Despite A Few Charming Moments, The Defenders Season 1 Underwhelms

The Good: Good, if simplistic, plot, Good performances, Decent characters
The Bad: Very simple plot, No big performance moments, Underwhelming use of characters/lack of development, Short season
The Basics: The Defenders Season 1 brings together the four big Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes from the Netflix shows for an unimpressive team-up story that has the group saving New York City from The Hand.


There is something sad about a good idea gone unimpressive. Netflix got off to a pretty impressive start with its additions into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the series's have become formulaic and predictable. So, as the hype began for The Defenders, many fans of Marvel Comics's dark adaptations for television saw the series as a chance to redeem a slowly sinking ship. When Sigourney Weaver was announced as one of the show's principle antagonists, it instantly elevated the concept of The Defenders. As a fan, it became very easy for people like me to joyfully imagine Weaver squaring off with Krysten Ritter, Charlie Cox and Mike Colter.

Having now watched The Defenders Season 1 twice, it is tough to delude oneself into praising it on the level of many of the prior Netflix Marvel television shows. The Defenders Season 1 is not the natural successor to The Avengers and the show is crippled by being a simple problem with a simple solution, a series of underwhelming villains and a failure to utilize the established protagonists well.

Matt Murdock has given up the mantle of Daredevil and Danny Rand and Colleen Wing have spent months fruitlessly hunting members of The Hand when they are encouraged to return to New York. Jessica Jones, having generally been avoiding her life and work for months, finds herself drawn into a missing persons case when she receives a mysterious call telling her not to take the case. Luke Cage, exonerated finally from prison thanks to Foggy Nelson, returns to Harlem and discovers that neighborhood youth are being used for crime scene cleanup jobs by a mysterious group that later tends to kill them. Jones hunts down the lost architect and discovers he has a stash of C-4 shortly before Elektra arrives and the architect kills himself. Cage finds the man hiring the Harlemites and Danny Rand soon discovers how and where The Hand has regrouped in New York City.

The four heroes of New York converge separately upon the Midland Circle skyscraper - the building now built over the massive pit Daredevil and Elektra once found in Hell's Kitchen - and there they meet the executive leader of The Hand, Alexandra. Fighting their way out of Midland Circle, the quartet holes up at a Chinese restaurant where they compare notes and realize how their cases overlap. The four unite to fight The Hand, with Stick guiding them, while Matt wrestles with the return of Elektra and the conflict that ensues when it becomes clear that The Hand needs the Iron Fist to accomplish its goals in New York City.

The Defenders Season 1 is not all droll; it is a thrill to see more of Jessica Jones and some of the scenes in which secondary characters from the four previous series' interact are quite enjoyable. But at the core, The Defenders Season 1 belabors bringing the four main characters together and then struggles to keep them together in a truly interesting way. In fact, the show seems to recognize the Herculean task they have been given when Luke Cage and Danny Rand have a serious and genuine conversation. Cage comes from a very pragmatic world; Rand is shrouded in mysticism - the two are not natural friends and they are forced together in The Defenders more than organically developed into a realistic pairing.

In a similar fashion, the villains in The Defenders Season 1 fail to be of a magnitude that makes them enduring and impressive adversaries. Madame Gao returns and is as cool as ever, but she is paired with three weak-ass, generic villains and Alexandra, who seems incredibly cool initially, but then fails to dramatically "stick the landing." Alexandra is elevated above Gao right away, has a tragic weakness, but then fails to convincingly be presented as a leader who could have survived as the true leader of The Hand for decades, if not hundreds of years.

Elektra, sadly, is given the same arc in The Defenders Season 1 that she had in her season of Daredevil. The resurrected Elektra is given a lip-service arc that matches her original arc with disturbing parallels.

To better understand the eight-episode season, it helps to know who the main characters are. In the first season of The Defenders, the essential characters are:

Matt Murdock - Having given up his vigilante alter-ego of Daredevil and lost his budding relationship with Karen Page, he spends his days doing pro bono legal work and pining for his lost life. When Elektra turns up, he is torn between his past and his future and he struggles to protect those he loves from his brainwashed, murderous ex,

Jessica Jones - Wisecracking and heavy-drinking, she proves her detective skills are still not to be tangled with. She tracks down the headquarters of The Hand and gets a personal stake in resolving her case when she encounters Elektra. She becomes fully invested in Stick and Rand's story when she manages to track down documents that prove Alexandra is far older than she believed was possible,

Luke Cage - Freed from prison and eagerly reunited with Claire Temple, he is drawn into The Hand's crimes in New York by Misty Knight, who is investigating the missing Harlem youth. He is eager to avoid situations that might put him back in prison and is uncomfortable with the supernatural elements of The Hand. He wants to avoid any possible loss of innocent lives in the group's attempts to thwart The Hand,

Danny Rand - The Iron Fist, he is the person hunted by the Hand. Gao, Alexandra, Elektra and the rest of The Hand need his Iron Fist to open a door and he whines his way around delivering himself,

Alexandra - An ancient leader of The Hand, she is one of the five original founders of the organization and an old adversary of Stick. She has a love of music, is dying as a result of no longer having The Substance (a macguffin that allows the leaders of The Hand to be immortal, provided they can get more of it), and believes that the Black Sky is the means by which The Hand can survive. Like the other leaders, she wants to return to K'un-Lun,

and Elektra - Resurrected and conditioned by Alexandra to believe she is only the Black Sky, she immediately begins to feel conflicted when she encounters Matt Murdock in battle.

The disappointing aspect of The Defenders Season 1 is that the show has generally good components - three of the four main leads are wonderful (Finn Jones plays such an unlikable character that it is tough to tell if he is a horrible actor or just given a craptastic character to perform) and the addition of Sigourney Weaver is a real coup for the show - but fails to give them impressive and good moments to play. The episode directors seldom linger on facial expressions to capture the performers giving great performances . . . arguably because the moments do not exist in the show to capture. Indeed, arguably the most emotional moment of the season is a door frame being shot, with characters watching the open door.

The Defenders Season 1 ends up as a series of missed opportunities as some wonderful characters are brought together as a contrived team-up to fight an enemy that seems far less impressive the more it is fleshed out.

For a better understanding of what this season comprises, please check out my reviews of the individual episodes in the season at:
"The H Word"
"Mean Right Hook"
"Worst Behavior"
"Royal Dragon"
"Take Shelter"
"Ashes, Ashes"
"Fish In The Jailhouse"
"The Defenders"

4/10

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

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Defenders Begin To Assemble Over "Mean Right Hook"

The Good: Decent performances, Hints of character
The Bad: Meandering plot
The Basics: "Mean Right Hook" begins to bring The Defenders together, albeit slowly, as various cases the heroes are investigating begin to overlap.


Perhaps one of the most troubling aspects of The Defenders at the outset of the series is the fact that of the main cast, only Jessica Jones and Luke Cage have even met before, despite operating in a fairly narrow corner of New York City and the common character in the four protagonist's stories has been Claire Temple (the nurse, not only at night!). In fact, the only thing more problematic about the concept of The Defenders at outset is that now that the characters are all in the same time and place, how is it that Spider-Man is not a part of their burgeoning team?! Did the teenager just not notice the earthquake that rumbled through his city? Fortunately for the fairly compacted season of The Defenders, the characters are not kept artificially apart for too terribly long. In fact, by the second episode - "Mean Right Hook" - various heroes are beginning to meet.

"Mean Right Hook" picks up right after "The H Word" (reviewed here!) and it is impossible to discuss the second episode without some references as to where the first ended. After all, while Jessica Jones has been hunting an architect who has gone missing and has a ton of C-4, Luke Cage, Matt Murdock and Danny Rand have been on more nebulous missions. "The H Word" climaxed with an earthquake in New York City and it is the first overt act of destruction carried out by Alexandra. Alexandra has Elektra by her side and when the earthquake hits, Alexandra is clear with Elektra that Alexandra is the cause of the quake and there is more damage to follow.

In the wake of the earthquake, Matt Murdock (uncostumed) takes to the roof to assess the damage and he goes streetside to stop looters. The next morning, Trish Talk goes on with Trish Walker trying to restore calm in New York City. When she has a caller claiming that the earthquake was uncharacteristically shallow, Trish is taken off the air temporarily. Misty Knight arrives at John Raymond's hideout, where she catches Jessica Jones lifting one of her files. A Colleen Wing's dojo, Danny Rand and Wing regroup and begin a search in New York for those who might have been hurt by The Hand. While Luke Cage cleans up damage in Harlem and Claire Temple assists people wounded in the earthquake, Alexandra visits the Lincoln Center for the performing arts and gets a private concert by a quartet she has funded.

When Jessica Jones discovers that the company Raymond built a building for appears to be ancient and Hogarth tells her to drop the investigation, leading Jones to pursue her investigation knowing that all sorts of federal law enforcement officers are on the case. Luke Cage interrogates Turk and learns that the person recruiting young people for late night work that results in them getting killed is White Hat. Cage finds White Hat, which puts him in the same time and place as Danny Rand, who stumbled onto a crime scene that The Hand needs cleaned up.

As one might expect - given that he has had the most airtime in the Netflix corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe - the first couple episodes of The Defenders have given Matt Murdock a lot to do. While Jessica Jones and Danny Rand are basically trudging through doing what they were doing when last viewers saw them and Luke Cage is reclaiming his life post-prison, Matt Murdock is in a very different place. In "Mean Right Hook," there is no Daredevil; there is only Matt Murdock. While it was heavily insinuated in the confessional scene in the first episode, Murdock is conflicted about giving up his vigilante alter ego. From the very beginning of "Mean Right Hook," Murdock is having trouble keeping himself in check from rushing back to the costume and the vigilante lifestyle. Director S.J. Clarkson and the episode's writers manage to make Murdock's journey feel appropriately tortured and conflicted. Scenes like Murdock simply unlocking his footlocker with his costume in it characterize well the internal struggle Murdock is going through. The friendship between Murdock and Nelson is reinforced in an intriguing way when Nelson brings Murdocks folders worth of work to try to keep him busy fighting the good fight. That friendship leads Nelson to use Murdock to keep Jones out of trouble for the firm in the second of two heroes meeting, resulting in one of the best episode endings for the series.

Luke Cage's return to Harlem is met with an interesting level of realism. Temple, who remained local while Cage was in prison, is more "in the know" about current events in the community. As such, Cage relies upon her in "Mean Right Hook" to know where to go to hunt criminals.

Alexandra's characterization continues to gain depth as the primary villain of The Defenders is fleshed out with an intimate knowledge of classical music works and their creators. Just as Gao has been insinuated to be exceptionally old, Alexandra is clearly ancient - a fact reinforced by Jessica Jones's investigation into a company started in the early 1800s that Hogarth waves her off of.

Poor Jessica Jones's door! That door cannot catch a break, as witnessed by Elektra cutting through the lock in the episode's climax.

"Mean Right Hook" would be a complete loss for The Defenders if it weren't for the character elements peppered through the episode. The plot meanders and when Danny Rand finally encounters Luke Cage, it is hard not to continue to think that the young billionaire is just a dick. That - and the fact that Iron Fist's titular right hook were shown in the preview trailer - rob the episode of a lot of joy that should have come from two of The Defenders meeting for the first time.

Ultimately, "Mean Right Hook" does what it needs to - albeit slowly - in moving protagonists together and elevating the antagonists, but not in any extraordinary way.

For other works with Charlie Cox, please check out my reviews of:
Daredevil - Season 2
Daredevil - Season 1
The Theory Of Everything

[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!]

4.5/10

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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Everyone Else Rules The Iron Fist Finale "Dragon Plays With Fire"

The Good: Claire Temple, Ward Meachum, and Joy Meachum
The Bad: Everyone else, Stale plot, Sudden macguffin, Stiff performances
The Basics: Iron Fist ends low with "Dragon Plays With Fire."


The entire purpose of a serialized television show is to tell a compelling story with interesting characters and the importance of a season finale is that it completes the long arc and makes viewers excited for any subsequent seasons. The television shows in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have often done a good job of bringing about strong resolution for the seasons, especially when the season has a strong adversary. Wilson Fisk, Kilgrave, and Jai'Ying all led to fairly decent finales for Marvel shows. Even John Garrett helped end the first season of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. in an interesting way, because much of the season had been spent confronting the effects of his character. When the full season is not devoted to a single adversary, the climactic conflict with that adversary makes for a weaker finale; Diamondback only appearing for the back half of Luke Cage made the focus on the conflict with him in that finale a weaker end for that season, for example. Iron Fist suffers in a similar fashion as Harold Meachum steps up in "Dragon Plays With Fire" to be the sudden Big Bad in a simplistic conflict that hardly seems nearly as big or powerful as the other adversaries Rand has faced in the season.

"Dragon Plays With Fire" picks up right after "Bar The Big Boss" (reviewed here!), which climaxed with Danny Rand and Colleen Wing on the run from D.E.A. agents. Harold Meachum tipped off the Drug Enforcement Agency that Danny Rand was a drug kingpin and in fleeing them, Rand incapacitated some of the agents. "Dragon Plays With Fire" begins with the inherent weakness of a contrived chase that the viewer knows entirely is a set-up. To that end, "Dragon Plays With Fire" engineers a macguffin - in this case a tablet computer with unadulterated documents on it - opposite the simplistic conflict. So, it is almost unsurprising that "Dragon Plays With Fire" is a painfully unremarkable season finale that allows some of the supporting characters and actors to entirely overshadow the protagonists and their performers.

Harold Meachum returns to work at Rand Enterprises, while Ward is in the process of enlisting the aid of Jeri Hogarth in saving Danny. Harold is using the DEA to bring down Danny and Hogarth clandestinely meets with Rand and Wing to figure out their strategy. Rand is being hunted by the DEA because Harold altered documents that were on a tablet belonging to The Hand. Determined to get the uncorrupted data, Rand and Wing return to Bakuto's compound, but find it completely abandoned . . . save for the imprisoned Madame Gao. Gao tells Rand the only way he will truly become an Iron Fist is by killing Harold Meachum, whom she reveals as being the one who killed Rand's parents.

While Rand sets his sights on Harold Meachum and recovering the tablet that will exonerate him, Ward visits Joy in the hospital. When Joy learns that Danny is wanted by the DEA, she leaves the hospital to confront her father. Joy quickly susses out that her father is lying to her. When Ward returns to Rand Enterprises, he realizes his father's personal army might be enough to stop the Iron Fist. Wing and Rand come anyway, with Temple providing a distraction. In the climactic battle against Harold Meachum, Danny must determine to what lengths he will go to stop his immortal enemy.

"Dragon Plays With Fire" might have been all right were it not for the fact that the episode rips off an earlier episode of Iron Fist. When Wing, Temple and Rand went to China to apprehend Madame Gao, the trip and the episode were bogged down with Rand moralizing about what to do with Gao when they find her. In that episode, Danny Rand was proven to be immature, uncommitted and somewhat stupid. That is repeated in "Dragon Plays With Fire." The repetitive nature of "Dragon Plays With Fire" becomes undeniable when Claire Temple bribes a cart owner the same way Wing bribed a beggar in China.

In "Dragon Plays With Fire," Harold Meachum loses any appearance of subtlety or nuance and moves into the over-the-top comic book villain category. Joy Meachum has some wonderful moments when she challenges her father's lies, but Harold's go-to of lying and violence make him seem ridiculous and a caricature . . . much the way Joy's ultimate scene is unsatisfying for its transparency.

Claire Temple and Rosario Dawson steal the early scenes of "Dragon Plays With Fire," while Tom Pelphrey crushes every scene he is in. Pelphrey turns Ward Meachum around and restores him to a professional, commanding character. Pelphrey's physical performance in "Dragon Plays With Fire" makes Ward compelling and once again seem credible as a businessperson. Ward and Temple have the most satisfying resolution to their character arcs in season one of Iron Fist.

Unfortunately, Danny Rand, Colleen Wing and Harold Meachum all have pathetic arcs in "Dragon Plays With Fire." Rand and Wing both have moments where they are stiff, clueless or poorly-defined. Season 1 of Iron Fist does not satisfactorily explain why Danny Rand worked so hard to become the Iron Fist only to abandon his responsibilities and go through the Trials without understanding even what the Iron Fist was. Moreover, how the hell did Davos - a devoted monk whose life and heritage were all designed around him become the new guardian of K'un-Lun - lose to Danny Rand?!

Finn Jones delivers an unfortunately inorganic performance at all of the key emotional moments of "Dragon Plays With Fire." Similarly, Jessica Henwick has minimal emotional connection with Jones on-screen and her reactions to Jones's most emotive lines are very stiff.

Ultimately, "Dragon Plays With Fire" is a predictable, formulaic, stiffly-executed season finale where a couple of the supporting characters steal all focus and credibility from the weak protagonists.

[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 finale episodes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, please visit my reviews of:
"You Know My Steez" - Luke Cage
"AKA Smile" - Jessica Jones
"Daredevil" - Daredevil
"Ascension" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Valediction" - Agent Carter

1/10

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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First Major Reversals For Iron Fist Come In "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm"

The Good: Several good performances, Moments of character, Moments of direction
The Bad: One potentially troublesome Marvel Comics allusion, Meandering plot, Unsophisticated writing for the business aspects
The Basics: Danny Rand starts to piece together the mysteries behind Rand Enterprises in "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm."


Like most Marvel Television Universe works, Iron Fist has a mystery component to it. By "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm," certain aspects of that mystery have come into focus. The villain behind everything in the first season of Daredevil (reviewed here!) has made an appearance and has been set up to be the primary adversary for Danny Rand. But Madame Gao is once again using business interests to take control of key areas in New York City and this time, it is unclear what her relationship with the apparent villain of the season is. Harold Meachum's relationship with Madame Gao becomes a bit more apparent in "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm."

"Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" (reviewed here!) precedes "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm" and establishes the new relationships between Danny Rand and the Meachums. "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm" starts to explore the new dichotomy between Danny Rand and Joy and Ward Meachum as Rand starts to flex his muscles at Rand Enterprises. It is in "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm" that many revelations are made and Danny Rand's immaturity becomes painfully obvious. Given that "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" literally ended with Danny Rand being thrown out a window, it is tough to discuss "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm" without some references as to where the prior episode went!

After briefly catching himself on a security camera, Danny Rand falls to the streets of New York. He wakes up the next morning in the company of Ward and Harold Meachum. Harold tells Rand the story of his death, agreement with The Hand, and resurrection. The Hand cured Harold's death, but has kept him under their control since. Rand confesses that his training was entirely designed to defeat The Hand and he allies himself with Harold. Back at Wing's dojo, Colleen is upset that her favorite student, Darryl, filmed her cage fight and is showing the footage to her other students. Rand Enterprises publicly introduces Danny to the world as they welcome him back to the company.

Advised to take things slow by Jeri Hogarth, Danny starts to adapt to corporate life at Rand Enterprises. Rand's first act is to walk into Ward's pricing meeting on a Leishmaniasis medicine Rand Enterprises has patented and insist that the company sell the product at cost. While Ward works to distract a troublesome reporter, Colleen Wing once again goes into the ring to fight for money. While at Danny Rand's apartment, Joy is attacked by hatchetmen working for the Triads. Rand tracks the hatchetmen back to a restaurant where he meets with Yang Hai-Qing, who orchestrated the attack on Joy because of the pier deal. After coming to an agreement with the Triads, Rand sets Wing's broken (or sprained) finger before he and Joy go searching for answers. As Harold reacts to seeing Joy wounded, Danny is given a major clue in his search for the corruption within Rand Enterprises.

"Eight Diagram Dragon Palm" gets off to an excellent start as Ward Meachum takes instant responsibility for shoving Danny Rand out a window and Harold Meachum admits right away that he visited Danny Rand in the asylum. Even Danny Rand's reaction to seeing Harold is well-executed, as he turns to Ward and asks "are you seeing this, too?" For a change, people in Iron Fist ask all the right questions when confronted with new information.

The moments of corporate intrigue in "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm" are presented with an unfortunate lack of sophistication. Danny's price change on the Leishmaniasis drug seems entirely derivative of Tony Stark insisting Stark Industries not develop weapons anymore or (I know, it's a different universe, but . . .) Bruce Wayne exerting his influence at board meetings upon his return to Wayne Enterprises. But the reaction from Ward and the Rand Enterprises board is presented in monolithic terms. Danny Rand has an instant, knee-jerk reaction to hearing that the drug Rand developed is being priced at ten times its cost. Business is a negotiation and when Danny rejects that, none of the Board members try to negotiate with him. Rand has a reasonable position, but the Board could easily have made a reasonable counter-offer - double the price of the cost of each pill so that the newly-patented pill helps to cover the loss or cost of other research and development projects. Instead of profiting off the cure, Rand would at least not take a loss on developing other products and would also cover the cost of development of the newly-patented pill. Danny tries to be reasonable, but no one seems to approach him with arguments to reason with him.

David Wenham gets increased screentime in "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm" and he is very convincing as Harold Meachum. Harold begins Iron Fist as a man who is trapped in a circumstance he finds untenable and he sees Danny Rand as the tool to his freedom. Were it not for early outbursts of violence from Wenham's Harold, Harold would seem entirely like a reasonable victim, as opposed to a potential antagonist for Iron Fist. In "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm," Wenham plays Harold as measured and reasonable.

Director Miguel Sapochnik has a few fun moments in "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm," including a quick cutaway shot of Danny waving at Hogarth and her very subtle headshake to try to correct his course. Sapochnik has a decent visual sense of humor in his direction; moments after Harold Meachum takes a dig at the Illuminati, Sapoch reveals Harold's chandelier . . . which is the shape of the Illuminati symbol! Sapochnik is good at capturing very subtle performance moments from Tom Pelphrey, which helps to humanize the antagonistic Ward.

Unfortunately, Sapochnik's musical choices within "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm" are not nearly as subtle or perceptive as his visual sensibilities. The hip-hop used during Wing's training fits neither the scene, nor Colleen Wing's character up until this point. And, not all of the visual direction is great. The fight in the elevator is so dark and broken up that it does not feel like a well-executed fight sequence. Similarly, when Rand tells the Triads that he wants The Hand out of Rand Enterprises, the shot is so far back that it is not immediately clear who is delivering the line (Finn Jones does not have a very distinctive shouting voice).

Either Sapochnik or writer Scott Reynolds attempts to insert into "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm" something that is inherently problematic to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: an X-Men character. Reynolds and/or Sapochnik appear to be playing with attentive viewers and sneaking something by those who do not know the larger Marvel Comics Universe. When Colleen Wing goes into the ring, the Ringmaster announces one of the fighters as "The Duke." The Duke is wearing a black tank top and is not huge, but it is very hard for astute Marvel fans not to see the cage fighter in a black tank top and hear the name "Duke" and not at least do a double-take. In the X-Men Universe, Frank Dukes wears a virtually identical outfit and is known to fight in a similar fashion. It is hard not to believe that by bothering to name the fighter "the Duke," Reynolds and/or Sapochnik were not at least trying to make a nod in the direction of The Blob! If that is the case, Iron Fist steps into hugely problematic territory as the X-Men are an entirely separate universe from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

"Eight Diagram Dragon Palm" is an unremarkable episode of Iron Fist, which I came to realize as I tried to find a simple way to describe the plot of the episode. A lot happens in "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm," but the episode does not add up to something significant or acts as something even remotely like its own, contained story. "Danny Rand returns to work at Rand Enterprises" touches the main point of "Eight Diagram Dragon Palm," but almost all of the important action in the episode does not have to do with that. The episode comes out at average, but it feels like exactly what it is: a small piece in a larger, serialized, story.

[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 Wai Ching Ho, please visit my reviews of:
".380" - Daredevil
Orange Is The New Black - Season 3
Listen Up Philip
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Keeping The Faith

5/10

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

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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"Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" Fleshes Out Iron Fist In A Mundane Way.

The Good: Carrie-Anne Moss and Hogarth!, Moments of character, A few decent plot moments
The Bad: Direction/choreography, Some very stiff performances, Pacing
The Basics: Iron Fist emerges in "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch"


As Netflix Marvel Television shows continue, usually, the new series' (after Daredevil) work to connect the shows to the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as the other Netflix Marvel shows. In Iron Fist, the second episode references "The Incident" from The Avengers (reviewed here!) and by the third episode, "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch," Iron Fist makes an explicit tie to the other Netflix Marvel television shows in the form of Hogarth. Jeri Hogarth was the lawyer in the first season of Jessica Jones (reviewed here!) and her appearance is far less oblique than other allusions could be.

"Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" follows "Shadow Hawk Takes Flight" (reviewed here!) and continues the story of Danny Rand and his antagonists, the Meachums, who have taken over his family's business. The Iron Fist manifested at the very end of "Shadow Hawk Takes Flight" and picks up moments after Danny Rand breaks out of the mental institution at which he had been committed.

Colleen Wing wakes up in her dojo moments before Ward Meachum's thugs from Rand Enterprises break in. Danny Rand is already in her place, bleeding, but manages to avoid the security guards, while Wing gets rid of them. Wing wants nothing to do with Danny and the next morning, Rand spars with Wing to try to get a job teaching at her dojo. When Ward Meachum visits Harold, his father once again pressures him to acquire a pier and he tasks Ward with letting Joy close the deal. The next morning at Rand Enterprises, Ward begs Joy for help in getting the Board to support his pier deal and enlists her aid in closing the deal with Patel, the man refusing to sell.

When Joy returns to her brownstone, she finds Danny waiting for her and she reluctantly begins a dialogue with him. Acknowledging Danny as her former childhood friend, she brings Rand inside to offer him the buyout she has engineered for him. Rand refuses, claiming to be looking only for family and a connection to the life he lost, before he visits his parents' (and his own) grave. Noticing how well-tended the graves are, Rand tracks down the executor of his parents' estate . . . Jeri Hogarth and he enlists her aid in authenticating his identity. While Joy and Ward use an unconventional tactic to get Patel's pier, Harold Meachum is visited by Madame Gao, who exerts her control over the business magnate. When Hogarth informs Danny that every record of his childhood existence has gone missing, Rand steps into Ward Meachum's last, desperate, trap!

David Wenham continues to play Harold Meachum with a strong undertone of anger to him. He uses an economy of movement when, as Harold, he strikes Ward. The simple brutality of the move, in concert with his manipulative dialogue - forcefully, yet quietly - delivered by Wenham helps to characterize Harold Meachum as a truly abusive parent.

Finn Jones continues to be forced into a position where he has to give an understated performance as Danny Rand in "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch." After being initially charming opposite Jessica Henwick, Jones is stuck blankly staring as Rand listens to Joy Meachum. Even when Rand gets upset in "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch," Jones does not manage to emote convincingly enough to sell the emotions. While some of Jones's performance can be interpreted to help characterize Danny Rand as emotionally stunted, much of his portrayal of Rand in "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" comes across simply as flat.

That flat performance is contrasted by Carrie-Anne Moss playing brilliantly cold opposite Jones. Moss manages to convey a lot of emotions with minimal expression and movement. Moss's Hogarth is whip-smart, quickly asking the right questions needed to establish that Danny is who he claims to be. Moss is back in the mantle of the consummate professional as Jeri Hogarth and it is refreshing to see her character back at the top of her game. Moss performs with subtlety and enough emotion to land every line without ever betraying her character.

Jennifer Henwick is given her greatest amount of screentime yet in "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" and her performance is unfortunately erratic. Henwick has to play angry and concerned in one key scene and she does a decent job of portraying Wing as upset with Rand. But in trying to express her character's protective instinct for her students, Henwick comes off as stiff. "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" fails to make the viewer emotionally invest in Colleen Wing; at this point in the season, she feels entirely disposable.

Joy Meachum is well-characterized in "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch." Joy and Ward, despite being sister and brother, act like a power couple in "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" and Joy steps up as a calculating, brilliant partner. Joy's plan to close the deal with Patel is risky and smart, but she is a strong-enough character to make it work.

"Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" might be most significant in that it humanizes Ward Meachum very effectively. Ward is shown being abused and in "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" his character reveals that his heart is not in the corporate gamesmanship that he has spent years engaged in.

The fight sequences in "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" is painfully choreographed. It is the visual equivalent to listening to dialogue that feels scripted and the mild demonstration between Rand and Wing is so . . . performed that is does not even cast the illusion of being real sparring.

Ultimately, "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" is more melodramatic than it is real, more scripted than it is characterized, and the superlative performances are overwhelmed by the weaker acting moments. That makes "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch" one of the first truly erratic episodes of Iron Fist.

[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 Carrie-Anne Moss, please visit my reviews of:
"A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" - Daredevil
Compulsion
The Matrix Trilogy
Memento

4/10

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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The Formula Of Banal: Why Iron Fist Season 1 Underwhelms.

The Good: Moments of character, Moments of performance
The Bad: Dull plot, Boring character progressions, Very obvious fight sequences
The Basics: Iron Fist Season 1 blends bullying, business drama and martial arts in a surprisingly dull Marvel television series.


Despite being a fairly objective reviewer, I have become a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For sure, the highlight of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are the television components - it is hard not to see the blockbuster film franchise as painfully repetitive and a bit of a letdown given that in the movies there are almost no characters who actually die and stay dead. With generally enjoying the Marvel Cinematic Universe and having components I have some real anticipation for, I cannot think of an element I have been less enthusiastic for than Iron Fist. I have no knowledge of the character Iron Fist from the Marvel Comics source material and the first full trailer for Iron Fist Season 1 made the backstory of Iron Fist seem like a very cheap rip off of Bruce Wayne's complete arc in Batman Begins (reviewed here!). But, as a fan, I was up early for the debut of Iron Fist the moment it aired on Netflix!

Iron Fist Season 1 is something of a "necessary evil" season of television. Iron Fist is the last of the essential characters for the street-level heroes from Marvel Comics, who form the core characters of The Defenders, whose television series will air in September. The Defenders needs Iron Fist and rather than introduce him in that series, season one of Iron Fist was created.

Unfortunately, the first season of Iron Fist is painfully familiar. Iron Fist is formulaic, with twists and lines that the viewer can call well in advance. This corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is particularly non-compelling. The new characters introduced in the first season of Iron Fist plod through the motions and most feel like afterimages of previously-established MCU characters. In fact, I did not realize just how little I was enjoying the first season of Iron Fist until my overwhelming sense of boredom led me to articulate that only the scenes with Claire Temple and Madame Gao were entertaining me.

Equally problematic to the boring aspect of the first season of Iron Fist is the sheer volume of details for the business drama that the show gets wrong, robbing it of a sense of reality in that theater. In many ways, the first season of Iron Fist is a minor variation on Tony Stark's arc in Iron Man (reviewed here!) and there is something that feels unfortunately naive about how none of the businesspeople make a crack about Danny Rand being like Tony Stark when Rand tries to reject profit motive for the business in favor of doing the right thing.

Danny Rand shows up in New York City and tries to see the corporate head of Rand Enterprises, the company his parents built. He is met by Joy and Ward Meachum, whom he knew as a child as their father worked with his. The Meachums tell Danny that he was declared dead when he went missing fifteen years prior and Ward sees Danny as a threat to their expanding business interests. After the pair commit Rand to a mental institution, Danny escapes and hires legal representation to authenticate his identity and his claim to his 51% stake in Rand Enterprises. Danny begins to acclimate to business life and life in modern New York with the help of Colleen Wing. When Danny discovers that Harold Meachum, his father's business partner and Ward and Joy's father, is alive, he learns that The Hand is present and active in New York City.

Danny Rand, in the fifteen years he was thought dead, lived in another dimension where he was trained by monks to become the Iron Fist, sworn destroyer of The Hand. Rand begins to dig into the relationship between Rand Enterprises and The Hand, quickly realizing that the new heroine trade in New York is based in the bowels of Rand, under the direct supervision of Madame Gao! As Joy and Ward are pushed out of Rand Enterprises, Danny Rand, Colleen Wing, and Claire Temple go on a desperate mission to China to capture Gao. As all their lives spin out of control, The Hand comes in force, compelling the heroes to make tough decisions.

The first season of Iron Fist is a troubling necessary evil chapter of the street-level heroes saga. It is the most concrete prequel to The Defenders and it firmly establishes the reasonable expectation that Madame Gao, The Hand and the war that Stick once warned Matt Murdock about will be the prime focus of the next Netflix Marvel series. But on its own, Iron Fist is not a compelling story or character. The lack of spark for Iron Fist was hammered home when I felt an uncharacteristic sense of delight - late in the season - when a character references hiring Jessica Jones and, taking an educated gamble, pausing on the cover of Danny Rand's Forbes cover, I found the Stark Enterprises line!

For a show called Iron Fist, it is an unforgivable sin of writing and production that almost all of the characters are smarter and more interesting than the protagonist.

To better understand the series, it helps to know who the main characters are. In the first season of Iron Fist, the principle characters are:

Danny Rand - The Iron Fist, he is a billionaire who does not know his own cash worth at the outset of his return from Kun Lun. He is a master of martial arts and can channel his chi to make a powerful, glowing fist that is virtually indestructible. He grew up with Joy and Ward, the latter of whom bullied him. He wants to re-establish ties with the people he once cared about and he wants to make his parents' business socially responsible. He is kind and spiritual, but has anger issues and seems to be stunted at about his ten year-old level of development,

Colleen Wing - A martial arts expert who runs a dojo in New York City, she is training Claire Temple in karate. She is one of the first people Danny meets upon his return to New York City and is struggling to keep her dojo in the black. She refuses to let Ward manipulate or bribe her to keep Danny committed. She works to do the right thing, but is harboring a secret from Rand,

Joy Meachum - The efficient legal counsel for Rand Enterprises, she cared deeply about Danny as a child. She is the first to believe that Danny could be exactly who he says he is. She is essentially half of a power couple with Ward, running Rand Enterprises. She is protective of Ward and proves herself to be a surprisingly adept strategist,

Ward Meachum - The head of Rand Enterprises, leading the board of directors with ambitious plans for the company. He is resistant to accepting Danny Rand and sets henchmen on him. He is one of only two people who knows that Harold Meachum is alive and he continues to bully people based upon pressure from his father. He is drug-addicted and when the company turns on him and Joy, he looks at it as an out from a life he never wanted,

Claire Temple - Now training to fight, she continues to mend those damaged peripheral to the actions of Danny Rand and The Hand. She recalls well what happened the last time The Hand attacked New York City and killer her friend. She continues to date Luke Cage (who remains in prison) and quickly recognizes the awkward chemistry between Danny and Colleen,

Harold Meachum - The former head of Rand Enterprises, he was declared dead over a decade ago. He actually died and was resurrected by The Hand, with whom he had a devil's deal. He is controlling, manipulative, and rules Ward's life,

and Madame Gao - The ancient evil who rules over The Hand. She continues to drop hints as to her true nature. She has a history with Rand's parents and Harold Meachum, which leads Danny Rand to hunt her around the world.

The first season of Iron Fist is led by Finn Jones in the title role. Finn Jones has been taking a lot of flack for being a white man who was cast . . . in the role of a white martial arts fighter. As near as I can tell from various Marvel databases, Danny Rand was always a white boy who crashed in the Himalayas, so I'm not sure where the whitewashing claim comes from. Finn Jones is not bad as Danny Rand, but wow is Danny Rand a horrible character. The thing is, even when Danny Rand throws a temper tantrum, acts instinctually compassionate, or shows complete naivete to business, it fits his character and Jones gets through the season fine as him. Jones actually is fairly convincing playing a man whose emotional and intellectual growth was pretty much stunted at age ten.

David Wenham is given a near-impossible task in the first season of Iron Fist. The Marvel Cinematic Universe villains roster list set the bar exceptionally high by impressive performances from David Tennant, Jeff Bridges, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Tom Hiddleston and Wenham does the best he can with the material he is given. Wenham is at his best as Harold Meachum when he plays the role with subtlety and like a man who is trapped under the thumb of The Hand. Wenham is forced to play moments of over-the-top anger as well, but most of the time, his Meachum comes across like a parody of Donald Trump. In fact, one suspects that much of Wenham's performance could be cut together to make a "Donald Trump In Hiding" video montage. Unfortunately, Wenham is pushed into the second-place villain slot when Wai Ching Ho appears. Ho's Madame Gao quickly overwhelms Iron Fist with the power of her presence.

Jessica Henwick, Jessica Stroup, and Rosario Dawson have their moments as Colleen, Joy and Claire. All three play their characters as far smarter and resourceful than their male counterparts. Tom Pelphrey brings something different to almost every episode he plays Ward in, which illustrates a pretty extraordinary range. Pelphrey's Ward is arguably the most complex character in the first season of Iron Fist and Pelphrey plays him with an exceptional emotional range and level of sophistication.

Unfortunately rendered in Iron Fist is the soundtrack. While Luke Cage used soundtrack exceptionally well as an accent piece and form of characterization, much of the rap music in Iron Fist feels intrusive and awkward.

Ultimately, the few moments of performance are not enough to save the often-dull and formulaic first season of Iron Fist from the morass it quickly gets stuck in.

For a better understanding of what this season comprises, please check out my reviews of the individual episodes in the season at:
"Snow Gives Way"
"Shadow Hawk Takes Flight"
"Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch"
"Eight Diagram Dragon Palm"
"Under Leaf Pluck Lotus"
"Immortal Emerges From Cave"
"Felling Tree With Roots"
"The Blessing Of Many Fractures"
"The Mistress Of All Agonies"
"Black Tiger Steals Heart"
"Lead Horse Back To Stable"
"Bar The Big Boss"
"Dragon Plays With Fire"

For other works from the 2016 – 2017 television season, please check out my reviews of:
Love - Season 2
Santa Clarita Diet - Season 1
A Series Of Unfortunate Events - Season 1
One Day At A Time - Season 1
Travelers - Season 1
"Happy Fuckin' New Year" - Sense8
The OA - Season 1
Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life
"Invasion!" - Arrow
"Self Control" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"The Wrath Of Savitar" - The Flash
"Land Of The Lost" - Legends Of Tomorrow
"Exodus" - Supergirl
Luke Cage - Season 1
Stranger Things - Season 1

2.5/10

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

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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End On The Anticlimax: "A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" Is More Foreshadowing Than Satisfying!

The Good: Good character moments, A lot of plot seeding, Moments of performance
The Bad: Light on resolutions, Details, Mundane mood accents the less-developed plot
The Basics: Daredevil ends its second season on "A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen," which might be a good tie-in to future episodes, but is more lackluster than fans of the show (and comic) might want.


It is very easy to think that Daredevil shot its creative wad in its first season. Daredevil appeared on Netflix with a season that utilized its most iconic villain (which is par for the Marvel Cinematic Universe course) and killed off a shocking number of its essential support characters. When the second season of Daredevil was first announced fans might have had the reasonable concern that what was left of the franchise was nearing its creative end; with Elektra and The Punisher popping up now, only Typhoid Mary and Bullseye remain from the core of essential Daredevil villains. Both Typhoid Mary and Bullseye would have trouble with fitting into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and (even together) sustaining a full-season arc for the show. The second season finale of Daredevil is built almost entirely on the promise of future seasons of Daredevil. "A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" does a faux-conclusion for Elektra's storyline - faux- because only those ignorant of every other Marvel Cinematic property would not see the episode's final scene and what it promises coming.

"A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" follows upon the threat made at the climax of "The Dark At The End Of The Tunnel" (reviewed here!), when Nobu set The Hand upon the task of killing Daredevil. The episode has Elektra in her full, honest, form and manages to not completely neglect the core characters of Daredevil while justifying her appearance on the show. Some of the best moments of "A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" are allusions to Jessica Jones and set-ups for future episodes of Daredevil (which are fairly well-telegraphed for anyone who has read Shadowland).

The mysterious object that Nobu has been protecting is shown to still be in Nobu's possession when Nobu tasks one of his assistants with capturing twenty targets in New York City for his own purpose. Daredevil patches Stick up while the two debate the Black Sky, which Murdock refuses to believe in. Elektra, continues to struggle with understanding her true nature and Murdock tries to convince her of her humanity and they resolve to try to stop Nobu and The Hand. While Foggy Nelson meets with Jeri Hogarth for a job at her firm, Elektra and Daredevil visit Melvin Potter, who outfits Elektra with a costume and gives Matt his unique billyclub. Nelson calls Murdock to reveal that Mahoney has been roughed up and the people who assaulted the police detective took the records of all the people Daredevil saved.

The abductors are Nobu's forces and they capture Page and Turk, among others, which leads Daredevil on a chase across Hell's Kitchen to try to rescue them. Turk being among the captives becomes advantageous as he is under house arrest and Page convinces him to re-activate his ankle monitor to alert the police to their location. Murdock correctly deduces that the capture of the people he once rescued is a trap designed to draw him out and to save Karen and the others, he willingly runs into the trap . . . though he has back-up from Elektra and someone he never expected.

The promotions for the second season of Daredevil - one featuring The Punisher, another featuring Elektra - allowed attentive viewers (like me) to pretty easily predict the basic plotting of the larger second season arc. Despite that, "A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" is entertaining and it creates an effective emotional investment for viewers. The faux-resolution for the Elektra arc is a deposit into the emotional bank for viewers; will it pay off? The answer seems to depend almost entirely upon how far ahead the executive producers of Daredevil have plotted the series and the rest of Marvel's "street level" universe on Netflix. Given the quality of Daredevil so far, it is hard not to bank on the investment paying off.

After the revelation in "The Dark At The End Of The Tunnel," seeing Elektra react with considering suicide is actually refreshing on television. Elektra has had a core of evil within her, which Stick has tried to redirect and use for his good cause. So, Elektra's sense of violence perfectly fits within her character to have her consider self-violence and that sense of realism is well-constructed. Director Peter Hoar and writers Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez wisely put Elektra on a ledge for her first solo scene following her truth being revealed to herself. Murdock's faith in Elektra is not wasted, which is refreshing. When Page is captured, Elektra calms Murdock and exhibits an affection for him that is very human.

Fans of Daredevil, both the show and especially the comic, and the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe will have a lot to squeal about from "A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen." Jeri Hogarth's appearance leaves viewers with the promise of a potential crossover of Nelson to any potential second season of Jessica Jones - or any other trips to Hogarth's law firm within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Daredevil getting his iconic billyclub is more of a geek-out moment for the fans of the man without fear than seeing Frank Castle in his full Punisher armor. And geeks cannot help but delight by some of the background details - like a poster for The Gladiator in the background at Melvin Potter's workshop. Given that level of detail, it's virtually impossible to believe that the "Wanted For Robbery" poster over Nelson's shoulder when he calls Matt is random!

Oddly, for a show (and episode) that is so detail oriented, it seems odd what details the episode gets wrong. For sure, Jeri Hogarth has a ton of money for things like reconstructive surgery, but the seemingly compressed timeframe of the second season of Daredevil and the lack of a significant gap between it and Jessica Jones (Claire Temple's first appearance in the second season is within the month window after the finale of the first season of Jessica Jones, though there seems to be an incredibly poor transition between the hot summer at the beginning of this season and the finale ending at Christmastime) make it somewhat unrealistic that Hogarth has no visible scars whatsoever. Within the episode, Detective Mahoney requests lights up on three different locations to illuminate the rooftop for the final battle, but those lights never materialize (despite the long stairwell scene before that confrontation.

"A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" illustrates one of the problems with a show that features a lot of physical fights; the final battle in the episode might be a decent-enough fight sequence, but it is poorly lit and much of it is resolved without being focused on. It is like the executive producers, like the viewers, were feeling fight fatigue and didn't know how to top previous fights and just didn't care to try. Fortunately, the episode does not bank everything on the fight sequence. Instead, the episode's big moments are appropriately focused on Matt Murdock.

Murdock declares his love for Elektra in a fairly convincing way in "A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" and her observations tie well to the confession Murdock ultimately makes. Season three has an important character aspect to follow up on - Daredevil does not kill, so how Murdock's feelings of guilt play out in the next season for what director Peter Hoar shot in a way that convincingly could be written off as an accident is fodder for fan speculation until it airs. Stick and Murdock's relationship deepens in "A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" (though how Stick got out of the chair remains a mystery) and their final scene makes Murdock's final scene make perfect sense (especially tied with the stairwell scene between Daredevil and Elektra).

The acting front is dominated by Geoffrey Cantor. Cantor has the supporting role of The New York Bulletin's Mitchell Ellison, who is now Karen Page's boss. Cantor takes a fairly small supporting role and performs the hell out of it. There is not a millisecond of his portrayal of Cantor in his final scene of the season that he is not absolutely convincing as an editor. His final scene, which is part of the season's long denouement after all the action is over, is one of the most interesting, even through it is mostly just a guy lecturing to his employee. Deborah Ann Woll's responsive monologue is well-delivered, even if it feels a bit gushy for the oppressively dark Daredevil. On-screen, Woll nails her final moment of the episode, which relies entirely upon her reaction.

"A Cold Day In Hell's Kitchen" is enjoyable, but not actually extraordinary. While it affords some level of closure to the season, the episode is belaboring the foreshadowing to future Daredevil, seeming to bank on the future as opposed to creating something great in and of itself.

For other climactic season finales, be sure to check out my reviews of:
"AKA Smile" - Jessica Jones
"Fast Enough" - The Flash
"S.O.S. Part 2" - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

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

5/10

For other television episode and movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Jessica Jones Diminishes By A Death Of "AKA 1,000 Cuts!"

The Good: David Tennant's performance, Plot moves forward, Pam's character suddenly gets cool
The Bad: Gore factor, Terrible character choices, Pacing
The Basics: All of the characters, but Jessica Jones, suffer the consequences of Jones's decisions in "AKA 1,000 Cuts."


One of the films I have come to enjoy more and more over the years, that I never expected to, was the P.T. Anderson film Punch-Drunk Love (reviewed here!). In it, Adam Sandler takes on an uncomfortable dramatic role (one of his first) and illustrates a profound range that his comedy works did not allow him. I mention this at the outset of my review of the Jessica Jones episode "AKA 1,000 Cuts" because by this point in the first season, the "villain" Kilgrave is beginning to have a lot in common with Sandler's character from Punch-Drunk Love and David Tennant's performance as Kilgrave similarly deep. Like Sandler's character Barry Egan, Kilgrave has been screwed over by everyone in his life at this point and as "AKA 1,000 Cuts" opens, it is hard not to feel bad for him in some ways.

"AKA 1,000 Cuts" picks up at the climax of "AKA Sin Bin" (reviewed here!), revealing how Kilgrave escaped from his perspective and despite the direction the episode - and the season - is now taking Kilgrave in, those who only knew David Tennant from Doctor Who (season two is reviewed here!) have a lot to be excited by from his performance. Unfortunately, the character's peak of greatness has been corrupted and Jessica Jones has replaced the deep version of Kilgrave with an obvious, villainous character who develops now down the Dark Side in "AKA 1,000 Cuts." Kilgrave was betrayed by Jessica Jones and his own mother in "AKA Sin Bin" and that made it difficult to root for any of the supposedly "good" guys in that episode.

Opening with Kilgrave fleeing the room Jessica Jones had him captured in and asserting his power over Hogarth, Kilgrave heads to a doctor. Back in the facility, Trish tries to get a bullet into her head until Jessica Jones helps her get through the command. Jones realizes she is now immune to Kilgrave's influence and Dr. Thompson reveals that Kilgrave's power comes from a microvirus. He and Trish head off to try to make a vaccine against Kilgrave's power, while Jones hunts Kilgrave and Detective Clemons cleans up the crime scene. While Wendy is patching up Kilgrave, Kilgrave stumbles upon Hogarth's secret regarding Kilgrave's unborn child and her plans for it.

Kilgrave gives Wendy her chance to get revenge on Hogarth, while Simpson arrives at his safe room and discovers the post-Kilgrave carnage. When Pam rescues Hogarth, things go terribly wrong. Returning home, Jessica Jones finds Malcolm helping Robyn put posters around for her missing brother. Kilgrave offers Jones a trade: exonerating Hope Shlottman for Kilgrave's father. Malcolm accidentally outs himself to Robyn at the Survivor's meeting and she becomes enraged to motivate the survivors to turn their wrath on Jones. Trish encounters Simpson and realizes that all is not right with her former lover, while Robyn's move puts all of the survivors and Hope Shlottman in a precarious position that forces Jones into an untenable decision.

David Tennant is once again amazing in "AKA 1,000 Cuts." He plays Kilgrave with a delightful, hapless quality that moves the plot forward brilliantly. It is Kilgrave's frustrated utterance that leads him to the knowledge that he impregnated Shlottman and Hogarth has the embryonic tissue and Tennant plays the key moment effortlessly. He makes it seem like it is the first take! Tennant plays Kilgrave as confused and authoritative and full of vengeance, alternately. The flashback scene with Jessica Jones and Kilgrave is good for revisiting the matter of perspective that is otherwise dulled in "AKA 1,000 Cuts."

The enemies multiply in "AKA 1,000 Cuts" as Simpson takes a leap down the rabbit hole and becomes his supersoldier alter-ego Nuke. Nuke has serious crossover potential with Daredevil or the forthcoming Netflix series The Defenders, but in "AKA 1,000 Cuts," Simpson still has a somewhat reasonable motivation. Simpson wants to kill Kilgrave to stop the threat he represents and to that end, Simpson will take any means necessary. In the process, he becomes a monster on par with the one he wants to stop.

"AKA 1,000 Cuts" marks the final appearance in the first season of Pam, Hogarth's legal secretary and lover. In saving Hogarth, Pam is able to become her equal and she squares off against her partner perfectly. Unfortunately, it is in the quick conflict during which Pam saves Jeri that the viewer realizes for the first time that Susie Abromeit and Rachael Taylor were cast way too closely. Given that Hellcat usually appears in the comics as the redhead she is alluded to in Jessica Jones from when she was a child actor, it seems odd that two skinny blondes were cast. In "AKA 1,000 Cuts," there's a double-take the viewer has to do to realize that it is Pam, not Trish, saving Hogarth. Abromeit is good in her character's final moments.

As the name of the episode might suggest, "AKA 1,000 Cuts" is a bloodbath and the climax of the episode forces Jones in a different direction and moves Jessica Jones down a much darker, far less heroic, path. It's hard not to watch "AKA 1,000 Cuts" and just think "if Jones had just worked for more than one day to rehabilitate Kilgrave none of this would be happening!" Given the graphic natures of the multiple deaths in "AKA 1,000 Cuts," it makes it very hard to like Jessica Jones at this point, much less the season.

[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 Clarke Peters, please visit my reviews of:
The Best Of Me
John Wick

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!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Rebirth Of Nuke, The Downfall Of Jessica Jones: "AKA Sin Bin"

The Good: David Tennant's performance, Simpson's plotline, Plot climax
The Bad: Meanders, Jessica Jones's character, Inorganic character and plot development
The Basics: Jessica Jones beats the crap out of Kilgrave for no particular reason, which undermines all that the season has accomplished up until "AKA Sin Bin."


After Jessica Jones hit a season one (and Marvel Cinematic Universe!) high with "AKA WWJD?" (reviewed here!), there was a somewhat inevitable quality to the fall the season would take with its subsequent episode. Unfortunately, the fall is farther than it otherwise might have been because the season takes a turn for the utterly baffling when the protagonist makes a decision out of pain and ends up creating the villain. Like The Flash episode "Gorilla Warfare" (reviewed here!), "AKA Sin Bin" takes a character who is at a malleable position and can be turned to good and generically pushes that character into being a villain for no organic reason. Fidelity to the source material is placed above the organic development of the characters in the television incarnation.

And that is disappointing.

"AKA Sin Bin" is disappointing because it makes Jessica Jones almost unwatchable for the episode. A significant aspect of the episode's unwatchability comes from David Tennant's performance and Jessica Jones's severe character defect. In "AKA WWJD?" Jessica Jones saw the potential to harness Kilgrave and his power for the side of good; in "AKA Sin Bin" Jones tries to antagonize Kilgrave into being the villain she initially saw him as, completely neglecting the perspective she was opened to in the prior episode. And Tennant's performance as Kilgrave is heartbreaking to watch.

Kilgrave awakens in the hermitically-sealed room that Jessica set up and immediately begins getting tortured by Jessica Jones. Jessica Jones begins taunting Kilgrave with footage of the experiments that were performed upon him as a child. While recording Kilgrave, Jessica Jones tries to extract a confession through taunting Kilgrave and electrocuting him. Elsewhere, Simpson is mortally wounded and Trish drives him to Metro General Hospital as he cries out for Dr. Koslov. When Hogarth arrives, she advises Jones to release Kilgrave. Hogarth lets Jones know that Hope Shlottman is being offered a deal and Jones leaves Hogarth with Kilgrave while she gets a detective who can authenticate Kilgrave's statement.

Enlisting the aid of Detective Clemons and Trish, Jessica Jones returns to Kilgrave's cell where she tries to goad Kilgrave into using his powers on her so that she can exonerate Hope Shlottman. While Simpson gets healed back into a mysterious medical program to recover from almost being blown up, Trish returns to Jessica's side. Trish and Jones begin the search for Kilgrave's parents with the hope that they can antagonize Kilgrave into revealing his powers on camera.

"AKA Sin Bin" is packed with information, but is tainted by Jones acting more villainous than Kilgrave. Jones notices that the footage with the experiments done on Kilgrave when he was Kevin Thompson includes multiple other children who were experimented upon, potentially setting up future seasons of Jessica Jones.

The character of Jeri Hogarth is given more depth in "AKA Sin Bin" and actress Carrie-Anne Moss has the chance to illustrate just how cold and calculating she can make Hogarth. Hogarth squares off against Kilgrave and her moral ambiguity reaches a new low when she expresses a willingness to use Kilgrave's powers for her own means. Given that Hogarth's big conflict now is with her acrimonious divorce with Wendy, Hogarth's willingness to use Kilgrave seems particularly petty.

The Simpson subplot is interesting and gives rise to a secondary villain for the first season of Jessica Jones. Simpson, as it turns out, was once part of some form of super soldier program and in "AKA Sin Bin" he re-enters it. Simpson is motivated by guilt over his friends getting killed at the climax of the prior episode and his attempt to take power back in his own life is the mirror image of Kilgrave being robbed of his power until the end of the episode.

Ultimately, "AKA Sin Bin" is unpleasant to watch; there is nothing entertaining about watching one person torture another. The episode's climax goes a long way to saving the episode that otherwise meanders and includes some truly melodramatic scenes between Hogarth and Pam, but it is not enough. Sadly, it's almost like the writers and director John Dahl knew how far gone the episode was when Jessica Jones comments on how watching the footage even she feels sorry for Kilgrave, but she does not stop tormenting Kilgrave, so it's kind of a wash. In fact, as Trish and Jones hunt for Kilgrave's parents, Kilgrave very simply writes out "Help Me" in sauce on the glass of the tank and Jessica's response only adds to her cruelty.

The result is that "AKA Sin Bin" becomes the low point of the first season of Jessica Jones, despite the fact that David Tennant's performance is absolutely amazing.

[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 Thomas Kopache, please visit my reviews of:
No Country For Old Men
The West Wing
"Harbinger" - Star Trek: Enterprise
"Broken Bow" - Star Trek: Enterprise
"Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"Ties Of Blood And Water" - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
"The Thaw" - Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Generations
"Emergence" - Star Trek: The Next Generation
"The Next Phase" - Star Trek: The Next Generation
"The Parliament Of Dreams" - Babylon 5

4/10

For other film and television reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

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