I binged all 8 episodes on Friday and thinking it over, I've come to the conclusion that the show is more wasted opportunity than bad. It's got some bad moments to it, but it never falls to Iron Fist
levels of bad, but it never really rises to how good these Netflix shows have been. I've broken down my thoughts on the series into what I thought was good, what was bad, and what were some missed opportunities.
The Good:
-The chemistry between Matt and Jessica, and Luke and Danny
-The first 3 episodes where we see where Matt, Jessica, and Luke are at in their lives after their respective series'
-Luke giving Danny a much needed talking to about wealth and privilege
-Matt, Luke, and Jessica giving Danny a much needed beatdown when he acts like a pompous spoiled brat
-The fight choreography for Luke and Jessica, both of whom don't have any martial arts training, so they just toss the bad guys around like ragdolls
-Episode 4 where they all come together
The Bad:
-The 8 episode length. The main thing most critics of the Marvel Netflix shows can agree on is that 13 episodes is too much, but after this,
I think 8 is too few.
-Signourney Weaver's character of Alexandra being told how scary she is (Madame Gao practically cowers in fear around her) yet she never seems to do anything to warrant that kind of reaction
-The Hand foot soldiers. Nowhere near as formidable as they were in DD season 2. Their costuming is beyond weak, it's like the extras just showed up on set with their regular clothing.
-The special effects towards the end of the show. The set with all the dragon bones seriously looked like it belonged on an episode of The Power Rangers
-The martial arts choreography for Daredevil and Iron Fist. It's about on par with Iron Fist season 1, which means no memorable fights like the 2 hallway scenes from DD season 1 and 2
-The cliches, specifically the liar revealed cliche from Matt not letting anyone know that The Black Sky was his ex girlfriend, and when Alexandra told Danny "we're not so different you and I"
The Missed Opportunities:
-Not giving the support characters anything to do. Seriously, they're put together in a room for like 3 episodes, and there's no real bonding between them.
-Jessica not knowing that Luke had gone back to prison. She stalked him for months, so when he popped up in Harlem during his show, there was really no reason for her to not at least be aware of him.
-Not seeing Elektra decimate The Chaste (I'm assuming it was her).
Like with Alexandra, we are told how dangerous The Black Sky is,
yet she doesn't really seem to be any more powerful than any of the boss hand characters.
-No consequences at the end for their actions. I did like how Episode 7 paid lip service to the fact that they are vigilantes and that there are legal consequences for their heroics, so when Luke breaks out of the police station with Jessica and Matt, I figured they'd get in trouble which would be outweighed by the consequences of not taking action. But no, instead we get some bullshit throwaway line about the police not filing any paperwork, so there's no legal tension, making their worries about it pointless.
-No smaller moments that just showed them together getting to know each other. I think Luke and Danny only had the one scene where Luke was watching guard, and then Matt and Jessica after they find the plans to Midland Circle in the piano.
There's probably more, but those were the most egregious examples that I could think of as I was watching the show. Even though I'm a little disappointed by the crossover, I'm still going to continue to watch their solo adventures, unless they are as bad as Iron Fist season 1 or the latter half of Luke Cage. I guess that's the power of the Marvel juggernaut machine, even if something is disappointing, there's always 2-3 other things on horizon to look forward to.
