mrhan

As Orbiwan posted; the first ep. was pretty much just setting up the characters and references to past events but that's about it.

TomOpus

Nice to have Jessica Jones back. I would do so much to that back and her front.

Orbi-Wan Techno

From my review page Orbi-Wan Goes To The Movies. Some possible VERY minor spoilers in the NOTES FOR PARENTS section:

In Mid-Stream - Marvel's The Defenders (TV-MA) - The street-level comic book heroes join forces to protect New York City (and the world) from Sigourney Weaver and other ancient evils

Well, I am more than four episodes in. I am happy to say that The Defenders has me hooked, and it seems to be getting better with each episode. Netflix’s collective Marvel shows - Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) - have been building to this team-up. The four wildly different characters have a lot in common besides being powerful in their own ways, and they have to learn to work together to defeat dark forces that are threatening New York City.

Be prepared, though - the first episode is primarily a reintroduction of the all the major and minor players we’ve met in previous series. There’s no real action going on outside of the opening and closing scenes. Matt is doing pro-bono lawyering, while pining for a reason to get back on the streets to fight the bad guys. Jessica is dragging her feet in accepting any new cases (her office is hysterically in the same shape is was at the end of her last episode, with damaged door and walls intact). Danny and Colleen are returning to New York after fighting the Hand overseas on Rand Corporation’s dime. And Luke is returning home after serving part of his prison sentence, and just wants to be a positive influence in Harlem.

We are also introduced to Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver) who, along with Madam Gao (Wai Ching Ho), is one of the big bads in charge of the Hand. She has plans for New York City that includes Elektra (Elodie Yung), last seen at the end of Daredevil’s second season, apparently dead. but dug up and carried away by Hand operatives. Alexandra is also keen on getting her hands on the Iron Fist.

During the course of the first two episodes, we are also reintroduced to all the secondary characters who support our primary heros - Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), Misty Knight (Simone Missick), Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick), Stick (Scott Glenn), Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson), Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor), Karen Paige (Deborah Ann Woll), and Jeri Hogarth (Carrie-Ann Moss). Their appearances and contributions to the 8-episode proceedings are welcome and enjoyable.

By the end of the third episode, the action starts ramping up. The fourth episode takes some time to allow our “heroes” to briefly take a breather, get to know each other, and get a better grasp of what they are about to face. Episode five jumps right into the start of the team’s epic clash with the Hand. That’s where I am right now.

The Defenders starts off slow, but like a train rolling down hill, picks up speed and looks to be pretty much unstoppable. All of our heroes make the best of their collective strengths, and even Danny Rand comes off as less annoying that he did in Iron Fist.

As of partway through episode 5, I can say that The Defenders is an awesome addition to the Marvel television universe (there are continued references to “The Incident” from The Avengers, so there are ties to the MCU). Unless the quality severely dips between now and the end of the series, I am giving Marvel’s The Defenders 4 out of 5 lightsabers, with the possibility of going higher once I finish episode 8.

NOTES FOR PARENTS: The Defenders is rated TV-MA for violence, language and some sexual situations. MINOR SPOILERS HERE. The first episode opens with a fight in a dark tunnel between Danny and Colleen, and members of the Hand. A minor character shoots himself in the head. Starting with the second episode, there is plenty of fighting with fists, swords, and other weapons. A major character is resurrected in the third episode, and the scene could be distressing for younger viewers. Another character cuts of their own hand to escape an enemy. For the first episodes, there is little real blood or gore shown, and is more implied. As the series progresses, more blood is shed, and there are some surprising deaths. In episode 3, the ‘F’ bomb is heard briefly in rap song lyrics during a fight scene, and again in episode 6. S***, a**h***, and other milder profanities are occasionally heard. Two characters are shown briefly having sex, but no nudity is shown.

At the end of the final episode’s credits, there is a sneak preview of “The Punisher” with Jon Bernthal.

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james2025a

I see some reviews are not great for the show. I saw the same thing for Iron Fist and i ended up thinking it wasn't too bad at all. It just seems to solidify with me that reviews in general should be taken with a huge grain of salt. We each have personal tastes and just because one person thinks its shit, doesn't mean everyone will feel the same. I will watch it in the next week or two.

dex14

I think reviews for this are irrelevant. You'll either watch it or you won't. If you watched the other shows, you're going to watch this.

Why So Blu?

Just wrapped up the first expose and it was a bore. Yes, as others have said, it was a reintroduction of characters, but even with that, it just crawled at a snail's pace.

mrhan

The 2nd ep. was so-so, also. But the 3rd ep. was pretty bad ass. I'm hooked.

LurkerDan

I watched Season 1 of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage (there was only one season of Jones and Cage, right?). Haven't seen Iron Fist but heard bad things, so don't plan on it.

May still watch this, because I like the Jessica Jones character a lot, and Luke Cage as well (I though they second half of that season sucked, but I like the character).

Anyone think I'll be missing too much, that it won't make sense?

DJariya

No complaints from me about the first episode. It was all set up to bring back the characters. I love that Jessica Jones is still the snarky bitch that she was in her own show.

DJariya

There's 2 seasons of Daredevil. Season 2 introduced an important character who is part of this spin-off.

Jones and Cage season 2 have not aired yet.

If you're not really fond of investing the time in Iron Fist, I would try to find a recap or video recap of the season. The opening episode of this sort of picks up where Iron Fist left off. You should try to get some background on him.

dom56

Finish episode 3 and wow those fight scene are pretty awesome. Hope it get even better later episode.

Anyone think that one scene on episode 3

LurkerDan

Thanks. I just don't have enough TV time to watch shows I want to watch, let alone shows I hear aren't good. I doubt I'll watch Daredevil season 2, or Luke Cage season 2, but maybe would watch Jessica Jones season 2.

Maybe I'll just seek out some summary, like you suggest.

DJariya

Yeah to get a full grasp of all the characters and their back stories, you need to invest 65 total hours coming into this. Not only that, but Daredevil season 2 introduces another character who is getting a spinoff (another 13 hour series) later this year. It's probably really daunting for someone who doesn't have time to watch this much content. These Marvel are all connected in bits and pieces, so you either have to commit to them or not to invest time in this spinoff.

Iron Fist isn't as bad as what some of the reviews are saying IMO. It's a little campy at times, but I was enjoying it. 2 of the characters from Iron Fist are series regulars here and it would be hard just having them thrown at you here with no context.

robin2099

Watched the first episode and very meh on this and probably wont finish it out. With the exception of Daredevil, I've thought all the Marvel shows were terrible. Jessica Jones was six episodes of story dragged out for thirteen. Luke Cage started good but then just kept dragging and Iron Fist was the least interesting part of his show which also sucked.

I just have no excitement for this and right now it looks like this wont be as fun or exciting as any of the CWverse crossovers.

Deftones

Yeah, I wouldn't want to go into this w/o seeing all seasons of previous shows or at least reading about it. There are definitely characters who you won't recognize and one gigantic plot point you'll miss by not seeing DD S2.

fumanstan

Daredevil Season 2 is worth watching, in my opinion. Especially given the characters introduced that are directly relevant to Defenders. But then again, I think that series has been much better then the other ones, with Jessica Jones right there too. Iron Fist and Luke Cage feel less essential and could be more easily summarized.

Anyway, looking forward to starting this tonight.

Why So Blu?

On episode 5 -- glad it got better.

dex14

The fight choreography and camera work in episode 3 is better than anything in Iron Fist.

Kennyx

I'll stick through it, but finished the first 2 episodes and it felt like a chore to get through it. But per the post above, ep 3 and on look to get better. Still hate the iron fist casting though.

Not a fan of the camera work on ep1... camera spinning around.

actionjackson29

I'm assuming they used the choreographer of Daredevil for this since the show runners are the same.

dex14

One is... Another is actually the stunt coordinator for Agents of Shield.

The stuntment and doubles are some of the same though.

Axeramm

Can someone tell me who the person mentioned at the end of episode 8 is? Not very familiar with the comics so dont know if that is someone that should be known or not.

DJariya

I'm through 3 episodes now. Going to take a break and continue tomorrow.

Episode 3 was easily the best so far.

Pretty cool cold open:



This episode does tie-in quite heavily with Iron Fist. They connect the relationships that were established including a few storylines. This episode could have easily served as Iron Fist episode 14. Claire was part of Iron Fist, so she kind of served as the bridge here. If you had not seen Iron Fist, some of the things mentioned would have been lost to you.

Last sequence and the fight choreography was pretty badass.



So Sigourney Weaver's character:



Looking forward to more tomorrow.

candyrocket786

I think I'm going to finish this tonight. Started it a few hours ago on my flight and halfway through Ep5. Fucking loving it!!!

slop101

Watched the first episode with my girlfriend, it literally put us to sleep.