Finished it and thought it was great. This is definitely on par with Luke Cage, and slightly under DDS2.
The show started off slow, and what is arguably a bad pilot, however, it continued to grow with esch episode and took off from episode 5. This is easily the best paced marvel Netflix show. Pacing has been a problem with all of them so far and I still believe they should reduce them to 11 but they changed it up a bit and started slow and took off from therr without slowing up. Also, this show doesn't suffer from a bad supporting cast like like those two characters in JJ and sometimes Foggy and Karen. In those areas, I feel that they did better than the other shows. The bad, being dialogue, choreography, although improved later on, and ok acting. The show definitely suffers from a writing standpoint. The dialogue is just bad at times. Danny legit sounds like a teenage boy in certain instances. Choreography can't be defended too much. For a show to be about a character, the kung fu needed to be better. It improved drastically, but I need to see him fight like Orson in that video, no questions. As far as the acting, it's not bad but nobody stood out in that department. Now for characters I cared for from least to most.
Joy - She didn't add anything to the show other than being the reason Harold had to fake his death. I didn't care for her at all and I felt like Ward by himself would've been good enough.
Bakuto, Madame Gao and the Hand - It was cool to see a power struggle between the two. Bakuto is bound to play a bigger role and he had some good fight scenes. I guess as he is also a DD villain. Gao is always appreciated. I like her slightly expanded role here. I liked the Hand in here more than DDS2. I felt like the different factions add neccessary details to the organization. Without it, it'll just he another ordinary evil organization. I liked Bakuto and having a compound to train kids, vs Gao's more ruthless henchmen. Interesting to me. I wonder if Bakuto will pop up in Dedenders or what since he and his squad dipped.
Harold - Typical evil business guy but what made up for it was his arc and connection to the Hand. I believe a different actor could've done the charactet more justice. That whole period from when he came back to life was stupid, and his line at the end while figting Dannu about how he wanted to kill Wendell was too much. Should've left that out.
Davos - He's a great foil to IF. He probably deserves it at this point, but im sure at some point it'll come out as to why he wasn't choosen. His reasoning for wanting to kill Danny is totally justifiable. He feels as if he deserves to be IF and that Danny betrayed them. I look forward to seeing them go at it again.
Claire - She plays the voice of the normal person. Some of her dialogue was a bit much tho. Someone conplained she said Sweet Christmad like 5 times, when it only 2. Like literally twice. Also, someone mentioned that she was fighting Hand members when she wasn't. They were law enforcement. Either way, it was good to see her in a bigger role. Her introduction felt genuine as it makes sense someone who has crossed paths with heroes and almost losing her life. It only feels natural for her to want to defend herself.
Colleenbae - Her inclusion was great as well and didn't expect for her to be apart of the Hand. I feel, unlike Matt and Karen, this relationship between her and Danny is genuine and understandable. I wish she had somewhat more of a side plot but she was still appreciated
Ward - Easilya standout. He probably had the most complete arc out of everyone. For 13 years he had to deal with his pops and keep that long of a secret. And then Danny and the Hand complicates his life.I could see why he was popping them xannies. When he was hit in the head, I was like damn and thought he died. Glad he didn't. With that said, I know he's gonna be back for a season 2 but I wish he wouldn't be. I don't see where they could take him further as a businessman
Danny - Now I think there can be another actor as Danny, but Finn was fine. It was more the writing. He was limited to how he could act out his character. All he could do is portray confusion and anger. I can't blame that on him. Although that stupid shake **** is all him. However, I loved his arc. It is in this sense where I feel as if people are truly nitpicking. I feel as if folks just didnt get the Danny they wanted. He's the only main character in which they somehwat deviated from the comics. They really played up on him being naive and still being a boy. I feel as if this is intentional as Gao calls him out on that at least four times. He's not the calm, wise IF yet and that's evident. He says it himself that he needs to complete his training and learn about what there is to being IF. I feel as if that had been portrayed all throughout the series. He has anger control issues, and doesn't have full control of his chi. Folks say that he's a master but the guy literally completed his journey of becoming the IF and left. That doesn't make you a master. He simply mastered enough of what it took to become the IF. He still needed time to let the anger out and discover more of what there is to being IF, which is apparent by Kabuto showing him how to further utilize his powers. And training doesn't fully prepare you for real life situations. Pretty much all he was prepared for was to defend his post and destroy the Hand. Sucks to have seen he couldn't go to Kun Lun. I look forward to him returning eventually.
As you can see, I enjoyed it a lot. This feels like BVS in a sense but it is what it is. Folks need to chill tho. If you like a show, youre being an apologist or defensive, if you dislike it, you're a hater. Can't even debate opinions without it getting testy. Anyways, I look forward to the Defenders. 8 / 10. /10 system gang in full effect
