Marvel’s The Defenders season 1 episode 5 recap and review: Take Shelter

The Hand keeps the Defenders at bay in the fifth episode, but don’t count them out yet. They have a few moves up their sleeves.

How badly can this fight go for our Defenders? Maybe that’s a question better left unasked.

Not-So-Short Summary

We see the five fingers of the Hand mobilize their forces to a rousing score and begin to descend upon the Chinese restaurant.

As the Defenders take on Elektra, Alexandra flees the premises so that the firepower can begin. It’s five against a dozen or so. Matt takes Elektra out of the picture so the rest of them can take on the thugs (well, thugs in comparison to Elektra). He also tries to convince her of who she was. Calling her by name makes her freeze.

Mike Colter as Luke Cage and Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in “Marvel’s The Defenders,” photo credit Netflix

The fight gets crazy. Luke gets taken out by a garbage truck. The remaining Defenders reconvene outside where Matt’s still struck by Elektra. They take off into the sewer, and as they do that, we get to see Madame Gao’s full power (or at least some of it). Some kind of telekinesis, it looks like (someone please correct me if I’m wrong).

They regroup at Colleen’s dojo and Luke arrives, happy as can be, because he has Sowande tied up in the back of the van. They take him to the same building where Jessica had her showdown with Kilgrave.

Sowande threatens all of their loved ones, so they go into maximum overdrive to round them all up and move them away. While they wait for Luke to get Claire, Danny, and Colleen spring into action against two suspicious-looking SUVs.

And that’s when Bakuto shows back up, alive and well. He wants to give her a second chance to finish what they started. It does not work, and he slashes Colleen—but then Luke shows up and just tosses him away.

Ann Woll as Karen Page in “Marvel’s The Defenders,” photo credit Netflix

Matt talks to Karen to let her know she’s in danger, but that goes poorly. She listens and understands enough to come with him and go into hiding, but it fractures what little trust they had built before this.

Luke goes to Misty. He wants to tell her, but knows she won’t understand. And Jessica goes to save Trish, but encounters Murakami who has her by the ropes. Until Matt shows up in full Daredevil gear. “The scarf looked better,” she says after he gets her on her feet.

All of them hang out at the police station and it’s funny to see all of these supporting characters from separate shows try to figure out who the other supporting characters are.

Daredevil goes full interrogation on Sowande. It gets heated because they talk Elektra and how she’s defective (you can tell how much it hurts Matt, too). Murakami expresses these same issues with the Hand—the fact that Elektra loved Matt in a prior life means she might not be the weapon they need.

Marvel’s The Defenders, photo credit Netflix

“You’re afraid to die. We want to live long enough to go home,” Madame Gao says to Alexandra. There’s rumblings of a mutiny. And when Alexandra goes to talk to Elektra, she’s no longer in her room. She’s at Matt’s apartment being super creepy as she tries to remember her past.

Badass Moment of the Episode

Stick decapitating Sowande. It was very unexpected and solidified how much I love Stick.

Best One-Liner

“You’re the dumbest Iron Fist ever,” Sowande says, and I feel as though the writers are trying to make up for that misfire.

Colleen has a good moment of weakness. She wants something stable, something to hold onto. And it’s nice that it’s Claire comforting her and building her back up. Claire really is a good cornerstone for all of these shows. All she’s done is support everyone she’s come in contact with.

So the five fingers of the Hand are trying to get back into K’un-Lun, and they need the Iron Fist to get there. And whatever wall they’re dealing with

I know Elektra’s super creepy scene at the end was very stalker-like, but when she just curls up on Matt’s bed, it oozes heartbreak. She was someone once, and now she doesn’t know who she is and she doesn’t know enough of who she was.

Next: Wait, will Netflix still have some of Disney’s movies?

This won’t be good for Alexandra and the Hand, that’s for sure.