TV #34 of 2017:
Marvel’s The Defenders, season 1
Plotwise, this show is basically just another season of Daredevil. Yes, he’s teaming up with some superfriends, but the main character arc is Matt’s, and the most important returning characters / concepts come primarily from his show (with Iron Fist as a distant second). There are also some fairly major Daredevil developments that happen within this season of The Defenders, to the point where any viewer going from Daredevil season 2 to the upcoming season 3 without watching this season in between would likely feel totally lost.
Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, by contrast, feel somewhat divorced from their own shows here. They bring a few supporting cast members along for the ride, and it’s a real thrill to see those casts interacting with one another, but you definitely get the sense that, for instance, Jessica will just compartmentalize this whole season as her wacky kung fu adventure and not be affected by it in the slightest going forward. So that’s a bit of a disappointment that the crossover isn’t fully utilized to every main character’s benefit, but this is still a fun MCU team-up that tries its best to rehabilitate Danny Rand after his own disastrous show, and for that we should all be grateful.
★★★☆☆
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