The Defenders S01E05 Review: United

The Defenders, Season 1, Episode 5: Take Shelter

Sorry about the brief delays, but reviews of the second half of Defenders should be finished this week. But here, we start the episode off with a pretty awesome montage of the four fingers of the Hand gathering and marshalling their forces as they prepare to assault the Royal Dragon and murder the Defenders, with Madame Gao, Sowande and Murakami all converging at where Alexandra and Elektra are at, set to the orchestral music associated with Alexandra. This episode follows the streak that the previous two episodes did by having exciting things actually happen, and it's a blast to watch. There are some weaker moments which I'll cover at the end, but by and by I'm pretty satisfied with this episode. 

The action prologue might not be as smooth as the hallway battle from episode 3, thanks to some odd jerking about of the camera that cuts to one action scene to the next in abrupt ways, but it does show some pretty cool moves as Daredevil, Jessica, Luke, Iron Fist and Stick all unleash their differing fighting styles against the goons of the Hand. In this beginning battle, while every hero gets their due, special kudos go to Daredevil and Luke, both of whom face off against Elektra and Sowande respectively. Sowande's martial arts unleash enough force to knock the unbreakable man backwards, matching Luke blow for blow, showing that the leaders of the Hand aren't just pushover businessmen like Alexandra (who disappears during the battle) are. Sadly, the Sowande/Luke fight gets interrupted when Luke gets hit by a truck, and next thing we know, Luke returns having cuffed and apprehended Sowande. That felt jarring.

Murakami and Elektra act as the head-honcho ninjas, with Murakami, after the buildup he gets last epnisode as being the only other 'finger' of the Hand that isn't subservient to Alexandra, to kick all kinds of ass. But as Murakami arrives to see Daredevil (who breaks ranks to try and get Elektra to 'wake up') and Elektra not... killing each other, Elektra ends up going berserk and turning on Murakami briefly. It's a sign that Elektra's going to be trapped in some crisis of conscience thing, and that Daredevil's attempts to redeem Elektra is going to be trouble for the group -- which aren't the best parts of the episode, but are done well enough to not bother me that much.

Also, Jessica whacks Madame Gao. Of course it's her that hits an old, unassuming lady. Gao's just awesome in the prologue, yeah? Coldly shooting one of her minions in the head because they need the Iron Fist alive, and then calmly using her hand to Force Push the gigantic dumpster thing that Jessica uses to block the exit out of the Royal Dragon. Madame Gao's implied superpowers (or K'un Lun chi kung-fu) have been on the backburner in Daredevil's second season and Iron Fist, but it's nice to remind us that while the Defenders are powerful, so are the Five Fingers of the Hand.

And, yes, Five Fingers, because Bakuto, main villain in Iron Fist, presumed dead because his dead body disappears after the battle, reappears in this episode, having been revived. And Bakuto's appearance is certainly welcome. Not just because Ramon Rodriguez gives pretty stellar performance here, but because it also gives Colleen Wing something to do beyond insisting that she and Danny started the fight against the Hand while being kept in the sidelines. Also, Claire's deadpan “That dude was for sure dead last time we saw him, right? Okay, just checking.” when she sees Bakuto, and Danny's equally-deadpan nod, are also bloody hilarious.

Bakuto and Colleen get some scenes in this episode as Bakuto confronts her ex-student and ex-lover, and the episode focuses quite a bit on Colleen Wing, and, indeed, the entire supporting cast of the four Defenders' individual series. Colleen gets a relatively large amount of screentime in this episode, interacting not only with Bakuto, who tries to shake her entire worldview -- and as someone who has spent her entire life believing that the Hand (or, well, Bakuto's faction of the Hand) is the one true way to live, and she has had her entire life ripped away from her. Colleen has since latched on completely to being Danny's sidekick in their tag team to fight the Hand, but Bakuto's return shakes all of that. Colleen is clearly not taking any more of Bakuto's shit and goes sword-first against her former master, but both actors portray their roles amazingly well, with Bakuto's confidence of someone who has his hooks in Colleen's psyche and Colleen's determination is tinged with confusion and doubt. The encounter sadly ends with the rather comical 'turn away for one second, and he's gone!' bit, but Colleen's gut-stab takes her out of the fight.

Less elegant, mind you, is the earlier speech where Colleen rants to Danny that she doesn't like Danny allying with the Defenders since it's "their" fight, even though Colleen is the one who suggested Danny find allies in the first place. That bit didn't feel like it needed to happen.

Her honest speech to Claire, asking if she's just useless and pointless, is also amazingly acted by both actors, with Claire assuring Colleen that she is "the foundation" of the Defenders. Which seems rather strange, considering that if there is anyone who could be called the foundation of the team it'd be Claire herself, who's the only common friend between all four Defenders, but perhaps the term could be applied in a more general sense to every single supporting character that, well, quite literally supports the Defenders mentally and emotionally. Foggy and Karen. Trish and Malcolm. Misty and Claire. Colleen. These people, while the obvious weakness of the Defenders (the Hand goes after two of these characters in this episode), is also their strength. Someone like Jessica or Luke doesn't really buy into the whole eternal ninja clan full of resurrected overlords, but they do know that they need to keep their loved ones safe, and that's enough for them. And this is where the supporting characters come in, as we spend time with them and remind both our heroes and us, the audience, just who our characters are fighting for. 

And none feel this weight more than Matt's supporting cast. They decide to gather their loved ones at the precinct under the watchful eye of an increasingly exasperated Misty Knight (fill her up on the Hand already, Luke!) but whereas Colleen's interactions with Bakuto and later Claire get more spotlight, and Trish later ends up being the crux to a Jessica/Daredevil/Murkami fight, Matt's conversation with Foggy and Karen are so much more well done. It's so easy to generalize Foggy and especially Karen as selfish, stop-superheroing characters, but at the same time, is it really that hard to blame them to want to keep their friend Matt from, well, dying in the gutter fighting something he's over his head about? Yet the same fate that befell Elektra (and other characters who died in the other heroes' respective journeys) is exactly why Matt -- nay, Daredevil -- is fighting so hard. He wants to prevent the same thing from happening to Foggy and Karen and his newfound friends, as well as to redeem Elektra herself. Karen's resigned sigh as she realizes that, yeah, she just have to trust Matt is well-done. And I also did like the members of the different supporting cast having their own scenes and lives. Trish isn't just lounging randomly when Jessica finds her, she's trying to get to the bottom of why the earthquake was covered up in her radio show by her superiors. Foggy and Karen share a reunion. Claire and Colleen have a conversation about Colleen's self-esteem, and Misty introduces herself to Colleen, recognizing that her sword skills probably means that she can (and probably will) need to help defend the precinct if shit goes down.

And, yes, Jessica's fight against Murakami when she tries to get Trish to safety is amazingly done, showing how skilled these Five Fingers are. Jessica is undoubtedly stronger, but Murakami's agility and ability to parry strikes means that despite her strength, Jessica can't damage Murakami if her punches can't land. This leads to the dramatic entry as Daredevil, finally in his full costume again, shows up and lobs his throwing sticks at Murakami. The three-way battle between the in-costume Daredevil (who finally got over the struggling-between-two-lives thing now that the threat is real), Jessica Jones and Murakami is amazingly done, and a neat showcase of their powers as Daredevil and Murakami engaged in a series of awesome martial arts exchange, before Jessica gets a shot to let loose with a gigantic metahuman punch that sends Murakami flying. 

And, of course, since Jessica Jones is the most amazing snarker in the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe... her (apparently ad-libbed by both actors) nonplussed "nice ears." at Daredevil's costume, and Daredevil's irritated and pouty "they're horns." is absolutely perfect.

Of course, all the character interactions are pretty great, and we get Sowande giving this long, impressive backstory about how he once caused a gigantic temple of the Chaste to be basically broken by siege tactics, causing them to kill each other as they give Sowande up to his own people to end the siege. Matt's return to the full Daredevil costume, a decision that was honestly well-paced over five episodes despite its slow burn, starts with him kicking ass with Jessica, and later using his brand-new chain-stick things to choke Sowande from halfway across the room, earning another gem: Danny goes "THAT'S SO COOL!" excitedly like a little kid (I agree with Danny), and Luke tries to play it cool and goes "eeeh it's kinda cool."

Of course, Sowande gets into Matt's head, knowing all about Elektra and the Black Sky, causing Matt to lose his temper and almost kill Sowande. ("Unfortunately", in Stick's words) Again, always refreshing to see storylines where it's not afraid to be dark, but still have the heroes not kill unless absolutely necessary. The revelation about Matt and Stick knowing about Elektra's identity all along causes a pretty big blow-up as Jessica, Luke and Danny kind of demands why Matt is hiding this from them, and what else are they hiding, but they aren't at blows with each other (yet). It's a trick that's as old as superhero team-up comics in general, but one that was done.... well, reasonably well if not particularly super-exciting. While the Defenders are squabbling, Sowande attempts to escape and capture the Iron Fist, and Stick just slices off Sowande's head. "Cut off one finger, the hand can still move" indeed, but Stick just doesn't give a shit. It's a bit of an abrupt end, but the moment of doubt on the other three Defenders as they realize that Stick isn't quite a wise mentor like Obi-Wan Kenobi sinks in. Killing Sowande isn't the worst thing Stick could do, of course, and while extreme isn't unjustified, but it's a pretty neat shocking twist

Less done well, perhaps, are the Five Fingers of the Hand themselves. They lick their wounds a lot in this episode -- four of the five didn't manage to get any of the Defenders at the beginning of the episode. Bakuto fails to turn Colleen against the Defenders, Sowande gets murdered and Murakami gets his ass beaten by Jessica and Daredevil. We get the handwave that despite them being shown as being on a civil war during Iron Fist, apparently Bakuto and Gao just brush off their older conflict as "well, we're still technically allies with each other." I wish we spent more time on Bakuto and Gao's conflict, but then that would eat up even more time. I certainly didn't expect Bakuto, Gao and Murakami to turn against Alexandra, but honestly that's a very, very well-done scene.

See, we're still not super-clear just what makes Elektra so special, what makes the 'Black Sky' so special that Alexandra apparently uses all their resources to bring her to life. Murakami has already been opposed to Alexandra's methods and treats this as a partnership instead of serving under her, Bakuto didn't even join up until this episode and has a history of fighting against other Hand leaders, and Gao, while subservient, also shows up later to remind Alexandra that her putting all her eggs in one basket with nothing to show for it is.... well, one of the five dead. The death of a fellow immortal shakes the three of them to the core, and none of the three have enough faith to follow Alexandra blindly, certainly not when she seems to be failing so much. I just wish we get to learn more about Alexandra's motivations and her faith in the Black Sky beyond, well, general mommy issues. And that's where I think the writing behind Alexandra feels lacking, as it doesn't quite get any better for the rest of the series. Sigourney Weaver is a fantastic actress, but I honestly feel that her role as Alexandra, while amazingly portrayed... doesn't quite carry a full story. 

And Black Sky/Elektra herself is a bit weird, too. She's clearly confused and trying to find out why she instinctively protected Daredevil from being killed, and she just tries to find out where she came from, finally ending in Matt's old apartment. It's... it's okay, I guess, but I just kind of don't find a lot of the Elektra stuff super-interesting. It's not the fault of the actress or the writers, who did their best to pace a resurrected character coming to terms with conflicting memories and all that jazz, it's perhaps just that this particular subplot feels rather detached and doesn't quite have the necessary buildup that I, as the audience, end up asking the same questions that Madame Gao and the others are asking: why bring Elektra back at all?

Still, a pretty solid episode regardless of the long-term missteps. The plot is heading headlong to a big clash between the Defenders, who drew first blood, against the Hand, and it's pretty exciting.

As a little parting note, can I just say how utterly awesome Stick is with one liners this episode? From his reaction to Sowande's near-death choking and Danny asking if he's dead: "Eh, unfortunately, no." Or his comeback to Sowande's "I was wondering when I would see you again.", which is him going "Me too. -waves hand in front of eyes- Huh. Guess that won't be today." Or his response to Sowande's long scary speech about how he mind-gamed an entire castle to give up: "If I kneel before you right now, shithead, will you shut up?"