1x06 Ashes, Ashes

[7.2/10] I didn’t really like Danny Rand in Iron Fist. I didn’t really like Luke Cage in Luke Cage (or Jessica Jones) for that matter. But damn if I don’t like them together. Danny spouting all that mystical mumbo jumbo brings out an eye-rolling, “come on man” quality in Luke that gives some flavor to Mike Colter’s performance. And Luke also acts as a foil to Iron First, something sorely missing in his own show, who can listen to Iron Danny’s grand proclamation about what he’s done and wants to do and call bullshit. Despite that semi-testy relationship, there’s also a sense of respect, of easy camaraderie between the two of them. Luke whacking Danny with the newspaper is a simple gesture, but one that makes you go “aww” and also makes you wish Netflix would cancel Iron Fist and Luke Cage and greenlight a Heroes For Hire series in its place.

On the other side of The Defenders ledger, you have Daredevil and Jessica Jones, gone to try to solve the mystery of what’s being hidden at Midland Circle together. They too, make for great foils for one another. Matt is half “we have to help the helpless” and half Catholic guilt, and Jessica Jones is all surliness and directness, and the contrast really works for them as a pairing. Jessica not only figuring out and sharing Matt’s story with the daughter of the Midland Odessa architect, but offering Matt a certain kind of absolution, really works. Jessica is not the kind to be effusive with praise or sympathy, so it means more coming from her.

Last, and also probably least, the episode spends a decent amount of time pairing up Alexandra and Elektra. Their scene in the graveyard is mostly for the fake out element of it all, there to make you think that despite Elektra’s mission drift, learning that Alexandra is dying pulls her back into the fold. There’s something to that, with Alexandra clearly viewing Elektra as a surrogate daughter which adds another layer to the proceedings. But it mostly serves to set up the “shocking” twist that Elektra is going to turn on Alexandra and try to become the new leader of the hand.

That choice stinks for several reasons. The first and easiest is that while I haven’t loved Sigourney Weaver’s performance here (she’s a little too unnatural in her delivery of the usual villainspeak for my tastes), she’s still a vast improvement on Elodie Yung. Black Sky Elektra hasn’t been my favorite part of The Defenders, but as an “actions speak louder than words” type character, she’s tolerable at worst. But now, she’s going to be the one delivering the villain monologues and having to carry the dramatic waste, and that’s a major downgrade.

Plus, it leans into more tortured romance territory between her and Matt, leading to some inevitable moral conflict of whether Matt can kill the woman he loves for the greater good. In other hands, that could be a compelling storyline, but as someone who’s never bought into the romance between the two, and thinks that the acting and chemistry between the two is lacking, it’s not an appealing proposition.

That said, we at least get a pretty badass hero-on-hero (on hero and on hero) fight to keep things lively. I believe it was Kevin Smith who pointed out how cliché it is to have your heroes fight each other in these team up things, but it’s still a thrill to see Daredevil fighting Iron Fist. The two martial arts-knowing characters going to toe-to-toe is interesting, and the way their sequence is shot -- with the two framed at a distance like something out of Mortal Kombat -- adds a certain fluidity and continuity to the skirmish. In addition, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage getting involved in blunter ways is a nice touch, and I particularly like the conclusion where Danny’s chi-fist meeting Luke’s impenetrable chest creates a reaction that stuns them all.

We also get some interesting business with Stick. He’s always been more of a pragmatist than Matt Murdock or really anyone else in the Defenders subuniverse, and it’s nice to see that continued here. It makes sense then, that he’d think to kill Danny to keep The Hand from getting him rather than just hiding him. The knockout incense routine is actually pretty clever in that regard, and while deus ex elektra doesn’t do much for me, the ensuing fight where she knocks everyone out (albeit a bit conveniently) sells her as a physical threat. I wish I could say that I really mourned Stick’s death, but I mostly was just sad that Scott Glenn won’t be around to deliver his well-worn grumpiness and wit anymore.

On the whole, it’s not the greatest episode of The Defenders, but it leans into the pairings of its main four characters that really work, and moves the ball forward in a novel way, even if I’m not exactly chomping at the bit to see where the change in the form of antagonism takes us from here.

Thankfully they slip in these fights between them in the middle, because let's be honest, who cares about the villains, I want to see Danny and Matthew fight. And what better reason that Danny being his usual spoiled little brat for that ?

Sigourney Weaver's performance has been a tad underwhelming. I don't feel she was much invested in this.

I can't believe no one, specially Matt, saw Stick's third solution coming.

I'm not too clear on what the Black Sky actually is. It's sold as something legendary for the Hand, but how ? If the Hand was some mystical organization of unknown origins, it could have been an ancient legacy, its origin lost in time, that they try to recover/recreate. But it's five rebels from Kunlun, and they are still here. Why someone else would be fated to become they leader centuries later ?
Instead, maybe it's a special ability that turns them into super slave warrior when resurrected, it would make more sense for Alexandra's desperate search for it, but that's not what we've been sold nor what's happening.
And anyway, the Iron Fist seems more important for them. Or do they need a combination of both ?

Elektra is fully accepting her role, getting rid of both her mentors in the same episode. Not quite consistent with her recollection of Matt though. We'll see.