Marvel’s The Defenders season 1 finale recap and review: The Defenders
In the finale, the Defenders take on the fingers of the Hand beneath the city. Who lives, who dies, who comes out on top?
We’ve made it to the finale of The Defenders! Brace yourself for lots of action.
Not-So-Short Summary
We pick up right where we left off and they’re still discussing detonating the building on top of the Hand. Everyone but Luke is for it. “If we don’t do this, it’s going to get worse,” Matt assures.
It’s Jessica that starts to change his mind. “Let’s go do something crazy,” he says. Colleen and Claire figure out where to plant the C4 while the other three try to find a way down.
Marvel’s The Defenders
And Misty’s stuck on the outside, trying to figure out how to save her job—and the city.
Bakuto shows up as Colleen and Claire place one of the charges. It’s Colleen’s time to shine, even if Claire tells her not to buy the bait. We get another Bakuto/Colleen showdown (maybe it feels repetitive because I legitimately finished Iron Fist the day before The Defenders premiered).
He offers one last chance for her to change sides, and she nicely tells him to screw off. Meanwhile, Claire takes on two thugs and a third one shows up with enough time for Misty to show up and shoot him in the back. She tries to take out Bakuto, but bullets have no effect (seems weird, but okay).
He has them by the ropes, swords against Claire’s neck when Misty comes running in to save the day—and loses her arm in the process. In response, Colleen decapitates Bakuto, and another finger of the Hand has fallen.
Unfortunately for all of them, the detonator was accidentally hit…
Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Finn Jones as Danny Rand, and Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones in “Marvel’s The Defenders,” photo credit Netflix
When they arrive at the bottom, it’s just Jessica in the elevator. She talks for a bit, and then all hell breaks loose. Luke and Daredevil come in after the fact in an attempt at the element of surprise.
Danny fills them in on Alexandra’s death just as Elektra shows up again. Danny uses his fist to knock everyone back and we get another giant fight scene. Highlights include Luke throwing Murakami through a pole and Jessica and Luke’s banter when he winds up on top of her.
It’s Elektra versus our four Defenders. Jessica throws her across the room into a wall and knocks her out long enough for the three of them to get in the elevator and for Matt to stay behind to talk to Elektra because he feels the need to try to save her.
The elevator ride goes a little like the Tower of Terror in that Elektra ruins the machinery and Jessica has to jump up and grab the falling elevator so Luke and Danny don’t fall to their deaths. They climb out and meet up with Colleen and company in the lobby.
Down below the building, it’s a lot of sexy banter and fighting because of their past, each of them trying to recruit the other to their side. And Matt and Elektra are together in the end as the building crashes down on them.
Still from The Defenders official trailer 2, featuring Charlie Cox as Daredevil. Image via Netflix (via Netflix official YouTube)
In the aftermath of it all, everyone tries to go back to normal. Jessica finally reveals her fixed office door and tells Malcolm she doesn’t hate his spackling of the bullet holes. Luke and Claire find out via Foggy that they aren’t in any sort of legal trouble. He meets up with Jessica in a bar and they touch vaguely on their past and both say they should keep in touch.
Colleen greets a groggy Misty in the hospital, the beginning of an awesome friendship. Danny lets Colleen know that New York is starting to feel like home. And Foggy and Karen meet up at Matt’s old church to work through their grief together.
Up above the city, Iron Fist sits perched like Daredevil.
Spoiler alert! Turns out Matt did make it out of the rubble. He’s badly hurt and in the care of Catholic nuns.
Post-Credits Stinger
Hooray, I get to do one of these! We get a fun teaser for the Punisher series. There’s not much else to see. It comes out later this fall.
Badass Moment of the Week
That Danny versus Madame Gao punch was pretty cool.
Best One-Liner
“Ever since you bust into my office, my life has been one big kung fu party,” Jessica tells Elektra.
Nice to see characters crossing over—this time it’s Karen and Trish.
One other touch that helped with the fake-out of Daredevil’s death actually making me cry was having Trish, Malcolm, Foggy, and Karen listening to the police radio as everything’s evacuated, all helpless to do anything except listen. The resulting hopeful-then-devastated looks on Karen and Foggy’s faces as they wait for Matt to walk through the door hurts almost as much.
Next: The Defenders makeup designer Sarit Klein on palettes, heroes, and beard design
I have a lot of feelings about this series. Powering through it in a matter of a day and a half (despite how these were posted) may not have been the best idea. All in all, I would give this series a B—a solid Marvel outing bringing beloved characters together for one big showdown, with just a little too much setup to get it all started.