The Defenders

Starring: Charlie Cox (8 episodes), Krysten Ritter (8 episodes), Mike Colter (8 episodes), Finn Jones (8 episodes), Elodie Yung (8 episodes), Jessica Henwick (6 episodes), Scott Glenn (6 episodes), Sigourney Weaver (6 episodes), Rosario Dawson (6 episodes), Wai Ching Ho (6 episodes), Elden Henson (5 episodes), Simone Missick (5 episodes), Yutaka Takeuchi (5 episodes), Eka Darville (5 episodes), Ramon Rodriguez (4 episodes), Rachael Taylor (4 episodes), Deborah Ann Woll (4 episodes), Babs Olusanmokun (4 episodes), Michelle Federer (3 episodes), Chloe Levine (3 episodes), Carrie Ann-Moss (1 episode), Phil Nee (1 episode)
Directed by: S.J. Clarkson (2 episodes), Phil Abraham (1 episode), Farren Blackburn (1 episode), Uta Briesewitz (1 episode), Felix Enriquez Alcala (1 episode), Peter Hoar (1 episode), Stephen Surjik (1 episode)
Rating: TV-MA
Genre: Action, Adventure
2017

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: To combat The Hand, Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) reluctantly team up to stop the menace.

Review:
Tim: I still remember the excitement and glee I felt when I heard about Marvel and Netflix's ambitious plans to bring four street-level heroes together in The Defenders. After 5 seasons and a total of 65 episodes of solo television series featuring four different characters, they finally all teamed up in The Defenders mini series. And to be sure, it was a remarkable viewing experience seeing these characters share the same screen. And yet, you didn't walk away from this series with the same elation you experienced after leaving theaters having seen The Avengers. This was a good mini series, but it left something to be desired.

I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to weave these characters (and all their supporting characters) into a story that spanned 8 episodes and made complete sense. And they didn't quite pull it off. Sure, the focus on The Hand made a lot of sense and the threads from individual series were pulled together here, but the story oftentimes felt forced. Too many things happened that were overly convenient, that didn't quite pass the sniff test. Some of this was to be expected, but it still hurt the series.

One of my biggest complaints is how little time the four Defenders actually spend together. It took something like three episodes to bring them all together. That might be okay, but that means 25% of the episodes in this series didn't feature them sharing the screen. That's unfortunate and it was a big mistake. The whole appeal of this series is seeing these four individual characters come together and join forces. The story was important, but not as important as the joy of watching these characters unite. And the series wastes far too much time before the initial encounter and far too much time throughout the series splitting these characters up. That was disappointing. Without enough amazingly cool scenes, the weaknesses in the plot feel even more exposed.

The cast is great and it was fun seeing so many characters we've come to like. Charlie Cox is definitely the standout- his Matt Murdock is fantastic and I loved every second of his screen time. Krysten Ritter was able to even more fully embrace her character's prickly side, which was fun to watch. Mike Colter had to be more reserved, but still was effective. Finn Jones continues to be the weakest link in this cast, but I thought his performance was slightly better than in the first season of his solo series. I loved the addition of Sigourney Weaver- it felt so strange to see her here (in a good way). I almost felt like pinching myself. Elodie Yung was solid, Scott Glenn is always excellent, and I loved that we got more time with Jessica Henwick, who has proved to be the biggest pleasant surprise to emerge from these series. I'm glad we got more time with Rosario Dawson, as she's been so instrumental in linking these characters together. The supporting cast truly is excellent, especially when you add Elden Henson and Simone Missick to the names already mentioned. That's one of the greatest strengths of this series.

Now, The Defenders may not have been the home run we were all hoping and expecting it to be. However, it still assembled four different characters and allowed us as viewers to see Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist team up and battle the bad guys. For that reason, I'll always geek out about this series. Sure, it moves too slow and had too many slow parts (a common flaw in these shows), but the good outweighs the negatives. I feel so fortunate that this series exists.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher