The Defenders "Take Shelter" Together And Fight To Defy The Formula

The Good: Good character moments, Decent performances
The Bad: Meandering, slow, plot, Missed opportunities with the secondary characters
The Basics: "Take Shelter" continues to develop The Defenders in a quieter direction as the supporting characters are united, much like the heroes were in the prior episode.


One of the weaknesses of the superhero genre, even for the Netflix television shows, is that there is a sense of formula to much of the work. There are very few superhero works that manage to effectively defy their formula and still maintain the audience. Those hoping that the Marvel Cinematic Universe might be fundamentally alerted by The Defenders were left a bit disappointed by the show utilizing the formula, rather than defying it. The reinforcement of the typical superhero formula comes in "Take Shelter."

"Take Shelter" opens immediately after the comparatively serene episode "Royal Dragon" (reviewed here!), which found characters on all sides talking more than fighting and that was a somewhat refreshing change of pace. "Royal Dragon" climaxed with The Defenders actually coming together as a fighting force in advance of a battle within the Chinese restaurant, the Royal Dragon. "Take Shelter" finds that fight breaking out in the most predictable and obvious way a super-hero show could execute such a fight. The formula is then defied and the sense of calm returns for another character-building episode of The Defenders and "Take Shelter" works on that front.

Three other leaders of The Hand converge upon the Royal Dragon, intent on capturing Danny Rand. Amidst the fighting, Matt Murdock attempts to reason with Elektra, but he fails to reach her for more than a brief moment. Luke Cage is captured by Sowande's forces. The remaining Defenders retreat to Colleen Wing's dojo . . . where Cage arrives with a captured Sowande. Under interrogation, Sowande reveals that the Hand is only after the Iron Fist and he threatens the loved ones of the Defenders. The heroes scramble to get their loved ones to safety. While Claire Temple, Foggy Nelson, Karen Page, Malcolm and Trish Walker are brought to Misty Knight's precinct for protection, Colleen Wing is reunited with Bakuto, her old sensei and one of the leaders of The Hand.

Their loved ones safe, Stick interrogates Sowande and he is joined by Murdock and the others. The Hand convenes and is divided over a course of action as the resurgence of Daredevil leaves them fractured. When Sowande resists answering Murdock's questions, he is forced to come clean about Elektra. When he does, his anger leaves his new teammates vulnerable to Sowande.

"Take Shelter" is instantly notable for having Madame Gao in her most active role yet. Gao has been a villain in both Daredevil and Iron Fist and in the first season of Iron First, she was seen killing one person. Beyond that, Gao has been mysterious and more of a puppet master than an active participant in various villains' enterprises. In "Take Shelter," Gao shows off some Jedi moves and is fully revealed to be much more than the old lady she appears to be (though she still has not transformed into a full-on dragon).

Sigourney Weaver is finally given a great chance to perform as Alexandra in "Take Shelter." Alexandra's backstory is fleshed out when she explains some of her past to the Black Sky and she makes a comparison between her long-dead daughter and Elektra. Weaver transforms a simple exposition scene into a deeper character moment using the power of her performance. Weaver's emotional deliveries makes Alexandra empathetic and intriguing, more than a vessel to deliver backstory.

"Take Shelter" is a quieter episode of The Defenders and the real joy within the episode is seeing the secondary characters of the four Netflix Marvel shows interact. The episode does not end up being a sidekick's version of "Royal Dragon," though, as it remains focused still on the primary protagonists and the meeting of the antagonists. That said, fans of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel Comics are likely to geek out completely over the first meeting and conversation between Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. Those who love Heroes For Hire will see that meeting as a key step in seeing that team realized in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

On the character front, Elektra's sense of conflict over not truly remembering her life before and her new programming to be the Black Sky makes her more compelling than the average villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her inner turmoil is well-executed in "Take Shelter" and actress Elodie Yung shines in delivering Elektra's more subtle moments in the episode. Hell, anyone who can make the act of laying down in a bed gripping television has something going for her! And Yung does exactly that.

The direction in "Take Shelter" is good and Uta Briesewitz quickly gets away from the fight sequences to focus on the rising character tensions between both the group of heroes and the group of villains. The result is a largely satisfying episode of The Defenders that continues to reveal and deepen the characters involved.

For other works with Finn Jones, please visit my reviews of:
Game Of Thrones - Season 1
Game Of Thrones - Season 2
Game Of Thrones - Season 3
Game Of Thrones - Season 4
Game Of Thrones - Season 5
Game Of Thrones - Season 6
Iron Fist - Season 1

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into The Defenders - The Complete First Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the debut season of the street-level heroes here!
Thanks!]

7.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Plot Comes Into Focus In "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus"

The Good: Plot moves fairly fast, Decent-enough performances
The Bad: Most of the characters are idiotic, Entirely derivative plot, Guest performers and characters entirely steal the show
The Basics: The essential business conspiracy storyline for the first season of Iron Fist is made explicit in "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus."


One of the few disadvantages of expanding a universe where there are a lot of casualties is that finding crossover characters for new properties can be difficult. The mystery that is building in the first season of Iron Fist seems to be deeply intertwined with the Hell's Kitchen of Daredevil. At the outset of the Iron Fist episode "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" there have been very few crossover characters from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But, in "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus," Claire Temple makes the leap into Iron Fist, making her the essential character in Netflix's corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Fans of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe will instantly recognize the drugs that showed up in "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm"(reviewed here!) from the first season of Daredevil (reviewed here!). That heroin opens "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" and the use of the drugs in the Iron Fist mystery is made very clear. Danny Rand was given a sample of the new heroin as a peace offering from the leader of the Triads right before "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" begins.

Three high-class saleswomen hit the streets of New York City, peddling an incredible new type of heroin. They come from Rand Enterprises, a fact which Danny Rand quickly learns when the sample he was given from Yang Hai-Qing. Joy Meachum starts to handle a settlement negotiation for people claiming one of Rand Enterprise's plants gave them cancer, a meeting that leaves her deeply unsettled. When Danny tries to confront Ward about the heroin, he is met with resistance. So, Rand turns to Colleen Wing for aid, interrupting Wing's training of Claire Temple.

When the victim of Rand Enterprise's pollutants releases a video of Danny and the victim, Ward and Joy clash over the best course of action to take. Danny has dinner at Wing's dojo, with Temple acting as a third wheel. After getting some good information out of Rand, Temple leaves and Rand enlists Wing's aid in stopping the shipment of drugs into Rand Enterprises. Rand and Wing go to the pier that Rand Enterprises recently bought and watch as the drug dealers open the cargo containers. Rand is miffed when they do not immediately appear to be filled with drugs. Rand gets into one of the cargo containers and discovers a small apartment in it . . . and the chemist who is poised to produce the heroin Rand Enterprises will distribute!

On the plot side, "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" is almost immediately disappointing to fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe because its plot is virtually identical to the Daredevil episode "Kinbaku" (reviewed here!). Just as Elektra enlisted Matt Murdock to learn the truth about Roxxon's corruption, Danny Rand uses Colleen Wing to discover the truth about the drugs at Rand Enterprises.

There are several key plot and character elements that are introduced in "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus." In "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus," Ward learns that Harold is constantly monitoring him in the office and the viewer learns more about the monastery where Danny Rand was trained to be the Iron Fist. We also learn that Danny Rand is a virgin. "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" includes the first reference to Danny Rand's friend from the monastery, Davos.

"Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" continues the trend in Iron Fist of getting details very off and, unfortunately, presenting a protagonist who is both naive and not particularly smart. The business meeting that Joy has includes the actual litigant. That level of negotiation usually does not include the wounded party; lawyers hash it out. Joy, who has been characterized as very smart and good at her job, makes an incredible tactical error by allowing the alleged victims into the room. Similarly, when Danny is ambushed on the street by the victim, Rand Enterprises has a pretty strong affirmative defense in that Danny has no legal standing to speak in any company capacity to the aggrieved party.

Ward Meachum makes another big tactical error on the business front when he sabotages Joy's attempt to lead the board to settle with the pollution victims. Lawrence - the dominant voice on the board of directors - makes a series of reasonable points and Ward steamrollers him. Ward has the opportunity to throw the Board a bone, do the right thing, and make his father happy, but he acts impulsively and without a strong long-term vision. That is disappointing given how Ward generally does a good job of looking out for Rand Enterprises.

Danny Rand is presented, though, not only as ignorant of business mores, but flat-out stupid. When Rand tries to bring Ward the drugs he was given and had analyzed by the Rand Enterprises chemists, Ward almost immediately identifies it as heroin. I am not at all drug savvy, but given the wrapping, both my wife and I thought that if one were to leap to anything drug-related about the paper, it would be acid or LSD. The only way Ward would leap right to being able to identify mysteriously-wrapped drugs as heroin (especially correctly!) would be if he had contact with the drug before that moment. Danny does not even do a double-take when Ward knows exactly what is being put before him. In a similar fashion, while having dinner with Temple and Wing, Wing references eating donkey (right after Rand mentions it) and that does not lead him to ask any questions about her upbringing (which would have been smart for what her backstory turns out to be!).

Despite Rand being characterized somewhere between naive and stupid, Finn Jones does all right as Danny Rand in "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus." Jones's range works well for having Rand react in a sad, shocked way. But, as the episode progresses and Rand makes a subtle move on Colleen Wing, Jones fails to credibly turn on the charm. The scene between Rand and Wing is nowhere near convincing based on how stiff Jones's performance is. In fact, by the end of the scene, Finn Jones seems more like he is trying to remember his lines than like a guy trying to convince someone to take a course of action she disagrees with.

Colleen Wing is given a tough part in "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" as Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple is far more active in the scenes they share and Temple asks all of the key questions that lead to Rand responding with backstory exposition. Jessica Henwick smiles through a number of moments in "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" when that is not quite the right emotion Colleen Wing is trying to present.

"Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" marks the return of Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple and more on-screen time for Wai Ching Ho's Madame Gao. Gao is an intriguing character, who usually manipulates and controls her empire from a distance. In "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus," Gao does her first act of truly overt violence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Wai Ching Ho's performance of the moment is enough to give the viewer chills. Still, Ho lands the moment and make it seem entirely within her character and that character's abilities.

The weakness of "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" does not become apparent until one considers that the scenes with Claire Temple and Madame Gao completely steal the thunder from the rest of the episode. Even Tom Pelphrey's occasionally conflicted performance of Ward Meachum does not manages to pull the viewer back to caring about what is going on in "Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" the way the minimal scenes with Temple and Gao do.

"Under Leaf Pluck Lotus" transitions from a boring business show into a painfully choreographed series of fight sequences to a disturbingly gory climax without having enough to make the viewer truly invest in the characters who are going through those motions.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Iron Fist - The Complete First Season, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the debut season here!
Thanks!]

For other works with Jessica Stroup, please visit my reviews of:
Ted
True Blood - Season 1

3.5/10

For other Marvel movie, television season and episode reviews, please check out my Marvel Cinematic Universe Review Index Page for a listing of those reviews!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Villains Multiply As Villainy Overcomes Everyone But Trish In "AKA I've Got The Blues"

The Good: Pacing, Generally good performances, Trish's character arc
The Bad: Diverges from the main plotlines to deal with a contrived subplot
The Basics: "AKA I've Got The Blues" has Trish's mother and Nuke taking center stage for the villain roles as Kilgrave goes into hiding following his most significant attack.


There are few shows that I have gone into with no real information that I still felt a great deal of anticipation for that I will go back to even if they let me down. The first season of Jessica Jones definitely met all of those criteria, though. I knew nothing of the protagonist, Jessica Jones, the Netflix previews got me excited about watching it and after a decent bit of rising action through the first few episodes, I was hooked. And then the season peaked with "AKA WWJD?" (reviewed here!) and it never quite recovered from the greatness it executed and the potential it revealed in that episode. "AKA I've Got The Blues" comes after that point, so it is when the season is on the downswing, laboring toward its obvious climactic battle between Jessica Jones and the villainous mind-controller Kilgrave.

"AKA I've Got The Blues" is set immediately after "AKA 1,000 Cuts" (reviewed here!) and there is no realistic way to intelligently discuss the episode without referencing some of the climactic events of the prior episode. Regardless of where "AKA I've Got The Blues" goes, it starts out in a wonderful way with a flashback that makes it perfectly understandable why so many people throughout Jessica Jones know the It's Patsy! theme song. If there is any significant tie-in between Jessica Jones and the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is my sincere hope that when the inevitable meeting between Hellcat and The Avengers comes up, Dr. Banner, Tony Stark, The Falcon, and Ant-Man all start singing the It's Patsy! song to Trish. Odds are, though, whatever circumstance would unite the Marvel Cinematic Universe's disparate heroes, it would be a dark event. The longer "AKA I've Got The Blues" goes on, the more one has to wonder just how dark things have to get before an Avenger or two pops up to actually help the street-level heroes.

Opening with a flashback that shows how Jessica Jones woke up to Patsy being forced to take her in after Jones's family was killed, the episode flashes forward to moments after the biggest on-screen Kilgrave attack to date. The four survivors are confused and Jessica Jones tries to keep it together following Hope's suicide. Robyn even comes around to lying to the police about Kilgrave's attack, to protect the police who might investigate. Jones and Trish meet up and Jessica Jones insists on hunting down the local John Doe's at the morgues in order to find Albert, whom she assumes is already dead. Jones works herself to exhaustion searching for a corpse that does not exist, getting hit by a truck in the process.

Trish is visited by Simpson at the set of her show and she tells him off for being violent and scary the last time they met. Simpson lies to her about quitting The Program again, which leads Trish to abandon him and go to bring Jessica Jones back to her home. When the morgue calls in the morning, Jessica Jones discovers Clemons's body. Unfortunately, that leaves Trish vulnerable to Simpson's attack . . . which he does when his men come for him. That sets off a battle between Simpson and Jones that destroys the Alias Investigations office!

"AKA I've Got The Blues" is the closest viewers get in the first season of Jessica Jones of a heavy Trish Walker episode. Trish trades on her celebrity in order to get Jones access to the morgues and she has a solid arc from her past reluctantly rescuing Jessica Jones to the present where Jones has been her protector. "AKA I've Got The Blues" allows her to take the role of protector back and given how many crappy decisions Jessica Jones has made in the course of the season, it's refreshing to see someone else take charge. Trish is smart and detail-oriented, which makes her a nat ural private investigator, should the television incarnation of Trish follow her comic book source's lead, it will make sense.

Trish calls Simpson out on his bullshit, before she catches his slip-ups. She is a powerful character and Rachael Taylor plays her exceptionally well. Taylor makes Trish credible as a survivor of child abuse and someone who can hold her own with Jones and her bullshit. "AKA I've Got The Blues" helps prove that Trish can hold her own as a headliner; she need not be a sidekick only!

Krysten Ritter has one of her very few instances of breaking in "AKA I've Got The Blues," which is funnier than one might think to see. As Jones sings the It's Patsy theme song to Maury the elderly morgue guard, her eyes are cracking up and it's almost a delight to see Jessica Jones so simply delighted. If only it were a character choice . . .

The breaking is an unfortunate symptom of a larger problem. Director Uta Briesewitz gives Trish a good arc at the expense of some of the sensibility that has made Jessica Jones fly up until now. Simpson's science-altered body is regulated by three groups of pills - reds, blues, and whites. During the climactic battle, Simpson warns Trish against using the reds because without the blue pills, she will forget to breathe . . . before he tosses the pills away. In the time it takes for the paramedics to arrive while Trish's life hangs in the balance, Jones doesn't even attempt to find them! As well, when Simpson's goon friends arrive, they wait for him to take his pills and become . . . invulnerable? super strong? outright psychotic? (it's not entirely clear what the pills to to make him more soldier-y), which makes no real sense.

"AKA I've Got The Blues" does have a moment of truly impressive character and acting for Jessica Jones and Trish Walker. Elizabeth Cappuccino (who has to have one of the best names in show business EVER!) plays the young Jessica Jones opposite Catherine Blades (Young Trish) and for two young performers, they truly nail the instant camaraderie and quirks of reluctant friends finding common purpose. Cappuccino's delivery when she talks about the TV movie that would be made about Patsy is hilarious and unsettling, which is more than just the lines could have done.

Despite how cool the climactic battle in the episode is, "AKA I've Got The Blues" is yet another Jessica Jones episode that acts as more of a tangent to the main storyline, as opposed to an essential piece of the plot. The result is both an episode that is inherently flawed and one that fits into the overall narrative is a more awkward than organic way.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Jessica Jones - The Complete First Season, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the debut season here!
Thanks!]

For other works with Mike Colter, please visit my reviews of:
Men In Black 3
Salt
Brooklyn Lobster
Million Dollar Baby

6/10

For other television season and episode reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for a listing of those reviews!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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