What I’m Watching: The Defenders

The Defenders: Season 1, Episode 6 “Ashes, Ashes” (B+)

Listen, I agree that this show and its universe would be better off without Danny Rand – he’s a weak link who doesn’t compare to the other three members of this team. Yet I have to say that I’m disappointed in the others for their failure to see that deciding to imprison or even kill one of their own is just what the Hand wants and hardly the way to proceed. There’s a lot more going on, of course, and Matt provided a wealth of previously withheld information in this episode by briefing everyone about the hole and about his relationship with Elektra. Jessica and Matt do seem to actually get along pretty well as partners now that they’ve gotten through the initial unfriendly banter, with Jessica telling him that she doesn’t read heartbeats but she reads people, and 92% confidence is still a lot. Matt playing the piano to discover that there was something in there was pretty cool too. Elektra did come in handy when she showed up to stop Stick from killing Danny, but then she went and killed him, which shows that she remembers some of her past but not enough to put her on the good side of things. Alexandra was ready to control the dissent on her side, getting back to K’un-Lun and having the Defenders killed before then, but Elektra showed up to ruin that party too and take the reins of this evil group, presenting a more formidable enemy than they were facing before.