Post by DoTheMath on Mar 11, 2018 15:34:34 GMT
Thoroughly enjoyed the series. As with all series, it wasn't without flaws but it I loved it.
Complaints:
1. Alexandra was underwhelming. IMO, it was a waste of Sigourney Weaver. Such a titular star deserved a better character. That said, it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment because Madame Gao saved the day. Love that character!
2. Same as my complaint about IF: Not enough mysticism. They expanded on the story of The Hand that's been running throughout the Netflix series, but IMO they could have (should have) gone deeper. The history and mystery of Kun-Lun and The Hand should have been explained more thoroughly. The franchise spent a lot of time dealing with The Hand (DD S1&S2, IF and Defenders) but still failed to fully explain the history and power of the organization, which is what would better, fully, explain the "stakes" to the city and our heroes. Of course, that's just my opinion. YMMV.
It was good to see all five Fingers come together, but they got short changed and were underdeveloped. If not for Gao, The Hand would have ended up being more like a bad family reunion in bad B movie........
3. 8 episodes. I think 13 would have been too long for what they were trying to accomplish, but eight was just a tad too short. Ten eps would have been perfect. It would have allowed them to tell their story better and devote more time to the historical mysticism. Granted, within the eight eps, there were parts that dragged and parts they seemed to race through. They could have done a better job of balancing things out within the eight eps. Two more eps would have helped round things out into a complete story.
4. Krysten Ritter needs to learn how to fight. Granted, JJ is a reluctant hero, and that's probably what let's her get away with poor fighting skills. She's awesome when pushing and throwing people around, but punches and kicks look like something that's foreign to her. There was a point in the epic hallway scene where she looked completely out of place, and I don't think that was intentional (and I'm surprised they let it make final edit). She needs to spend some time learning how to stunt fight...................
Positives:
Of course it was great seeing the four Defenders together and I think they did a good job in how they brought it about. The (we're not a) Team dynamic was fun to watch. A lot of people commented on how they liked that Danny was the optimist. I like it, too and felt it was definitely appropriate for the character since he's the most naive of the bunch. Having Luke be the conscience of the group was pretty on-point as well. For me, that was a tribute to how important Pop was to his character. I saw Pop every time Luke expressed his opinion about doing "what's right." #PopLives (through LC).
However, I have to give my props to JJ. Her snark was the linchpin to the dynamic. I sometimes wonder if I'd have enjoyed the show as much if she weren't there.
Did I mention Madame Gao?
Dawson is a rock and Henwick is a rock star!
It was good to see the supporting casts of the solo shows play a part, too (even though they were sequestered for most of the series).
I won't rank it or compare it to the other shows as this one stands alone.
All-in-all, I loved it and was left wanting more (a lot more). There were points where I was thinking that they could do away with the solo shows and just do a long running, never ending Defenders series. I'd watch the hell of that.
Complaints:
1. Alexandra was underwhelming. IMO, it was a waste of Sigourney Weaver. Such a titular star deserved a better character. That said, it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment because Madame Gao saved the day. Love that character!
2. Same as my complaint about IF: Not enough mysticism. They expanded on the story of The Hand that's been running throughout the Netflix series, but IMO they could have (should have) gone deeper. The history and mystery of Kun-Lun and The Hand should have been explained more thoroughly. The franchise spent a lot of time dealing with The Hand (DD S1&S2, IF and Defenders) but still failed to fully explain the history and power of the organization, which is what would better, fully, explain the "stakes" to the city and our heroes. Of course, that's just my opinion. YMMV.
It was good to see all five Fingers come together, but they got short changed and were underdeveloped. If not for Gao, The Hand would have ended up being more like a bad family reunion in bad B movie........
3. 8 episodes. I think 13 would have been too long for what they were trying to accomplish, but eight was just a tad too short. Ten eps would have been perfect. It would have allowed them to tell their story better and devote more time to the historical mysticism. Granted, within the eight eps, there were parts that dragged and parts they seemed to race through. They could have done a better job of balancing things out within the eight eps. Two more eps would have helped round things out into a complete story.
4. Krysten Ritter needs to learn how to fight. Granted, JJ is a reluctant hero, and that's probably what let's her get away with poor fighting skills. She's awesome when pushing and throwing people around, but punches and kicks look like something that's foreign to her. There was a point in the epic hallway scene where she looked completely out of place, and I don't think that was intentional (and I'm surprised they let it make final edit). She needs to spend some time learning how to stunt fight...................
Positives:
Of course it was great seeing the four Defenders together and I think they did a good job in how they brought it about. The (we're not a) Team dynamic was fun to watch. A lot of people commented on how they liked that Danny was the optimist. I like it, too and felt it was definitely appropriate for the character since he's the most naive of the bunch. Having Luke be the conscience of the group was pretty on-point as well. For me, that was a tribute to how important Pop was to his character. I saw Pop every time Luke expressed his opinion about doing "what's right." #PopLives (through LC).
However, I have to give my props to JJ. Her snark was the linchpin to the dynamic. I sometimes wonder if I'd have enjoyed the show as much if she weren't there.
Did I mention Madame Gao?
Dawson is a rock and Henwick is a rock star!
It was good to see the supporting casts of the solo shows play a part, too (even though they were sequestered for most of the series).
I won't rank it or compare it to the other shows as this one stands alone.
All-in-all, I loved it and was left wanting more (a lot more). There were points where I was thinking that they could do away with the solo shows and just do a long running, never ending Defenders series. I'd watch the hell of that.
I'll be spending next weekend with some family I like and trying to avoid any remotely controversial conversations with others that I spend the rest of the year avoiding 