, peers, and acquaintances about what do I think of the shows that followed The Defenders - Jessica Jones Season Two, The Punisher Season One, Luke Cage Season Two, and more recently Iron Fist Season Two. I felt like that it wasn't worth my time and effort to discuss those shows individually because I keep getting the sense of deja vu watching each of these shows. It's nowhere as bad as the CW's writing and handling of their DC Comics-based properties at times, but goddammit the writing here frustrates me to no end on how a lot of these shows are handled.

*** MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD ***

Don't read ahead unless you have seen every

Marvel Netflix series up to this point following The Defenders - The Punisher (Season 1), Jessica Jones (Season 2), Luke Cage (Season 2), and Iron Fist (Season 2)

The Good

Colleen Wing and the potential of a Daughters of the Dragon spin-off

The tail end of Iron Fist Season 2 finally got things right as Colleen Wing was gifted with the power of the Iron Fist as it was revealed during the finale that she was "destined" for this power all along and not Danny Rand - who somehow manifested a new variation of the power after having it stolen away from Davos/Steel Serpent. Critics and fans alike (me included) have agreed unanimously that Colleen Wing/Jessica Henwick was the best thing to come out of everything else that was awful in Iron Fist Season 1 and I'm glad that the writers of this show had the sense to make her the focus and key titular player here instead of Danny Rand. I can't speak for anyone else but when I think of Iron Fist, I think of this being like one of those old school "kung-fu" TV dramas like from days of old or something along the lines of the wandering samurai who slays evil when they encounter it, thanks to their own code of bushido (something that Colleen Wing herself has mentioned on multiple occasions in both seasons that she has studied and practiced in her life).

The best moments of Iron Fist Season 2 were the "buddy cop" moments between Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. The MCU has something special here and I really hope that they don't squander this opportunity. Remember it was Colleen Wing who pulled Misty Knight out of the gutter when her life was spiraling out of control in Luke Cage Season 2 following her recovery. Colleen was there for Misty as a friend when she needed it to find and renew her resolve to badassery and Misty returns the favor here in Iron Fist Season 2. To say that I'm still not too crazy about Simone Missick's casting as Misty Knight, I can't deny that her and Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing have chemistry in every scene that they share together to make this partnership and friendship work on multiple levels. Hell, I dare say it clicks more than Danny Rand and Luke Cage's "friendship".

Screw a Heroes for Hire spin-off, let's just get a Daughters of the Dragon spin-off green-lit and going.

Impressive fight choreography in Iron Fist Season 2 and The Punisher Season 1

Looking at the fight scenes between Season 1 and 2 of Iron Fist is like looking at day and night in terms of differences. That's not a bad thing that's a great thing that they changed the fight choreography for the better here. No excuses this time as Finn Jones had plenty of time between the end of The Defenders and the filming of this season to get his combat/martial arts training down instead of learning it on the set as he cited in interviews after critics tore into his performance in Iron Fist Season 1.

Great performances from returning cast members

Jessica Jones in Jessica Jones Season 2

Out of the three Defenders left in the wake of Daredevil's sacrifice at the end of that series last year, Jessica still comes across as my personal favorite. She knows she's a flawed person, but still strives to do the right thing. She's not "addicted" to her powers (Iron Fist/Danny Rand) nor does she try to present herself as to being something bigger than she is (Luke Cage).

Krysten Ritter continues to impress in this role and still has that extra "weight" on her that looks healthy on the character (I mentioned this briefly in my write-up for The Defenders) instead of how scrawny she looked in the first season. Allegedly, Jessica Jones Season 2 was filmed almost immediately following The Defenders, so that's why she looks the same here as she did in that series.

Kilgrave in Jessica Jones Season 2

You have to sit through the bulk of Season 2, but Kilgrave returns in the tail end of Jessica Jones Season 2 after Jessica finds herself forced to kill an adversary who was mere seconds away from ending her life. She instantly regrets the decision, seeing it as her own devolution into becoming "the monster" that her mother has become, thanks to the same experiment that she underwent to obtain her powers. Kilgrave appears to her as a hallucination, much like The Joker did to Batman during the events of Batman: Arkham Knight, despite being already dead. Kilgrave exists as the dark side of her psyche, taunting and reminding her that she's destined to be just like him.

How can you hate Kilgrave when he reminds us of how much he enjoyed Trish's "I Want Your Cray-Cray" music video?

Mariah Stokes/Dillard in Luke Cage Season 2

From as much as I felt that she wasn't a strong enough villain to fill in the void left after Cottonmouth's demise in Luke Cage Season 1 as the head of his criminal empire (no pun intended...) in Harlem, I thought she came into her own as a villain here in Season 2. Her stand out moments were her "hoodrich" moments where she seems to instantly drop her PR face and show her true colors; oftentimes belittling and berating those around her, especially Misty Knight and her underlings.

That awkward moment in Luke Cage Season 2 whereas they acted like Danny Rand was a completely new/different character in contrast to his pre-Defenders state.

Standout performances from newcomers

Alisa Jones (Campbell)

The reveal that Alisa was the mother of Jessica Jones was one of the better elements of Jessica Jones Season 2, highlighted by the fact that actress Miriam Shor portrayed her with a lot of chemistry with Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones to believe that she was her mother in all of their scenes that they shared together.

You could feel the tension in all of the scenes when she lost her grip on her sanity and her raging emotions until she gave into the monster that the experiments done to her made Jessica's mother into.

Such a shame that we won't get to see her return in Season Three, but at least there's a possibility in flashbacks as all of the questions concerning the origins of Jessica's powers after being experimented on by IGH

Only downside is that she's a piss poor "final boss" of sorts for Jessica at the end of Season 2. Then the narrative allows Trish to kill her instead of Jessica to just throw a wrench into everything up to that point

John McIver/Bushmaster

Effin' Bushmaster. A character who I honestly wrote off as being a cannon fodder when I read the casting news for this season, but I was glad to be wrong. That dude could have be nice to see in a Black Panther sequel TBH. Mustafa Shakir already got the accent and fighting style (Capoeira) down.

The guy doesn't just beat Luke Cage once, he defeats Luke Cage or manages to hold his own against the super-powered hero multiple times over the course of Luke Cage Season 2.

My only issue with Bushmaster was that after all of that hype and time spent on this guy the entire season, we don't even get the satisfaction of seeing him get a definitive end of his journey this season.

One of the minor characters just calmly state that he went back to Jamaica off-screen. I wouldn't be surprised that he died from that concoction of potions and voodoo nonsense that he was hyping himself up on finally did him in. If it doesn't happen in the next season of Luke Cage, then I wouldn't be surprised that it happens in the rumored second season of The Defenders with a spin on Marvel Comics' Dark Avengers with a sort of Dark Defenders to stand against the heroes.

Mary Walker/Typhoid Mary

I can promise you that after most people are done watching Iron Fist Season 2, the only thing people will be talking about is this character instead of Davos or the Meachum Family in terms of "antagonists" for that season.

It was excellent on how Alive Eve was able to juggle both roles flawlessly. The shy and timid Mary while Walker was calm and collected, yet prone to violence. I'm very anxious to see what the writers have in store for this characters' future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Just about all of the newcomers and reprising cast members in The Punisher

I've never been a fan of The Punisher character in comics, but everyone from Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle / Punisher, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as David Lieberman / Micro, Ben Barnes as Billy Russo, Amber Rose Revah as Dinah Madani, Daniel Webber as Lewis Wilson, and even to Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle contributed to making the initial season of The Punisher worth a watch, even though I felt like the series dragged on excessively at points. Pacing hasn't a strong suit for any of these post-Defenders Marvel Netflix shows. I can't stand Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page since the first season of Daredevil and I continue to feel like she's a waste of space in this series - along within Daredevil to boot; so for those wondering, she's the lone exception to my statement here.

The Bad

The Lack of Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson)

I don't know if they could afford to keep Rosario Dawson on payroll after these shows got into full swing, but the lack of her as the glue that kept all of the Defenders working like a well-oiled machine is painfully glaring at this point. At the same time, I wonder if her disappearance is on purpose to symbolize that the Defenders came together when she was present in all of their shows while they fall apart when she walks out of their lives. If that's the case, then that's some genius-level foreshadowing and symbolism.

Then when you see articles like this floating around online, it doesn't give any high hopes that she's coming back to the MCU in any capacity.

The Meachum Family drama was just awful

It was bad in Iron Fist Season 1 and I don't understand why they continued it in Season 2 with Joy's motivations making little to no sense at all for first plotting with Davos against Danny then siding against Davos to foil his plans.

We don't see enough of Ward's "addiction" to care so his whole therapy arc kind of fell flat right off the bat. Adding a pregnancy towards the end of the season didn't do it any justice either. Seriously though, what was up with the writers trying to tease that him and Misty Knight could have a thing though? I'm STILL trying to wrap my head around that one...

Luke Cage is just so damn corny

This article right here put this much better than I could have in any shape or form.

In terms of character evolution/development following The Defenders' events, a lot of these heroes have taken steps backwards. I can't include The Punisher in that conversation as his series was off in it's own little world, separate from went on during The Defenders since he wasn't in that series at all, despite playing a part in foiling The Hand's plans at the end of Daredevil Season Two.

Jessica Jones falls back to her anti-social tendencies after learning to open up and function as a part of the team during The Defenders, thanks to her time bonding with Matt Murdock/Daredevil. She comes around by the end of Season 2 by bonding with Arocho's family, but she's still disconnected (more than she ever was) to her "sister" Trish Walker and "business partner" Malcolm Ducasse, despite their "help" over the course of the season on her case(s).

Luke Cage ends up becoming what he was fighting against all of this time for two seasons - the head of the criminal empire, claiming that it's the only way to maintain "order" in Harlem.

Danny Rand loses the Iron Fist to Davos, mostly thanks to his own self-doubts and imbalance with the power that led to him becoming "addicted" to the thrill that using it provides under the excuse that he was fighting for justice. He hasn't learned anything from Matt Murdock's sacrifice in The Defenders and continues to attempting to walk the path others have carved out for him instead of making his own. What's really frustrating is that when we see Danny in Luke Cage Season 2, he seems like he's mellowed out and actually enjoying life while at the same time finding the balance to master his powers. When we return to following his adventures in his own show, it's like all of that was thrown out of the window to revert back into the adopted boy yearning to be accepted by his K'un L'un family by following their teachings without question.

Without even seeing Daredevil Season 3, we can deduce from the teaser trailer that Matt Murdock is spiraling further down the rabbit hole as he wants to abandon his responsibilities as Murdock altogether and solely be Daredevil. To be fair, Murdock has been dealing with the struggle to juggle both parts of his life to tragic results since Daredevil Season 2, so I wasn't expecting a fix for that issue when he basically put the costume back on devoted to be martyr to save both the city and Elektra from The Hand.

The heroes are only as "smart" as the narrative deems "appropriate" or necessary for the plot to move forward

A lot of this is across the broad for majority of the Marvel Netflix shows, but Misty Knight is the biggest culprit to this crime. In professional wrestling, fans have come to call this "stupid babyface syndrome" in that medium's narratives. Misty Knight comes off extremely stupid at times (she's three for three if you add up all of her fuck-ups between both Luke Cage seasons and The Defenders), even after that same stupidity got her arm chopped off - hence repeating the ever present issue plaguing these narratives that the heroes are only as "smart" as the narrative deems "appropriate" or necessary for the plot to move forward the narrative.

The a lot of these subplots for minor characters either not making sense or falling flat completely.

Tilda Johnson's introduction and character path/journey over the course of Luke Cage Season 2 was just all over the place.

It ultimately didn't make not one lick of damn sense. If she just wanted peace with her life and not to be caught up with her "mother's" shady dealing then why did she make a deal with Bushmaster to begin with? Plus we already know that she's set to become a villain (Dr. Nightshade) in Season 3 due to the titular actress spoiling that in an interview, so I'm just throwing my hands up at this point on this fuckery. You could say that she was doing this to save her own skin in that situation but she could have easily killed Bushmaster in the same manner that she poisoned her own mother.

She had plenty of chances to walk away from the world that the Dillards/Stokes drew her into but didn't. She has herself to blame more than anything else. Anyone with a fully functioning brain could tell that Mariah was using the "relationship" with her daughter as bold PR move.

I'm sure that the revelation of how she came into this world was the thing that threw her over the edge, but after that outburst of how Mariah didn't want her, why was she surprised that her mother would leave her anything in her will? You're trying to tell me that her own pettiness for her mother that she didn't really want nothing to do with at that point anyway is the reason she wants to become a super villain out of spite to Dillard leaving Harlem's Paradise to her? That's as lame of a motivation as Lex Luthor's hair falling out from that lab accident with Superman on Superfriends...

While Shades and Mariah Dillard's "romance" will more likely be the talk out of most things that happened in Luke Cage Season 2, no one would have guessed that his noteworthy role in this season would be a gay subplot.

Poor Shades ends up being the victim of ~~horrible~~ lazy writing in Luke Cage Season 2.

All season he had his actions and motivations downplayed as merely the actions of a lovesick puppy trying to impress his lady (Mariah Dillard/Stokes) with a homosexual relationship with his former prison mate, Comanche, hinted at between the lines of a homosexual relationship between the two. I know I'm not the only one who caught that throughout the course of the season as it's pointed out in one conversation between Comanche and Shades that they were "lovers" in prison, but Shades merely brushes it off as comforts of the circumstance. Between juggling his extreme loyalty to Mariah and his "friendship" to Comanche, Shades' insecurities led him to kill his own best friend and frame the murder on one of Misty Knight's fellow officers who also died at the scene of the crime. It didn't take much for Misty Knight to get a confession out of him in order to save his own skin when Mariah Dillard was getting locked away. To say that guy spent all of this time embedded into Mariah's servitude as part of her "empire" of sorts, it didn't take much to make him sing like a bird to save his own skin once shit hit the fan. To be fair, this was one of the better "sexual identity/discovery" subplots on one of these superhero TV dramas, but ultimately ends in the same Hollywood cliches with the homosexual partner ending up dead and nothing really resolved on that front, leaving audiences wondering "what if?" after it's all said and done.

How the mighty have fallen... Shades was one of the best written characters in Season 1 and they just fucked him all to hell here. By this point, I felt that Shades should have had some higher goals for himself instead of being content on being a lackey.

Trish's journey in Season 2 to get superpowers seemed more like after-school special "Don't Do Drugs" PSA than anything positive. It just painted the picture that she was always jealous that Jessica had powers and never really wanted them, but she did out of envy.

Jessica Jones Season 2 content involving Trish Walker that led to her getting superpowers that were "teased" at the end of that season was a little in bad taste I felt.

I understand that Trish did it to help protect Jessica Jones at first. Later on, it turns into an addiction that turns into an obsession to have what Jessica has. I thought they already did the redemption story on the consequences of drug abuse with Malcolm in the last season while Trish gets caught up doing the exact opposite here. If they are going to make Trish a heroine off the result of her drug addiction then that's going to rub a lot of people the wrong way in my honest opinion.

The filler/unnecessary baggage that each of these shows (except for Iron Fist Season 2, which only spanned 10 episodes) to stretch out to justify that episode order of 13 episodes.

This unnecessary baggage hurts both seasons of Luke Cage more than it hurts the other two series as let's be honest, there's not that much compelling storytelling nor action on his end of the spectrum on this side of the MCU. How many times can we just watch him stand still and shrug off bullets and just throw guys to the ground like they were nothing? Or the off chance of him getting drugged and getting his ass kicked? At least Bushmaster spiced things up a few times in Season 2, but the bulk of the action in Luke Cage is poor.

The Ugly

Narrative across the board is still muddled. No cohesive thread/bond like found in the feature films. Each show is written as if there's no regard nor recognition that the same outcomes and themes are recycled in show to show.

At this stage, there's NO excuse for this, especially when all of this stuff is supposed to be "connected" in a sense. The more people say that the more it's lost in translation when it comes to these Marvel Netflix properties.

Every single one of these shows have fallen into the same pattern and it's infuriating that the writers and more people in general haven't picked up on this.

The obligatory sex scene in the first six episodes to justify the R-rating on Netflix
Everything in the first half serves as either filler or fluff to build up to a catch-22 twist at the halfway point of the season where everything and anything hits the fan to set the stage for the last act
Season Finale serves as climax against the season's "final boss" of sorts while providing an epilogue to explain and elaborate on everything that either didn't make sense, wrap up loose ends, and/or tease the next season on what's to come. i.e. Pretty much dumbs down last episode of the season as "let's just try to wrap everything up SAW style with details you might have missed to make us look smart" but not really because it's lazy writing

Insert random super-powered obstacle or villain that we're going to drag out motivations that has family ties/prior relationship to main cast

BS filler until roughly Episodes 6-9

Oh and cameo from other Netflix hero/minor-cast member (optional)

I KNOW I can't be the only one who has picked up onto this pattern... It drives me nuts to no end in terms of frustration to see that EVERY SINGLE ONE of these Marvel Netflix shows follow the same patterns and tropes, honestly to the same effect. It paints the picture to me from series to series and season to season that the writers aren't watching each others' shows and a lot of this is recycling and rehashing the same territory. Y'know how people complain about how many times Spider-Man/Batman movies and cartoons have been rebooted and/or remade over the years? That's how it feels here. It's like almost no one looks at what came before and just throwing shit against the wall to see what works.

Closing Thoughts

We still have Daredevil Season Three to hold out for in terms of hope that the Marvel Netflix end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe spectrum could turn things around. There's times where I'm watching these shows and wondering if they should even continue them in this state if they are going to continue rehashing the same material over and over with different players (namely a new villain of the month). That series drops within the span of the next couple of days, so we'll see whether or not that my opinions will change on this matter after the devils of Daredevil Season 3.

REVIEW -- Marvel's The Defenders (Netflix) - Season One (Episodes 1-8)

Marvel's The Defenders, or simply The Defenders, is an American web television miniseries created by Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez for Netflix, based on the Marvel Comics characters Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, who form the eponymous superhero team. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise and is the culmination of a series of interconnected shows from Marvel and Netflix. The miniseries is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, Nine and a Half Fingers, Inc., and Goddard Textiles, with Ramirez serving as showrunner.

The limited series stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, and Finn Jones as Danny Rand / Iron Fist, all reprising their roles from their individual series. The miniseries also stars Eka Darville, Elden Henson, Jessica Henwick, Simone Missick, Ramón Rodríguez, Rachael Taylor, Deborah Ann Woll, Élodie Yung, Rosario Dawson, Scott Glenn, and Sigourney Weaver. Development on the miniseries began in late 2013, with Cox the first actor cast in May 2014. Petrie and Ramirez joined as showrunners in April, after serving in the same role on the second season of Daredevil, though Petrie left with the start of filming, which took place in New York City from October 2016 to March 2017.

The Defenders premiered in New York on July 31, 2017, with the full season of eight episodes released on August 18, 2017 on Netflix.

Cast:

Main

Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock / Daredevil
Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones
Mike Colter as Luke Cage
Finn Jones as Danny Rand / Iron Fist
Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse
Elden Henson as Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing
Simone Missick as Misty Knight
Ramón Rodríguez as Bakuto
Rachael Taylor as Trish Walker
Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page
Élodie Yung as Elektra Natchios
Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple
Scott Glenn as Stick
Sigourney Weaver as Alexandra

Recurring

Wai Ching Ho as Gao
J. Mallory McCree as Cole Miller
Michelle Federer as Michelle Raymond
Chloe Levine as Lexi Raymond
Babs Olusanmokun as Sowande
Ron Simons as Strieber
Yutaka Takeuchi as Murakami

Guest

Peter McRobbie as Lantom
Debbi Morgan as Delores Miller
Marko Zaror as Shaft
Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth
Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett
Amy Rutberg as Marci Stahl
Susan Varon as Josie
Alex Moggridge as John Raymond
Nichole Yannetty as Nicole

Episode Summaries: (FULL Spoilers)

No. Title Directed by Written by Original release date

1 "The H Word" S. J. Clarkson Douglas Petrie & Marco Ramirez August 18, 2017

While hunting agents of the Hand in Cambodia, Danny Rand / Iron Fist and Colleen Wing are told that the war they are fighting is actually taking place in New York City. There, Matt Murdock has given up his life as the vigilante Daredevil and is working as a pro bono lawyer. He remains conflicted due to his feelings for Elektra Natchios, who died fighting the Hand. Luke Cage, his name cleared by Murdock's ex-partner Foggy Nelson, returns from prison to the streets of Harlem where police detective Misty Knight informs him of local kids who have been getting involved with a mysterious business and ending up dead. After learning that all her major organs are failing and she has little time to live, a woman informs her colleagues to speed up their plans, and subsequently watches with a resurrected Natchios as a large earthquake tears through New York, felt by Rand and Wing as they return, and private investigator Jessica Jones as she discovers explosives while searching for a missing husband that an anonymous caller warned her to avoid.

2 "Mean Right Hook" S. J. Clarkson Lauren Schmidt Hissrich & Marco Ramirez August 18, 2017

Jones calls the police, but Knight sees her taking some evidence as she leaves the scene. Cage follows some leads on local kids after interrogating Turk Barrett, and finds them being sent to clean up a workshop where several enemies of the Hand have been murdered. Rand and Wing are also investigating the workshop, leading to a fight between Rand and Cage which only ends when the police arrive. The mysterious woman, Alexandra, is informed that her group's plans have been halted by a mystical wall. Alexandra believes this may actually be a door, and interrogates an old enemy, Stick, for answers on this. Jones is warned off her investigation by lawyer Jeri Hogarth, who later tells Nelson to keep any fallout from Jones's actions away from their firm. Jones returns to her apartment to find the missing man, John Raymond. They are attacked by Natchios, but he kills himself first. Jones chases Natchios, but is caught and arrested by Knight. Murdock soon arrives to serve as Jones's lawyer, having made an agreement with Nelson to carry out some of his extra work.

3 "Worst Behavior" Peter Hoar Lauren Schmidt Hissrich & Douglas Petrie August 18, 2017

Months ago, the Hand acquired the ancient weapon Black Sky—the body of Natchios—and used the last of their resources to resurrect her. Under Alexandra's tutelage and regaining the ability to speak, the Black Sky was prepared to fight as a weapon against the Hand's enemies. In the present, Jones dismisses Murdock's help, but he becomes interested in her case and begins investigating it himself. Stick escapes from Alexandra and Elektra by cutting off his left hand. Cage tells his girlfriend Claire Temple about his fight with Rand, whom she knows. Temple organizes a meeting between the two, hoping they can work together to fight the Hand, but they clash over their respective backgrounds. Inspired by some of Cage's comments, Rand decides to take a different approach and uses his corporate influence to find the Hand's new front, Midland Circle. Cage visits the mother of one of the local kids the Hand had hired, while Jones investigates Raymond's job. They also learn of a connection to Midland Circle. Cage arrives there to help Rand fight the Hand, soon followed by Jones and Murdock. They are attacked by the Black Sky as Murdock recognizes Elektra, but Rand drives her off.

4 "Royal Dragon" Phil Abraham Douglas Petrie & Marco Ramirez August 18, 2017

Rand, Cage, Jones, and Murdock escape to a nearby restaurant to hide out. With everyone introduced, Rand proposes that they work as a team to defeat the Hand, but Murdock is unwilling to get involved, and Jones leaves. Stick finds the group, having already known Murdock and known of Rand. He explains that a long time ago the elders of K'un-Lun came together to study the healing powers of qi, but five among them wished to use this power to live forever and were cast out. They became the five fingers of the Hand, and include Alexandra (who has gone by many names through the centuries), Madame Gao, Sowande (who has been recruiting the Harlem kids), Murakami, and the recently deceased Bakuto. Now the Hand have defeated all that oppose them, except for Stick and the Iron Fist. Alexandra arrives and offers to spare New York if Rand leaves with her, since their plan requires the Iron Fist, but he rejects her offer. Jones realizes that the Raymond family is still in danger, and returns to help as the Black Sky attacks.

5 "Take Shelter" Uta Briesewitz Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, Douglas Petrie & Marco Ramirez August 18, 2017

The Hand converges on the restaurant, and Murdock lures the Black Sky away from the fight. When he calls her Elektra, she flees, but not before preventing Murakami from killing Murdock. Cage is able to kidnap Sowande while the others escape. After Sowande warns that their loved ones will be targeted next, they convince their friends to stay with Knight at the police precinct until they are out of danger. While doing this, Wing is confronted by a resurrected Bakuto, who unsuccessfully attempts to recruit her to his cause after raising her as a member of the Hand before she met and joined with Rand. Murdock decides to take up his Daredevil identity once again, something that concerns the leaders of the Hand due to his relationship with Natchios. Murakami questions Alexandra's reliance on the Black Sky to complete their goals and notes that they can all be killed now that their resources were used on Natchios. He suggests that they devise a new plan without Alexandra. Stick decapitates Sowande when he attempts to escape capture.

6 "Ashes, Ashes" Stephen Surjik Drew Goddard & Marco Ramirez August 18, 2017

Now realizing that the Hand wants the Iron Fist as a key to unlock something, the group decides to hide Rand away while they continue the fight. However, Rand disagrees and attacks the others. They stop him, and tie him up, with Cage and Stick watching over him while Jones and Murdock continue the investigation of Raymond. Natchios begins to regain memories of her previous life, but Alexandra insists that she is not that person anymore. Meanwhile, the other leaders of the Hand learn of Sowande's death, and continue to lose faith in Alexandra's leadership. Murdock and Jones learn that there is something beneath Midland Circle, a hole to which Murdock had come across previously when dealing with the Hand. They return to the group with plans of attacking the building, to find Stick attempting to murder Rand to keep the Hand from using him. They are interrupted by Natchios, who kills Stick and takes Rand. Alexandra gloats to the other leaders about this victory, but is murdered herself by Natchios, who claims leadership of the Hand.

7 "Fish in the Jailhouse" Félix Enríquez Alcalá Lauren Schmidt Hissrich & Marco Ramirez August 18, 2017

Jones, Murdock, and Cage wake up in the police precinct as suspects for the murders of Sowande and Stick. They tell Knight about the Hand, but try not to go into the details or let her get involved much to the chagrin of her superiors. The remaining fingers of the Hand agree to let Natchios pursue her goals, hoping that she will grant them access to the substance they need to avoid death (the last of their supply was used on Natchios). She takes Rand below the building to the mystical door that they need him to open. Jones, Murdock, and Cage escape the precinct and go to Midland Circle, where they are confronted by Gao, Bakuto, and Murakami. Wing soon arrives to help, bringing with her the explosives that Raymond had been stockpiling. The group drives the fingers of the Hand away. Knight and Temple arrive soon after, and Knight agrees to stall the police while the others get to Rand. Natchios tricks Rand into opening the door, causing a blast that knocks out power throughout the city. Rand awakens beneath the skeleton of a dragon.

8 "The Defenders" Farren Blackburn Lauren Schmidt Hissrich & Marco Ramirez August 18, 2017

Gao explains to Rand that like he gained the power of the Iron Fist from a dragon, the substance that the Hand uses for resurrection comes from the bones of dragons. The Hand begins harvesting the skeleton, and Gao notes that this will weaken the foundations of the city and cause widespread destruction. Wing and Temple place the explosives so as to destroy the building once the others escape. They are confronted by Bakuto, who cuts off Knight's arm when she arrives to help. Wing kills Bakuto, but his body sets off the timer for the explosives. Jones, Murdock, and Cage arrive in the cavern to help Rand, and they fight the members of the Hand together. When Murdock realizes that the explosives are about to go off, he gets the others to leave immediately. He remains to plead with Natchios, and the two are together as the building implodes around them, as well as Gao and Murakami. The entire situation is covered up, and Rand, Jones, and Cage look to move on with their lives, protecting the city. Murdock later wakes up with a nun at his side.

The Verdict:

The series came out on Netflix Friday morning. I watched the opening to the first episode before I went to work, then I binged the first six episodes that evening while finishing it off the final two episodes that following Saturday morning.

Even though I didn't care much for the previous two Marvel Netflix releases, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, I went into this series with an open mind since this would be the first time where all four Marvel Netflix heroes (Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones) would share the same screen. These shows have been building towards this since we started with Daredevil Season One, so let's discuss this, shall we?

Casting

My feelings from the individual casting decisions from all 4 Marvel Netflix series to date (both seasons of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist) haven't changed at all going into this. I still can't stand Marvel Studios' choices for these actors/actresses portraying Iron Fist/Danny Rand, Elektra, Misty Knight, and Karen Page, but whatever.

I wasn't too crazy about Ritter previously if you remember my Jessica Jones review, but I'm completely fine with her in that role after this series. Part of that is because it seems that Krysten Ritter doesn't look like she's skin and bones anymore and actually has meat on her bones for filming this series, while at the same time her performance isn't so deadpan serious and depressing like it was in Jessica Jones. She's actually my favorite female character and female actress in this - well, behind Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple and Jessica Henwick's Colleen Wing, of course. If I may be bold in saying this, but those three are the three strongest actresses in this series.

Simone Missick's Misty Knight still comes off as the token sassy black chick that ANY black female could play that's even more generic than Beyonce's Foxy Cleopatra from Austin Powers. I was half expecting her to say "Shazam!" at one point on the last two episodes... Her stupidity from the writing of this script still carries over from my gripes with her character in Luke Cage here. People keep asking me why do I hate her so much, but it comes down to her facial expressions. Missick has the worst reaction facials for everything she says and does. I know that there's that "ratchet" thing where people love that "stank eye" look stereotypical black female characters do and that's part of Misty's character if you're going by her and Luke Cage's Golden/Silver Age Marvel Comics history, but if Luke Cage (with Mike Colter's performance) can break from his ghetto stereotypes and evolve into a dignified black character, then it's not a crime for me to expect more from Misty Knight. For crying out loud, I was pissed off enough the past month when people on social media were trying to make Storm a stereotype from those ghetto X-Men memes. I swear that they are keeping Simone Missick around just because she has a huge rack. I have no shame in admitting that I do want to see how she's going to look in costume as Misty Knight down the road from the neck down though.

Deborah Ann Woll's Karen Page has a minimal role in this series and thank god for that. She annoyed me enough during both seasons of Daredevil, but unfortunately, she's one of the main cast members for the upcoming Punisher series. Ugh...

Elodie Yung's Elektra Natchios is just a poor performance all around. I didn't care for her as Jinx in GI Joe: Retaliation, didn't care for her as Elektra in Daredevil Season Two, and didn't want to see her resurrected and reprise the role here. I'm with Frank Miller in terms of she doesn't fit how he creatively envisioned how his character was going to look when he created her. If you don't know, Frank Miller modeled Elektra originally after bodybuilder Lisa Lyons. In terms of playing this part, she does absolutely nothing for me in the role. She comes across as boring and bland as 90% of the DC villains for their The CW Network shows based off of their comics.

Narrative and Presentation

I'll say this now but my discussion on the plot for this is going to be a little scatter-brained as I jump around on a few points, but do try to bare with me on this.

Like I jokingly mentioned to a few friends over the weekend, this series is best described as Daredevil Season 2.5 and Iron Fist Season 1.5 as this series wraps up a lot of the nagging plot points from those two series involving the Hand organization. Luke Cage and Jessica Jones find themselves dragged into this ordeal by pure chance if we want to be perfectly honest. In Jessica Jones' case, she stumbled onto this situation while running her own investigation so her inclusion made perfect sense. Luke Cage just happened to be following one of the troubled teens from his neighborhood that were doing the clean-up work for the Hand's murders that wind up with a run in with Danny Rand. Otherwise, Luke Cage wouldn't even have stumbled into this affair if Misty Knight didn't talk him into looking into it in the first place (only for this same chick to have issues with his vigilante behavior later... ugh, this bitch...) unless Claire Temple brought him and Danny Rand/Iron Fist together via different means. That being said, the four Defenders don't officially team-up until roughly Episode 3 and the early bit of Episode 4, so everything up to that point is legwork leading up to this inevitable live-action Marvel Team-Up.

I hate to say this, but with the more Marvel Netflix shows that come out, it seems like their narratives suffer more and more as these storylines try to intersect. On top of that, it seems like Marvel hasn't learned from their previous mistakes either. For example, the same issue of repeating the obvious to the audience when we just literally saw the same thing as the characters did less than five minutes ago is done again here which was an nagging issue with Iron Fist. The most noteworthy offender is the scene where they captured one of Alexandra's allies and interrogate him only for Colleen Wing to ask what did he say when she was CLEARLY there in that same scene with everyone else. Iron Fist was criticized for this same method of storytelling and it's jarring to see that technique recycled here.

While we're on the subject of Iron Fist, let's talk about how much of a total bore that Danny Rand continues to be in this series. It was bad enough in his own series and amplified even more here. He's more of a spoiled and sheltered rich kid, than "white privilege" as Luke Cage put it. That similarity was a bit too extreme for my taste as they were digging too hard to make a black vs. white argument here when Danny's best friend, Davos, was a man of color. It just seemed like they were quick to throw the race card in the conversation since Luke Cage was the token black superhero in this series. Once again, that just came off in really bad taste for me. Back on Danny though... everyone else in this story in terms of the four Defenders have a somewhat plausible reason for getting involved with the Hand situation. Luke's noble as fuck and just genuinely wants to help people, not just in Harlem, but all over. Jessica is doing her detective thing as part of her Alias Investigations work and stumbled onto something totally over her head. Matt Murdock/Daredevil is trying to distance himself in the wake of the events at the end of Daredevil Season 2, but find himself pulled back in with the Hand threatening his love ones again. Danny Rand is just there because he's pissed off his imaginary homeland is gone with the inhabitants left for dead. Oddly enough, that's something that's never really explained unless I missed it.

So yeah, Danny is wondering around trying to get revenge on the Hand when they have been in New York all along. Mind you, that's something that was clearly pointed out in his own series. The best thing that came from Iron Fist in this series was his fight against the other Defenders towards the end since he couldn't keep his mentally unstable ass under control and lashed out against his friends. I took great pleasure seeing everyone beat some sense into this kid. It seemed to work too as it mellowed his character out by the series end. Sadly, it doesn't stop him from being a tool for the Hand, or rather Elektra, to open that cavern underneath Midlands Circle.

By the way... are we supposed to assume now that Fin Fang Foom and his brother dragons exists in the MCU now after seeing the bones of that dragon underneath New York City?

Charlie Cox's Daredevil and and Krysten Ritter's Jessica Jones have crazy good chemistry in this and almost every scene that they are in together is a joy as a result. I thought it would have been Mike Colter's Luke Cage that would have had a much more interesting bond to explore here with Jones, given their comic book history and hook-up in her own TV series, but it's Jones and Daredevil that have hit it off as unlikely friends. I'm anxious to see how they are going to flip the script and establish Iron Fist and Luke Cage as best friends like their comic book counterparts when their initial relationship was defined by a black vs. white argument. That's going to be a tough pill to swallow if mend fences to try to make someone your best friend after pulling out the race card. At least we have that possible future between Cage and Jones after that look he had about getting "coffee" sometime... I dunno how they are going to move Claire out of the picture in that dynamic, but if we're going by the comics continuity, that's who Jessica Jones ends up with and has a kid with.

Jessica Jones Season One ranks as my second favorite Marvel Netflix show to date, but goddamn there were points where I hated her character in that show. Here, they fixed all of that. She's better here at pointing out the stupidity in this narrative (and the bad dialogue across the board at times...) and overall this fucked up situation that the Defenders find themselves in this series. Whereas that was Claire's job to point out the stupidity in the narrative in Iron Fist, Jessica Jones takes that role front row and center here. She wasn't much use in the many fights that they found themselves in ("Am I the ONLY one who doesn't know karate around here?") but manages to bring the humor to a lot of the scenes she's a part of.

I know it seems like I give Luke Cage a lot of shit, especially in relation to his Netflix series of the same name, but I thought Cage did fine here. Like I mentioned before, he genuinely wants to help people - all of them, not just those in Harlem, and sticks around to deal with the Hand as a result. My only issue with him, or rather with the Hand, is that to say that they have so many connections, I'm surprised that they didn't have any of those special bullets designed to piece his skin or any special counter-measures to his power set. I mean really, Alexandra knew who all of them were outside of the identity of the Devil of Hell's Kitchen/Daredevil - at least enough to target their loved ones, but didn't have enough foresight to look into possible weaknesses or they thought their immortal mumbo-jumbo Hand magic (no pun intended there, seriously...) was enough? They should have looked into getting whatever that poison was that Stick used on Cage before he was killed by Elektra.

People keep wondering why the Avengers don't get involved in the Marvel Netflix stories and poor planning by the Hand makes them come off as pathetic as those goons in Batman '66 with the "Thug 1", "Thug 2", etc. on their shirts. Tony Stark/Ironman probably felt that tremor in New York and turned over in his bed, going, "Wake me up when it's important..." Villains of that caliber aren't even worth the Avengers' time. Hell, they are barely worth the Defenders' time to be quite honest.

With or without Elektra being involved, I firmly believe that Matt Murdock would have answered the call to save New York against the Hand or whatever threat that Alexandra brought forth. After the earthquake, the viewers clearly saw that he couldn't stand still while innocent lives were being threatened. Putting everything on the line merely for Elektra just seemed like a horndog cop out to me. In terms of writing, it's up there as bad as Spider-Man 2's metaphor that Peter Parker lost his powers mainly because he wanted to get laid from Mary Jane. They didn't need Elektra's involvement to define Murdock/Dardevil or give him a reason to be a martyr. No, he would have done that anyway for the sake of his city. Look at how much he's given up and endured already. How much physical abuse that his body was taking in Daredevil Season One was proof enough of that. As much as I didn't care for Elektra's actress nor her as a character in this continuity, I will admit that there were some clever narrative points to having her involvement cause a bit of tension in this team coming together, along with dealing with the fallout of her demise from Daredevil Season Two, despite how rushed all of that was.

As much as I enjoyed Sigourney Weaver in the role of the villainous Alexandra that was the impromptu head of the Hand, I felt that her talents were wasted here to an extent. She was teased and hyped up in the trailers for this series as the final boss of sorts when it came to the Hand, especially during the Defenders' first confrontation that led to them all partnering up. To see her get killed off with no thought was a major disappointment, especially when Luke Cage did this with Cottonmouth to make Black Mariah the main villain for the final act of the first season and we saw the same thing with Bakuto in Iron Fist (whose resurrection here served absolutely NO purpose outside of chopping off Misty's arm) in favor for the Meachum family dilemma to reach it's climax. Once again, I wonder if the writers even watch the other Marvel Netflix shows leading up to this point when the writing mirrors the same tropes and swerves.

In this case, Alexandra is replaced with the lackluster "final boss" in Elektra, who came across as a lovesick puppy and spoiled brat than any real threat as a major supervillain. I was left feeling that a lot of the Elektra resurrection stuff could have been saved for Daredevil Season 3 like I said in that review since of rushing that plot after devoting so much of that season's content to The Punisher beforehand. Elektra doesn't have any real plans of her own outside of fulfilling Alexandra's goal for immortality (which kinda didn't make much sense to say she was dying but was already alive for so long previously up to this point...)

In terms of presentation, I did enjoy the use of color as explained here for symbolism, but there's a few things that still annoy me that carried over from Luke Cage. Maybe it's because I'm black and this irks me that the Marvel Netflix shows are going out of their way to point out that Luke Cage is the token black superhero here. The background music changes to hip hop/rap beat once Luke Cage enters the scene for the first few episodes and follows troubled black youths in a lot of stereotypical black situations that we are used to seeing on television. It gave off the impression to me that the writers here wanted Luke Cage to wear a flashing neon sign that read "BLACK SUPERHERO HERE" for the first few episodes. Fortunately, that trend stopped roughly after Episode 3.

In terms of the use of color though, they went down to that dull and depressing grey/black/blue blend by the finale. That really hurt the visuals in the last episode as you could barely make out most of the action in that cavern the Defenders were fighting the Hand in. That didn't do the already bland climax of their final battle any favors at all visually.

Speaking of the "climax" to this story at the end of Episode 8, let's talk about that a bit... Daredevil sacrifices himself to "save" Elektra in an act as a martyr while the rest of the Defenders escape before the Midlands Circle building blows up. Daredevil left Danny Rand with the words "protect my city" before making his noble sacrifice. This was all well and good - at least until they showed that Matt Murdock was still alive in the care of a woman named "Maggie".

Sidebar Note: For those who don't know, Maggie Murdock is Matt Murdock's mother. If this doesn't clue most hardcore Daredevil fans in enough, I'll clue everyone else in that this means that Marvel Netflix is planning an adaptation of the "Born Again" storyline from the Daredevil comics for Daredevil Season Three. I think we'll get that sometime after Jessica Jones Season Two and The Punisher Season One.

I was fine with Matt's noble sacrifice, but that was cheapened the moment that there wasn't any proper funeral to mourn their fallen comrade or to say goodbye to their dearly departed friend. Foggy and Karen grieved a little, but it wasn't like there was any weight to it. Foggy was visually hurting more than Karen - at least to me anyway, but there really wasn't any real weight to Daredevil's death. Hell, they didn't even bother to bury Stick either... Iron Fist was really moved by Daredevil's selfless sacrifice for the greater good and it looks like he's inspired to be another one of New York's native heroes in this corner of the MCU. Jessica Jones is back drinking away her sorrows after losing who she found to be a kindred spirit (she wouldn't be caught dead admitting it though) and friend in Daredevil/Matt Murdock, but Luke Cage reminds her that she'll always have a friend in him. I hope that means more cameos/guest starring roles for them in each other's shows for their second seasons. From that look on Luke's face for the possibility of hooking back up with Jessica, I'm sure he's down for more than just some "coffee".

Thank you, Brian Michael Bendis!

Besides, we HAVE to get a moment like this into the MCU in the near-future after Luke and Jessica become parents.

I guess I can't complain too much about the death not having any weight to it when comic books as a whole rarely keep characters dead in the first damn place. On top of that, we knew a Daredevil Season Three was coming BEFORE this show even premiered, along with the fact that it would pretty stupid if Gao and Elektra were dead when that so-called "substance" that the Hand's top leaders use to revive and extend their life spans were down there in that cave and they didn't use it.

Action

The Defenders wrecking these guys in a narrow corridor because we can't have Daredevil in a Netflix show without
a hallway fight scene... Not that I'm complaining about it.

I knew this was coming given the fact that Luke Cage and Jessica Jones weren't known for the "great" fight choreography in those two series and the lackluster effort made in the action for Iron Fist previously, but The Defenders uses a lot of quick cuts and editing to justify the usage of stunt doubles. I didn't see why did Krysten Ritter and Mike Colter needed stunt doubles when their characters were merely tossing guys around like ragdolls when they weren't effortlessly punching people across the room. I shook my head at the hallway scene in this series where you could see Jessica Jones' stunt double clear as day in the foreground of that sequence. I was like c'mon man...

At least they are using this as an excuse to give Finn Jones a stunt double when he clearly can barely make these fight scenes look as good as they are expected for the character that he is portraying. Daredevil's fight choreography hasn't skipped a beat since his own series, but it's easy to lose focus of everything that is going on when all four titular heroes are in the same action sequence. The action scenes here shine better when each of the Defenders are splintered off into one-on-one affairs.

Closing Thoughts

Outside of Colleen Wing and Claire Temple, the bulk of the sidekick and support characters from all four shows spent the majority of this series just standing around in the holding room at the police station, serving primarily as moral support for the four titular heroes. Some of them deserved much more screen time than others for sure and this just came across as lazy writing. That really sums up the bulk of this show to be quite honest - lots of lazy writing. I really want to like this, but the more I sit back and think about this plot for this miniseries, I can't help and point out how it could have been so much better and executed better. It just seems like that Marvel Netflix wants to slack off on their writing to the lackluster efforts seen for DC's television shows on The CW, when dedicated fans know that these characters are capable of and deserve so much better care and attention in these live-action adaptations. Don't get me wrong, there's quite a few moments in this that I actually really enjoyed, but others made me feel like I was rewatching the trainwreck that was Iron Fist and the latter half of Daredevil Season Two again.

Watch It or Don't Bother?

I'm with Jessica. This isn't much of a team until the last episode until they were forced to play the part due
to the extremes of this situation.

If you have seen all of the Marvel Netflix shows up to this point (to be honest, you really just need to see both seasons of Daredevil and Iron Fist really as the events from Luke Cage and Jessica Jones don't carry any weight here), you should go ahead and check this out. It's not going to set the Marvel Netflix universe on fire like Marvel's Avengers did back in 2012, but it was an experiment worth seeing through to its end. I hold my stance to my earlier comment in this review, citing that this is literally Daredevil Season 2.5 and Iron Fist Season 1.5, as this series acts as a sidebar adventure to wrap up the loose ends from those two series, namely the lackluster subplot involving the criminal organization known as The Hand. Jessica Jones and Luke Cage just happened to be dragged along for the ride, but they are welcome inclusions to this story. This definitely ain't no Avengers, but I think the Defenders will find their niche by the time Season Two rolls around. Let's hope by that time, the writers and producers will have learned from their mistakes before they go about this for the second go round.

For those wondering my rankings of the Marvel Netflix shows after The Defenders, I'll update it now from best to worst:

Daredevil Season One, Jessica Jones Season One, Daredevil Season Two, The Defenders Season One, Luke Cage Season One, and Iron Fist Season One.

Daredevil S2 only outweighs Defenders because of the Punisher content; otherwise, I feel they are roughly the same in terms of quality, Luke Cage and Iron Fist rank roughly the same for me in terms of multiple various factors that had negatives outweighing the positives.

PREVIEW -- Marvel's The Defenders (Netflix) - Comic-Con Trailer 2

Blind ninja. Smart-ass detective. Bulletproof ex-con. Kung Fu billionaire. Marvel’s The Defenders centers on four outsider heroes that have to put aside their personal issues and come together when a villainous sect threatens to destroy New York City as we know it. The Netflix original series launches globally on August 18, 2017.

The biggest thing that I'm looking forward to in this show is seeing how all four of these distinct personalities identify and connect with each other once they share the same stage. Right off the bat, it seems like Jessica Jones is going to be most hilarious one in this bunch with Danny Rand being the lovable loser here.

What I'm not looking forward to? More Elektra... I thought they did a piss poor job with her in Daredevil Season 2 and it doesn't seem like I'm going to care about her "revival" here if it's going to drag this narrative in the mud from Daredevil's end.

REVIEW -- Marvel's Luke Cage (Netflix) - Season 1

Marvel's Luke Cage, or simply Luke Cage, is an American web television series created for Netflix by Cheo Hodari Coker, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise and is the third in a series of shows that will lead up to a Defenders crossover miniseries. The series is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with Coker serving as showrunner.

Mike Colter stars as Carl Lucas / Luke Cage, a former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin who now fights crime. Mahershala Ali, Simone Missick, Theo Rossi, Erik LaRay Harvey, Rosario Dawson, and Alfre Woodard also star. Development of the series began in late 2013. In December 2014, Colter was cast as Cage, to appear first in Marvel's Jessica Jones, with Coker hired as the showrunner in March 2015. Filming began in New York City in September 2015 and concluded in March 2016.

The series premiered on September 28, 2016 in Harlem, with the full series of 13 episode releasing on Netflix on September 30.

Cast: