The Defenders 1x06 Review: Hoist by Her Own Petard

​“Ashes, Ashes”
Written by Drew Goddard and Marco Ramirez
Directed by Stephen Surjik
 
The Story
Sowande is dead, but now the Defenders know that the Hand wants Danny to open something for him with the Iron Fist. They think it’d be best to keep him tucked away where the Hand can’t find him, but Danny hates that plan because he wants to fight, so they have to fight him into submission. Luke guards him while Matt and Jessica go looking for more information on Midland Circle, because it’s built on top of that big gaping hole Matt and Elektra found. They go to Matt’s apartment, where Matt realizes Elektra has been.
 
Alexandra and the other Fingers of the Hand receive Sowande’s head in a box. Murakami, Bakuto, and Gao don’t like this and don’t want to listen to Alexandra anymore. Gao pulls for Alexandra, though, and they stop fighting.
 
Matt and Jessica go to John’s house. His daughter’s the only one home, and she’s not overly welcoming. Back in her lair, Alexandra is taking more pills when Gao visits. Gao will support Alexandra as long as they do this without the Black Sky. And Gao, it turns out, is double-crossing Alexandra. She’s still on the guys’ team.
 
Danny wakes up and nearly strangles himself on the knots Stick rigged up. Luke and Danny chat. Luke isn’t very interested in hearing about Danny becoming the Iron Fist, but when Danny goes all surly, he humors him, and it’s precious. Luke tells Danny a bit about him and Jessica. John’s daughter is mostly upset and not very forthcoming with information. Jessica tells her a story about a “friend” whose dad was a boxer who was killed.
 
Alexandra finds Elektra at her grave. She tells Elektra about how Daredevil let her die. She vows she won’t betray the Hand. Alexandra tells her she’s dying. She needs more of the immortality juice to survive, and she wanted to bring Elektra back for companionship as well as to get more immortality juice.
 
John’s daughter tells Jessica and Matt about how her dad changed. He got more intense about work and stopped sleeping, then stopped eating with them, then stopped eating at all. What she says about the piano makes Matt curious about it. There’s something hidden in it, which he finds by playing his own theme song. Turns out the blueprints of Midland Circle are in there. As well as diagrams of the ground underneath it. The hole is definitely still there.
 
Matt and Jessica have figured out that John wanted to collapse Midland Circle into the hole under it. Jessica reveals that she did research on Matt’s background. They seem to actually be getting along now. Aww.
 
Stick tells Luke about his own time in prison. When he was a kid. That’s where the Chaste found and trained him. Stick, it turns out, has another plan for keeping the Hand from getting what they want. Killing Danny, or at least chopping his hand off. He pretends to light incense, but it’s actually gas that will knock Luke out long enough for him to deal with Danny.
 
Matt hears Luke collapse and he and Jessica hurry up. Elektra beats them back to the room, and she and Stick fight. Danny breaths the gas and passes out too. Elektra is about to kill Stick when Matt arrives, and then she does it anyway. Then she knocks Jessica out, followed by Luke (who woke up). She cuts Danny free and hauls him off.
 
Murakami brings Alexandra special wine as a peace offering. He tells her he didn’t want to leave K’un-Lun with her. Also this is not a peace offering, it’s Alexandra’s last meal. She isn’t impressed that he came alone to kill her. And then Elektra drags Danny in. So Alexandra’s whole plan is validated.
 
The four Hand members go to the board room and Elektra considers the sais again. Danny wakes up and they chat with him. Alexandra suggests that K’un-Lun isn’t as destroyed as Danny thinks. They both want to go back, so he can help them all get what they want. Danny is wheeled off. The Fingers of the Hand start arguing about what to do with Danny and how to deal with his allies. Alexandra orders Elektra to kill Luke, Jessica, and “The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, whoever he is.” Elektra takes issue with her disregard for Matt, and shanks her with a sai.
 
This feels like one of those connective tissue episodes, but that’s okay. I like most of the stuff going on. I don’t think I paid so much attention the first time around to the actual friendship developing between Matt and Jessica. I think I just saw them as antagonistic the whole time, but Jessica grudgingly likes Matt now, and vice versa, and it’s great. The foundation for Luke and Danny being best friends is getting stronger, which is wonderful. The Hand is down two members now, one of whom I regret we didn’t see a lot more of and the other of whom I wish had never been in the show. Alexandra really just feels like an excuse to have Sigourney Weaver. Gao could’ve done everything her character did while maintaining the level of intrigue she’s had since Daredevil S1. Elektra continues to be more interesting than she ever was on Daredevil S2, though I’m not sure what to make of her killing Stick and Alexandra in the same episode. Issues with her authority figures? I’m also pretty happy now that it’s been strongly implied that Elektra has super strength, at the very least. I don’t think I really noticed anything like that last time. The Black Sky is still way over-hyped, but it clearly means more than just having mad ninja skills.
 
Things I Liked

• Jessica apologizing for being insensitive about Matt’s blindness
• Danny’s speech to Luke about how the two of them belong fighting together on the front lines. YES PLEASE.
• “Our Jessica?” Awwwwwww.
• Luke is clearly not entirely okay with being on a “different path” from Jessica.
• Jessica’s story about Matt’s dad
• MATT PLAYING HIS OWN THEME SONG ON THE PIANO
• Matt and Jessica are almost friends, and it’s so nice
• Okay, there’s no way Elektra could knock Luke and Jessica out so fast unless she has pretty serious super strength. Maybe that’s what the Black Sky is. Kinda boring, but better than nothing.
• Bye, Alexandra!

 
Things I Didn’t

• Danny being dumb
• Matt STILL being secretive
• Holy crap, Elektra just said that Daredevil’s name is Matthew in front of Gao, Murakami, and Bakuto. That is bad. I don’t remember if any of them survive the season.

 
The Characters
Dangit, Matt, your secrets have already cost you so much. Why are you still keeping them? These people need to know! Maybe they’ll be on your side about Elektra if you TELL THEM THE TRUTH. *smacks him upside the head*
 
Jessica made a friend! Through continual snark and unsolicited background checks. Bahahaha. I love her. Matt should appreciate what an exclusive club he just joined.
 
I love how Luke is kind of grudgingly patient with Danny and stuff he finds ridiculous in general. He’s easily the most mature and wise of the four. The rest could all do with some Hufflepuff patience and calm.
 
Danny is all about being the Chosen One, to the point where it doesn’t compute when he turns out to also be the MacGuffin. Sometimes he is very dumb, but he’s just so endearing a lot of the time that I can’t dislike him.
 
Overall Rating
4.5/5