The Defenders Episode 2: Mean Right Hook Review

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Another false start but with definite signs of improvement.

By Daniel Krupa

Matt Murdock representing Jessica Jones, as she’s being interrogated by Misty Knight. Iron Fist going one-on-one with Luke Cage and almost breaking his jaw with a glowing punch.

Here we go… well, not quite.

These are exciting scenes, especially for fans of the source material – the show leaning into scenes and dynamics well-established in the comics – but unfortunately they’re far too brief and buried at the end of what is another largely pedestrian episode that feels like a false start. Again.

But at least Mean Right Hook begins with all four of its Defenders in the same city, though they still don’t have a common cause to rally behind. As a consequence, the pace of the show suffers since it feels obligated to give each hero a similar amount of screen time, even though they’re equally capable of driving forward the plot.

In this episode, it's Jessica who is principally moving things forward – investigating the architect’s mysterious disappearance, sleuthing around city archives, unraveling the shell companies that have hidden The Hand’s presence in Manhattan for centuries. You get the sense of what’s going on when you’re with her. But the same doesn’t apply to the other heroes, giving the episode a stop-start rhythm.

For instance, when the action suddenly switches to Iron Fist, who despite returning to New York City to fight the Hand isn’t really that involved  in the episode. So instead of seeking out The Hand, he’s on his back, recharging his chi, and listening to his iPod. It's not Iron Fist's fault, but once again he's made to look ineffectual. The show simply doesn't have a need for him right now, but feels duty-bound to check-in on him and Coleen.

Similarly Luke’s not yet encountered the Hand, so we see him milling around Harlem, loosely filling the role vacated by Pop’s death, but also picking up bits of masonry and moving them a short distance. (I’m not really sure what he’s doing in that scene. If he wanted to be helpful, he probably should've put it in a skip.) And Daredevil is retired and frustrated. It feels like these three characters are in a bit of a holding pattern, with Jessica doing the real legwork that will eventually unite them. I’m not against spending time with these characters individually, or the show focusing on more character moments – but what they’re doing just isn’t particularly interesting or something I haven’t seen them do countless times, and often in more interesting or compelling ways, in their respective shows.

Sigourney Weaver’s Alexandria grows more in this episode, yet her intentions and motivations remain frustratingly vague. Through snippets of dialogue – she appears to be personally acquainted with Beethoven and Brahms – there’s a suggestion she’s supernaturally old. In New York, The Hand has adopted a bourgeois exterior – we see Alexandria sat in opulent surroundings, listening to orchestras playing just for her. But it’s hard to perceive them as a really potent enemy at this point. We don’t seem they do anything particularly evil. Yes, they created an ‘earthquake’ at the end of the first episode, but the show doesn’t really focus on the devastation or the impact on civilians – how many died, how many wear injured. Two episodes in, and I'm told The Hand are a worthy adversary, motivated by a fanatical ideology, but I have no idea exactly what that entails. Alexandria speaks in the presence of other members of her organisation, yet she remains unnecessarily coy and cryptic throughout. I know they want to destroy New York, but right now it feels so intangible, refined, and bloodless that it doesn’t register as a threat in the same way as Kingpin or The Purple Man did.

Like the show’s first episode, this doesn’t quite feel like The Defenders yet. Mean Right Hook still feels too much like a prologue, positioning characters ever closer and – since they all have varying levels of involvement in this ancient war – rapidly laying down the means to unite them against a common threat.

The Verdict

But the episode definitely shows signs of improvement. Towards the end, as our lead characters begin to meet, the show definitely has more pace and purpose. While the introductory fight between Cage and Iron Fist isn’t the most impressively choreographed sequence, and seeing Danny try to punch and kick Cage with no effect might raise some unintentional laughs, that final incandescent punch was a definite highlight of the episode. Hopefully, they can now get on with defending something. Anything.

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