The Defenders - Season 1 (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Creators: Douglas Petrie, Marco Ramirez
	Actors: Charlie Cox (Stardust, Daredevil TV-series), Krysten Ritter (Jessica Jones TV-series), Mike Colter (Luke Cage TV-series), Finn Jones (Iron Fist, Game of Thrones TV-series), Rosario Dawson (Deathproof), Sigourney Weaver (Avatar, Alien 1-4)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: September 2017, VOD, 32" TV screen.
Synopsis: The secret organization known as The Hand and led by Alexandra (Weaver) has sinister plans for the city of New York. The path of four characters with abilities will cross in an attempt to defeat those plans.
Review: First a warning: you probably have to be a hard-core follower of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and TV-series to come any close to appreciating this show. (Un)fortunately I am, and I binge-watched the only eight episodes of this series with a deep knowledge of the Marvel movies (although you don't need to know much except for the basic background story of the characters in The Avengers), after watching the two seasons of my favorite Daredevil with Jessica Jones in the middle, and right after watching Iron Fist which even if not very good acts as a good introduction to The Defenders. I hadn't watched Luke Cage at the time but it seems to be the most dispensable series (you already get a good introduction to the man in Jessica Jones). Or maybe you don't want to spend the time to know the characters and just want to see the best of them, so the series is also for you then. So the four main characters, let's say it Super-heroes, of the four TV-series are uniting to defeat a great enemy than the usual neighbourhood villain they face. This story has a definite Avengers feel to it and the threat is at the level, to the point that one can wonder why the more famous heroes don't do anything about it, before remembering that they are more busy usually with national threats when they are isolated, and global threats when united (like in Age of Ultron). A threat to a single city is thus still handled by TV-series heroes. The four characters share more or less equally the screen time and each bring along one or two "side-kicks" from their respective series, which is a lot of fun when you know them all! Note that character of the nurse Claire (Dawson) which has been present in all their individual adventures and acts like a glue in their time of need. If the series had been produced like a traditional TV-show, the first episode (pilot) would have shown more action and already the gathering of heroes, but with the modern production scheme in which a series is shot and released in a block, it can afford to make us wait for about two and a half slow, introductory, tension-building episodes before showing the long-awaited meeting in Episode 3 Worst Behavior, a structure which then has the effect of making it even more awesome to see the four of them fighting alongside. I also loved the following Episode 4 Royal Dragon named after the place where they spend the whole time arguing about teaming-up. Very well written and exactly what was needed to solidify the alliance. If you know their background you will not be surprised that Jones and Cage are the two that struggle the most to justify their joining the fight. The rest of the season contains a fully-satisfying lot of twists, self-questioning and ass-kicking, and was over all too quickly.
Rating: 7 /10