TV Review: “Defenders” (2017)

We finally finished up this Netflix Marvel series, and, on a whole, it did everything I wanted it to do.

While DC had the Justice Society and Justice League early on, it was Marvel that really established and ran with the idea of the team-up, the cross-over, the concept that their super-heroes didn’t exist a vacuum , but that any time one was on the streets of New York City, they might encounter another of their band.

With the Netflix MCU mini-series, they’ve name-dropped (and had some cross-over supporting characters) all of the others — Daredevil (“The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen”), Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand / Iron Fist. Each of them has gotten a series (or two) to explore who they are, what makes them tick, what demons drive them, what hopes compel them forward.

The biggest criticism of Defenders that I’ve heard (aside from “They didn’t kill off Iron Fist” from the apparent legion of Iron Fist detractors out there) is that it lacks the emotional deep dive of the individual character series. And that is absolutely correct; between sharing the screen between the four protagonists, their supporting casts, and a stable of bad guys, and doing it all in 8 eps rather than the normal 13 or so, there is no way the creators here could recreate the psychological studies of the best of the individual series.

But that’s not what these shows are about. If I want to get a sense of what’s going on in Matt Murdock’s head when he’s all alone, I watch a Daredevil series. But a cross-over series unlocks new dimensions. It lets the characters see each other, and themselves reflected in each others’ eyes. It gives the audience a chance to compare and contrast. It lets the fanboys geek out to learn who would win in a fight, A or B? It allows for villains, and villainous conspiracies, of greater scope.

But most importantly, it still adds depth to each character by showing us how they interact with their peers. I know more about Jessica Jones from seeing how she bumps head with Matt Murdock, how she regrets (and doesn’t) losing her proto-romance with Luke Cage, how she treats Danny Rand. The same is true for each of them, and the different relationships they build between them.

This was not “The four run into each other at a crime scene, fight at first, then shake hands and band together to defeat the real enemy.” We get to watch levels of trust rise and fall, concerns and complaints about the methods, motives, morality, beliefs, and substance abuse of their comrades. That they gel together only at the very end is exactly what should happen, and even then you can tell that there is both strength and fragility in those bonds. They aren’t going to pick a new club house and meet on a weekly basis. Certainly not yet.

There was a ton I loved about the show beyond that relationship-building. The inclusion of the supporting casts from each was brilliant, and seeing them, too, interacting with the other heroes and the other sidekicks added depth and complexity to everything. These were not cameos — Foggy, Claire, Colleen, even Patsy and Karen and Malcolm — all had a part to play.

I loved the music, the use of character colors in the early episodes. I loved that each of our heroes — even though the basically just punch — had very different fighting styles and utility in combat — Luke’s invulnerability, Danny’s martial arts and Iron Fist, Jessica’s super-strength, Matt’s general pugilism and ghastly high constitution. There were no real tour de force battles, but the final big battle with the Hand almost served that role as each cast member got their chance to shine.

For all of that, the series was not without weaknesses. I have to say that I am well and truly tired of the Hand, and welcome its departure from the MCU for a while. While I liked the individual “fingers” we got to meet, old and new, their team-up just never quite gelled for me.

And Iron Fist remains problematic, for a variety of reasons. He spent much of the series, especially toward the end, isolated from the others, which hampered his part of that relationship-building. His power and skill level were just as inconsistent and flaky as in his own series. And Danny’s personality, his monomania over his destiny, his “I really truly am a super-hero, I am the Iron Fist!” … just … something about him made him the weakest link in the band. I am not nearly as anti-Iron Fist as some I have read, but something needs to be done there if the character is to be used in the future.

And I hope he is. I want to see more of all of these folk — and, in fact, all have been picked up for additional series of their own. No word yet on a Season 2 for Defenders … but here’s hoping.

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