sholio | (no subject)

The Netflix Defenders universe continues to be an absolute delight for me. I finished Defenders day before yesterday, which I loved - although I had somehow osmosed that it was 10 episodes, not 8, so as it got into the 8th episode I was thinking "wow, they're wrapping this up awfully fast, are they really going to have 2 episodes of aftermath?" No. The answer was no. XD

But anyway, yeah, I loved that, and then I decided to just watch a bunch of the Misty and Claire scenes and the Iron Fist crossover eps from the second season of Luke Cage to get me up to speed without watching the entire season (THE LUKE AND DANNY EPISODE WAS AMAZING, oh man did they ever nail their comics dynamic in that one; it was adorable). Otherwise, with LC and the second season of JJ, I just spoiled myself for the major plot points without actually watching it, because I'd like to be cheered up right now, not depressed, thank u. (A+ life choice on the second season of JJ from what I can tell, holy crap. I might watch the rest of Luke Cage eventually and maybe some of the Hogarth scenes from JJ.)

And now I am moving on to the second season of Iron Fist, and so far it is just as much of a delight as I hoped it'd be, still just as earnest and charming as season one but with a much better plot. You know, I had this feeling in season one but it's even stronger in season two, that alone of all the Netflix Defenders protagonists, Danny is explicitly about reaching out and making connections to people. Luke kinda does this too, but he's also trying hard to hold himself back from really getting attached, whereas Danny is just this little ray of sunshine who helps random strangers on the street and forgives people who have hurt him and tries to get along with people wherever he goes. I love how Iron Fist is at heart about family, messy families who hurt each other and sometimes even try to kill each other but are still a family. It feels, at the moment anyway, like Danny has a stronger, so to speak, emotional support staff on his show than the other Defenders protagonists do, because he doesn't push people away, he gloms onto them instead. You even sort of get that with other Defendersverse characters who wander onto their show too, e.g. Claire or Hogarth, where the IF characters are just like "stay with us and be our new friend! ♥"

... I mean obviously this is not to say there's anything wrong with the other shows, I like them too! It's just that what I want from a show right now is EXACTLY what this sweet dumb kung fu soap opera is giving me, and I really love it a lot, and I hope it doesn't go to hell in the last few episodes of the season.

(No spoilers past 2x03, please; that's as far as I am right now!)

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Yay, I'm so glad you enjoyed Defenders! I absolutely loved it and all the interaction between the characters, which is really what I'm here for, not rooftop brooding. (Well, in Jessica's case, she *tries* to go brood on a rooftop but keeps getting involved anyway, so I'm good in her case.)

I loved it! Your rec was right on, it was just the right amount of "light" to balance to dark, with tons of banter and charm. And it was so wonderful to see the characters I haven't seen in awhile (the Daredevil and JJ ones) and to see everyone bouncing off each other. SO much fun! I had ended up spoiled for Matt and Misty's fates in this, but even Misty was a surprise, because I'd somehow osmosed that it was bomb-related and not sword-related. SO FUN.

I'm really glad that people (you?) recommended watching the shows basically in order rather than barreling onward to season 2 of Iron Fist right away, because I've been really happy watching them in this order! And now I FINALLY know what's going on everywhere, hee. (I had only seen the first 2 seasons of Daredevil and the first season of JJ before the current round of watching things.)

In the comics Misty lost her arm to a bomb, so maybe that's where you osmosed it from? And yes it was me that said watch Defenders next, because a lot happens in that show that's relevant to Danny and Luke in particular. I so enjoyed their meet-up in Luke Cage S2, along with Colleen and Misty's, and I desperately want a Daughters of the Dragon show!

I'll finish Luke Cage S2 this weekend, then on to IF S2, and I'm pleased you're enjoying it so far!

Yeah, I think a big part of it was knowing it was a bomb in the comics, and assuming the bomb in the show was related (which of course was intentional, I'm sure!). And oh man, I LOVED the team-up eps on Luke Cage - those episodes were fantastic, and I have been very quietly making little "please make a Daughters of the Dragon show" noises under my breath at Netflix, because of course they'll listen to me. XD

But yeah, I haven't really talked about this, I don't think, but these were one of my big superhero comic loves when I was a kid - the two comics I was most into in the 80s were X-Men and Power Man & Iron Fist (well, also Alpha Flight but that one sucked even at the time), so I've loved these characters for 30 years and it was nothing short of amazing to see them together at last. That Luke & Danny ep felt like an issue of the comic, or perhaps more accurately, like an issue of the comic filtered through the nostalgia of my inner 10-year-old (the comics probably haven't held up that well). I was over the moon about it. The reason why it took me so long to watch the Iron Fist and Luke Cage shows was because I didn't want to be disappointed, especially with all I'd heard about Iron Fist, and it is SUCH a relief to find out that I like them this much.

Edited 2018-10-05 01:40 (UTC)

Have you read the recent and sadly cancelled David Walker run of Power Man and Iron Fist? I'm not a huge fan of the art, but the Luke & Danny vibe is spot-on perfect.

I desperately want a Daughters of the Dragon show!

YESSSSS PLZ

I think Defenders had maybe the most hopeful ending of all the shows (I haven't seen IF or P yet). Yeah, even with Matt supposedly biting it, because we all knew he was coming back. But they saved the city, and they're all heroes, and they know that. (Plus it was nice to see Luke and Jess finally make up, and I also got a lot of hot Matt/Jess fic.)